sideways dominates spirit awards the comedy sideways has dominated this year s independent spirit awards  winning all six of the awards for which it was nominated.  it was named best film while alexander payne won best director and best screenplay  along with writing partner jim taylor. it also won acting awards for stars paul giamatti  thomas haden church and virginia madsen. sideways is tipped to do well at sunday s oscars  with five nominations.  the awards  now in their 20th year  are given to films made outside the traditional studio system  and are traditionally held the day before the oscars. other winners included catalina sandino moreno  who took best actress for her role as a drug smuggler in the colombian drama maria full of grace. moreno is also nominated for best actress at the oscars. the best first screenplay award went to joshua marston for maria full of grace. scrubs star zach braff won the award for best first feature for garden state  which he wrote  directed and starred in. oscar-nominated euthanasia film the sea inside from spain won best foreign film  while metallica: some kind of monster was awarded best documentary. actor rodrigo de la serna took the best debut performance prize for the motorcycle diaries. the awards are voted for by the 9 000 members of the independent feature project/los angeles  which includes actors  directors  writers and other industry professionals. last year s big winner  lost in translation  went on to win the oscar for best original screenplay  for writer-director sofia coppola.


no seasonal lift for house market a swathe of figures have provided further evidence of a slowdown in the uk property market.  the council of mortgage lenders (cml)  british bankers association (bba) and building societies association (bsa) all said mortgage lending was slowing. cml figures showed gross lending fell by 4% in november as the number of people buying new homes fell. elsewhere  the bba added underlying mortgage lending rose by £4m in november  compared to october s £4.29m. the cml said that loans for new property purchases fell 25% year-on-year to 85 000 - the lowest total seen since february 2003.  data from the cml showed lending fell to just over £25bn in november  from £25.5bn a year earlier. separate figures from the building societies association showed the value of mortgage approvals -- loans agreed but not yet made -- stood 32% lower than at the same time last year  at a seasonally-adjusted £2.98bn. the figures come hot on the heels of new data from property website rightmove which suggested owners must indulge in a  winter sale  and slash prices by up to 8%. miles shipside  commercial director at rightmove  said sellers would have to be  more realistic with their asking prices  to tempt buyers. the average asking price of a home fell by more than £600 from £190 329 in november to £189 733 in december  while the length of time it takes to sell a home rose to 81 days from 53 in the summer.  rightmove said estate agents were set to enter 2005 with a third more properties on their books than a year ago.  even once the quieter holiday period is over  sellers will find themselves competing with a lot of other properties on the market. in any business  excess supply and low demand means one thing - cut prices   mr shipside said.   the proof is that some properties that have been appropriately discounted are selling  even in the current market.  overall  asking prices have fallen 3.3% from their july peaks as the equivalent of £6 500 has been cut from an average property. a host of mortgage lenders and economists have predicted that property prices will either fall or stagnate in 2005.  what is apparent is a picture of a slowing market  but one that should remain stable as we return to more normal volumes of lending over 2005 as a whole   cml director general michael coogan said.  it s a fairly consistent picture  showing that mortgage demand has fallen back again  which is consistent with a continuing correction in the housing market   investec economist philip shaw said.  however  the figures do suggest only a modest weakening  and we stand by our view that the property market will remain in the doldrums for some time  though a collapse is still unlikely.


leeds v saracens (fri) headingley  friday  25 february  2000 gmt  the tykes have brought in newcastle prop ed kalman and tom mcgee from the borders on loan while fly-half craig mcmullen has joined from narbonne. raphael ibanez is named at hooker for saracens in one of four changes. simon raiwalui and ben russell are also selected in the pack while kevin sorrell comes in at outside centre.  - friday s game at headingley got the go-ahead on friday after passing an early pitch inspection. leeds: balshaw; rees  christophers  bell  doherty; mcmullen  dickens; mcgee  rawlinson  gerber; murphy  palmer (capt)  morgan  parks  popham. replacements: kalman  regan  hyde  rigney  mcmillan  rock  vickerman. saracens: bartholomeusz; castaignede  sorrell  harris  vaikona; jackson  bracken; yates  ibanez  visagie; raiwalui  fullarton; randell  russell  vyvyan (capt). replacements: cairns  lloyd  broster  chesney  johnston  rauluni  little.


