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hansen delays return until 2006 british triple jumper ashia hansen has ruled out a comeback this year after a setback in her recovery from a bad knee injury according to reports. hansen the commonwealth and european champion has been sidelined since the european cup in poland in june 2004. it was hoped she would be able to return this summer but the wound from the injury has been very slow to heal. her coach aston moore told the times: we re not looking at any sooner than 2006 not as a triple jumper. moore said hansen may be able to return to sprinting and long jumping sooner but there is no short-term prospect of her being involved again in her specialist event. there was a problem with the wound healing and it set back her rehabilitation by about two months but that has been solved and we can push ahead now he said. the aim is for her to get fit as an athlete - then we will start looking at sprinting and the long jump as an introduction back to the competitive arena. moore said he is confident hansen can make it back to top-level competition though it is unclear if that will be in time for the commonwealth games in melbourne next march when she will be 34. it s been a frustrating time for her but it has not fazed her determination he added.

labour accused of broken pledge labour has already broken its pre-election promise on immigration before the ink has dried on its new pledge card the tories have claimed. home secretary charles clarke has been quoted as telling labour members he wants more migrants to come to the uk. tory co-chairman liam fox said the comments were at odds with tony blair s prediction of a net cut in immigration. but mr clarke accused him of trying to score cheap political points by muddling immigration with asylum. london s evening standard quoted mr clarke telling labour activists at a question and answer session in gateshead that he wanted britain to offer refuge for those fleeing tyranny. that s not only a moral duty and a legal duty but something which is part of the essence of this country he said. we want more migration more people come to study and to work. we want more people coming to look for refuge. mr blair s was asked last wednesday if the government s new immigration plans including a point system for economic migrants would reduce net migration. the prime minister told mps: the abusers will be weeded out and as a result of the end of chain migration [where families have an automatic right to settle] the numbers will probably fall. on monday dr fox told reporters: the prime minister has broken his word so many times in the past but now his promises do not even last a week. the labour party election pledges even when they are so incredibly vague do not even last four days. the tories want quotas for economic migrants and refugees and on tuesday will outline more details of their plans for health checks on migrants. mr clarke dismissed the latest tory attack. this is simply a scurrilous attempt by the tories to score cheap political points he said. the tories are purposely mixing together two separate issues of immigration and asylum. mr clarke said he had made clear the uk would welcome genuine economic migrants for key jobs on a strict points based system. and only asylum seekers genuinely fleeing death or persecution would be admitted. under our plans we expect unfounded applications to continue to fall he added. earlier dr fox accused mr blair and other cabinet ministers of telling lies about tory policies and then attacking the lies. he told bbc radio: if you are willing to lie about the reasons for going to war i guess you are going to lie about anything at all. the latest pre-election spats come after mr blair told labour members the tories offered a hard right agenda which would take britain backwards. lib dem leader charles kennedy accelerating lib dem election preparations this week as he visits manchester liverpool leicester somerset basingstoke shrewsbury dorset and torbay.

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.

roche turns down federer offer australian tennis coach tony roche has turned down an approach from roger federer to be the world number one s new full-time coach say reports. melbourne s herald-sun said roche troubled by a hip complaint did not want to travel full-time again. however roche is happy to work with the swiss star on a casual basis and is helping him prepare for next month s defence of his australian open crown. federer has been without a coach since splitting with peter lundgren in 2003. roche a former davis cup player for australia won the french open reached the wimbledon and us open finals and won five wimbledon doubles titles with john newcombe. he also coached former number one ivan lendl and pat rafter to grand slam victories and has worked with australia s lleyton hewitt. some reports claim federer initially wanted andre agassi s australian coach darren cahill before agassi confirmed he would play on in 2005. federer was named swiss sportsman of the year on saturday to add to the bbc overseas sportsman and european sports journalists association awards he has already won.

parents face video game lessons ways of ensuring that parents know which video games are suitable for children are to be considered by the games industry. the issue was discussed at a meeting between uk government officials industry representatives and the british board of film classification. it follows concerns that children may be playing games aimed at adults which include high levels of violence. in 2003 britons spent £1 152m on games more than ever before. and this christmas parents are expected to spend millions on video games and consoles. violent games have been hit by controversy after the game manhunt was blamed by the parents of 14-year-old stefan pakeerah who was stabbed to death in leicester in february. his mother giselle said her son s killer warren leblanc 17 - who was jailed for life in september - had mimicked behaviour in the game. police investigating stefan s murder dismissed its influence and said manhunt was not part of its legal case. the issue of warnings on games for adults was raised on sunday by trade and industry secretary patricia hewitt. this was the focus of the talks between government officials representatives from the games industry and the british board of film classification. adults can make informed choices about what games to play. children can t and they deserve to be protected said culture secretary tessa jowell after the meeting. industry will consider how to make sure parents know what games their children should and shouldn t play. roger bennett director general of entertainment and leisure software publishers association said: a number of initiatives were discussed at the meeting. they will be formulated to create specific proposals to promote greater understanding recognition and awareness of the games rating system ensuring that young people are not exposed to inappropriate content. among the possible measures could be a campaign to explain to parents that many games are made for an adult audience as well as changes to the labelling of the games themselves. according to industry statistics a majority of players are over 18 with the average age of a gamer being 29. academics point out that there has not been any definitive research linking bloodthirsty games such as manhunt with violent responses in players. in a report published this week for the video standards council dr guy cumberbatch said: the research evidence on media violence causing harm to viewers is wildly exaggerated and does not stand up to scrutiny. dr cumberbatch head of the social policy think tank the communications research group reviewed the studies on the issue. he concluded that there was an absence of convincing research that media violence caused harm.

us to probe airline travel chaos the us government is to investigate two airlines- us airways and delta air lines comair subsidiary - after travel chaos over the christmas weekend. staff calling in sick at us airways and computer failures at comair left 30 000 passengers stranded and 10 000 pieces of baggage undelivered. us airways is in chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years and battling to cut costs. it is currently trying to negotiate pay cuts with flight and baggage staff. transportation secretary norman mineta said he was deeply concerned at the disruption to passengers and ordered a thorough investigation. comair s computer breakdown plunged its flight-crew scheduling system into disarray. altogether some 1 100 flights were cancelled over the holiday long weekend. mr mineta said it was important to understand what happened why it happened and whether the carriers properly planned for the holiday travel period and responded appropriately to consumer needs in the aftermath . adding to the atmosphere of chaos were mountains of luggage left to pile up when a third of us airways baggage handling staff called in sick. there was also a shortage of us airways flight attendants with nearly a fifth saying they were too sick to work leading to many flight cancellations. however union officials denied there had been a deliberate sickout . they said that many people have flu at this time of year and that the airline is chronically understaffed. us airways ended up cancelling over 100 flights on christmas day stranding passengers in as many as 119 airports. ground crews at us airways the seventh-largest us airline which is now in chapter 11 bankruptcy protection face a court-imposed pay cut next month. the airline needs to negotiate other paycuts if it is to find a route out of bankruptcy. it is looking for paycuts totalling $800m. us airways has a full-scale employee mutiny on its hands commented michael boyd an industry consultant. disruptions to flight schedules could discourage customers from flying with us airways reducing revenues. us airways had to cancel approximately 65 flights on thursday 180 on friday 140 on saturday 43 on sunday and 15 on monday said industry officials. the airline said it was embarrassed by the situation and deeply regrets any inconvenience caused to customers the probe will focus on the industry s compliance with a 1999 agreement aimed at improving the quality of passenger service that has so far allowed airlines to avoid congressionally-mandated standards. analysts said the christmas chaos cast doubt on us airway s ability to emerge from bankruptcy - and was likely to worsen the finances of troubled delta parent of comair. comair deeply regrets the inconvenience to all of our customers caused by the severe winter storm in the ohio river valley during the busy holiday season exacerbated by problems with the airline s crew scheduling system causing additional flight delays and cancellations the delta subsidiary said in a statement.

ryanair in $4bn boeing plane deal budget airline ryanair has placed an order for 70 boeing 737-800 planes in a deal valued at $4bn (£2.1bn) which should lead to 2 500 new ryanair jobs. it also has an option for a further 70 aircraft a move which brings the ryanair/boeing order book up to 225 firm orders and options on 193 more. ryanair said the new planes would help it to cut operating costs further. the carrier reported a drop in quarterly profit earlier this year after it was hit by higher fuel costs. however when it reported the results the airline was upbeat about prospects for 2005 despite tough competition in the budget airline market. ryanair chairman david bonderman said that the 737-800 had significantly reduced our unit operating costs and allowed us to reduce air fares each year for the last five years . with this new order and new pricing in place ryanair expects that unit operating costs (excluding fuel) will continue to fall each year for the next five years he added. at the end of this year ryanair will have taken delivery of about 100 new planes while the 70 new orders are due for delivery between 2008 and 2012. the airline said that when all these planes have been delivered it will be able to carry more than 70 million passengers a year making it europe s largest airline. about 2 500 new jobs should be created in the next seven years it added. the order can be seen as good news for boeing which in recent years has been overtaken by european plane maker airbus as the world s biggest-selling plane maker.

kenyan school turns to handhelds at the mbita point primary school in western kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. they are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. it is a pilot project run by eduvision which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. matthew herren from eduvision told the bbc programme go digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called e-slates. the e-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. this in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. the data is transmitted alongside audio signals. the base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld e-slates. it downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. it also stores this on its hard disc. the system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. but mr herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. it s very simple to set up just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school but it s also a one-way connection so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult. the project is still at the pilot stage and eduvision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the linux-based system. the content is divided into visual information textual information and questions. users can scroll through these sections independently of each other. eduvision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. mr herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. he is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site google to digitise some of the world s largest university libraries. all books in the public domain something like 15 million could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. then every rural school in africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in oxford and harvard currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. but mr herren says eduvision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. we plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station have the e-slates charge during the day when the children are in school then they can take them home at night and continue working. maciej sundra who designed the user interface for the e-slates says the project s ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks the fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most.

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.

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.

lib dems unveil women s manifesto the liberal democrats are attempting to woo female voters with the launch of their manifesto for women. charles kennedy is pledging a maternity income guarantee and a pension system based on years of residence rather than national insurance payments. he also thinks women will back plans to end university tuition fees and for free long-term care for the elderly. both labour and the conservatives have said they also plan to boost pensions and to improve childcare support. mr kennedy says he wants to deal with policy areas that disadvantage women. two million pensioners in britain currently live below the government s own poverty line - two-thirds of whom are women he said. he says that pensions based on the number of years worked ignore the contribution women make caring for children. the lib dem s citizen s pension based on length of residency not on national insurance contributions would address that imbalance mr kennedy argues. under the package new mothers would be offered minimum guaranteed maternity pay of £170 a week for the first six months after the birth of their first child. mr kennedy also believes the party s plans to use the money saved from not introducing illiberal id cards to boost police numbers by 10 000 would appeal to women too. the policies are not new announcements but the way they are structured as a package to appeal to women is. mr kennedy also points to the fact that 40% of the party s candidates set to stand in winnable or target seats are women. party strategists claim that where women candidates replace men turnout rises by 4%. mr kennedy began the pitch for female support with an interview on bbc radio 4 s women s hour on monday. during the interview mr kennedy revealed that he planned to structure the party s general election campaign around the birth of his first child which is expected in april. the baby and his wife sarah would be priority number one even if it arrived in the middle of the election campaign he said. party strategists believe winning over a significant proportion of women voters is key to electoral success. a party spokesman said it was courting female votes because they tended to vote more than men and are believed to be more considered and open-minded in deciding who they vote for. labour s deputy minister for women jacqui smith accused the lib dems of offering false promises to women and said their sums did not add up. she said: these proposals would increase the costs to the public purse drastically year on year and hard working families will pay dearly through either increased taxes or reduced spending on public services . the labour party has committed itself to universal affordable and flexible childcare for parents of all 3 to 14 year-olds including childcare centred on schools to be available from 8am to 6pm. in september trade and industry secretary patricia hewitt said she would like to see longer paid maternity leave higher paternity pay and the extension of flexible working rights to carers if labour won a third term. the conservatives are yet to unveil their manifesto plans for childcare but said in november they would increase maternity pay and pay the child tax credit in cash to parents to spend as they like on a nanny au pair or even a family member such as a grandparent acting as a carer. they were also consulting on making childcare costs tax deductible.

almagro continues spanish surge unseeded nicolas almagro became the fifth spaniard to reach the last eight at the buenos aires open ousting eighth seed mariano zabaleta. he showed admirable resolve to win a rain-affected match 6-7 6-4 6-4. compatriot and seventh seed rafael nadal also reached the last eight beating italian potito starace 6-1 6-3. nadal playing in the outdoor clay event for the first time hit some powerful forehands to oust starace in a match delayed over an hour by rain. it s always a problem to have to stop for rain but one gets used to it said spanish teenager nadal. luckily i was able to keep my pace going throughout the match. he will now play gaston gaudio who beat unseeded brazilian flavio saretta 6-3 6-2 in the day s late match.

blackburn v burnley ewood park tuesday 1 march 2000 gmt howard webb (south yorkshire) home to leicester in the quarter-finals but defender andy todd is suspended and could be replaced by dominic matteo - if he recovers from a hamstring injury. burnley have major injury concerns over frank sinclair and john mcgreal. michael duff looks set to continue at right-back with john oster in midfield and micah hyde is expected to recover from a knee injury. - blackburn boss mark hughes: burnley are resolute and have individual talent but i fully expect us to progress. i thought we were comfortable in the first game and never thought we were under pressure. it s a competition we want to progress in and we are doing okay. if we beat burnley we have a home tie against another lower league club (leicester). - burnley boss steve cotterill: they will be fresh and we ll be tired. that is an honest opinion but our lads just might be able to get themselves up for one more big game. the atmosphere at the last game was very hot - a good verbal contest. our fans will not need whipping up for this game. i just want them to help us as much as they can in a positive way. key match stats - blackburn rovers against bolton is part two of an east lancashire hotpot that didn t turn out to be that spicy when first staged on a sunday lunchtime the weekend before last and resulted in a scrappy goalless draw. - rovers who are aiming to win the cup for a seventh time in their history and first time in 77 years face another replay against championship opposition after eventually disposing of cardiff at ewood park in the third round. but they ve not been beaten in the competition by a club outside the premiership for nine years since ipswich - then in the second tier - defeated them 0-1 after extra time in a third round replay at ewood park on 16 january 1996. history is on rovers side. when they last met their near neighbours in the fa cup 45 years ago it also required an ewood park replay which the home side won 2-0 and when they last met in the league rovers did the double. they first won their nationwide division one trip to turf moor 0-2 four seasons ago and then thrashed the clarets on home soil 5-0. - manager mark hughes who won the cup four times as a player is aiming to steer rovers into the quarter-finals for the second time in 12 years and first time since the 2000/2001 season. success here and victory home to leicester in the next round could see rovers in the semi-finals without having played premiership opposition. - burnley make the eight mile journey to their fierce rivals determined to send blackburn the same way as liverpool in the third round. but having failed to pull off another shock at turf moor it could be that the championship outfit - 17 places inferior on the league ladder - have missed their best opportunity. having said that burnley are yet to concede a goal in this cup run. - steve cotterills clarets have been knocked out in the fifth round four times in the last seven years and have made only one appearance in the sixth round in 21 years. that was in the season before last when they disposed of premiership fulham at this fifth round stage. - while blackburn have not played since the fifth round tie burnley have had two league outings away from home drawing 1-1 at derby and losing 1-0 at preston. that takes their winless run to four games. the combatants from one-time prosperous mill towns are both founder members of the football league. head to head 16th prem winners (six times) 13th championship winners (once)

blair dismisses quit claim report tony blair has dismissed reports he told gordon brown he would quit before the next general election. you don t do deals over jobs like this the prime minister told bbc one s breakfast with frost programme. according to a new book brown s britain mr blair went back on a pledge to make way for mr brown after cabinet allies intervened in june 2004. mr blair said the claims were reheated from six months ago and that he was concentrating on running the country. mr blair said: i ve dealt with this six months ago. i said then you don t do deals over jobs like this - you don t. what both of us are actually concentrating on are the issues that concern the country. the book by sunday telegraph journalist robert peston and serialised in the newspaper said the pair had mutual animosity and contempt for each other. it claims tony blair felt by november 2003 he had lost voters trust because of the iraq war and that he was no longer an asset to the labour party. and that at a dinner hosted by deputy prime minister john prescott he told mr brown of his intention to stand down. according to mr peston the prime minister said: help me to get through the year and i will then stand down. but he then changed his mind in june 2004 following intervention from allies in the cabinet and the suspicion that the chancellor was deliberately manoeuvring against him according to the book. mr peston told bbc news: my understanding is that they are not nearly as close or as friendly as they once were. what the book says is there is now a pretty profound mutual mistrust mutual animosity. i think in public you see this double-act pretending everything is alright but in private i don t think the relationship is good because brown understandably feels deeply betrayed - particularly over this issue of the leadership. but in a wide-ranging bbc interview covering issues such as the asian tsunami disaster the middle east peace process and northern ireland mr blair said: when you get to the top in politics you get this huge swell around you. all sorts of people make all sorts of claims and counter-claims. he admitted to a sense of frustration about the allegations which he said had been made countless times . there has been fresh speculation of a rift recently following their separate responses to the asian tsunami. these rumours were fuelled by mr blair s decision to hold his monthly media conference at the same time as a long-planned speech by mr brown on uk plans to tackle global poverty with a new marshall plan for africa. there was speculation the pair were trying to outdo each other s response to the disaster. but the prime minister said he had discussed these claims with the chancellor and dismissed them as a load of nonsense . former welfare minister frank field mp said the prime minister should sack mr brown but did not believe mr blair was strong enough to do so. tory leader michael howard accused the prime minister and mr brown of squabbling like schoolboys . he told sky news sunday with adam boulton: this is the politics of the playground and britain really does deserve better. the liberal democrat parliamentary chairman matthew taylor said the personal ambition of mr blair and mr brown was getting in the way of good government . either they need to grow up and put their squabbles to one side or they cannot expect the electorate to support a divided government at the next election. during the interview mr blair also said the former home secretary david blunkett would play a big role at the general election.

bbc should allow more scrutiny mps have urged the bbc to give watchdogs more freedom to scrutinise how £2bn in licence fee money is spent. the public accounts committee called for the national audit office to be given a free hand to investigate how the bbc offers value for money. although six areas are to be opened up to scrutiny the audit office should have more power to choose what it investigated the mps said. the call was made in a report into the bbc s freeview digital service. our aim is not to rewrite the storyline of eastenders but simply to ensure that the bbc is as accountable to parliament as any other organisation spending public money said the committee chairman mp edward leigh. the bbc s spending is not subject to the full independent scrutiny and accountability to parliament. parliament requires television owners to pay a licence fee and expects the comptroller and auditor general on behalf of parliament to be able to scrutinise how that money over £2 billion a year is used. a bbc spokeswoman said: we share the committee s interest in ensuring the public money we receive is spent well. though in its infancy we think the arrangements with the nao are working well and should be given time to mature. the report said the freeview digital service has had an impressive take up since its launch but the bbc must still dispel confusion about the service. the committee found the bbc had succeeded in ensuring subscription-free access to digital channels following the collapse of itv digital in 2002. but the fact that one in four homes could not access freeview remained a problem. the report said that while gaps in the coverage were largely due to landscape issues there was need for detailed explanations on the freeview website and on promotional literature as to why it was not available in specific areas. the government has proposed switch off of the analogue television signal with 2012 the most recently proposed date. the bbc launched freeview in 2002 as an alternative to satellite subscription services such as sky to allow its digital channels such as bbc three and news 24 to be seen. there have been an estimated five million freeview set-top boxes sold since the launch and prices have fallen considerably. the corporation plans to spend up to £138m on freeview before 2014 to ensure people can receive the service throughout the uk and are aware of it.

card fraudsters targeting web new safeguards on credit and debit card payments in shops has led fraudsters to focus on internet and phone payments an anti-fraud agency has said. anti-fraud consultancy retail decisions says card-not-present fraud where goods are paid for online or by phone has risen since the start of 2005. the introduction of chip and pin cards has tightened security for transactions on the high street. but the clampdown has caused fraudsters to change tack retail decisions said. the introduction of chip and pin cards aimed to cut down on credit card fraud in stores by asking shoppers to verify their identity with a confidential personal pin number instead of a signature. retail decisions chief executive carl clump told the bbc that there was no doubt that chip and pin would reduce card fraud in the card-present environment . however it is important to monitor what happens in the card-not-present environment as fraudsters will turn their attention to the internet mail order telephone order and interactive tv he said. we have seen a 22% uplift in card-not-present fraud here in the uk... since the start of the year. fraud doesn t just disappear it mutates to the next weakest link in the chain he said. retail decisions survey on the implementation of chip and pin found that shoppers had adapted easily to the new system but that banks performance in distributing the new cards had been patchy at best. the main issue is that not everyone has the pins they need said mr clump. nearly two thirds - 65% - of the 1 000 people interviewed said they had used chip and pin to make payments. of these 83% were happy with the experience though nearly a quarter said they struggled to remember their pin number. however only 34% said they had received replacement cards with the necessary chip technology from all their card providers. furthermore 16% said that none of their cards had been replaced while 30% said only some had. uk shoppers spent £5.3bn on plastic cards in 2003 the last full year for which figures are available from the association of payment clearing services (apacs). altogether card scams on uk-issued cards totalled £402.4m in 2003. card-not-present fraud rose an annual 6% to £116.4m making it the biggest category even then. within this internet fraud totalled £43m apacs figures show.

gadget growth fuels eco concerns technology firms and gadget lovers are being urged to think more about the environment when buying and disposing of the latest hi-tech products. at the consumer electronics show in las vegas earlier this month several hi-tech firms were recognised for their strategies to help the environment. ebay also announced the rethink project bringing together intel apple and ibm among others to promote recycling. the us consumer electronics market is set to grow by over 11% in 2005. but more awareness is needed about how and where old gadgets can be recycled as well as how to be more energy efficient said the us environmental protection agency (epa). of particular growing concern is how much energy it takes to recharge portable devices one of the fastest growing markets in technology. the consumer electronics association (cea) has predicted that shipments of consumer technologies in 2005 will reach more than $125.73 billion (nearly £68 billion). ebay s initiative pulls together major technology firms environment groups government agencies and ebay users to give information about what to do with old computers and where to send them. the online auction house thinks that its already-established community of loyal users could be influential. we really became aware of the e-waste issue and we saw that our 125 million users can be a powerful force for good ebay s david stern told the bbc news website. we saw the opportunity to meet the additional demand we have on the site for used computers and saw the opportunity too to good some good for the environment. but it is not just computers that cause a problem for the environment. teenagers get a new mobile every 11 months adults every 18 months and a 15 million handsets are replaced in total each year. yet only 15% are actually recycled. this year a predicted two billion people worldwide will own a mobile according to a deloitte report. schemes in the us like ripmobile could help in targeting younger generations with recycling messages. the initiative which was also launched at ces rewards 10 to 28-year-olds for returning unused phones. this system allows for the transformation of a drawer full of unused mobile phones into anything from music to clothes to electronics or games said seth heine from ripmobile. one group of students collected 1 000 mobiles for recycling in just three months. mr heine told the bbc news website that what was important was to raise awareness amongst the young so that recycling becomes learned behaviour . europe is undoubtedly more advanced than the us in terms of recycling awareness and robust end of life programmes although there is a tide change happening in the rest of the world too. intel showcased some its motherboards and chips at ces which are entirely lead free. there is more and more awareness on the consumer side but the whole industry is moving towards being lead free intel s allen wilson told the bbc news website. there is still low-level awareness right now but it is on the rise - the highest level of awareness is in europe. a european union (eu) directive weee (waste electronic and electrical equipment) comes into effect in august. it puts the responsibility on electrical manufacturers to recycle items that are returned to them. but developments are also being made to design better technologies which are more energy efficient and which do not contain harmful substances. elements like chromium lead and cadmium - common in consumer electronics goods - will be prohibited in all products in the eu by 2006. but it is not just about recycling either. the predicted huge growth in the gadget market means the amount of energy used to power them up is on the rise too. the biggest culprit according to the epa is the innocuous power adaptor nicknamed energy vampires . they provide vital juice for billions of mobile phones pdas (personal digital assistants) digital cameras camcorders and digital music players. although there is a focus on developing efficient and improved circuits in the devices themselves the technologies inside rechargers are still outdated and so eat up more energy than is needed to power a gadget. on 1 january new efficiency standards for external power supplies came into effect as part of the european commission code of conduct. but at ces the epa also unveiled new guidelines for its latest energy star initiative which targets external power adapters. these map out the framework for developing better adaptors that can be labelled with an energy star logo meaning they are about 35% more efficient. the initiative is a global effort and more manufacturers adaptors are being brought on board. most are made in china. about two billion are shipped global every year and about three billion are in use in the us alone. the epa is already working with several companies which make more than 22% of power supplies on the market. we are increasingly finding companies that not only want to provide neat hi-tech devices but also bundle with it a hi-tech efficient power supply the epa s andrew fanara said. initiatives like this are critical; if power adaptors continue to be made and used as they are now consumer electronics and other small appliances will be responsible for more than 40% of electricity used in us homes said the epa.

musicians upbeat about the net musicians are embracing the internet as a way of reaching new fans and selling more music a survey has found. the study by us researchers pew internet suggests musicians do not agree with the tactics adopted by the music industry against file-sharing. while most considered file-sharing as illegal many disagreed with the lawsuits launched against downloaders. even successful artists don t think the lawsuits will benefit musicians said report author mary madden. for part of the study pew internet conducted an online survey of 2 755 musicians songwriters and music publishers via musician membership organisations between march and april 2004. they ranged from full-time successful musicians to artists struggling to make a living from their music. we looked at more of the independent musicians rather than the rockstars of this industry but that reflects more accurately the state of the music industry ms madden told the bbc news website. we always hear the views of successful artists like the britneys of the world but the less successful artists rarely get represented. the survey found that musicians were overwhelming positive about the internet rather than seeing it as just a threat to their livelihood. almost all of them used the net for ideas and inspiration with nine out of 10 going online to promote advertise and post their music on the web. more than 80% offered free samples online while two-thirds sold their music via the net. independent musicians in particular saw the internet as a way to get around the need to land a record contract and reach fans directly. musicians are embracing the internet enthusiastically said ms madden. they are using the internet to gain inspiration sell it online tracking royalties learning about copyright. perhaps surprisingly opinions about online file-sharing were diverse and not as clear cut as those of the record industry. through the recording industry association of america (riaa) it has pursued an aggressive campaign through the courts to sue people suspected of sharing copyrighted music. but the report suggests this campaign does not have the wholehearted backing of musicians in the us. it found that most artists saw file-sharing as both good and bad though most agreed that it should be illegal. free downloading has killed opportunities for new bands to break without major funding and backing said one musician quoted by the report. it s hard to keep making records if they don t pay for themselves through sales. however 60% said they did not think the lawsuits against song swappers would benefit musicians and songwriters. many suggested that rather than fighting file-sharing the music industry needed to recognise the changes it has brought and embrace it. both successful and struggling musicians were more likely to say that the internet has made it possible for them to make more money from their music rather than make it harder for them to protect their material from piracy said ms madden.

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.

eu-us seeking deal on air dispute the eu and us have agreed to begin talks on ending subsidies given to aircraft makers eu trade commissioner peter mandelson has announced. both sides hope to reach a negotiated deal over state aid received by european aircraft maker airbus and its us rival boeing mr mandelson said. airbus and boeing accuse each other of benefiting from illegal subsidies. mr mandelson said the eu and us hoped to avoid having to resolve the dispute at the world trade organisation (wto). with this agreement the eu and us have confirmed their willingness to resolve the dispute which has arisen between them mr mandelson said. i hope our negotiations in the next three months will lead to an agreement ending subsidies to development and production of large civil aircraft. last year the us terminated an agreement with the eu reached in 1992 which limits the subsidies countries can hand over to civil aircraft makers. the us filed a complaint against brussels with the wto over state aid to airbus prompting a retaliatory eu complaint over us support for boeing. however both sides agreed to suspend their requests for wto arbitration at the beginning of december to allow bilateral talks to continue. eads and bae systems the european defence and aerospace firms which own airbus welcomed mr mandelson s announcement. it has always been preferable that any differences between the us and europe on this matter be overcome through constructive discussion rather than through legal recourse the companies said in a joint statement. separately the world s largest package delivery company ups said it had placed an order for 10 airbus a380 superjumbo freight-carrying jets with an option to buy 10 more of the triple-decker aircraft. the us company said it needed to expand its air freight capacity following strong international growth and would begin receiving deliveries of the a380s from 2009. however ups said it was cutting a previous order for smaller airbus a300s from 90 planes to 53. so far airbus has delivered 40 a300s to ups. airbus overtook boeing as the world s largest manufacturer of commercial airliners in 2003.

dvd copy protection strengthened dvds will be harder to copy thanks to new anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm macrovision. the pirated dvd market is enormous because current copy protection was hacked more than five years ago. macrovision says its new ripguard technology will thwart most but not all of the current dvd ripping (copying) programs used to pirate dvds. ripguard is designed to... reduce dvd ripping and the resulting supply of illegal peer to peer said the firm. macrovision said the new technology will work in nearly all current dvd players when applied to the discs but it did not specify how many machines could have a problem with ripguard. the new technology will be welcomed by hollywood film studios which are increasingly relying on revenue from dvd sales. the film industry has stepped up efforts to fight dvd piracy in the last 12 months taking legal action against websites which offer pirated copies of dvd movies for download. ultimately we see ripguard dvd... evolving beyond anti-piracy and towards enablement of legitimate online transactions interoperability in tomorrow s digital home and the upcoming high-definition formats said steve weinstein executive vice president and general manager of macrovision s entertainment technologies group. macrovision said ripguard was designed to plug the digital hole that was created by so-called decss ripper software. it circumvents content scrambling system measures placed on dvds and let people make perfect digital copies of copyrighted dvds in minutes. those copies could then be burned onto a blank dvd or uploaded for exchange to a peer-to-peer network. macrovision said ripguard would also prevent against rent rip and return - where people would rent a dvd copy it and then return the original. ripguard is expected to be rolled out on dvds from the middle of 2005 the company said. the new system works specifically to block most ripping programs - if used those programs will now most likely crash the company said. macrovision has said that rip guard can be updated if hackers find a way around the new anti-copying measures.

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.

uk needs true immigration data a former home office minister has called for an independent body to be set up to monitor uk immigration. barbara roche said an organisation should monitor and publish figures and be independent of government. she said this would counter so-called independent groups like migration watch which she described as an anti-immigration body posing as independent. migration watch says it is not against all immigration and the government already publishes accurate figures. sir andrew green chairman of the organisation says there is no need for an independent body because office of national statistics data are accurate. he says he opposes large-scale immigration both on the grounds of overcrowding and culture . he said: for example over the next 20 years one household in three will be due to immigration. we are already more overcrowded than india and we are four times more overcrowded than france. ms roche labour mp for hornsey and wood green believes legal migration is something we should welcome. she said her proposals mean we wouldn t have so-called independent experts like migration watch who come into this debate from an anti-immigration point of view. she went on: what i would like to see is there being a body which actually looked at the figures published them and was independent of government. i think that would go a long way to allaying some of the fears that are sometimes whipped up during this debate.

portishead back after eight years cult british group portishead have revealed they are writing their third album their first in eight years. founding member geoff barrow told bbc 6 music the record was well on the way to being completed. we re actually into it as we speak. we took some time off for christmas but generally we re doing another record barrow told the digital radio station. news of their album plans comes after confirmation the bristol band will play a tsunami charity show next month. portishead will play alongside fellow bristol band massive attack at oxfam s tsumani appeal held at the bristol academy on 19 february. barrow said he was surprised people thought the band who won a mercury music prize in 1995 for their debut album dummy had split up. we ve just had our heads down really we ve never actually broken up or parted or whatever. so for us it just seems even though we haven t played for years we still see each other and write - we just haven t released a record for a long time. portishead will not play any new material at next month s concert which will feature singer beth gibbons playing with an acoustic backing. other acts appearing include liverpool band the coral and former led zeppelin singer robert plant. portishead became an international success and a deeply influential band despite their scant recorded output. dummy was a critics favourite in 1994 hailed for its blend of menacing sounds and hip-hop beats married to old soul samples. the follow up portishead was released three years later.

germany calls for eu reform german chancellor gerhard schroeder has called for radical reform of the eu s stability pact to grant countries more flexibility over their budget deficits. mr schroeder said existing fiscal rules should be loosened to allow countries to run deficits above the current 3% limit if they met certain criteria. writing in the financial times mr schroeder also said heads of government should have a greater say in reforms. changes to the pact are due to be agreed at an economic summit in march. the current eu rules limit the size of a eurozone country s deficit to 3% of gdp. countries which exceed the threshold are liable to heavy fines by the european commission although several countries including germany have breached the rules consistently since 2002 without facing punishment. the european commission acknowledged last month that it would not impose sanctions on countries who break the rules. mr schroeder - a staunch supporter of the pact when it was set up in the 1990s - said exemptions were now needed to take into account the cost of domestic reform programmes and changing economic conditions. the stability pact will work better if intervention by european institutions in the budgetary sovereignty of national parliaments is only permitted under very limited conditions he wrote. only if their competences are respected will the member states be willing to align their policies more consistently with the economic goals of the eu. deficits should be allowed to rise above 3% mr schroeder argued if countries meet several mandatory criteria . these include governments which are adopting costly structural reforms countries which are suffering economic stagnation and nations which are shouldering special economic burdens . the proposed changes would make it harder for the european commission to launch infringement action against any state which breaches the pact s rules. mr schroeder s intervention comes ahead of a meeting of the 12 eurozone finance ministers on monday to discuss the pact. the issue will also be discussed at tuesday s ecofin meeting of the finance ministers of all 25 eu members. mr schroeder also called for heads of government to play a larger role in shaping reforms to the pact. a number of eu finance ministers are believed to favour only limited changes to the eurozone s rules.

campaign cold calls questioned labour and the conservatives are still telephoning the millions of people who have signed up to make sure they do not get marketing cold calls . the parties say they can stick to the rules by ensuring that their calls are not marketing - for instance by asking about people s voting intentions. the lib dems are asking the watchdog overseeing the rules to stop the calls. the information commissioner s office says surveys are allowed but there is a grey area if personal data is kept. telephone call centres are expected to be used as never before by all the three major parties in the run-up to the general election. but seven million telephone numbers are on the telephone preference service (tps) lists which ban unsolicited sales and marketing calls. both schemes are run by the direct marketing association and backed by eu directives on privacy and electronic communications. the rules on marketing calls apply as much to politicians as to private sector companies. but that does not mean labour and the tories are not calling people signed up to the tps. a labour party spokesman told the bbc news website the party avoided those on tps lists when telephoning people about membership or fundraising. but that did not happen for voter identification calls. when we ask which party they will vote for that is not marketing and we have very clear legal advice that it is not he said. so it is not covered by the telephone preference service. he said the party always asked people if they would be happy to be contacted again and if they said no they were not rung again. a conservative spokeswoman said the party stuck to the rules when it rang tps subscribers. she said: we do apply tps but in line with the law. we would not do things that are not allowed in the law. a spokesman for the information commissioner s office said it would be classed as marketing if political parties telephoned people to encourage them to vote for them. but the rules did allow polling organisations to telephone people about their voting intentions if they recorded them only as part of a bigger set of statistics not person by person. if a political party was doing that than it may be that also would not be marketing he said. the spokesman said it might be considered unsolicited marketing if a party recorded voting preferences with a view to marketing information in the future. the spokesman said there was no yes or no answer and the area was pretty grey . he added: if someone complained then we would investigate that. political parties are aware of the regulations. at the last by-elections we reminded them. lib dem chairman matthew taylor has now written to the watchdog saying: the advice we have received on several previous occasions is that such phone calls are illegal. he says evidence from local lib dem parties around the country suggests there are significant numbers of such calls. i hope you can therefore take swift and efficient action to ensure that this ceases he tells the commissioner. mr taylor argues there should be new guidelines so all parties can act in the same way if the watchdog believes the rules allow parties to ring tps numbers about voting intentions and later urge those people to vote for them.

