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worldcom ex-boss launches defence lawyers defending former worldcom chief bernie ebbers against a battery of fraud charges have called a company whistleblower as their first witness. cynthia cooper worldcom s ex-head of internal accounting alerted directors to irregular accounting practices at the us telecoms giant in 2002. her warnings led to the collapse of the firm following the discovery of an $11bn (£5.7bn) accounting fraud. mr ebbers has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and conspiracy. prosecution lawyers have argued that mr ebbers orchestrated a series of accounting tricks at worldcom ordering employees to hide expenses and inflate revenues to meet wall street earnings estimates. but ms cooper who now runs her own consulting business told a jury in new york on wednesday that external auditors arthur andersen had approved worldcom s accounting in early 2001 and 2002. she said andersen had given a green light to the procedures and practices used by worldcom. mr ebber s lawyers have said he was unaware of the fraud arguing that auditors did not alert him to any problems. ms cooper also said that during shareholder meetings mr ebbers often passed over technical questions to the company s finance chief giving only brief answers himself. the prosecution s star witness former worldcom financial chief scott sullivan has said that mr ebbers ordered accounting adjustments at the firm telling him to hit our books . however ms cooper said mr sullivan had not mentioned anything uncomfortable about worldcom s accounting during a 2001 audit committee meeting. mr ebbers could face a jail sentence of 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing. worldcom emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004 and is now known as mci. last week mci agreed to a buyout by verizon communications in a deal valued at $6.75bn.

business

german business confidence slides german business confidence fell in february knocking hopes of a speedy recovery in europe s largest economy. munich-based research institute ifo said that its confidence index fell to 95.5 in february from 97.5 in january its first decline in three months. the study found that the outlook in both the manufacturing and retail sectors had worsened. observers had been hoping that a more confident business sector would signal that economic activity was picking up. we re surprised that the ifo index has taken such a knock said dz bank economist bernd weidensteiner. the main reason is probably that the domestic economy is still weak particularly in the retail trade. economy and labour minister wolfgang clement called the dip in february s ifo confidence figure a very mild decline . he said that despite the retreat the index remained at a relatively high level and that he expected a modest economic upswing to continue. germany s economy grew 1.6% last year after shrinking in 2003. however the economy contracted by 0.2% during the last three months of 2004 mainly due to the reluctance of consumers to spend. latest indications are that growth is still proving elusive and ifo president hans-werner sinn said any improvement in german domestic demand was sluggish. exports had kept things going during the first half of 2004 but demand for exports was then hit as the value of the euro hit record levels making german products less competitive overseas. on top of that the unemployment rate has been stuck at close to 10% and manufacturing firms including daimlerchrysler siemens and volkswagen have been negotiating with unions over cost cutting measures. analysts said that the ifo figures and germany s continuing problems may delay an interest rate rise by the european central bank. eurozone interest rates are at 2% but comments from senior officials have recently focused on the threat of inflation prompting fears that interest rates may rise.

business

bbc poll indicates economic gloom citizens in a majority of nations surveyed in a bbc world service poll believe the world economy is worsening. most respondents also said their national economy was getting worse. but when asked about their own family s financial outlook a majority in 14 countries said they were positive about the future. almost 23 000 people in 22 countries were questioned for the poll which was mostly conducted before the asian tsunami disaster. the poll found that a majority or plurality of people in 13 countries believed the economy was going downhill compared with respondents in nine countries who believed it was improving. those surveyed in three countries were split. in percentage terms an average of 44% of respondents in each country said the world economy was getting worse compared to 34% who said it was improving. similarly 48% were pessimistic about their national economy while 41% were optimistic. and 47% saw their family s economic conditions improving as against 36% who said they were getting worse. the poll of 22 953 people was conducted by the international polling firm globescan together with the program on international policy attitudes (pipa) at the university of maryland. while the world economy has picked up from difficult times just a few years ago people seem to not have fully absorbed this development though they are personally experiencing its effects said pipa director steven kull. people around the world are saying: i m ok but the world isn t . there may be a perception that war terrorism and religious and political divisions are making the world a worse place even though that has not so far been reflected in global economic performance says the bbc s elizabeth blunt. the countries where people were most optimistic both for the world and for their own families were two fast-growing developing economies china and india followed by indonesia. china has seen two decades of blistering economic growth which has led to wealth creation on a huge scale says the bbc s louisa lim in beijing. but the results also may reflect the untrammelled confidence of people who are subject to endless government propaganda about their country s rosy economic future our correspondent says. south korea was the most pessimistic while respondents in italy and mexico were also quite gloomy. the bbc s david willey in rome says one reason for that result is the changeover from the lira to the euro in 2001 which is widely viewed as the biggest reason why their wages and salaries are worth less than they used to be. the philippines was among the most upbeat countries on prospects for respondents families but one of the most pessimistic about the world economy. pipa conducted the poll from 15 november 2004 to 3 january 2005 across 22 countries in face-to-face or telephone interviews. the interviews took place between 15 november 2004 and 5 january 2005. the margin of error is between 2.5 and 4 points depending on the country. in eight of the countries the sample was limited to major metropolitan areas.

business

lifestyle governs mobile choice faster better or funkier hardware alone is not going to help phone firms sell more handsets research suggests. instead phone firms keen to get more out of their customers should not just be pushing the technology for its own sake. consumers are far more interested in how handsets fit in with their lifestyle than they are in screen size onboard memory or the chip inside shows an in-depth study by handset maker ericsson. historically in the industry there has been too much focus on using technology said dr michael bjorn senior advisor on mobile media at ericsson s consumer and enterprise lab. we have to stop saying that these technologies will change their lives he said. we should try to speak to consumers in their own language and help them see how it fits in with what they are doing he told the bbc news website. for the study ericsson interviewed 14 000 mobile phone owners on the ways they use their phone. people s habits remain the same said dr bjorn. they just move the activity into the mobile phone as it s a much more convenient way to do it. one good example of this was diary-writing among younger people he said. while diaries have always been popular a mobile phone -- especially one equipped with a camera -- helps them keep it in a different form. youngsters use of text messages also reflects their desire to chat and keep in contact with friends and again just lets them do it in a slightly changed way. dr bjorn said that although consumers do what they always did but use a phone to do it the sheer variety of what the new handset technologies make possible does gradually drive new habits and lifestyles. ericsson s research has shown that consumers divide into different tribes that use phones in different ways. dr bjorn said groups dubbed pioneers and materialists were most interested in trying new things and were behind the start of many trends in phone use. for instance he said older people are using sms much more than they did five years ago. this was because younger users often the children of ageing mobile owners encouraged older people to try it so they could keep in touch. another factor governing the speed of change in mobile phone use was the simple speed with which new devices are bought by pioneers and materialists. only when about 25% of people have handsets with new innovations on them such as cameras can consumers stop worrying that if they send a picture message the person at the other end will be able to see it. once this significant number of users is passed use of new innovations tends to take off. dr bjorn said that early reports of camera phone usage in japan seemed to imply that the innovation was going to be a flop. however he said now 45% of the japanese people ericsson questioned use their camera phone at least once a month. in 2003 the figure was 29%. similarly across europe the numbers of people taking snaps with cameras is starting to rise. in 2003 only 4% of the people in the uk took a phonecam snap at least once a month. now the figure is 14%. similar rises have been seen in many other european nations. dr bjorn said that people also used their camera phones in very different ways to film and even digital cameras. usage patterns for digital cameras are almost exactly replacing usage patterns for analogue cameras he said. digital cameras tend to be used on significant events such as weddings holidays and birthdays. by contrast he said camera phones were being used much more to capture a moment and were being woven into everyday life.

tech

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.

business

howard truanted to play snooker conservative leader michael howard has admitted he used to play truant to spend time with his school friends at a snooker hall. mr howard said his time at jack s snooker hall in llanelli in the 1950s had not done him any lasting damage . but he told the times educational supplement that truancy was very bad and said firm action was needed. mr howard also called for a return to o-levels and more classroom discipline. mr howard eventually left llanelli grammar school - and the snooker hall - to go to cambridge university. he said: i don t think it s done me any lasting damage. nor has it made me a snooker world champion. there might have been some occasions when we left early of an afternoon. i m just being honest. i think truancy is a very bad thing and that firm action should be taken to deal with it. another player who has failed to win snooker s world championship - jimmy the whirlwind white - has previously admitted missing lessons instead spending his days in smoky halls. tony meo [another player] and me used to spend all of our spare time there mr white said we loved the game and the atmosphere. school went out of the window. i went for a while and then started taking time off. mr howard s fellow welshman ray reardon - known by his fellow professionals as dracula - won the snooker world championship six times having left school at 14 to work as a miner. and terry griffiths like mr howard from llanelli won the tournament in 1979. it is not known whether the two of them ever clashed cues at jack s.

politics

wales silent on grand slam talk rhys williams says wales are still not thinking of winning the grand slam despite a third six nations win. that s the last thing on our minds at the moment said williams a second- half replacement in saturday s 24-18 win over france in paris. we all realise how difficult a task it is to go up to scotland and beat them. we ve come unstuck there a couple of times recently so our focus is on that game and we ll worry about ireland hopefully after we ve beaten scotland. with captain gareth thomas ruled out of the rest of the campaign with a broken thumb williams is vying for his first start in the championship so far. kevin morgan is probably favourite to replace thomas at full-back leaving williams and hal luscombe to battle for the right wing berth. a hamstring injury denied luscombe the opportunity to make a third successive start but the dragons winger is expected to be fit for the trip to murrayfield on 13 march. hooker robin mcbryde is doubtful after picking up a knee injury in paris but centre sonny parker and flanker colin charvis are set to recover from injury to be in contention for selection. said wales assistant coach scott johnson: they ve worked through the weekend and the reports are a bit more positive. so we re getting a couple back and that adds to the depth of the squad. scotland secured their first win of the campaign on saturday by grinding out an 18-10 win over italy. matt williams side has shown little in attack but johnson insisted the scots will be difficult opposition to break down. italy are really brave opposition and sometimes it s very hard to win he said. so an ugly win can be just as effective as a 30 or 40 point victory. scotland are a hard side and very underrated so we re not taking anything for granted. we re not basking in the glory of winning our first three games. we ve got to be diligent in our preparation. that s my job and we ve got to make sure we re focused.

sport

french honour for director parker british film director sir alan parker has been made an officer in the order of arts and letters one of france s highest cultural honours. sir alan received his decoration in paris on wednesday from french culture minister renaud donnedieu de vabres. you have explored the possibilities of film with an immense talent mr de vabres said as he presented the award. parker praised french films saying: hollywood which created modern cinema uses it only as a commodity. he told the minister: i am honoured to be thus distinguished by france the flag carrier of cinema throughout the world. sir alan s films include oscar-winning fame plus midnight express and the commitments. a founding member of the director s guild of great britain he is a former chairman of the uk film council and on the board of the british film institute. through your work and your campaigns you have shown us how the artist occupies an essential place in our contemporary society mr de vabres said. through your dreams which you show us through the links that you weave you question the world through the mirror of your work. he also cited the director s 2003 film the life of david gale in which kevin spacey played a man on death row as proof of his veritable artistic commitment against the death sentence .

entertainment

car giant hit by mercedes slump a slump in profitability at luxury car maker mercedes has prompted a big drop in profits at parent daimlerchrysler. the german-us carmaker saw fourth quarter operating profits fall to 785m euros ($1bn) from 2.4bn euros in 2003. mercedes-benz s woes - its profits slid to just 20m euros - obscured a strong performance from the chrysler group whose returns met market expectations. mercedes faces fierce competition in the luxury car sector from bmw and but hopes to revive its fortunes by 2006. mercedes profits over the period compared unfavourably with 2003 s 784m euro figure and were well below analyst expectations of 374m euros. for the year as a whole its operating profits fell 46% to 1.6bn euros. sales of mercedes brands fell 2% as demand cooled while revenues were affected by the weakness of the us dollar. the carmaker blamed the fall in profits on high launch costs for new models and losses from its mercedes smart mini-car range. mercedes is hoping to increase productivity by 3bn euros having negotiated 500m euros in annual savings with german workers last year. the firm said it was determined to retain mercedes position as the world s most successful luxury brand. however daimlerchrysler s shares fell 1.5% on the news. while all these divisions are doing well the big worries continue to surround mercedes-benz michael rabb an analyst with bank sal oppenheim told reuters. in contrast chrysler enjoyed a 5% annual increase in unit sales while revenues - calculated in us dollars - rose 10%. the us division - whose marques include dodge and jeep - transformed a full year operating loss of 506m euros in 2003 into a 1.4bn euros profit last year. overall daimlerchrysler saw worldwide vehicle sales rise 8% to 4.7 million in 2004 while total revenues added 4% to 142bn euros. chrysler s strong performance helped the world s fifth largest carmaker boost net income by 400m euros to 2.5bn euros. the year 2004 shows that our strategy works well - even in such a challenging competitive environment said jurgen schrempp daimlerchrysler s chairman. daimlerchrysler took a 475m euro hit in costs stemming from a defects scandal at its joint venture japanese subsidiary fuso. daimlerchrysler last week agreed a compensation package with partner mitsubishi motors which will see it buy out its stake in fuso. looking forward daimerchrysler s profits are expected to be slightly higher in 2005. however it is expecting significant improvements in profitability in 2006 as a result of a major investment in the mercedes product range.

business

fockers fuel festive film chart comedy meet the fockers topped the festive box office in north america setting a new record for christmas day. the sequel took $44.7m (£23.2m) between 24 and 26 december according to studio estimates. it took $19.1m (£9.9m) on christmas day alone the highest takings on that day in box office history. meet the fockers is the sequel to ben stiller comedy meet the parents also starring robert de niro blythe danner dustin hoffman and barbra streisand. despite the success of meet the fockers takings were down 26.5% on 2003 s figures - which was blamed on christmas falling over a weekend this year. when christmas falls on a weekend it s bad for business said paul dergarabedian president of exhibitor relations which compiles box office statistics. the weekend s top 12 films took an estimated $121.9m (£63.3m) compared with $165.8m (£86.1m) last year when the third lord of the rings film dominated the box office. meet the fockers knocked last week s top film lemony snicket s a series of unfortunate events down to third place with $12.5m (£6.5m). comedy fat albert - co-written by bill cosby - entered the chart in second place after opening on christmas day taking $12.7m (£6.6m). the aviator starring leonardo dicaprio as howard hughes took $9.4m after expanding from 40 to 1 796 cinemas on christmas day.

entertainment

blair rejects iraq advice calls tony blair has rejected calls for the publication of advice on the legality of the iraq war amid growing calls for an investigation. the prime minister told his monthly press conference the matter had been dealt with by the attorney general. earlier conservative mp michael mates joined calls for a probe into claims lord goldsmith s statement to parliament was drawn up at number 10. mr blair said the statement was a fair summary of lord goldsmith s opinion. that s what he (lord goldsmith) said and that s what i say. he has dealt with this time and time and time again mr blair told his monthly news conference in downing street. he refused to answer further questions on the issue saying it had been dealt with literally scores of times and the position has not changed . lord goldsmith has denied being leaned on and says the words written were his. the government refuses to publish his advice on the legality of the war - saying such papers have always been kept confidential. mr mates who is a member of the commons intelligence and security committee and was part of the butler inquiry into pre-war intelligence told the bbc on friday: that as a general rule is right but it s not an absolute rule. he said there had been other occasions when advice had been published most recently regarding prince charles s marriage plans. the government could not pick and choose when to use the convention he said. mr mates added: we discovered that there were two or three occasions in the past when law officers advice to the government has been published. and this may be one of those special occasions... when it would be in the public interest to see the advice which the attorney general gave to the prime minister. this is argument was rejected by mr blair who said: firstly we haven t broken the precedent and secondly peter goldsmith has made his statement and i have got absolutely nothing to add to it. in a book published this week philippe sands qc a member of cherie blair s matrix chambers says lord goldsmith warned tony blair on 7 march 2003 that the iraq war could be illegal without a second un resolution sanctioning military action. but a short statement about lord goldsmith s position was presented in a written parliamentary answer on 17 march 2003 - just before a crucial commons vote on the military action. mr sands book suggests it was actually written by home office minister lord falconer and downing street adviser baroness morgan. former minister clare short who resigned from the government over the iraq war said it was the same statement that was earlier shown to the cabinet as it discussed military action. she told the bbc the full advice should have been attached according to the ministerial code. my view is we need the house of lords to set up a special committee summon the attorney get all the papers out look at exactly what happened she said. the conservatives and liberal democrats say they want the publication of the full legal advice given by the attorney general. on thursday lord goldsmith said his statement had not been written by or at number 10 . in my parliamentary answer on march 17 2003 i explained my genuinely held independent view that military action was lawful under the existing security council resolutions he said.

