mobiles get set for visual radio the growth in the mobile phone market in the past decade has been nothing less than astonishing  but the ability to communicate on the go is not the only reason we are hooked. games  cameras and music players have all been added to our handsets in the last few years  but 2005 could see another big innovation that won t just see a change in our mobile phone habits - it might alter the way we listen to the radio. finnish handset giant nokia has been working on a technology called visual radio  which takes an existing fm signal from a radio station and enables that station to add enhancements such as information and pictures. it is not the first time that such an idea has been suggested - the early days of dab digital radio had similar intentions that never really saw the light of day.  one problem is that the name visual radio leads people to think of television but reidar wasenius  a senior project manager at nokia  was adamant that visual radio should not be confused with the more traditional medium. he said:  i m very happy to say it s not television  what we re talking about is an enhancement of radio as we know it today.  if you have a visual radio enabled handset  when you hear an artist you don t know  or there s a competition or vote that you d like to participate in  you pull out your handset and with one click you turn on a visual channel parallel to the on-air broadcast you ve just been listening to.   that visual channel is run from a computer within the radio station  and sends out different kinds of information to the handset depending on what you are listening to. as well as details on the track or artist of a particular song  there is also the ability to interact immediately with the radio station itself  in a similar way to digital television s  red button  content.  possible interactive content includes competitions  votes and even the chance to rate the song that is playing. but the interactive aspect will make the service especially attractive to radio stations  who will be able to track the number of people taking part in such activities on a real-time basis. this in turn should lead to an additional source of revenue  as it is very likely that advertisers will be keen to exploit new opportunities to reach listeners.  as the visual radio content is transmitted by existing gprs technology you would need to have that service enabled by your network. and there will be a cost for the service as well  although it may depend on your usage.  if you enjoy the visual channel occasionally and interact it ll be two or three pounds per month   said mr wasenius.  but typically what we see happening is the operator offering a package deal for an  all you can eat  arrangement per month.  the payment system could therefore be similar to the way that broadband internet works versus dial-up connections. one thing that is for sure - assuming that nokia retains its market share in handsets  it is estimating that there will be 100 million visual radio-enabled mobile phones in circulation by the end of 2006.  basically  visual radio is not really revolutionary  but rather an evolution where we are providing tools with which people can participate in radio much more easily than ever before.   the first visual radio service in the uk will begin in a few months time with virgin radio  who are positive about the impact it could have on their listeners. station manager steve taylor commented:  listeners can interact with the radio station in a new way.  not only does this give listeners more information on the music we play but means they can instantly purchase things they like; mp3 music downloads and the latest gig tickets.  initially visual radio functionality will be limited to two nokia handsets due out soon - the 3230 and 7710 - but if successful  it is very likely that other manufacturers will want to join them.  listen again to the interview on the radio five live website.


double win for sea inside spanish movie the sea inside has been named best picture and star javier bardem best actor at the bangkok international film festival.  based on the true story of a paralysed man s battle to end his life  the sea inside was best foreign language film at the 2005 golden globe awards. annette bening and ana geislerova shared the best actress award at the bangkok festival. this year s event was scaled down following the asian tsunami disaster.  falling down and the phantom of the opera director joel schumacher won a lifetime achievement award while hong kong director wong kar-wai was honoured for promoting asian cinema.  it s a great honour  i want to share this honour with my thai colleagues   wong said. french writer christophe barratie and korean writer park chan-chook shared the best screenplay award for les choristes and old boy respectively. now in its third year  the bangkok international film festival is donating profits from ticket sales to the tsunami relief fund.


jamelia s return to the top r&b star jamelia had three brit nominations to go with her triple triumph at last year s mobo awards.  the birmingham-born singer  full name jamelia davis  was signed to a record label at the age of 15 and released her first single so high at 18. she released four number ones from her 2000 album drama  including the top five hit money featuring the vocals of reggae artist beenie man. she racked up five mobo nominations in 2000  winning one for best video. but in the same year she also fell pregnant and decided to take a break from music to bring up her daughter teja  who was born in march 2001. while she originally planned to get back to work pretty swiftly after giving birth it was actually two years before she released another single. during her absence r&b music exploded and a whole host of female artists were on the scene  meaning jamelia had to once again prove herself. her comeback song bout featuring rah digga only just scrapped into the top 40.  it was her next single  superstar  that really put her back on the map as one of britain s most popular female r&b singers  holding her own in a music scene dominated by us artists such as beyonce and ashanti.  superstar was followed by thank you  winner of best single at the 2004 mobos  which reached number two in the uk charts. the autobiographical song  which deals with domestic abuse  hit number one in new zealand and australia. next came the song see it in a boy s eyes  which was especially written for her by coldplay s chris martin. his involvement with the song meant not only was it given massive publicity but it was also greeted favourably by a new audience who would not usually listen to r&b. she now combines singing with modelling and supporting charities including the nspcc and make trade fair. despite her huge success in recent years  jamelia remains down-to-earth about her fame and her chances of lasting in the fickle music business  partly due to motherhood.  when i first got into the industry  i d be away from home for months at a time. but now i have other things in my life. i still want to make it  but it s not the end of the world if i don t   commented jamelia.


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


christmas song formula  unveiled a formula for the ultimate christmas single has been revealed by chart bible british hit singles and albums.  the recipe includes a reference to father christmas  sleigh bells  a children s choir and a charity element. the song should also include christmas in the title  wishes for peace on earth and lots of airplay at office parties.  there are common musical elements linking nearly all the big christmas number ones of recent times   said editor david roberts. the book s analysts commissioned chart prank group moped to create the first christmas single using the whole formula - the song is called gonna have a no 1 this christmas by moped vs santa.   everybody says that christmas number ones are formulaic  but gonna have a number one this christmas is the first song to crack the formula and combine all these elements into one ultimate christmas track  said mr roberts.  surprisingly  there s no santa listed among the 8 000  top 75 chart performers in the book  so this is our chance to help santa to his rightful place in british recording history.  big festive hits over the years include band aid s do they know it s christmas   slade s merry christmas everybody  wham s last christmas and sir cliff richards  mistletoe and wine. band aid 20 s remake of do they know it s christmas is set to be confirmed as number one in the charts on sunday.


arnold congratulated on oscar win oscar-winner andrea arnold has been congratulated by the uk film council  the organisation which partly funded her project.  arnold s film wasp won the best live action short film award on sunday.  the uk film council spends millions of pounds of lottery investment on short filmmaking in britain every year   said chief executive officer john woodward.  it certainly pays off when you see new film-makers winning such prestigious awards   he added.  wasp  which was commissioned by the film council and channel 4  beat films by fellow uk nominees gary mckendry and ashvin kumar to the prize. it stars actress nathalie press  who appeared in the bafta-winning drama my summer of love  as a single mother who is forced to take drastic action when she is invited on a date and is unable to find a babysitter to look after her four daughters. the film has already won over 30 other international awards including the sundance short film prize. arnold  from dartford in kent  described her victory as  truly overwhelming. i m really not used to this kind of thing   she said  after receiving her oscar from actor jeremy irons.  thanks to everyone who worked on this - the beers are on me when we get home.  the director was one of only two british winners on the night  the other being sandy powell  who won the costume design oscar for her work on the aviator.