playstation 3 processor unveiled the cell processor which will drive sony s playstation 3 will run 10-times faster than current pc chips its designers have said. sony ibm and toshiba who have been working on the cell processor for three years unveiled the chip on monday. it is being designed for use in graphics workstations the new playstation console and has been described as a supercomputer on a chip. the chip will run at speeds of greater than 4 ghz the firms said. by comparison rival chip maker intel s fastest processor runs at 3.8 ghz. details of the chip were released at the international solid state circuits conference in san francisco. the new processor is set to ignite a fresh battle between intel and the cell consortium over which processor sits at the centre of digital products. the playstation 3 is expected in 2006 while toshiba plans to incorporate it into high-end televisions next year. ibm has said it will sell a workstation with the chip starting later this year. cell is comprised of several computing engines or cores. a core based on ibm s power architecture controls eight synergistic processing centres. in all they can simultaneously carry out 10 instruction sequences compared with two for current intel chips. later this year intel and advanced micro devices plan to release their own multicore chips which also increase the number of instructions that can be executed at once. the cell s specifications suggest the playstation 3 will offer a significant boost in graphics capabilities but analysts cautioned that not all the features in a product announcement will find their way into systems. any new technology like this has two components said steve kleynhans an analyst with meta group. he said: it has the vision of what it could be because you need the big vision to sell it. then there s the reality of how it s really going to be used which generally is several levels down the chain from there. while the playstation 3 is likely to be the first mass-market product to use cell the chip s designers have said the flexible architecture means that it would be useful for a wide range of applications from servers to mobile phones. initial devices are unlikely to be any smaller than a games console however because the first version of the cell will run hot enough to need a cooling fan. and while marketing speak describes the chip as a supercomputer - it remains significantly slower than the slowest computer on the list of the world s top 500 supercomputers. ibm said cell was os neutral and would support multiple operating systems simultaneously but designers would not confirm if microsoft s windows was among those tested with the chip. if cell is to challenge intel s range of chips in the marketplace it will need to find itself inside pcs which predominantly run using windows.

radcliffe enjoys winning comeback paula radcliffe made a triumphant return to competitive running with victory in the new york marathon. the briton running for the first time since dropping out of the olympic marathon and 10 000m held off kenyan susan chepkemei in a thrilling finish. the pair were locked together for the last few miles before radcliffe finally sprinted clear to win in two hours 23 minutes and 10 seconds. it s a good way to end the year she said. i m ready for a good rest now. radcliffe decided only recently to run in the race and many had doubted whether she had sufficiently recovered from her olympic ordeal just 11 weeks ago. but the world record-holder was prominent at the head of the field for the whole race as her rivals slowly dropped off the pace. just chepkemei and radcliffe were left in contention as the race came into the final few miles. the kenyan put in several bursts of speed to throw off radcliffe but the briton managed to hang in. both runners looked to be suffering as they reached the final mile in central park. but it was radcliffe who managed to dredge up a final sprint to see off chepkemei in the closest finish in the race s history and in the process make a huge step in erasing the disappointment she suffered in athens.

scots smoking ban details set out smoke-free areas will save lives and improve scotland s health first minister jack mcconnell has insisted. he told the scottish parliament on wednesday that a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places would be introduced by the spring of 2006. mr mcconnell said the country s health rates were lamentable not least because of smoking. he said fines of up to £2 500 would be levied on employers and licences would be removed for non-compliance. earlier the scottish executive considered a range of options but agreed unanimously to introduce an all-out ban on smoking in public places. in a statement to parliament mr mcconnell said that the licensed trade would be asked to join an expert committee prior to the ban coming into force. the health arguments far outweighed lingering public disquiet about a complete ban and claims by the licensed trade that jobs would be lost he told msps. he said there would be an international marketing campaign whereby tourists can enjoy smoke free environment and the sick man of europe image becomes a thing of the past . there are still national habits which hold us back - the time has come for this parliament to accelerate improvements in health he declared. health rates are lamentable because of a lack of exercise drugs abuse excessive drinking and over-eating. they all make us one of the most unhealthy countries in europe and too many smoke. it is clear that scotland must not be held back by poor public health - the single biggest contribution devolved government can make is to reduce the toll of preventable death caused by smoking. the legislation will be introduced as part of the health service (miscellaneous provisions) bill which will be considered by parliament before christmas. main points of the plan: - a comprehensive ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in scotland - the legislation will be enforced by environmental health and local licensing officers - licensees or employers who fail to enforce the law will face fines up to a maximum of £2 500 - licensees who persistently refuse to comply with the law will face the ultimate sanction of losing their liquor licence - a system of issuing fixed penalty notices for those individuals who break the law will be examined - individuals who persistently break the law will face a maximum fine of £1 000. mr mcconnell claimed there was evidence that smoking bans had helped smokers to either give up quicker or smoke less. he said there had been falling cigarette sales of 13% in new york and 16% in ireland. mr mcconnell added that there had been a near nine per cent rise in tax revenues from new york bars and restaurants and in ireland only a one point three per cent volume sales fall where they were declining before the ban. the afternoon announcement following a cabinet meeting on wednesday morning won broad support from opposition parties. the scottish national party s holyrood leader nicola sturgeon welcomed the move but added that the public should be consulted as the clock ticked towards the ban date. she said: the time has come for a ban on smoking in public places. there is evidence a ban can cut deaths from passive smoking and makes it easier for the 70% of smokers who desperately want to give up the habit. but we must also recognise that some people have concerns and reservations - there are people who are yet to be persuaded. the scottish conservative party leader david mcletchie questioned what would be exempted from the ban. he was keen to know if inmates in scottish prisons would continue to be allowed to smoke. mr mcletchie asked: would it not be ironic and perhaps entirely typical of the first minister s brave new scotland that the criminals can be smokers but the smokers will become criminals the scottish green party s health spokeswoman eleanor scott said she was pleased scotland would be following the success stories of new york and ireland . she believed the majority of people in scotland wanted to go out without having to breathe in harmful tobacco smoke.

berlin applauds hotel rwanda political thriller hotel rwanda was given a rousing reception by spectators at the berlin film festival on saturday. the movie s star don cheadle also received a standing ovation when he stepped onto the stage after the show. the film is the true story of the hotel manager who saved 1 200 tutsis from death during the rwandan genocide. the film showing out of competition in berlin is nominated for three oscars including best actor for cheadle. sophie okonedo who plays cheadle s wife tatiana is nominated for best supporting actress. the film is also in the running for best original screenplay. cheadle was joined on stage at berlin by paul rusesabagina the hotel manager he plays in the film mr rusesabagina s wife and his extended family who fled rwanda and now live in belgium. mr rusesabagina used his influence as a prominent hutu businessman to shelter potential victims of the rwandan genocide contacting dignitaries including bill clinton the king of belgium as well as the french foreign ministry. hotel rwanda is one of two films addressing the genocide at the 55th berlin film festival which runs until 20 february. sometimes in april is a feature by raoul peck competing for the festival s coveted golden and silver bear awards. the film was made exclusively in rwanda whereas hotel rwanda was shot mostly in south africa with some scenes made in kigali.

fox attacks blair s tory lies tony blair lied when he took the uk to war so has no qualms about lying in the election campaign say the tories. tory co-chairman liam fox was speaking after mr blair told labour members the tories offered a hard right agenda . dr fox told bbc radio: if you are willing to lie about the reasons for going to war i guess you are going to lie about anything at all. he would not discuss reports the party repaid £500 000 to lord ashcroft after he predicted an election defeat. the prime minister ratcheted up labour s pre-election campaigning at the weekend with a helicopter tour of the country and his speech at the party s spring conference. he insisted he did not know the poll date but it is widely expected to be 5 may. in what was seen as a highly personal speech in gateshead on sunday mr blair said: i have the same passion and hunger as when i first walked through the door of 10 downing street. he described his relationship with the public as starting euphoric then struggling to live up to the expectations and reaching the point of raised voices and throwing crockery . he warned his supporters against complacency saying: it s a fight for the future of our country it s a fight that for britain and the people of britain we have to win. mr blair said that whether the public chose michael howard or mr kennedy it would result in a tory government not a labour government and a country that goes back and does not move forward . dr fox accused mr blair and other cabinet ministers of telling lies about their opponents policies and then attacking the lies. what we learned at the weekend is what labour tactics are going to be and it s going to be fear and smear he told bbc news. the tory co-chairman attacked labour s six new pledges as vacuous and said mr blair was very worried voters would take revenge for his failure to deliver. dr fox refused to discuss weekend newspaper reports that the party had repaid £500 000 to former tory treasurer lord ashcroft after he said the party could not win the election. we repay loans when they are due but do not comment to individual financial matters he said insisting he enjoyed a warm and constructive relationship to lord ashcroft. meanwhile lib dem leader charles kennedy is expected to attack mr blair s words as he begins a nationwide tour on monday. mr kennedy is accelerating lib dem election preparations this week as he visits manchester liverpool leicester somerset basingstoke shrewsbury dorset and torbay. he said: this is three-party politics. in the northern cities the contest is between labour and the liberal democrats. in southern and rural seats - especially in the south west - the principal contenders are the liberal democrats and the conservatives who are out of the running in scotland and wales. the lib dems accuse mr blair of making a touchy-feely speech to labour delegates which will not help him regain public trust.

brown and blair face new rift claims for the umpteenth time tony blair and gordon brown are said to have declared all out war on each other. this time the alleged rift is over who should take the credit for the government s global aid and debt initiatives particularly in the wake of the tsunami disaster - an issue many hoped and believed was above such things. it dominated the prime minister s monthly news conference which saw mr blair start in full irritation mode as he was forced to bat away question after question about his relationship with his neighbour. as he told journalists: i am not interested in what goes in and out of newspapers. there is a complete unity of purpose. and he again heaped praise on mr brown saying he was doing a great job and would continue doing it - although he would not commit to any job for mr brown after the election. so why did he arrange his press conference at the last moment so it coincided with mr brown s long-arranged keynote speech on aid and debt he was asked by now mr blair had moved from irritation mode to his barely disguised fury setting. he snapped back that the hacks knew very well what the operational reasons were for the timing of his press conference. well not really as it happens. and he repeated what a great man gordon was and how united they were before again sneering that he took absolutely no notice of what went in and out of the newspapers preferring to get on with the job of doing the best for the country and the world. although in the next breath he declared: i get increasingly alarmed by what i read in the newspapers before catching himself on and quickly adding: in so far as i read them of course. he probably had good reason to be alarmed because the newspapers had been full of stories about the claimed open warfare between the two men. as far as the timing of the prime minister s press conference is concerned there are two options. the first is that it was a calculated attempt to upstage the chancellor and seize back the initiative on the big issue of the moment. if that is the case it suggests that even the fear of seriously negative newspaper headlines is not enough to stop the squabbling. the second option is that it was an unavoidable coincidence which would suggest the government has lost its once-famed ability to strictly co-ordinate announcements - through the infamous downing street grid - to avert just such allegations. either way the effect was the same - to overshadow the big announcements of government policy on a hugely pertinent issue. and there had been previous suggestions that the new year had started with a fresh outbreak of the warfare between the two men. firstly the prime minister insisted on wednesday that he had been intimately involved in the development of the proposals to get g8 countries to freeze debt repayments from the tsunami-hit countries. it was claimed he had been embarrassed by the fact that gordon brown appeared to have taken the initiative over the government s response to the disaster while mr blair was still on holiday in egypt. then as if to pour fuel on the flames both men separately spoke about working on tsunami or wider aid and development policy with their cabinet colleagues foreign secretary jack straw aid minister hilary benn and deputy prime minister john prescott - without mentioning the other. all this came amid fresh claims that mr brown was still seething that he had been excluded from a prominent role in general election planning and had as a result started to set out his own platform. the fact that he used an article in the guardian newspaper to set out what he believed should be in the manifesto has embarked on a mini tour of britain to set out his aid plans and will next week visit africa on the same mission - often seen as the prime minister s turf - has only added to the impression of rival camps operating entirely independently of each other. the prime minister denied all that as well repeating his insistence that it was inconceivable the economy and the chancellor would not be at the centre of the election campaign. but the big fear with many on the labour benches now is that unless a lid can be put on the speculation over the rivalry it may even threaten to undermine the election campaign itself.

probe launched on ken nazi jibe an investigation by the standards board is under way following allegations that ken livingstone has brought his office into disrepute. the probe follows the london mayor s comments to a jewish journalist comparing him to a concentration camp guard after a party about a week ago. the local government watchdog also said the allegation related to a failure to respect others. it has the power to suspend or bar labour s mr livingstone from office. a complaint was made to the body by the board of deputies of british jews and the commission for racial equality. speaking after the investigation was announced bob neill leader of the london assembly conservatives said: he has behaved in a manner unbecoming of his office and in so doing has shown extraordinarily poor civic leadership. his administration is now in crisis. on sunday deputy mayor nicky gavron told the bbc s politics show she believed the mayor of london would say sorry on tuesday for offending the wider jewish community. the prime minister tony blair is among those who have called for an apology but so far the mayor has refused. the mayor accused oliver finegold of the evening standard newspaper of doorstepping him at a predominately gay event held for mp chris smith. ms gavron said she thought mr livingstone s comments were inappropriate but she did not believe the mayor was anti-semitic. she said: i work very closely with ken so i can speak of what he s like in his guarded and unguarded moments and... he is in no way anti-jewish i wouldn t for a moment work with him if he were. on the other hand i think his remarks were inappropriate and i believe it is important and i believe he will come to the point where he says i regret that i have caused offence to the wider jewish community . i hope he will do it soon and it is mooted that he is going to make some sort of statement on tuesday.

games win for blu-ray dvd format the next-generation dvd format blu-ray is winning more supporters than its rival according to its backers. blu-ray backed by 100 firms including sony is competing against toshiba and nec-backed hd-dvd to be the format of choice for future films and games. the blu-ray association said on thursday that games giants electronic arts and vivendi would both support its dvd format. the next generation of dvds will hold high-definition video and sound. this offers incredible 3d-like quality of pictures which major hollywood studios and games publishers are extremely keen to exploit in the coming year. in a separate press conference at the consumer electronics show in las vegas toshiba announced that dvd players for its technology would be on the market by the end of 2005. as we move from standard definition video images to high-definition images we have a much greater need for storage richard doherty from panasonic s hollywood laboratories one of the pioneers of blu-ray told the bbc news website. so by utilising blue laser-based technology we can make an optical laser disc that can hold six times as much as today s dvd. a blu-ray disc will be able to store 50gb of high-quality data while toshiba s hd-dvd will hold 30gb. mr doherty added that it was making sure the discs could satisfy all high-definition needs including the ability to record onto the dvds and smaller discs to fit into camcorders. both toshiba and blu-ray are hopeful that the emerging dvd format war akin to the betamax and vhs fight in the 1980s can be resolved over the next year when next-generation dvd players start to come out. when players do come out they will be able to play standard dvds too which is good news for those who have huge libraries of current dvds. but the support from vivendi and electronics arts is a big boost to blu-ray in the battle for supremacy. gaming is a $20 billion industry worldwide so is as crucial as the film industry in terms of money to be made. the technical requirement for game development today demands more advanced optical-disc technologies said michael heilmann chief technology officer for vivendi universal. blu-ray offers the capacity performance and high-speed internet connectivity to take us into the future of gaming. ea a leading games developer and publisher added that the delivery of high-definition games of the future was vital and blu-ray had the capacity functionality and interactivity needed for the kinds of projects it was planning. sony recently announced it would be using the technology in its next generation of playstations. mr doherty said gamers were ravenous for high-quality graphics and technology for the next generation of titles. gamers especially those working on pcs are always focused on more capacity to deliver textures deeper levels for delivering higher-resolution playback. he added: the focus for games moving forward on increased immersion. gaming companies really like to focus on creating a world which involves creating complicated 3d models and textures and increasing the resolution increasing the frame rate - all of these are part of getting a more immersive experience. fitting these models on current dvd technologies means compressing the graphics so much that much of this quality is lost. as games move to more photo-real capability the current technology is limiting. they are thrilled at the advanced capacity to start to build these immersive environments said mr doherty. currently graphics-intensive pc games also require multiple discs for installation. high-definition dvds will cut down on that need. likewise consoles rely on single discs so dvds that can hold six times more data mean much better high-resolution games. blu-ray has already won backing from major hollywood studios such as mgm studios disney and buena vista as well as top technology firms like dell lg samsung and phillips amongst others. while toshiba s hd-dvd technology has won backing from paramount universal and warner bros. the real world benefits (of hd-dvd) are apparent and obvious said jim cardwell president of warner home video. mr cardwell added that rapid time to market and dependability were significant factors in choosing to go with hd-dvd. both formats are courting microsoft to be the format of choice for the next generation xbox but discussions are still on-going. next generation dvds will also be able to store images and other data. ces is the largest consumer electronics show in the world and runs from 6 to 9 january.

dvd review: harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban this third harry potter film brought a change of director and a dramatic visual shake-up that really shines on dvd. gone are the warm bright colours found in the two earlier films alfonso cuaron brings in a bleak and cold feel that is simply gorgeous - and looks even better here than in the cinema. it is all part of the progression of harry s story into darker areas but you ll spend time just marvelling at the beautiful hogwarts landscape. this is the first potter film where you get so lost in the screen adaptation that you forget the book. it is the third year at hogwarts and studies are interrupted as they always are by a calamity that only harry ron and hermione can put right. it sounds corny. but harry is no longer the winsome hero he is a moody teenager and daniel radcliffe pulls it off very well. emma watson is ever better as hermione and the young stars are joined by the usual myriad famous actors including gary oldman and emma thompson. the film itself is the reason to buy this dvd. but it is laden with behind-the-scenes extras including funny if shallow interviews with all the main cast. but what seems like a long list of features can be swiftly whittled down to the few that you are going to watch. younger viewers will go for the games which include a magic you may have missed memory test and crookshanks chasing off after scabbers. adult viewers will ignore those and go straight to the deleted scenes. you will understand why they were deleted but it is fun to see more footage - and not have to hunt through endless menus to find it as we did on the first harry potter dvd. the most interesting pieces are an interview with jk rowling in creating the vision and conjuring a scene a short featurette about the making of the film s big moments.

farrell due to make us tv debut actor colin farrell is to make his debut on us television in medical sitcom scrubs according to hollywood newspaper daily variety. the film star who recently played the title role in historical blockbuster alexander will make a cameo appearance as an unruly irishman. the episode featuring the 28-year-old will be screened on 25 january. farrell s appearance is said to be a result of his friendship with zach braff who stars in the programme. it will be the actor s first appearance on the small screen since he appeared in bbc series ballykissangel in 1999. the gentle sunday night drama came to an end in 2001. he has since become one of hollywood s fastest-rising stars with a string roles in major league films such as minority report phone booth and daredevil. farrell is pencilled in to play the role of crockett in a film version of 1980s police drama miami vice. scrubs which appears on the nbc network in the us and has been shown on channel 4 on british television is an off-beat comedy about a group of hospital doctors. other film stars to have appeared in scrubs include heather graham while friends actor matthew perry has guest-starred and directed an episode of the show. its leading star zach braff has recently been seen on the big screen in garden state which he also directed.

millions buy mp3 players in us one in 10 adult americans - equivalent to 22 million people - owns an mp3 player according to a survey. a study by the pew internet and american life project found that mp3 players are the gadget of choice among affluent young americans. the survey did not interview teenagers but it is likely that millions of under-18s also have mp3 players. the american love affair with digital music players has been made possible as more and more homes get broadband. of the 22 million americans who own mp3 players 59% are men compared to 41% of women. those on high income - judged to be $75 000 (£39 000) or above - are four times more likely to have players than those earning less than $30 000 ( £15 000). broadband access plays a big part in ownership too. almost a quarter of those with broadband at home have players compared to 9% of those who have dial-up access. mp3 players are still the gadget of choice for younger adults. almost one in five us citizens aged under 30 have one. this compares to 14% of those aged 30-39 and 14% of those aged 40-48. the influence of children also plays a part. sixteen percent of parents living with children under 18 have digital players compared to 9% of those who don t. the ease of use and growth of music available on the net are the main factors for the upsurge in ownership the survey found. people are beginning to use them as instruments of social activity - sharing songs and taking part in podcasting - the survey found. ipods and mp3 players are becoming a mainstream technology for consumers said lee rainie director of the pew internet and american life project. more growth in the market is inevitable as new devices become available as new players enter the market and as new social uses for ipods/mp3 players become popular he added.

prince crowned top music earner prince earned more than any other pop star in 2004 beating artists such madonna and elton john in us magazine rolling stone s annual list. the singer banked $56.5m (£30.4m) from concerts album and publishing sales with his musicology tour and album. he kept madonna in second place as she earned $54.9m (£29.5m) while embarking on her global re-invention tour. veterans simon and garfunkel were in 10th place their comeback tour helping them earn $24.9m (£13.4m) last year. prince returned to centre stage after a decade in the commercial wilderness the magazine reported. the singer s 2004 tour took $90.3m (£48.5m) in ticket sales and he sold 1.9 million copies of his latest album musicology. although she grossed more than prince last year madonna remained in second place because of the monumental production costs of her tour. heavy metal band metallica s madly in anger with the world tour helped push their 2004 earnings up to $43.1m (£23.1m). they were ahead of sir elton john who took fourth place and almost $42.7m (£23m) from performances including a debut on the las vegas strip. other seasoned performers in the list included rod stewart whose sold-out shows and third volume of the great american songbook covers album helped net him £35m (£19m). the highest-ranking rap act in the list was 50 cent who at number 19 took $24m (£13m) to the bank.

early elvis recordings go on sale some of elvis presley s earliest recordings - including takes of all shook up - are going under the hammer on sunday at a los angeles auction. the six unedited reel-to-reel tapes - which were owned by the engineer who recorded them - are valued at up to $50 000 (£29 000). highlights of the two hour-long collection will get their public debut at bonhams auction house on saturday. the rca tapes date from september 1956 to september 1957. the pre-masters include a take of jailhouse rock religious songs material for his first christmas album and banter between presley members of his band and engineer thorne nogar. we ve had them for a lot of years and i think the people should enjoy them nogar s son stephen 57 said. and frankly we could use the money. nogar who died in 1994 aged 72 always used to make two tapes of sessions as a back-up in case rca producers wanted to make late changes to songs. he called them his ass-saver tapes his son said. the quality is said to be noticeably crisper than that of a new vinyl record. because the family does not own the copyright to the music the tapes can only be sold for personal enjoyment and they cannot be copied for commercial gain.

italy 8-38 wales wales secured their first away win in the rbs six nations for nearly four years with a six-try victory in rome. tries from jonathan thomas tom shanklin and martyn williams gave the visitors a 19-5 half-time advantage. luciano orquera did reply with one for italy but second-half efforts from brent cockbain shane williams and robert sidoli sealed victory. fly-half stephen jones added four conversions as wales maintained their superb start to this year s tournament. starting full of confidence after their victory over england the visitors scored the opening try after just four minutes. diminutive wing shane williams fielded a kick ahead and danced past the onrushing andrea masi and aaron persico into the italian half. his pass to tom shanklin appeared forward but when the centre was held up short the ball was switched left and michael owen s long cut-out pass gave the lurking thomas an easy run-in. stephen jones who retained the kicking duties despite gavin henson s heroics against england slotted an excellent conversion from wide out. wales twice threatened further scores but failed to find the crucial pass and italy hit back out of the blue in the 11th minute. henson sporting gold boots rather than the silver variety that did for england beat two players with ease out on the left touchline. but his attempted chip ahead was charged down by orquera who snaffled the loose ball and hared away from halfway to score in the right corner. with the welsh line-out stuttering and italy twice turning the visitors scrum the home side s forward power brought them back into it. but a clever high kick from henson almost brought a try for hal luscombe when roland de marigny and ludovico nitoglia made a hash of claiming it as the ball bounced into touch. wales regained control with a second try in the 21st minute henson lobbing up a high kick to the left corner where shanklin jumped higher than nitoglia to dot down his 15th test try. jones was unable to convert and de marigny then hit the upright with a penalty attempt for italy. henson was also narrowly short with a long-range effort at goal but wales ended the half with a vital third score to give themselves some breathing space. henson sent luscombe streaking away and when he off-loaded to martyn williams the flanker showed his nous to ground the ball against the padding of the post jones adding the conversion. italy who lost flanker mauro bergamasco with a head knock before half-time built up a head of steam on the resumption. de marigny landed a penalty to make it 19-8 and a nitoglia break through the middle threatened a try only for the move to break down with a knock-on. but wales put the outcome beyond doubt with two superb tries in four minutes before the hour. their fourth after 53 minutes was sparked by another mazy run from shane williams who beat several players with ease and finished with a powerful angled run from lock cockbain. before italy could recover from that blow a strong surge from gareth thomas and great off-loads from martyn williams and replacement kevin morgan saw shane williams scamper over. with jones converting both for a 33-8 lead wales had the luxury of sending on five more replacements for the final quarter. the icing on the cake came with a sixth try after more superb support work shane williams and ceri sweeney combining to send sidoli over in the left corner. the only downside for wales was a hamstring injury suffered by luscombe. but after back-to-back wins at the start of the tournament for the first time in 11 years they will travel to paris in a fortnight looking like genuine contenders. r de marigny; mirco bergamasco w pozzebon a masi l nitoglia; l orquera a troncon; a lo cicero f ongaro m castrogiovanni s dellape m bortolami (capt) a persico mauro bergamasco s parisse. g intoppa s perugini ca del fava d dal maso p griffen m barbini kp robertson. g thomas (capt); h luscombe t shanklin g henson s williams; s jones d peel; g jenkins m davies a jones; b cockbain r sidoli; j thomas m williams m owen. r mcbryde j yapp i gough r sowden-taylor g cooper c sweeney k morgan. andrew cole (australia).

labour accused of broken pledge labour has already broken its pre-election promise on immigration before the ink has dried on its new pledge card the tories have claimed. home secretary charles clarke has been quoted as telling labour members he wants more migrants to come to the uk. tory co-chairman liam fox said the comments were at odds with tony blair s prediction of a net cut in immigration. but mr clarke accused him of trying to score cheap political points by muddling immigration with asylum. london s evening standard quoted mr clarke telling labour activists at a question and answer session in gateshead that he wanted britain to offer refuge for those fleeing tyranny. that s not only a moral duty and a legal duty but something which is part of the essence of this country he said. we want more migration more people come to study and to work. we want more people coming to look for refuge. mr blair s was asked last wednesday if the government s new immigration plans including a point system for economic migrants would reduce net migration. the prime minister told mps: the abusers will be weeded out and as a result of the end of chain migration [where families have an automatic right to settle] the numbers will probably fall. on monday dr fox told reporters: the prime minister has broken his word so many times in the past but now his promises do not even last a week. the labour party election pledges even when they are so incredibly vague do not even last four days. the tories want quotas for economic migrants and refugees and on tuesday will outline more details of their plans for health checks on migrants. mr clarke dismissed the latest tory attack. this is simply a scurrilous attempt by the tories to score cheap political points he said. the tories are purposely mixing together two separate issues of immigration and asylum. mr clarke said he had made clear the uk would welcome genuine economic migrants for key jobs on a strict points based system. and only asylum seekers genuinely fleeing death or persecution would be admitted. under our plans we expect unfounded applications to continue to fall he added. earlier dr fox accused mr blair and other cabinet ministers of telling lies about tory policies and then attacking the lies. he told bbc radio: if you are willing to lie about the reasons for going to war i guess you are going to lie about anything at all. the latest pre-election spats come after mr blair told labour members the tories offered a hard right agenda which would take britain backwards. lib dem leader charles kennedy accelerating lib dem election preparations this week as he visits manchester liverpool leicester somerset basingstoke shrewsbury dorset and torbay.

jansen suffers a further setback blackburn striker matt jansen faces three weeks out after surgery to treat a cartilage problem. but central defender lorenzo amoruso is moving closer to fitness following a knee operation. rovers assistant manager mark bowen said: matt had a small operation to trim knee cartilage. it s a tiny piece of work which should be a fairly quick recovery. lorenzo is also jogging for the first time along with kicking a ball. jansen s career has been dogged by injury since a freak scooter accident two years ago. he returned to first-team action soon after mark hughes appointment as blackburn boss and marked it with a goal against portsmouth in his first appearance of the season. bowen added: i m guessing but i reckon maybe two to three weeks before he is back in action completely. the rovers assistant boss forecast a longer time spell for amoruso s availability for first-team duties. bowen said: there s still some scar tissue present so it will be some weeks. it s a case of see how he goes. you can t put a real time on a comeback we ll see how he progresses.

kenyan school turns to handhelds at the mbita point primary school in western kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. they are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. it is a pilot project run by eduvision which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. matthew herren from eduvision told the bbc programme go digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called e-slates. the e-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. this in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. the data is transmitted alongside audio signals. the base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld e-slates. it downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. it also stores this on its hard disc. the system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. but mr herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. it s very simple to set up just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school but it s also a one-way connection so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult. the project is still at the pilot stage and eduvision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the linux-based system. the content is divided into visual information textual information and questions. users can scroll through these sections independently of each other. eduvision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. mr herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. he is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site google to digitise some of the world s largest university libraries. all books in the public domain something like 15 million could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. then every rural school in africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in oxford and harvard currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. but mr herren says eduvision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. we plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station have the e-slates charge during the day when the children are in school then they can take them home at night and continue working. maciej sundra who designed the user interface for the e-slates says the project s ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks the fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most.

mccririck out of big brother show racing pundit john mccririck has become the latest contestant to be evicted from celebrity big brother. he was nominated to leave the channel 4 show by fellow housemates alongside happy mondays dancer bez. at one time bez was among the most popular contestants but he has since become withdrawn and argumentative. mccririck was ordered to leave the house on monday following jackie stallone the actor sylvester s mother who was first to be evicted. bez reacted badly to the news that he had been nominated by five of his fellow housemates whilst john received four votes against him. sylvester stallone s ex-wife brigitte nielsen nominated both john and bez. she said: bez is a difficult human being. there s something wrong with him. even though he s making an effort he s not very happy in here. former holby city actor jeremy edwards said he had nominated bez after he became agitated on friday night and talked about escaping over the wall to go clubbing. he said bez was being loopy and stressed . according to bookmaker ladbrokes john mccririck was 1/3 favourite to be evicted on monday while bez was at 9/4 . mccririck faced the public vote on friday and received 67% of the vote to keep him in the house whilst jackie stallone was evicted.

collins calls for chambers return world 100m champion kim collins says suspended sprinter dwain chambers should be allowed to compete in the olympics again. chambers was banned for two years after testing positive for the anabolic steroid thg and his suspension runs out in november this year. but collins says the british olympic association should reverse the decision to ban him from the olympics for life. it was too harsh collins told radio five live. they should reconsider. chambers has been in america learning american football but has not ruled out a return to the track. collins added: he is a great guy and i have never had any problems with him. we are friends. i would like to see dwain come back and compete again. he is a good person. even though he made a mistake he understands what he did and should be given a chance once more.

safin plays down wimbledon hopes newly-crowned australian open champion marat safin has ruled out any chance of winning wimbledon in the future. after losing in round one last year safin said he had given up on wimbledon and winning his second grand slam title has not changed his mind. i ll play but with no expectations. i feel like i can t waste my time my energy on that surface he said. some people they cannot play on clay. some people they cannot play on a hard court. me i can t play on grass. however safin is hopeful that winning the australian open will give him the belief he needs to win more grand slam titles. it s a relief for me. two grand slams it s already something. but with this one i worked really hard for it he said. basically i would love to win a couple more. i think i have a chance if i continue this way. if (coach) peter lundgren will stick around with me and wants to work with me for a bit longer i think i can make it. the 25-year-old shocked pete sampras in the 2000 us open final to win his first major title but then lost in two australian open finals. safin admitted he had begun to doubt whether he would win another grand slam. i didn t expect that (to win the 2000 us open) - it was against sampras i wasn t the favourite so i had no pressure whatsoever he said. after the first final that i didn t win against thomas johansson (in 2002) i couldn t see myself winning the grand slams anymore. i was once in the semi-finals of the french open but i didn t believe i can win it. i just couldn t handle the pressure. you need to believe in yourself and i didn t. and after losing the first set 6-1 to lleyton hewitt in sunday s final safin said he began to doubt himself again. i am 25. i m playing against hewitt. at least you have to have the opportunity to win it at least have a chance he said. it s like you go there and you lose first set 6-1 then you start to think: this is not my day. the way i m playing is ridiculous. but then you start to really be a little bit more selfish and try to find a way out of there. and i found it. i was like really much i was much happier than in 2000 that s for sure because i get over it.

healey targets england comeback leicester wing austin healey hopes to use sunday s return heineken cup clash with wasps as a further springboard to an england recall for the six nations. healey who won 51 caps prior to the 2003 world cup has been in good form in the tigers resurgence this season. i definitely still have ambitions to play for england healey told the bbc. we will have to see what happens after the previous (autumn) tests but when i look at the current squad i definitely feel there is a place there for me. healey who has also played both half-back positions and full-back during his career has reverted to the wing where he won most of his england caps. after recovering from a trapped nerve in his back sustained at the end of september the 31-year-old is relishing his role in the tigers revival. i had six weeks out but fortunately i have resumed the sort of form i had before he said. i am basically playing where it best suits leicester. obviously i can play scrum-half fly-half or full-back at a moment s notice. but playing on the wing actually gives me a bigger free role to come in where i am not expected and influence things. that has been apparent in parts one and two of the wasps-leicester trilogy in recent weeks. first healey came off his flank with an angled run to score an injury-time try that earned the tigers a 17-17 draw in their premiership meeting on 21 november. then in the first of their heineken cup double header last sunday healey slotted in at stand-off and delivered a superb cross-kick for martin corry to score the tigers third try. i caught cozza s eye a couple of phases before that and was hoping to get it to him on the full but fortunately even with the bounce he managed to score healey recalled. healey twice a heineken cup winner believes last sunday s match was up there with some of the biggest club contests he has played in. it was a very intense occasion and a very destructive game he recalled. there was not a huge amount of rugby played but it was a great game to be involved in. after about 15 minutes i thought we might stride away with it but wasps really came back into it and in the last couple of minutes it could have gone either way. the same outcome this sunday would put leicester in pole position to top their heineken pool with a home game against biarritz and away trip to calvisano to come. but healey insists the tigers must summon the same desire if they are to deliver the knockout blow in what has been dubbed rugby s version of rocky ii . there was a lot of satisfaction in the dressing room aftewards but it is really only a case of a job half done he added. it was the first of a two-leg trip and if we lose at welford road it will negate all the positives we can take from result. i think it came down to who wanted it more and in the end i think we did. we have got to show the same desire again this week.