ukraine trims privatisation check ukraine is to review  dozens  of state asset sales as the country s new administration tackles corruption.  the figure announced by president viktor yushchenko is less than the 3 000 cases mentioned last week  but will cover many of the biggest deals. ukraine recently ousted long-serving leader leonid kuchma and has said it wants closer european union links. in a separate statement  the eu said that the us should back ukraine s entry into the world trade organisation. the comments came as viktor yushchenko prepared to head to brussels to meet with us president george w bush and other north atlantic treaty organisation (nato) leaders. he is the only non-nato member leader invited to attend the summit.  mr yushchenko recently defeated moscow-backed presidential candidate and prime minister viktor yanukovych at the polls  and has made no secret of his wish to fight corruption and make ukraine more transparent.  earlier this month  new prime minister yulia tymoshenko said as many as 3 000 firms may have their privatisations put under the spotlight. her comments raised concerns among a number of investors and mr yushchenko was seen on monday as trying to soothe their frayed nerves.  we acknowledge that business in ukraine is now shaped and 98% of privatisations were carried out according to the law   mr yushchenko said on monday.  we have trust in this business and want to defend it by law   he continued  adding that any review would focus on  dozens of companies  not hundreds or thousands . he cited last year s sale of ukrainian steel producer krivorizhstal as one that had raised concerns. it was sold in june 2004 to a consortium that included viktor pinchuk  son-in-law of former-president kuchma  and rinat akhmetov  the country s richest man  for $800m (£424m) - despite other higher offers.  vice-prime minister oleg rybachuk called on the eu to recognise the steps that ukraine was taking  fearing that should the country not be rewarded for its efforts there may be a backlash against closer relations with brussels. he said that while he understood that ukraine was not ready for eu membership  the country needed to see progress on topics such as trade and visa requirements.  we deserve an honest response   mr rybachuk told the associated press in an interview.  we understand the difficulties. we refuse to understand double standards.  ukraine may find it has a sympathetic ear in brussels  the eu has reiterated that we support (ukraine s) fast accession to the wto and if possible we would like that to happen some time during the year   said claude veron-reville  a spokesman for eu trade commissioner peter mandelson.  we have said as much to the americans. we feel that it is important for us all to pull together for ukraine to be allowed into the wto. mr yushchenko was careful not to turn his back on russia  which borders the country to the east  saying it was important to maintain  pragmatic  ties with moscow.  russia is ukraine s eternal strategic partner   mr yushchenko said.


oscar host rock to keep it clean oscar host chris rock said he will steer clear of bad language when he fronts the awards on 27 february.  the comedian  who recently got into trouble for poking fun at the ceremony  is renowned for his heavy use of expletives during his stand-up routine. the live ceremony will be broadcast with a transmission delay on us network abc to ensure swear words are removed.  i ve been on tv and been funny not cursing   he said during an interview for cbs network s 60 minutes show.  as far as content is concerned  i will talk about the movies. i m not really worried about it. i m sure abc might be more worried about it than me   he added.  the 40-year-old comedian caused a furore when he said in an interview with us magazine entertainment weekly recently that he hardly ever watched the oscars and labelled awards ceremonies  idiotic . the show s producers defended rock and confirmed that he would still be presenting the oscar ceremony  saying his comments were  humorous digs . meanwhile  the academy has announced that oscar-nominated actress natalie portman will present an award at the ceremony. portman  who has been nominated for a best supporting actress gong for her role in mike nichols  closer  joins a growing list of stars set to bestow an award at the ceremony including dustin hoffman  drew barrymore  renee zellweger and british-born actress kate winslet.


actor foxx sees globe nominations us actor jamie foxx has been given two nominations for golden globe awards  with meryl streep  morgan freeman and cate blanchett also up for prizes.  the stars were shortlisted on monday for supporting roles  with the main nominations still to come. foxx has starred in collateral and ray. clive owen  david carradine and natalie portman are also up for awards. the golden globes  hollywood s second most prominent awards  are the first major nominations to be announced. last year  the lord of the rings: the return of the king was named best drama movie while lost in translation won best musical or comedy. sean penn  charlize theron  tim robbins and renee zellweger all won acting awards - mirroring the eventual oscars outcome. the golden globes ceremony will take place on 16 january  with the oscars following on 27 february.