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


lib dems target first-time buyers the liberal democrats have unveiled plans to build 100 000 new  affordable  homes on publicly owned land.  the party s scheme would allow people to buy a share in a home through a mutual home ownership trust  as a way of getting onto the housing ladder. the lib dems would also encourage the conversion of existing buildings in an effort to protect greenfield sites. labour has already announced plans to help first-time buyers and the tories would extend right-to-buy schemes.  all the major parties are focusing on the issue in the run-up to the election after a survey suggested first-time buyers could not afford a home in 92% of uk towns. the lib dems say their  mutual homes  would let people buy a share of a property  usually worth about 5% of the building costs. party leader charles kennedy said the homes would be affordable because they would be built on surplus public sector land  donated by central or local government. people would also only have to pay for the cost of the building and not the land  he added.  they would spend about 30% of their monthly salary on rent and buying extra shares in the property. when they moved house  they would be able to cash in on any rise in property prices by selling their share. it would also allow councils to vary discounts to tenants given the right to buy their council homes so local needs were taken into account. mr kennedy said:  mutual homes will offer people the opportunity to build up an equity stake in a home gradually  investing only as much as they can afford.   there are also plans to prevent high house prices forcing people out of their local communities. the kind of  golden share  used by the lib dems in south shropshire could be rolled out more widely. under the plan  councils secure deals with developers where they keep a 1% share in a property scheme so properties cannot be sold on the open market. instead  they are sold at  build cost  to people who the local council decides have local needs. the party says its help for first-time buyers can be funded at no extra cost to the taxpayer. but the plans involve changing the vat system  which the party says often makes it too expensive to renovate existing buildings.  the conservatives claimed the plans would amount to an extra tax of up to £11 000 on every new house.  this is typical of lib dem hypocrisy   said tory shadow local government secretary caroline spelman.  they claim that they want to help people on to the property ladder  but the small print of their policies reveal how they intend to price even more people out of the housing market.  the flagship tory proposal on housing policy is to give a million more housing association tenants the right to buy their homes. labour has said it will allow 300 000 council and housing association tenants to buy a share in their homes. housing minister keith hill said much of the lib dem plans mimicked the government s strategy.  however  as usual  the lib dems  proposals are completely uncosted   he said. mr hill said he also asked whether the lib dems would match labour s promise to spend £42bn on making refurbishing and repair council homes by 2010.


falconer rebuts  charade  claims concessions on a bill which critics claim would allow euthanasia  through the back door  were not a political ploy  the lord chancellor has said.  ministers have been accused of panic in offering last minute changes to the mental capacity bill amid chaotic scenes in the commons on tuesday. lord falconer said it was fair to criticise the late timing of the offer. he said the changes provided a solution to a very difficult issue but some mps argue the situation is still unclear.  the bill allows people to give somebody the power of attorney to make decisions on their behalf if they become too ill to decide for themselves. ministers insist the plans would not change laws on euthanasia and would improve safeguards. critics fear it could allow  killing by omission  through withdrawing treatment  including food and fluids.  tony blair said he would do everything he could to meet concerns about the bill. but changes to the bill must not overturn the law set when a court ruled that doctors could withdraw artificial feeding and hydration from hillsborough coma victim tony bland.  it is important we don t end up in the situation where doctors and consultants are confused about the law and may lay themselves open to prosecution in circumstances where no sensible person would want that to happen   he said.  on tuesday  the government saw off a backbench attempt to force changes to the bill by 297 votes to 203  despite rebellion by 34 labour mps. the revolt was also reduced by news that lord falconer had promised the catholic archbishop of cardiff to strengthen safeguards in the bill. but that only came after mps bombarded constitutional affairs minister david lammy with a barrage of requests for him to read the letter as they complained they had been left in the dark. eventually  he was hurriedly handed the letter to read out five minutes before the crunch votes  prompting claims of a shambles. the deputy speaker later said the debate had not been handled as it should have been.  lord falconer says there will be amendments when the bill goes to the house of lords. he told bbc news:  we have given a commitment to put into the bill a clause that says that nothing in the bill authorises any act where the motive of the person authorising the decision is to end life.  the motive has got to be to end suffering.  he denied the concessions were a  political manoeuvre  forced by panic about the rebellion. it was inevitable that minds became more focused as the bill went through parliament but the result was a  sensible solution   he said.  i don t think it is something to be embarrassed about. these issues are not easy to deal with   he went on. bbc political editor andrew marr said mr lammy was  waste deep in quicksand and sinking fast  after his performance. but lord falconer praised his minister for an  excellent job . former conservative leader iain duncan smith  one of the chief critics of the plans  condemned the debate as a  charade  and complained the promises of changes to the bill were vague.


steady job growth continues in us the us created fewer jobs than expected in december  but analysts said that the dip in hiring was not enough to derail the world s biggest economy.  according to labor department figures  157 000 new jobs were added last month. that took 2004 s total to 2.2 million  the best showing in five years. job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy. while worries still remain  the conditions are set for steady growth in 2005  analysts said. the unemployment rate stayed at 5.4% in december  and about 200 000 jobs will need to be created each month if that figure is to drop.   it was a respectable report   said michael moran  analyst at daiwa securities.   payroll growth in december was a little lighter than the consensus forecast  but we had upward revisions to the prior two months and an increase in manufacturing employment.   manufacturing is a cyclical area of the economy and if it s showing job growth  it s a good indication that the economy is on a solid growth track.  that means that the federal reserve is likely to continue its policy of raising interest rates. the fed lifted borrowing costs five times last year to 2.25%  citing evidence the us economic recovery was becoming more robust.  job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy  and proved to be a main topic of debate in the us presidential election. while demand for workers is far from booming  the conditions are set for steady growth.  overall  compared to the previous year it looks great  it just keeps going stronger and stronger and i expect that to be the case  in 2005  said kurt karl  economist at swiss re in new york. meanwhile  economists cautioned against reading too much into data from the federal reserve showing an unexpected $8.7bn drop in consumer debt in november. a fall in consumer spending  which makes up about two-thirds of all us economic activity  could help limit the extent of any future interest rate rises. but economists said there could be a number of reasons for a fall in the borrowing  which include credit cards and personal loans  while noting that such figures can vary on a month-to-month basis.


brit awards for devon music acts devon singer joss stone and rock band muse won coveted brit awards during the event s 25th anniversary.  seventeen-year-old stone  from near cullumpton  won two awards: best british female act  and best urban act out of three award nominations. muse  whose members met in south devon  beat franz ferdinand  jamie cullum  kasabian and the libertines for best british live act. the band has sold about two million records worldwide.  after beating amy winehouse  jamelia  natasha bedingfield and pj harvey to the best british female prize  joss stone said:  i don t know what to say. i don t like doing this at all. i d like to thank my family for being really supportive and everybody that made my record with me.   i don t even know what to do right now. thank you all you guys for voting for me  i feel sick right now.  viewers of digital music tv channel mtv base voted stone the winner in the best urban act category. ms stone also performed her song right to be wrong  backed by a gospel choir  at the 25th award ceremony at london s earls court. her second album mind  body & soul reached number one in the uk charts last october and went straight into the us charts at number 11.  the teenager also has grammy nominations in the us  normally dominated by home-grown acts. born jocelyn stoker  the devon diva started her career in a bbc talent programme  and was then discovered at a new york audition by a us record executive  steve greenberg. indie rock group muse consists of matthew bellamy  chris wolstenholme and dominic howard who met in their early teens in teignmouth  south devon. dominic howard said of winning:  we love playing live  it s very important for our band. so to win something like this really feels great.  the trio met aged 13 and formed the band gothic plague  changing its name to fixed penalty  rocket baby dolls and finally muse. the band released its first self-titled ep in 1998. the third studio album  absolution  was released in 2003  providing the hit singles time is running out  hysteria  and butterflies and hurricanes.