mobiles not media players yet mobiles are not yet ready to be all-singing all-dancing multimedia devices which will replace portable media players say two reports. despite moves to bring music download services to mobiles people do not want to trade multimedia services with size and battery life said jupiter. a separate study by gartner has also said real-time tv broadcasts to mobiles is unlikely in europe until 2007. technical issues and standards must be resolved first said the report. batteries already have to cope with other services that operators offer like video playback video messaging megapixel cameras and games amongst others. bringing music download services based on the success of computer-based download services will put more demands on battery life. fifty percent of europeans said the size of a mobile was the most important factor when it came to choosing their phone but more power demands tend to mean larger handsets. mobile phone music services must not be positioned to compete with the pc music experience as the handsets are not yet ready said thomas husson mobile analyst at jupiter research. mobile music services should be new and different and enable operators to differentiate their brands and support third generation network launches. other problems facing mobile music include limited storage on phones compared to portable players which can hold up to 40gb of music. the mobile industry is keen to get into music downloading after the success of apple s itunes napster and other net music download services. with phones getting smarter and more powerful there are also demands to be able to watch tv on the move. in the us services like tivo to go let people transfer pre-recorded tv content onto their phones. but the gartner report on mobile tv broadcasting in europe suggests direct broadcasting will have to wait. currently tv-like services where clips are downloaded are offered by several european operators like italy s tim and 3. mobile tv will have to overcome several barriers before it is widely taken up though said the report. various standards and ways of getting tv signals to mobiles are being worked on globally. in europe trials in berlin and helsinki are making use of terrestrial tv masts to broadcast compressed signals to handsets with extra receivers. a service from the norwegian broadcasting corporation lets people watch tv programmes on their mobiles 24 hours a day. the service uses 3gp technology one of the standards for mobile tv. but at the end of 2004 the european telecommunications institute (etsi) formally adopted digital video broadcasting handheld (dvb-h) as the mobile tv broadcasting standard for europe. operators will be working on the standard as a way to bring real-time broadcasts to mobiles as well as trying to overcome several other barriers. the cost and infrastructure needs to set up the services will need to be addressed. handsets also need to be able to work with the dvb-h standard. tv services will have to live up to the expectations of the digital tv generation too which expects good quality images at low prices according to analysts. people are also likely to be put off watching tv on such small screens said gartner. digital video recorders like europe s sky+ box and video-on-demand services mean people have much more control over what tv they watch. as a result people may see broadcasting straight to mobiles as taking away that control. more powerful smartphones like the xda ii nokia 6600 sonyericsson p900 and the orange e200 offering web access text and multimedia messaging e-mail calendar and gaming are becoming increasingly common. a report by analysts instat/mdr has predicted that smartphone shipments will grow by 44% over the next five years. it says that smartphones will make up 117 million out of 833 million handsets shipped globally by 2009.

confusion over high-definition tv now that a critical mass of people have embraced digital tv dvds and digital video recorders the next revolution for tv is being prepared for our sets. in most corners of tv and technology industries high-definition (hdtv) is being heralded as the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour. hd essentially makes tv picture quality at least four times better than now. but there is real concern that people are not getting the right information about hd on the high street. thousands of flat panel screens - lcds (liquid crystal displays) plasma screens and dlp rear-projection tv sets - have already been sold as hd but are in fact not able to display hd. the uk is the largest display market in europe according to john binks director of gfk which monitors global consumer markets. but he added: of all the flat panel screens sold just 1.3% in the uk are capable of getting high-definition. there are 74 different devices that are being sold as hd but are not hd-ready according to alexander oudendijk senior vice president of marketing for satellite giant astra. they may be fantastic quality tvs but many do not have adaptors in them - called dvi or hdmi (high-definition multimedia interface) connectors - which let the set handle the higher resolution digital images. part of this is down to lack of understanding and training on the high street say industry experts who gathered at bafta in london for the 2nd european hdtv summit last week. we have to be careful about consumer confusion. there is a massive education process to go through said mr binks. the industry already recognised that it would be a challenge to get the right information about it across to those of us who will be watching it. eventually that will be everyone. the bbc is currently developing plans to produce all its tv output to meet hdtv standards by 2010. preparations for the analogue switch-off are already underway in some areas and programmes are being filmed with hd cameras. bskyb plans to ship its first generation set-top boxes to receive hdtv broadcasts in time for christmas. like its sky+ boxes they will also be personal video recorders (pvrs). the company will start broadcasts of hdtv programmes offering them as premium channel packages concentrating to start with on sports big events and films in early 2006. but the set-top box which receives hdtv broadcasts has to plug into a display - tv set - that can show the images at the much higher resolution that hd demands if hdtv is to be real . by 2010 20% of homes in the uk will have some sort of tv set or display that can show hd in its full glory. but it is all getting rather confusing for people who have only just taken to being digital . as a result all the key players those who make flat panel displays as well as the satellite companies and broadcasters formed a hd forum in 2004 to make sure they were all talking to each other. part of the forum has been concerned with issues like industry standards and content protection. but it has also been preoccupied with how to help the paying public know exactly what they are paying for. from next month all devices that have the right connectors and resolution required will carry a hd-ready sticker. this also means they are equipped to cope with both analogue and hdtv signals and so comply with the minimum specification set out by the industry. the logo is absolutely the way forward said david mercer analysts with strategy analytics. but it is still not appearing on many retail products. the industry is upbeat that the sticker will help but it is only a start. we can only do so much with the position we are in today with manufacturers said mr oudendijk. there may well be a number of dissatisfied customers in the next few months. the european broadcast union (ebu) is testing different flavours of hd formats to prepare for even better hdtv further down the line. it is similarly concerned that people get the right information on hdtv formats as well as which devices will support the formats. we believe consumers buying expensive displays need to ensure their investment is worthwhile said phil laven technical director for the ebu. the tv display manufacturers want us to watch hd on screens that are at least 42in (106cm) to get the true impact of hd they say although smaller displays suffice. what may convince people to spend money on hd-ready devices is the falling prices which continue to tumble across europe. the prices are dropping an average of 20% every year according to analysts. lcd prices dropped by 43% in europe as a whole last year according to mr oudendijk.

us duo in first spam conviction a brother and sister in the us have been convicted of sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mail messages to aol subscribers. it is the first criminal prosecution of internet spam distributors. jurors in virginia recommended that the man jeremy jaynes serve nine years in prison and that his sister jessica degroot be fined $7 500. they were convicted under a state law that bars the sending of bulk e-mails using fake addresses. they will be formally sentenced next year. a third defendant richard rutkowski was acquitted. prosecutors said jaynes was a snake oil salesman in a new format using the internet to peddle useless wares news agency associated press reported. a fed-ex refund processor was supposed to allow people to earn $75 an hour working from home. another item on sale was an internet history eraser . his sister helped him process credit card payments. jaynes amassed a fortune of $24m from his sales prosecutors said. he s been successful ripping people off all these years ap quoted prosecutor russell mcguire as saying. jaynes was also found guilty of breaking a state law which prohibits the sending of more than 100 000 e-mails in 30 days virginia state attorney general jerry kilgore reportedly said. prosecutors had asked for 15 years in jail for jaynes and a jail term for his sister. but jaynes lawyer david oblon called the nine-year recommended term outrageous and said his client believed he was innocent. he pointed out that all three of the accused lived in north carolina and were unaware of the virginia state law. spam messages are estimated to account for at least 60% of all e-mails sent.

lib dems bold election policy charles kennedy has told voters his liberal democrats will offer them an honest choice at the next general election. with the other two big parties battling over which will impose the lowest taxes mr kennedy is going into the looming election pledged to increase taxation. it is a bold policy and certainly ensures there is that choice between the lib dems and the other two. with his party s previous pledge to increase taxes by one penny in the pound to spend on public services already adopted by the government he has switched tack. now he is promising to levy a modest increase of the same amount on earnings over £100 000 a year to allow him to finance a series of pledges. they are to scrap student fees finance free long term care for the elderly and replace the council tax with a local income tax. that last policy will also see about 3% of the most well off paying more while others pensioners in particular will pay less. labour and the tories have attacked his policies as both unworkable and not properly costed. inevitably they insist there is no need to raise taxes to fund improvements in services. the tories claim they can improve services and cut taxes through £35bn efficiency savings while labour has offered £22bn savings but has yet to map out precise tax proposals although there is little chance they will propose increases. in many ways the argument between the lib dems and the others over taxation and spending echo the sort of arguments that raged between labour and the tories in the 1980s and early 1990s. but unlike the old tory-labour debate he believes voters are ready to see modest tax increases on the well off in order to fund improvements in services. that is a view partly endorsed by recent polls suggesting people would rather have cash spent on public services than tax cuts. similarly there is a different tone to the lib dem approach to asylum and immigration with mr kennedy stressing politicians should not foment an artificial debate about immigration and attacking michael howard s proposals for quotas. once again with the two other big parties singing similar songs on immigration mr kennedy is stressing the different more liberal approach of his party. mr kennedy was also in buoyant mood over his party s election chances declaring the tories were not going to be significant players in the poll. he repeated his pledge not to do post-election deals with either party after the election. mr kennedy went on to suggest the re-election of a labour government with a small majority would amount to a massive vote of no confidence in tony blair s government. that suggests the lib dem leader believes he may well find himself in a powerful even pivotal position in a vastly different house of commons after the next election. it is a dream the third party has dreamed many times before.

lit idol begins search for author the second pop idol-style search for literary talent has begun with the help of the brother of simon cowell. writer tony cowell is among the judges who will hear aspiring writers read their work aloud. the winner gets a deal with literary agency curtis brown. i m not going to be the mr nasty of books said cowell 54 in reference to his brother s caustic remarks on tv shows pop idol and the x-factor. the 2004 winner paul cavanagh went on to sign a deal with harper collins. this year the competition is specifically looking for a crime writer. writers must submit up to 10 000 words from the opening chapters of their novels and a synopsis. professional readers will choose a shortlist of five following the competition closing date on 14 january. the final five will then have to read their work in front of judging panel. a public vote will also take place which will account for 25% of the final decision. the winner will be announced at the london book fair on 14 march next year and could be screened on tv. it s very very hard to find an agent and extremely difficult without an agent to get a publisher to look at your work said cowell. people do fall by the wayside and the more avenues we can provide for aspiring authors the better he added. paul cavanagh a former university professor and health care consultant from ontario in canada was one of 1 466 aspiring novelists to enter the first contest. he lifted the inaugural lit idol prize after reading aloud an excerpt of his work northwest passage. three film studios are said to be interested in buying film rights for the book even though it is not finished yet.

vera drake leads uk oscar hopes mike leigh s film vera drake will lead british hopes at this year s academy awards after getting three nominations. imelda staunton was nominated for best actress for her role in the abortion drama while leigh received nods for best director and original screenplay. kate winslet was also nominated in the best actress category for her role in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. and clive owen and sophie okonedo both got nominated for supporting roles in closer and hotel rwanda respectively. owen has already been made bookmakers favourite for best supporting actor for the role in closer that has already clinched him a golden globe award. and it is the first nomination for actress okonedo chosen for her performance in hotel rwanda about the 1994 rwandan genocide. it is also a debut nomination for staunton 49 who told bbc news 24 she had not thought the film would appeal to academy voters. it was an extraordinary time making the film and i can t believe what has happened this morning she said. i hope it just shows mike up to be the extraordinary filmmaker he is. we are also dealing with a very difficult subject matter and it is amazing to have it accepted in this way. leigh who had previously received three oscar nominations for secrets and lies and topsy turvy told bbc news 24 the latest success was amazing . he said: we hoped that imelda staunton would get a nomination but i never expected to get director and screenplay. it s just absolutely wonderful. i think people are aware that it s about life - and i hope it is the warmth and compassion that really talks to people. winslet said she was ecstatic about the fourth nomination of her career. being nominated means so much to me. to be nominated for a film that was released a while ago i feel so honoured and overwhelmed she said. john woodward chief executive of the uk film council said it was extremely heartening to see british filmmaking talent recognised on the global stage. britain has a hugely talented industry and these nominations show why national lottery investment in film pays major dividends for our culture and economy. among a total of 24 british nominees composer andrew lloyd webber and lyricist charles hart are up for best original song for learn to be lonely from the phantom of the opera movie. cinematographer john mathieson who was nominated for gladiator in 2001 is also up for the phantom of the opera. and finding neverland has garnered two more nominations for brits. gemma jackson who has also worked on bridget jones s diary and iris is up for art direction while costume designer alexandra byrne whose previous films have included captain corelli s mandolin and elizabeth is in the running. the uk has two contenders in the best live action short film category. wasp was made by ex-children s tv presenter andrea arnold while little terrorist is the work of ashvin kumar. this year s awards will be handed out in hollywood on 27 february.

progress on new internet domains by early 2005 the net could have two new domain names. the .post and .travel net domains have been given preliminary approval by the net s administrative body. the names are just two of a total of 10 proposed domains that are being considered by the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers icann. the other proposed names include a domain for pornography asia mobile phones an anti-spam domain and one for the catalan language and culture. the .post domain is backed by the universal postal union that wants to use it as the online marker for every type of postal service and to help co-ordinate the e-commerce efforts of national post offices. the .travel domain would be used by hotels travel firms airlines tourism offices and would help such organisations distinguish themselves online. it is backed by a new york-based trade group called the travel partnership. icann said its early decision on the two domains was in response to the detailed technical and commercial information the organisations behind the names had submitted. despite this initial approval icann cautioned that there was no guarantee that the domains would actually go into service. at the same time icann is considering proposals for another eight domains. one that may not win approval is a proposal to set up a .xxx domain for pornographic websites. a similar proposal has been made many times in the past. but icann has been reluctant to approve it because of the difficulty of making pornographers sign up and use it. in 2000 icann approved seven other new domains that have had varying degrees of success. three of the new so-called top level domains were for specific industries or organisations such as .museum and .aero. others such as .info and .biz were intended to be more generic. in total there are in excess of 200 domain names and the majority of these are for nations. but domains that end in the .com suffix are by far the most numerous.

scots suffer another injury blow scotland s back row crisis has worsened ahead of the rbs six nations with news that scott gray will miss out on the opening matches. the borders flanker has a knee injury and joins donnie macfadyen and allister hogg on the sidelines. star number eight simon taylor will miss at least the first two games after damaging an ankle during his comeback. scott macleod (ankle ligaments) and jon petrie (cartilage) are also doubtful for the opener in paris on 5 february. gray 26 who won his first cap against australia at murrayfield last year was hurt in club action at the weekend. scotland doctor james robson said: a scan has shown damage to the medial ligaments of scott s right knee ruling him out of the first part of the championship. we will seek further specialist advice in due course to determine just how long scott may be out for. another potential option glasgow flanker andrew wilson has been ruled out for a month after damaging ligaments in both knees against northampton recently. flanker jason white and prop tom smith have also been suffering from flu and missed this week s training sessions. we have got plenty of good young players coming through and we have got to look at the opportunities it represents for them rather than the negatives williams added. williams could now turn to edinburgh pair alasdair strokosch and simon cross. leeds tykes flanker jon dunbar also trained with the squad but is still awaiting verification of his eligibility to qualify for scotland.

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.

federer claims dubai crown world number one roger federer added the dubai championship trophy to his long list of successes - but not before he was given a test by ivan ljubicic. top seed federer looked to be on course for a easy victory when he thumped the eighth seed 6-1 in the first set. but ljubicic who beat tim henman in the last eight dug deep to secure the second set after a tense tiebreak. swiss star federer was not about to lose his cool though turning on the style to win the deciding set 6-3. the match was a re-run of last week s final at the world indoor tournament in rotterdam where federer triumphed but not until ljubicic had stretched him for five sets. i really wanted to get off to a good start this time and i did and i could really play with confidence while he still looking for his rhythm federer said. that took me all the way through to 6-1 3-1 0-30 on his serve and i almost ran away with it. but he came back and that was a good effort on his side. ljubicic was at a loss to explain his poor showing in the first set. i didn t start badly but then suddenly i felt like my racket was loose and the balls were flying a little bit too much. and with roger if you relax for a second it just goes very quick he said. after those first three games it was no match at all. i don t know it was really weird. i was playing really well the whole year and then suddenly i found myself in trouble just to put the ball in the court. but despite his defeat the world number 14 was pleased with his overall performance. i had a chance in the third and for me it s really positive to twice in two weeks have a chance against roger to win the match. it s an absolutely great boost to my confidence that i m up there and belong with top-class players.

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.

podcasters look to net money nasa is doing it 14-year-old boys in bedrooms are doing it couples are doing it gadget lovers - male and female - are definitely doing it. it is podcasting - diy radio in the form of downloadable mp3 audio files. they can done by anyone who has a microphone simple software the net and something to say. some liken them to talking audioblogs because many complement text-based weblogs - diary-like sites where people share their thoughts. they are essentially amateur radio shows on the net on demand and the movement is at very early stages. it s about real people saying real things and communicating says adam curry former mtv vj and the pied piper of podcasting. he was one of a community of people who created ipodder a small computer program known as an aggregator . it collects and automatically sends mp3 files to any digital music-playing device that can play wmp formats. those with digital music players can select which podcasts they like and subscribe - for free - to that show s feed . when a new podcast is available it is automatically sent to the device when connected to a computer. it is totally going to kill the business model of radio thinks curry. i just did a tour of madison avenue where all the big brands and advertising agencies of the world are he says. and they are scared to death of the next generation - like my daughter who is 14 - who don t listen to radio. they are on msn they ve got their ipod their mp3 player they ve got their xbox - they are not listening to radio. so how are they going to reach these audiences it is the distribution that is changing and the barriers are being brought down so everyone can be part of it. it is a fledgling movement but it is gaining momentum now that people have started thinking about how to make a business from it. ian fogg jupiter research analyst thinks there could be potential for business but it could take an interesting turn if big companies like apple and microsoft get involved. it is a nascent area but quite exciting. it is yet another area that demonstrates the move to a digital lifestyle and digital home is not over he says. podcasting is one of those interesting areas that bridges what you do at home and what you do out and about - a classic hybrid. it is another aspect of the time-shifting of content - the latest industry buzzword for being able to listen to what you want when and wherever you want. audiences are in the 10s 100s and 1 000s rather than millions. more than 4 300 podcasts are currently listed. curry s daily source code - which he committed to doing daily to inspire the community - has 10s of thousands of listeners. but dave winer is doubtful. he designed the format called rss (really simple syndication) which gives web users an easy way to keep updated automatically on sites they like. podcasts rely on his technology because it is the way they are distributed. he is also writer of the longest-running weblog on the net scripting news. he thinks its power lies in its democratising potential not in its over-hyped business promise. we re the sources the people doing stuff and podcasting is a way to tell people who care what we re doing. no matter how you look at it commercialising this medium isn t going to make very much money he says. podcasting is going to be a medium of niches with audiences measured in the single digits like e-mail or blogs. maybe in a few years maybe six or seven digits. but it will have to sustain interest beyond the hype balloon. curry and associate ron bloom s new venture called podshow is to help ordinary people produce post distribute and market their podcasts. because of the way podcasts work based on rss the latest podcasts which people can select mean that they are ready-made targets. when you look at podcasting - wow this is a pretty interesting audience. the audience is pre-selected. they have decided to subscribe to your program explains curry. advertising in his eyes can be tailored to podcasts to make it more imaginative and unobtrusive. how i believe this will work is to create a network that in aggregation will have enough numbers to support a return on investment for the advertisers and for the podcasters. i have 50 60 70 000 listeners. i could make a couple of bucks off that but not much. if you are talking a million podcasters and then you can kind of divide that amongst ourselves then that is kind of interesting. essentially he says if you are doing a bass fishing podcast someone who is selling bait and tackle will probably want to advertise on your show. he is clear the ads will not be the traditional in-your-face type familiar to commercial radio now. we are really going to see these microcosms and commerce will be all over the place. it is happening already. coffee-loving curry has sold $4 000 worth of coffee machines through a referral link to amazon from his site. others use in-show promotions like the dawn and drew show. one eric rice has won sponsorship from warner bros. he can now legally play the music of a band warner bros wants to push. some commentators on the net say it has a similar feel to the dotcom days. others say it is just another element of setting media free from big companies and letting people be creative. one thing is for sure; they are not about to disappear in a hurry. the creative forces behind radio are elated says curry. for now he tunes out the negative comments within the podcasting community. i should be knighted for this he adds with a wry chuckle people are going to be so happy to sit at home make their podcast and make a little money.

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.

clijsters could play aussie open kim clijsters has denied reports that she has pulled out of january s australian open because of her persistent wrist injury. open chief paul mcnamee had said: kim s wrist obviously isn t going to be rehabilitated. but her spokesman insisted she had simply delayed submitting her entry. the doctors are assessing her injury on a weekly basis and if there is no risk she could play. but if there s the least risk she will stay away. despite being absent from the wta entry list for the tournament which begins on 17 january clijsters would be certain to get a wild card if she requested one. clijsters is still ranked 22nd in the world despite only playing a handful of matches last season. the belgian had an operation on her left wrist early in the season but injured it again on her return to the tour. meanwhile jelena dokic who used to compete for australia has opted out of the first grand slam of the season. dokic has not played in the australian open since 2001 when she lost in the first round. but the 21-year-old would have had to rely on a wild card next season because her ranking has tumbled to 127th. four-time champion monica seles who has not played since last year s french open is another absentee because of an injured left foot.

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.

england 17-18 france england suffered an eighth defeat in 11 tests as scrum-half dimitri yachvili booted france to victory at twickenham. two converted tries from olly barkley and josh lewsey helped the world champions to a 17-6 half-time lead. but charlie hodgson and barkley missed six penalties between them while yachvili landed six for france to put the visitors in front. england could have won the game with three minutes left but hodgson pushed an easy drop goal opportunity wide. it was a dismal defeat for england coming hard on the heels of an opening six nations loss in wales. they should have put the game well beyond france s reach but remarkably remained scoreless for the entire second half. a scrappy opening quarter saw both sides betray the lack of confidence engendered by poor opening displays against wales and scotland respectively. hodgson had an early opportunity to settle english nerves but pushed a straightforward penalty attempt wide. but a probing kick from france centre damien traille saw mark cueto penalised for holding on to the ball in the tackle yachvili giving france the lead with a kick from wide out. france twice turned over england ball at the breakdown early on as the home side struggled to generate forward momentum one ben kay charge apart. a spell of tit-for-tat kicking emphasised the caution on both sides until england refused a possible three points to kick a penalty to the corner only to botch the subsequent line-out. but england made the breakthrough after 19 minutes when a faltering move off the back of a scrum led to the opening try. jamie noon took a short pass from barkley and ran a good angle to plough through yann delaigue s flimsy tackle before sending his centre partner through to score at the posts. hodgson converted and added a penalty after one of several french infringements on the floor for a 10-3 lead. the fly-half failed to dispense punishment though with a scuffed attempt after france full-back pepito elhorga scragged by lewsey threw the ball into touch. barkley also missed two longer-range efforts as the first half drew to a close but by then england had scored a second converted try. after a series of phases lock danny grewcock ran hard at the french defence and off-loaded out of sylvain marconnet s tackle to lewsey. the industrious wing cut back in on an angle and handed off hooker sebastien bruno to sprint over. after a dire opening to the second half france threw on three forward replacements in an attempt to rectify the situation wing jimmy marlu having already departed injured. yachvili nibbled away at the lead with a third penalty after 51 minutes. and when lewis moody was twice penalised - for handling in a ruck and then straying offside - the scrum-half s unerring left boot cut the deficit to two points. barkley then missed his third long-range effort to increase the tension. and after seeing another attempt drop just short yachvili put france ahead with his sixth penalty with 11 minutes left. england sent on ben cohen and matt dawson and after barkley s kick saw christophe dominici take the ball over his own line the stage was set for a victory platform. but even after a poor scrummage hodgson had the chance to seal victory but pushed his drop-goal attempt wide. england threw everything at the french in the final frantic moments but the visitors held on for their first win at twickenham since 1997. j robinson (capt); m cueto j noon o barkley j lewsey; c hodgson h ellis; g rowntree s thompson p vickery; d grewcock b kay; j worsley l moody m corry. a titterrell a sheridan s borthwick a hazell m dawson h paul b cohen. p elhorga; c dominici b liebenberg d traille j marlu; y delaigue d yachvili; s marconnet s bruno n mas; f pelous (capt) j thion s betsen j bonnaire s chabal. w servat j milloud g lamboley y nyanga p mignoni f michalak j-p grandclaude. paddy o brien (new zealand)

pernod takeover talk lifts domecq shares in uk drinks and food firm allied domecq have risen on speculation that it could be the target of a takeover by france s pernod ricard. reports in the wall street journal and the financial times suggested that the french spirits firm is considering a bid but has yet to contact its target. allied domecq shares in london rose 4% by 1200 gmt while pernod shares in paris slipped 1.2%. pernod said it was seeking acquisitions but refused to comment on specifics. pernod s last major purchase was a third of us giant seagram in 2000 the move which propelled it into the global top three of drinks firms. the other two-thirds of seagram was bought by market leader diageo. in terms of market value pernod - at 7.5bn euros ($9.7bn) - is about 9% smaller than allied domecq which has a capitalisation of £5.7bn ($10.7bn; 8.2bn euros). last year pernod tried to buy glenmorangie one of scotland s premier whisky firms but lost out to luxury goods firm lvmh. pernod is home to brands including chivas regal scotch whisky havana club rum and jacob s creek wine. allied domecq s big names include malibu rum courvoisier brandy stolichnaya vodka and ballantine s whisky - as well as snack food chains such as dunkin donuts and baskin-robbins ice cream. the wsj said that the two were ripe for consolidation having each dealt with problematic parts of their portfolio. pernod has reduced the debt it took on to fund the seagram purchase to just 1.8bn euros while allied has improved the performance of its fast-food chains.

consumers snub portable video consumers want music rather than movies while on the move says a report. produced by jupiter research the analysis of the portable media player market found only 13% of europeans want to watch video while out and about. by contrast almost a third are interested in listening to music on a portable player such as an ipod. the firm said gadget makers should avoid hybrid devices and instead make sure music reproduction was as good as possible. the report concluded that the driving force behind the growth of europe s portable player market was likely to be music rather than films or any combination of the two. barely 5% of those questioned said they wanted a player that could play back both music and movies. only 7% wanted a player that could handle games and video. dedicated music players are the only established digital media players in europe today despite their high prices said ian fogg jupiter analyst. mr fogg said although video players and smartphones were trying to cash in on this success they faced a tough job because of the compromises that had to be made when creating a dual-purpose device. europeans care most about music playback he said. the report showed that 27% of consumers asked are interested in portable music players. the research revealed that french 39% and british 31% consumers were most interested in music players. mr fogg said portable video players were likely to remain a niche product that would not be able to compete with devices dedicated to music playback. a separate report by jupiter forecasts that the european digital music market will grow to 836m euros (£581m) by 2009. at the end of 2003 the market was worth 10.6m euros (£7.36m). digital music players will be behind this market growth said jupiter . apple s ipod was launched in october 2001 but the portable music player market has been growing steadily since the launch of the creative nomad jukebox in mid-2000. now consumers face an almost overwhelming choice of high-capacity portable music players that let them store every track on every cd that they own.

act on detention ruling uk urged the government must act quickly on the law lords ruling that detention of foreign terror suspects without trial is unlawful mary robinson has said. the former un commissioner for human rights and irish president told radio 4 s today the government s response would be scrutinised internationally. it would be very troubling if the government did not accept the judgement and then work within it she said. home secretary charles clarke has said detainees will not be freed at present. speaking to parliament on his first day in office as home secretary following david blunkett s resignation mr clarke said: i will be asking parliament to renew this legislation in the new year. in the meantime we will be studying the judgement carefully to see whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the concerns raised by the house of lords. mrs robinson said the law lords ruling was in line with international legal opinion and praised their very decisive eight to one majority. what the law lords did was acknowledge the role of the government but say that there had been a disproportionate use that it amounted to executive detention and it was discriminatory because it didn t apply to british citizens she said. mrs robinson warned that a lack of action by the british government could lead to further action in legal arenas such as the european court of human rights in strasbourg. if the government were not to accept this ruling then there is further redress including possible damages for the individuals who could claim that the government either was tardy or was resisting the implications of the judgement of the law lords. she said a meeting of the club of madrid - a group of former world leaders - to be held in the spanish capital on the march anniversary of the train bombings there would probably discuss the ruling and its implications. i have no doubt that this judgement will be looked at both as a very positive step in clarifying the law and restating the fundamental principles but also the response of the british government will be under quite a clear international scrutiny there. the detainees took their case to the house of lords after the court of appeal backed the home office s powers to hold them without limit or charge. the government opted out of part of the european convention on human rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti-terrorism legislation in response to the 11 september attacks in the us. any foreign national suspected of links with terrorism can be detained or can opt to be deported. the law lords said the rules were incompatible with the european convention on human rights as they allowed detentions in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status . the case was heard by a panel of nine law lords rather than the usual five because of the constitutional importance of the case.

concerns at school diploma plan final appeals are being made for the government not to ditch the reform plan for england s secondary schools put forward by the tomlinson report. the government s response to the plan for a four-tier diploma to replace all existing 14-19 qualifications is expected next week. some are worried it could be scuppered if as tony blair and ruth kelly have suggested gcses and a-levels stay. sir mike tomlinson himself was briefed only this week. he is said to be feeling more comfortable about what the government is likely to say than if he had read only what was in newspapers in the earlier part of the week. but the government was said to be still rewriting its response on friday. it will be a tragedy if the government comes through with a half-hearted response said the chairman of the commons education select committee labour mp barry sheerman. his main concern was the reports that there would be a diploma - but only to replace existing vocational qualifications. we must tackle head-on the structural mess that is our secondary education system he wrote in the times educational supplement. it is not the case that the academic stream in secondary is fine while the vocational route is desperately weak. the qualifications and curriculum authority (qca) has also told the government not to compromise . the qca said the potential step-change in participation and attainment lay in the integrity of the whole diploma. any partial implementation of the proposals would in our view compromise that integrity said its chairman sir anthony greener. it is a sign of the qca s concern that its advice went to ministers last december but was publicised only recently. but people understand that a white paper response is government policy and has to command wider ministerial support than if it were coming only from the department for education and skills. they may be content if it does not close too many doors in writing - whatever spin is put on it. the chief inspector of schools david bell also said recently that gcses and a-levels should go. one of the reasons why i m so strongly in favour of these terms disappearing over time is that it s good for the symbols of change to be seen right across the system he said. if we don t say this is a sea-change in education we will miss a great opportunity. universities and head teachers in both the independent and state sectors have also backed the tomlinson proposals which include having higher grades at advanced level to differentiate between the brightest students. a note of concern has been expressed repeatedly by the employers organisation the cbi which complains of a lack of skills. in an attempt to address this the tomlinson plan is for tests in functional maths and literacy - decidedly not gcses. it has been suggested the government will take steps of some sort to meet firms concerns on this score. another dissenter is sir mike tomlinson s predecessor as chief schools inspector professor chris woodhead who has said there is no need for such a massive upheaval . the conservative party has put forward plans to revert to a system of having only the brightest percentage of students each year getting the top a-level grade no matter how well the others have done.

klinsmann issues lehmann warning germany coach jurgen klinsmann has warned goalkeeper jens lehmann he may have to quit arsenal to keep his world cup dreams alive. lehmann is understudy to oliver kahn in the german squad but has lost his place to manuel alumnia at highbury. klinsmann said: it will be difficult for any of our players if he is not a first-choice at his club. if jens is not arsenal s number one keeper that is a problem for me. he must be playing regularly. lehmann is desperate to keep his place in the germany squad when the country hosts the world cup in 2006. klinsmann added: if he is not playing regularly he cannot be germany s number one keeper or even number two keeper. the situation for jens is that he is currently the number two keeper at arsenal. this could be critical if it remains the same during next season.

crucial decision on super-casinos a decision on whether to allow westminster to legislate on super-casinos is set to be made by the scottish parliament. the government has plans for up to eight las vegas style resorts in the uk one of which is likely to be in glasgow. scottish ministers insist they will still have the final say on whether a super-casino will be built in scotland. but opposition parties say that will not happen in practice. the vote is due to be taken on wednesday and is expected to be close. the scottish executive believes that the legislation should be handled by westminster. the new law will control internet gambling for the first time and is aimed at preventing children from becoming involved. a super-casino in glasgow could be located at ibrox or the scottish exhibition and conference centre. the new gambling bill going through westminster will allow casino complexes to open to the public have live entertainment and large numbers of fruit machines with unlimited prizes. but the scottish national party and the tories say the issue of super-casinos should be decided in scotland and believe the executive is shirking its responsibility.

poppins musical gets flying start the stage adaptation of children s film mary poppins has had its opening night in london s west end. sir cameron mackintosh s lavish production which has cost £9m to bring to the stage was given a 10-minute standing ovation. lead actress laura michelle kelly soared over the heads of the audience holding the nanny s trademark umbrella. technical hitches had prevented mary poppins flight into the auditorium during preview performances. a number of celebrities turned out for the musical s premiere including actress barbara windsor comic graham norton and sir richard attenborough. the show s director richard eyre issued a warning earlier in the week that the show was unsuitable for children under seven while under-threes are barred. mary poppins was originally created by author pamela travers who is said to have cried when she saw disney s 1964 film starring julie andrews. travers had intended the story to be a lot darker than the perennial family favourite. theatre impresario sir cameron mackintosh has said he hopes the musical is a blend of the sweet-natured film and the original book.

oil prices reach three-month low oil prices have fallen heavily for a second day closing at three-month lows after news that us crude stocks have improved ahead of winter. london brent crude closed at $40.15 on thursday - a drop of 5.1% - having dived below $40 a barrel for the first time since mid-september. us light crude traded in new york lost more than $2 to $43.25 its lowest close since 10 september. the price of both benchmark crudes has dropped 12% in two days. the falls were triggered when the energy information administration (eia) said on wednesday that us crude stocks were 3.5% higher than a year ago. the news calmed worries about winter shortages. weak us fuel and heating oil stocks have been a persistent factor in pushing up oil prices. it s amazing how quickly sentiment changed said rick mueller an analyst at energy security analysis. analysts also attributed the fall to mild early-winter weather which has tempered demand for heating oil. the stronger fuel inventories helped boost us stock markets to nine-month highs on wednesday though only the nasdaq index had hung onto those gains by the end of thursday. in london the ftse 100 index closed 15 points higher at 4 751. the long-awaited drop in oil prices helped to ease persistent investor jitters over the impact of energy costs on company profits and economic growth. however traders warned that the fall could be short-lived if there is a cold snap in north america this winter or any major supply problems in other parts of the world. the price of crude is still up about 30% on the start of 2004 but has fallen from the record of $55.67 set in late october. opec nations have increased production to 25-year highs to meet global demand and this has helped rebuild us stocks hit by supply disruptions after hurricane ivan in september. traders were also encouraged by comments on wednesday from the energy minister of opec member algeria. chakib khelil said the cartel was likely to keep output unchanged when it meets next week. however some analysts believe the sharp fall in crude prices may harden opec s attitude to over-production leading to a scaling back of oil output. fears still remain over the level of us heating oil stocks which are rising but remain down on 2004 levels. a cold spell in north america would start to deplete supplies and could spark further price rises. analysts however say prices will fall further if inventories continue to rise. mother nature is going to be huge in the next several weeks said kyle cooper at citigroup global markets. long term i think we re headed to $30-35 but i don t think we re doing that yet. we have a lot of winter left. john person president of national futures advisory services said the eia data indicated there should be adequate supplies for the next three months in the us. .