politics

housewives lift channel 4 ratings the debut of us television hit desperate housewives has helped lift channel 4 s january audience share by 12% compared to last year. other successes such as celebrity big brother and the simpsons have enabled the broadcaster to surpass bbc2 for the first month since last july. however the channel s share of the audience fell from 11.2% to 9.6% last month in comparison with january 2004. celebrity big brother attracted less viewers than its 2002 series. comedy drama desperate housewives managed to pull in five million viewers at one point during its run to date attracting a quarter of the television audience. the two main television channels bbc1 and itv1 have both seen their monthly audience share decline in a year on year comparison for january while five s proportion remained the same at a slender 6.3%. digital multi-channel tv is continuing to be the strongest area of growth with the bbc reporting freeview box ownership of five million including one million sales in the last portion of 2004. its share of the audience soared by 20% in january 2005 compared with last year and currently stands at an average of 28.6%.

entertainment

uk coal plunges into deeper loss shares in uk coal have fallen after the mining group reported losses had deepened to £51.6m in 2004 from £1.2m. the uk s biggest coal producer blamed geological problems industrial action and operating flaws at its deep mines for its worsening fortunes. the south yorkshire company led by new chief executive gerry spindler said it hoped to return to profit in 2006. in early trade on thursday its shares were down 10% at 119 pence. uk coal said it was making significant progress in shaking up the business. it had introduced new wage structures a new daily maintenance regime for machinery at its mines and methods to continue mining in adverse conditions. the company said these actions should significantly uplift earnings . it expected 2005 to be a transitional year and to return to profitability in 2006. the recent rise in coal prices has failed to benefit the company as most of its output had already been sold it said. total production costs were £1.30 per gigajoule uk coal said but the average selling price was just £1.18 per gigajoule. we have a long journey ahead to fix these issues. we continue to make progress and great strides have already been made said mr spindler. uk coal operates 15 deep and surface mines across nottinghamshire derbyshire leicestershire yorkshire the west midlands northumberland and durham.

business

bp surges ahead on high oil price oil giant bp has announced a 26% rise in annual profits to $16.2bn (£8.7bn) on the back of record oil prices. last week rival shell reported an annual profit of $17.5bn - a record profit for a uk-listed company. bp added that it was increasing its fourth-quarter dividend by 26% to 8.5 cents and that it would continue with share buybacks. bp chief executive lord browne said the results were strong both operationally and financially. the company is earning about $1.8m an hour. despite the record annual profits figure bp s performance was below the expectations of some city analysts. however bp s share price rose 4p or nearly 1% in morning trading to 548p. its profit rise for the year included profits of $3.65bn (£1.97bn) for the final three months of 2004 - up from $2.89bn a year ago but below its third quarter. speaking on the bbc s today programme on tuesday lord browne said the profits were not solely down to the high oil price alone. the profits are up more than the price of oil is up he said. lord browne pointed out that bp was reaping the benefits of its investment in oil exploration. we have spent many years buying (assets) when the price is low he said. the company has made new discoveries in egypt the gulf of mexico and angola. however lord browne rejected calls for a windfall tax on his company s huge profits saying that in the north sea it paid progressively more tax the more profits it made. lord browne believes oil prices will remain quite high. currently above $40 a barrel he said: the price of oil will be well supported above $30 a barrel for the medium term. bp put production for the year at 3.997 billion barrels of oil up 10% on 2003 but slightly lower than the four billion barrels it had initially aimed for.

business

ireland 21-19 argentina an injury-time dropped goal by ronan o gara stole victory for ireland from underneath the noses of argentina at lansdowne road on saturday. o gara kicked all of ireland s points with two dropped goals and five penalties to give the home side a 100% record in their autumn internationals. an impressive argentina appeared in control until the dying seconds. the pumas shocked the irish early on with a try from federico aramburu and felipe contepomi kicked 14 points. the well-drilled and sharper pumas out-played and out-thought ireland in the early stages. indiscipline allowed argentina s leinster fly-half contepomi to open the scoring in the third minute with a straightforward penalty. he was on the mark again two minutes later when argentina shocked a ragged ireland with the first try of the game. ireland turned the ball over and manuel contepomi broke through an unstructured defence before feeding his midfield partner aramburu to sprint in under the posts. o gara finally got ireland on the board with a dropped goal in the ninth minute only for contepomi to rifle over his second penalty two minutes later. playing into a strong wind and rain ireland continued to come second best in tight situations and turnovers began to mount up against a rugged defence. o gara managed to land his second penalty in the 36th minute but once again contepomi replied in kind four minutes into first-half injury time. the second-half started as the first had ended. o gara rifled over another penalty in the 45th minute but contepomi matched it three minutes later. the upper-body strength of the pumas never allowed ireland to take control up front while the three-quarters had no space to manoeuvre. ireland had to rely on o gara s boot to keep in touch rather than any contrived running plays. the munsterman landed two more penalties - one of them from 48 metres - to bring his team to within four points with 13 minutes on the clock remaining. and ireland s chance came when argentina s number eight gonzalo longo was yellow carded with six minutes to go for an offence in the line-out. o gara made no mistake as he rifled over his fifth penalty to set up a tense final few minutes. but ireland showed great composure to get themselves into a position to allow o gara to thump over a massive drop goal to complete a tremendous if fortuitous comeback.

sport

wenger signs new deal arsenal manager arsene wenger has signed a new contract to stay at the club until may 2008. wenger has ended speculation about his future by agreeing a long-term contract that takes him beyond the opening of arsenal s new stadium in two years. he said: signing a new contract just rubber-stamps my desire to take this club forward and fulfil my ambitions. i still have so much to achieve and my target is to drive this club on. these are exciting times for arsenal. the 55-year-old frenchman told arsenal s website www.arsenal.com: my intention has always been clear. i love this club and am very happy here. wenger has won the title and the fa cup three times each during his reign. chairman peter hill-wood said: we are absolutely delighted that arsene has signed an extension to his contract. since his arrival in 1996 he has revolutionised the club both on and off the pitch. as well as the six major honours he s won during his time here arsene has been a leading influence behind all the major initiatives at the club including the construction of our new training centre and also our new stadium. the club has continued to reap the benefits of arsene s natural eye for unearthing footballing talent. we currently have a fantastic crop of young players coming through the ranks together with a number of world-class players who are playing a wonderful brand of football. meanwhile arsenal director danny fiszman is looking for wenger to stay beyond 2008. when we come towards the end of his contract we will both review the situation. i m sure we will want him to stay on and i hope he will too said fiszman.

sport

u2 s desire to be number one u2 who have won three prestigious grammy awards for their hit vertigo are stubbornly clinging to their status as one of the biggest bands in the world. the most popular groups in the history of rock all have several things in common. the music must be inspired and appeal across generations and be distinctive if not always groundbreaking. but such success is down to more than music. they have to be compelling performers charismatic and intelligent enough to make good decisions and keep their feet on the ground. they also have to want it. they have to want to be the biggest band ever and not stop wanting it. the beatles had it the rolling stones still have it rem hold onto it and queen were it in a catsuit. and u2 have it in spades and keep churning it out. their new album how to dismantle an atomic bomb comes 28 years after the schoolfriends got together in dublin and 17 years after the joshua tree cemented their place on the all-time rock a-list. they may have lost some of the edginess and raw youthful force that propelled them to the top but they have lost none of the desire or ability to craft songs and albums. vertigo the first single from the new album went straight into the uk singles chart at number one knocking eminem off the top spot and giving them their 26th top 10 hit. the challenge is to be bigger and bolder and better - to make records the whole world will listen to bono recently said. drummer larry mullen jr echoed those sentiments: we re very competitive - we want to be on the radio have big singles. we don t want to be thought of as a veteran band. the band have done everything in their considerable powers to ensure they remain the biggest band in the world according to q magazine editor paul rees. this makes them hugely determined and formidable. he added: they are equally determined to push themselves to make music that continues to stand up. as such they ve constantly re-invented and challenged themselves. they are perhaps alone as the only rock band that has got better with age. the other key ingredient was the fact they were highly organised mr rees said. they do everything in the right way. the group were born when mullen put an appeal for bandmates on a high school notice board attracting fellow pupils paul hewson (bono vocals) adam clayton (bass) david evans (the edge guitar) and his brother dick. dick evans soon dropped out and the four-piece were known as the feedback and the hype before settling on u2. by 1978 they had won a talent contest and got noticed by a manager paul mcguinness. they were brilliant but very coarse mcguinness recently said. in a way they were doing exactly what they do now. only badly. they struggled to attract record company attention later being described as pretty damn average and strange and eerie by scouts who saw them live. they released two ireland-only singles which topped the national charts in 1979 and 1980 leading to a deal with island and their debut album boy. the stadium-filling anthemic sound was u2 s aim from the start and their third album war saw them make the breakthrough on both sides of the atlantic going to number one in the uk and 12 in the us. songs like sunday bloody sunday and new year s day brought success and an image as a political and spiritual band - which bono rejected as a cliche. his stage performances - which included flag-waving speaker-climbing and drum-throwing - earned him a reputation as an electric performer and their appearance at 1985 s live aid is widely seen as sealing their global stardom. in 1987 the joshua tree broke sales records and saw the band reach the height of their powers with hits including where the streets have no name i still haven t found what i m looking for and with or without you. those songs took the band s epic atmospheric sound to a simple powerful and popular pinnacle. the end of the decade marked a crucial point for the band - they had reached the top but still yearned for new challenges and achievements. these came in the form of explorations of different branches of rock and forays into electronic dance music plus wildly extravagant stage shows while still trying to retain their mass appeal. the achtung baby album in 1991 was followed by zooropa pop and their corresponding stadium tours which featured giant olives flying cars live phone calls to the white house and bono s transformation into alter-egos the fly and macphisto. he was also building a parallel reputation - not always to the pleasure of his bandmates - as a campaigner on issues from global debt to aids. before the release of how to dismantle an atomic bomb they had sold 125 million albums around the world. but they still want more.

entertainment

hantuchova in dubai last eight daniela hantuchova moved into the quarter-finals of the dubai open after beating elene likhotseva of russia 7-5 6-4 and now faces serena williams. australian open champion williams survived an early scare to beat russia s elena bovina 1-6 6-1 6-4. world number one lindsay davenport and anastasia myskina also progressed. davenport defeated china s jie zheng 6-2 7-5 while french open champion myskina sailed through after her opponent marion bartoli retired hurt. american davenport will now face fellow former wimbledon champion conchita martinez of spain who ousted seventh-seeded nathalie dechy of france 6-1 6-2. myskina will face eighth-seed patty schnyder from switzerland who defeated china s li na 6-3 7-6 (10-8). the other quarter final pits wild card sania mirza of india against jelena jankovic of serbia and montenegro who both won on tuesday. before her meeting with martinez davenport believes there is some room for improvement in her game. i started well and finished well but played some so-so games in the middle she said. williams was also far from content. i don t know what i was doing there she said. it was really windy and i hadn t played in the wind. all my shots were going out of here. but hantuchova is in upbeat mood ahead of her clash with the younger williams sister who was handed a first-round bye. i feel i have an advantage (over serena) because i have already played two matches on these courts she said. it is a difficult court to play on. very fast and sometimes you feel you have no control over the ball.

sport

melzer shocks agassi in san jose 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.

sport

moving mobile improves golf swing a mobile phone that recognises and responds to movements has been launched in japan. the motion-sensitive phone - officially titled the v603sh - was developed by sharp and launched by vodafone s japanese division. devised mainly for mobile gaming users can also access other phone functions using a pre-set pattern of arm movements. the phone will allow golf fans to improve their swing via a golfing game. those who prefer shoot- em-ups will be able to use the phone like a gun to shoot the zombies in the mobile version of sega s house of the dead. the phone comes with a tiny motion-control sensor a computer chip that responds to movement. other features include a display screen that allows users to watch tv and can rotate 180 degrees. it also doubles up as an electronic musical instrument. users have to select a sound from a menu that includes clapping tambourine and maracas and shake their phone to create a beat. it is being recommended for the karaoke market. the phone will initially be available in japan only and is due to go on sale in mid-february. the new gadget could make for interesting people-watching among japanese commuters who are able to access their mobiles on the subway. fishing afficiandos in south korea are already using a phone that allows them to simulate the movement of a rod. the ph-s6500 phone dubbed a sports-leisure gadget was developed by korean phone giant pantech and can also be used by runners to measure calorie consumption and distance run.

tech

hewitt overcomes wobble in sydney lleyton hewitt gave himself the perfect preparation for next week s australian open with victory over ivo minar in the final of the sydney international. the defending champion brushed aside the czech qualifier 7-5 6-0. the australian world number three strolled to the first five games of the match but was shocked as minar won the next five. the top seed was rattled but recovered to close out the set and raced to victory in exactly an hour. it was a strange match . . . momentum swings said hewitt. i felt like i came out of the blocks extremely well but then he loosened up a bit. when he got back to 5-5 i had to try to settle down and take it up a notch and i was able to do that. hewitt has now lifted the sydney title four times in the last six years. it just keeps getting better and better every year hewitt said. i ve only played this tournament four times and i ve won it four times. hewitt went into the final as a short-priced favourite to clinch his 24th career title after dropping only one set all week. he is set to meet frenchman arnaud clement in the first round of the australian open. minar ranked 158th in the world was forced to pull out of the australian open qualifying draw to play in his first atp final. for me this was a big success said the 20-year-old. i was so nervous last night i couldn t sleep. i ve never played a top-10 player before. i wanted to play qualifying in melbourne but it s saturday and i m still here. but this is a main draw and i need the points and the money. alicia molik takes on samantha stosur in an all-australian women s final later on saturday.

sport

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

entertainment

serena becomes world number two serena williams has moved up five places to second in the world rankings after her australian open win. williams won her first grand slam title since 2003 with victory over lindsay davenport the world number one. men s champion marat safin remains fourth in the atp rankings while beaten finalist lleyton hewitt replaces andy roddick as world number two. roger federer retains top spot but safin has overtaken hewitt to become the new leader of the champions race. alicia molik who lost a three-set thriller against davenport in the quarter-finals is in the women s top 10 for the first time in her career. her rise means australia have a player in the top 10 of the men s and women s rankings for the first time in 21 years. and britain s elena baltacha who qualified and then reached the third round has risen to 120 in the world - a leap of 65 places and her highest ranking yet.

sport

ferguson urges henry punishment sir alex ferguson has called on the football association to punish arsenal s thierry henry for an incident involving gabriel heinze. ferguson believes henry deliberately caught heinze on the head with his knee during united s controversial win. the united boss said it was worse than ruud van nistelrooy s foul on ashley cole for which he got a three-game ban. we shall present it to the fa and see what they do. the tackle on heinze was terrible he said. clubs are permitted to ask the fa to examine specific incidents but information is expected to be provided within 48 hours of the game. the clash occurred moments before half-time when a freddie ljungberg challenge left heinze on the ground on the left touchline. henry following the ball attempted to hurdle the argentine but his knee collided with the back of heinze s head. the striker protested his innocence - and referee mike riley deemed the collision accidental. ferguson was also upset by arsenal s overall discipline during the heated encounter between the two arch-rivals and praised his own side s behaviour. edu produced a terrible tackle on scholes that was a potential leg-breaker he said. there were 24 fouls in the game by arsenal seven on heinze five on ronaldo six by vieira - and it was only his sixth foul that got him booked. phil neville got booked for his first challenge. i am proud of my players for the way they handled that pressure. we have always been good at being gracious in defeat. what happened on sunday overshadowed our achievement but then they do it all the time don t they

sport

bt boosts its broadband packages british telecom has said it will double the broadband speeds of most of its home and business customers. the increased speeds will come at no extra charge and follows a similar move by internet service provider aol. many bt customers will now have download speeds of 2mbps although there are usage allowances of between one gigabyte and 30 gigabytes a month. the new speeds start to come into effect on 17 february for home customers and 1 april for businesses. britain is now broadband britain said duncan ingram bt s managing director broadband and internet services. he added: ninety percent of our customers will see real increases in speed. these speed increases will give people the opportunity to do a lot more with their broadband connections he said. upload speeds - the speed at which information is sent from a pc via broadband - will remain at the same speed said mr ingram. despite the increases bt will continue to have usage allowances for home customers. the allowances are extremely generous said mr ingram for what we are seeing in the market place - they are really not an issue. bt will begin enforcing the allowances in the summer. customers who exceed the amounts will either be able to pay for a bigger allowance or see their download speeds reduced. bt now has a 36% share of the broadband market - down from 39% - which is becoming increasingly competitive. in the last few months many rival isps have begun to offer 2mbps services including aol plusnet and uk online. but britain continues to lag behind some countries - especially japan and south korea - which offer broadband speeds of up to 40mbps. but mr ingram said it was important to separate hype from reality . he said that a limited number of people with those connections consistently received speeds of 40mbps. customers will not see their connections double immediately on 17 february. mr ingram said there would be a roll out across the network in order to prevent any problems.