parliament s record of scandal in a locked room at the heart of parliament there is a hive of scandal.  sex  betrayal and custody of children are all there in this affair but this time it has nothing to do with the recent troubles of david blunkett or boris johnson.  few realise that westminster in effect has its own divorce den. for sprinkled among 12 floors of archives are blow-by-blow accounts of marital break-ups - and now you can search what s there online. until 1857  the only way in england to get a full divorce which allowed re-marriage was to obtain an act of parliament by proving adultery or life-threatening cruelty. the legacy is pages of testimonies used in the hearings  dating back to 1670  all recorded among the 325 000 items which fill the 12 floors of the parliamentary archives in parliament s victoria tower. most people researching their family history want to discover some tale of illicit love. this gives them the chance.  divorce by parliament was an expensive process open really only to the rich but the records also include the testimony of maids  butlers and coachmen about their masters and mistresses. among the records is the story of jane campbell  the first woman ever to divorce her husband. that happened in 1801 after she had discovered her husband  edward addison  had committed adultery with her sister jessy.  a transcript of evidence from jessy s maid  amelia laugher  shows her telling how addison frequently passed by her on the way to the room where she had just put her mistress naked to bed. it must have been a killer blow to addison s case - he had already fled abroad rather than pay the £5 000 damages ordered by a civil court. as well as making divorce history  jane campbell won custody of her children - unusual for a woman at the time. but divorces are by no means the only documents in the archives which hold personal details of people often far removed from politics and parliament.  there are the protestation returns from 1642 - lists of the protestants who pledged to  maintain the true reformed protestant religion . there are details of foreign nationals made british citizens by act of parliament  including composer george frideric handel in 1727. and the mass of private bills which  for example authorise the building of railways and roads  contain both the names and addresses of those involved and testimonies giving people a unique perspective on how their ancestors opposed them.  tax bills may be an extra source for pedigree hunters - the longest stretches for about 300m and is longer than the palace of westminster itself  listing the names of appointed tax collectors. this wealth of material has long been open to the public at the house of lords record office  with visitors able to phone ahead when they want to view particular items in the search room. but now five years of work has produced an online catalogue. david prior  assistant clerk of the archives  says the catalogue opens up new possibilities for research.  before  you just could not do it  you faced trawling through pages and pages of printed material   he says. mr prior sees the changes as part of a wider revolution in archives generally.  the archive profession may look fairly staid but is in an enormous period of change  mainly motivated by the potential of it  which is opening up all sorts of vistas for us   he says.  the archives do  of course  hold records of high (and low) politics too for both houses of parliament  including copies of all acts passed since 1497 - the oldest dealing with the employment of workers in the woollen industry in norfolk. records for the commons only date back to 1834 - anything earlier was wiped out by the fire which destroyed most of the parliament buildings in 1834.  but that still leaves some of the most important documents of uk political history - parts of the bill of rights from 1689  the death warrant for charles i  the private papers and diaries of major politicians such as david lloyd george and andrew bonar law. there is also the 1606 act establishing 5 november as a thanksgiving day - the year after the gunpowder plot. that document is likely to feature in the exhibition the archives will put on next year as part of a series of events across london to mark the 400th anniversary of guy fawkes  conspiracy. as mr prior remarks as we walk by shelf after shelf of vellum (parchment made from goat s skin):  all human life is here.


wall street cool to ebay s profit shares in online auction house ebay fell 9.8% in after-hours trade on wednesday  after its quarterly profits failed to meet market expectations.  despite seeing net profits rise by 44% to $205.4m (£110m) during october to december  from $142m a year earlier  wall street had expected more. ebay stock fell to $92.9 in after-hours trade  from a $103.05 end on nasdaq. ebay s net revenue for the quarter rose to $935.8m from $648.4m  boosted by growth at its paypal payment service.  excluding special items  ebay s profit was 33 cents a share  but analysts had expected 34 cents.   i think wall street has gotten a bit ahead of ebay this quarter and for the 2005 year.  said janco partners analyst martin pyykkonen. for 2004 as a whole  ebay earned $778.2m on sales of $3.27bn. ebay president and chief executive meg whitman called 2004 an  outstanding success  that generated  tremendous momentum  for 2005.  i m more confident than ever that the decisions and investments we re making today will ensure a bright future for the company and our community of users around the world   she said. ebay now forecasts 2005 revenue of $4.2bn to $4.35bn and earnings excluding items of $1.48 to $1.52 per share. analysts had previously estimated that ebay would achieve 2005 revenues of $4.37bn and earnings of $1.62 per share  excluding items.


us consumer confidence up consumers  confidence in the state of the us economy is at its highest for five months and they are optimistic about 2005  an influential survey says.  the feel-good factor among us consumers rose in december for the first time since july according to new data. the conference board survey of 5 000 households pointed to renewed optimism about job creation and economic growth. us retailers have reported strong sales over the past 10 days after a slow start to the crucial festive season.  according to figures also released on tuesday  sales in shopping malls in the week to 25 december were 4.3% higher than in 2003 following a last minute rush. wal-mart  the largest us retailer  has said its december sales are expected to be better than previously forecast because of strong post-christmas sales.  it is expecting annual sales growth of between 1% and 3% for the month. consumer confidence figures are considered a key economic indicator because consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of all economic activity in the united states.  the continuing economic expansion  combined with job growth  has consumers ending this year on a high note   said lynn franco  director of the conference board s consumer research centre.  and consumers  outlook suggests that the economy will continue to expand in the first half of next year.  the overall us economy has performed strongly in recent months  prompting the federal reserve to increase interest rates five times since june.


artists  secret postcards on sale postcards by artists including damien hirst and tracey emin have sold just hours after the opening of the royal academy of arts annual secrets sale.  the identity of the artist remains unknown until each work is bought and the signature is revealed on the back.  there are still some big names left  such as mario testino   said rca spokeswoman sue bradburn. all postcards are priced at £35. the sale opened at 8am on friday and will close at 6pm on saturday. ms bradburn said there was a big queue at the start of the sale but it had now gone down.  she said the people that had bought the famous name postcards had arrived early and had spent time studying each work.  they would have known what to look for.  the exhibition has been open for viewing since 19 november. film director ken loach  fashion designer hussein chalayan and former blur guitarist graham coxon have all designed postcards for the sale. some of the contributing artists are students or recent graduates of the royal college of art and other leading art colleges. money raised from the sale will go towards the rca s fine art student award fund which supports students with grants and bursaries. the famous sale is now in its 11th year.


hollywood hunts hits at sundance the sundance film festival  the movie industry s top destination for uncovering the next independent hits and new talent  opens on thursday.  the event will see screen executives decamp from hollywood to park city  utah  for 11 days to search for low-key movies that could make it big in 2005. open water  napoleon dynamite  garden state and super-size me were all snapped up at last year s festival. but stars like keanu reeves and pierce brosnan also have films showing there. the festival is being opened by a screening of quirky comedy happy endings  starring former friends actress lisa kudrow and maggie gyllenhaal  on thursday.  kudrow s friends co-star  david schwimmer  plays a divorced drunkard in duane hopwood  while brosnan stars as a hit man in comedy the matador. keanu reeves appears in coming-of-age tale thumbsucker while kevin costner and michael keaton are among the other big names whose films are involved. robert redford founded sundance in 1981 and it has gone on to showcase future successes such as reservoir dogs  the blair witch project and the full monty. but it has received criticism that it has become more commercial and mainstream over the years.  as much as the press argues that sundance has completely changed  it hasn t changed that much   festival director geoffrey gilmore said.  it s still a place for discovery. it s a place for common ground among film-makers and audiences more than it is the celebrity stuff.  other films generating interest before this year s festival include hustle & flow  about an aspiring rapper  the squid and the whale  an autobiographical film by writer-director noah baumbach  and comedy/drama pretty persuasion. it also has two new international cinema competitions.