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.

dawson wins england squad recall wasps scrum-half matt dawson has been recalled to england s training squad ahead of the rbs six nations and been reinstated in the elite player squad. coach andy robinson dropped dawson for the autumn tests after he missed training to film a question of sport. i always said i would consider bringing matt back if i felt he was playing well robinson said. he merits his return on current form. newcastle s 18-year-old centre mathew tait is also in the training squad. it s obviously an honour to be asked to train with england said tait who has burst into contention recently. i look forward to going down and doing the sessions but the most important thing at the moment is sunday s game against newport so i m not looking any further than that. robinson has invited 42 players to attend a three-day session in leeds next week in which his squad will train in part with the leeds rhinos rugby league squad. with mike tindall ruled out of the opening two matches and will greenwood sidelined for the entire six nations tait is one of six or seven contenders for the two centre berths. stuart abbott jamie noon ollie smith olly barkley and henry paul - who retains his place despite his early substitution against australia - are also in the mix. ben cohen could also be considered after switching from the wing for his club northampton recently. prop phil vickery and lock simon shaw both return to the squad after missing the autumn tests through injury while wasps wing tom voyce is recalled. the group also includes bath flanker andy beattie and leicester hooker george chuter. beattie has matured greatly as a player these past two seasons robinson said. jonny wilkinson tindall and martin corry have all been included despite their unavailability for the opening two matches against wales and france. the revised 56-man elite squad includes wasps hooker phil greening who replaces the retired mark regan and sale wing mark cueto. cueto was selected for the november internationals despite not being part of the group but scored four tries in three england appearances. leicester scrum-half harry ellis has also been promoted from the senior national academy and will contest the number nine jersey with dawson and gloucester s andy gomarsall. the players in robinson s elite squad can only play 32 matches for club and country. they can be called up for a total of 16 training days in addition to the recognised international weeks for each of the years leading up to the next world cup. balshaw cohen cueto lewsey robinson simpson-daniel voyce abbott noon paul smith tait tindall barkley hodgson king wilkinson dawson ellis gomarsall. chuter thompson titterrell rowntree sheridan stevens vickery white borthwick brown l deacon grewcock kay shaw beattie corry forrester hazell jones moody vyvyan j worsley. abbott balshaw borthwick a brown chuter cohen corry cueto dawson ellis flatman gomarsall greening greenwood grewcock hazell hill hodgson kay king lewsey moody noon paul robinson rowntree shaw simpson-daniel thompson tindall titterrell vickery vyvyan white wilkinson j worsley m worsley. barkley beattie christophers l deacon forrester c jones palmer rees sheridan skinner smith stevens tait voyce. dowson haughton monye roques p sanderson.

galloway targets new labour mp george galloway is to stand against pro-iraq war labour mp oona king at the next general election. mr galloway who on thursday won £150 000 in libel damages from the daily telegraph said he would contest bethnal green in london for respect. the glasgow kelvin mp who was expelled from labour over his anti iraq war stance accused ms king of being a new labour stooge . ms king said she was delighted at the chance to take on mr galloway. mr galloway s current constituency is set to disappear under planned boundary changes in scotland. the 50-year-old mp launched respect the unity coalition in january along with 1 000 anti-war activists and the muslim association of britain. the party s declared aims are an end to the occupation of iraq the repeal of anti-union laws and the end of privatisation. speaking from a cafe in brick lane east london mr galloway said he had accepted the party s invitation to stand with great honour and pride . he added: here in this constituency of bethnal green and bow there is a new labour stooge mp. a stooge who will sing any song make any speech do any dance do anything she is told to by tony blair - irrespective of how her constituents are adversely affected or how strongly they feel to the contrary. ms king has represented the constituency since 1997. she said: i m delighted i ve been given the chance to finish him (mr galloway) off and believe me i will. i know many people around the country will be grateful not least his constituents in scotland who he has shamelessly abandoned. in june s european parliament elections respect failed to gain enough votes for an mep but did come first in tower hamlets borough most of which is covered by the commons constituency of bethnal green and bow. a month later it gained a council seat in a by-election in st dunstan s and stepney green ward tower hamlets. mr galloway said that in next year s expected general election and local elections a year later the party would turn the east end of london into a fortress . both the conservatives and the liberal democrats have chosen prospective parliamentary candidates for bethnal green and bow from the bangladeshi population which makes up almost half the electorate. the telegraph was sued for libel by mr galloway after the newspaper claimed he received money from saddam hussein s regime in iraq. the newspaper said it was in the public interest to publish the claims based on documents found in baghdad. mr justice eady said he was obliged to compensate mr galloway... and to make an award for the purposes of restoring his reputation .

robinson answers critics england captain jason robinson has rubbished suggestions that the world champions are a team in decline. england were beaten 11-9 by wales in their six nations opener in cardiff last week and face current champions france at twickenham on sunday. robinson said: we are certainly not on the decline. you lose one game and it doesn t make you a bad team. i have no doubt in the players we ve got. we have still got the team to go out and beat anyone on our day. england find themselves striving to avoid a third successive championship defeat for the first time since 1987. but full-back robinson believes the new-look england team can stop the rot against france. last weekend we should have won the game he said. but if we can under-perform and lose by only two points then i am sure if we play well this week we will get the win we need. we proved that in the autumn - when we put in some excellent performances - and we just need to build on that. it was a disappointing start against wales and we might be down on that. but we are certainly not out. we will come out fighting this week. robinson also had words of comfort for 18-year-old newcastle centre mathew tait who made his international debut against wales but has been demoted from the squad to face france. i have had a word with mathew said robinson. i still believe in him. he is an outstanding player but we have gone for olly (barkley) because of the kicking. mathew has just got to take it on the chin keep working hard like he is doing and i m sure he will feature in some of the games.

net regulation still possible the blurring of boundaries between tv and the internet raises questions of regulation watchdog ofcom has said. content on tv and the internet is set to move closer this year as tv-quality video online becomes a norm. at a debate in westminster the net industry considered the options. lord currie chairman of super-regulator ofcom told the panel that protecting audiences would always have to be a primary concern for the watchdog. despite having no remit for the regulation of net content disquiet has increased among internet service providers as speeches made by ofcom in recent months hinted that regulation might be an option. at the debate organised by the internet service providers association (ispa) lord currie did not rule out the possibility of regulation. the challenge will arise when boundaries between tv and the internet truly blur and then there is a balance to be struck between protecting consumers and allowing them to assess the risks themselves he said. adopting the rules that currently exist to regulate tv content or self-regulation which is currently the practice of the net industry will be up for discussion. some studies suggest that as many as eight million households in the uk could have adopted broadband by the end of 2005 and the technology opens the door to tv content delivered over the net. more and more internet service providers and media companies are streaming video content on the web. bt has already set up an entertainment division to create and distribute content that could come from sources such as bskyb itv and the bbc. head of the division andrew burke spoke about the possibility of creating content for all platforms. how risque can i be in this new age with celebrity chefs serving up more expletives than hot dinners surely i can push it to the limit he said. in fact he said if content has been requested by consumers and they have gone to lengths to download it then maybe it should be entirely regulation free. internet service providers have long claimed no responsibility for the content they carry on their servers since the law commission dubbed them mere conduits back in 2002. this defence does not apply if they have actual knowledge of illegal content and have failed to remove it. the level of responsibility they have has been tested in several high-profile legal cases. richard ayers portal director at tiscali said there was little point trying to regulate the internet because it would be impossible. huge changes are afoot in 2005 he predicted as companies such as the bbc offer tv content over the net. the bbc s planned interactive media player which will give surfers the chance to download programmes such as eastenders and top gear will make net tv mainstream and raise a whole new set of questions he said. one of these will be about the vast sums of money involved in maintaining the network to supply such a huge quantity of data and could herald a new digital licence fee said mr ayers. as inappropriate net content most obviously pornography viewed by children continues to dominate the headlines internet regulation remains a political issue said mp richard allan liberal democrat spokesman on it. mr allan thinks that the answer could lie somewhere between the cries of impossible to regulate and just apply offline laws online . in fact instead of seeing regulation brought online the future could bring an end to regulation as we know it for all tv content. after lord currie departed the panel agreed that this could be a reality and that for the internet people power is likely to reign. if content is on-demand consumers have pulled it up rather than had pushed to them then it is the consumers choice to watch it. there is no watershed on the net said mr burke.

nuclear dumpsite plan attacked plans to allow foreign nuclear waste to be permanently stored in the uk have been branded deeply irresponsible by the liberal democrats. the government has confirmed intermediate level waste (ilw) that was to have been shipped back to its home countries will now be stored in the uk. the cash raised will go towards the uk s nuclear clean-up programme. but lib dem norman baker accused ministers of turning britain into a nuclear dumpsite . under current contracts british nuclear fuels should return all but low level waste but none has ever been sent back. in future only highly-radioactive waste will be sent back to its country of origin normally germany or japan under armed guard. intermediate waste from countries such as japan germany spain italy switzerland and sweden will be stored permanently in the uk. at the moment this waste is stored at sellafield in cumbria in the form of glass bricks untreated liquid waste or solid material in drums. in a statement the department of trade and industry said the new policy meant there would be a sixfold reduction in the number of waste shipments to overseas countries . and it said highly-radioactive waste would be returned to its home country sooner ensuring there would be no overall increase in radioactivity. trade secretary patricia hewitt said the new arrangements revealed in a commons written statement would raise up to £680m for britain s nuclear clean-up programme under the new nuclear decommissioning agency. but the move has been criticised by environmental groups and the liberal democrats. mr baker the lib dem environment spokesman said: i have been warning for months that this would happen and raised it with government several times. but now our worst fears have been confirmed. once again britain s environmental and health needs are being ignored in policies driven by the treasury and dti. this is a terrible attempt to offload some of the £48bn cost of cleaning up nuclear sites. the energy act was supposed to help britain clean up but in order to pay for it we are becoming a nuclear dumpsite. the nuclear industry is an economic social and environmental millstone that hangs around britain s neck.

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.

blunkett unveils policing plans people could be given the mobile phone number of their local bobby under an overhaul of policing in england and wales unveiled by david blunkett. the plans include a dedicated policing team for each neighbourhood and a 10 point compulsory customer charter. the home secretary said targets would be put in place to ensure that the public got a good response from police. local people would also be able to trigger action on specific problems if they felt nothing was being done. local councillors would have to show certain conditions had been met before invoking the power. and police could refuse the request if the complaints were frivolous would only cause annoyance or would pose too heavy a burden on resources. mr blunkett said a new three digit number would be created for non-emergency phone calls to police. the best performing police services would get more cash and extra freedoms he said but he would not shirk from stepping in where the public was being failed. the home secretary s powers to suspend or sack chief constables are being reviewed after mr blunkett s battle with humberside chief david westwood over intelligence failures on soham murderer ian huntley. opposition parties also want more local policing to tackle nuisance behaviour and other crime but they accuse ministers of tying the police up with paperwork. tory spokesman david davis said the proposals were little more than a taxpayer-funded pr exercise ahead of a general election predicted for next may. police forces were already buried under existing government initiatives and there was little in the latest plans to reassure them said mr davis. earlier lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten said the government was right to want to increase the links between local people and the police. but these measures will only work if they re matched with a cut in the amount of paperwork - and investment in modern equipment to keep the police out on the streets. before delivering a statement to mps mr blunkett was joined by tony blair at welling school in south east london which is at the heart of a community policing initiative. mr blunkett said he wanted to go back to a time when i was very young when you expected the police to be part of the community and the community to be part of policing and where people were joined together in partnership making it work . the prime minister said the law-abiding citizen should be in charge of the community and not the minority who want to cause trouble . mr blunkett already boasts about producing record police numbers. he has also started to recruit 25 000 community support officers (csos) and the new plans would allow all police forces to give them the power to detain suspects. an extra £50m was promised on tuesday so 2 000 new csos can be recruited now rather than next year. within two years every force will be expected to keep to a coppers contract on what kind of service the public can expect. a mori poll this summer suggested policing unlike health and education was the one major public service where people were less satisfied the more contact they had with it. the plans also include the idea of allowing people join police forces at different levels rather than the traditional way of making everybody spend specific amounts of time as a constable before being promoted. there will also be specific exercises to encourage black and asian people to join the police at senior ranks.

bennett play takes theatre prizes the history boys by alan bennett has been named best new play in the critics circle theatre awards. set in a grammar school the play also earned a best actor prize for star richard griffiths as teacher hector. the producers was named best musical victoria hamilton was best actress for suddenly last summer and festen s rufus norris was named best director. the history boys also won the best new comedy title at the theatregoers choice awards. partly based upon alan bennett s experience as a teacher the history boys has been at london s national theatre since last may. the critics circle named rebecca lenkiewicz its most promising playwright for the night season and eddie redmayne most promising newcomer for the goat or who is sylvia paul rhys was its best shakespearean performer for measure for measure at the national theatre and christopher oram won the design award for suddenly last summer. both the critics circle and whatsonstage.com theatregoers choice award winners were announced on tuesday. chosen by more than 11 000 theatre fans the theatregoers choice awards named us actor christian slater best actor for one flew over the cuckoo s nest. diana rigg was best actress for suddenly last summer dame judi dench was best supporting actress for the rsc s all s well that ends well and the history boys samuel barnett was best supporting actor.

harinordoquy suffers france axe number eight imanol harinordoquy has been dropped from france s squad for the six nations match with ireland in dublin on 12 march. harinordoquy was a second-half replacement in last saturday s 24-18 defeat to wales. bourgoin lock pascal pape who has recovered from a sprained ankle returns to the 22-man squad. wing cedric heymans and ludovic valbon come in for aurelien rougerie and jean-philippe grandclaude. rougerie hurt his chest against wales while grandclaude was a second-half replacement against both england and wales. valbon capped in last june s tests against the united states and canada was a second half replacement in the win over scotland. france coach bernard laporte said harinordoquy had been axed after a poor display last weekend. imanol has been dropped from the squad because the least i can say is that he didn t make a thundering comeback against wales said laporte. we know the ireland game will be fast and rough and we also want to be able to replace both locks during the game if needed and gregory lamboley can also come on at number seven or eight. the grand slam is gone but we ll go to ireland to win. it will be a very exciting game because ireland have three wins under their belt have just defeated england and have their eyes set on a grand slam. france who lost to wales last week must defeat the irish to keep alive their hopes of retaining the six nations trophy. ireland are unbeaten in this year s tournament and have their sights set on a first grand slam since 1948. dimitri yachvili (biarritz) pierre mignoni (clermont) yann delaigue (castres) frederic michalak (stade toulousain) damien traille (biarritz) yannick jauzion (stade toulousain) ludovic valbon (biarritz) christophe dominici (stade francais) cedric heymans (stade toulousain) julien laharrague (brive) sylvain marconnet (stade francais) nicolas mas (perpignan) olivier milloud (bourgoin) sebastien bruno (sale/eng) william servat (stade toulousain) fabien pelous (stade toulousain capt) jerome thion (biarritz) pascal papé (bourgoin) gregory lamboley (stade toulousain) serge betsen (biarritz) julien bonnaire (bourgoin) yannick nyanga (béziers)

india seeks to boost construction india has cleared a proposal allowing up to 100% foreign direct investment in its construction sector. kamal nath commerce and industry minister announced the decision in delhi on thursday following a cabinet meeting. analysts say improving india s infrastructure will boost foreign investment in other sectors too. the indian government s decision has spread good cheer in the construction sector according to some indian firms. a spokesman for dlf builders dr vancheshwar told the bbc this will mean better offerings for consumers as well as builders. he said the firm will benefit from world class strategic partnerships design expertise and technology while consumers will have better choice. the government proposal states that foreign investment of up to 100% will be allowed on the automatic route in the construction sector on projects including housing hotels resorts hospitals and educational establishments. the automatic route means that construction companies need only get one set of official approvals and do not need to gain clearance from the foreign investment promotion board which can be bureaucratic. the government hopes its new policy will create employment for construction workers and benefit steel and brick-making industries. mr nath also announced plans to allow foreign investors to develop a smaller area of any land they acquired. foreign investors can enter any construction development area be it to build resorts townships or commercial premises but they will have to construct at least 50 000 square meters (538 000 square feet) within a specific timeframe said mr nath without specifying the timeframe. previously foreign investors had to develop a much larger area discouraging some from entering the indian market. this measure is designed to discourage foreign investors from buying and selling land speculatively without developing it. anshuman magazine managing director of cb richard ellis - an international real estate company - told the bbc this was a big positive step. however chittabrata majumdar general secretary of the centre of indian trade unions (citu) said allowing fdi in the country is compromising india s own self reliance . he said no country can develop on the basis of foreign investment alone. mr majumdar also said an assessment should be made as to whether foreign investment is indeed beneficial to the country - in terms of employment and money generated - or just another way of international companies filling their deep pockets.

vera drake leads uk oscar hopes mike leigh s film vera drake will lead british hopes at this year s academy awards after getting three nominations. imelda staunton was nominated for best actress for her role in the abortion drama while leigh received nods for best director and original screenplay. kate winslet was also nominated in the best actress category for her role in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. and clive owen and sophie okonedo both got nominated for supporting roles in closer and hotel rwanda respectively. owen has already been made bookmakers favourite for best supporting actor for the role in closer that has already clinched him a golden globe award. and it is the first nomination for actress okonedo chosen for her performance in hotel rwanda about the 1994 rwandan genocide. it is also a debut nomination for staunton 49 who told bbc news 24 she had not thought the film would appeal to academy voters. it was an extraordinary time making the film and i can t believe what has happened this morning she said. i hope it just shows mike up to be the extraordinary filmmaker he is. we are also dealing with a very difficult subject matter and it is amazing to have it accepted in this way. leigh who had previously received three oscar nominations for secrets and lies and topsy turvy told bbc news 24 the latest success was amazing . he said: we hoped that imelda staunton would get a nomination but i never expected to get director and screenplay. it s just absolutely wonderful. i think people are aware that it s about life - and i hope it is the warmth and compassion that really talks to people. winslet said she was ecstatic about the fourth nomination of her career. being nominated means so much to me. to be nominated for a film that was released a while ago i feel so honoured and overwhelmed she said. john woodward chief executive of the uk film council said it was extremely heartening to see british filmmaking talent recognised on the global stage. britain has a hugely talented industry and these nominations show why national lottery investment in film pays major dividends for our culture and economy. among a total of 24 british nominees composer andrew lloyd webber and lyricist charles hart are up for best original song for learn to be lonely from the phantom of the opera movie. cinematographer john mathieson who was nominated for gladiator in 2001 is also up for the phantom of the opera. and finding neverland has garnered two more nominations for brits. gemma jackson who has also worked on bridget jones s diary and iris is up for art direction while costume designer alexandra byrne whose previous films have included captain corelli s mandolin and elizabeth is in the running. the uk has two contenders in the best live action short film category. wasp was made by ex-children s tv presenter andrea arnold while little terrorist is the work of ashvin kumar. this year s awards will be handed out in hollywood on 27 february.

egypt to sell off state-owned bank the egyptian government is reportedly planning to privatise one of the country s big public banks. an investment ministry official has told the reuters news agency that the bank of alexandria will be sold sometime in 2005. the move is seen as evidence of a new commitment by the government to reduce the size of public sector. the official said the government has not yet decided whether the sale will take the form of a public flotation. the most important thing to decide now is the method - whether by selling shares to the public or to a strategic investor from abroad he said. analysts say the public-sector banks have suited the government s monetary credit and exchange policies. nevertheless the egyptian government has spoken for years about privatising one of the big four state banks - banque misr national bank of egypt banque du caire and bank of alexandria. it had been expected one of the smallest of the four big public banks - bank of alexandria or banque du caire - would be sold first. the announcement reinforces the hopes of investors and international financial bodies for a revival of egypt s privatisation programme. about 190 state-run companies and facilities were sold off from the early 1990s to 1997. the appointment of mahmoud mohieldin a reform-minded technocrat to the new post of investment minister in july was taken as a sign that more sell-offs were on the way. both the imf and world bank have urged egypt to remove obstacles to the development of the private sector which they say has a vital role to play in reducing poverty by expanding the economy.

confusion over high-definition tv now that a critical mass of people have embraced digital tv dvds and digital video recorders the next revolution for tv is being prepared for our sets. in most corners of tv and technology industries high-definition (hdtv) is being heralded as the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour. hd essentially makes tv picture quality at least four times better than now. but there is real concern that people are not getting the right information about hd on the high street. thousands of flat panel screens - lcds (liquid crystal displays) plasma screens and dlp rear-projection tv sets - have already been sold as hd but are in fact not able to display hd. the uk is the largest display market in europe according to john binks director of gfk which monitors global consumer markets. but he added: of all the flat panel screens sold just 1.3% in the uk are capable of getting high-definition. there are 74 different devices that are being sold as hd but are not hd-ready according to alexander oudendijk senior vice president of marketing for satellite giant astra. they may be fantastic quality tvs but many do not have adaptors in them - called dvi or hdmi (high-definition multimedia interface) connectors - which let the set handle the higher resolution digital images. part of this is down to lack of understanding and training on the high street say industry experts who gathered at bafta in london for the 2nd european hdtv summit last week. we have to be careful about consumer confusion. there is a massive education process to go through said mr binks. the industry already recognised that it would be a challenge to get the right information about it across to those of us who will be watching it. eventually that will be everyone. the bbc is currently developing plans to produce all its tv output to meet hdtv standards by 2010. preparations for the analogue switch-off are already underway in some areas and programmes are being filmed with hd cameras. bskyb plans to ship its first generation set-top boxes to receive hdtv broadcasts in time for christmas. like its sky+ boxes they will also be personal video recorders (pvrs). the company will start broadcasts of hdtv programmes offering them as premium channel packages concentrating to start with on sports big events and films in early 2006. but the set-top box which receives hdtv broadcasts has to plug into a display - tv set - that can show the images at the much higher resolution that hd demands if hdtv is to be real . by 2010 20% of homes in the uk will have some sort of tv set or display that can show hd in its full glory. but it is all getting rather confusing for people who have only just taken to being digital . as a result all the key players those who make flat panel displays as well as the satellite companies and broadcasters formed a hd forum in 2004 to make sure they were all talking to each other. part of the forum has been concerned with issues like industry standards and content protection. but it has also been preoccupied with how to help the paying public know exactly what they are paying for. from next month all devices that have the right connectors and resolution required will carry a hd-ready sticker. this also means they are equipped to cope with both analogue and hdtv signals and so comply with the minimum specification set out by the industry. the logo is absolutely the way forward said david mercer analysts with strategy analytics. but it is still not appearing on many retail products. the industry is upbeat that the sticker will help but it is only a start. we can only do so much with the position we are in today with manufacturers said mr oudendijk. there may well be a number of dissatisfied customers in the next few months. the european broadcast union (ebu) is testing different flavours of hd formats to prepare for even better hdtv further down the line. it is similarly concerned that people get the right information on hdtv formats as well as which devices will support the formats. we believe consumers buying expensive displays need to ensure their investment is worthwhile said phil laven technical director for the ebu. the tv display manufacturers want us to watch hd on screens that are at least 42in (106cm) to get the true impact of hd they say although smaller displays suffice. what may convince people to spend money on hd-ready devices is the falling prices which continue to tumble across europe. the prices are dropping an average of 20% every year according to analysts. lcd prices dropped by 43% in europe as a whole last year according to mr oudendijk.

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.

blair returns from peace mission prime minister tony blair has arrived back from his diplomatic mission to the middle east to try to resurrect the peace process. mr blair held talks with his israeli counterpart ariel sharon and the palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. he confirmed that a renewed drive to reform the palestinian authority and address security issues would come at a london conference in march. mr blair also made a surprise trip to iraq this week. the israelis described the meeting as important but said they would not need to attend. mr blair briefly visited the tomb of yasser arafat in ramallah - the first world leader to do so. he nodded briefly towards the tomb rather than lay a wreath in what palestinian officials said was a compromise gesture agreed at the last minute. the bbc s paul reynolds says the london conference will be a limited measure to shore up the leadership of mahmoud abbas also known as abu mazen who is expected to win the palestinian presidential election on 9 january. at a news conference following talks with mr blair mr abbas said the british prime minister was in a unique position to help us progress in our peaceful pursuit . he added: your endeavour to hold a conference in london is another example of your deep commitment to this purpose. in an interview with the bbc s political editor andrew marr mr blair said getting progress between israelis and palestinians would be tough but at least we have got the first step . mr blair acknowledged some people believed he was too close to the israelis but said the israelis were entitled to expect palestinians to give up terrorism. he argued that mr sharon was committed to the internationally-agreed roadmap peace plan and said his bid to disengage from gaza had to be part of the peace process not the end of it. earlier mr sharon again said he had not seen the slightest step the palestinians were working to end terror attacks - though he acknowledged palestinian leaders were in the middle of an election campaign that could be hampering their efforts. before visiting israel mr blair made a surprise visit to iraq where he met leaders in baghdad during his first trip to the city. he was briefed on preparations for the national poll which is scheduled for next month but is threatened by a deadly campaign of insurgent violence. he also flew to basra in southern iraq where british forces are stationed.

uk s national gallery in the pink the national gallery home to some of the uk s greatest artworks has seen a big jump in visitor numbers. five million visitors made the london gallery - which houses treasures like raphael s madonna of the pinks - the uk s most visited museum in 2004. it recorded a 13.8% rise in numbers and was the country s second most visited tourist attraction behind blackpool pleasure beach. charles saumarez smith the gallery s director said he was delighted . he said the number of visitors through the doors had boosted figures to pre-11 september 2001 levels. mr saumarez smith added that the pedestrianisation of trafalgar square where the gallery is located and strong temporary collections throughout 2004 had led to the strong performance. our 2004 exhibition programme of el greco russian landscape in the age of tolstoy and raphael: from urbino to rome was particularly strong and exceeded all targets he said. the exceptional quality of the paintings in our permanent collection is also huge draw for the public. the expectations of today s visitors are higher than ever and we have kept pace with their demands. mr saumarez smith said he was confident the gallery could maintain the attendance. with important exhibitions of the work of caravaggio stubbs and rubens in place for 2005 i am confident that the gallery is set for another highly successful year he added. the figures were prepared by the association of leading visitor attractions (alva). it found that the figures had been boosted by an increase in europeans travelling to the uk on budget airlines. popular cultural tourist spots such as the tate modern and the natural history museum all recorded increases of more than 10% in visitor numbers compared with 2003. but for legal or confidentiality reasons some alva members did not submit figures for 2004 including buckingham palace windsor castle madame tussauds and alton towers. alva director robin broke said: visits from western europe were up by 10% and from north america by some 9% compared to 2003 while numbers from the rest of the world rose 20%. european figures were helped by the rapid growth of low-cost flights to britain from europe especially from new eu countries.

tsunami to cost sri lanka $1.3bn sri lanka faces a $1.3bn (£691m) bill in 2005 for reconstruction after the tsunami which killed more than 30 000 of its people its central bank says. this estimate is preliminary bank governor sunil mendis told reporters and could rise in 2006. the island state is asking for about $320m from the international monetary fund to help pay for relief he said. the bank has 5bn rupees ($50m; £27m) set aside to lend at a lower interest rate to those who lost property. according to mr mendis half the imf support could come from a freeze on debt repayments which would free up resources immediately. the rest could come from a five-year emergency loan. sri lanka is hoping for a wider freeze from other creditors. the paris club of 19 creditors meets on 12 january to discuss a debt moratorium for the nations hit by the tsunami which ravaged south and east asia on 26 december. some 150 000 people across the region are feared to be dead and millions have been left homeless and destitute. a full reckoning of the economic cost to sri lanka of the tsunami will not be clear for some time to come. but already it looks likely that growth in the first half of 2005 will slow mr mendis told reporters although he would not say by how much. one side-effect of the disaster has been that the value of the rupee has risen as foreign funds have flooded into the country. the currency has strengthened 4% since late december coming close to 100 rupees to the us dollar for the first time in more than six months.

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.

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.

france v wales (sat) stade de france paris saturday 26 february 1600 gmt bbc1 radio 4 lw and this website france may have beaten scotland and england but they were tedious and uninspired throughout both matches. wales on the other hand have played some fine rugby and have made their best start since they last won the title in 1994. they also have a good record at the stade de france having won their first two games there in 1999 and 2001. wales have made two changes from the team that thrashed italy 38-8 in rome. kevin morgan takes over from his injured newport-gwent dragons colleague hal luscombe on the right wing. in the pack neath-swansea ospreys forward ryan jones bas been brought on the blind-side flank to beef up the wales back row in place of jonathan thomas. wales coach mike ruddock is determined that his team will not go into their shells after their promising start to the championship. graham henry (former wales coach) said a couple of years ago that we should be bold when going to france and he was proved right said ruddock. that is a great way to approach the game and something we will further endorse with the players this week. despite their stuttering displays in their first two games defending champions france are also unbeaten. under-pressure coach bernard laporte has made four changes with yannick nyanga the debutant julien laharrague aurelien rougerie and yannick jauzion coming into the side. france have been criticised for the absence of traditional french flair as they have ground their way to victory so far this year but captain fabien pelous sees hope on the horizon. i get the impression we are getting better he said. against wales which is different from the teams we have beaten i hope we can show our proper game. j laharrague; a rougerie y jauzion d traille c dominici; y delaigue d yachvili; s marconnet s bruno n mas; f pelous (capt) j thion; s betsen y nyanga j bonnaire (bourgoin). w servat o milloud g lamboley i harinordoquy p mignoni f michalak j-p grandclaude. g thomas (capt); k morgan t shanklin g henson s williams; s jones d peel; g jenkins m davies a jones; b cockbain r sidoli; r jones m williams m owen. r mcbryde j yapp j thomas r sowden-taylor g cooper c sweeney r williams.

melzer shocks agassi second seed andre agassi suffered a comprehensive defeat by jurgen melzer in the quarter-finals of the sap open. agassi was often bamboozled by the austrian s drop shots in san jose losing 6-3 6-1. defending champion and top seed andy roddick rallied to beat sweden s thomas enqvist 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5. but unseeded cyril saulnier beat the fourth seed vincent spadea 6-2 6-4 and tommy haas overcame eighth seed max mirnyi 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2. melzer has now beaten agassi in two of their three meetings. i had a good game plan and i executed it perfectly he said. it s always tough to come out to play andre. i didn t want him to play his game. he makes you run like a dog all over the court. and agassi who was more than matched for power by his opponent s two-handed backhand said melzer was an example of several players on the tour willing to take their chances against him. a lot more guys are capable of it now said the american. he played much better than me. that s what he did both times. i had opportunities to loosen myself up agassi added. but i didn t convert on the big points.

how to make a gigapixel picture the largest digital panoramic photo in the world has been created by researchers in the netherlands. the finished image is 2.5 billion pixels in size - making it about 500 times the resolution of images produced by good consumer digital cameras. the huge image of delft was created by stitching together 600 single snaps of the dutch city taken at a fixed spot. if printed out in standard 300 dots per inch resolution the picture would be 2.5m high and 6m long. the researchers have put the image on a website which lets viewers explore the wealth of detail that it captures. tools on the page let viewers zoom in on the city and its surroundings in great detail. the website is already proving popular and currently has more than 200 000 visitors every day. the image was created by imaging experts from the dutch research and technology laboratory tno which created the 2.5 gigapixel photo as a summer time challenge. the goal of the project was to be one of the first groups to make gigapixel images. the first image of such a size was manually constructed by us photographer max lyons in november 2003. that image portrayed bryce canyon national park in utah and was made up of 196 separate photographs. the panorama of delft is a little staid in contrast to the dramatic rockscape captured in mr lyons image. he did it all by hand which was an enormous effort and we got the idea that if you use automatic techniques it would be feasible to build a larger image said jurgen den hartog one of the tno researchers behind the project. we were not competing with mr lyons but it started as a lunchtime bet. the dutch team used already available technologies although it had to upgrade them to be able to handle the high-resolution image. we had to rewrite almost all the tools me den hartog told the bbc news website. all standard windows viewers available would not be able to load such a large image so we had to develop one ourselves. the 600 component pictures were taken on july 2004 by a computer-controlled camera with a 400 mm lens. each image was made to slightly overlap so they could be accurately arranged into a composite. the stitching process was also done automatically using five powerful pcs over three days. following the success of this project and with promises of help from others the tno team is considering creating a full 360-degree panoramic view of another dutch city with even higher resolution.

deutsche attacks yukos case german investment bank deutsche bank has challenged the right of yukos to claim bankruptcy protection in the us. in a court filing on tuesday it said the russian oil giant has few texas ties beyond bank accounts and a texas-based finance chief. deutsche bank claimed yukos had artificially manufactured a legal case to stop the sale of its main asset. it had wanted to help fund gazprom s plans for a $10bn (£5.18bn) bid for yukos unit yuganskneftegas. deutsche bank would have earned large fees from the deal which could not be carried out because us chapter 11 bankruptcy rules made the kremlin s auction of yuganskneftegas on 19 december illegal under us law. but the us bankruptcy court judge in texas granted yukos an injunction that barred gazprom and its lenders from taking part. yuganskneftegas will ultimately end up with gazprom. the winning bidder at the auction was a previously unknown firm baikal finance group which was snapped up days later by rosneft a russian oil firm that is in the process of merging with gazprom. the effect of these transactions is to renationalise yuganskneftegas. deutsche bank contends yukos filed for bankruptcy earlier this month in texas in a desperate and unsuccessful bid to stave off the 19 december auction of its top unit by the russian government which was in a tax dispute with yukos. this blatant attempt to artificially manufacture a basis for jurisdiction constitutes cause to dismiss this case deutsche bank said in its court filing. mike lake a spokesman for yukos lawyers said on tuesday that the company stands by its legal action. yukos is confident of its right to us bankruptcy protection and we are prepared to be back in court defending that position again he said. yukos has said it intends to seek $20bn in damages from the buyer of yuganskneftegas once the sale finally goes through. in its filing deutsche bank said houston was a jurisdiction in which yukos owns no real or personal property and conducts no business operations. it also said the us bankruptcy court should not become involved in a tax dispute between the federation and one of its corporate citizens . it suggested the european court or an international arbitration tribunal were more appropriate jurisdictions for the legal fight between russia and yukos. the next hearing in the bankruptcy is expected on 6 january. analysts believe the tax dispute between the russian government and yukos is partly driven by russian president vladimir putin s hostility hostility to the political ambitions of ex-yukos boss mikhail khordokovsky. mr khodorkovsky is in jail and on trial for fraud and tax evasion.

nintendo handheld given euro date nintendo s new handheld console the ds will launch in europe on 11 march the company has announced. the portable games machine which features touch-screen control will retail for £99 in the uk (149 euros). nintendo said 15 games would be available in the uk at launch with prices ranging from £19 to £29. more than 2.8 million ds consoles have been sold since it first appeared in the us and japan at the end of 2004. rival sony has said it will launch its first handheld console the psp in the us and europe before the end of march. the psp is expected to compete for a large part of the same handheld market despite sony s assertion that the machines are aimed at different consumers. the 15 games available on the european launch date will include nintendo s super mario 64 ds as well as titles from third-party developers such as ubisoft s rayman ds. more than 120 games are in development for the new console nintendo has said. the ds is backwards compatible with the game boy advance allowing the earlier machine s back catalogue of 700 games to be played. additionally a short-range wireless link for multiplayer gaming is built in to the ds with a download play option which allows a group to play against each other even if just one person owns a copy. other features include a short-range messaging application called pictochat and a built-in microphone which is used in sega s launch title project rub. nintendo has also announced a media adapter which will allow the console to play music and video on the move. the launch price of £99 (149 euros) compares favourably with the us price of $149 according to john houlihan editor of the computerandvideogames.com magazine. it s a very very competitive price point. there are some innovative features and nintendo has created quite a buzz he says. however the line-up of games could have been stronger. everyone wanted to see the eight-player mario kart ds for example. mr houlihan believes that there is likely to be an audience for both the nintendo ds and sony s new psp with the former aimed largely at a younger audience and the latter expected to be marketed as a multimedia device. the psp is a sexy bit of kit but sony s attitude to the psp has been very understated in europe so far mr houlihan said. the worldwide handheld software market had an estimated worth of $2.6bn at the end of 2004 according to industry analysts screen digest. in the past games consoles and handhelds have generally launched much later in europe than in other parts of the world. however nintendo president satoru iwata said the company was pleased to have offered such a short period of time between the us and european launch . europe is an extremely important market for nintendo mr iwata added. nintendo raised its sales targets for the ds console last december after selling a million in the us and japan in just a few weeks.