tech

china had role in yukos split-up china lent russia $6bn (£3.2bn) to help the russian government renationalise the key yuganskneftegas unit of oil group yukos it has been revealed. the kremlin said on tuesday that the $6bn which russian state bank veb lent state-owned rosneft to help buy yugansk in turn came from chinese banks. the revelation came as the russian government said rosneft had signed a long-term oil supply deal with china. the deal sees rosneft receive $6bn in credits from china s cnpc. according to russian newspaper vedomosti these credits would be used to pay off the loans rosneft received to finance the purchase of yugansk. reports said cnpc had been offered 20% of yugansk in return for providing finance but the company opted for a long-term oil supply deal instead. analysts said one factor that might have influenced the chinese decision was the possibility of litigation from yukos yugansk s former owner if cnpc had become a shareholder. rosneft and veb declined to comment. the two companies [rosneft and cnpc] have agreed on the pre-payment for long-term deliveries said russian oil official sergei oganesyan. there is nothing unusual that the pre-payment is for five to six years. the announcements help to explain how rosneft a medium-sized indebted and relatively unknown firm was able to finance its surprise purchase of yugansk. yugansk was sold for $9.3bn in an auction last year to help yukos pay off part of a $27bn bill in unpaid taxes and fines. the embattled russian oil giant had previously filed for bankruptcy protection in a us court in an attempt to prevent the forced sale of its main production arm. but yugansk was sold to a little known shell company which in turn was bought by rosneft. yukos claims its downfall was punishment for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky. once the country s richest man mr khodorkovsky is on trial for fraud and tax evasion. the deal between rosneft and cnpc is seen as part of china s desire to secure long-term oil supplies to feed its booming economy. china s thirst for products such as crude oil copper and steel has helped pushed global commodity prices to record levels. clearly the chinese are trying to get some leverage [in russia] said dmitry lukashov an analyst at brokerage aton. they understand property rights in russia are not the most important rights and they are more interested in guaranteeing supplies. if the price of oil is fixed under the deal which is unlikely it could be very profitable for the chinese mr lukashov continued. and rosneft is in desperate need of cash so it s a good deal for them too.

business

peer-to-peer nets here to stay peer-to-peer (p2p) networks are here to stay and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms says a panel of industry experts. once several high-profile legal cases against file-sharers are resolved this year firms will be very keen to try and make money from p2p technology. the expert panel probed the future of p2p at the consumer electronics show in las vegas earlier in january. the first convictions for p2p piracy were handed out in the us in january. william trowbridge and michael chicoine pleaded guilty to charges that they infringed copyright by illegally sharing music movies and software. since the first successful file-sharing network napster was forced to close down the entertainment industry has been nervous and critical of p2p technology blaming it for falling sales and piracy. but that is going to change very soon according to the panel. the music and film industries have started some big legal cases against owners of legitimate p2p networks - which are not illegal in themselves - and of individuals accused of distributing pirated content over networks. but they have slowly realised that p2p is a good way to distribute content said travis kalanick founder and chairman of p2p network red swoosh and soon they are all going to want a slice of it. they are just waiting to come up with business models that work for them which includes digital rights management and copy-protection standards. but until the legal actions are resolved experimentation with p2p cannot not happen said michael weiss president of streamcast networks. remembering the furore around vcrs when they first came out mr weiss said: old media always tries to stop new media. when they can t stop it they try to control it. then they figure out how to make money and they always make a lot of money. once the courts decided that the vcr in itself was not an illegal technology the film studios turned it into an extremely lucrative business. in august 2004 the san francisco-based us court of appeals ruled in favour of grokster and streamcast two file-sharing networks. the court said they were essentially in the same position that sony was in the 1980s vcr battle and said that the networks themselves could not be deemed as illegal. p2p networks usually do not rely on dedicated servers for the transfer of files. instead it uses direct connections between computers - or clients. there are now many different types of p2p systems than work in different ways. p2p nets can be used to share any kind of file like photos free software licensed music and any other digital content. the bbc has already decided to embrace the technology. it aims to offer most of its own programmes for download this year and it will use p2p technology to distribute them. the files would be locked seven days after a programme aired making rights management easier to control. but the technology is still demonised and misunderstood by many. the global entertainment industry says more than 2.6 billion copyrighted music files are downloaded every month and about half a million films are downloaded a day. legal music download services like apple itunes napster have rushed into the music marketplace to try and lure file-sharers away from free content. sales of legally-downloaded songs grew tenfold in 2004 with 200 million tracks bought online in the us and europe in 12 months the ifpi reported this week. but such download services are very different from p2p networks not least because of the financial aspect. there are several money-spinning models that could turn p2p into a golden egg for commercial entertainment companies. paid-for-pass-along in which firms receive money each time a file is shared along with various drm solutions and advertiser-based options are all being considered. we see there are going to be different models for commoditising p2p said marc morgenstern vice president of anti-piracy firm overpeer. consumers are hungry for it and we will discover new models together agreed mr morgenstern. but many net users will continue to ignore the entertainment industry s potential controlling grip on content and p2p technology by continuing to use it for their own creations. unsigned bands for example use p2p networks to distribute their music effectively which also draws the attention of record companies looking for new artists to sign. increasingly what you are seeing on p2p is consumer-created content said derek broes from microsoft. they will probably pay an increasing role in helping p2p spread he said. looking into p2p s future file sharing is just the beginning for p2p networks as far as mr broes is concerned. once some of these issues are resolved you are going to see aggressive movement to protect content but also in ways that are unimaginable now he said. file-sharing is the tip of the iceberg.

tech

henman to face saulnier test british number one tim henman will face france s cyril saulnier in the first round of next week s australian open. greg rusedski the british number two is in the same quarter of the draw and could face andy roddick in the second round if he beats swede jonas bjorkman. local favourite lleyton hewitt will meet france s arnaud clement while defending champion and world number one roger federer faces fabrice santoro. women s top seed lindsay davenport drew spanish veteran conchita martinez. henman came from two sets down to defeat saulnier in the first round of the french open last year so he knows he faces a tough test in melbourne. the seventh seed who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in the year s first major and is lined up to meet roddick in the last eight is looking forward to the match. he s tough player on any surface he s got a lot of ability he said. we had a really tight one in paris that went my way so i m going to need to play well from the outset because he s a dangerous competitor. switzerland s federer seeded one is the hot favourite having won three of the four grand slam titles in 2004. he has beaten santoro in five of their seven previous encounters but is taking nothing for granted. it s a tricky match federer said. i played him at the us open and won quite comfortably then. but you never know if the rhythm is a bit off he can keep you guessing and make it difficult. the most important thing though is to get used to playing five-set matches and winning them. the 23-year-old could meet four-time champion andre agassi in the quarter-finals before meeting russian marat safin the player he beat in last year s final. eighth-seeded american agassi is set to play a qualifier in round one if he can shake off a hip injury which ruled him out of the kooyong classic. second seed andy roddick will open his campaign against irakli labadze of georgia. the american could meet rusedski in the second round seventh seed henman in the quarter-finals and hewitt in the last four. hewitt is hoping to become the first australian man to win the event since mark edmondson in 1976. the 23-year-old has never been beyond round four in eight attempts at melbourne park but has at least secured the opposite half of the draw to federer who beat him in the australian open wimbledon and us open last year. safin seeded four opens his campaign against a qualifier with 16th seed tommy haas the player he beat in the semi-finals in 2002 a possible fourth-round opponent. in the women s draw davenport could encounter eighth-seeded venus williams in the quarter-finals and third-ranked anastasia myskina the french open champion in the semi-finals. bronchitis ruled davenport the 2000 australian open champion out of her sydney quarter-final on thursday. venus williams who lost to younger sister serena in the melbourne final two years ago opens against eleni daniilidou of greece. serena williams who won her fourth consecutive grand slam at the 2003 australian open was drawn in the bottom quarter with second seed amelie mauresmo a runner-up in 1999. serena will open against another frenchwoman camille pin while mauresmo plays australia s samantha stosur. wimbledon champion maria sharapova seeded fourth drew a qualifier in the first round but could meet fellow russian svetlana kuznetsova the us open winner in the last eight 1 roger federer (switzerland) 2 andy roddick (us) 3 lleyton hewitt (australia) 4 marat safin (russia) 5 carlos moya (spain) 6 guillermo coria (argentina) 7 tim henman (britain) 8 andre agassi (us) 9 david nalbandian (argentina) 10 gaston gaudio (argentina) 11 joachim johansson (sweden) 12 guillermo canas (argentina) 13 tommy robredo (spain) 14 sebastien grosjean (france) 15 mikhail youzhny (russia) 16 tommy haas (germany) 17 andrei pavel (romania) 18 nicolas massu (chile) 19 vincent spadea (us) 20 dominik hrbaty (slovakia) 21 nicolas kiefer (germany) 22 ivan ljubicic (croatia) 23 fernando gonzalez (chile) 24 feliciano lopez (spain) 25 juan ignacio chela (argentina) 26 nikolay davydenko (russia) 27 paradorn srichaphan (thailand) 28 mario ancic (croatia) 29 taylor dent (us) 30 thomas johansson (sweden) 31 juan carlos ferrero (spain) 32 jurgen melzer (austria) 1 lindsay davenport (us) 2 amelie mauresmo (france) 3 anastasia myskina (russia) 4 maria sharapova (russia) 5 svetlana kuznetsova (russia) 6 elena dementieva (russia) 7 serena williams (us) 8 venus williams (us) 9 vera zvonareva (russia) 10 alicia molik (australia) 11 nadia petrova (russia) 12 patty schnyder (switzerland) 13 karolina sprem (croatia) 14 francesca schiavone (italy) 15 silvia farina elia (italy) 16 ai sugiyama (japan) 17 fabiola zuluaga (colombia) 18 elena likhovtseva (russia) 19 nathalie dechy (france) 20 tatiana golovin (france) 21 amy frazier (us) 22 magdalena maleeva (bulgaria) 23 jelena jankovic (serbia and montenegro) 24 mary pierce (france) 25 lisa raymond (us) 26 daniela hantuchova (slovakia) 27 anna smashnova (israel) 28 shinobu asagoe (japan) 29 gisela dulko (argentina) 30 flavia pennetta (italy) 31 jelena kostanic (croatia) 32 iveta benesova (czech republic)

sport

uk will stand firm on eu rebate britain s £3bn eu rebate is not up for renegotiation at next week s european council summit jack straw said. the foreign secretary told mps the rebate secured by margaret thatcher in 1984 was entirely justified . new european commission president jose manuel barroso has suggested the cash could be shared out among net contributors to the eu budget. mr straw acknowledged some countries in the newly enlarged 25 nation eu still had to see the light on the rebate. but the foreign secretary told the commons foreign affairs committee: our position is very clear: it is entirely justified and it is not for negotiation. he added that he did not think there would be a political price to pay for the uk s stance - britain contributed more and received less than other eu states. the two-day european council summit in brussels begins on 16 december and is widely expected to mark the beginning of a lengthy negotiating period over the eu s budget for 2007-13. the wrangling could stretch into 2005 even 2006. the uk france germany austria the netherlands and sweden want the eu budget to be capped at 1% of member states combined national incomes - the commission wants it to be 1.26%. mr straw said the eu commission s proposal would mean a 35% hike in the budget. i don t know of any national government thinking of increasing its budget by that amount he added. the foreign secretary said he hoped the talks next week could produce a date in 2005 for the beginning of negotiations with turkey about possible eu membership although that there would be no prospect of a date for joining for some time.

politics

iran budget seeks state sell-offs iran s president mohammad khatami has unveiled a budget designed to expand public spending by 30% but loosen the islamic republic s dependence on oil. the budget for the fiscal year starting on 21 march calls for the sell-off of 20% of the state s corporate holdings. mr khatami s second term as president ends on 1 august making this his last budget. but opposition from members of parliament who have attacked previous privatisations could block his plans. elections in may 2004 ousted many of mr khatami s supporters in parliament in favour of more hard-line religious conservatives. late last year they backed a law which would give parliament a veto over foreign investment. the ruling was a response to the involvement in telecoms and airport projects by turkish companies which hardliners accused of doing business with israel. it came not long after the expediency council - iran s ultimate decision-maker - blessed mr khatami s policy of selling stakes in sectors protected by the constitution such as energy transport telecoms and banking. continued obstruction of foreign investment could get in the way not only of privatisation plans but also of mr khatami s hope of modestly reducing the government s reliance on oil revenues. in an address to the majlis mr khatami predicted economic growth of 7.1% in 2005-6 up from 6.7% in the current year. he said he wanted to increase the 2005-6 budget to 1 546 trillion rials ($175.6bn; £93.6bn) from the previous year s 1 070 trillion. within that figure taxation would rise to $14.3bn a rise of over 40% from what is expected from the current year. in contrast oil revenues were expected to fall to $14.1bn from $16bn in the year to march 2005. current government expenditure should come from tax revenues mr khatami said. oil revenues should be used for productive investment. mr khatami has already been blocked by parliament from reducing the subsidies on many products including bread and petrol reducing his room to manoeuvre.

business

pompeii gets digital make-over the old-fashioned audio tour of historical places could soon be replaced with computer-generated images that bring the site to life. a european union-funded project is looking at providing tourists with computer-augmented versions of archaeological attractions. it would allow visitors a glimpse of life as it was originally lived in places such as pompeii. it could pave the way for a new form of cultural tourism. the technology would allow digital people and other computer-generated elements to be combined with the actual view seen by tourists as they walk around an historical site. the lifeplus project is part of the eu s information society technologies initiative aimed at promoting user-friendly technology and enhancing european cultural heritage. engineers and researchers working in the europe-wide consortium have come up with a prototype augmented-reality system. it would require the visitor to wear a head-mounted display with a miniature camera and a backpack computer. the camera captures the view and feeds it to software on the computer where the visitor s viewpoint is combined with animated virtual elements. at pompeii for example the visitor would not just see the frescos taverns and villas that have been excavated but also people going about their daily life. augmented reality has been used to create special effects in films such as troy and lord of the rings and in computer gaming. this technology can now be used for much more than just computer games said professor nadia magnenat-thalman of the swiss research group miralab. we are for the first time able to run this combination of software processes to create walking talking people with believable clothing skin and hair in real-time she said. unlike virtual reality which delivers an entirely computer-generated scene to the viewer the lifeplus project is about combining digital and real views. crucial to the technique is the software that interprets the visitor s view and provides an accurate match between the real and virtual elements. the software capable of doing this has been developed by a uk company 2d3. andrew stoddart chief scientist at 2d3 said that the eu project has been driven by a new desire to bring the past to life. the popularity of television documentaries and dramatisations using computer-generated imagery to recreate scenes from ancient history demonstrates the widespread appeal of bringing ancient cultures to life he said.

tech

rapper snoop dogg sued for rape us rapper snoop dogg has been sued for $25m (£13m) by a make-up artist who claimed he and his entourage drugged and raped her two years ago. the woman said she was assaulted after a recording of the jimmy kimmel live tv show on the abc network in 2003. the rapper s spokesman said the allegations were untrue and the woman was misusing the legal system as a means of extracting financial gain . abc said the claims had no merit . the star has not been charged by police. the lawsuit filed in los angeles on friday says the woman s champagne was spiked and she was then assaulted. the rapper s spokesperson said: snoop will have the opportunity to prove in a court of law that [the alleged victim] is opportunistic and deceitful. we are confident that in this case [the alleged victim s] claims against snoop dogg will be rejected. the lawsuit names snoop dogg - real name calvin broadus - plus three associates the walt disney company and its parent company abc inc. the woman waited two years to sue because she was trying to negotiate a settlement with the media companies her lawyer perry wander said. disney and abc failed to provide a safe working environment for my client he said. the legal action comes after the rap star sued a woman who claimed they tried to blackmail him to keep quiet about an alleged assault. the 32-year-old rapper has enjoyed six us top 10 albums since bursting onto the music scene with hit songs like what s my name and gin and juice in 1993.

entertainment

china continues rapid growth china s economy has expanded by a breakneck 9.5% during 2004 faster than predicted and well above 2003 s 9.1%. the news may mean more limits on investment and lending as beijing tries to take the economy off the boil. china has sucked in raw materials and energy to feed its expansion which could have knock-on effects on the rest of the world if it overheats. but officials pointed out that industrial growth had slowed with services providing much of the impetus. growth in industrial output - the main target of government efforts to impose curbs on credit and investments - was 11.5% in 2004 down from 17% the previous year. still consumer prices - at 2.4% - rose faster than in 2004 adding to concern that a sharp rise in producer prices of 7.1% could stoke inflation. and overall investment in fixed assets was still high up 21.3% from the previous year - although some way off the peak of 43% seen in the first quarter of 2004. the result could be higher interest rates. china raised rates by 0.27 percentage points to 5.8% - its first hike in nine years - in october 2004. despite the apparent rebalancing of the economy the overall growth picture remains strong economists said. there is no sign of a slowdown in 2005 said tim congdon economist at ing barings. china s economy is not only gathering speed thanks to domestic demand but also from soaring sales overseas. figures released earlier this year showed exports at a six-year high in 2004 up 35%. part of the impetus comes from the relative cheapness of the yuan china s currency. the government keeps it pegged close to a rate of 8.28 to the us dollar - much to the chagrin of many us lawmakers who blame china for lost jobs and competitiveness. despite urging to ease the peg officials insist they are a long way from ready to make a shift to a more market-set rate. we need a good and feasible plan and formulating such a plan also needs time national bureau of statistics chief li deshui told reuters. those who hope to make a fortune by speculating on a renminbi revaluation will not succeed in making a profit.