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


rich pickings for hi-tech thieves viruses  trojans and other malicious programs sent on to the net to catch you out are undergoing a subtle change.  the shift is happening as tech savvy criminals turn to technology to help them con people out of cash  steal valuable data or take over home pcs. viruses written to make headlines by infecting millions are getting rarer. instead programs are now crafted for directly criminal ends and firms are tightening up networks with defences to combat the new wave of malicious code.  the growing criminal use of malware has meant the end of the neat categorisation of different sorts of viruses and malicious programs. before now it has been broadly possible to name and categorise viruses by the method they use to spread and how they infect machines. but many of the viruses written by criminals roll lots of technical tricks together into one nasty package.   you cannot put them in to the neat little box that you used to   said pete simpson  head of the threat laboratory at security firm clearswift. now viruses are just as likely to spread by themselves like worms  or to exploit loopholes in browsers or hide in e-mail message attachments.  it s about outright criminality now   said mr simpson  explaining why this change has come about. he said many of the criminal programs came from eastern europe where cash-rich organised gangs can find a ready supply of technical experts that will crank out code to order. former virus writer marek strihavka  aka benny from the 29a virus writing group  recently quit the malware scene partly because it was being taken over by spyware writers  phishing gangs  and spammers who are more interested in money rather than the technology. no longer do virus writers produce programs to show off their technical prowess to rivals in the underground world of malware authors. not least  said paul king  principal security consultant at cisco  because the defences against such attacks are so common.  in many ways the least likely way to do it is e-mail because most of us have got anti-virus and firewalls now   he said. few of the malicious programs written by hi-tech thieves are cleverly written  many are much more pragmatic and use tried and tested techniques to infect machines or to trick users into installing a program or handing over important data.  if you think of criminals they do not do clever   said mr king   they just do what works.   as the tactics used by malicious programs change  said mr king  so many firms were changing the way they defend themselves. now many scan machines that connect to the corporate networks to ensure they have not been compromised while off the core network.  many will not let a machine connect and a worker get on with their job before the latest patches and settings have been uploaded. as well as using different tactics  criminals also use technology for reasons that are much more transparent.  the main motivation now is money   said gary stowell  spokesman for st bernard software. mr stowell said organised crime gangs were turning to computer crime because the risks of being caught were low and the rates of return were very high. with almost any phishing or spyware attack  criminals are guaranteed to catch some people out and have the contacts to exploit what they recover. so-called spyware was proving very popular with criminals because it allowed them to take over machines for their own ends  to steal key data from users or to hijack web browsing sessions to point people at particular sites. in some cases spyware was being written that searched for rival malicious programs on pcs it infects and then trying to erase them so it has sole ownership of that machine.


mutant book wins guardian prize a book about the evolution of mutants and the science of abnormality has won the guardian first book award 2004.  armand marie leroi  a lecturer at london s imperial college  scooped the £10 000 prize for mutants: on the form  varieties and errors of the human body.  it is profoundly cultured and beautifully written in the very best tradition of popular science writing today   said judge claire armistead. the award recognises and rewards new writing across fiction and non-fiction. a panel of literary experts  including novelists hari kunzru and ali smith  director sir richard eyre and comedian alexei sayle chose the winner from a five-strong shortlist.  the shortlist included susanna clarke s jonathan strange and mr norrell  a novel about the magic arts at the turn of the 19th century and the places in between  rory stewart s account of his trek  on foot  across afghanistan.  what we found so impressive about armand marie leroi s book was the scope of its reference  its elegance and its inquisitiveness   said ms armistead  chair of the judges and the guardian literary editor.  while the subject matter of mutants unsettled some involved in the judging process  the overwhelming majority found it fascinating   she added. her words were echoed by iris director sir richard eyre who called marie leroi s work  extraordinarily thought provoking . the award  for first time authors  is open to books from genres including fiction  poetry  biography  memoir  history  politics  science and current affairs. previous winners include white teeth by zadie smith  in 2000  which went on to become a bestseller.


veteran martinez wins thai title conchita martinez won her first title in almost five years with victory over anna-lena groenefeld at the volvo women s open in pattaya  thailand.  the 32-year-old spaniard came through 6-3 3-6 6-3 for her first title since berlin in 2000.  it feels really good   said martinez  who is playing her last season on the tour.  to come through like that in an important match feels good.  it s been nearly five years and i didn t think i could do it.  groenefeld was the more powerful player but could not match her opponent s relentless accuracy.  it was my first final  a new experience   said the german.  i think she played a good match  a tough match  but i tried to stay in there. i think the whole week was good for me.


anti-tremor mouse stops pc shakes a special adaptor that helps people with hand tremors control a computer mouse more easily has been developed.  the device uses similar  steady cam  technology found in camcorders to filter out shaking hand movements. people with hand tremors find it hard to use conventional mice for simple computer tasks because of the erratic movements of the cursor on the screen. about three million britons have some sort of hand tremor condition  said the uk national tremor foundation.  using a computer mouse is well known for being extremely hard for people with tremors so we re delighted to hear that a technology has been developed to address this problem   said karen walsh  from the uk national tremor foundation. most commonly associated with tremors is parkinson s disease  but they can also be caused by other conditions like essential tremor (et). tremors more often affect older people  but can hit all ages. et  for example  is genetic and can afflict people throughout their lives.  the assistive mouse adapter (ama) is the brainchild of ibm researcher jim levine who developed the prototype after seeing his uncle  who has parkinson s disease  struggle with mouse control.  i knew that there must be way to improve the situation for him and the millions of other tremor sufferers around the world  including the elderly.   the number of elderly computer users will increase as the population ages  and at the same time  the need for computer access grows   he said. computer users plug the device into a pc  and it can be adjusted depending on how severe the tremor is. it is also able to recognise multiple clicking on a mouse button caused by shaky digits. ibm said it would partner up with a small uk-based electronics firm  montrose secam  to produce the devices which will cost about £70. james cosgrave  one of the company s directors  said it would make a big difference to those with tremors.  i m a pilot and my tremor condition has not limited my ability to fly a plane   he said.  but using a pc has proven almost impossible simply because everything revolves around using the mouse to accurately manipulate the tiny cursor on the screen.  he said a prototype of the gadget had transformed his life.  the device could help open up computing to millions more people who have found shaking to be a barrier. last year  the office for national statistics reported that for the first time  more than half of all households in britain had a home computer. with prices getting cheaper to get online too  computer ownership is increasing. but although 62% of british people have tried the internet  only 15% of britons aged 65 or over have been online. more than six million uk households now have a broadband net. by the middle of 2005  it is estimated that 50% of all uk net users will be on broadband. there are still millions using the net through dial-up connections too.


lse  sets date for takeover deal  the london stock exchange (lse) is planning to announce a preferred takeover by the end of the month  newspaper reports claim.  the sunday telegraph said the lse s plan was further evidence it wants to retain tight control over its destiny. both deutsche boerse and rival euronext held talks with the london market last week over a possible offer. a £1.3bn offer from deutsche boerse has already been rejected  while euronext has said it will make an all cash bid. speculation suggests that paris-based euronext has the facilities in place to make a bid of £1.4bn  while its german rival may up its bid to the £1.5bn mark. neither has yet tabled a formal bid  but the lse is expected to hold further talks with the two parties later this week. however  the sunday telegraph report added that there are signs that deutsche boerse chief executive werner seifert is becoming increasingly impatient with the lse s managed bid process.  despite insisting he wants to agree a recommended deal with the lse s board  the newspaper suggested he may pull out of the process and put an offer directly to shareholders instead. the newspaper also claimed mr seifert was becoming  increasingly frustrated  with the pace of negotiations since deutsche boerse s £1.3bn offer was rejected in mid-december  in particular the lse s decision to suspend talks over the christmas period. meanwhile  the german exchange s offer has come under fire recently. unions for deutsche boerse staff in frankfurt have reportedly expressed fears that up to 300 jobs would be moved to london if the takeover is successful. others claim it will weaken the city s status as europe s financial centre  while german politicians are also said to be angry over the market operator s promise to move its headquarters to london if a bid is successful. a further stumbling block is deutsche boerse s control over its clearstream unit  the clearing house that processes securities transactions. lse shareholders fear it would create a monopoly situation  weakening the position of shareholders when negotiating lower transaction fees for share dealings. lse and euronext do not have control over their clearing and settlement operations  a situation which critics say is more transparent and competitive.