serena ends sania mirza s dream sania mirza  the first indian woman to reach the third round of a grand slam tennis event  has lost to women s favourite serena williams.  the 18-year-old mirza  who got a wild card entry into the australian open in melbourne  lost to williams 1-6 4-6 in the third round. williams took just 56 minutes to defeat mirza and sail into the fourth round. the only other indian woman to win a match at a grand slam is nirupama vaidyanathan. vaidyanathan made it to the second round of the australian open in 1998.  playing the biggest match of her life  mirza made little impact on williams in the early stages of the game. but the teenager showed more confidence in the second set and engaged the seventh-seeded williams in some well contested rallies. mirza  a junior wimbledon doubles title winner  became the first indian woman to reach the third round of a grand slam tennis event when she beat hungarian petra mandula on wednesday.  i m really excited. i was confident but i didn t think it was going to be that easy   mirza said after her second round win.  my aim was to win a round here. when i did that i was so relieved  there was no pressure.  tennis is not a particularly popular sport in india  but a number of indians watched the live telecast of the match between mirza and williams. mirza  who lives in the southern indian city of hyderabad known for producing a host of top indian cricketers  turned professional two years ago. she says she was considered too small when she went for her first tennis classes as a six-year-old girl.  then finally [the coach] called my parents up and said  the way she hits the ball  i ve never seen a six-year-old hit a ball like that    mirza told the associated press.


manufacturing recovery  slowing  uk manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in one-and-a-half years in january  according to a survey.  the chartered institute of purchasing and supply (cips) said its purchasing manager index (pmi) fell to 51.8 from a revised 53.3 in december. but  despite missing forecasts of 53.7  the pmi number remained above 50 - indicating expansion in the sector. the cips said that the strong pound had dented exports while rising oil and metals prices had kept costs high.  the survey added that rising input prices and cooling demand had deterred factory managers from hiring new workers in an effort to cut costs. that triggered the second successive monthly fall in the cips employment index to 48.3 - its lowest level since june 2003. the survey is more upbeat than official figures - which suggest that manufacturing is in recession - but analysts said the survey did suggest that the manufacturing recovery was running out of steam.  it appears that the uk is in a two-tier economy again   said prebon yamane economist lena komileva.  you have weakness in manufacturing  which i think would concern policymakers at the bank of england.


parmalat boasts doubled profits parmalat  the italian food group at the centre of one of europe s most painful corporate scandals  has reported a doubling in profit.  its pre-tax earnings in the fourth quarter were 77m euros (£53m; $100m)  up from 38m in the same period of 2003. less welcome was the news that the firm had been fined 11m euros for having violated takeover rules five years ago. the firm sought bankruptcy protection in december 2003 after disclosing a 4bn-euro hole in its accounts. overall  the company s debt is close to 12bn euros  and is falling only slowly. its brands  well-known in italy and overseas  have continued to perform strongly  however  and have barely lost revenue since the scandal broke.  but a crucial factor for the company s future is the legal unwinding of its intensely complex financial position. on tuesday  the company s administrator  turnaround expert enrico bondi  sued morgan stanley  its former banker  to return 136m euros relating to a 2003 bond deal. that brought to 49 the number of banks that mr bondi has sued  a mass of legal action that could bring in as much as 3bn euros. the company has also sued former auditors and financial advisors for damages. and criminal cases against the company s former management are proceeding separately.