business

security papers found in street an inquiry is under way after files containing security details about the pakistani president s visit to london were found by a member of the public. the files are believed to contain detailed security arrangements for gen pervez musharraf s visit this week including police codes. scotland yard said the policing operation had been reviewed. a spokesman said president musharraf s safety had not been compromised as the papers had been handed in promptly. we cannot discuss who was responsible for the documents only that they contained the policing arrangements for the official visit said the spokesman. the papers are believed to have been found by a member of the public in a street in mayfair and given to the mirror newspaper. the police spokesman said the newspaper handed the report over on monday. the force s directorate of professional standards is investigating the circumstances surrounding the loss of the documents he said. gen musharraf held talks with tony blair on monday. he arrived in britain on sunday night after flying from the united states where he met president george w bush. he is due to visit the pakistani community in manchester on tuesday afternoon.

politics

philippoussis doubt over open bid mark philippoussis is almost certain to miss the australian open after suffering a groin injury during the hopman cup loss to the netherlands. the 28-year-old suffered two tears to the adductor muscle and was unable to play in the deciding mixed doubles. he is now unlikely to be fit in time for the australian open which begins on 17 january in melbourne. he has to strengthen it enough to cope with repetitive days of tennis said hopman cup doctor hamish osborne. it would be very unlikely in my opinion for him to do a five-setter once let alone two days in a row inside two weeks. the injury is more common in australian rules football and a fit footballer would normally take three to four weeks to recover fully although mark s injury is slightly different. the australian has suffered a host of injury problems throughout his career but is still holding out slim hope that he can make the event. it s something i ll have to go by feel. i ll start treatment as soon as possible and try to strengthen it without tearing it any more he said. what doesn t kill you makes you stronger. i know i can come back from this and that s all that matters. - former world number two tommy haas is also a doubt for the australian open after picking up a thigh injury playing for germany in the hopman cup. the 26-year-old had treatment on his left thigh while leading argentine guillermo coria 7-5 2-2. he played one more game but his movement was hampered and he quit.

sport

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.

entertainment

corry backs skipper robinson england forward martin corry says jason robinson is the right man to lead the national team back to winning ways. after losses to wales and france critics have started to wonder whether robinson can captain from full-back. but corry has backed robinson who was given the role after the injury to fly-half jonny wilkinson ahead of this weekend s trip to ireland. jason is doing a tremendous job. every week my respect for him goes up corry told bbc radio five live. he is an inspirational captain. when he talks with the squad he talks with a lot of sense. the players have a lot of respect for him. it s an honour to be in the england side and an honour to play under him. england are under immense pressure following their poor start to the year and victory is vital if they are to rescue their six nations campaign. but corry insists england are in the right frame of mind for the contest. there is apprehension going into every game he added. but you have to use that fear and put it into a positive mindset. when the whistle goes on sunday what has happened in the past does not count for anything. we have not performed but if we put in a performance on sunday then we can start turning results around. there are a lot of changes taking place with england and we are at the start of something. we have not got off to the greatest of starts but you need to experience the bad the before you can fully appreciate the good. a trip to lansdowne road is daunting at any time especially against an ireland side that are flying high after two impressive wins. they are the form team of the tournament and are tipped to claim their first grand slam since 1948. but corry is relishing the prospect of taking on the irish in their own backyard. they are full of confidence and are playing a great team game he said. the forwards are creating a great platform and they have explosive runners out wide. if you look at the team on paper they have stars from one to 15. it s a huge task but it is a great opportunity for us. lansdowne road is a tremendous venue to play in and we have to use it to our advantage.

sport

yachvili savours france comeback france scrum-half dimitri yachvili praised his team after they fought back to beat england 18-17 in the six nations clash at twickenham. yachvili kicked all of france s points as they staged a second-half revival. we didn t play last week against scotland and we didn t play in the first half against england he said. but we re very proud to beat england at twickenham. we were just defending in the first half and we said we had to put them under pressure. we did well. yachvili admitted erratic kicking from england s charlie hodgson and olly barkley who missed six penalties and a drop goal chance between them had been decisive. i know what it s like with kicking. when you miss some it s very hard mentally but it went well for us he said. france captain fabien pelous insisted his side never doubted they could secure their first win against england at twickenham since 1997. france were 17-6 down at half-time but pelous said: no-one was down at half-time we were still confident. we said we only had 11 points against us which was not much. the plan was to keep hold of possession and pressure england to losing their composure. france coach bernard laporte accepted his side had not played well. we know we have to play better to defend the title he said. i m not happy we didn t score a try but we re happy because we won.

sport

prop jones ready for hard graft adam jones says the wales forwards are determined to set the perfect attacking platform for the backs by dominating the powerful france pack in paris. the prop said: if we get stuffed in the front five our backs have had it. the mentality of the french is scrum scrum scrum . we will see how good france are and the scrum is the key. i just hope [the backs] carry on where they left off against italy. it s just up to us in the forwards to win the ball and give them the opportunity. wales have won two of their last three visits to stade de france having secured back-to-back wins under graham henry in 1999 and 2001. and with the likes of shane williams and gavin henson finding top form at the right time mike ruddock s team is now one of international rugby s most potent attacking threats. gavin is ridiculously talented. he has been bouncing around the place this week so he is up for it warned jones. france have been criticised for their uncharacteristic one-dimensional play in their victories over scotland and france. captain fabien pelous has acknowledged his side needs to show more attacking flair but stressed the game with be won or lost up front. the lock believes the welsh forwards are not big enough to trouble his side in the scrum or line-out but jones insisted his fellow front-row colleagues have nothing to fear. gethin [jenkins] won t be intimidated tomorrow none of us will said jones who will be facing france for the first time. we will go out there and front up and hopefully get the ball out to the backs. me and gethin are quite young so it is good to have someone of mefin s experience in there. mefin is a good thinker who puts things across. but what is the saying if you are good enough you are old enough and gethin certainly is. he is a really good player and i imagine he will be on the lions tour [to new zealand this summer].

sport

security scares spark browser fix microsoft is working on a new version of its internet explorer web browser. the revamp has been prompted by microsoft s growing concern with security as well as increased competition from rival browsers. microsoft said the new version will be far less vulnerable to the bugs that make its current browser a favourite of tech-savvy criminals. test versions of the new program called ie 7 are due to be released by the summer. the announcement about internet explorer was made by bill gates microsoft chairman and chief software architect during a keynote speech at the rsa security conference currently being held in san francisco. although details were scant mr gates said ie7 would include new protections against viruses spyware and phishing scams. this last category of threats involves criminals setting up spoof websites that look identical to those of banks and try to trick people into handing over login and account information. in a bid to shore up the poor security in ie 6 microsoft has regularly issued updates to patch loopholes exploited by criminals and the makers of nuisance programs such as spyware. earlier this month it released a security bulletin that patched eight critical security holes - some of which were found in the ie browser. microsoft has also made a series of acquisitions of small firms that specialise in computer security. one of the first fruits of these acquisitions appeared last month with the release of a microsoft anti-spyware program. an own-brand anti-virus program is due to follow by the end of 2005. the decision to make internet explorer 7 is widely seen as a u-turn because before now microsoft said it had no need to update the browser. typically new versions of its browser appear with successive versions of the windows operating system. a new version of ie was widely expected to debut with the next version of windows codenamed longhorn which is due to appear in 2006. the current version of internet explorer is four years old and is widely seen as falling behind rivals such as firefox and opera. there are also persistent rumours that search engine google is poised to produce its own brand browser based on firefox. in particular the firefox browser has been winning fans and users since its first full version was released in november 2004. estimates of how many users firefox has won over vary widely. according to market statistics gathered by websidestory firefox s market share is now about 5% of all users. however other browser stat gatherers say the figure is closer to 15%. some technical websites report that a majority of their visitors use the firefox browser. internet explorer still dominates with a share of about 90% but this is down from a peak of almost 96% in mid-2004.

tech

argonaut founder rebuilds empire jez san the man behind the argonaut games group which went into administration a week ago has bought back most of the company. the veteran games developer has taken over the cambridge-based just add monsters studios and the london subsidiary morpheme. the argonaut group went into administration due to a severe cash crisis firing about half of its staff. in august it had warned of annual losses of £6m for the year to 31 july. jez san is one of the key figures in the uk s games industry. the developer who received an obe in 2002 was estimated to have been worth more than £200m at the peak of the dotcom boom. he founded argonaut in 1982 and has been behind titles such as 1993 starfox game. more recently it was behind the harry potter games for the playstation. but like all software developers argonaut needed a constant flow of deals with publishers. in august it warned of annual losses of £6m blaming delays in signing new contracts and tough conditions in the software industry. the group s three subsidiaries were placed in administration a week ago with mr sans resigning as the company s ceo and some 100 staff being fired. after the latest round of cuts there were 80 workers at argonaut headquarters in edgware in north london with 17 at its morpheme offices in kentish town london and 22 at the just add monsters base in cambridge. mr san has re-emerged buying back morpheme and just add monsters. we are pleased to announce the sale of these two businesses as going concerns said david rubin of administrators david rubin & partners. this has saved over 40 jobs as well as the substantial employment claims that would have arisen had the sales not been achieved. mr rubin said the administrators were in talks over the sale of the argonaut software division in edgware and were hopeful of finding a buyer. this is a very difficult time for all the employees there but i salute their commitment to the business while we work towards a solution he said. some former employees are angry at the way cash crisis was handled. one told bbc news online that the staff who had been fired had been financially ruined in the space of a day .

tech

mcleish ready for criticism rangers manager alex mcleish accepts he is going to be criticised after their disastrous uefa cup exit at the hands of auxerre at ibrox on wednesday. mcleish told bbc radio five live: we were in pole position to get through to the next stage but we blew it we absolutely blew it. there s no use burying your head in the sand we know we are going to get a lot of criticism. we have to take it as we have done in the past and we must now bounce back. mcleish admitted his team s defending was amateurish after watching them lose 2-0 to guy roux s french side. i m very disappointed because we didn t give ourselves a chance losing the first goal from our own corner. it was amateur he added. the early goal in the second half gave us a mountain to climb and we never created the same kind of chances as we did in the first half. it s difficult to take positives from the game. we ve let the fans down.

sport

premier league planning cole date the premier league is attempting to find a mutually convenient date to investigate allegations chelsea made an illegal approach for ashley cole. both chelsea and arsenal will be asked to give evidence to a premier league commission but no deadline has been put on when that meeting will convene. it s hard to put a date on it a premier league spokesman confirmed to bbc sport. it s not a formal situation where they ve got so much time to respond. arsenal and england defender cole reportedly met blues boss jose mourinho and chief executive peter kenyon in a london hotel 11 days ago. chelsea have yet to officially confirm or deny the meeting which would be in breach of premier league rule k3. now the gunners have asked for an inquiry to look into claims that their player has been tapped up . both clubs have pledged to co-operate with the inquiry which will be conducted on a single day as opposed to being run as an ongoing evaluation. cole is in negotiations with the gunners over extending his current deal which ends in 2007. and his arsenal team-mate robert pires has urged the england left-back to stay at highbury. pires told the evening standard: he has been at arsenal for ever. he is a very attacking left-back and i think he is enjoying his football because at arsenal he plays in an offensive team. i am not sure he will get the same pleasure at chelsea even though they are doing so well at the moment. i have built a fantastic playing relationship with ashley. we play together so well - we could do it with our eyes shut. but you have to respect the decision of the player. everybody has that right.

sport

viewers to be able to shape tv imagine editing titanic down to watch just your favourite bits or cutting out the slushier moments of star wars to leave you with a bare bones action-fest. manipulating your favourite films to make a more personalised movie is just the beginning of an ambitious new 7.5m euro (£5.1m) project funded by the european union. new media for a new millennium (nm2) will have as its endgame the development of a completely new media genre which will allow audiences to create their own media worlds based on their specific interests or tastes. viewers will be able to participate in storylines manipulate plots and even the sets and props of tv shows. bt is one of 13 partners involved in the project. it will be contributing software that was originally designed to spot anomalies in cctv pictures. the software uses content recognition algorithms. the three-year project will work on seven productions as it develops a set of software tools that will allow viewers to edit content to their needs. one of the productions will be a experimental television show where the plot will be driven by text messages from the tv audience. participants will text selected words which will impact how the characters in the drama interact. it is being developed in finland and will be shown to finnish tv audiences. another team will work on the bbc s big budget drama of mervyn peake s gothic fantasy gormenghast. it will be re-engineered to allow people to choose a variety of edited versions. the bbc is allowing us access to the material so that we can prove the technology and the principles explained dr doug williams of bt who will be nm2 s technical project manager. the tv at the moment is a relatively dumb box which receives signals. this project is about teaching the machine to look at content like lego blocks that can be reassembled to make perfect sense he said. at the moment we have interactive gaming and a limited form of interactive tv which usually means allowing audiences to vote on shows. we are hoping to occupy the space in-between he added. nm2 s co-ordinator peter stollenmayer explained that the new genre would radically alter the role of the audience. viewers will be able to interact directly with the medium and influence what they see and hear according to their personal tastes and wishes he said. media users will no longer be passive viewers but become active engagers. it will also be important that the tools are sophisticated enough to obey the complex rules of cinematography and editing said john wyver from tv producer illuminations television limited which is also involved in the project. it s not just a matter of stringing together the romantic or action portions of a production said mr wyver. the tool has to know which bits fit together both visually by observing the time-honoured rules that go in editing and in terms of the story. only then will the personalised version both make sense and be aesthetically pleasing he added. mr wyver is planning a production entitled the golden age about renaissance art. it will allow viewers to create a so-called media world based on their own specific areas of interest such as poetry music and architecture. other productions that the nm2 team will make range from news documentaries to a romantic comedy drama.

tech

obituary: dame alicia markova dame alicia markova who has died in bath aged 94 was the uk s first prima ballerina of the modern age and in her heyday the greatest in the western world. she was born lilian alicia marks in london in 1910. her parents were comfortably off - her father a mining engineer drove a rolls royce. when she was eight her mother took a decision which changed her life. fearing that she had flat feet and weak legs she arranged for her to have ballet lessons. very quickly it became apparent that she was something special. she was spotted by the russian artistic impresario sergei diaghilev who wanted her to dance for his company ballets russes. she became ill with diphtheria but kept in touch and eventually with a governess in tow joined diaghilev in monte carlo when she was 14. from here she toured europe playing in all the top venues. it was diaghilev who changed her name without even consulting her. her life was one of great excitement. people such as matisse and stravinsky became like uncles to her the latter put in charge of her musical education. soon after diaghilev s death in 1929 alicia markova returned to england and became britain s first international ballerina. she helped launch the ballet club at the mercury theatre (later the ballet rambert) the vic wells ballet and then with anton dolin the markova-dolin ballet of 1935-37. she also began working with young choreographers such as anthony tudor and frederick ashton who became huge influences on the direction of ballet in the west. her version of giselle all lightness and grace is still considered to be among the finest ever. she was also outstanding in the dying swan. she was one of the first british ballerinas to take a major part in les sylphides. she above all helped popularise ballet both in britain and in america. alicia markova spent world war ii in the united states where in a re-formed ballets russes she played to huge audiences. she even appeared in hollywood movies. in 1950 back in england she and anton dolin jointly established the festival ballet. she retired in 1963 an instant decision she said largely because of a leg injury . created a dame she made a new career for herself as a teacher. she also travelled the world directing ballet companies and putting on shows. she became director of ballet for the metropolitan opera ballet in new york and for some years was full-time professor of ballet and performing arts in the university of cincinnati. a critic once said of dame alicia markova s dancing: she gave the illusion of moving as if she had no weight to get off the ground.

entertainment

tv station refuses adoption show a tv station in the us has refused to show a controversial new series where adopted children try and pick their birth father - and win a cash prize. the wraz-tv fox affiliate in north carolina was the only one of 182 stations to refuse monday s show. who s your daddy promises $100 000 (£52 000) to the contestant if she correctly identifies her father. it was met with protests by the national council for adoption which said it exploits sensitive emotions. it exploits the sensitive emotions of adoption said thomas atwood president of the national council for adoption. it trivialises them. adoption is a very personal meaningful experience and it should not be commercialised like this. on the pre-taped programme the contestant is presented with eight men who may or may not be her natural father. if she picks the correct man from the line-up the contestant wins the jackpot prize of us$100 000 (£52 590). however if she picks the wrong man then the impostor takes the money. fox producers defended the show saying it was a positive experience . they have made six specials though only one episode has so far been broadcast. the special was thoroughly vetted by our standards and practices department to ensure that it was appropriate for broadcast said a fox spokesman. however any network affiliate that feels the programming may be inappropriate for their individual market has the right to pre-empt the schedule. wraz-tv instead chose to air an independently-produced film i have roots and branches... personal reflections on adoption a documentary about families with adopted children. we just don t think adoption is a game show said tommy schenck wraz-tv s general manager though he said his decision had not been influenced by public protests.