tories  would cut number of mps  the conservative party would cut the number of mps by about one-fifth if they were elected  tory leader michael howard has said.  the plan forms part of the party s  smaller government bill   to be unveiled later this week. mr howard told the sunday times the party would also reduce the number of government special advisers. and he said a referendum would be held in wales to decide whether or not to scrap the welsh assembly.  the changes would all take place within five years of the conservatives winning a general election  mr howard told the paper.  the precise number of mps to go would depend on the result of the welsh referendum  but it would probably mean a reduction of around 120 from the current total of 659. if wales decided to keep its assembly it would stand to lose more mps. mr howard said as both parties planned to cut the number of civil servants at whitehall - labour by more than 80 000 and the tories by almost 100 000 - they should accept a similar drop in their own numbers.  it is all very well saying government departments should be reduced  but what about ministers  parliament and special advisers   he said. shadow leader of the commons oliver heald said:  this will be part of our aim to reduce unnecessary and costly interference in people s lives by reducing the size and role of the state .  mr howard said the plan would also even out the  great unfairness  of there being proportionately more scottish and welsh mps at westminster than those from england. the average size of an english constituency was 70 000 people  mr howard said. in northern ireland it was just over 66 000  in wales just over 59 000 and in scotland 53 000. the number of welsh mps would be set at an amount that was  consistent and fair in terms of representation with the rest of the united kingdom  if the assembly was scrapped. mr howard said the changes should be carried out quickly and could even be implemented by the election after next.  you have got to have a big bang. we don t want this like the house of lords reform  getting to one stage and then not having the next stage.


tv calls after carroll error spurs boss martin jol said his team were  robbed  at manchester united after pedro mendes  shot clearly crossed the line but was not given.   the referee is already wearing an earpiece so why can t we just stop the game and get the decision right   said jol after the 0-0 draw.  but at the end of the day it s so obvious that pedro s shot was over the line it s incredible.  we feel robbed but it s difficult for the linesman and referee to see it.  mendes shot from 50 yards and united goalkeeper roy carroll spilled the ball into his own net before hooking it clear. jol added:  we are not talking about the ball being a couple of centimetres or an inch or two over the line  it was a metre inside the goal.  what really annoys me is that we are here in 2005  watching something on a tv monitor within two seconds of the incident occurring and the referee isn t told about it.   we didn t play particularly well but i am pleased - even now - with a point  although we should have had three.  mendes could not believe the  goal  was not given after seeing a replay. he said:  my reaction on the pitch was to celebrate.  it was a very nice goal  it was clearly over the line - i ve never seen one so over the line and not given in my career.  it s really  really over. what can you do but laugh about it  it s a nice goal and one to keep in my memory even though it didn t count.  it s not every game you score from the halfway line.  manchester united manager sir alex ferguson sympathised with tottenham and said the incident highlighted the need for video technology.  i think it hammers home what a lot of people have been asking for and that s that technology should play a part in the game   ferguson told mutv.  what i was against originally was the time factor in video replays.  but i read an article the other day which suggested that if a referee can t make up his mind after 30 seconds of watching a video replay then the game should carry on.   thirty seconds is about the same amount of time it takes to organise a free-kick or take a corner or a goal-kick. so you wouldn t be wasting a lot of time.  i think you could start off by using it for goal-line decisions. i think that would be an opening into a new area of football.  arsenal boss arsene wenger also used the incident to highlight the need for video technology.  when the whole world apart from the referee has seen there should be a goal at old trafford  that just reinforces what i feel - there should be video evidence   said wenger.  it s a great example of where the referee could have asked to see a replay and would have seen in five seconds that it was a goal.


bank opts to leave rates on hold the bank of england has left interest rates on hold at 4.75% for a sixth month in a row.  the bank s monetary policy committee (mpc) decided to take no action amid mixed signals from the economy. but some economists predict a further rise in the cost of borrowing will come later this year. interest rates rose five times between november 2003 and august 2004 as soaring house prices and buoyant consumer data sparked inflation fears. bank of england governor mervyn king has recently warned against placing too much weight on one month s economic data  suggesting the mpc is waiting for a clearer picture to emerge. economists see next week s inflation report from the mpc as key in assessing whether a further interest rate rise is necessary to keep the economy in check.  slower consumer spending and a quieter housing market are likely to have convinced the mpc that rates should be left unchanged in recent months. inflation  however  has been rising faster than expected  hitting an annual rate of 1.6% in december - its highest level in six months. data on wednesday also showed manufacturing output rose at its fastest rate since may last month  reinforcing a view that economic growth was stronger than forecasts.  and recent house surveys from the halifax and nationwide have indicated prices are still rising  albeit at a slower pace than in recent years. philip shaw  chief economist at investec securities  said he believed rates would remain at 4.75% for the rest of the year although strong economic data could lead to a further hike.  the economic landscape has changed quite considerably over the last couple of months    he said.  growth appears stronger and the mpc may become more concerned about inflation trends.  howard archer  economist at global insight said the mpc  may well consider that the balance of risks to the growth and inflation outlook have moved from the downside to the upside .  business groups welcomed the mpc s widely-expected move to leave rates on hold and cautioned against further rises. the british chambers of commerce (bcc) said it was  concerned by the clamour in some quarters  for early interest rate increases.  we believe that these demands should be firmly resisted   said david frost  bcc director general.  manufacturing still faces extremely serious problems and is performing poorly  in spite of the recent revised figures.  ian mccafferty  chief economist at the cbi  said the mpc faced an  interesting  challenge.  consumers appear to have pulled in their horns over the holiday period  and exporters are struggling with the strength of sterling   he said.  however  the broader economy continues to show healthy growth  and the tight labour market and buoyant commodity prices are nudging inflation higher.


latest opera browser gets vocal net browser opera 8.0  due for official release at the end of next month  will be  the most accessible browser on the market   according to its authors.  the latest version of the net browser can be controlled by voice command and will read pages aloud. the voice features  based on ibm technology  are currently only available in the windows version. opera can also magnify text by up to 10 times and users can create  style sheets   its developers say. this will enable them to view pages with colours and fonts that they prefer. but the browser does not yet work well with screen reader software often used by blind people  so its accessibility features are more likely to appeal to those with some residual vision.  our mission was always to provide the best internet experience for everyone   said opera spokeswoman  berit hanson.  so we would obviously not want to exclude disabled computer users.   another feature likely to appeal to people with low vision is the ability to make pages fit to the screen width  which eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling.  the company points out that this will also appeal to anyone using opera with a handheld device. the company says that features like voice activation are not solely aimed at visually impaired people.  our idea was to take a first step in making human-computer interaction more natural   said ms hanson.  people are not always in a situation where they can access a keyboard  so this makes the web a more hands-free experience.  unlike commercially available voice recognition software  opera does not have to be  trained  to recognise an individual voice. around 50 voice commands are available and users will have to wear a headset which incorporates a microphone. the voice recognition function is currently only available in english. opera is free to download but a paid-for version comes without an ad banner in the top right hand corner and with extra support. opera began life as a research project - a spin-off from norwegian telecoms company telenor. its browser is used by an estimated 10 million people on a variety of operating systems and a number of different platforms.


big guns ease through in san jose top-seeded americans andy roddick and andre agassi survived minor scares to reach the last eight of the sap open.  agassi endured early problems against left-handed dane kenneth carlsen before sealing a 7-5 6-1 victory. and world number three roddick dropped a set to korean player hyung-taik lee  before pulling out a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win in san jose  california. seventh seed jurgen melzer came through 6-3 6-3 against xavier malisse - winner in delray beach last week. frenchman cyril saulnier  meanwhile  fired 19 aces to secure a 6-1 7-6 win over czech qualifier tomas zib.  roddick broke a racket in frustration in the third game of the second set. and afterwards was unimpressed with his form.  i m not playing great   he said.  but i m through and i m going to keep battling.  a lot of people are under the assumption that it s easy to play well every week and it s not.  it is the 12th time in 13 appearances at the event that agassi  now 34  has progressed to the quarter-final stage. he came from 0-40 down in the opening game to hold serve and gradually wore carlsen down after attacking his backhand. agassi also employed several lobs and charged to the net to unsettle the 31-year-old dane  ranked 88th in the world.  as the match went on  i got real patient and waited for my opportunities and felt pretty good   said agassi.