video phones act as dating tools technologies  from e-mail  to net chatrooms  instant messaging and mobiles  have proved to be a big pull with those looking for love.  the lure once was that you could hide behind the technology  but now video phones are in on the act to add vision. hundreds have submitted a mobile video profile to win a place at the world s first video mobile dating event. the top 100 meet their match on 30 november at london s institute of contemporary arts (ica). the event  organised by the 3g network  3  could catch on as the trend for unusual dating events  like speed dating  continues.  it s the beginning of the end of the blind date as we know it   said graeme oxby  3 s marketing director. the response has been so promising that 3 says it is planning to launch a proper commercial dating service soon. hundreds of hopefuls submitted their profiles  and special booths were set up in a major london department store for two weeks where expert tips were given on how to visually improve their chances. the 100 most popular contestants voted by the public will gather at the ica in separate rooms and  meet  by phone.  dating services and other more adult match-making services are proving to be a strong stream of revenue worth millions for mobile companies. whether it does actually provide an interesting match for video phone technologies remains to be seen. flic everett  journalist and dating expert for company magazine and the daily express  thinks technology has been liberating for some nervous soul-mate seekers. there are currently about 1.3 million video phones in use in the uk and three times more single people in britain than there were 30 years ago  with more people buying video mobiles  3g dating could be the basis for a successful and safe way to meet people.   one of the problems with video phones is people don t really know what to video. it is a weird technology. we have not quite worked out what it is for. this gives it a focus and a useful one   she told bbc news.  i would never have thought online dating would take off the way it did   she said.  lots of people find it easier to be honest writing e-mail or text than face-to-face. lots people are quite shy and they feel vulnerable.   when you are writing  it comes directly onto the page so they tend to be more honest.  but the barrier that comes with sms chat and online match-making is that the person behind the profile may not be who they really are. scare stories have put people off as a result  according to ms everett. many physical clues  body language  odd twitches  are obviously missing with sms and online dating services. still images do not necessarily provide all those necessary cues.  it could really take off because you do get the whole package. with a static e-mail picture  you don t know who the person is behind it is.  so checking out a potential date by video phone also gives singletons a different kind of barrier  an extra layer of protection; a case of wlts before wltm.  if you are trapped in real-life blind date context  you can t get away and you feel embarrassed.  with a video meeting  you really have the barrier of the phone so if you don t like them you don t have to suffer the embarrassment.   there is a more serious side to this new use of technology though. with money being made through more adult-themes content and services which let people meet and chat  the revenue streams for mobile carriers will grow with 3g  thinks paolo pescatore mobile industry specialist for analysts idc.  wireless is a medium that is being exploited with a number of features and services. one is chatting and the dating element is key there   he said.  the foundation has been set by sms and companies are using media like mms and video to grow the market further.  but carriers need to be wary and ensure that if they do launch such 3g dating services  they ensure mechanism are in place to monitor and be aware who is registers and accesses these services on regular basis  he cautioned. in july  vodafone introduced a content control system to protect children from such adult content. the move was as a result of a code of practice agreed by the uk s six largest mobile phone operators in january. the system means vodafone users need to prove they are over 18 before firewalls are lifted on explicit websites or chat rooms dealing with adult themes. the impetus was the growing number of people with handsets that could access the net  and the growth of 3g technologies.


ring of fire hit co-writer dies merle kilgore  co-writer of the country hit ring of fire  has died of congestive heart failure aged 70.  he started out as a singer and songwriter before going into music management  looking after country star hank williams jr. he wrote ring of fire with june carter cash  the future wife of johnny cash who went on to score his most popular hit with the track. kilgore had heart surgery in 2004 and was also diagnosed with lung cancer. his death has been attributed to treatment he was undergoing for the cancer. his first self-penned top 10 hit was dear mama in 1959.  one of the first songs he wrote for other artists was wolverton mountain  which sold 10 million copies when recorded by claude king. he then wrote ring of fire with june carter cash  which was about her unrequited love for johnny  who she later married. it was first recorded by her younger sister anita carter before johnny went on to make such a success of it. june carter cash previously said it upset her husband when kilgore talked about the song without crediting her and believed he should not have been credited on it. last year  kilgore turned up an awards dinner in a wheelchair expecting to honour hank williams jr  but instead he was the surprise recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the international entertainment buyers association.