entertainment

china ripe for media explosion asia is set to drive global media growth to 2008 and beyond with china and india filling the two top spots analysts have predicted. japan south korea and singapore will also be strong players but china s demographics give it the edge a media conference in london heard. the world s most populous country - population 1.3bn - now has about 200 million middle-class consumers. forty per cent fall in the key 16 to 35-year-old demographic. as a result it is attracting huge foreign investment in media and communications analysts told the financial times new media and broadcasting conference last week. interest in china among international media groups has surged in recent months after beijing issued rules allowing foreign investment in joint-venture television radio and film production companies. news corporation viacom and sony pictures are among the big names involved in joint ventures with chinese players. more than 700 million chinese listen to 1 000 radio stations while 200 tv stations broadcast 2 900 channels. china central television (cctv) the state broadcaster claims an audience of more than a billion people. of the country s 360 million households 100 million receive cable tv programmes. the rest could be a potential audience for satellite broadcasting which china plans to launch in 2006. the state administration of radio film and television (sarft) which regulates broadcasting plans to move all programmes to digital by 2015. the continuing roll-out of new digital channels has boosted demand for quality content creating significant opportunities for both chinese and foreign content providers. but according to recent reports from china the authorities have tightened controls over foreign investment in tv production joint ventures. it has limited most foreign companies to only one joint venture and banned the involvement of any found to be unfriendly according to reports. the sarft said: there is a very strong ideological component to production of broadcast television programmes. it added: china must understand the political tendencies and background of overseas partners and prevent joint ventures or cooperation from bringing harmful foreign thinking or culture into our production sector. according to the financial times china correspondent the new rules highlight the political sensitivities that surround foreign involvement in china s media sector. this is despite beijing s decision to open the state-dominated sector to international investment. as well as traditional broadcasting chinese and foreign entrepreneurs alike see fortunes waiting to be made in new media like mobile services and online gaming. mobile games already account for 15% of revenues from china s 340 million mobile users. online gaming sales are predicted to top a billion us dollars next year according to the uk-based journal screen digest. the video market is also seen as a big opportunity although piracy levels are still very high despite an anti-piracy drive during the past year. in the cinema industry the deployment of digital screens is being accelerated. this is not just to modernise venues but also to curb piracy and regulate distribution. li ruigang president of the commercial broadcaster shanghai media group told the conference that china s new media market is already experiencing explosive growth . it was particularly strong in charged broadband services and mobile value-added services. leading china-watcher and founder of the cga consultancy jeanne-marie gescher agreed that the time was ripe for foreign media groups to tap china s huge media market potential. china s media are now driven by investors who do not care how people consume media - they just want people to consume more of it mrs gescher concluded.

tech

broadband fuels online change fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online research suggests. a quarter of broadband users in britain regularly upload content and have personal sites according to a report by uk think-tank demos. it said that having an always-on fast connection is changing the way people use the internet. more than five million households in the uk have broadband and that number is growing fast. the demos report looked at the impact of broadband on people s net habits. it found that more than half of those with broadband logged on to the web before breakfast. one in five even admitted to getting up in the middle of the night to browse the web. more significantly argues the report broadband is encouraging people to take a more active role online. it found that one in five post something on the net everyday ranging from comments or opinions on sites to uploading photographs. broadband is putting the me in media as it shifts power from institutions and into the hands of the individual said john craig co-author of the demos report. from self-diagnosis to online education broadband creates social innovation that moves the debate beyond simple questions of access and speed. the demos report entitled broadband britain: the end of asymmetry was commissioned by net provider aol. broadband is moving the perception of the internet as a piece of technology to an integral part of home life in the uk said karen thomson chief executive of aol uk with many people spending time on their computers as automatically as they might switch on the television or radio. according to analysts nielsen//netratings more than 50% of the 22.8 million uk net users regularly accessing the web from home each month are logging on at high speed they spend twice as long online than people on dial-up connections viewing an average of 1 444 pages per month. the popularity of fast net access is growing partly fuelled by fierce competition over prices and services.

tech

halo 2 sells five million copies microsoft is celebrating bumper sales of its xbox sci-fi shooter halo 2. the game has sold more than five million copies worldwide since it went on sale in mid-november the company said. halo 2 has proved popular online with gamers notching up a record 28 million hours playing the game on xbox live. according to microsoft nine out of 10 xbox live members have played the game for an average of 91 minutes per session. the sequel to the best-selling need for speed: underground has inched ahead of the competition to take the top slot in the official uk games charts. the racing game moved up one spot to first place nudging gta: san andreas down to second place. halo 2 dropped one place to five while half-life 2 fell to number nine. last week s new releases goldeneye: rogue agent and killzone both failed to make it into the top 10 debuting at number 11 and 12 respectively. record numbers of warcraft fans are settling in the games online world. on the opening day of the world of warcraft massive multi-player online game more than 200 000 players signed up to play. on the evening of the first day more than 100 000 players were in the world forcing blizzard to add another 34 servers to cope with the influx. the online game turns the stand alone warcraft games into a persistent world that players can inhabit not just visit europe s gamers could be waiting until january to hear when they can get their mitts on nintendo s handheld device nintendo ds says gamesindustry.biz. david yarnton nintendo uk general manager told a press conference to look out for details in the new year. its us launch was on sunday and it goes on sale in japan on 2 december. nintendo has a 95% share of the handheld gaming market and said it expected to sell around five million of the ds by march 2005.

tech

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.

business

telewest to challenge sky plus cable firm telewest is to offer a personal video recorder (pvr) in a set -top box to challenge sky plus. sky plus is the market leader in the field of digital video recorders in the uk with 474 000 subscribers. pvrs record tv programmes to a hard drive letting viewers pause and rewind live television and effectively time shift the viewing experience. a number of pvrs incorporating freeview digital terrestrial tv are also on the market but their success is limited. telewest s pvr will offer a 160gb hard drive which has storage for up to 80 hours of programmes. the box has three tuners which means viewers can record two channels simultaneously while watching a third channel. sky plus boxes come in two versions - a 20gb version for £99 and a 160gb version for £399. sky also charges a £10 subscription fee to the service unless viewers have a subscription to one of its premium packages. telewest has yet to reveal pricing for the new box or if it will be charging a subscription fee for the service. eric tveter president and chief operating officer at telewest broadband said: we will make our pvr set-top box available later this year putting a stop to missed soaps interrupted films and arguments over which programmes to record. pvrs and recordable dvd players are set to replace video recorders as the standard method of recording and saving favourite tv programmes. last year high street retailer dixons said it was going to stop selling vhs machines in favour of pvrs and recordable dvd machines. sky has said it aims to have 25% of its subscribers using sky plus by 2010 - it is predicting 10 million total subscribers by that date. it currently has 7.4 million subscribers while telewest provides digital cable to 1.7 million customers.

tech

mourinho defiant on chelsea form chelsea boss jose mourinho has insisted that sir alex ferguson and arsene wenger would swap places with him. mourinho s side were knocked out of the fa cup by newcastle last sunday before seeing barcelona secure a 2-1 champions league first-leg lead in the nou camp. but he denied his club was suffering a dip in form which league rivals arsenal and manchester united could exploit. they cannot speak to us about blips because they re not in a better position than us mourinho said. do they want to change positions with us we are top of the league by nine points and in the carling cup final. the only thing they can say they are in a better position than us in is the fa cup. in the champions league all three teams can either go through or go out but the one team that is in the best position is still chelsea. mourinho said it was important to keep his team s results in perspective. don t try to put pressure on me because i am never under pressure he warned. we have lost one important game this week - at newcastle - and we re out of the fa cup but i don t think a defeat in a first-leg tie is a real defeat. we are just 2-1 down at half-time. asked if his chelsea honeymoon was now over mourinho replied: i have had 20 years of honeymoons with my wife. the day that this club is not happy with me is the day that i go.

sport

mps quiz aides over royal income senior officials at the two bodies generating private income for the queen and prince of wales are to be questioned by mps. aides from the duchy of lancaster and duchy of cornwall will appear before the commons public accounts committee. it has been reported they could be questioned about prince charles spending on camilla parker bowles. but bbc correspondent peter hunt said they are not responsible for how money is spent and may be unable to answer. duchy officials who will appear before the committee on monday are only responsible for generating money. the duchy of lancaster provides the queen s private income while the duchy of cornwall provides prince charles annual income. the duchy of cornwall is a 140 000-acre estate across 25 counties and also includes residential properties shops offices stocks and shares. it was set up in 1337 by king edward iii to provide income for successive heirs to the throne. it covers the cost of the prince s public and private life - neither charles nor william and harry receive taxpayers money from the civil list. however the prince of wales did receive over £4m from government departments and grants-in-aid in 2003-4. the duchy last year generated almost £12m. the prince has voluntarily paid income tax - currently 40% - since 1993.

politics

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.

sport

calder fears for scottish rugby former scotland international finlay calder fears civil war at the sru could seriously hamper his country s rbs six nations campaign. four members of the executive board including the chairman david mackay have resigned after a simmering row. and calder said: this is terrible news for every level of scottish rugby. david is a successful businessman and i thought that if anybody could transform the negative atmosphere and rising debt level it was him. mackay s executive board has been in a power struggle with the general committee which contains members elected by scotland s club sides. he has been driven out by people who seem happier waging civil war than addressing the central issue that professional rugby can t be run by amateurs said calder. in fact i don t understand why we are still having this argument 10 years after professionalism arrived. but i don t believe the rest of the sru will take this lying down. i think the banks will be dismayed at this decision and ultimately it is them who pull the strings. so i wouldn t be surprised if they reviewed their position. but in the wider picture what message does this send out he thought the work of scotland s coaches who have been attempting to arrest the decline of the national side would be made much more difficult. matt williams and willie anderson must be wondering what have we walked into here said calder. and we can now expect weeks of arguments and acrimony just at a time when we should be looking forward to the six nations championship. i am very very disappointed more than you can imagine. why do so many scots have this knack of turning on each other when the going gets tough

sport

blair buys copies of new band aid prime minister tony blair purchased two copies of the charity single band aid 20 in edinburgh on friday. staff were surprised when the prime minister walked into hmv at 0900 gmt accompanied by aides and local police. when mr blair came in unannounced we were all pretty gobsmacked said hmv manager clive smith. our customer helper approached him... it was only then we realised he wanted to buy copies of the band aid single rather than the latest eminem album. predicted chart-topper do they know it s christmas is expected to sell at least 300 000 copies by the time the new chart is announced on sunday. however the new version of the 1984 single is not going to be released in the us despite being sold in many countries around the world. us record shops are stocking an import version of do they know it s christmas which is said to be selling very well in los angeles and new york. the original track was released in the us and reached number 13 in the singles chart. british stars who appear on the current recording such as dido and coldplay s chris martin are well-known to music fans across the atlantic along with u2 frontman bono. record company universal is responsible for the global distribution of the single which will be available across europe asia south america and canada. but music fans in the us are still able to access the song and download it on band aid 20 s official website. in 1985 a group of high-profile american stars known as usa for africa came together to record their own fund-raising single we are the world. the song was written by lionel richie and michael jackson with quincy jones as producer. it topped the us charts for three weeks and went on win grammy awards for best record and song. dionne warwick diana ross and tina turner were among the line-up of performers. it is predicted that the band aid 20 song will sell 300 000 copies in the uk by the time the new chart is announced on sunday. the record is also tipped to become this year s christmas number one as the original version did in 1984. proceeds from the sales are going towards relief for the darfur region of sudan and to combat hiv and aids across africa.

entertainment

borussia dortmund near bust german football club and former european champion borussia dortmund has warned it will go bankrupt if rescue talks with creditors fail. the company s shares tumbled after it said it has entered a life-threatening profitability and financial situation . borussia dortmund has posted record losses and missed rent payments on its westfallen stadium. chief executive gerd niebaum stepped down last week and creditors are now pushing for greater control. shares in borussia dortmund germany s only stock-market listed football club dropped by almost 23% to 2.05 euros during early afternoon trading. fund manager florian hamm - borussia dortmund s largest investor - said he would only invest more money in the company if he got a greater say in how it is run. i demand better transparency he is quoted as saying by germany s manger magazin. the club has also faced calls to appoint executives from outside the club. borussia dortmund posted a record loss of 68m euros ($89m; £47m) in the 12 months through june. it made a loss of 27.2m euros in the first half of the current fiscal year and said that total debts will increase to 134.7m euros by the middle of 2006 unless a restructuring plan is pushed through. this is the bill for their mismanagement over the past years said hvb analyst peter-thilo halser. the club appointed an auditor who has recommended a number of steps including deferring the rent due on the stadium and suspending debt repayments until at least the 2006-2007 fiscal year. stephen schechter a uk investment banker who has held talks with borussia dortmund over a possible bond sale said the club needs a capital injection of 35m euros. they need strong people on the board who do not have a history with the club he said.

business

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.

business

tory backing for id cards the tories are to back controversial government plans to introduce id cards. the shadow cabinet revealed its support ahead of next week s commons vote on a bill to introduce compulsory id. the decision follows a tough meeting where some senior tories argued vociferously against the move party sources told the bbc. the bill which ministers claim will tackle crime terrorism and illegal immigration is expected to be opposed by the liberal democrats. they have said the scheme is deeply flawed and a waste of money. sources within the conservative party told the bbc michael howard has always been in favour of id cards and tried to introduce them when he was home secretary. the party has been agnostic on the issue until now but had now decided to come off the fence the tory source said. despite giving their backing to id cards the conservatives insisted they would hold ministers to account over the precise purpose of the scheme. they said they would also press labour over whether objectives could be met and whether the home office would deliver them. and they pledged to assess the cost effectiveness of id cards and whether people s privacy would be properly protected. it is important to remember that this bill will take a decade to come into full effect a spokesman said. it will do nothing to solve the immediate problems of rising crime and uncontrolled immigration. lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten said: this has all the signs of michael howard overruling colleagues concerns over id cards. the tories should have the courage to try and change public opinion not follow it. the new chairman of the bar council guy mansfield qc warned there was a real risk that people on the margins of society would be driven into the hands of extremists. what is going to happen to young asian men when there has been a bomb gone off somewhere they are going to be stopped. if they haven t [id cards] they are going to be detained.

politics

benitez delight after crucial win liverpool manager rafael benitez admitted victory against deportivo la coruna was vital in their tight champions league group. jorge andrade s early own goal gave liverpool a 1-0 win. and benitez said: we started at a very high tempo and had many chances. it is a very important win for us and we could have scored more goals. we were very good defensively and also good on the counter attack. we are pleased but move on to the next game. igor biscan was outstanding in midfield after replacing injured xabi alonso and benitez said: he played very well. it is important to have all the players ready and a good squad so you can play more games at a high level. benitez added: it is all back in our own hands now it was a great win for us and i was delighted with what i feel was the best liverpool i have seen. as far as my feelings about winning in spain that is really not important. i want to see us win away matches in the champions league that it was in spain was not my first consideration. as far as i am concerned it is important for liverpool to win it is not important in what country it is in. benitez added: benitez said: we had a problem before the start it was decided that xabi could not play more than 45 minutes. but in the end because of the way that (dietmar) hamann and (igor) biscan performed we did not need to change things until right at the end of the match. depor are a good team and if you allow them to keep possession they can be very dangerous indeed. but we knew that if we hit them on the counter-attack it would make them nervous and that is how it worked out. deportivo coach javier irureta said: liverpool played very well and we just could not break them down. i know we have now gone six games at home in europe without scoring but that does not reflect our overall performances. but this time we did not play well and we lacked imagination. the goal was a bad mistake and a big blow to our confidence. players who usually want the ball at that stage did not want it. i know we are bottom of the group but as long as there is hope of qualifying we will hang on to that.

sport

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.

tech

arsenal may seek full share listing arsenal vice-chairman david dein has said the club may consider seeking a full listing for its shares on the london stock exchange. speaking at the soccerex football business forum in dubai he said a full listing was one of the options for funding after the club moves to its new stadium. the club - which is currently listed on the smaller ofex share exchange - is due to move into its new 60 000-seater emirates stadium at ashburton grove for the start of the 2006/07 season. mr dein also warned the current level of tv coverage of the premiership may be reaching saturation level with signs that match attendances have been dropping off in the first few months of this season. when arsenal moves to its new stadium it will see its proportion of turnover from media earnings drop from 52% this season to 34% in two years time. the club is hoping to increase matchday earnings from 29% to 40% of turnover and has not ruled out other money-earning means including a full share listing. when the new stadium opens we will go through a thorough financial review mr dein said. listing would be one option but we are flexible and no decisions have been made on that issue yet. we want to be in the best financial health - maybe clubs can do it (listing) manchester united have been a success. mr dein said that although television money and coverage had driven the english game forward in the past 10 years he feared there might now be too many games being shown. since the formation of the premier league in season 1992/93 premiership clubs have seen their income from television soar. television has been the driving force over the past 10 years... but we must constantly improve if we want to remain as the world s leading league competition. we must monitor the quality of the product and ensure attendances do not decline and we must balance that with the quantity of exposure on tv too. i think we have practically reached saturation point... sometimes i think less is more. the club is funding its move to ashburton grove through a number of sources including debt from banks from money it already has and will receive in coming years from sponsors and from the sale of surplus property including its highbury stadium. it is also looking to create new revenue streams from overseas markets including asia. we have two executives travelling round japan and china at the moment building relationships with organisations and clubs and we know our supporters clubs are growing there too as they are around the world. we have got a very good product so it is very important we go and look at these markets and make sure we are on the case.