woolf murder sentence rethink plans to give murderers lighter sentences if they plead guilty have been watered down.  there was an outcry three months ago when the sentencing guidelines council - led by lord woolf - published its proposals for england and wales. it had suggested judges should reduce sentences by a third for murderers who confessed at the earliest opportunity. but that has now been changed to one-sixth  with no reduction for those killers given a  whole life tariff . at the time lord woolf  the lord chief justice  had said the one third reduction would only be in extraordinary circumstances - for example  if people gave themselves up before their crime had even been detected. the guidelines were to recognise the need to spare victims and witnesses the trauma of going to court where possible  by allowing lighter sentences for guilty pleas and co-operation  he said.  but director of the victims of crime trust  norman brennan  accused lord woolf of having an  arrogant contempt for victims of crime and the law-abiding public . the national association of probation officers said the move would be  political suicide . in revised proposals from the sentencing guidelines council (sgc)  the section on murder said possible reductions would have to be  weighed carefully  by a judge so they did not lead to  an inappropriately short sentence . where it was appropriate to reduce the minimum term having regard to a plea of guilty  the maximum reduction would be one sixth  and should never exceed five years  it said.  in a statement issued on wednesday lord woolf said:  i have no doubt that being able to call on the diverse backgrounds and experiences of all those that serve on the sgc has vastly improved the final guidelines.  i am confident  as a result  that judges will be better placed to deliver sentences which are effective both as punishments and deterrents to offending and reoffending.  director of public prosecutions  ken macdonald qc  who sits on the sgc  said the principle of discounting sentences to offenders for early guilty pleas is set down by parliament.  what the new guideline on reduced sentences for guilty pleas does is increase the chances of convicting the guilty by bringing clarity to this process.  it represents a tougher regime than existed previously  because the discount is automatically reduced if a guilty plea is not made at the first available opportunity   he said.


gb quartet get cross country call four british athletes have been pre-selected to compete at the world cross country championships in march after impressive starts to the season.  hayley yelling  jo pavey  karl keska and adam hickey will represent team gb at the event in france. yelling clinched the women s european cross country title last month and pavey followed up with bronze. keska helped the men s team to overall third place while hickey finished in 10th place on his junior debut.  winning the european cross country title meant so much to me   said yelling.  and being pre-selected for the worlds means that i can focus on preparing in the best way possible.  the 32-year-old will race alongside olympic 5 000m finalist pavey in the women s 8km race on 19 march. keska  who has made a successful return from a long-term injury lay-off  contests the men s 12km race on 20 march  while 16-year-old hickey goes in the junior men s 8km on the same day. the rest of the team will be named after the trials at wollaton park in nottingham  which take place on 5 march.


off-colour gardener storms to win britain s jason gardener shook off an upset stomach to win the 60m at sunday s leipzig international meeting.  gardener clocked 6.56 seconds to equal the meeting record and finished well ahead of germany s marc blume  who crossed the line in 6.67 secs. the world indoor champion said:  i got to the airport and my stomach was upset and i was vomiting. i almost went home.  i felt a little better sunday morning but decided i d only run in the main race. then everything went perfectly.  gardener  part of the great britain 4x100m quartet that won gold at the athens olympics  will now turn his attention to next weekend s norwich union european indoor trials in sheffield.   given i am still off-colour i know there is plenty more in the tank and i expect to get faster in the next few weeks   he said.  it s just a case of chipping away as i have done in previous years and the results will come.  scotland s ian mackie was also in action in leipzig. he stepped down from his favoured 400m to 200m to finish third in 21.72 secs. germany s alexander kosenkow won the race in 21.07 secs with dutchman patrick van balkom second in 21.58 secs. there were plenty of other senior british athletes showing their indoor form over the weekend. promising 60m hurdler  clocked a new uk record of 7.98 seconds at a meeting in norway. the 24-year-old reached the mark in her heat but had to settle for joint first place with former aaa champion diane allahgreen in the final.    who broke onto the international scene at the olympic games last season  set an indoor personal best of 16.50m in the triple jump at a meeting in ghent. that leap - 37cm short of brazilian winner jadel gregorio s effort - was good enough to qualify for the european indoor championships. at the same meeting   finished third in 7.27 seconds in a high-class women s 60m. the event was won by european medal favourite christine arron of france while belgium rival kim gevaert was second. britain s joice maduaka finished fifth in 7.35. olympic bronze heptathlon medallist  made a low-key return to action at an indoor meeting in birmingham. the 28-year-old cleared 1.76m to win the high jump and threw 13.86m in the women s shot put.


media gadgets get moving pocket-sized devices that let people carry around video and images are set to have a big year in 2005  according to industry experts.  last year saw the emergence of portable media players  such as the windows-based creative zen portable media player  the samsung yepp  the iriver pmc-100  and the archos av400 series among others. but this year  they are set to get smarter and more connected  to allow people to find more video to watch on them. archos launched its latest range of its linux-based portable media devices at the consumer electronics show in las vegas on friday. dubbed the pocket media assistant pma430  it crucially has wi-fi capability built-in for the first time.  consumers are showing a great thirst for devices that store all their media in one place for anywhere access   said henri crohas  chief of archos.  and now those consumers can stay connected and productive at the same time.  archos said the focus for the device is to be the second gadget in people s pockets  after the mobile.  unlike windows-based players  the archos av400 series devices have always been able to record from any video source  such as tvs  as well as playback. the content put onto the devices is copy protected so cannot then be swapped to another device.  recording is perhaps a crucial functionality for those who have not seen the point of portable video if there is not a lot of video to watch on it. and wi-fi connectivity opens up the possibility of content delivery via a high-speed wireless link. archos also announced that it would open up the software development kit to linux developers so that more applications could be created for the device. microsoft also made some announcements in the portable media arena at ces  primarily for us consumers though. it has agreed a content deal with personal video recorder company tivo  which bill gates also showcased in his keynote speech at ces. the tivo to go service means that us consumers will be able to take any programmes they record on their tivos and transfer it for free to watch on any of the windows-based portable media players or smartphones. it also said it had launched a service with mtv to let people watch comedy central  vh1 and country music tv on its devices. and a service is launching with msn to provide people with shortened versions of news  entertainment and other video on a subscription basis for download via the pc onto the portable devices. but the ability to record directly from tv  vcr  and digital cable and satellite boxes  which windows-based devices do not offer  certainly gives people more content to watch on the go too.  the increased capability of these devices  and the content deals that are being done  may go some way to persuading people to use them. recent research by jupiter suggested that people would prefer a device that was dedicated to music. only 13% of europeans wanted to watch video while on the move. more seemed interested in spending their cash on music-only devices.   this year  we are ready for an explosion of portable media   microsoft s mike coleman told the bbc news website.  we are very bullish about it. the fact that i can put photos on here too and share them is super-cool to the consumer   he added. the fact that europeans are far larger public transport users than americans is one reason why portable media will take off in the coming year too. there is a burgeoning market there for commuters to watch news and other programmes on their way to work. although microsoft s content distribution deals are for the us market at the moment  talks were  always on-going  with european content suppliers to offer similar services. various rights management issues have to be ironed out first however. but that does not prevent people from finding ways to create their own content to share online and swap on portable devices  particularly via those which are wi-fi enabled. the possibility is open for non-professional makers of video and audio to take advantage of the growing portable media market to distribute their work. ces  which runs from 6 to 9 january  showcases more than 50 000 new gadgets that will be hitting the shelves in 2005.


bekele sets sights on world mark olympic 10 000m champion kenenisa bekele is determined to add the world indoor two mile record at february s norwich union grand prix in birmingham.  the 22-year-old will again be chasing a record held by his compatriot and mentor haile gebrselassie  who set the mark at the same meeting in 2003.  i am still as hungry to do as much as i can in this sport   said bekele.  and aiming for the two mile world record in birmingham is the next of those targets.  gebrselassie s current record stands at eight minutes  04.69 seconds. and bekele is no stranger to overhauling world marks at the national indoor arena. the ethiopian broke the world indoor 5 000m record on his debut at the meeting last year. compatriots mulugeta wondimu  abiyote abate and markos geneti  the world indoor bronze medallist over 3000m  will race against bekele on 18 february. the meet has already attracted a crop of olympic talent. britain s 800m and 1500m champion kelly holmes is taking part in the 1000m. swedish heptathlon gold medallist carolina kluft will contest the 60m hurdles. while men s 4x100m relay gold medallists jason gardener and mark lewis-francis will go head-to-head in the 60m.