kirwan demands italy consistency italy coach john kirwan has challenged his side to match the performance they produced in pushing ireland close when they meet wales on saturday. despite losing 28-17 in sunday s six nations encounter the italians confirmed their continuing improvement. our goal is to match every side we face and against ireland we showed we could do that said kirwan. but the most important thing is that we build on that performance when we play wales on saturday. italy s half-backs had a mixed afternoon with recalled scrum-half alessandro troncon impressing but fly-half luciano orquera having an off-day with the boot. kirwan said: i was very happy with troncon. he had an incredible game - he was very good in attack and defence. orquera s kicking was off but he showed great courage in defence. he also followed the game plan. we have to give him confidence because he has the capability to do well.

remote control rifle range debuts soon you could go hunting via the net. a texas company is considering letting web users use a remote-controlled rifle to shoot down deer antelope and wild pigs. for a small fee users will take control of a camera and rifle that they can use to spot and shoot the game animals as they roam around a 133-hectare texas ranch. the live-shot website behind the scheme already lets people practise shooting at targets via the internet. john underwood the man behind the live-shot website said the idea for the remote-control hunting came to him a year ago when he was watching deer via a webcam on another net site. we were looking at a beautiful white-tail buck and my friend said if you just had a gun for that . a little light bulb went off in my head mr underwood told the reuters news agency. a year s work and $10 000 has resulted in a remote-controlled rig on which sits a camera and .22 calibre rifle. mr underwood is planning to put one of these rigs in a concealed location in a small reserve on his texas ranch and let people shoot at a variety of game animals. also needed is a fast net connection so remote hunters can quickly track and aim at passing game animals with the camera and rifle rig. each remote hunting session will cost $150 with additional fees for meat processing and taxidermy work. species that can be shot will include barbary corsican and mouflon sheep blackbuck antelope and wild pigs. already the live-shot site lets people shoot 10 rounds at paper and silhouette targets for $5.95 for each 20-minute shooting session. for further fees users can get the target they shot and a dvd recording of their session. handlers oversee each shooting session and can stop the gun being fired if it is being aimed off-range or at something it should not be. mr underwood said that internet hunting could be popular with disabled hunters unable to get out in the woods or distant hunters who cannot afford a trip to texas. in a statement the rspca said it had grave concerns about people being allowed to go online and remotely control a rifle. we assume it would be extremely difficult to accurately control a gun in this way and therefore it would be difficult to ensure a clean kill something the rspca accepts is the intention of those shooting for sport it said. animals hit but not killed would without doubt be caused to suffer unnecessarily said the statement. mike berger wildlife director of the texas parks and wildlife department said current hunting statutes did not cover net or remote hunting. he said state laws on hunting only covered regulated animals such as native deer and bird species. as such there was nothing to stop mr underwood letting people hunt unregulated imported animals and wild pigs. mr underwood also lets people come in person to the ranch to hunt and shoot game animals.

tarantino to direct csi episode film director quentin tarantino is to direct an episode of us television series csi: crime scene investigation. the oscar-winning pulp fiction director has also written an original story for the season finale episode. csi s co-producer carol mendelsohn said the episode would have more bugs and blood than usual. it is not tarantino s first venture into tv. in 1995 he directed an episode of the medical drama er and has also appeared in alias. ms mendelsohn said the production team had been trying for a while to get tarantino to direct an episode of csi and added that he was a fan of the forensic drama. she said he finally agreed a few weeks ago while csi was doing some location shooting in las vegas and the show s stars persuaded him. he knows everything there is to know about csi and he is into the whole mythology of csi mendelsohn said. quentin came in a couple of weeks ago. we had a story meeting with the writers. he had a great idea and it was so much fun to have him in the room... we are positively giddy. filming is due to start in early april and the tarantino-directed episode will be broadcast in the us on 19 may.

mcilroy wins 800m indoor title james mcilroy motored to the aaa s indoor 800m title in sheffied on sunday in a time of one minute 47.97 seconds. the larne athlete dominated the race from start to finish although he had to hold off a late challenge from welshman jimmy watkins in the final 100 metres. i had to go out and go through all the gears before the europeans and i won t run again until then said mcilroy. i though if i got lucky i d get close to the british record but i blew up in the end. mcilroy has been in superb form at the start of the season and will now start his build-up for the european indoors at madrid on 4-6 march. meanwhile paul brizzel and anna boyle reached the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles with boyle setting a season s best of 7.48. in the women s 60m final ailis mcsweeney broke michelle carroll s long-standing irish record by clocking 7.37 which left her in third place. david gillick showed that he is a genuine medal contender in the european indoor championships by claiming an impressive 400m victory. gillick was more than half-a-second clear when taking gold in 46.45 - .02 outside his personal best set in saturday s semi-finals. the irishman is now the fastest european this season. derval o rourke broke her own irish 60m hurdles record by clocking 8.06 which left her third behind new british record holder sarah claxton (7.96). james nolan (3:46.04) took second in the men s 1500m behind neil speaight (3:45.86) but the offaly man was outside the european indoor standard. colin costello was seventh in the 1500m final in 3:48.82). deirdre ryan was second in the women s high jump with a clearance of 1.87m while aoife byrne took silver in the 800m in a personal best of 2:06.73. lisburn s kelly mcneice reid (4:31.34) was seventh in the women s 1500m while gary murray (8:11.22) was 11th in the men s 3000m. meanwhile stephen cairns and jill shannon claimed the individual titles at saturday s northern ireland cross country championship in coleraine. cairns came in ahead of paul rowan and allan bogle in the men s race. willowfield claimed their first men s team title in 72 years while shannon helped lagan valley win the women s team honours.

khodorkovsky ally denies charges a close associate of former yukos boss mikhail khodorkovsky has told a court that fraud charges levelled against him are false . platon lebedev has been on trial alongside mr khodorkovsky since june in a case centring around the privatisation of a fertiliser firm. the pair claim they are being punished by the authorities for the political ambitions of mr khodorkovsky. mr lebedev said there were absurd contradictions in the case. opening his defence he said he could not see the legal basis of the charges he faced which also include allegations of tax evasion. to my embarrassment i could not understand the file of complaints against me he told a moscow court. mr lebedev headed the menatep group the parent company of yukos. mr lebedev and mr khodorkovsky who each face a possible 10 year jail sentence if convicted will be questioned by a judge over the next few days. mr khodorkovsky began his testimony last week telling the court that he objected to the way that the running of a normal business has been presented as a work of criminal fiction . the charges are seen by supporters as politically motivated and part of a drive by russian president vladimir putin to rein in the country s super-rich business leaders the so-called oligarchs. yukos has been presented with a $27.5bn (£13bn) tax demand by the russian authorities and its key yugansk division was auctioned off to part settle the bill. the company s effort to gain bankruptcy protection in the us - in a bid to win damages for the sale - were dismissed by a court in texas.

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.

wal-mart to pay $14m in gun suit the world s largest retailer wal-mart has agreed to pay a total of $14.5m (£7.74m) to settle a lawsuit over gun sales violations in california. the lawsuit alleged wal-mart committed thousands of gun sales violations in california between 2000 and 2003. the total payment includes $5m in fines and more than $4m to fund state compliance checks with gun laws and prevent ammunition sales to minors. wal-mart agreed to suspend firearms sales in its california stores in 2003 the alleged violations included the sale of guns to 23 people who were not allowed to possess them and delivering 36 guns to customers who acquired them for people not allowed to own firearms. although wal-mart has suspended firearms sales in the state california attorney general bill lockyer said he wanted to be sure the giant supermarket chain would follow state rules in future. wal-mart s failure to comply with gun safety laws put the lives of all californians at risk by placing guns in the hands of criminals and other prohibited persons said mr lockyer. although wal-mart has suspended gun sales in california this settlement will ensure that it follows state law if it renews sales and will also provide valuable public education about the importance of gun safety. the world s largest retailer has not yet decided whether to resume firearms sales in california company spokesman gus whitcomb said.

apple makes blogs reveal sources apple has won its legal fight to make three bloggers reveal who told them about unreleased products. the bid to unmask the employees leaking information was launched in december 2004 following online articles about apple s asteroid product. now apple has won the right to see e-mail records from the three bloggers to root out the culprit. a lawyer for the three bloggers said the ruling set a dangerous precedent that could harm all news reporters. apple s lawsuit accused anonymous people of stealing trade secrets about the asteroid music product and leaking them to the powerpage apple insider and think secret websites. all three are apple fan sites that obsessively watch the iconic firm for information about future products. apple is notoriously secretive about upcoming products which gives any snippets of information about what it is working on all the more value. the lawsuit to reveal the names of the leakers was filed against the power page and apple insider sites. the separate legal fight with think secret has yet to be resolved. in the ruling handed down this week by santa clara county superior court judge james kleinberg apple can now get its hands on e-mail records from the bloggers net providers. in making his ruling judge kleinberg said that laws covering the divulging of trade secrets outweighed considerations of public interest. california has so-called shield laws which protect journalists from prosecution if what they are writing about can be shown to be in the public interest. the judge wrote: ...it is not surprising that hundreds of thousands of hits on a website about apple have and will happen. but an interested public is not the same as the public interest . judge kleinberg said the question of whether the bloggers were journalists or not did not apply because laws governing the right to keep trade secrets confidential covered journalists too. the electronic frontier foundation which is acting as legal counsel for power page and apple insider said the ruling had potentially wide implications. anyone who reports on companies or the trade press should be concerned about this ruling said eff lawyer kurt opsahl. mr opsahl said the eff was planning to appeal against the ruling because the bloggers were journalists and us federal laws stop net firms handing over copies of e-mail messages if the owner of that account does not give their consent.

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.

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.

small firms hit by rising costs rising fuel and materials costs are hitting confidence among the uk s small manufacturers despite a rise in output business lobby group the cbi says. a cbi quarterly survey found output had risen by the fastest rate in seven years but many firms were seeing the benefits offset by increasing expenses. the cbi also found spending on innovation training and retraining is forecast to go up over the next year. however firms continue to scale back investment in buildings and machinery. the cbi said companies are looking to the government to lessen the regulatory load and are hoping interest rates will be kept on hold. smaller manufacturers are facing an uphill struggle said hugh morgan williams chair of the cbi s sme council. the manufacturing sector needs a period of long-term stability in the economy. the cbi found some firms managed to increase prices for the first time in nine years - but many said increases failed to keep up the rise in costs. of the companies surveyed 30% saw orders rise and 27% saw them fall. the positive balance of plus 3 compared with minus 10 in the previous survey. when firms were questioned on output volume the survey returned a balance of plus 8 - the highest rate of increase for seven years - and rose to plus 11 when looking ahead to the next three months.

vera drake s bafta triumph hope at the bafta film awards on saturday night there is the prospect that a home-grown movie could walk off with a clutch of trophies. vera drake mike leigh s tale about a 1950s backstreet abortionist is nominated in 11 categories. these include best film best director and best actress shortlist for imelda staunton who plays the eponymous character. the film has spent months being lauded with prizes from the venice film festival to five awards from the london critics circle on wednesday night. the baftas has a tradition of honouring british cinema and this year vera drake is the obvious candidate to be heaped with praise. empire magazine s reviews editor dan jolin said the film had a very good chance of doing well on saturday predicting that it would collect five or six awards. i don t think it s going to do a lord of the rings-style sweep but imelda staunton is a shoo-in for best actress he said. a best director prize for mike leigh and best british film are also likely and it could steal some awards from heavily-nominated competitors the aviator and finding neverland. mr jolin tipped another contender - most likely the aviator - to walk away with the bafta for best film and added that finding neverland had been lavished with nominations but not trophies. strong oscar contenders million dollar baby and sideways did not figure in the bafta nominations giving vera drake greater potential to walk away with the big prizes. there is a sense that this film is ours and we should slap our own guys on the back. out of all the films in the running for the baftas vera drake is the true blue british one. if mike leigh is going to win awards for anything it should be vera drake at this year s baftas said mr jolin adding that the film was probably his most technically accomplished and lavish work yet. mr jolin also tipped phil davis for a best supporting actor prize for his role in vera drake but felt that heather craney could be outdone by kate winslet or natalie portman in the supporting actress category. if there is anywhere where this film is going to win it will be at the baftas he said. the guardian s film critic peter bradshaw felt that there might well be a sweep of awards for vera drake on saturday night. i hope that bafta voters will respond to the extremely high standard of acting from the whole cast of the film. if bafta can t do so what hope is there he said. mr bradshaw felt that mike leigh s masterpiece was entitled to the best film award - leaving dead man s shoes harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban my summer of love and shaun of the dead to slug it out for the best british film trophy. i will be cheering if vera drake wins a whole host of awards he added.

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.

toxic web links help virus spread virus writers have begun using the power of the web to spread their malicious wares. a windows virus called bofra is turning infected machines into distributors of its malicious code. those clicking on the poisoned links in e-mail messages sent out by infected machines may fall victim to the virus. the trick is being used to prevent the progam being caught by anti-virus software that combs through code contained in e-mail attachments. the virus that uses this trick is called bofra and the first member of the family of worms appeared on 10 november. they exploit a windows vulnerability that was discovered only a few days earlier. like many other recent viruses bofra plunders the address book in microsoft outlook for e-mail addresses and scours other files on an infected machine for fresh target addresses. the virus uses its own mail sending software to despatch e-mail messages to potential victims but unlike many other recent viruses does not itself travel via mail. instead the body of the mail messages sent out contain fake weblinks that when clicked on connect back to the machine that distributed that e-mail. essentially bofra turns infected machines into small web servers that happily dole out copies of the virus. the messages try to trick people into clicking on the links by promising pornographic videos and images or by posing as payment confirmation for a paypal transaction. copies of the messages seen by the bbc news website had bright yellow and green backgrounds. those clicking on the links will inadvertently download the bofra virus which will then start searching for new addresses to send itself to. filtering firm clearswift said this tactic of creating thousands of mini web servers was designed to help the virus spread quickly and avoid attempts to shut it down. in the past other malicious programs have relied on a single web server that downloads viral code to target machines. shutting down this central server usually stops the virus spreading. clearswift said that fact that no viral code travels in the e-mail messages sent out by machines infected by bofra could hamper effects to limit its spread. finnish anti-virus firm f-secure said that so far it had not seen many copies of the bofra virus and its variants in circulation. tim warner spokesman for anti-virus firm finjan said: you have people getting very creative now to deliver the virus and get it propagating. mr warner said organisations needed to prepare deep defences to keep out the modern form of malicious mobile code. most firms have secured their e-mail gateway said mr warner but the irony is that most of them let malicious content through the web gateways. he said behavioural systems that monitor what users do can help to spot when viruses have penetrated organisations and have started hunting for other victims. the bofra family of viruses which were originally thought to be offshoots of the mydoom bug can infect machines running windows 2000 95 98 me nt xp and server 2003. users running windows xp that have applied the sp2 update are not vulnerable to the loophole that bofra exploits.

defection timed to hit tax pledge with impeccable and precisely-calculated timing tory defector robert jackson and his new labour bosses have attempted to overshadow michael howard s latest announcement on taxation and spending. with just about everyone in westminster now working towards a may general election mr howard is eager to map out some clear and distinctive policies aimed at finally shifting the tories resolutely depressing poll showings. the big idea is his £35bn savings on waste and bureaucracy which mr howard has pledged to plough back into public services and tax cuts. and it was virtually certain his pledge on tax cuts was meant to be the core message from his interview on the bbc one s breakfast with frost programme. he and his shadow chancellor oliver letwin have been edging towards an announcement on this front for some months now but without any concrete pledges. but mr howard announced that of the £35bn he has earmarked from savings £12bn will be used to plug labour s claimed financial black hole with any left over going to tax cuts in mr letwin s first budget. he would not be precise but there are already suggestions he is set to announce lifting the threshold on income tax and reforming or abolishing inheritance tax. but he did for the first time say there would be such tax cuts. at this election people will have a clear choice between mr blair who will waste more and tax more and the conservative party which will give value for money and tax less . it is the tories attempt to open that famed clear blue water between them and the labour party and return to a traditional tory agenda that will both reassure the middle england voters who have abandoned him and appeal to core conservative voters. so it is a pretty safe bet to assume that when robert jackson finally decided to jump ship and swim over to the labour benches his new masters decided to time the announcement for the greatest possible impact. mr howard however was dismissive. these things happen from time to time. there are disagreements between robert jackson and me. the election is not going to be decided on what robert jackson did he added. and that is certainly true. the election will be decided on the economy stupid . other issues like the iraq war and the trust thing will also play a major part. but it is the economy that will probably be the greatest influence over the way people finally vote. and many on the tory benches have been crying out for mr howard to get back onto the old tory tax cuts agenda. mr howard knows that risks accusations that as a result he would slash public services so he has attempted to shoot that fox first. with polls suggesting voters would rather any government cash surpluses were spent on schools and hospitals before tax cuts he has suggested that is exactly what he will do. whether this will finally be enough to shift those polls remains to be seen.

can smith work scottish wonders the worst kept secret in scottish football was revealed on thursday when walter smith was named as the new national manager. from the moment berti vogts miserable tenure in charge of scotland ended the former rangers and everton boss has been the overwhelming favourite for the post. but is smith the man for what must be one of the hardest jobs in football the 56-year-old takes over at a time when the national side is in the doldrums. scotland have not reached a major finals since the world cup in 1998 and reaching germany 2006 looks near impossible having picked up just two points from the opening three games in the qualifying race. and the fifa rankings see scotland listed at an all time low of 77th below the likes of estonia ghana angola and thailand. scotland are not blessed with quality players with experience at the top level so smith will have to get the best out of meagre resources. smith s track record make impressive reading and he is widely respected within the game. the man who was alex ferguson s assistant when scotland played at the 1986 world cup won seven league titles with rangers. and his appointment has been widely endorsed by many of the games top names including ferguson and graeme souness who took him to ibrox as his assistant in 1986. characters like souness ferguson and current ibrox manager alex mcleish all cite smith s experience and his expansive knowledge of the scottish game. much was made of vogts inability to express himself to the players and media. that will certainly not be the case with smith. the former dundee united and dumbarton full-back is from the managerial old school - straight talking and never slow to let players know when he expects better (often with the use of some colourful invective). but it should be remembered vogts came to scotland with an impressive curriculum vitae - a world cup winner as a player and a european championships winner as a manager. smith will inherit the same problems vogts had - a callow squad of players with no exceptional talents. and it remains to be seen if smith will experience the rash of call-offs that blighted so much of vogts preparation work. a fresh start for the scottish national team was imperative and smith is widely regarded as a safe pair of hands. but will a safe pair of hands be enough when the adroit hands of a magician might be required...

industrial revival hope for japan japanese industry is growing faster than expected boosting hopes that the country s retreat back into recession is over. industrial output rose 2.1% - adjusted for the time of year - in january from a month earlier. at the same time retail sales picked up faster than at any time since 1997. the news sent tokyo shares to an eight-month high as investors hoped for a recovery from the three quarters of contraction seen from april 2004 on. the nikkei 225 index ended the day up 0.7% at 11 740.60 points with the yen strengthening 0.7% against the dollar to 104.53 yen. weaker exports normally the engine for japan s economy in the face of weak domestic demand had helped trigger a 0.1% contraction in the final three months of last year after two previous quarters of shrinking gdp. only an exceptionally strong performance in the early months of 2004 kept the year as a whole from showing a decline. the output figures brought a cautiously optimistic response from economic officials. overall i see a low risk of the economy falling into serious recession said bank of japan chief toshihiko fukui despite warning that other indicators - such as the growth numbers - had been worrying. within the overall industrial output figure there were signs of a pullback from the export slowdown. among the best-performing sectors were key overseas sales areas such as cars chemicals and electronic goods. with us growth doing better than expected the picture for exports in early 2005 could also be one of sustained demand. electronics were also one of the keys to the improved domestic market with products such as flat-screen tvs in high demand during january.

hong kong in 2011 world cup bid hong kong is hoping to join japan as co-host of the 2011 rugby world cup. japan has applied to host the tournament on its own with the aim of taking it outside rugby s traditional strongholds for the first time. but hong kong rugby football union (hkrfu) chairman john molloy has called for the territory to host one of the pools and a quarter-final. the japanese rugby football union (jrfu) says it has yet to receive a formal presentation from the hkrfu. at this stage we are only considering hosting the event by ourselves said jrfu secretary koji tokumasu. we cannot examine any proposal unless we get it in a definitive form. japan faces stiff competition in the form of south africa and new zealand to host the event in seven years time. until now the world cup has been held in countries from the six nations or tri-nations said tokumasu. we think and the irb thinks that it is time for rugby to go global. japan is ready to host the tournament and we are looking forward to welcoming the world of rugby to japan. tokumasu added that the 2002 football world cup co-hosted by japan and south korea had been a huge success. as well as having the infrastructure in place japan also has the commercial clout to host one of sport s top competitions he said. last year japan launched its first professional rugby league and it has the fourth largest number of registered players (125 508) in the world after england south africa and france.

greer attacks bully big brother germaine greer has criticised celebrity big brother s bullying of housemates after quitting the reality tv show. she said superior bullying tactics like making housemates cold and hungry could encourage playground bullying. she also condemned the complete irresponsibility of adding brigitte nielsen s former mother-in-law jackie stallone to the house on monday. nielsen had panicked that if she reacted badly it could harm her access to her children greer said. the feminist writer and broadcaster said big brother had behaved like a child rather than a parent by taunting contestant john mccririck after denying him a cola drink. i thought it was actually demonstrating the role of taunting in the playground and there are so many children whose lives have actually been destroyed by taunting in the playground greer said. she also said that her fellow housemates had publicity-seeking agendas . i had no idea who would be in here and it s wrong for me to present myself in the same context as they are. media observers had been surprised by greer s initial decision to join the third celebrity version of the channel 4 reality tv show given that she has written critical articles about the format in the past. as she packed her suitcase to leave the house she told fellow housemates: i m leaving over specific issues but best for everyone if i don t discuss them. i have a problem with decisions i make them fast and when i make them i stick to them. greer had earlier failed to persuade other contestants to stage a naked protest against big brother. other celebrities to walk out of a reality show tv include sex pistol john lydon former eastenders actress danniella westbrook and ex-e17 singer brian harvey who all left i m a celebrity... get me out of here. previous big brother housemates to leave before their time were sunita sharma and sandy cumming from the third series of the non-celebrity version of the show. vote was germaine greer right to leave celebrity big brother yes no results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion happy mondays dancer bez is now 2-1 favourite to win the show followed by blazin squad singer kenzie at 5-2 and actor jeremy edwards at 4-1. ladbrokes spokesman warren lush said that the series was still wide open adding that the last 24 hours had also seen a rush of bets on mccririck slashing his odds to 8-1. dj lisa i anson is the outsider with odds of 40-1 while jackie stallone who joined the house on monday is also one of the less popular housemates at 20-1. the first eviction of the series has now been postponed after greer s exit unexpectedly reduced the number of competitors. the eight remaining contestants are competing for a £50 000 prize to be donated to the charity of their choice if they survive a series of public votes. for every 50p vote cast by viewers by telephone or text during the programme s run 9p will go to a tsunami charity appeal.

bnp leader nick griffin arrested the leader of the british national party has been arrested as part of a police inquiry following the screening of a bbc documentary. a party spokesman said nick griffin was arrested on tuesday morning on suspicion of incitement to commit racial hatred. west yorkshire police confirmed they had arrested a 45-year-old man from outside their area. bnp founding chairman john tyndall was arrested on sunday on the same charge. in july the bbc documentary secret agent featured covertly-filmed footage of bnp activists. mr griffin is the twelfth man to be arrested following the documentary. nine men from west yorkshire and another man from leicester have been arrested and freed on bail. seven of the men had been held variously in connection with suspected racially aggravated public order offences conspiracy to commit criminal damage and possession of a firearm. two men both from keighley were arrested in september on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage. a 24-year-old man from leicester was detained on monday on suspicion of incitement to commit racial hatred. a bnp spokesperson said mr tyndall from brighton was arrested following a speech he made in burnley lancashire and was released on police bail.

oasis star fined for german brawl oasis singer liam gallagher has been fined 50 000 euros (£35 000) after a fight in a german hotel two years ago. gallagher was arrested along with drummer alan white and three other members of the band s entourage after the brawl in munich in december 2002. the band said they were victims of an unprovoked attack in a nightclub. but police said gallagher kicked an officer in the chest and had large amounts of alcohol and drugs - possibly cocaine - in his blood. gallagher lost two front teeth in the fight which led to the band abandoning their german tour. his brother and bandmate noel was in bed at the time. the process has stopped by paying 50 000 euros said anton winkler spokesman for the munich prosecutor. at the time police said a physical altercation broke out among the musicians at about 0200 local time. that led to one of the group being jostled and falling onto the table of five italian guests - causing the fight they said. the fight continued outside where one of the officers was kicked in the chest with full force by liam gallagher... and suffered minor injuries they said.

merritt close to indoor 400m mark teenager lashawn merritt ran the third fastest indoor 400m of all time at the fayetteville invitational meeting. the world junior champion clocked 44.93 seconds to finish well clear of fellow american bershawn jackson in arkansas. only michael johnson has gone quicker setting the world record of 44.63secs in 1995 and running 44.66secs in 1996. kenyan bernard lagat missed out on the world record by 1.45secs as he ran the third quickest indoor mile ever to beat canada s nate brannen by almost 10secs. the olympic silver medallist s time of three minutes 49.89secs was inferior only to the 1997 world record of moroccan hicham el guerrouj and former world record holder eamonn coghlan of ireland s 3:49.78. lagat was on course to break el guerrouj s record through 1200m but could not maintain the pace over the final 400m. ireland s continued his excellent form by winning a tight 3 000m in 7:40.53. cragg who recently defeated olympic 10 000m champion kenenisa bekele in boston held off bekele s ethiopian colleague markos geneti by only 0.19secs to secure his victory. mark carroll who will join cragg in the european indoor championships next month finished a solid third in 7:46.78. olympic 200m gold medallist of jamaica ran the fastest women s 60m in the world this year as she equalled her personal best of 7.09secs. world indoor 60m hurdles champion also won improving his season-leading time to 7.51secs.

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.

slovakia seal hopman cup success slovakia clinched the hopman cup for the second time by beating argentina 3-0 in saturday s final in perth. daniela hantuchova put the third seeds ahead recovering from a terrible start to beat gisela dulko 1-6 6-4 6-4. dominik hrbaty who had not lost a set in his three singles matches in the group stages then upset world number seven guillermo coria 6-4 6-1. hantuchova and hrbaty then won the mixed doubles after coria was forced to withdraw because of a sore back. slovakia s win made up for last year s final defeat to the united states. i would like to congratulate daniela hrbaty said. i was so nervous watching her today i almost had a heart attack. i also feel a little sorry for guillermo because i get very excited whenever i play for my country. i show lots of emotions and played such good tennis. world number 31 hantuchova ranked two places above dulko looked nervous as she dropped the first four games of the match. dulko who had lost all three of her singles matches in the group stages grew in confidence and took the opening set in just 27 minutes. but hantuchova hit back to take the next two and the match. i was so nervous because i really wanted to win for the team and for dominik as he played so well all week she said. i didn t think i was playing my best but i just tried to hang in there and fight hard for every point for my country. slovakia won the cup on their first appearance in 1998 when karol kucera and karina habsudova beat france.

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.

unclear future for striker baros liverpool forward milan baros is uncertain whether he remains part of boss rafa benitez s plans after being dropped for the carling cup final. baros who is liverpool s leading scorer this season denied reports of a row with benitez but claims he is mystified at being left on the bench. he told czech newspaper daily sport: i don t know why i didn t play on sunday. i didn t argue with anybody. i was disappointed but i am not thinking of leaving right now. the czech international came on as a substitute after 74 minutes but could not prevent his side losing 3-2 to chelsea after extra-time. baros denied suggestions he wanted to leave the millennium stadium before the match upon learning of his omission from the starting line-up. but his admission that he guessed something like this was going to happen on saturday will do little to quell claims of a falling-out with benitez. and although baros insisted thoughts of quitting anfield are not in my mind right now he admitted everything is possible .

mps to debate euthanasia laws mps are preparing to debate a bill which critics claim would legalise euthanasia by the back door . the bill would give legal force to living wills where people say they want medical treatment withheld if they become severely incapacitated. the mental capacity bill has broad support from charities who say it would give better safeguards over treatment. but christian groups say it could mean doctors withholding food and fluids even if they think it inappropriate. ministers insist the mental capacity bill - for england and wales - would not change laws on assisted suicide and contains a presumption in favour of preserving life. the bill would establish a legal presumption that everybody can make decisions about their own treatment unless proved otherwise. it would allow people to give somebody the power of attorney to make decisions on their behalf which could be challenged by doctors. critics fear it could allow killing by omission through withdrawing treatment. an amendment to the bill - specifically preventing decisions that would bring about death - has been tabled by former conservative leader iain duncan smith. ninety one mps have signed a petition backing the amendment. mps could vote on it later on tuesday during the bill s report stage debate. the bill will then go to a third reading and be debated in the lords before becoming law. the christian medical fellowship (cmf) and lawyers christian fellowship (lcf) said the mental capacity bill would allow euthanasia by the back door . peter saunders of the cmf said it believed advance refusals should be only advisory not legally binding. cmf is concerned that patients will make unwise and hasty advance decisions to refuse food and fluids without being properly informed about the diagnosis and the expected course their illness will take he said. the lcf s andrea williams said there were too many loopholes that could be abused by unscrupulous doctors . ex-labour minister frank field told bbc two s newsnight programme there was a danger people would feel under pressure to do away with themselves so relatives could inherit their assets. constitutional affairs minister david lammy said laws affecting 750 000 people with dementia needed updating. mr lammy told bbc news labour mps would not get a free vote as the law was being strengthened not changed. we are against euthanasia we are against assisted suicide but we are in a situation now where people can make living wills and that has the force of the common law he said. doctors are saying they want more clarity. patients are saying they want more clarity. the making decisions alliance which includes the alzheimer s society age concern mencap and the national autistic society said misunderstandings over the bill had to be cleared up. it will not change the current law on euthanasia and will actually provide a series of better safeguards when decisions are made for people who lack capacity the alliance said in a statement. the british medical association also backs the bill saying it just gives incapacitated people the same rights as others. debate on legalising euthanasia has intensified in the uk because of cases like that of motor neurone patient diane pretty. she died two years ago after losing a legal battle to allow her husband to help her commit suicide.

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 .

yukos sues four firms for $20bn russian oil firm yukos has sued four companies for their role in last year s forced state auction of its key oil production unit yuganskneftegas. yukos is claiming more than $20bn (£11bn) in damages after yugansk was sold in december to settle back taxes. the four companies named in the law suit are gas giant gazprom its unit gazpromneft investment company baikal and state oil firm rosneft. yukos submitted the suit in houston where it filed for bankruptcy. as well as suing for damages yukos has asked the us court to send its tax dispute with the russian government to an international arbitrator. it also has submitted a reorganisation plan as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. the clash between yukos and the kremlin came to a head last year when yukos was hit with a bill of more than $27bn in back taxes and unpaid fines. to settle the bill russia forced yukos to sell off yuganskneftegas. yukos called the sale illegal and has turned to courts in the us in an effort to regain control of the oil production business. it also has vowed to use all legal means at its disposal to go after any firm that tries to buy or take control of its assets. earlier this month it sued the russian government for $28.3bn. analysts have questioned whether a us court has any jurisdiction over russian companies while moscow officials have dismissed yukos legal wrangling as meaningless. in houston bankruptcy judge letitia clark will start a two-day hearing on 16 february to hear arguments on whether a us court is the proper forum for the case. the threat of legal action from yukos and its bankruptcy filing in houston did have an effect on last year s auction however. concerned that it would be caught up in a court battle gazprom and gazpromneft withdrew from the auction and yuganskneftegas was sold to little-known investment firm baikal finance group. a few days later baikal gave control of the company to state-run oil group rosneft for $9.3bn. rosneft meanwhile has agreed to merge with gazprom bringing a large chunk of russia s very profitable oil business back under state control. yukos claims that the rights of its shareholders have been ignored and that is has been punished for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky. mr khodorkovsky once russia s richest man is in prison having been charged with fraud and tax evasion and repeatedly denied bail.

mccririck out of big brother show racing pundit john mccririck has become the latest contestant to be evicted from celebrity big brother. he was nominated to leave the channel 4 show by fellow housemates alongside happy mondays dancer bez. at one time bez was among the most popular contestants but he has since become withdrawn and argumentative. mccririck was ordered to leave the house on monday following jackie stallone the actor sylvester s mother who was first to be evicted. bez reacted badly to the news that he had been nominated by five of his fellow housemates whilst john received four votes against him. sylvester stallone s ex-wife brigitte nielsen nominated both john and bez. she said: bez is a difficult human being. there s something wrong with him. even though he s making an effort he s not very happy in here. former holby city actor jeremy edwards said he had nominated bez after he became agitated on friday night and talked about escaping over the wall to go clubbing. he said bez was being loopy and stressed . according to bookmaker ladbrokes john mccririck was 1/3 favourite to be evicted on monday while bez was at 9/4 . mccririck faced the public vote on friday and received 67% of the vote to keep him in the house whilst jackie stallone was evicted.

wenger steps up row arsene wenger has stepped up his feud with sir alex ferguson by claiming the manchester united manager is guilty of bringing football into disrepute. the pair s long-running row was put back in the headlines on saturday when ferguson said his arsenal counterpart was a disgrace . wenger initially refused to bite back saying only: i will never answer any questions any more about this man. but now he claims ferguson should be punished by the football association. the latest twist in the ferguson-wenger saga came on saturday when the united boss in an interview with the independent newspaper discussed the events after the game between the two sides in october. united won 2-0 that day at old trafford but the game was followed by a now notorious food fight which saw ferguson s clothes covered in soup and pizza. the sides meet again at highbury on 1 february. in the tunnel wenger was criticising my players calling them cheats so i told him to leave them alone and behave himself ferguson said on saturday. he ran at me with hands raised saying what do you want to do about it to not apologise for the behaviour of the players to another manager is unthinkable. it s a disgrace but i don t expect wenger to ever apologise he s that type of person. those allegations were put to wenger after saturday s game at bolton which arsenal lost to slip 10 points behind chelsea in the title race. at first he said only: i ve always been consistent with that story and told you nothing happened. if he has to talk he talks. if he wants to make a newspaper article he makes a newspaper article. he doesn t interest me and doesn t matter to me at all. i will never answer to any provocation from him any more. he does what he likes in england anyway. he can go abroad one day and see how it is. but later on saturday according to the independent wenger spoke to a smaller group of reporters and expanded on his reaction. i have no diplomatic relations with him the arsenal boss is quoted as saying. what i don t understand is that he does what he wants and you (the press) are all at his feet. the situation (concerning the food fight) has been judged and there is a game going on in a month. the managers have a responsibility to protect the game before the game. but in england you are only punished for what you say after the game. now the whole story starts again. i don t go into that game. we play football. i am a football manager and i love football above all ... no matter what people say. reminded that ferguson called him a disgrace wenger added: i don t respond to anything. in england you have a good phrase. it is bringing the game into disrepute . but that is not only after a game it is as well before a game. ferguson had also claimed that united chief executive david gill and arsenal vice-chairman david dein had agreed at boardroom level not to discuss the incident in public. but ferguson added: in the ensuing weeks all you got was a diatribe from arsenal about being kicked off the pitch and all that nonsense. gill phoned dein three times to complain but nothing was done. the return is on 1 february and they will come out with another diatribe. david gill and i feel we should set the record straight because arsenal have not written to us to apologise and we would not let that happen here. meanwhile the league managers association have offered to act as peacemakers in the hope of resolving the on-going row. during that stormy game in october united striker ruud van nistelrooy caught arsenal s ashley cole with one particularly strong tackle. wenger later accused van nistelrooy of cheating and was fined £15 000 and severely reprimanded by the football association. ferguson admitted on saturday that van nistelrooy s tackle which earned the dutchman a ban could have given (cole) a serious injury but he believes arsenal were the main aggressors. wenger is always complaining the match was not played in the right spirit he added. they are the worst losers of all time they don t know how to lose. maybe it is just manchester united they don t lose many games to other teams. we tend to forget the worst disciplinary record of all time was arsenal s up until last season. in fairness it has improved and now they are seen as paragons of virtue. but to wenger it never happens it is all some dream or nightmare.