business

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.

entertainment

what high-definition will do to dvds first it was the humble home video then it was the dvd and now hollywood is preparing for the next revolution in home entertainment - high-definition. high-definition gives incredible 3d-like pictures and surround sound. the dvd disks and the gear to play them will not be out for another year or so and there at are still a number of issues to be sorted out. but when high-definition films do come out on the new format dvds it will profoundly change home entertainment. for rick dean director of business development for digital content company thx a high-definition future is an exciting prospect. he has worked on the star wars dvd trilogy finding nemo the incredibles and indiana jones. there was a time not so long ago when the film world and the video world were two completely separate worlds he told the bbc news website. the technology we are dealing with now means they are very much conjoined. the film that we see in theatres is coming from the same digital file that we take the home video master he says. but currently putting a master feature film onto dvd requires severe compression because current dvd technology cannot hold as much as high-definition films demand. as much as you compress the picture data rate wise you also take qualities away from the picture that we fight so hard to keep in the master he explains. i would love to be able to show people what projects that we worked on really look like in the high-def world and i find it very exciting. high-definition dvds can hold up to six times more data than the dvds we are used to. it will take time though to persuade people who spent money on dvd players to buy the different players and displays required to watch high-definition dvds in 18 months time. mr dean is confident though: i think if they see real hd [high-definition] not some heavily compressed version of it there is such a remarkable difference. i have heard comments from people who say the images pop off the screen. high-definition will mean some changes for those working behind the scenes too. on the whole producing films for high-definition dvds will be easier in some ways because less compression is needed. equally it may mean hollywood studios ask for more to be put onto the average dvd. when we master movies right now our data rates are running at about 1.2 gigabits per second says mr dean. our dvds that we put out today have to be squashed down to about five or six megabits per second. that s a huge amount of compression that has to be applied - about 98%. so if you have anything that allows more space you don t have to compress so hard. studios could fit a lot more marketing material games and features onto high-capacity dvds. currently an entire dvd project can take up to three months says mr dean. although the step of down-converting will be bypassed this will realistically only save a day s work says mr dean. one of the most time consuming elements is building dvd navigation and menu systems. on the fairly complex star wars disks making sure the menu buttons worked took 45 human hours alone. if studios want to cash in on the extra space it could mean extra human hours for which someone has to pay. if the decision on the studio side is that they are going to put a lot more on these disks it could be more expensive because of all the extra navigation that is required. and if studios do focus on delivering more added value content thinks mr dean ultimately it could mean that they will want more money for it. those costs could filter down to the price ticket on a high-definition dvd. but if the consumer is not willing to pay a premium price studios will listen thinks mr dean. high-definition throws up other challenge to film makers and dvd production alike. more clarity on screen means film makers have to make doubly sure that attention to detail is meticulous. when we did the first hd version of star wars episode i everybody was very sun-tanned but that was make-up. in the hd version of episode i all these make-up lines showed up explains mr dean. the restoration of the older star wars episodes revealed some interesting items too. there are scans of a corridor [on the death star] and fairly plainly in one of those shots there is a file cabinet stuck behind one of the doorways. you never used to be able to see it because things are just blurred enough during the pan that you just didn t see it. what high-definition revolution ultimately means is that the line between home entertainment and cinema worlds will blur. with home theatre systems turning living rooms into cinemas this line blurs even further. it could also mean that how we get films and in what format will widen. in the future we are going to look towards file delivery over ip [internet protocol - broadband] giving a dvd-like experience from the set-top box to the hard drive says mr dean. but that is some time off for most and for now people still like to show off something physical in their bookshelves.

tech

two nigerian banks set to merge nigerian banks united bank of africa and standard trust bank have agreed plans to merge and create the biggest bank in west africa. the deal is also in line with a 2004 directive from the nigerian central bank that called for more consolidation in the nation s crowded banking sector. the merger was announced in a statement on standard trust s website on tuesday but no financial details were revealed. united bank is the third biggest in nigeria in terms of number of branches. standard trust is smaller but more profitable. the boards of united bank and standard trust at separate meetings yesterday approved arrangements to merge both institutions standard trust said. standard trust is 100% nigerian-owned but united bank has some foreign investors including new york-based global depository receipts (32.8%) and banca nazionale del lavoro and monte del paschi di siena both from italy who each have a 2.4% stake.

business

dent continues adelaide progress american taylor dent reached the final of the australian hardcourt event in adelaide with a crushing 6-1 6-1 win over argentine juan ignacio chela. dent will meet swede joachim johansson on sunday after the second seed survived a tense tie-break to defeat belgium s olivier rochus 6-1 7-6 (7/5). johansson the boyfriend of lleyton hewitt s sister jaslyn received strong crowd support on saturday. it feels like home for me because jaslyn lives here said johansson. rochus was leading 5-4 in the second set tiebreak but his concentration was ruffled by a disputed line call and the match slipped away. it was so close - one mistake like this and the match is over it s tough. for me it was clearly out rochus said.

sport

stalemate in pension strike talks talks aimed at averting national strikes over pension reforms have ended without agreement after 90 minutes. five public sector unions met deputy prime minister john prescott at the labour spring conference in gateshead. they want the government to withdraw regulations - due to be introduced in weeks - which would raise the pension age for council workers from 60 to 65. up to 1.4 million workers could take part in strikes earmarked for 23 march. discussions will resume next week. a spokesman for unison britain s biggest union said after saturday s meeting: at least we are still talking. all sides are anxious to avoid a major confrontation in the run up to the general election said bbc labour affairs correspondent stephen cape. in four days unison will start balloting 800 000 local government workers on strikes. other public sector unions have pledged to follow. the five unions which met mr prescott want the government to withdraw these regulations. this would allow months of tough negotiations to follow said our correspondent. but a spokesman for mr prescott warned that the changes to the local government pension scheme would have to go ahead in april. privately ministers believe this will be the less painful option our correspondent added. the public and commercial services union (pcs) will co-ordinate any industrial action with up to six other public sector unions. pcs leader mark serwotka warned last week that there could be further walkouts unless there was a government rethink. for a government that lectures everyone on choice - choice on public service choice on this and choice on that - isn t it ironic that they re saying to public sector workers there is no choice he said. if you want the pension you were promised when you started you must work for an extra five years - that is working until people drop. in the 20th century it s completely unacceptable. unison s 800 000 workers the transport and general workers union s 70 000 and amicus 20 000 are among those being balloted about a 23 march walkout. mr prescott held a private meeting with senior union figures last week. it is understood no deal was offered in that meeting but there was room for further negotiations.

politics

tories outlining policing plans local communities would be asked to go to the polls to elect their own area police commissioner under plans unveiled by the conservatives. party leader michael howard said the new role would replace inconspicuous police authorities. he said the new office would not supersede the job of a chief constable. the lib dems said the plan could let extreme groups run policing while labour criticised extravagant tory promises on policing. responding to the plans the chairman of the police federation of england and wales which represents rank and file officers said it was essential operational independence was retained. jan berry said: it is a service not a political football to be kicked around every time an election approaches. these plans could result in those with extreme political views dictating what actually happens on the ground she warned. outlining his crime manifesto mr howard said elected police commissioners would be more accountable than police authorities which are made up of local councillors and magistrates. the commissioner will have the powers which existing police authorities have he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. the trouble is and it s no reflection on the people who are on the police authority - they are good people - but hardly anyone knows who they are. mr howard said the authorities were not providing the local accountability that we want to see and that elected police commissioners would be more visible. critics fear the move could hand control of the police to single-issue campaigners who would ignore the needs of the wider community. lord harris who sits on the executive of association of police authorities said the plans seemed to suggest chief constables should be told what to do by a single politician. that is overturning nearly 200 years of the way in which we have organised policing in this country to avoid the politicisation of policing decisions he said. liberal democrat home affairs spokesman mark oaten said the plan was dangerous and could create conflict between chief constables and elected officials . mr oaten said local people had too little control over policing but a far better solution would be for elected councillors to draw up a minimum policing guarantee with their chief constables. a labour party spokesman criticised michael howard s record saying police numbers had fallen by 1 132 when he was home secretary. he said: today the tories are making more extravagant promises on the police without making clear how they would pay for them other than through fantasy savings to the asylum system. the tories insists the commissioner role would not be like that of an american sheriff. other tory law and order plans include building more prisons and making criminals serve full jail sentences.

politics

us state acts to stop spammers us state texas has filed a lawsuit against two men believed to be among the world s top five spammers. it is seeking millions of dollars in damages in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this week. the texas attorney general said it started the legal action as messages sent by the alleged spammers broke three laws governing e-mail marketing. the company named in the lawsuit denied any wrongdoing and said it complied with all relevant laws. the texas lawsuit was filed against ryan samuel pitylak a university oftexas student and mark stephen trotter of california. both are thought to be the top executives in three companies - payperaction llc. leadplex llc. and leadplex inc - that are suspected of sending out many millions of unwanted e-mail messages. illegal spam must be stopped said greg abbott texas attorney general announcing the legal action. spam is one of the most aggravating and pervasive problems facing consumers today. the attorney general alleges that messages sent by mr pitylak and mr trotter s companies broke the 2003 controlling the assault of non-solicited pornography and marketing act (can-spam) as well as the texas electronic mail and solicitation act and texas deceptive trade practices act. all three acts confer cash penalties for each violation of their terms. if the men are found guilty and all penalties are applied the two men could face a damages bill running into millions. mr abbott said the messages sent by the pair broke laws by using misleading subject lines not identifying themselves as adverts and offering services for which they had no licence to do so in texas. lawyers for the alleged spammers said the lawsuit was groundless and the two men would defend themselves strongly against the accusations. leadplex and payperaction are legitimate internet marketing companies that are in complete compliance with the federal can-spam act said lin hughes speaking on behalf of mr pitylak and mr trotter. in a similar move the us federal trade commission (ftc) has won a court order that stops an international group of spammers sending sexually explicit e-mail. the ftc took the action because the messages being sent violated several parts of the can-spam act. in particular the pornographic messages did not identify themselves as being sexually explicit had deceptive subject headings did not have working opt-out mechanisms failed to mention they were adverts and did not give the sender s real world address. the court order stops the spammers sending e-mail and freezes assets prior to a hearing on a permanent injunction.

tech

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.

tech

aragones angered by racism fine spain coach luis aragones is furious after being fined by the spanish football federation for his comments about thierry henry. the 66-year-old criticised his 3000 euros (£2 060) punishment even though it was far below the maximum penalty. i am not guilty nor do i accept being judged for actions against the image of the sport he said. i m not a racist and i ve never lacked sporting decorum. i ve never done that and i have medals for sporting merit. aragones was handed the fine on tuesday after making racist remarks about henry to arsenal team-mate and spanish international jose reyes last october. the spanish football federation at first declined to take action against aragones but was then requested to do so by spain s anti-violence commission. the fine was far less than the expected amount of about £22 000 or even the suspension of his coaching licence. arsenal boss arsene wenger who was fined £15 000 in december for accusing manchester united striker ruud van nistelrooy of cheating believes that aragones punishment was too lenient. you compare his fine and my fine and if you consider his was for racist abuse then you seem to get away with it more in spain than you should wenger said. he shouldn t have said what he said and how much money is enough i don t know but it doesn t look a big punishment. however aragones insists the fine is unjustified and unfair. i have been treated like islero (the bull that killed famous bullfighter manolete) said aragones on hearing he had been fined for his actions. i have not liked one thing about this whole affair and i do not agree with the sanction. they have looked for a scapegoat. spain s anti-violence commission must now ratify the spanish fa s decision and has until next week to announce its verdict. aragones has 10 days to appeal and the commission can also appeal. alberto flores president of the spanish fa s disciplinary committee said no-one in the committee felt aragones was a racist nor had acted in a racist way. a fine the highest we could apply is sufficient punishment. suspension would have been a bit exaggerated flores told sports daily marca.

sport

camera phones are must-haves four times more mobiles with cameras in them will be sold in europe by the end of 2004 than last year says a report from analysts gartner. globally the number sold will reach 159 million an increase of 104%. the report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a built-in camera by 2008. improving imaging technology in mobiles is making them an increasingly must-have buy. in europe cameras on mobiles can take 1.3 megapixel images. but in japan and asia pacific where camera phone technology is much more advanced mobiles have already been released which can take 3.2 megapixel images. japan still dominates mobile phone technology and the uptake there is huge. by 2008 according to gartner 95% of all mobiles sold there will have cameras on them. camera phones had some teething problems when they were first launched as people struggled with poor quality images and uses for them as well as the complexity and expense of sending them via mms (multimedia messaging services). this has changed in the last 18 months. handset makers have concentrated on trying to make phones easier to use. realising that people like to use their camera phones in different ways they have introduced more design features like rotating screens and viewfinders removable memory cards and easier controls to send picture messages. mobile companies have introduced more ways for people to share photos with other people. these have included giving people easier ways to publish them on websites or mobile blogs - moblogs. but the report suggests that until image quality increases more people will not be interested in printing out pictures at kiosks. image sensor technology inside cameras phones is improving. the gartner report suggests that by mid-2005 it is likely that the image resolution of most camera phones will be more than two megapixels. consumer digital cameras images range from two to four megapixels in quality and up to six megapixels on a high-end camera. but a lot of work is being done to make camera phones more like digital cameras. some handsets already feature limited zoom capability and manufacturers are looking into technological improvements that will let people take more photos in poorly-lit conditions like nightclubs. other developments include wide-angle modes basic editing features and better sensors and processors for recording film clips. images from camera phones have even made it into the art world. an exhibition next month in aid of the charity mencap will feature snaps taken from the camera phones of top artists. the exhibition fonetography will feature images taken by photographers david bailey rankin and nan goldin and artists sir peter blake tracey emin and jack vettriano. but some uses for them have worried many organisations. intel samsung the uk s foreign office and lawrence livermore national laboratories in the us have decided to ban camera phones from their buildings for fear of sensitive information being snapped and leaked. many schools fitness centres and local councils have also banned them over fears about privacy and misuse. italy s information commissioner has also voiced concern and has issued guidelines on where and how the phones can be used. but camera phone fears have not dampened the manufacturers profits. according to recent figures sony ericsson s profits tripled in the third-quarter because of new camera phones. over 60% of mobiles sold during the three months through to september featured integrated cameras it said.

tech

vickery upbeat about arm injury england prop phil vickery is staying positive despite a broken arm ruling him out of the rbs six nations. the 28-year-old fractured the radius in his right forearm during gloucester s 17-16 win over bath on saturday. he will undergo an operation on monday and is expected to be out for at least six weeks. he said: this isn t an injury that will stop me from working hard on the fitness elements and being around the lads. he added: i ve got the operation this afternoon and i could be back doing fitness work after a week. as frustrating as it is i ve got to be positive. after the game vickery spoke with bath prop david barnes who also broke his arm recently. i had a chat with david barnes and it looks like a similar injury to him he said. he said he had the operation and he was back running after a week. there s no doubt that i m going to get involved and be around this place as soon as i can after the operation. gloucester director of rugby nigel melville said: phil has broken his radius which is the large bone in his forearm. i don t really know how it happened but phil will definitely be out of action for at least six weeks. i feel very sorry for him as he has been in great shape. he really needed 80 minutes of rugby this weekend and then this happened. mentally it must be very hard for him.

sport

balco case trial date pushed back the trial date for the bay area laboratory cooperative (balco) steroid distribution case has been postponed. us judge susan illston pushed back a preliminary evidentiary hearing - which was due to take place on wednesday - until 6 june. no official trial date has been set but it is expected to begin in september. balco founder victor conte along with james valente coach remy korchemny and trainer greg anderson are charged with distributing steroids to athletes. anderson s clients include barry bonds and several other baseball stars have been asked to appear before a congressional inquiry into steroid use in the major leagues. the balco defence team have already lost their appeal to have the case dismissed at a pre-trial hearing in san francisco but will still argue the case should not go to trial. the hearing in june will focus on the admissibility of evidence gathered during police raids on balco s offices and anderson s home. conte and anderson were not arrested at that point but federal agents did obtain statements from them. the defence are expected to challenge the legality of those interviews and if ilston agrees she could could reject all the evidence from the raids. balco has been accused by the united states anti-doping agency (usada) of being the source of the banned steroid thg and modafinil. former double world champion kelli white and olympic relay star alvin harrison have both been banned on the basis of materials discovered during the balco investigation. britain s former european 100m champion dwain chambers is currently serving a two-year ban after testing positive for thg in an out-of-competition test in 2003. and american sprinter marion jones has filed a lawsuit for defamation against conte following his allegations that he gave her performance-enhancing drugs.