tsunami  to hit sri lanka banks  sri lanka s banks face hard times following december s tsunami disaster  officials have warned.  the sri lanka banks association said the waves which killed more than 30 000 people also washed away huge amounts of property which was securing loans. according to its estimate  as much as 13.6% of the loans made by private banks to clients in the disaster zone has been written off or damaged. state-owned lenders may be even worse hit  it said.  the association estimates that the private banking sector has 25bn rupees ($250m; £135m) of loans outstanding in the disaster zone. on one hand  banks are dealing with the death of their customers  along with damaged or destroyed collateral. on the other  most are extending cheap loans for rebuilding and recovery  as well as giving their clients more time to repay existing borrowing. the combination means a revenue shortfall during 2005  slba chairman - and commercial bank managing director - al gooneratne told a news conference.  most banks have given moratoriums and will not be collecting interest  at least in this quarter   he said. in the public sector  more than one in ten of the state-owned people s bank s customers in the south of sri lanka were affected  a bank spokesman told reuters. he estimated the bank s loss at 3bn rupees.


reboot ordered for eu patent law a european parliament committee has ordered a rewrite of the proposals for controversial new european union rules which govern computer-based inventions.  the legal affairs committee (juri) said the commission should re-submit the computer implemented inventions directive after meps failed to back it. it has had vocal critics who say it could favour large over small firms and impact open-source software innovation. supporters say it would let firms protect their inventions. the directive is intended to offer patent protection to inventions that use software to achieve their effect  in other words   computer implemented invention . the draft law suffered setbacks when poland  one of the largest eu member states  rejected its adoption twice in two months. intense lobbying on the issue has started to gain momentum in some national parliaments putting them under immense pressure. only two meps backed the draft law at the juri meeting  with one voting to abstain.  opponents of the draft directive welcomed the decision and said a new first reading of the proposals would give the eu a chance to have fuller debates about its implications in all member states. in the us  the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. this means that the us-based amazon.com holds a patent for its  one-click shopping  service  for example. critics are concerned that the directive could lead to a similar model happening in europe. this  they fear  could hurt small software developers because they do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies if they had to fight patent legal action in court. supporters say current laws are inefficient and it would serve to even up a playing field without bringing eu laws in line with the us.


mcdonald s boss bell dies aged 44 charlie bell  the straight-talking former head of fast-food giant mcdonald s  has died of cancer aged 44.  mr bell was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in may last year  a month after taking over the top job. he resigned in november to fight the illness. joining the company as a 15-year-old part-time worker  mr bell quickly moved through its ranks  becoming australia s youngest store manager at 19. a popular go-getter  he is credited with helping revive mcdonald s sales. mr bell leaves a wife and daughter.  as we mourn his passing  i ask you to keep charlie s family in your hearts and prayers   chief executive james skinner said in a statement.  and remember that in his abbreviated time on this earth  charlie lived life to the fullest.   no matter what cards life dealt  charlie stayed centred on his love for his family and for mcdonald s.   after running the company s australian business in the 1990s  mr bell moved to the us in 1999 to run operations in asia  africa and the middle east. in 2001  he took over the reins in europe  mcdonald s second most important market. he became chief operating officer and president in 2002. mr bell took over as chief executive after his predecessor as ceo  jim cantalupo  died suddenly of a heart attack in april. having worked closely with mr cantalupo  who came out of retirement to turn mcdonald s around  mr bell focused on boosting demand at existing restaurants rather than follow a policy of rapid expansion. he had promised not to let the company get  fat  dumb and happy   and  according to reuters  once told analysts that he would shove a fire hose down the throat of competitors if he saw them drowning. mr bell oversaw mcdonald s  i m lovin  it  advertising campaign and introduced successes such as mccafe  now the biggest coffee shop brand in australia and new zealand. colleagues said that mr bell was proud of his humble beginnings  helping out behind cash tills and clearing tables when visiting restaurants.


mirza makes indian tennis history teenager sania mirza completed a superb week at the hyderabad open by becoming the first indian in history to win a wta singles title.  in front of a delirious home crowd  the 18-year-old battled past alyona bondarenko of the ukraine 6-4 5-7 6-3. mirza  ranked 134 in the world  sunk to her knees in celebration after serving out the match against bondarenko.  it is a big moment in my career and i would like to thank everyone who has been a part of my effort   she said.  this win has made me believe more in myself and i can now hope to do better in the coming days.  i wanted to win this tournament very badly since it was in my hometown.  at the australian open in january  mirza became the first indian woman to reach the third round of a grand slam before losing to eventual champion serena williams.  and a year ago  she became the youngest indian to win a professional title by claiming the doubles at the hyderabad open. mirza  playing in her first wta final  began nervously in front of a raucous home crowd - committing three double faults in her opening service game. but from 0-2 down  mirza broke serve twice in a row and held on to her advantage to take the first set. in a see-saw second set  bondarenko raced into a 5-2 lead and though mirza hauled herself level  the ukrainian broke again before finally levelling the match. mirza rediscovered the aggressive strokes that took her to the first set in the decider established a 5-2 lead. at 5-3  the stadium erupted in celebration when mirza thought she had delivered an ace to secure victory but the serve was ruled to have clipped the net. mirza eventually lost the point but to the relief of the crowd  she broke bondarenko again in the next game to clinch the title.


singer christina aguilera to wed pop star christina aguilera is to marry music executive jordan bratman  the singer s agent has confirmed.  bratman  26  proposed to grammy-winning singer aguilera  23  on holiday at an undisclosed location. the pair have been together for more than two years.  no wedding plans have been set yet   said aguilera s agent meghan prophet. aguilera burst onto the pop scene in 1999  winning a best new artist grammy in 2000. her hits include what a girl wants  dirrty and beautiful. bratman presented his fiancee with a diamond ring designed by jeweller stephen webster on friday  said ms prophet. new york-born aguilera reached number one in the uk with her debut hit genie in a bottle in october 1999. her early success was cemented by two further grammys in subsequent years. in 2002  aguilera won best pop collaboration for the hit track lady marmalade with lil  kim  maya and pink  and last year she picked up the award for best female pop vocal performance for beautiful. her most recent single  car wash  featuring missy elliott  reached number four in the uk charts last november.


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


end bush  denial  blair tells eu tony blair is urging european leaders to wake up from their  state of denial  over president bush s re-election.   america has spoken. the rest of the world should listen   the prime minister said in an interview with the times newspaper  published on friday. mr blair is at a summit in brussels  where iraq and european justice and immigration plans are on the agenda. french president jacques chirac reacted to his warning by saying europe instead needed to reinforce its own unity. mr blair has probably been closer to president bush than any other european leader.  he said some people were in  a sort of state of denial  about the us election result but predicted a more  receptive mood  would emerge soon. america needed to listen to the world too  he said.  the fact is that president bush is there for four years. he is there because the american people have chosen him   he argued. he also made clear he intended to take seriously what he perceives as his role in bringing the two continents together.  britain was  uniquely placed  to make out the common ground because of its strong alliance with the us  he suggested. he admitted he had gone to bed at 2230gmt  well before the american polls closed  thinking mr kerry might have won. he woke up at 0530gmt to discover mr bush had won but declined to say if he was pleased with the eventual result. his words about president bush met a cool reception from jacques chirac. the french president told reporters:  europe today has more than ever the need  the necessity  to reinforce itself and its dynamism and unity.  that is the goal of the constitution in a world that is more multi-polar than ever.   mr chirac will miss an address to the summit from iraqi interim leader iyad allawi  who this week criticised nations which took a  spectator  role to iraq s reconstruction. mr chirac denied there was any snub - he is going to a memorial service for the united arab emirates  late leader and says he would be happy to meet mr allawi. he also signed a communiqué stressing the eu s commitment to securing a stable and unified iraq. the eu also confirmed a new $21m aid package. the communiqué congratulated president bush on his victory and stressed the importance of good transatlantic relations. the summit is also expected to agree changes to streamline european asylum and immigration decisions. mr blair recently said the uk would only participate in eu-wide measures where it was in uk interests but the tories say he is surrendering a key veto. the meeting will also assess progress on the economic reform plans agreed in lisbon in 2000 to make europe more competitive.