blair congratulates bush on win tony blair has said he looks forward to continuing his strong relationship with george bush and working with him during his second term as president. mr bush s re-election came at a crucial time for a world that was fractured divided and uncertain mr blair said. it had to be brought together he added saying action was needed on poverty the middle east and the conditions on which terrorists prey. mr blair said states had to work with the us to fight global terrorism. but there was a need to recognise it would not be defeated by military might alone but also by demonstrating the strength of our common values he added. solving the conflict in the middle east was the world s single most pressing political challenge of the present day mr blair warned. the prime minister also urged europe and the us to build anew their alliance . all of us in positions of leadership not just president bush have a responsibility to rise to this challenge. it is urgent that we do so. mr blair also paid tribute to democrat john kerry s campaign saying he had helped make the presidential election a true celebration of american democracy . the election of the us president was significant for the world but particularly so for britain because of its special relationship he added. earlier tory leader michael howard sent mr bush his warmest congratulations saying: we look to the president to be a unifying force for those all over the world who share our determination to defend freedom. liberal democrat leader charles kennedy welcomed the fact there had been a quick conclusion to the election unlike in 2000. mr bush s first task was to rebuild a sense of domestic purpose within the us he said. mr kennedy said: internationally it is to be hoped that a second term will see a more sensitive approach to relations with long-standing allies not least for the global efforts to combat terrorism. lib dem foreign affairs spokesman menzies campbell said a win by mr kerry would have given mr blair the chance of a fresh start adding it was almost as if there was an umbilical cord between mr bush and the uk premier. europeans must hope that his administration will be much more multilateral in character and that he will act swiftly to rebuild the atlantic partnership which is so vital to security. iraq will remain an issue of potential division for some time to come. even before the result became clear mr blair was being urged to push for action on climate change at his first meeting with whichever candidate won. liberal democrat environment spokesman norman baker underlined the issue of global warming during a commons debate on anglo-american relations on wednesday. environment secretary margaret beckett has said the us will act on global warming despite george bush s refusal to sign up to the kyoto protocol on carbon emissions. public opinion would force change she told bbc news. but myron ebell an adviser on climate change to president bush has said there would be no change in the us stance and rejected the threat of climate change. he claimed the us was the only country with independent scientists.

musical treatment for capra film the classic film it s a wonderful life is to be turned into a musical by the producer of the controversial hit show jerry springer - the opera. frank capra s 1946 movie starring james stewart is being turned into a £7m musical by producer jon thoday. he is working with steve brown who wrote the award-winning musical spend spend spend. a spokeswoman said the plans were in the very early stages with no cast opening date or theatre announced. a series of workshops have been held in london and on wednesday a cast of singers unveiled the musical to a select group of potential investors. mr thoday said the idea of turning the film into a musical had been an ambition of his for almost 20 years. it s a wonderful life was based on a short story the greatest gift by philip van doren stern. mr thoday managed to buy the rights to the story from van doren stern s family in 1999 following mr brown s success with spend spend spend. he later secured the film rights from paramount enabling them to use the title it s a wonderful life.

pop band busted to take a break chart-topping pop band busted have confirmed that they plan to take a break following rumours that they were on the verge of splitting. a statement from the band s record company universal said frontman charlie simpson planned to spend some time working with his other band fightstar. however they said that busted would reconvene in due course . the band have had eight top three hits including four number ones since they first hit the charts in 2002. their singles include what i go to school for year 3000 crashed the wedding you said no and who s david the band which also includes members matt jay and james bourne made the top ten with their self-titled debut album as well as the follow-up a present for everyone in 2003. they won best pop act and best breakthrough act at the 2004 brit awards and were nominated for best british group. most recently they topped the charts with the theme from the live-action film version of thunderbirds which was voted record of the year on the itv1 show. the band have capitalised on a craze for artists playing catchy pop music with rock overtones. the trio are seen as an alternative to more manufactured artists who are not considered credible musicians because they do not write their own songs or play their own instruments. however recent rumours have suggested that simpson has been wanting to quit the band to focus on fightstar. he now plans to take fightstar on tour.

lennon brands rangers favourites celtic s neil lennon admits rangers could be considered slight favourites for the old firm cis cup clash but insists his side can still win. lennon concedes rangers are in good form at the moment but they have failed to beat celtic in their last seven meetings. rangers are on the up and have been on a good run in recent weeks he said. but it s a game we believe we re capable of winning if we play our best he told the evening times. all the boys are looking forward to it because they are brilliant games to be involved in. without playing at the top of our game we have still been winning matches. at the minute we are at the top of the league and still in with a chance of staying in europe so i don t think it is the crisis people have been trying to make out. of course it is a concern when you are losing goals because we have been notorious for being a team that is hard to beat and keeping clean sheets but hopefully we are over that wee run. considering we lost henrik larsson at the end of last season we have still been scoring a lot of goals which is pleasing.

bortolami predicts dour contest italy skipper marco bortolami believes saturday s six nations contest against scotland will be a scrappy encounter. with both sides looking for their first win of the championship the third-round game at murrayfield has been billed as a wooden-spoon decider. and bortolami feels the edinburgh contest could end up being a bruising battle of the packs. it will not be a pretty game because both teams are desperate to gain their first win said the lock forward. italy have only recorded three wins since they joined the six nations in 2000 but two of those have come against scotland. this year italy opened up with a stubborn display against ireland but ended up losing 28-17. however they were thoroughly outplayed by an impressive welsh side in rome last time out. now the italians travel to edinburgh hoping to claim their first away win in the six nations. scotland played extremely well against france in paris but not so well when ireland came to edinburgh said bortolami. we are still very disappointed with our last game against wales in rome and we are thoroughly determined to right the wrongs. as a nation our quest is to be respected as a team worthy of a place in this tournament and we can only do this by winning games.

apple unveils low-cost mac mini apple has unveiled a new low-cost macintosh computer for the masses billed as the mac mini. chief executive steve jobs showed off the new machine at his annual macworld speech in san francisco. the $499 macintosh sold for £339 in the uk was described by jobs as the most important mac made by apple. mr jobs also unveiled the ipod shuffle a new music player using cheaper flash memory rather than hard drives which are used in more expensive ipods. the new computer shifts the company into new territory - traditionally the firm is known as a design and innovation-led firm rather than as a mass-market manufacturer. the mac mini comes without a monitor keyboard and mouse and a second version with a larger hard drive will also be sold for $599. the machine - which will be available from 22 january - was described by jobs as byodkm... bring your own display keyboard and mouse . in an attempt to win over windows pc customers mr jobs said it would appeal to people thinking of changing operating systems. people who are thinking of switching will have no more excuses he said. it s the newest and most affordable mac ever. the new computer has been the subject of speculation for several weeks and while few people will be surprised by the announcement many analysts had already said it was a sensible move. in january apple sued a website after it published what it said were specifications for the new computer. ian harris deputy editor of uk magazine mac format said the machine would appeal to pc-owning consumers who had purchased an ipod. they want a further taste of mac because they like what they have seen with ipod. harris added: everybody thought that apple was happy to remain a niche maker of luxury computers and moving into a market dominated by low margin manufacturers like dell is a bold move. but it shows that apple is keen to capitalise on the mass market success it s had with the ipod. the mac mini will appeal to pc users looking for an attractive no fuss computer. the new ipod shuffle comes in two versions - one offering 512mb of storage for $99 (£69 in the uk) and a second with one gigabyte of storage for $149 (£99) - and went on sale tuesday. the music player has no display and will play songs either consecutively or shuffled. the smaller ipod will hold about 120 songs said mr jobs. mr jobs told the delegates at macworld that ipod already had a 65% market share of all digital music players.

celebrities get to stay in jungle all four contestants still remain in i m a celebrity ... get me out of here as no evictions were made on the television show on saturday. contestants paul burrell joe pasquale janet street-porter and fran cosgrave were told by hosts ant and dec. natalie appleton s decision to quit the show last monday had given them all a stay of execution the group were told. model sophie anderton was the last person to be voted off the itv1 show set in the australian jungle. the four remaining stars will do a joint bushtucker trial on sunday. former all saints singer natalie appleton 31 walked out of the show after learning she would face a fifth so-called bushtucker trial. the celebrities are chosen by the viewers to pass trials in order to win food for the rest of the camp. appleton had endured a torrid time during the programme including a well-publicised row with sophie anderton. and on 26 november singer brian harvey quit as a contestant after he had a blazing row with janet street-porter.

greek duo cleared in doping case sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou have been cleared of doping offences by an independent tribunal. the duo had been provisionally suspended by the iaaf for allegedly missing three drugs tests including one on the eve of the athens olympics. but the greek athletics federation tribunal has overturned the bans - a decision which the iaaf can now contest at the court of arbitration for sport. the pair s former coach christos tzekos has been banned for four years. kenteris 31 and thanou 30 had been charged with avoiding drug tests in tel aviv chicago and athens and failing to notify anti-doping officials of their whereabouts before the olympics. they withdrew from the olympics after missing a drugs test at the olympic village on 12 august. the pair then spent four days in a hospital claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash. it was the international olympic committee s demand that the iaaf investigate the affair that led to the hearing of the greek tribunal. the head of that tribunal kostas panagopoulos said it had not been proven that the athletes refused to take the test in athens. the charge cannot be substantiated he said. in no way was he (kenteris) informed to appear for a doping test. the same goes for thanou. kenteris s lawyer gregory ioannidis said: the decision means mr kenteris has been exonerated of highly damaging and unfounded charges which have been extremely harmful for his career. he has consistently maintained his innocence and this was substantiated by further evidence we were able to submit to the tribunal following its deliberations in january. this evidence shows mr kenteris was never asked to submit to a test by the international olympic committee so he could not possibly have been guilty of deliberately avoiding one. it shows he has no case to answer. mr kenteris should now be given the opportunity he deserves to rebuild his career in the full knowledge that there is no stain on his character. he has suffered greatly throughout this ordeal that has exposed both himself and his family to enormous pressures. but the iaaf said it was very surprised by the verdict. spokesman nick davies said: we note the decision of the greek authorities with interest. our doping review board will now consider the english version of the decision.

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.

casual gaming to take off games aimed at casual players are set to be even bigger in 2005 according to industry experts. easy-to-play titles that do not require too much time and that are playable online or downloadable to mobile devices will see real growth in the coming year. the trend shows that gaming is not just about big-hitting games console titles which appeal more to hardcore gamers said a panel of experts. they were speaking before the annual consumer electronics show in las vegas which showcases the latest trends in gadgets and technologies for 2005. the panel also insisted that casual gamers were not just women a common misconception which pervades current thinking about gamer demographics. casual games like poker pool bridge bingo and puzzle-based titles which can be played online or downloaded onto mobile devices were gender neutral and different genres attracted different players. greg mills program director at aol said its figures suggested that sports-based games attracted 90% of 18 to 24-year-old males while puzzle games were played by 80% of females. games like bridge tended to attract the over-50 demographic of gamers. but hardcore gamers who are more attracted to blockbuster gamers which usually require hi-spec pcs like half-life 2 or halo 2 on xbox also liked to have a different type of gaming experience. when hardcore gamers are not playing halo they are playing poker and pool based on our research said geoff graber director of yahoo games which attracts about 12 million gamers a month. with the growth of powerful pc technology and ownership broadband take-up portable players and mobile devices as well as interactive tv casual gaming is shaping up to be big business in 2005 according to the panel. the focus for the coming year should be about attracting third-party developers into the field to offer more innovative and multiplayer titles they agreed. we are at a time where we are on the verge of something much bigger said mr graber. casual games will get into their stride in 2005 will be really big in 2006 and will be about community. with more people finding more to do with their gadgets and high-speed connections casual games would start to open up the world of gaming as a form of mass-market entertainment to more people. key to these types of titles is the chance they give people who may not see themselves as gamers to dip in and out of games when they liked. portal sites which offer casual games like aol yahoo and realarcade as well as other games-on-demand services allow people to build up buddy lists so they can return and play against the same people. this aspect of community is crucial for gamers who just want to have quick access to free or cheap games without committing long periods of time immersed in £30 to £40 console or pc titles said the panel. about 120 000 people are expected to attend the ces trade show which stretches over more than 1.5 million square feet and which officially runs from 6 to 9 january. the main theme is how new devices are getting better at talking to each other allowing people to enjoy digital content like audio video and images when they want and where they want.

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.

wolves appoint hoddle as manager glenn hoddle will be unveiled as the new wolves manager on tuesday. the club have confirmed that the former england coach will be unveiled as the successor to dave jones at a news conference at molineux at 1100 gmt. hoddle has been linked with a return to former club southampton but wolves have won the race for his services. he has been out of the game since being sacked at spurs in september 2003 and worked alongside wolves caretaker boss stuart gray at southampton. hoddle began his managerial career as player-boss with swindon before moving on to chelsea and then taking up the england job. his spell in charge of the national side came to an end after the 1998 world cup when he made controversial remarks about the disabled in a newspaper interview. the 47-year-old later returned to management with southampton where he again succeeded jones - as he has now done at wolves. he engineered an upturn in saints fortunes before being lured to white hart lane by tottenham - the club where he made his name as a player. that relationship turned sour at the start of the last campaign and he left the london club early last season. since then he has applied unsuccessfully for the post of france manager and had also been linked with a return to southampton. wolves are currently 17th in the championship and have a home game against millwall on tuesday.

mobile gaming takes off in india gaming on the move is one of the fastest-growing activities among the tech-savvy in india says a report. the indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $26m (£13.8m) by the end of 2004 according to market analysts in-stat/mdr. in october mobile phone users grew by 1.4 million to 44.9 million overtaking the number of landlines said the telecom regulatory authority of india. analysts say cheap rates and a huge youth market is driving the market. india has a large population of under-25s and many in urban areas are fast adopting mobiles as must-have gadgets. india s mobile gaming market will bring in about $336m (£178m) by 2009 according to the report. mobile gaming is expected to explode globally over the next few years. analysts predict that 220 million people will be playing games on phones by 2009 generating billions for mobile companies. services other than just voice calls which are offered by mobile operators in india have as a result of the huge rise in subscribers grown significantly and rapidly. the growth of this market sector has attracted publishers developers animators musicians and content providers and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models said clint wheelock director of in-stat/mdr s wireless research group. mobile gaming is not just about fun; it also represents one key element of a rich mobile entertainment experience for consumers and a lucrative market opportunity for industry players. currently india has six big games developers and four mobile operators that offer games to their subscribers said the report. according to in-stat/mdr it is tipped to make up one of the most important markets in the next wave of mobile multimedia growth. in january 2003 there were only 10 million mobile subscribers in india. many choose mobiles in rural areas in order to bypass poorer telecoms infrastructure. despite this the penetration rate is still much lower that other countries. less than 20% of india s total population own a mobile in india compared to well over 50% in most european countries. the trend echoes the uptake of mobiles in many developing economies which continues to grow as people opt to leapfrog slower and more expensive state-run fixed-line operators.

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.

tsunami slows sri lanka s growth sri lanka s president has launched a reconstruction drive worth $3.5bn (£1.8bn) by appealing for peace and national unity. president kumaratunga said it was now important to find a peaceful solution to years of internal conflict. meanwhile the international monetary fund (imf) said damage from the tsunami would cut one percentage point from sri lanka s economic growth this year. it estimated the wave left physical damage equal to 6.5% of the economy. separately the international labour organisation (ilo) said that at least one million people have lost their livelihoods in sri lanka and indonesia alone. it called for action to create jobs. president kumaratunga attended a ceremony in the southern town of hambantota. she was joined by government and opposition politicians together with buddhist hindu muslim and christian clergy. prime minister mahinda rajapakse laid the foundation stone on a new housing project intended to provide 6 000 homes for survivors of the tsunami. mrs kumaratunga called for the tragedy to be the start of a new beginning to rebuild our nation . we are a country blessed with so many natural resources and we have not made use of them fully. instead we have been squabbling fighting she added. norway s peace negotiator erik solheim is due to arrive on wednesday to try to revive peace talks in the decades-long conflict between government forces and the tamil tigers who want a separate state in the north east of the country. reconstruction efforts in eastern sri lanka have been hampered by tensions between the two sides. the imf said that the sri lankan authorities initial estimates have put the physical damage at $1.3 to $1.5bn but added that the implications for the economy were much wider than this. the broader macroeconomic impact will clearly be substantial but the details are difficult to assess at this early stage the imf said. growth inflation the balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves are all expected to show the effects of lost businesses and reconstruction costs. the fishing industry has been devastated agricultural production may be affected and tourism will suffer especially in the short term the report said. the ilo estimated that 400 000 sri lankans have lost their jobs mostly in these three industries. earnings from tourism this year are expected to be 15% lower than last year. economic growth this year is expected to be 4% which is about 1% less than previously forecast. inflation could climb to 14% compared to a previous estimate of 12%. although major exports have not suffered the imf expects the reconstruction effort will require higher imports which could damage the balance of payments. foreign exchange reserves may become strained as sri lanka will be hard pressed to keep international reserves at the pre-tsunami level which totalled more than two months worth of imports. last week the imf approved sri lanka s request for a freeze on loan repayments.

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.

iraq to invite phone licence bids iraq is to invite bids for two telephone licences saying it wants to significantly boost nationwide coverage over the next decade. bids have been invited from local arab and foreign companies iraq s ministry of communications said. the winner will work in partnership with the iraqi telecommunications and post company (itpc). the firms will install and operate a fixed phone network providing voice fax and internet services. the ministry said that it wanted to increase iraq s very low telephone service penetration rate from about 4.5% today to about 25% within 10 years. it also hopes to develop a highly visible and changeable telecommunication sector . details of the bidding and tender process will be published on the ministry s website on 9 february. it also is planning a road-show for investors in amman jordan. the ministry said it would base its selection on criteria including the speed of implementation tariff rates coverage and the firm s experience and financial strength.

broadband in the uk growing fast high-speed net connections in the uk are proving more popular than ever. bt reports that more people signed up for broadband in the last three months than in any other quarter. the 600 000 connections take the total number of people in the uk signing up for broadband from bt to almost 3.3 million. nationally more than 5 million browse the net via broadband. britain now has among the highest number of broadband connections throughout the whole of europe. according to figures gathered by industry watchdog ofcom the growth means that the uk has now surpassed germany in terms of broadband users per 100 people. the uk total of 5.3 million translates into 7.5 connections per 100 people compared to 6.7 in germany and 15.8 in the netherlands. the numbers of people signing up to broadband include those that get their service direct from bt or via the many companies that re-sell bt lines under their own name. part of the surge in people signing up was due to bt stretching the reach of adsl - the uk s most widely used way of getting broadband - beyond 6km. asymmetric digital subscriber line technology lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. the standard speed is 512kbps though faster connections are available. this breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas said paul reynolds chief executive of bt wholesale which provides phone lines that other firms re-sell. bt retail which sells net services under its own name also had a good quarter and provided about 30% of the new broadband customers. this was a slight increase on the previous three months. despite the good news about growth in broadband figures from telecommunications regulator ofcom show that bt faces increasing competition and dwindling influence in other sectors. local loop unbundling (llu) in which bt rivals install their hardware in exchanges and take over the line to a customer s home or office is growing steadily. cable & wireless and ntl have announced that they are investing millions to start offering llu services. by the end of september more than 4.2 million phone lines were using so-called carrier pre-section (cps) services such as talktalk and one.tel which route phone calls across non-bt networks from a local exchange. there are now more than 300 different firms offering cps services and the percentage of people using bt lines for voice calls has shrunk to 55.4%.

search wars hit desktop pcs another front in the on-going battle between microsoft and google is about to be opened. by the end of 2004 microsoft aims to launch search software to find any kind of file on a pc hard drive. the move is in answer to google s release of its own search tool that catalogues data on desktop pcs. the desktop search market is becoming increasingly crowded as google aol yahoo and many smaller firms tout programs that help people find files. microsoft made the announcement about its forthcoming search software during a call to financial analysts to talk about its first quarter results. john connors microsoft s chief financial officer said a test version of its desktop search software should be available for download by the end of the year. we re going to have a heck of a great race in search between google microsoft and yahoo he said. it s going to be really fun to follow. microsoft is coming late to the desktop search arena and its software will have to compare favourably with programs from a large number of rivals many of which have fiercely dedicated populations of users. the program could be based on the software microsoft owns as a result of its purchase of lookout software in early october. on 14 october google released desktop search software that catalogues all the files on a pc and lets users use one tool to find e-mail messages spreadsheets text files and presentations. the software will also find webpages and messages sent via aol instant messenger. many other firms have released desktop search systems recently too. companies such as blinkx copernic enfish x1 technologies and x-friend all do the same job of cataloguing the huge amounts of information that people increasingly store on their desktop or home computer. apple has also debuted a similar search system for its computers called spotlight that is due to debut with the release of the tiger operating system. due to follow are net giants aol and yahoo. the latter recently bought stata labs to get its hands on search software that people can use. microsoft is also reputedly working on a novel search system for the next version of windows (codenamed longhorn). however this is not likely to appear until 2006. the recent activity in the search industry shows that there is a need to move beyond simple keyword-based web search said kathy rittweger co-founder of blinkx. finding information of our own computers is becoming as difficult as it is to find the relevant webpage amongst the billions that exist. desktop search has become important for several reasons. according to research by message analysts the radicati group up to 45% of the information critical to keeping many businesses running sits in e-mail messages and attachments. jf sullivan spokesman for e-mail software firm sendmail said many organisations were starting to realise how important messaging was to their organisation and the way the work. the key thing is being able to manage all this information he said. also search is increasingly key to the way that people get around the internet. many people use a search engine as the first page they go to when getting on the net. many others use desktop toolbars that let them search for information no matter what other program they are using. having a tool on a desktop can be a lucrative way to control where people go online. for companies such as google which relies on revenue from adverts this knowledge about what people are looking for is worth huge amounts of money. but this invasiveness has already led some to ask about the privacy implications of such tools.

blogger grounded by her airline a us airline attendant is fighting for her job after she was suspended over postings on her blog or online diary. queen of the sky otherwise known as ellen simonetti evolved into an anonymous semi-fictional account of life in the sky. but after she posted pictures of herself in uniform delta airlines suspended her indefinitely without pay. ms simonetti was told her suspension was a result of inappropriate images. delta airlines declined to comment. i was really shocked i had no warning ms simonetti told bbc news online. i never thought i would get in trouble because of the blog. i thought if they had a problem someone would have said something before taking action. the issue has highlighted concerns amongst the growing blogging community about conflicts of interest employment law and free speech on personal websites. ms simonetti was suspended on 25 september pending an investigation and has since lodged a complaint with the us equal employment opportunity commission (eeoc). a spokesperson for delta airlines told bbc news online: all i can tell you is we do not discuss internal employee issues with the media. she added she could not say whether a similar situation over personal websites had occurred in the past. ms simonetti started her personal blog in january to help her get over her mother s death. she had ensured she made no mention of which airline she worked for and created fictional names for cities and companies. the airline s name was changed to anonymous airline and the city in which she was based was called quirksville. a large part of the blog contained fictional stories because queen of the sky developed over the months as a character in her own right according to ms simonetti. the images were taken from a digital camera she had inherited from her mother. we often take pictures on flight or on layovers. i just though why not include them on my blog for fun. i never meant it as something to harm my company and don t understand how they think it did harm them ms simonetti said. she has also claimed that pictures of male delta airline employees in uniform are freely available on the web. of the 10 or so images on the site only one showed ms simonetti s flight wings . they did not tell me which pictures they had a problem with. i am just assuming it was the one of me posing on seats where my skirt rode up she said. the images were removed as soon as she learned she had been suspended. as far as ms simonetti knows there is no company anti-blogging policy. there is guidance which suggests the company uniform cannot be used without approval from management but use in personal pictures on websites is unclear. jeffrey matsuura director of the law and technology programme at the university of dayton said personal websites can be hazardous for both employers and their employees. there are many examples of employees who have presented some kind of material online that have gotten them in trouble with employers he said. it was crucial that any policy about what was and what was not acceptable was expressed clearly was reasonable and enforced fairly in company policy. you have to remember that as an employee you don t have total free speech anymore he said. mr matsuura added that some companies actively encouraged employees to blog. one of the areas where it does become a problem is that they encourage this when it suits them but they may not be particularly clear when they [employees] do cross the line. he speculated that delta might be concerned that the fictional content on the blog may be linked back to the airline after the images of ms simonetti in uniform were posted. whether or not that is successful will depend on what exactly is prohibited and whether you can reasonably say this content now crosses that line he said. ms simonetti said her suspension has caused two of her friends to discontinue their blogs. one of them was asked to stop blogging by his company before any action was taken. if they had asked me just take down the blog i would have done it but that was not been given to me as an option she said. this blogging thing is obviously a new problem for employers and they need to get a policy about it. if i had known it would cost me my job i would not have done that.

dozens held over id fraud site twenty-eight people including a briton have been arrested after a global operation against a website allegedly involved in identity fraud. those arrested are accused of operating shadowcrew.com which investigators claim was a global clearing house for criminals involved in credit card fraud. a 19-year-old man from camberley surrey was arrested by the national hi-tech crime unit but has been bailed. operation firewall led by the us secret service involved seven nations. the british teenager was arrested on wednesday but details only emerged on friday. he has now been bailed to return to a surrey police station in december. all 28 people detained globally are suspected of being involved in an internet-based network which stole people s identities and used computers and websites to defraud credit card companies. the authorities in the us who have indicted 19 people in newark new jersey estimate the fraud caused losses of more than $4m. assistant us attorney scott christie said several people had been arrested in argentina bulgaria canada estonia poland and sweden. mr christie said one of the ringleaders was believed to be a russian anatoly tyukanov. investigators from 30 law enforcement agencies worldwide spent 15 months looking into the activities of three websites - shadowcrew carderplanet and darkprofits. the us secret service was first tipped off in july 2003. an nhtcu spokeswoman said the american investigators went undercover on the shadowcrew website and discovered some of the site s 4 000 members were using it for organised crime purposes. she said criminals were using the websites to traffic counterfeit credit cards and false identification information and documents such as credit cards driver s licences passports and birth certificates. the websites shared tips on how to commit fraud and provided a forum by which people could buy the information and tools they needed to commit such crime she said. the shadowcrew site which has now been taken over by the us secret service listed several discussion groups in english and russian including one on hacking spam and online anonymity tools. the head of the nhtcu acting detective chief superintendent mick deats said: this investigation has resulted in the significant disruption of organised criminals using the internet for profit. we believe that the suspects have trafficked at least 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers leading to losses by financial institutions running into the millions. chief supt deats went on to warn: the internet offers huge legitimate benefits for modern society; however with it brings powerful opportunities for those seeking to abuse those benefits for criminal gain. your identity is one of the most precious commodities. criminals who try to steal the personal and financial information of ordinary citizens as well as the confidential and proprietary information of companies engaged in e-commerce will be targeted by law enforcement.

looks and music to drive mobiles mobile phones are still enjoying a boom time in sales according to research from technology analysts gartner. more than 674 million mobiles were sold last year globally said the report the highest total sold to date. the figure was 30% more than in 2003 and surpassed even the most optimistic predictions gartner said. good design and the look of a mobile as well as new services such as music downloads could go some way to pushing up sales in 2005 said analysts. although people were still looking for better replacement phones there was evidence according to gartner that some markets were seeing a slow-down in replacement sales. all the markets grew apart from japan which shows that replacement sales are continuing in western europe mobile analyst carolina milanesi told the bbc news website. japan is where north america and western european markets can be in a couple of years time. they already have tv music ringtones cameras and all that we can think of on mobiles so people have stopped buying replacement phones. but there could be a slight slowdown in sales in european and us markets too according to gartner as people wait to see what comes next in mobile technology. this means mobile companies have to think carefully about what they are offering in new models so that people see a compelling reason to upgrade said gartner. third generation mobiles (3g) with the ability to handle large amounts of data transfer like video could drive people into upgrading their phones but ms milanesi said it was difficult to say how quickly that would happen. at the end of the day people have cameras and colour screens on mobiles and for the majority of people out there who don t really care about technology the speed of data to a phone is not critical. nor would the rush to produce two or three megapixel camera phones be a reason for mobile owners to upgrade on its own. the majority of camera phone models are not at the stage where they can compete with digital cameras which also have flashes and zooms. more likely to drive sales in 2005 would be the attention to design and aesthetics as well as music services. the motorola razr v3 phone was typical of the attention to design that would be more commonplace in 2005 she added. this was not a women s thing she said but a desire from men and women to have a gadget that is a form of self-expression too. it was not just about how the phone functioned but about what it said about its owner. western europe has always been a market which is quite attentive to design said ms milanesi. people are after something that is nice-looking and together with that there is the entertainment side. this year music will have a part to play in this. the market for full-track music downloads was worth just $20 million (£10.5 million) in 2004 but is set to be worth $1.8 billion (£94 million) by 2009 according to juniper research. sony ericsson just released its walkman branded mobile phone the w800 which combines a digital music player with up to 30 hours battery life and a two megapixel camera. in july last year motorola and apple announced a version of itunes online music downloading service would be released which would be compatible with motorola mobile phones. apple said the new itunes music player would become motorola s standard music application for its music phones. but the challenge will be balancing storage capacity with battery life if mobile music hopes to compete with digital music players like the ipod. ms milanesi said more models would likely be released in the coming year with hard drives. but they would be more likely to compete with the smaller capacity music players that have around four gigabyte storage capacity which would not put too much strain on battery life.

da vinci code is lousy history the plot of an international bestseller that thousands of readers are likely to receive as a christmas present is laughable a clergyman has said. the da vinci code claims jesus was not crucified but married mary magdalene and died a normal death. it claims this was later covered up by the church. the bishop of durham the rt rev dr tom wright described the novel as a great thriller but lousy history . the book has sold more than seven million copies worldwide. despite enjoying dan brown s conspiracy theory the bishop said there was a lack of evidence to back up its claims. writing his christmas message in the northern echo the bishop said: conspiracy theories are always fun - fun to invent fun to read fun to fantasise about. dan brown is the best writer i ve come across in the genre but anyone who knows anything about 1st century history will see that this underlying material is laughable. a great deal of credible evidence proves the biblical version of jesus life was true according to the bishop. the evidence for jesus and the origins of christianity is astonishingly good he said. we have literally a hundred times more early manuscripts for the gospels and letters in the new testament than we have for the main classical authors like cicero virgil and tacitus. historical research shows that they present a coherent and thoroughly credible picture of jesus with all sorts of incidental details that fit the time when he lived and don t fit the world of later legend. brown s book has become a publishing phenomenon consistently topping book charts in the uk and us. the da vinci code has been translated into 42 languages and has spawned its own cottage industry of publications including guides on to how to read the book rebuttals and counter claims. the book which has become an international best-seller in little over two years is set to be made into a film starring tom hanks.

blair sets date for africa report the commission for africa s report will be released on 11 march - comic relief day tony blair has said. july s g8 summit in gleneagles in perthshire - chaired by the prime minister - will use the report as the basis for talks on africa. the announcement followed the final meeting of the commission - which includes singer bob geldof - in london. as well as more aid fairer trade and less debt the commission is likely to demand action on corruption in africa. mr blair told a news conference: it will be a report that s brutally frank about the reality but i hope idealistic about what can be done if the will is there. it s an ambitious project we have set ourselves and you will have to judge on its outcome when we publish it. mr blair has vowed to put africa at the top of his agenda during his time at the helm of the g8. he acknowledged he would have a a job of persuading to do on other nations to get the necessary commitment to debt relief. bob geldof in characteristically blunt style promised that the commission would not just be a talking shop but would deliver radical new thinking to change direction for africa. the former rock star s presence on the commission has been interpreted as a sign that it will be uncompromising in its demands. the people involved include two african government leaders and a range of other african politicians as well as experts from some other developed countries.

casino royale is next bond movie casino royale author ian fleming s first james bond book is to be the next bond film with goldeneye director martin campbell behind the camera. it will be the 21st james bond film to hit the big screen and speculation has been rife over who will play the lead. casino royale was turned into a spoof spy movie by john huston in 1967 with david niven in the lead role. pierce brosnan led the past four bond films but said producers axed him after offering him the chance to return. among the favourites to take over the coveted role are scottish actor dougray scott oscar nominee clive owen and australian star hugh jackman. producers say no decision has yet been made on who will become the seventh actor including niven to play bond on film. kill bill director quentin tarantino had talked of wanting to take on the casino royale project and said he had spoken to brosnan about it. shooting on casino royale is expected to begin once campbell has finished work on the legend of zorro a sequel to the mask of zorro starring catherine zeta jones and antonio banderas. producers barbara broccoli and michael g wilson expect the film to be released in 2006. the script will once again be developed by neal purvis and robert wade who have both worked on two previous bond movies. fleming s book saw the introduction of bond pitted against a russian spy in a game of baccarat. simultaneously a woman arrives on the scene to take his eye off the game. the novel is one of fleming s most violent and sadistic stories with 007 suffering a savage beating from his nemesis le chiffre. in addition to the 1967 film it was also adapted for television in 1954 with actor barry nelson as an americanised jimmy bond. mgm vice chairman chris mcgurk said: martin (campbell) is an incredibly exciting film-maker. goldeneye was a wonderful movie and helped reinvigorate the bond franchise. we re thrilled to have him back to direct the newest bond. new zealand-born campbell moved to the uk in 1966 and directed tv series such as the professionals minder and bergerac. his film credits include edge of darkness vertical limit and beyond borders which starred angelina jolie and clive owen.

blunkett sorry over murder plan david blunkett has apologised to mps after the home office announced prematurely via press release a review of murder laws. the home secretary confirmed the review was to get under way in the wake of a law commission report which branded the current murder law as a mess . he said the review would look at partial defences to murder including provocation and at mandatory sentences. the home office has already said the review will begin next year. on wednesday a home office spokeswoman said the terms of reference for the review had not been established but it was likely to include only england and wales. news of the review was released because it was thought mr blunkett would make the official announcement in a commons debate on wednesday. but the announcement never came with the home secretary saying the debate had never reached that stage. amid opposition anger mr blunkett had to answer an emergency question in parliament on thursday. he said he had taken steps to ensure the incident was not repeated. shadow home secretary david davis welcomed his gracious apology and the review itself. but he argued the minister should have volunteered a formal statement instead of having to be dragged to face mps. in its report the law commission said it had found wide support among criminal justice professionals for an end to the mandatory life sentence for murder. the panel suggested different kinds of murders could be graded to recognise the seriousness of the offence. but the home office said mandatory life sentences would not be abolished and argued courts already had flexibility. the commission an independent body including two judges a senior barrister and sentencing experts had been asked to consider reforms to the defence of provocation in murder cases. but it said its proposals were unlikely to work without a far wider review of the law. results of a consultation exercise showed 64 respondents out of 146 - among them 21 judges - believed a mandatory life sentence for every murder was indefensible and should cease . a key question was whether one category should continue to cover all types of murder from mercy killings to serial or contract killings. the commission found support for the idea of grading murders so that the sentence reflected the seriousness of the offence. but speaking after the report was published home office minister baroness scotland said: murder is the most serious of crimes and we have no intention of abolishing the mandatory life sentence. where an offender is convicted of murder the court must pass a life sentence. the commission also recommended tightening the law so that the provocation defence cannot be used in cases where someone has killed for revenge such as a jealous husband who murders an unfaithful wife.