sport

gebrselassie in london triple bid double olympic 10 000m champion haile gebrselassie will race in the london marathon for the next three years. the ethiopian legend won sunday s almeria half-marathon in spain on his return from an operation on his achilles tendon. he was third in london in 2002 in his first serious attempt at the marathon. it is a coup for us to secure haile s presence for the next three years and it guarantees a quality race said race director david bedford. gebrselassie will face olympic champion stefano baldini world champion jaouad gharib and arch-rival paul tergat the current world record holder. if i didn t think i could win i would not be here said gebrselassie who has set world records on 18 occasions in his illustrious career and is keen to add the marathon record to his collection. there are a lot of fantastic runners in the race but i shall be doing my utmost to upset them.

sport

china aviation seeks rescue deal scandal-hit jet fuel supplier china aviation oil has offered to repay its creditors $220m (£117m) of the $550m it lost on trading in oil futures. the firm said it hoped to pay $100m now and another $120m over eight years. with assets of $200m and liabilities totalling $648m it needs creditors backing for the offer to avoid going into bankruptcy. the trading scandal is the biggest to hit singapore since the $1.2bn collapse of barings bank in 1995. chen jiulin chief executive of china aviation oil (cao) was arrested by at changi airport by singapore police on 8 december. he was returning from china where he had headed when cao announced its trading debacle in late-november. the firm had been betting heavily on a fall in the price of oil during october but prices rose sharply instead. among the creditors whose backing cao needs for its restructuring plan are banking giants such as barclay s capital and sumitomo mitsui as well as south korean firm sk energy. of the immediate payment the firm - china s biggest jet fuel supplier - said it would be paying $30m out of its own resources. the rest would come from its parent company china aviation oil holding company in beijing. the holding company owned by the chinese government holds most of cao s singapore-listed shares. it cut its holding from 75% to 60% on 20 october.

business

o driscoll out of scotland game ireland captain brian o driscoll has been ruled out of saturday s rbs six nations clash against scotland. o driscoll was originally named in the starting line-up but has failed to recover from the hamstring injury he picked up in the win over italy. his replacement will be named after training on friday morning. fellow centre gordon d arcy is also struggling with a hamstring injury and he will undergo a fitness test on friday to see if he can play. kevin maggs would be an obvious replacement at centre while shane horgan could also be moved from wing. ulster wing tommy bowe could also be asked to travel with the squad to scotland as a precautionary measure. the only other change to the ireland side sees wasps flanker johnny o connor replacing denis leamy. o connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over south africa last november. : murphy horgan tbc d arcy hickie o gara stringer corrigan byrne hayes o kelly o connell s easterby o connor foley. : sheahan horan o callaghan miller g easterby humphreys dempsey.

sport

vodafone appoints new japan boss vodafone has drafted in its uk chief executive william morrow to take charge of its troubled japanese operation. mr morrow will succeed shiro tsuda as president of vodafone kk japan s number three mobile operator in april. mr tsuda who will become chairman was appointed president only two months ago but the business has struggled since then losing customers in january. vodafone had pinned its hopes on the launch of its 3g phones in november but demand for them has been slow. while it has more than 15 million customers in japan vodafone has found it difficult to satisfy japan s technologically demanding mobile users. it suffered a net loss of more than 58 000 customers in january its second monthly reverse in the last year. vodafone is going to need to put a lot of money into japan if it wants to rebuild the business tetsuro tsusaka a telecoms analyst with deutsche bank told reuters. i do not know if it will be worth it for them to spend that kind of money just for japan.

business

super size me wins writers award super size me director morgan spurlock has won the writers guild of america s award for documentary feature writing. the oscar-nominated film followed spurlock as he ate only mcdonald s fast food for an entire month. spurlock was given the award at a special ceremony at the roosevelt hotel in hollywood on tuesday. organisers said the rising popularity of documentary films led them to honour a writer for a documentary screenplay for the first time. producer brian grazer presented the award to spurlock and the film s backers roadside attractions samuel goldwyn films and showtime independent films. spurlock set out to discover the effect of living on nothing but mcdonald s for a month upgrading to supersize portions when offered. the film followed his 25lb weight gain and the health effects on his body including his liver and cholesterol levels. mcdonald s announced it was to scrap its supersized meals last year but denied the move was as a result of the negative publicity created by spurlock s film. spurlock was given his award on the same day the european court of human rights ruled that two uk activists should have been given legal aid in their long fight against a mcdonald s libel action. helen steel and david morris from north london dubbed the mclibel two were found guilty in a 1990s trial of libelling the company in a leaflet they had been handing out at the end of the case the high court in london ruled mcdonald s had been libelled and awarded the company £60 000 in damages later reduced to £40 000 on appeal. but he found the leaflet was true in some aspects.

entertainment

ukraine strikes turkmen gas deal ukraine has agreed to pay 30% more for natural gas supplied by turkmenistan. the deal was sealed three days after turkmenistan cut off gas supplies in a price dispute that threatened the ukrainian economy. supplies from turkmenistan account for 45% of all natural gas imported by ukraine which has large coal deposits but no gas fields. turkmenistan is also trying to strike a similar deal with russia which is not so dependent on its gas. turkmen president saparmurat niyazov who signed the contract said the turkmen side agreed to lower the price demanded by $2 per 1 000 cubic metres bringing it down to $58. but the new price is still $14 higher than the price fixed in the contract for 2004. the head of the ukrainian state-owned naftohaz company yury boyko said he was fully happy with the deal. on friday turkmenistan acted on a threat and shut off gas supplies to ukraine in attempt to bring the price dispute to a head. mr niyazov said that his government would insist on the same price for supplies to russia. analysts say thay may not happen as russia the world s leading gas producer needs the cheap turkmen gas only to relieve is state-owned gazprom from costly investment in the exploration of oil fields in siberia. turkmenistan is the second-largest gas producer in the world.

business

text messages aid disaster recovery text messaging technology was a valuable communication tool in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in asia. the messages can get through even when the cell phone signal is too weak to sustain a spoken conversation. now some are studying how the technology behind sms could be better used during an emergency. sanjaya senanayake works for sri lankan television. the blogging world though might know him better by his online name morquendi. he was one of the first on the scene after the tsunami destroyed much of the sri lankan coast. cell phone signals were weak. land lines were unreliable. so mr senanayake started sending out text messages. the messages were not just the latest news they were also an on-the-ground assessment of who needs what and where . blogging friends in india took mr senanayake s text messages and posted them on a weblog called dogs without borders. thousands around the world followed the story that unfolded in the text messages that he sent. and that s when mr senanayake started to wonder if sms might be put to more practical use. sms networks can handle so much more traffic than the standard mobile phone call or the land line call he says. in every rural community there s at least one person who has access to a mobile phone or has a mobile phone and can receive messages. half a world away in the caribbean nation of trinidad and tobago taran rampersad read morquendi s messages. mr rampersad who used to work in the military knew how important on the ground communication can be in times of disaster. he wondered if there might be a way to automatically centralise text messages and then redistribute them to agencies and people who might be able to help. mr rampersad said: imagine if an aid worker in the field spotted a need for water purification tablets and had a central place to send a text message to that effect. he can message the server so the server can send out an e-mail message and human or machine moderators can e-mail aid agencies and get it out in the field. he added: or send it at the same time to other people who are using sms in the region and they might have an excess of it and be able to shift supplies to the right places. mr rampersad and others had actually been thinking about such a system since hurricane ivan ravaged the caribbean and the southern united states last september. last week he sent out e-mail messages asking for help in creating such a system for asia. in only 72 hours he found dan lane a text message guru living in britain. the pair along with a group of dedicated techies are creating what they call the alert retrieval cache. the idea is to use open-source software - software can be used by anyone without commercial restraint - and a far-flung network of talent to create a system that links those in need with those who can help. this is a classic smart mobs situation where you have people self-organizing into a larger enterprise to do things that benefit other people says paul saffo a director at the california-based institute for the future. you may be halfway around the world from someone but in cyberspace you re just one click or one e-mail away he said that s put a whole new dimension on disaster relief and recovery where often people halfway around the world can be more effective in making something happen precisely because they re not right on top of the tragedy. it is still very early days for the project though. in an e-mail dan lane calls it an early proof of concept. right now the alert retrieval cache can only take a text message and automatically upload it to a web-page or distribute it to an e-mail list. in the near future the group says it hopes to take in messages from people in affected areas and use human moderators to take actions based on the content of those messages. but there s still another challenge. you have to get people to know that the system is there for them to use. it s amazing how difficult it is to find someone to pass it along to and say look this is what we re trying to do and everything like that says mr rampersad. so the big problem right now is the same problem we re trying to solve - human communication. he is optimistic however. he thinks that the alert retrieval cache is an idea whose time has come and he hopes governments too will sit up and take notice. and he stands by his motto courtesy of michelangelo: criticise by creating. clark boyd is technology correspondent for the world a bbc world service and wgbh-boston co-production.

tech

peugeot deal boosts mitsubishi struggling japanese car maker mitsubishi motors has struck a deal to supply french car maker peugeot with 30 000 sports utility vehicles (suv). the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding and say they expect to seal a final agreement by spring 2005. the alliance comes as a badly-needed boost for loss-making mitsubishi after several profit warnings and poor sales. the suvs will be built in japan using peugeot s diesel engines and sold mainly in the european market. falling sales have left mitsubishi motors with underused capacity and the production deal with peugeot gives it a chance to utilise some of it. in january mitsubishi motors issued its third profits warning in nine months and cut its sales forecasts for the year to march 2005. its sales have slid 41% in the past year catalysed by the revelation that the company had systematically been hiding records of faults and then secretly repairing vehicles. as a result the japanese car maker has sought a series of financial bailouts. last month it said it was looking for a further 540bn yen ($5.2bn; £2.77bn) in fresh financial backing half of it from other companies in the mitsubishi group. us-german carmaker daimlerchrylser a 30% shareholder in mitsubishi motors decided in april 2004 not to pump in any more money. the deal with peugeot was celebrated by mitsubishi s newly-appointed chief executive takashi nishioka who took over after three top bosses stood down last month to shoulder responsibility for the firm s troubles. mitsubishi motors has forecast a net loss of 472bn yen in its current financial year to march 2005. last month it signed a production agreement with japanese rival nissan motor to supply it with 36 000 small cars for sale in japan. it has been making cars for nissan since 2003.

business

howard pitches for uk ethnic vote michael howard is to make a pitch for britain s ethnic vote urging people who feel taken for granted by tony blair to vote conservative. he will say conservatives share the same values as the uk s minorities. and that he wants to build a better britain where everyone whatever the colour of their skin or religion can make the most of their talents . but the tory leader will argue against positive discrimination saying it is outdated and unjust . it sets family against family and it leads ethnic communities to doubt their own abilities he will argue. mr howard - himself the son of immigrants - will acknowledge that racial discrimination still exists in the uk. people from ethnic communities for example still earn less than their white counterparts he will say before arguing the answer to helping everyone to get on was free enterprise free trade free speech . the tory leader will also call for religious tolerance arguing that hindus and sikhs as well as muslims got caught in the downdraft of islamaphobia which was one of the terrible side effects of 9/11 . mr howard will make his speech during a visit to support tory parliamentary hopefuls robert light and sayeeda warsi - the first british muslim woman selected to run for mp as a conservative candidate. he will attack labour s record in government over issues such as tax and he will set out tory plans for an immigration quota to be set by mps. mr howard will also attack the lib dems for wanting to abolish faith schools introduce compulsory sex education from the age of seven and give contraceptives out in schools from the age of 11 . so i say to all those people from ethnic minorities who feel mr blair and the liberal democrats take their votes for granted - come join us he will say. lib dem president simon hughes branded mr howard arrogant and wrong for claiming the tories were the natural party for britain s ethnic minorities. given the tories considerably reduced support in urban areas where many black and asian britons live during their time in power the evidence simply does not support his claims that the conservatives are the party for these communities he said.

politics

clarke to press on with id cards new home secretary charles clarke has vowed to plough on with plans for id cards despite a call for him to pause for thought from charles kennedy. the lib dem leader said david blunkett s resignation was a good opportunity to question whether the legislation was necessary. but mr clarke said he had supported the plans when mr blunkett argued for them in cabinet and he supported them now. id cards are a means to creating a more secure society he said. mr clarke acknowledged how the measure was introduced remained a matter for debate but he said legislation had already been significantly influenced by the recommendations of the commons home affairs committee. the issue would be debated in parliament next monday as scheduled he insisted. earlier mr kennedy whose party opposes the id cards plan as deeply flawed said with christmas coming up the new home secretary had time to think again. he told bbc radio 4 s today programme that mr clarke had been reported to be less enthusiastic about id cards than his predecessors. wouldn t this be a good opportunity for a new home secretary a new broom to sweep clean in this respect and why do we need this legislation in the first place he asked. earlier this week the tories announced they would back the government s plans although michael howard was forced to deny the shadow cabinet was split over its decision. they had decided to support the plans as the police said they would help fight terror crime and illegal immigration. among those reported to have serious reservations over the strategy were senior shadow cabinet members david davis oliver letwin and tim yeo. the chairman of the bar council guy mansfield qc has warned there is a real risk that people on the margins of society would be driven into the hands of extremists. what is going to happen to young asian men when there has been a bomb gone off somewhere they are going to be stopped. if they haven t [id cards] they are going to be detained. the home office says people will pay £85 for a passport and id card together or a undecided fee for a separate id card. the first cards would be issued in 2008 and when he was introducing the bill mr blunkett suggested parliament could decide in 2011 or 2012 whether to make it compulsory for everybody to own the cards although not to carry them. the new bill will also create new criminal offences on the possession of false identity documents. and there will be civil penalties including a fine of up to £1 000 fine for people who fail to say they have moved house or changed other details and of up to £2 500 for failing to sign up if the cards become compulsory. the scheme will be overseen by a new independent watchdog.

politics

venus stunned by farina elia venus williams suffered a first-round defeat for the first time in four years at the dubai championships. sylvia farina elia who had lost all nine of her previous meetings with the american fifth seed won 7-5 7-6 (8-6). former wimbledon champion conchita martinez and india s sania mirza the oldest and youngest players in the draw also reached the second round. martinez 32 beat shinobu asagoe 6-4 6-4 and 18-year-old mirza beat jelena kostanic 6-7 (7-2) 6-4 6-1. mirza the first indian woman to win a wta tour title this month on home ground at hyderabad will now face us open champion svetlana kuznetsova. but she is remaining confident. she (kuznetsova) is a great player she said. but everyone is beatable and i am looking forward to a great match. williams though blamed her defeat by farina elia on injuries. blisters were a factor but mostly my stomach wasn t that great she said. i did it in the last tournament in the semi-finals and i was serving at 40% in the final. the first time i served again was sunday and there wasn t a lot i could do out there. when your serve isn t good it throws the rest of your game off too. she will wait to see how she recovers before deciding whether to take part in the nasdaq-100 open in miami starting on 21 march.

sport

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

sport

boris opposes mayor apology ken livingstone should stick to his guns and not apologise for his nazi comment to a jewish reporter tory mp boris johnson has insisted. mr johnson also claimed tony blair s intervention in the row was an attempt to reassure jewish voters . london mayor mr livingstone says he is standing by his remarks which likened an evening standard journalist to a concentration camp guard . but the prime minister says it is time for mr livingstone to say sorry. labour s mr livingstone has said his comments may have been offensive but were not racist and said earlier this week he would not apologise even if mr blair asked. later the prime minister said: a lot of us in politics get angry with journalists from time to time but in the circumstances and to the journalist because he was a jewish journalist yes he should apologise. however mr johnson who was forced to apologise last year for an article in the magazine he edits about liverpudlians grieving over the death of british hostage ken bigley said mr blair should butt out of the row. i don t see why the prime minister has to get involved in this the spectator editor told bbc radio 4 s today programme. it s a dispute between ken livingstone and a reporter on the evening standard. mr johnson mp for henley-on-thames oxfordshire said he suspected labour was now trying to reassure jewish voters because of this curious way in which labour seems to be trying to curry favour with disillusioned muslim voters who may be disillusioned about the war . ken doesn t think he s got anything to say sorry for and if that s really his feeling then i think that he should stick to his guns he said. mr johnson apologised last october for perpetuating an outdated stereotype of liverpool in the leader article on the death of mr bigley. the article in the magazine suggested grieving liverpudlians were wallowing in their victim status. it also attributed blame to drunken liverpool football fans for the 1989 hillsborough disaster in which 96 died. mr johnson told today: it s perfectly true that i got into the grovelling game myself and when i apologised there were some things that i felt i ought to say sorry for ... there were also other things i didn t think i should apologise for he said. but here s old ken - he s been crass he s been insensitive and thuggish and brutal in his language - but i don t think actually if you read what he said although it was extraordinary and rude i don t think he was actually anti-semitic.