euro firms miss out on optimism more than 90% of large companies around the world are highly optimistic about their economic prospects  a survey of 1 300 bosses suggests.  their biggest worries are not terror threats  but over-regulation  low-cost competition and the wild ups and downs of oil prices. there is one exception: firms in western europe - but not the uk - are lacking confidence after years of slow growth. when business advisers pricewaterhousecoopers (pwc) conducted the same survey two years ago  nearly 30% of bosses were gloomy about their prospects.  global business leaders say that they are facing a two-pronged regulatory assault. after a string of corporate scandals in the united states - from enron to worldcom - the sarbanes-oxley act forces companies to be much more transparent  but doing all the paperwork costs a lot of time and money. across europe  meanwhile  all stock exchange-listed companies are currently in the process of moving to new and complex accounting standards called ifrs. hacking through the red tape can hardly be avoided  but many chief executives around the world appear to have decided on how to deal with low-cost competitors.  already  about 28% of the bosses polled for the survey say that they have moved parts of their business into low-wage countries  and another 11% plan to do so in the future. possibly as a result  the worry about low-cost competition has slightly fallen from last year  with just 54% of companies calling it a  significant threat  or  one of the biggest threats . but pwc s global chief executive  samuel dipiazza  said a growing number of companies were also concerned that moves to outsource work to cheaper countries could both hurt their reputation in their home markets and harm the quality of service they provide to their customers.  according to frank brown  global advisory leader at pwc   the trend of large companies to have global operations has one clear upside:  one risk in one region - for example the middle east - won t kill your business anymore.  surprisingly  the survey suggests that the rapid decline of the us dollar is not seen as a huge threat anymore  unlike even a year ago  when it was cited as the third-largest problem. mr dipiazza said the interviews with chief executives suggested that companies had  adjusted  to the new reality of a euro that buys $1.30 and more  while others had successfully hedged their positions and locked in more favourable exchange rates.    - for the survey  pricewaterhousecoopers interviewed 1 324 chief executives throughout the world during the last three months of 2004.


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.


crossrail link  to get go-ahead  the £10bn crossrail transport plan  backed by business groups  is to get the go-ahead this month  according to the mail on sunday.  it says the uk treasury has allocated £7.5bn ($13.99bn) for the project and that talks with business groups on raising the rest will begin shortly. the much delayed crossrail link bill would provide for a fast cross-london rail link. the paper says it will go before the house of commons on 23 february.  a second reading could follow on 16 or 17 march.  we ve always said we are going to introduce a hybrid bill for crossrail in the spring and this remains the case   the department for transport said on sunday. jeremy de souza  a spokesman for crossrail  said on sunday he could not confirm whether the treasury was planning to invest £7.5bn or when the bill would go before parliament.  however  he said some impetus may have been provided by the proximity of an election.  the new line would go out as far as maidenhead  berkshire  to the west of london  and link heathrow to canary wharf via the city. heathrow to the city would take 40 minutes  dramatically cutting journey times for business travellers  and reducing overcrowding on the tube. the line has the support of the mayor of london  ken livingstone  business groups and the government  but there have been three years of arguments over how it should be funded. the mail on sunday s financial mail said the £7.5bn of treasury money was earmarked for spending in £2.5bn instalments in 2010  2011 and 2012.


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


career honour for actor dicaprio actor leonardo dicaprio s  exceptional career  has been honoured at the santa barbara international film festival.  the star was presented with the award by martin scorsese  who directed him in oscar-nominated movie the aviator.  it s a lifetime achievement award  which is completely and utterly surreal  given i m only 30 years old   dicaprio said.  but what has it been  almost 17 years now. i ve done quite a few films.  a retrospective of his movies was shown.   what s really exciting  for me  is that this is what i really love doing   he added.  it s what i want to do for the rest of my life.  dicaprio began his movie career in horror film critters 3  before moving onto roles in the basketball diaries  romeo and juliet  titanic and gangs of new york. the achievement award was created to commemorate the california festival s 20th anniversary and coincided with dicaprio s portrayal of millionaire howard hughes in the aviator.  veteran actress jane russell  who starred in hughes  1943 film the outlaw  said was impressed by dicaprio s quest for authenticity when he previously discussed the role with her.  i was very happy that (dicaprio) came and cared to come up and find out what (hughes) was really like   she said. the aviator has taken pole position in this year s oscars race with 11 nominations  including nominations for best film  best actor for dicaprio and best director for scorsese.


britons growing  digitally obese  gadget lovers are so hungry for digital data many are carrying the equivalent of 10 trucks full of paper in  weight .  music  images  e-mails  and texts are being hoarded on mobiles  cameras laptops and pdas (personal digital assistants)  a toshiba study found. it found that more than 60% kept 1 000 to 2 000 music files on their devices  making the uk  digitally fat .  virtual weight  measurements are based on research by california institute of technology professor roy williams. he calculated physical comparisons for digital data in the mid-1990s. he worked out that one gigabyte (1 000 000 000 bytes) was the equivalent of a pick-up truck filled with paper. the amount of data people are squirreling away on their gadgets is clearly a sign that people are finding more things to do with their shiny things.  if digital hoarding habits continue on this scale  people could be carrying around a  digitally obese  20 gigabytes by next year.  britain has become a nation of information hoarders with a ferocious appetite for data   said martin larsson  general manager of toshiba s european storage device division.   as storage capabilities increase and the features and functionalities of mobile devices expand to support movie files and entire libraries of multi-media content  we will all become virtually obese   he told the bbc news website. the survey reflects the increasing trend for portable devices with built-in hard drives like music and media players from apple  creative labs  archos  iriver and others. this trend is set to grow  according to analysts. they suggest the number of hard drives in consumer electronics gadgets could grow from 17 million last year to 55 million in 2006.  consumers are driving the move towards smaller devices that have greater functionality  and industry is trying to keep up   said mr larsson.  people are looking for more than just phone calls and text messages on the move  they want things like web browsing  e-mailing  music  photos and more.   many are finding memory keys and memory sticks are simply not big enough to hold everything.   floppies and memory keys have their place  but they don t have anything like the capacity or flexibility of a hard drive so are unable to meet the demand for more and more storage capacity in consumer devices   said mr larsson. the cost of making hard drives has dropped and is continuing to do so because of improved technologies so they are proving to be more cost-effective than other forms of memory  he added. the amount of data that can be stored has grown by 400% in the last three years  while the cost for every gigabyte has fallen by 80%. it is also getting easier to transfer files from one device to another  which has traditionally been a slow and problematic area.  transfer of data between different memory types has improved significantly in recent times  and will be further helped by the standards for hard drives which are currently being developed by the major manufacturers   said mr larsson. according to technology analysts idc  a fifth of all hard drives produced will be used in consumer electronics by 2007.


singer sizzla jailed for swearing reggae star sizzla  whose uk tour was cancelled after protests at his  anti-gay  lyrics  has been jailed in jamaica for swearing on stage.  the singer must serve 15 days in prison after he consistently swore during a concert in st thomas  jamaica  in january despite warnings by police. he was charged under a law which prohibits indecent dress or expression. sizzla s five-date uk tour was cancelled last november after protests by gay rights campaigners.  sizzla  whose real name is miguel collins  has released 25 albums since 1995 and is credited with taking dancehall music back to its reggae origins. many jamaican entertainers have appeared before the courts for use of profanity in recent years but they usually receive a verbal warning  a suspended sentence or community service. sizzla s uk tour was cancelled after scotland yard s racial and violent crime taskforce announced it was examining lyrics by eight reggae artists. it would not confirm that sizzla was among them. one of his most controversial songs  pump up  contains the jamaican patois lyrics  fire fi di man dem weh go ride man behind   translated by gay rights group outrage! as  burn the men who have sex with men .