mobile gaming takes off in india gaming on the move is one of the fastest-growing activities among the tech-savvy in india says a report. the indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $26m (£13.8m) by the end of 2004 according to market analysts in-stat/mdr. in october mobile phone users grew by 1.4 million to 44.9 million overtaking the number of landlines said the telecom regulatory authority of india. analysts say cheap rates and a huge youth market is driving the market. india has a large population of under-25s and many in urban areas are fast adopting mobiles as must-have gadgets. india s mobile gaming market will bring in about $336m (£178m) by 2009 according to the report. mobile gaming is expected to explode globally over the next few years. analysts predict that 220 million people will be playing games on phones by 2009 generating billions for mobile companies. services other than just voice calls which are offered by mobile operators in india have as a result of the huge rise in subscribers grown significantly and rapidly. the growth of this market sector has attracted publishers developers animators musicians and content providers and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models said clint wheelock director of in-stat/mdr s wireless research group. mobile gaming is not just about fun; it also represents one key element of a rich mobile entertainment experience for consumers and a lucrative market opportunity for industry players. currently india has six big games developers and four mobile operators that offer games to their subscribers said the report. according to in-stat/mdr it is tipped to make up one of the most important markets in the next wave of mobile multimedia growth. in january 2003 there were only 10 million mobile subscribers in india. many choose mobiles in rural areas in order to bypass poorer telecoms infrastructure. despite this the penetration rate is still much lower that other countries. less than 20% of india s total population own a mobile in india compared to well over 50% in most european countries. the trend echoes the uptake of mobiles in many developing economies which continues to grow as people opt to leapfrog slower and more expensive state-run fixed-line operators.

gates opens biggest gadget fair bill gates has opened the consumer electronics show (ces) in las vegas saying that gadgets are working together more to help people manage multimedia content around the home and on the move. mr gates made no announcement about the next generation xbox games console which many gadget lovers had been hoping for. about 120 000 people are expected to attend the trade show which stretches over more than 1.5 million square feet and runs from 6 to 9 january. the latest trends in digital imaging storage technologies thinner flat screen and high-definition tvs wireless and portable technologies gaming and broadband technologies will all be on show over the three days. mr gates said that a lot of work had been done in the last year to sort out usability and compatibility issues between devices to make it easier to share content. we predicted at the beginning of the decade that the digital approach would be taken for granted - but there was a lot of work to do. what is fun is to come to the show and see what has been done. it is going even faster than we expected and we are excited about it. he highlighted technology trends over the last year that had driven the need to make technology and transferring content across difference devices seamless . gaming is becoming more of a social thing and all of the social genres will use this rich communications. and if we look at what has been going on with e-mail instant messaging blogging entertainment - if we can make this seamless we can create something quite phenomenal. mr gates said the pc like microsoft s media centre had a central role to play in how people would be making the most out of audio video and images but it would not be the only device. it is the way all these devices work together which will make the difference he said. he also cited the success of the microsoft xbox video game halo 2 released in november which pushed xbox console sales past playstation in the last two months of 2004 for the first time in 2004. the game which makes use of the xbox live online games service has sold 6.23 million copies since its release. people are online and playing together and that really points to the future he said. several partnerships with device and hardware manufacturers were highlighted during mr gates speech but there were few major groundbreaking new technology announcements. although most of these affected largely us consumers the technologies highlighted the kind of trends to come. these included what mr gates called an ecosystem of technologies like sbc s iptv a high-definition tv and digital video recorder that worked via broadband to give high-quality and fast tv. there were also other deals announced which meant that people could watch and control content over portable devices and mobile phones. ces features several more key speeches from major technology players such as intel and hewlett packard as well as parallel conference sessions on gaming storage broadband and the future of digital music. about 50 000 new products will be unleashed at the tech-fest which is the largest yet. consumer electronics and gadgets had a phenomenal year in 2004 according to figures released by ces organisers the cea on tuesday. the gadget explosion signalled the strongest growth yet in the us in 2004. that trend is predicted to continue with wholesale shipments of consumer technologies expected to grow by 11% again in 2005.

federer joins all-time greats the last year has seen one player dominate men s tennis and one country dominate the women s game. roger federer became the first man since mats wilander in 1988 to win three grand slams in one season. and after anastasia myskina became the first russian woman to win a grand slam at the french open two more followed at wimbledon and the us open. meanwhile briton tim henman enjoyed his best year while greg rusedski fought back superbly from adversity. federer began the year as world number one and holder of the wimbledon and masters cup titles and set about conquering new ground. the swiss sounded warning of the dominance to come at the australian open. he ripped through the draw before beating marat safin in the final. andy roddick was the only player to put up any real resistance at wimbledon and federer s performance against lleyton hewitt in the us open final was breathtaking. federer again got the better of hewitt in the season-ending masters cup. his victory in houston proved to be his 13th successive win in a final an open era record. the only major let-down was a third-round loss to gustavo kuerten at the french open and roland garros will be his main target in 2005. there was also a surprise loss to the unheralded tomas berdych at the olympic games which saw chile dominate as nicoals massu took the singles and then paired up with fernando gonzaelz to win doubles gold. another major trophy that looks beyond federer is the davis cup which was won by spain in a 3-2 home success over the usa in seville. roddick struggled on the clay losing to rafael nadal on the opening day before going down to carlos moya in the all-important fourth rubber. henman broke new ground by reaching the semis on clay at the french open - a stunning effort - and also at the us open. a quarter-final defeat to mario ancic at wimbledon was disappointing for the limp manner of the briton s defeat but he remains optimistic of going further next year. british number two rusedski endured a rollercoaster year returning to the circuit after being cleared of a doping offence in march. with his ranking down at 168 many feared the 31-year-old s career was over but he battled back in the second half of the season to re-enter the top 50. the russian women finally delivered on their long-recognised promise in 2004 with myskina maria sharapova and svetlana kuznetsova winning grand slams before taking the season-ending fed cup. but while the young russians were on the way up it was a different story for the belgians and the williams sisters. only veteran lindsay davenport held the new wave at bay a stunning run of form after wimbledon taking her to number one ahead of amelie mauresmo whose grand slam drought goes on. the year started in regulation fashion as justine henin-hardenne beat compatriot kim clijsters at the australian open. a virus ruined the rest of henin-hardenne s year although she was fit enough to win olympic gold but clijsters had an even more miserable 2004. she suffered a serious wrist injury and then announced the end of her relationship with lleyton hewitt and will be happy to see the year end. in their absence myskina thrashed elena dementieva in a historic but woeful all-russian final at the french open. wimbledon was a more refreshing affair as sharapova captivated sw19 showing nerves of steel as she battled past davenport and serena williams to take the title. davenport was a strong favourite for the us open but hampered by injury lost to the powerful and unflappable kuznetsova in the semis. kuznetsova went on to give dementieva another grand slam final thrashing with the latter s wayward serve becoming one of the talking points of the year. with the russians still improving the likes of henin-hardenne clijsters davenport mauresmo venus and serena will need to be fully fit and motivated in 2005. and it may take their compatriot safin to challenge federer on the men s side.

england s defensive crisis grows england s defensive worries have deepened following the withdrawal of tottenham s ledley king from the squad to face holland. chelsea s john terry and wayne bridge are also out leaving coach sven-goran eriksson with a real problem for wednesday s match at villa park. injured rio ferdinand and sol campbell were both left out of the squad and matthew upson has already pulled out. wes brown and jamie carragher are likely to be the makeshift partnership. terry the captain of chelsea as they push for the premiership title would have been a certain starter in the absence of campbell and ferdinand. but now he has pulled out with a bruised knee and is likely to be replaced by carragher alongside brown. manchester united s brown last played for england in the defeat by australia at upton park in february 2003. the 25-year-old was only called into the squad on sunday night as cover following the enforced withdrawal of upson who has a hamstring injury. and brown now looks certain to add to his tally of seven senior appearances for england. king was forced to pull out after his groin injury was assessed by england s medical staff. eriksson has still not decided whether to call up any further back-up having already summoned phil neville after bridge pulled out with a foot injury.

gadget market to grow in 2005 the explosion in consumer technology is to continue into 2005 delegates at the world s largest gadget show in las vegas have been told. the number of gadgets in the shops is predicted to grow by 11% while devices which talk to each other will become increasingly important. everything is going digital kirsten pfeifer from the consumer electronics association told the bbc news website. the consumer electronics show (ces) featured the pick of 2005 s products. consumers are controlling what they want and technologies like hdtvs [high-definition tvs] digital radio and digital cameras will remain strong in 2005. all the products on show really showed the breadth and depth of the industry. despite showing diversity some delegates attending complained that the showcase lacked as much wow factor as in previous years. the portable technologies on show also reflected one of the buzzwords of ces which was the time and place shifting of multimedia content - being able to watch and listen to video and music anywhere at any time. at the start of last year s ces the cea predicted there would be an average growth of 4% in 2004. that figure was surpassed with the rise in popularity of portable digital music players personal video recorders and digital cameras. it was clear also that gadgets are becoming a lot more about lifestyle choice with fashion and personalisation becoming increasingly key to the way gadgets are designed. part of this has been the rise in spending power of the generation x-ers who have grown up with technology and who now have the spending power and desire for more devices that suit them. more than 57% of the consumer electronics market is made up of female buyers according to cea research. hybrid devices which combine a number of multimedia functions were also in evidence on the show floor. a lot of this is driven by just the ability to do it said stephen baker a consumer electronics analyst with retail research firm npd group. some of these functions cost next to nothing to add. as well as the show floor showcasing everything from tiny wearable mp3 players to giant high-definition tvs several keynote speeches were made by industry leaders such as microsoft chief bill gates. despite several embarrassing technical glitches during mr gate s pre-show speech he announced several new partnerships - mainly for the us market. he unveiled new ways of letting people take tv shows recorded on personal video recorders and watch them back on portable devices. he disappointed some however by failing to announce any details of the next generation of the xbox games console. another disappointment was the lack of exposure sony s new portable games device the psp had at the show. sony said the much-anticipated gadget would most likely start shipping in march for the us and europe. it went on sale in japan before christmas. there were only two psps embedded in glass cabinets at the show though and no representatives to discuss further details. a sony representative told the bbc news website this was because sony did not consider it to be part of their consumer technology offering. elsewhere at the show there was a plethora of colour and plasma screens including samsung s 102-inch (2.6 metre) plasma - the largest in the world. industry experts were also excited about high-definition technologies coming to the fore in 2005 with new formats for dvds coming out which will hold six times as much data as conventional dvds. with so many devices on the move there were a lot of products on show offering external storage like seagate s 5gb pocket sized external hard drive which won an innovation for engineering and design prize. more than 120 000 trade professionals attended ces in las vegas which officially ran from 6 to 9 january.

prime minister s questions so who if anyone is playing politics with the security of the nation michael howard has no doubt it is the prime minister who he claims is ramming through parliament the controversial new anti-terror measures without proper debate. he didn t say so but the tories believe the prime minister is playing the fear card on this one so he can look tough in the run up to the general election and they believe tony blair is using the issue to suggest the tories are soft on terrorism. why on earth will the prime minister not simply take up the tories offer to extend the existing powers temporarily to allow proper parliamentary debate of the laws he demanded. the prime minister claims this is the clearest indication that it is the tories who are playing politics with the issue by attempting to score cheap political points in parliament. is not the opposition against to the proposed laws in principle in which case delaying a decision for further debate would be pointless what this is really about believes mr blair is the tories spotting an opportunity to embarrass maybe even defeat the government. and that is more important to them than national security. liberal democrat leader charles kennedy avoided suggesting anyone was playing politics with the issue. he preferred to state that as with other issues like id cards the government s immediate instinct was authoritarian. as is his habit nowadays the prime minister was less rough with mr kennedy than he had been with mr howard - he prefers a more exasperated tone suggesting he believes the lib dems have once again just missed the point. apart from all that it was electioneering as usual. the very first question to the prime minister from derby north s bob laxton asked him in effect if he would carry on the excellent policy of pouring more resources into schools. later birmingham s sion simon even went so far as to suggest the tories were such a shower that we should have the general election now. the prime minister almost blushed. this was not the appropriate place to announce election day he stammered. but can anyone be in any doubt that that announcement is just days away - an announcement coming in the week beginning 4 april for an election on 5 may is where the big money is in the commons. and perhaps that simple fact alone means everyone is seen to be playing politics with just about everything at the moment.

us crude prices surge above $53 us crude prices have soared to fresh four-month highs above $53 in the us as refinery problems propelled petrol prices to an all-time high. us light sweet crude futures jumped to $53.09 a barrel in new york before closing at $53.03. the gains tracked a surge in us gasoline futures to a record high of $1.4850 a gallon. the jump followed a fire at western refining company s refinery in texas which shut down petrol production. a spokesman for the group was unable to say when the production unit would be back up and running. this market simply wants to go up citigroup global markets analyst kyle cooper told reuters news agency. ed silliere analyst at energy merchant added: gasoline is up because of the refinery issues in texas which means there will be a scramble for product in the (us) gulf coast. elsewhere a refinery in houston was closed due to mechanical problems while on tuesday production at bp s texas city refinery was taken down for a short time. in the approach to spring the market becomes much more sensitive to problems with petrol production as dealers anticipate rising demand for fuel ahead of the holiday season. the rise in prices came despite a us government report that showed domestic supplies of fuel oil and fuel were rising. meanwhile oil production cartel opec s recent announcement that it was now unlikely to cut production levels has also failed to calm fears on the market. oil prices are roughly 45% higher than a year ago and have risen sharply in recent weeks due to a combination of colder weather the declining value of the dollar and fears that opec could rein in production to head off a seasonal drop in demand. instability in iraq and underlying fears about terrorism have also played a part in the rally.

enron bosses in $168m payout eighteen former enron directors have agreed a $168m (£89m) settlement deal in a shareholder lawsuit over the collapse of the energy firm. leading plaintiff the university of california announced the news adding that 10 of the former directors will pay $13m from their own pockets. the settlement will be put to the courts for approval next week. enron went bankrupt in 2001 after it emerged it had hidden hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. before its collapse the firm was the seventh biggest public us company by revenue. its demise sent shockwaves through financial markets and dented investor confidence in corporate america. the settlement is very significant in holding these outside directors at least partially personally responsible william lerach the lawyer leading the class action suit against enron said. hopefully this will help send a message to corporate boardrooms of the importance of directors performing their legal duties he added. under the terms of the $168m settlement - $155m of which will be covered by insurance - none of the 18 former directors will admit any wrongdoing. the deal is the fourth major settlement negotiated by lawyers who filed a class action on behalf of enron s shareholders almost three years ago. so far including the latest deal just under $500m (£378.8m) has been retrieved for investors. however the latest deal does not include former enron chief executives ken lay and jeff skilling. both men are facing criminal charges for their alleged misconduct in the run up to the firm s collapse. neither does it cover andrew fastow who has pleaded guilty to taking part in an illegal conspiracy while he was chief financial officer at the group. enron s shareholders are still seeking damages from a long list of other big name defendants including the financial institutions jp morgan chase citigroup merrill lynch and credit suisse first boston. the university of california said the trial in the case is scheduled to begin in october 2006. it joined the lawsuit in december 2001alleging massive insider trading and fraud claiming it had lost $145m on its investments in the company.

mobile gaming takes off in india gaming on the move is one of the fastest-growing activities among the tech-savvy in india says a report. the indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $26m (£13.8m) by the end of 2004 according to market analysts in-stat/mdr. in october mobile phone users grew by 1.4 million to 44.9 million overtaking the number of landlines said the telecom regulatory authority of india. analysts say cheap rates and a huge youth market is driving the market. india has a large population of under-25s and many in urban areas are fast adopting mobiles as must-have gadgets. india s mobile gaming market will bring in about $336m (£178m) by 2009 according to the report. mobile gaming is expected to explode globally over the next few years. analysts predict that 220 million people will be playing games on phones by 2009 generating billions for mobile companies. services other than just voice calls which are offered by mobile operators in india have as a result of the huge rise in subscribers grown significantly and rapidly. the growth of this market sector has attracted publishers developers animators musicians and content providers and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models said clint wheelock director of in-stat/mdr s wireless research group. mobile gaming is not just about fun; it also represents one key element of a rich mobile entertainment experience for consumers and a lucrative market opportunity for industry players. currently india has six big games developers and four mobile operators that offer games to their subscribers said the report. according to in-stat/mdr it is tipped to make up one of the most important markets in the next wave of mobile multimedia growth. in january 2003 there were only 10 million mobile subscribers in india. many choose mobiles in rural areas in order to bypass poorer telecoms infrastructure. despite this the penetration rate is still much lower that other countries. less than 20% of india s total population own a mobile in india compared to well over 50% in most european countries. the trend echoes the uptake of mobiles in many developing economies which continues to grow as people opt to leapfrog slower and more expensive state-run fixed-line operators.

redknapp s saints face pompey tie new southampton manager harry redknapp faces an immediate reunion with his old club portsmouth after they were drawn together in the fa cup fourth round. exeter city face a home tie against middlesbrough if they can see off holders manchester united in a replay. oldham s reward for beating manchester city is a home tie with bolton while yeovil will be away to charlton. chelsea host birmingham tottenham travel to west brom and arsenal will entertain championship side wolves. saints boss redknapp was upbeat about the draw despite having to face the club he walked out on just six weeks ago. i ve said before i can walk away from portsmouth with my head held high i m proud of what i did there and no one can take that away from me said redknapp. maybe i ll be in for some stick there s always some of that but we ll get on with it and it s only a game of football. birmingham manager steve bruce admitted their trip to stamford bridge to face premiership leaders chelsea was the toughest draw possible. bruce said: i m still in shock. we ve given good accounts of ourselves against chelsea in the past and played well when we lost 1-0 at home at the start of the season - but that s the past. but it s the best competition in the world as far as i am concerned and we will give it our best shot. brentford boss martin allen remained cautious despite his side s favourable draw - a home tie with either hartlepool or boston. the best thing is it s a home game. however we know that whoever we play it is going to be a really tough game said allen. but it s not about the opposition it s about us. we all want to get through to the next round and face a massive team that s the way it is. meanwhile the bbc has confirmed it will be televising exeter s replay with man utd live on wednesday 19 january from 1930 on bbc one. derby v watford or fulham man utd or exeter v middlesbrough cardiff or blackburn v colchester chelsea v birmingham west ham v sheff utd oldham v bolton arsenal v wolverhampton everton v sunderland nottm forest v peterborough brentford v hartlepool or boston reading or swansea v leicester or blackpool burnley or liverpool v bournemouth southampton v portsmouth west brom v tottenham newcastle v coventry charlton v yeovil

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.

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.

global digital divide narrowing the digital divide between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast according to a world bank report. the world bank questioned a united nation s campaign to increase usage and access to technology in poorer nations. people in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate - far faster than... in the past said the report. but a spokesman for the un s world summit on the information society said the digital divide remained very real. the digital divide is rapidly closing the world bank report said. half the world s population now has access to a fixed-line telephone the report said and 77% to a mobile network. the report s figures surpass a wsis campaign goal that calls for 50% access to telephones by 2015. the un hopes that widening access to technology such as mobile phones and the net will help eradicate poverty. developing countries are catching up with the rich world in terms of access [to mobile networks] the report said. africa is part of a worldwide trend of rapid rollout... this applies to countries rich and poor reformed or not african asian european and latin american. a spokesman for the world summit for the information society (wsis) which is meeting this week in geneva told the bbc news website: the digital divide is very much real and needs to be addressed. some financing has to be found to help narrow the divide. on tuesday a meeting of the wsis in geneva agreed to the creation of a digital solitary fund. the fund is voluntary and will help finance local community-based projects said the wsis spokesman. under the proposals agreed voluntary contribution of 1% on contracts obtained by private technology service providers could be made to the digital solidarity fund. the exact financing mechanism of the fund is to be ironed out in the coming days said the wsis. sixty percent of resources collected by the fund will be made available for projects in least developed countries 30% for projects in developing countries and 10% for projects in developed countries.

parker s saxophone heads auction a saxophone belonging to legendary jazz musician charlie parker is expected to fetch up to $1m (£535 000) at an auction of jazz memorabilia next month. the sale at guernsey s auction house in new york will feature instruments from other musicians including john coltrane and benny goodman. other items will include an evening gown belonging to ella fitzgerald. organisers said the auction was the first in the us to be devoted to items belonging to jazz musicians. other items that will be auctioned include unreleased tape recordings of music by parker as well as handwritten sheet music by jazz composers john coltrane and theolonius monk. among the instruments in the sale will be a trumpet which belonged to dizzy gillespie which is expected to fetch around $500 000 (£267 000) as well as jj johnson s trombone and a vibraphone which beloned to lionel hampton. works of art by musicians including miles davis and bruni sablan will also be featured. the proceeds from the auction which will take place on 20 february will go towards several organisations including the john coltrane foundation a foundation set up in memory of benny goodman and the red cross.

adriano s chelsea link rejected adriano s agent gilmar rinaldi has insisted that he has had no contact with chelsea over the striker. chelsea were reported to have made inquiries about inter milan s 22-year-old brazilian star. rinaldi told bbc sport from rio de janeiro: i can assure you that chelsea have had no dealings whatsoever with either me or adriano. parma and real madrid are interested but there s nothing new there. their interest has been known for some time. adriano has scored 14 goals in 20 serie a appearances this season. and chelsea boss jose mourinho had claimed that he was in milan talking to adriano on the day he is alleged to have held a clandestine meeting with arsenal defender ashley cole. mourinho said he was just practising my portuguese with him because i don t need strikers . rinaldi told bbc sport: i have to say that nobody from chelsea or any other london club has contacted me. if they want to that s fine. i can tell them what the situation is. if chelsea are interested then they must make an offer. inter are reported to have slapped a price tag in the region of £40m on the head of adriano who joined them just over a year ago from parma. real madrid view him as a natural replacement for compatriot ronaldo. but rinaldi said: i cannot give you a price that inter would accept for adriano. that s something that would have to be negotiated between the interested clubs.

franz man seeks government help franz ferdinand frontman alex kapranos has called for more government help for musicians while taking part in an edinburgh lectures discussion. for any cultural output to thrive there needs to be some kind of state input to that as well he said. but kapranos warned against musicians being too closely linked with mps at the university of edinburgh event. i think the role of musicians is to question politicians rather than to go to bed with them he said. kapranos joined the prestigious lecture series to discuss scotland s role in making 21st century music. there are elements of our musical output which require sustenance because they aren t self-sufficient he said. but so-called commercial music would benefit from investment as well. he warned musicians against being allied to a particular party however. i don t know if having tea with politicians is always a good idea. kapranos and his glasgow four-piece band have been nominated for five prizes at next week s brit awards including best group and best album. their self-titled debut album won last year s mercury music prize and spawned three top 20 singles. he told the 300-strong audience at the university s reid hall that musicians should listen to a wide range of music and should not be restricted by stereotypes. we say i like this . because i listen to nirvana and korn i am a troubled individual i m riddled with angst because i listen to chopin and debussy i listen to kylie minogue and scissor sisters because i m upbeat and i like to party i listen to wagner because i like the smell of napalm in the morning. kapranos said there was a general hostility towards classical music adding: there is very little done to break that hostility other than classic fm. he concluded: we define ourselves as a nation by the way we encourage our creativity. fellow speaker and classical composer james macmillan agreed: we need to rediscover our ability to listen. previous speakers at the edinburgh lectures series have included former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev and author professor stephen hawking. kapranos described his appearance on wednesday as more daunting by a long way than their upcoming brits performance. i don t really care about the brits he said. it s going to be great to go down but i have actually had to exercise part of my brain tonight. i think the government should do more to help up-and-coming artists be discovered by scrapping the entertainment licences for live venues. also they should do more to help independent record labels have a louder voice within an industry dominated by commercialised major labels. rather than expecting the government - i.e. the taxpayer - to fork out why don t some of the megastars put something back in some of britain s wealthiest people are musicians who have raked it in from albums concerts etc. there are far more important demands on government funds. if they can fund football why not fund music areas of the arts are funded by government and lottery grants so why not music we already have the opera receiving huge grants and it would clearly be beneficial for diversity in music to have the same opportunities in other areas of the music. the only problem would be how to judge what merits state cash. the government has enough problems funding schools and health services. if alex kapranos genuinely thinks a multi-billion pound industry should also have government funding then his own education was seriously lacking and more money should be put into that. as a scot living in england i appreciate the value of scottish music and culture being a success so i can see no problem with it! franz ferdinand travis and snow patrol are just recent examples of the success scottish music can have in the world so we should do what we scots are good at and support our own goods! i think the issue is more fundamental: should the government be spending money on subsidising a multi-million pound industry when health and education are in such a sorry state the answer is most definitely no. those people who are lucky enough to pursue their passion to get their pay cheque shouldn t be looking for government subsidies. i know that if i was lucky enough to be able to pursue my dream of show jumping i would want to finance myself until i was in a position to pursue corporate sponsorship. yes the government should fund music - it brings joy to the masses. there are already thousands of state-funded musicians out there sitting around twiddling their thumbs on the new deal . getting the government even more involved would only waste money that could be put to better use. as long as the government was funding real talent it would be a great move. i would hate to see more pop idol-type funding of music though as it would only serve to reinforce the stereotypes that alex talked about. only if the proposals make financial sense. franz ferdinand must be paying serious amounts of tax on their record sales - if they d had a government grant to get started they d have more than paid it back by now so the treasury would be making far more than it paid out. however the government has better things to spend its money on than to give charity to everyone who decides they re a musician. the government shouldn t fund music - it should invest in music and those investments should be treated like any other investment. i think the government needs to provide facilities and for young groups and bands to form and practise. the equipment is not cheap and can be well beyond the means of many people. however i do feel this should be the extent of their role to provide the conditions for the talent to flourish and let it go from there. i do agree that the government should help to fund music but there is also a responsibility held by record companies! they generally always opt for the tried and tested and tend not to want to break any moulds or risk losing any money which ultimately the directors are in the business for! if labels were more willing to put money forward towards smaller breakthrough acts then the government wouldn t have to fork out a great deal. yeah why not music should be government funded particularly the work of modern composers and veteran bands/artists and stuff. pop music pretty much rules the earth so more attention should go to the other fraternities i agree with funding the arts to make it more accessible to the public but i am not convinced that pop music requires financial support from the taxpayer. there is a great deal of money generated through pop music - perhaps a tax on pop could be ploughed into the public performance of other forms of music for everyone to enjoy. perhaps we could financially penalise really bad pop idol-style music - that is the music industry sector without any artistic merit or originality whatsoever and that which is specifically designed to line the pockets of music producers. call it a tax on music pollution if you like. though i really like franz ferdinand i have to disagree with mr kapranos. once government gets their hand into the private sector it will destroy the creative and possibly controversial avenues the artist pursues. many years ago this was the case with the us nea when the government started to question what was considered art for the money they were allotting. the solution mr kapranos should pursue would be privately-funded organizations like save the music in the us.

cable offers video-on-demand cable firms ntl and telewest have both launched video-on-demand services as the battle between satellite and cable tv heats up. movies from sony pictures walt disney touchstone miramax columbia and buena vista will be among those on offer. the service is similar to sky plus as users can pause fast forward and rewind content but they cannot store programmes on their set top box - yet. it could sound the death knell for some tv channels telewest predicts. it allows us to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage over sky for the first time in many years said telewest chief executive eric tveter. video-on-demand will offer a deeper range of content than currently exists on tv. there will be less compromising around the tv schedule and some of the less popular channels may go by the wayside said philip snalune director of products at telewest. telewest customers in bristol and ntl viewers in glasgow will be the first to test the new service which sees a raft of movies on offer for 24 hour rental. during the year the service will be extended to all cable regions. films will range in price from £1 or £2 for archived movies to £3.50 for current releases. new releases initially on offer will include 50 first dates kill bill: volume 2 gothika and the station agent. in addition ntl is offering children s programmes adult content music video and concerts. telewest will launch similar services later in the year. ntl is also offering viewers the chance to catch up with programmes they have missed. its pick of the week service will offer a selection of bbc programmes from the previous seven days such as eastenders casualty top gear and antiques roadshow. the bbc is trialling a similar service offering broadband users the chance to watch programmes already broadcast on their pc. for telewest it is the beginning of a £20m investment in tv-on-demand which will also see the launch of a personal video recorder (pvr). pvr has been a big success for sky because it gives customers control over programmes. satellite customers without pvr cannot pause rewind or fast forward their programmes. with both services on offer from telewest mr tveter is confident the cable firm can dent not just the viewing figures for terrestrial tv but also gain a huge competitive advantage over sky. we offer the best of both worlds and most households have an interest in having both video-on-demand and pvr he said. video rental stores may also have to watch their back. video-on-demand is better than having a video-store in your living room and is more convenient he said. ntl said it had not ruled out the possibility of offering a pvr but for the moment is concentrating on video-on-demand. pvr is a recording mechanism whereas what we are offering is truly on demand said a spokesman for the company. video-on-demand has the added advantage of not requiring a separate set-top box or extra remote controls he added. adam thomas an analyst at research firm informa media believes the time is ripe for video-on-demand to flourish. while sky will remain the dominant force in uk pay tv for some time to come ntl and telewest seem well placed to successfully ride this second wave of vod enthusiasm and if marketed correctly this could help them eat into sky s lead he said.

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).

fbi agent colludes with analyst a former fbi agent and an internet stock picker have been found guilty of using confidential us government information to manipulate stock prices. a new york court ruled that former fbi man jeffrey royer 41 fed damaging information to anthony elgindy 36. mr elgindy then drove share prices lower by spreading negative publicity via his newsletter. the egyptian-born analyst would extort money from his targets in return for stopping the attacks prosecutors said. under the guise of protecting investors from fraud royer and elgindy used the fbi s crime-fighting tools and resources actually to defraud the public said us attorney roslynn mauskopf. mr royer was convicted of racketeering securities fraud obstruction of justice and witness tampering. mr elgindy was convicted of racketeering securities fraud and extortion. the charges carry sentences of up to 20 years. when the guilty verdict was announced by the jury foreman mr elgindy dropped his face into his hands and sobbed the associated press news agency reported. he was led weeping from the court room by us marshals ap said. defense lawyers contended that mr royer had been feeding information to mr elgindy and another trader in an attempt to expose corporate fraud. mr elgindy s team claimed that he also was fighting against corporate wrongdoing. elgindy s conviction marks the end of his public charade as a crusader against fraud in the market said ms mauskopf. one of the more bizarre aspects of the trial focused on the claims that mr elgindy may have had foreknowledge of the 11 september terrorist attacks in new york and washington. mr elgindy had been trying to sell stock prior to the attack and had predicted a slump in the market. no charges were brought in relation to these allegations.

student fee factor played down a rise has been recorded in the number of students from south of the border applying to universities in scotland. however lifelong learning minister jim wallace said that this would not result in scottish students missing out. applications from england and wales rose by 17% between january 2005 and the previous year up 23 600 to 27 700. fears had been expressed that a flood of fee refugees would try to avoid top-up fees of up to £3 000 a year being introduced in england. in june last year mr wallace announced proposals to increase tuition fees for english students studying in scotland by £2 000 in an attempt to prevent a cross-border flood although no figure has yet been agreed. legislation to introduce the top-up fees in england is not due to take effect until autumn 2006 and students who start before then will not have to pay additional fees at all. the figures were made public on thursday by admissions service ucas. universities scotland which represents university principals claimed that an increase in applications did not amount to scottish students being squeezed out. director david caldwell said some students could be applying in an attempt to avoid the possible increase in annual fees at english universities but this was not a major factor. he told bbc radio scotland s good morning scotland programme: the reason people are opting for scottish universities is that they are perceived as being of very high quality they offer very attractive courses and scotland is seen as a very attractive place to study. they know that when they take up their studies in 2006 they will be hit by top-up fees if they are going to a university in england and that may be part of the reason why the numbers coming to scotland are so inflated. however it does not mean that we will see thousands of additional students from england studying here. mr wallace agreed and said the figures had to be looked at in context. he explained that when applications were translated into acceptances the number was not huge - an additional figure of about 200. also the picture was further blurred by the fact that applications from wales where there are no plans for top-up fees have also risen by 19%. mr wallace said: accepting students from all parts of the world does show the high regard in which scottish higher education is held not just in britain. we want to make sure that when students are making their choice they do so on the nature of the course and not because they are under some sort of financial pressure to go to scotland. we do not want to have a situation where it becomes impossible for scottish students to get places at scottish universities because we are seen as the cheap option. very often the quality of the university experience is enhanced by the fact there are students coming from a wide range of backgrounds so it would be wrong to go the other way and start excluding students.

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.

thousands join strike in wales thousands of civil servants were on strike across wales on friday in protest at planned job cuts. a range of services in wales were affected as civil servants in wales joined the uk-wide strike. the strike called by the public and commercial services union was the biggest by civil servants in a decade. the action follows chancellor gordon brown s announcement in july that 104 000 jobs would be cut with around 6 000 of those expected in wales. the worst-affected area in wales will be the department of work and pensions where 2 000 jobs are threatened. across wales pickets were held by striking civil servants with protests in towns and cities including cardiff bangor aberystwyth and wrexham. gordon brown issued a defiant statement about the strike saying the action would not affect the government s determination to make savings in order to increase investment in healthcare education transport and the fight against crime. our decisions mean more police more teachers more doctors and more nurses he said. we will provide help with information relocation and retraining to help staff move into frontline work within the public sector but we will not be diverted from these necessary changes so that we can make this essential investment. the uk-wide action hit jobcentres benefit agencies pensions offices and driving test centres. the strike also affected the welsh assembly building in cardiff bay where only pass-holders were allowed in. pickets were in place across wales with protests around the country. pcs union spokesman jeff evans said: in wales the civil service is major employer there are more civil servants employed in wales proportionately than in any other part of the country. our protest is about defending jobs and also local services across the country. parts of objective one areas and welsh-speaking areas will be particularly affected by these cuts. the chancellor has said that the cuts will allow funding for more teachers and police. piers freelove is senior benefit officer on the picket line at companies house in cardiff. he said: the majority of people have decided not to come in because of the threat to their jobs. i joined the civil service to provide services as well as get a decent pension as we thought and pay and it s those services that are being threatened as well as our jobs. people like pensioners need a face-to-face service not an impersonal service on the phone which is what they want to impose. pcsu deputy general secretary hugh lanning who was on the same picket line said: we re asking for them to negotiate not just to make announcements. there s a sensible way to do things and at the moment they re not even talking about how to go about it sensibly. the ballot was for one day s action. no further action is anticipated without a further ballot of staff. the welsh assembly government said: this is a strike about national civil service issues. it is not about specific issues local to wales or the assembly.