politics

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

entertainment

britain boosted by holmes double athletics fans endured a year of mixed emotions in 2004 as stunning victories went hand-in-hand with disappointing defeats and more drugs scandals. kelly holmes finally fulfilled her potential by storming to double gold on the track at the olympic games. holmes helped erase the gloom hanging over team gb after their biggest medal hope paula radcliffe dropped out of the marathon and then the 10 000m. britain s men s 4x100m relay team also did their bit by taking a shock gold. holmes had started the year in disappointing style falling over in the final of 1500m at the world indoor championships where she was favourite. her olympic build-up was clouded by self doubt but that proved unfounded as she overhauled rival maria mutola to win the 800m - her first global title. just five days later the 34-year-old made it double gold in the 1500m. it was the first time in 84 years a briton has achieved the olympic middle-distance double. while holmes left athens as the star of team gb it was radcliffe who carried expectations before the august games. the 30-year-old marathon world record holder went into the athens event as favourite but an exhausted radcliffe dropped out after 23 miles in tears. her decision to enter the 10 000m five days later also backfired as she again pulled out with eight laps remaining. but radcliffe helped put her olympic trauma behind her with a thrilling win in november s new york marathon. the 4x100m team grabbed some last-gasp glory for the british men s olympic squad after a poor start to the games. it seemed as though athens would be the first games where the men would fail to win a medal with michael east the only individual track finalist in the 1500m. but darren campell jason gardener marlon devonish and mark lewis-francis made amends in the sprint relay. the quartet held off favourites the usa to win britain s first relay medal since 1912 in 38.07 seconds. gardener added the olympic relay crown to his world indoor title over 60m and just like holmes finally lived up to his promise in 2004. kelly sotherton completed team gb s athletics medal haul in athens with a surprise bronze in the heptathlon. the 28-year-old won her first championship medal since becoming a full-time athlete in 2003. but it was a different story for britain s defending champion denise lewis who withdrew on day two of the competition after some poor results. lewis who was troubled by injury has ruled out retiring while sotherton is tipped to build on her success. the athens olympics proved to be a landmark occasion for steve backley who retired from competition after finishing fourth in the javelin. the battling 35-year-old leaves the sport with a vast medal haul including two silvers and one olympic bronze. and backley s departure was balanced by the return of injury-hit decathlete dean macey who came fourth in athens. the continued improvement of sprinter abi oyepitan and long jumper chris tomlinson also boosted team gb. sadly the 2004 olympics did not escape the problems of drugs misuse. on the eve of the games greek sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou missed a drugs test and claimed to have been involved in a road crash. kenteris the 200m champion in 2000 and thanou have since been charged by the greek authorities and await trial. at the games adrian annus (hammer) robert fazelas (discus) and irina korzhanenko (shot) were all stripped of their titles because of doping issues. hungarian compatriots annus and fazelas both refused to give urine samples while russian korzhanenko tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. the fallout from the thg scandal which rocked the sport in 2003 continued to impact in olympic year. britain s 4x100m team took gold without the services of dwain chambers who was handed a two-year ban in february after testing positive for steroid thg. american kelli white was suspended and stripped of her world 100m and 200m titles after failing a drugs test. and world 400m champion jerome young landed a life ban from us chiefs after a second doping offence. russian pole vaulter yelena isinbayeva provided some light relief by smashing the world record seven times on her way to the world indoor and olympic titles. her rivalry with compatriot svetlana feofanova livened up the field events. morocco s hicham el guerrouj also delighted fans by racing to a historic olympic double in the 1500m and 5 000m. and though there was no paula radcliffe in the london marathon there was plenty of drama as kenyans evans rutto and margaret okayo took the titles. rutto held on to win despite slipping on some cobblestones and tumbling into a barrier. okayo also had to battle back after mistiming her tactics but clinched victory on her debut.

sport

campbell to be lions consultant former government communications chief alastair campbell will act as a media consultant to sir clive woodward s 2005 lions on their tour to new zealand. campbell who left downing street earlier this year will advise on media strategy before and during the tour. i hope i can contribute to the planning and preparation and to ensuring the media and public get the most out of the tour itself he said. i am also looking forward to going out for the later stages of the tour. woodward s decision to call in prime minister tony blair s former spin doctor springs from the deterioration in media relations on the last lions tour of australia in 2001 when new zealander graham henry was the head coach. the furore surrounding the newspaper diaries of matt dawson and austin healey was compounded by other disillusioned players venting their frustration through the media. the lions is a massive media event said woodward who will be the head coach. there will be a huge level of interest from the travelling media the fans that will go out in their thousands and the new zealand public. we need to have the strategy and processes in place to deal with the pressures that will bring. [alastair] will act as an advisor both in the build up to and on the tour itself. his role is to work closely with not only myself but (tour manager) bill beaumont (media manager) louisa cheetham and (team manager) louise ramsay. campbell is due to resume working for the government in the new year in the build-up to an anticipated may general election. the lions leave for new zealand on 24 may with the first test match against the all blacks in christchurch on 25 june.

sport

could rivalry overshadow election tony blair and gordon brown are desperately trying to stuff the genie of their rivalry back into the bottle. along with any number of senior cabinet colleagues they are insisting their only job is to win the next election and govern in the best interests of britain. it is a message they are aiming directly at their backbenchers who are becoming irritated and even unnerved by the continuing claims and counter claims surrounding this alleged rift. ian gibson for example urged the two men to stop squabbling declaring: for goodness sake sometimes you have to rise above petulance and make sure that you do your job as effectively as you can. those with slim majorities are particularly fearful that the rift could hit their own hopes of re-election. tony blair will seek to reassure labour mps on monday evening at their first meeting of the new year at westminster - a behind-closed doors meeting which gordon brown is thought likely to also attend to show unity. meanwhile the likes of health secretary john reid and labour peer lord haskins are warning of the electoral dangers of allowing this soap opera to continue. and they have both warned the rival camps to stop spreading the poison. lord haskins even suggested mr blair should reinstate mr brown as the central figure in the election planning. but this particular genie is unusually reluctant to return to captivity and many fear it is simply too late to repair the damage. they believe they will be fighting the next election with the sounds of open warfare between the two men ringing in their ears. and it matters little whether the rift is real or as some try to suggest simply the product of newspaper headlines and westminster gossip. few in westminster actually believe that simply because the evidence appears to contradict it. for example the weekend s attempts by both men to play down the divisions failed to do the trick. even as they were both insisting on their unity of purpose and claiming they would not be swayed by newspaper stories they still managed to stir the speculation with their comments. mr blair talked about the new labour manifesto - a move which seemed calculated to irritate the chancellor who has long rejected the label. and mr brown pointedly refused to deny claims the prime minister had reneged on a deal to hand him the premiership last year. that claim was repeated in robert peston s book a book which amply demonstrates this corrosive downing street soap opera is nowhere near its final act. for his part mr brown insists his only motivation was to get labour re-elected. the trouble is both men have fallen short of offering simple straightforward denials of the central claims. so they have both been accused of actually making matters worse by feeding the speculation with their own behaviour. the first thing to be said is that these suggestions have not come from nowhere. they started with and are sustained by friends of the two men. one only had to listen to the chancellor s friend and former spin chief charlie whelan last week to understand that there is a real anger from this camp at the prime minister s apparent attempts to confound mr brown s leadership ambitions. but it is not just public pronouncements from ex-aides. there are whispered briefings to selected journalists from both sides. it is no secret in westminster for example that downing street believes the chancellor is indulging in a mammoth sulk and acting in a petty and deliberately provocative manner. then there are the actions of the men themselves. gordon brown sets out what is seen as a rival manifesto then appears to embark on his own personal campaign. the prime minister responds by scheduling his monthly press conference to clash with a keynote speech by the chancellor. meanwhile large numbers of backbench mps insist voters are either entirely uninterested in the chatter which they believe is a media-only obsession or that they fear for the efficient running of a government beset by such rivalry. either way there is universal agreement that if this goes on through the general election it can only do the labour party serious damage. there are signs that the two men appreciate the dangers and both want to put a lid on all the speculation. but with probably only four months to the next election that looks like being a particularly difficult trick to pull off.

politics

2d metal slug offers retro fun like some drill sergeant from the past metal slug 3 is a wake-up call to today s gamers molly-coddled with slick visuals and fancy trimmings. with its hand-animated sprites and 2d side-scrolling this was even considered retro when released in arcades four years ago. but a more frantic shooter you will not find at the end of your joypad this year. and yes that includes halo 2. simply choose your grunt and wade through five 2d side-scrolling levels of the most hectic video game blasting you will ever encounter. it is also the toughest game you are likely to play as hordes of enemies and few lives pile the pressure on. players must battle soldiers snowmen zombies giant crabs and aliens not to mention the huge screen-filling bosses that guard each of the five levels. the shoot-anything-that-moves gameplay is peppered with moments of old-school genius. fans of robotic gastropods should note the title refers instead to the vast array of vehicles on offer in a game stuffed with bizarre hardware. tanks jets and submarines can be commandeered as well as cannon-toting camels elephants and ostriches - more weaponry on offer than in an acre of iraq. doling out justice is a joy thanks to ultra responsive controls and while this is a tough nut to crack it is addictive enough to have you gagging for that one last go. and at a mere £20 metal slug 3 is as cheap as sliced fried spuds as the man says. of course most of you will ignore this lacking as it does the visual fireworks of modern blasters. but at a time when blockbuster titles offer only a fresh lick of paint in favour of real innovation metal slug 3 is a fresh gasp of air from an era when the xbox was not even a twinkle in bill gates eye.

tech

straw attacked on china arms moves to lift the european union s ban on arms exports to china have been condemned by human rights groups and the conservatives. the 15 year embargo was imposed in the aftermath of china s crackdown on protesters in tiananmen square in 1989. uk foreign secretary jack straw who will hold talks in beijing on thursday said an eu arms code was more effective than the current ban. but human rights watch says the eu is putting commerce above abuse concerns. in december the eu pledged to work towards lifting the ban but said it was not ready to do so yet. germany and france have repeatedly called for the embargo to be lifted. britain has been more cautious but mr straw last week said he also wanted it to end despite us objections. he expects it to be lifted over the next six months a prediction which has alarmed critics. brad adams from human rights watch said: this is a huge political signal from europe that they are willing to forget about tiananmen square. there are still thousands of people who are unaccounted for. mr straw said it was wrong to put china under the same embargo as countries such as zimbabwe and burma. the scope of the embargo was very narrow and did not have any force of law behind it he told bbc radio 4 s world at one. in the uk more export licences were refused under the existing european union arms code than under the embargo he said. and only two of the licences denied under the embargo would have been granted under the code. the code of conduct is much more effective it s a more powerful tool of and we intend to strengthen it as a pre-condition of lifting the embargo with china he said. mr straw denied the decision would suggest to china that tiananmen square had been forgotten. the level of human rights was a key criteria under the eu arms exports code he said. human rights groups say the code of conduct is not legally binding - but mr straw said it would be given legal force by the laws of many eu countries. conservative shadow foreign secretary michael ancram said the move would be profoundly wrong . the decision could undermine nato as it severely damaged relations with the us which is opposed to ending the ban. mr ancram argued: what the british government is doing is giving in to french and german pressure especially the french who see vast contracts available to them if the embargo is lifted... it gives the wrong signals to china who are simply not prepared to accept that what happened at tiananmen square was wrong. mr straw s china trip is part of regular high-level meetings with beijing ministers. he will meet chinese counterpart minister li zhaoxing to discuss developing relations between their two countries hong kong and china s part in the talks on north korea.

politics

ferdinand casts doubt over glazer rio ferdinand has said he is unsure of malcolm glazer s motives after the american billionaire launched a new offer to buy manchester united. the club have confirmed that the glazer family partnership have submitted proposals of a third bid. a lot of people want the club s interest to be with people who have grown up with the club and have got its interests at heart said ferdinand. no one knows what this guy will be bringing to the table. the central defender added on bbc radio five live: we will have to wait and see what glazer comes with. i would like to see the situation resolved either way. i think people are getting bored with him coming in and out of the news with new proposals. the other stuff off the pitch takes the shine off what is going on the pitch. glazer currently owns a 28.1% stake in the club and united s statement to the stock exchange said: the board has noted the recent press speculation on this subject. the board can confirm that it has now received a detailed proposal subject to various pre-conditions which may form the basis of an offer for manchester united from glazer. a further announcement will be made in due course. glazer s previous bids for the club which united supporters opposed were rejected by the board because of the high level of debt they would incur. but it is believed that glazer has substantially reduced the borrowing required for his latest move. he will still need the approval of major shareholders john magnier and jp mcmanus who own 28.9% of the club to succeed. but the irish duo have cut off talks with glazer over the proposed sale of their stake while fans remain opposed to his involvement.

sport

best person for top legal job the best person for the job should be appointed lord chancellor and not necessarily a lawyer or mp the courts minister has told mps. under reforms the post of lord chancellor is to be stripped of its judicial functions. the lord chancellor...no more needs to be a lawyer than the secretary of health needs to be a doctor said courts minister christopher leslie. the constitutional reform bill was entering its second reading on monday. mr leslie said: the prime minister should be able to appoint the best person for the job whether they sit in the house of lords or the house of commons. under the reforms the law lords will also be replaced as the uk s highest legal authority by a supreme court and judges will be appointed by an independent panel rather than ministers. in december the lords rejected a plea by current lord chancellor lord falconer that the holder of the job should not necessarily be a lawyer or a peer. the peers voted by 229 to 206 to say in law that lord chancellors must also be peers. the debate was carried over from the last parliamentary session but with an impending general election time is crucial for the government to get the bill passed. mr leslie said it was irrelevant whether the post was called secretary of state for constitutional affairs or lord chancellor. he said: what matters most is...whether it is reformed so that the post holder no longer has those conflicting duties. it is no longer appropriate for a government minister to have such unfettered discretion in the appointment of judges. shadow attorney general dominic grieve criticised the government on its plans to change what he said was an exceptional institution providing a champion of the independence of the judiciary . the government had initially proposed to take this institution and smash it to pieces mr grieve said. convention should be nurtured and celebrated but the government distrusted and disliked it instead. he warned that unless ministers backed down over the lord chancellor remaining a member of the house of lords the government would have great difficulty in getting the bill through parliament. former cabinet minister douglas hogg whose father and grandfather served as lord chancellor said the bill was largely unnecessary bureaucratic and expensive . but the tory mp for sleaford and north hykeham admitted the lord chancellor s role and office cannot be frozen in aspic .

politics

durex maker ssl awaits firm bid uk condom maker ssl international has refused to comment on reports it may be subject to a takeover early in 2005. a financial times report said business intelligence firm gpw was understood to be starting due diligence work on ssl international for a corporate client. an spokesman for ssl which makes the famous durex brand of condom would not to comment on market speculation . however the news sent shares in ssl which also makes scholl footwear up more than 6% or 16.75 pence to 293.5p. the ft said most the high-profile firm that might woo ssl was anglo-dutch household products group reckitt benckiser. eighteen months ago reckitt benckiser was at the centre of a rumoured takeover bid for ssl - but that came to nothing. other firms that have been seen as would-be suitors include kimberly-clark johnson & johnson and private equity investors. analysts have seen ssl as a takeover target for years. it sold off its surgical gloves and antiseptics businesses for £173m to a management team in may. ssl was formed by a three-way merger between seton healthcare footwear specialists scholl and condom-maker london international group. its other brands include syndol analgesic meltus cough medicine sauber compression hosiery and deodorant products and mister baby.

business

bmw to recall faulty diesel cars bmw is to recall all cars equipped with a faulty diesel fuel-injection pump supplied by parts maker robert bosch. the faulty part does not represent a safety risk and the recall only affects pumps made in december and january. bmw said that it was too early to say how many cars were affected or how much the recall would cost. the german company is to extend a planned production break at one of its plants due to the faulty bosch part. the dingolfing site will now be closed all next week instead of for just two days. the additional three-day stoppage will mean a production loss of up to 3 600 vehicles bmw said adding that it was confident it could make up the numbers later. bosch has stopped production of the part but expects to restart by 2 february. the faulty component does not represent a safety risk but causes the motor to stall after a significant amount of mileage. when asked if bmw would be seeking compensation from bosch the carmaker s chief executive helmut panke said: we will first solve the problem before talking about who will pay . audi and mercedes benz were also supplied with the defective diesel fuel-injection pumps but neither of them have to recall any vehicles. a spokesman for daimlerchrysler parent company of mercedes benz said it will however have to halt some production. it is to close the mercedes factory in sindelfingen on monday and tuesday. audi said it had been hit by production bottlenecks due to a shortage of unaffected bosch parts.

business

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.

business

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.

business

wales win in rome 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).

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