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.

england given tough sevens draw england will have to negotiate their way through a tough draw if they are to win the rugby world cup sevens in hong kong next month. the second seeds have been drawn against samoa france italy georgia and chinese taipei. the top two sides in each pool qualify but england could face 2001 winners new zealand in the quarter-finals if they stumble against samoa. scotland and ireland are in pool a together with the all blacks. england won the first event of the international rugby board world sevens series in dubai but have slipped to fourth in the table after failing to build on that victory. however they beat samoa in the recent los angeles sevens before losing to argentina in the semi-finals. england have the ability and determination to win this world cup and create sporting history by being the only nation to hold both the 15s and sevens world cups at the same time said england sevens coach mike friday. england have a fantastic record in hong kong and have won there the last three years but the world cup is on a different level. every pool contains teams who have caused upsets before and we will have to work hard to ensure we progress from our group. we have not performed consistently to our true potential so far in the irb sevens which has been disappointing - but we can only look forward. england won the first rugby world cup sevens in 1993 with a side that included the likes of lawrence dallaglio and matt dawson. in 1997 and 2001 england lost in the quarter-finals. (seeds in brackets) new zealand (1) scotland (8) tonga ireland korea usa. england (2) samoa (7) france italy georgia chinese taipei. fiji (3) australia (6) canada portugal japan hong kong. argentina (4) south africa (5) kenya tunisia russia uruguay.

houllier praises benitez regime former liverpool manager gerard houllier has praised the work of his anfield successor rafael benitez. houllier was angry at reports that he has been critical of benitez since the spaniard took over at liverpool. but houllier told bbc sport: in private and in public i have stressed i believe rafa is doing a good job. he is the right man at the right place. rafa is a good coach and a good man. i ve spoken to him since he has been at liverpool and never criticised him. houllier also revealed he is now ready to return to the game after leaving liverpool in may following six years at anfield. the former france boss has been linked with a host of jobs and pulled out of the race to succeed mark hughes as wales national coach. he has been working for uefa covering the premiership for french television and also coaching in brazil with national coach carlos alberto perreira. houllier said: if a good club comes up at the right time then yes i am ready to come back. it has been interesting to watch games from a different perspective and i have learned things. i have been involved in football since leaving liverpool and my batteries are recharged. houllier has been impressed with the quality in the premiership after watching as a pundit - particularly with jose mourinho s work at leaders chelsea. he said: chelsea are doing very well. they have some very good creative players in damien duff and arjen robben and didier drogba showed he can change the face of a game when he came on against newcastle. they have got a good team spirit and are strong mentally. they have shown they can cope with all the pressure put on them because of the expectations and cope well with jose s principles. jose had results before he came to chelsea and i think he will have an impact in the premiership because he manages his team very cleverly. and houllier away from his brief at liverpool has been hugely impressed with the premiership. he said: it is a very exciting league. it is entertaining goals are scored and teams are always trying to win. it has been very interesting to watch the game from a different perspective. games switch from end-to-end and there is more pace to the premiership than other leagues. it is a very good product.

petrol duties frozen brown says chancellor gordon brown has announced a freeze on fuel duty in his pre-budget speech to the commons on thursday. mr brown told the house that government policy is to raise fuel duty at least in line with inflation each year to fulfil environmental commitments. but this financial year because of volatility in the oil market he said the duty would be frozen. during 2000 many motorists campaigned against the rises but environmentalists believe less duty means more pollution. he said: it is our policy that each year fuel duties should rise at least in line with inflation as we seek to meet our targets for reducing polluting emmissions and fund our public services. but this financial year because of the sustained volatility in the oil market i propose to match the freeze in car vehicle licence duty with a continuation on the freeze on the main road fuel duties. the rac welcomed the news calling it an early christmas present for motorists. but the organisation urged drivers to continue to shop around to get the best price for petrol. environmental group transport 2000 said the freeze sends the wrong message to motorists. we are concerned that although britain leads the world in rhetoric about climate change it often fails in practical action said a spokesman. in 2000 the people s fuel lobby caused chaos by blocking roads with slow-moving convoys after mr brown threatened to raise fuel taxes. the chancellor did not raise duty that year but despite threats of more protests in 2003 he added 1.28p per litre.

incredibles win animation awards the incredibles movie has beaten shrek 2 to the main prizes at hollywood s animation awards the annies. the superhero film was named best animated feature while brad bird won best director writer and voice actor for his role as designer edna mode. the incredibles won a total of 10 awards - but shrek 2 which had seven nominations went home empty-handed. the two movies will compete with shark tale in the best animated film category of the oscars at the end of february. the incredibles awards came despite shrek 2 s greater box office success. shrek 2 took $881m (£468m) around the world compared with $576m (£306m) for the incredibles. spongebob squarepants was named best animated tv show while tv comedy king of the hill picked up two prizes including one for actress brittany murphy s voice work. tom kenny who provides the voice for spongebob squarepants hosted sunday s ceremony at the alex theater los angeles. the awards are handed out by the international animated film society. finding nemo won nine annies last year.

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.

bbc web search aids odd queries the bbc s online search engine was used a record amount in 2004 helping with enquires both simple and strange. more than 277 million enquiries were made asking for informaton of a wide range of subjects. the most requested search terms of 2004 included games eastenders cbbc john peel harry potter and olympics. but there were many strange enquiries including: what is a dog how do you say basketball and what is the biggest collection of naval fluff the search engine works by matching key words typed in to different web pages but many people still type in natural language questions. here are some of the strangest queries of 2004 - spelling and grammar errors left untouched - and their possible solutions: - how to fold a serviette like an elf s boot - how do i structure a french letter - what is better one long vacation each year or several short vacations throughout the year - what is so special about the swiss - what are the contemporary issue in nurses - what is the number 4 in this number 40052308090 - what is up - what is the name of james martin s dog search engines are key to the way people use the internet. companies such as google have become of paramount importance as they dictate how people travel through websites while online.

chelsea denied by james heroics a brave defensive display led by keeper david james helped manchester city hold the leaders chelsea. after a quiet opening james denied damien duff jiri jarosik and mateja kezman while paul bosvelt cleared william gallas header off the line. robbie fowler should have scored for the visitors but sent his header wide. chelsea had most of the possession in the second half but james kept out frank lampard s free-kick and superbly tipped the same player s volley wide. city went into the game with the proud record of being the only domestic team to beat chelsea this season. and there was little to alarm them in the first 30 minutes as chelsea - deprived of arjen robben and didier drogba through injury - struggled to pose much of a threat. indeed it was the visitors who looked likelier to enliven a drab opening played at a lethargic pace. shaun wright-phillips - watched by england boss sven-goran eriksson - showed his customary trickery to burst into the right of the area and deliver a dangerous ball which was blocked by john terry. but chelsea suddenly stepped up a gear and created a flurry of chances. first duff got round ben thatcher and blasted in a shot that james parried to kezman who turned the ball wide. soon afterwards jarosik found space in the area to powerfully head lampard s corner goalwards but james tipped the ball over. chelsea were now looking more like premiership leaders and james kept out kezman s fierce drive before bosvelt and james combined to clear gallas header from duff s corner. city broke swiftly up the field and the last chance of a frenetic spell should have resulted in fowler celebrating his 150th premiership goal. wright-phillips raced down the left and crossed to fowler but city s lone man up front left free by terry s slip contrived to head wide when it seemed a breakthrough was certain. the second half started as quietly as the first although james was forced to divert a cross from the lively duff away from eidur gudjohnsen s path. there was a nasty moment for petr cech looking for a ninth straight clean sheet in the league when a series of ricochets saw fowler chase a loose ball in the area and collide accidently with the czech republic stopper. another quiet spell followed which duff interrupted with a surging run that was halted illegally on the edge of the penalty area by bosvelt. lampard stepped up to blast a shot through the wall and james somehow blocked it with his legs. another timely challenge this time from richard dunne in time added on prevented gudjohnsen from getting in a shot. there was still time for james to produce a sensational save to tip lampard s volley round the post. cech paulo ferreira gallas terry bridge jarosik (tiago 56) lampard makelele duff gudjohnsen kezman (cole 63). subs not used: johnson smertin cudicini. makelele gudjohnsen. james mills distin dunne thatcher shaun wright-phillips bosvelt barton sibierski (mcmanaman 85) musampa fowler. subs not used: macken weaver onuoha jordan. bosvelt. 42 093 h webb (s yorkshire).

watchdog probes vivendi bond sale french stock market regulator amf has filed complaints against media giant vivendi universal its boss and another top executive. it believes the prospectus for a bond issue was unclear and that executives may have had privileged information. amf has begun proceedings against vivendi its chief executive jean-rene fourtou and chief operating officer jean-bernard levy. vivendi advisor deutsche bank was also the subject of a complaint filing. deutsche bank which was responsible for selling the convertible bonds to investors could face penalties if the complaint is upheld. vivendi has said it believes there is no legal basis for the complaints. the watchdog is said to believe the executive pair were party to privileged information surrounding the issue of the bonds. both men bought some of the bonds the associated press news agency reported. amf is investigating claims that the duo were aware of an interest in vivendi s us assets from investor marvin davis at the time of the bond sale. vivendi however has said that the information was public knowledge as mr davis offer for the us assets had already been rejected by vivendi s board. amf is also looking into whether the executives knew that vivendi was considering exercising its right to buy british telecom s shares in cegetel. vivendi has rejected the charge saying the decision to buy the cegetel shares was no more than a possibility of which the public was perfectly aware at the time of the bond issue. back in december vivendi and its former chief executive jean-marie messier were each fined 1m euros ($1.3m; £690 000) by amf. the fines came after a 15-month probe into allegations that the media giant misled investors after a costly acquisition programme went wrong.

uk firms embracing e-commerce uk firms are embracing internet trading opportunities as never before e-commerce minister mike o brien says. a government-commissioned study ranked the uk third in its world index of use of information and communication technology (ict). the report suggests 69% of uk firms are now using broadband and that 30% of micro businesses are trading online. mr o brien said uk businesses were sprinting forward in ict use but that there were more challenges ahead. the report carried out independently by consultants booz allen hamilton and hi europe placed the uk third behind sweden and ireland for business use of ict. it showed british business brought greater maturity to their ict use by using broadband in increased numbers bringing ict into their business plans and using new technologies such as voice activated programmes and desktop video conferences. mr o brien said: the increase in the proportion of business connected by broadband shows that uk companies are embracing the opportunities that ict can bring. it is particularly encouraging to see that small businesses are beginning to narrow the digital divide that appeared to have opened up in recent years. the government would play its part in cultivating an environment where information and communication technologies can flourish mr o brien said. the clear message the report sends is that effective use of ict can bring real improvements in business performance for all business. however we are not at the finishing line yet and many challenges remain if the uk is to reach its aim of becoming a world-leading e-economy he added. the international benchmarking study was based on 8 000 telephone interviews with businesses of which more than 2 700 were uk businesses. it is the eighth in a series of examining the adoption and deployment of ict in the world s most industrialised nations.

film row over pirates cannibals plans to portray dominica s carib indians as cannibals in the sequel to hit film pirates of the caribbean have been criticised by the group s chief. carib chief charles williams said talks with disney s producers revealed there was a strong element of cannibalism in the script which cannot be removed . the caribbean island s government said disney planned to film in dominica. the caribs have long denied their ancestors practised cannibalism. disney was unavailable for comment. our ancestors stood up against early european conquerors and because they stood up...we were labelled savages and cannibals up to today said mr williams. this cannot be perpetuated in movies. shooting on the sequel is expected to begin in april with hundreds of dominicans applying to be extras in the movie. about 3 000 caribs live on the island of dominica which has a population of 70 000. many caribs were killed by disease and war during colonisation up to the 1600s. mr williams said he had received support from indigenous groups around the world in his efforts to have cannibalism references removed from the film. but he admitted there were some members of the carib council who did not support the campaign. he said some did not understand our history they are weak and are not committed to the cause of the carib people . the first pirates of the caribbean film took $305m (£162m) at the box office in the us alone. the cast and crew are to work on two sequels back-to-back with the first to be released in 2006.

act on detention ruling uk urged the government must act quickly on the law lords ruling that detention of foreign terror suspects without trial is unlawful mary robinson has said. the former un commissioner for human rights and irish president told radio 4 s today the government s response would be scrutinised internationally. it would be very troubling if the government did not accept the judgement and then work within it she said. home secretary charles clarke has said detainees will not be freed at present. speaking to parliament on his first day in office as home secretary following david blunkett s resignation mr clarke said: i will be asking parliament to renew this legislation in the new year. in the meantime we will be studying the judgement carefully to see whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the concerns raised by the house of lords. mrs robinson said the law lords ruling was in line with international legal opinion and praised their very decisive eight to one majority. what the law lords did was acknowledge the role of the government but say that there had been a disproportionate use that it amounted to executive detention and it was discriminatory because it didn t apply to british citizens she said. mrs robinson warned that a lack of action by the british government could lead to further action in legal arenas such as the european court of human rights in strasbourg. if the government were not to accept this ruling then there is further redress including possible damages for the individuals who could claim that the government either was tardy or was resisting the implications of the judgement of the law lords. she said a meeting of the club of madrid - a group of former world leaders - to be held in the spanish capital on the march anniversary of the train bombings there would probably discuss the ruling and its implications. i have no doubt that this judgement will be looked at both as a very positive step in clarifying the law and restating the fundamental principles but also the response of the british government will be under quite a clear international scrutiny there. the detainees took their case to the house of lords after the court of appeal backed the home office s powers to hold them without limit or charge. the government opted out of part of the european convention on human rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti-terrorism legislation in response to the 11 september attacks in the us. any foreign national suspected of links with terrorism can be detained or can opt to be deported. the law lords said the rules were incompatible with the european convention on human rights as they allowed detentions in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status . the case was heard by a panel of nine law lords rather than the usual five because of the constitutional importance of the case.

building giant in asbestos payout australian building products group james hardie has agreed to pay $1.1bn (£568m) to victims of asbestos-related diseases. the landmark deal could see thousands of people suffering from lung diseases - caused by asbestos the company once made - receive compensation. the move follows angry protests after the firm said a previous compensation fund was running out of money. a subsequent new south wales state inquiry criticised hardie s actions. in september the inquiry found that the company had misled the public about the amount of money set aside to cover its asbestos-related liabilities sparking the resignation of its then chief executive peter macdonald. campaigners welcomed news of the preliminary agreement. this is a momentous day in the fight for victims and their families said asbestosis sufferer bernie banton who leads a victims association. there is still a long way to go but we are getting there. james hardie chairwoman meredith hellicar said the deal provided for a funding arrangement that is affordable sensible and workable . at the end of the day we are dealing with compensation for people who are terminally ill. we don t know exactly how many of them there will be we don t know over what exact period they will fall ill she said. however the deal still has to receive the approval of hardie s shareholders. hardie which currently makes more than 80% of its revenues in the us was once australia s biggest supplier of asbestos building materials. in 2001 the company set up a fund to compensate asbestos victims but it later admitted the fund was running short of money. a decision by hardie to move its headquarters to the netherlands - while remaining a listed company in australia - provoked a damaging public outcry. victims groups accusing it of trying to escape its responsibilities by moving abroad a charge the company denies. australia s securities watchdog is currently investigating hardie s former chief executive and former chief financial officer over allegations of misleading investors and the general public.

the ticking budget facing the us the budget proposals laid out by the administration of us president george w bush are highly controversial. the washington-based economic policy institute which tends to be critical of the president looks at possible fault lines. us politicians and citizens of all political persuasions are in for a dose of shock therapy. without major changes in current policies and political prejudices the federal budget simply cannot hold together. news coverage of the bush budget will be dominated by debates about spending cuts but the fact is these will be large cuts in small programs. from the standpoint of the big fiscal trends the cuts are gratuitous and the big budget train wreck is yet to come. under direct threat will be the federal government s ability to make good on its debts to the social security trust fund. as soon as 2018 the fund will begin to require some cash returns on its bond holdings in order to finance all promised benefits. the trigger for the coming shock will be rising federal debt which will grow in 10 years by conservative estimates to more than half the nation s total annual output. this upward trend will force increased borrowing by the federal government putting upward pressure on interest rates faced by consumers and business. even now a growing share of us borrowing is from abroad. the us government cannot finance its operations without heavy borrowing from the central banks of japan and china among other nations. this does not bode well for us influence in the world. the decline of the dollar is a warning sign that current economic trends cannot continue. the dollar is already sinking. before too long credit markets are likely to react and interest rates will creep upwards. that will be the shock. interest-sensitive industries will feel pain immediately - sectors such as housing automobiles other consumer durables agriculture and small business. some will recall the news footage of angry farmers driving their heavy equipment around the us capitol in the late 1970s. there will be no need for constitutional amendments to balance the budget. the public outcry will force congress to act. whether it will act wisely is another matter. how did this happen by definition the deficit means too little revenue and too much spending - but this neutral description doesn t adequately capture the current situation. federal revenues are at 1950s levels while spending remains where it has been in recent decades - much higher. in addition the united states has two significant military missions. the bush administration s chosen remedy is the least feasible one. reducing domestic spending or eliminating waste fraud and abuse is toothless because this slice of the budget is too small to solve the problem. indeed if congress were rash enough to balance the budget in this way there would hardly be any such spending left. law enforcement space exploration environmental clean-up economic development the small business administration housing veterans benefits aid to state and local governments would all but disappear. it s fantasy to think these routine government functions could be slashed. the biggest spending growth areas are defence (including homeland security) and health care for the elderly and the poor. to some extent increases in these areas are inevitable. the us population is aging and the nation does face genuine threats in the world. but serious savings can only be found where the big money is. savings in health care spending that do not come at the expense of health can only be achieved with wholesale reform of the entire system public and private. brute force budget cuts or spending caps would ill-serve the nation s elderly and indigent. on the revenue side the lion s share of revenue lost to tax cuts enacted since 2000 will have to be replaced. some rearranging could hold many people harmless and focus most of the pain on those with relatively high incomes. finally blind allegiance to a balanced budget will have to be abandoned. there is no good reason to fixate on it anyway. moderate deficits and slowly rising federal debt can be sustained indefinitely. borrowing for investments in education and infrastructure that pay off in future years makes sense. the sooner we face that reality the sooner workable reforms can be pursued. first on the list should be tax reform to raise revenue simplify the tax code and restore some fairness eroded by the bush tax cuts. second should be a dispassionate re-evaluation of the huge increase in defence spending over the past three years much of it unrelated to afghanistan iraq or terrorism. third must be the start of a serious debate on large-scale health care reform. one thing is certain - destroying the budget in order to save it is not going to equip the us economy and government for the challenges of this new century.

spark heads world booker list dame muriel spark is among three british authors who have made the shortlist for the inaugural international booker prize. doris lessing and ian mcewan have also been nominated. mcewan and margaret atwood are the only nominees to have previously won the main booker prize. the new £60 000 award is open to writers of all nationalities who write in english or are widely translated. the prize commends an author for their body of work instead of one book. gabriel garcia marquez saul bellow milan kundera and john updike also feature on the 18-strong list of world literary figures. but other past winners of the regular booker prize such as salman rushdie jm coetzee and kazuo ishiguro have failed to make the shortlist. the prize which will be awarded in london in june will be given once every two years. it will reward an author - who must be living - for continued creativity development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage . an author can only win once. the international award was started in response to criticisms that the booker prize is only open to british and commonwealth authors. margaret atwood (canada) saul bellow (canada) gabriel garcia marquez (colombia) gunter grass (germany) ismail kadare (albania) milan kundera (czech republic) stanislaw lem (poland) doris lessing (uk) ian mcewan (uk) naguib mahfouz (egypt) tomas eloy martinez (argentina) kenzaburo oe (japan) cynthia ozick (us) philip roth (us) muriel spark (uk) antonio tabucchi (italy) john updike (us) abraham b yehoshua (israel)

brizzel to run aaa s in sheffield ballymena sprinter paul brizzel will be among eight of ireland s european indoor hopefuls competing in this weekend s aaa s championships. us-based alistair cragg and mark carroll are the only irish athletes selected so far for the europeans who will not run in sheffield. brizzel will defend his 200m title in the british trials. in-form james mcilroy will hope to confirm his place in the british team for madrid by winning the 800m title. mcilroy has been in tremendous form on the european circuit in recent weeks. he is one of the fastest 800m runners in the world this winter and already seems assured of a place in madrid. corkman mark carroll confirmed in midweek that he would join cragg in the european championships. carroll is ranked number three in the world 3000m ranking at the moment with cragg occupying top spot. meanwhile nine-times champion dermot donnelly will not be coming out of retirement to compete in the northern ireland cross country championships in coleraine on saturday. an injury crisis in the annadale striders squad led to donnelly being entered by coach john mclaughlin but the athlete told bbc sport on friday evening that he would not be running. willowfield s paul rowan will go in as individual favourite but annadale could have a tough job holding on to their team title as andrew dunwoody and noel pollock are unlikely to run.

debate needed on donations cap a cap on donations to political parties should not be introduced yet the elections watchdog has said. fears that big donors can buy political favours have sparked calls for a limit. in a new report the electoral commission says it is worth debating a £10 000 cap for the future but now is not the right time to introduce it. it also says there should be more state funding for political parties and candidates should be able to spend more on election campaigning. there were almost £68m in reported donations to political parties in 2001 2002 and 2003 with nearly £12m of them from individual gifts worth more than £1m. the rules have already been changed so the public can see who gives how much to the parties but the report says there are still public suspicions. the commission says capping donations would mean taxpayers giving parties more cash - something which would first have to be acceptable to the public and shown to work. while we are not in principle opposed to the introduction of a donation cap we do not believe that such a major departure from the existing system now would be sensible says its report. if there was to be a cap it should be £10 000 - a small enough amount to make a difference but which would have banned £56m in donations between 2001 and 2003. even without changes the commission does urge political parties to seek out more small-scale donations and suggests there should be income tax relief for gifts under £200. it also suggests increasing state funding for parties to £3m so help can be extended to all parties with at least two members in the house of commons european parliament scottish parliament welsh assembly or northern ireland assembly. and it suggests new ways of boosting election campaigning seen as a way of improving voter turnout. all local election candidates should be entitled to a free mailshot for campaign leaflets says the watchdog. and there should be a shift in the amount of money allowed to be spent at elections from a national level to a local level to help politicians engage better with voters. the report suggests doubling the money which can be spent by candidates while cutting national spending limits from £20m to £15m. the commission also says the spending limits for general elections should cover the four months before the poll - as happens with other elections. electoral commission chairman sam younger said: there is no doubt that political parties have a vital role to play in maintaining the health of our democracy and for this they need to be adequately resourced. our research has shown that people want to be more informed about party politics and that they want politicians to be more visible and accessible. the public are reluctant for the state to fund parties but at the same time are unhappy with large private donations. he called for a wider public debate on party funding to find the consensus needed for radical changes to the current system.

ukip candidate suspended eurosceptic party ukip have suspended a candidate for allegedly suggesting the criminally insane should be killed. john houston 54 was due to stand in the east kilbride seat in lanarkshire at the next election. but he was suspended after his reported views including the return of the british empire were sent to two scottish newspapers. ukip spokesman mark croucher said those who selected mr houston knew nothing of his views. the episode comes at a difficult time for ukip soon after the high-profile departure of mep robert kilroy-silk. mr houston is alleged to have said that the organs of the criminally insane should be made available to law-abiding members of the community and proposed the legalisation of drugs and the sex trade. the document reportedly said: we re looking for the resurrection of the british empire. the problems for the human race - environmental and others - can only be dealt with on a global scale and that calls for a radical alliance of the english-speaking nations which they are uniquely able to do. mr croucher said the main issue would be that mr houston s reported views had been presented as ukip policy which they were not. he said they might have been submissions to a committee working on the party s manifesto but would not have been matched to mr houston when he was standing to become a candidate. he told bbc news: he appears to have said these things. we have suspended him as a member and as a candidate. by all accounts none of this was mentioned at his selection meeting. it is simply a distraction from the task in hand the eu constitution not individual idiocies. mr houston was quoted in the herald newspaper saying: i feel ukip have over-reacted and overshot the runway. peter nielson who is ukip scotland chairman said he had suspended mr houston on friday night. he will remain suspended while the matter is being investigated and then we will decide if and what further action will be taken. he said that any evidence would be looked into and mr houston may be interviewed by the party. he added: i can t comment too much at the moment i have one version from him but i haven t seen the papers yet.

kidman wins photographer battle actress nicole kidman has won a restraining order against two paparazzi photographers who she claims left her fearful of leaving her sydney mansion. the oscar-winning star took action against jamie fawcett and ben mcdonald after a bugging device was found outside her home earlier this week. lawyers for the pair denied allegations they had planted the device. the australian actress is currently in sydney to film her latest movie eucalyptus with russell crowe. kidman was prompted to take action following a reported high-speed car chase with members of the paparazzi in sydney last weekend. according to local newspaper the daily telegraph the incident involved paparazzi driving through red lights and on the wrong side of the road in pursuit of kidman s vehicle. lawyers for mr fawcett and mr mcdonald denied that the pair were involved in the chase. kidman sought the apprehended violence orders - normally used in australia in cases of domestic violence and similar incidents - after being advised to do so by local police. nicole would like to make it clear that she acknowledges she is a public figure and that reporters and photographers have a job to do and she respects that said kidman s publicist wendy day. however these are specific actions against two individuals who over a period of time have caused her to feel threatened intimidated and unable to leave her home without fearing for her safety. magistrate lee gilmore who issued the restraining order at waverley local court in sydney said she understood the photographers were entitled to earn a living but there had to be limits to their behaviour. miss kidman says she s willing to put up with some of it but it s gone beyond that she said. i do believe the allegation in relation to the driving is a serious issue.

london hope over chepkemei london marathon organisers are hoping that banned athlete susan chepkemei will still take part in this year s race on 17 april. chepkemei was suspended from all competition until the end of the year by athletics kenya after failing to report to a national training camp. we are watching it closely said london race director david bedford. there is a long way to go before the race and we are hoping the situation will be satisfactorily resolved. the camp in embu was to prepare for the iaaf world cross country championships later this month. chepkemei however took part and finished third in last sunday s world best 10k race in puerto rico. the 29-year-old has finished second to paula radcliffe in the 2002 and 2003 london races as well as in november s new york city marathon.

call for action on internet scam phone companies are not doing enough to warn customers about internet rogue-dialling scams according to premium phone line regulator icstis. it has received 45 000 complaints in recent months about dial-up internet connections diverting to premium rate numbers without users knowledge. phone companies refuse to pay compensation because they say calls must be paid for. they must warn people earlier about possible fraud icstis said. people who use dial-up connections can be affected by the scams. without realising a program can be downloaded which diverts internet calls via a premium phone line. victims often fail to notice until they receive an unusually high bill. icstis spokesman rob dwight said: phone companies should get in touch with their customers sooner. if my bill goes over the usual £50 a month i want to know about it straight away - i don t want to be told when it s hit £750. phone companies had the systems in place to spot fraudulent activity and artificially-inflated traffic he said. we alert them to the numbers that we have under investigation and they should be looking out for these numbers he added. telecoms ombudsman elizabeth france said: certainly i would not be surprised to find my credit card company phoning me if i do something out of the ordinary. so i would expect phone companies to be looking to see if they can have a similar approach. the biggest phone company bt says it is doing what it can to monitor fraud and warn people about rogue dialling. its advice to customers is to use call barring if they want to prevent calls to premium lines because under the current system once the call has been made there s little that can be done. gavin patterson group managing director for bt consumer said we do look at customer s calling patterns and we do make interventions when they are out of the ordinary. we re looking at the moment at whether we can improve this. but as bt handled 180 million calls a day monitoring was quite a task in itself he added. the government has ordered a review of premium line services and is likely to say icstis should have more power to deal with rogue diallers in future. at the moment it cannot demand pay-outs on the behalf of customer - it can only close illegal services down. i use free anti-virus software (avg) and free firewall protection (zonealarm). both of these tools have prevented unauthorised access and outgoing calls inadvertently and innocently caused by my daughter s love of music sites. how about isps informing all customers of such facilities the responsibility clearly falls with the customer but many fall prey through simply not knowing how to avoid these issues. ignorance is and always has been an expensive business. does any one know what happens once this fraud has been committed and recognised the phone companies pay the people who obtaining money fraudulently so are these people followed up and prosecuted these diallers are mainly downloaded from sites offering illegal mp3s porn and pirated software. if people didn t visit such sites they d be considerably less at risk. whatever happened to personal responsibility it seems everyone has to be a victim these days! part of the blame has to rest with the manufacturers of home computer operating systems. a secure system should not allow a web page or email to download and install anything without the user s knowledge. these scams are illegal and telephone companies should have nothing to do with them. they should refuse to pay money over to the perpetrators. or are they themselves receiving such good returns that it is in their interest to keep the scam going why don t bt et al block all premium numbers by default and only turn it off at the customer s request to anyone who falls foul of this scam - refuse to pay your telephone provider for these calls. after you notify your telephone provider of these fraudulent transactions they cannot insist on you paying the bill. to do so would be to knowingly assist the fraudsters to commit the fraud. no customers have yet been taken to court for refusing to pay these bills. disable or remove your modem and use broadband instead - then you have nothing to worry about. or buy some decent firewall software and anti-virus. you would not walk out in the freezing cold without a coat - you would not drive your car without any insurance - so why not protect your pc stop blaming the phone companies - it s not their fault! i was very impressed with our phone company recently. i had kept ringing a hotline number for kylie tickets and next day they rang back to ask if i was aware there were 40-odd calls to the same number. great service. and i got the tickets as well! i have a colleague who has fallen victim to this kind of scam. he informed the phone company about it they subsequently put a block on premium rate numbers. three months later another huge bill of over £1 000 came in - the block apparently didn t work and he still has to pay for it even though a block was in place. phone companies are probably quite happy for their customers to be hit with a huge bill otherwise they d be taking extra steps to prevent this kind of problem. i have been scammed of £139. the operator will do nothing about this and to add insult to injury i was charged vat by the government. premium rate numbers have been subject to various scams ever since they were invented. one example was where thieves would set up a premium rate number and then dial it day and night from phones whose quarterly bills were never paid. the telephone company was the victim here and you can bet that loophole was blocked very quickly. i know people who have run up large bills despite being it-literate. from talking to bt in belfast i believe that they will shortly be giving out a free application that can stop you dialling expensive numbers without knowing. it s not the fault of phone companies and at last they are doing something about it. it s about time that the profiteering by the legitimate phone companies came to an end mainly by doing away with dial-up altogether and bring broadband down to the same price as dial-up! not only will this ruin things for the dialler scammers but also allow people to update and upgrade their security more easily and quickly. i haven t fallen victim to a rogue-dialling scam but i think you re seriously remiss in not pointing out that the vast majority of these scams arise from people trying to access services purporting to provide free pornography. in most cases the user is entirely at fault which is probably why the telephone companies are rightly unwilling to refund them. my telephone supplier did not inform me that my monthly bill had risen from its normal £3 to £5 to £320. this was because of the scam. they simply billed me. what particularly galls me over and above having over £300 stolen is that the supplier and the government (through vat) are profiting from this crime and will not reimburse me their portion of my losses. how about an automatic monthly cap of say £20 on premium rate calls that you would have to contact your provider to have lifted that way you could use legitimate premium rate numbers while limiting fraudulent usage. at least any disputed amount would be limited far easier for a telecoms operator to write off £20 than it is £750. a few years back i was also the target of such scams but thank god i have already upgraded to broadband and nothing was connected to my modem so all i heard was the sound of an attempted connection. how about home users take some responsibility and ensure their anti-virus and firewall software is up to date that should prevent the vast majority of these scams.

redknapp s saints face pompey tie new southampton manager harry redknapp faces an immediate reunion with his old club portsmouth after they were drawn together in the fa cup fourth round. exeter city face a home tie against middlesbrough if they can see off holders manchester united in a replay. oldham s reward for beating manchester city is a home tie with bolton while yeovil will be away to charlton. chelsea host birmingham tottenham travel to west brom and arsenal will entertain championship side wolves. saints boss redknapp was upbeat about the draw despite having to face the club he walked out on just six weeks ago. i ve said before i can walk away from portsmouth with my head held high i m proud of what i did there and no one can take that away from me said redknapp. maybe i ll be in for some stick there s always some of that but we ll get on with it and it s only a game of football. birmingham manager steve bruce admitted their trip to stamford bridge to face premiership leaders chelsea was the toughest draw possible. bruce said: i m still in shock. we ve given good accounts of ourselves against chelsea in the past and played well when we lost 1-0 at home at the start of the season - but that s the past. but it s the best competition in the world as far as i am concerned and we will give it our best shot. brentford boss martin allen remained cautious despite his side s favourable draw - a home tie with either hartlepool or boston. the best thing is it s a home game. however we know that whoever we play it is going to be a really tough game said allen. but it s not about the opposition it s about us. we all want to get through to the next round and face a massive team that s the way it is. meanwhile the bbc has confirmed it will be televising exeter s replay with man utd live on wednesday 19 january from 1930 on bbc one. derby v watford or fulham man utd or exeter v middlesbrough cardiff or blackburn v colchester chelsea v birmingham west ham v sheff utd oldham v bolton arsenal v wolverhampton everton v sunderland nottm forest v peterborough brentford v hartlepool or boston reading or swansea v leicester or blackpool burnley or liverpool v bournemouth southampton v portsmouth west brom v tottenham newcastle v coventry charlton v yeovil

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).

pupils to get anti-piracy lessons lessons on music piracy and copyright issues are to be taught to secondary school pupils in the uk. the lessons aimed at 11 to 14-year-olds will introduce them to copyright - including the issues of downloading from the internet and the illegal copying of cds - and its role in protecting creativity. music piracy including illegally swapping music online costs the uk music industry millions every year and has been blamed for a decline in world-wide cd sales. british music rights (bmr) - which was formed to represent the interests of songwriters and composers - worked with education experts to put together a learning pack. songwriter guy chambers who has worked with stars including robbie williams has thrown his support behind the scheme. he said as well as educating children about music piracy it would also protect young people planning a career in the music industry from unscrupulous individuals. at a debate in london to launch the scheme chambers said: i think it is important that young people receive practical and engaging learning in schools. these lessons will give them an insight into how the creative industries work which will help them in possible future careers. the education pack which has already been requested by more than 1 600 secondary schools is aimed at giving children an understanding of copyright in relation to the music industry. it will also teach children about the importance of royalties and raises awareness of different careers in the music industry particularly in the digital age. henri yoxall general manager of british music rights told bbc news schools had been crying out for a resource to help them educate pupils about the issues. the scheme - which is an extension of bmr s respect the value of music campaign - is also being backed by singer-songwriters feargal sharkey lucie silvas and grammy award-winning composer david arnold. silvas said: i think it is so important that students gain an understanding of how the music industry works when they are at a young age. i wish i had been given an opportunity like this when i was at school. emma pike director general of british music rights said: we believe that copyright is an essential part of teaching music in schools. it is vital that the creatives of the future know how to turn their ideas into value. copyright education has always been important... creatives are facing more challenges and more opportunities from technological change. technology is allowing people to create music and distribute their music to the public in a whole host of new ways.

mauresmo opens with victory in la amelie mauresmo and maria sharapova won their opening matches at the tour championships in los angeles. france s mauresmo routed vera zvonareva 6-1 6-0 while wimbledon champion sharapova was a 6-1 6-4 winner over fellow russian svetlana kuznetsova. american serena williams also won edging russian elena dementieva 7-6 7-5 for her second victory of the event. the event is split into two groups of four with the top two from each advancing to the semi-finals. mauresmo s win was her ninth in a row as she tries to overtake lindsay davenport for the number one spot. mauresmo spent five weeks at number one after the us open before injury ushered davenport back in front. since then i feel very confident on court and my game is there. i want to get the ranking back but it s very different than before i was number one. it was an obsession but now i take it in a relaxed way. mauresmo completed her first match in the season-ending championship in 54 minutes as russia s zvonareva struggled to return her serve and failed to achieve a single break point. she got mad a little bit and i played some great tennis said mauresmo who was runner-up to kim clijsters in last year s final. zvonareva has lost both her games so far having crashed 6-2 6-4 kuznetsova in the staples centre on wednesday. sometimes not everything works she said. it was lots of pressure. maybe that is why i couldn t do 100%. but i was fighting. sharapova who lost 6-2 6-2 to kuznetsova in beijing in september said: in beijing she was coming off such a big winning streak [14 matches] and she was unstoppable. this time it was important to start off well and put some pressure on her. the tournament debutant added: i love it here. the atmosphere is great. to be here where the lakers play you just feel that excitement. i love basketball. williams admitted she is still some way off her best form but remained positive after two wins in two days. it s hard to go out there and get it right but i m fighting and i m hoping said williams. what makes me happy is the effort. i had a really good effort today. i m trying to add new dimensions to my game.