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


celts savour grand slam prospect the six nations has heralded a new order in northern hemisphere rugby this year and wales and ireland rather than traditional big guns france and england face a potential grand slam play-off in three weeks  time.  but before that game in cardiff  wales must get past scotland at murrayfield  while ireland face the not insignificant task of a home fixture with the mercurial french. no-one knows what mood france will be in at lansdowne road on 12 march - sublime  as in the first half against wales  or ridiculous  like in the same period against england at twickenham. but how the mighty have fallen. england sat on rugby s summit 15 months ago as world champions and 2003 grand slam winners. but they have lost nine of their 14 matches since that heady night in sydney. and they face the ignominy of what could amount to a wooden spoon play-off against italy in a fortnight.  england are enduring their worst run in the championship since captain richard hill was dumped in favour of mike harrison after three straight losses in 1987. coach andy robinson  who took over from the successful sir clive woodward in september  has lost a phalanx of world cup stars. and he is enduring the toughest of teething problems in bedding down his own style with a new team. the same year that england ruled the roost  a woeful wales lost all five matches in the six nations. and they won only two games  against scotland and italy  in 2004. wales  most recent championship title was in 1994  and their last grand slam success came in 1978 in the era of gareth edwards  phil bennett  jpr williams et al.  but welsh rugby fans remain on permanent tenterhooks for the blossoming of a new golden age. after several false dawns  coach mike ruddock may have come up with the team and philosophy to match expectations. the fresh verve is inspired by skipper gareth thomas  now out with a broken thumb  accurate kicking from either fly-half stephen jones or centre gavin henson  a rampant martyn williams leading the way up front  and exciting runners in the guise of henson and shane williams. ireland coach eddie o sullivan and captain brian o driscoll have got their side buzzing too  and they are close to shedding the  nearly-men  tag that has dogged them for the past few years. the men from the emerald isle have been six nations runners-up for the past two years  to france and england.  but they have not won the title since 1985 and last clinched a grand slam in 1948. as for scotland  they have struggled this decade and the 2004 wooden spoon  winners  have not been in the top two since they lifted the title in 1999. italy continue the elusive search for their first six nations away win  and can still only account for the scalps of scotland (twice) and wales since joining the elite in 2000. coach john kirwan is a passionate and dedicated believer in the azzurri  but is lacking in raw materials. and so to france. brilliant one minute  inept the next. but the reigning champions could quite easily turn on the style in dublin and end up winning the title through the back door. ireland  though  have won three times in their last five meetings. welsh romantics would probably prefer a glorious victory in the celtic showdown to crown their grand slam. but given that ireland have beaten wales in four of their last five meetings  the welsh legions are likely to be behind les bleus on 12 march.


alicia keys to open us super bowl r&b star alicia keys is to open february s super bowl singing a song only previously performed there by ray charles and vicki carr.  keys  who will sing america the beautiful  will be accompanied by 150 students from the florida school for the deaf and the blind. charles  who died last year  attended the school as a child in 1937. keys said she was  very excited   describing charles as  an artist i admire  miss and respect .  i know that this is going to be a very touching and memorable moment   she said.  it will be her first performance at the super bowl  which will be watched by millions in the us on 6 february. sir paul mccartney will provide the half-time entertainment in the slot filled by janet jackson last year. organisers have promised there will be no repeat of her nipple-baring incident that sparked thousands of complaints on us tv s most-watched broadcast. a national football league spokesman said they were  comfortable  this show would be acceptable to a mass audience. the game and show were watched by 144 million people in the us in 2003.  twenty cbs-owned tv stations were fined $550 000 (£300 000) by the country s tv regulatory agency after more than 542 000 complaints were made about janet jackson s  wardrobe malfunction . sir paul said:  there s nothing bigger than being asked to perform at the super bowl.  we re looking forward to rocking the millions at home and in the stadium.


apple mac mini gets warm welcome the mac mini has been welcomed by apple fans  industry experts and pc users.  the release of the tiny  low-cost machine is seen as a good move for apple which currently has a small share of the desktop computer market. mac watchers and some analysts say the mac mini will go a long way to help apple appeal to the mass of consumers. they speculate that the mac mini will be bought by ipod owners and those wanting an easy-to-use and administer second home computer.   it s the bravest move they have made yet   said jonny evans  news editor at macworld magazine. mr evans said the combination of low cost  small size and huge numbers of ipod users could make it a big success.  he thought that the machine would appeal to those that like apple technology but who before now have balked at paying high prices for its hardware.  it s deeply affordable   he said.  plus you know that you do not get viruses or all of the associated problems.  already  he said  pc owning friends had declared that they would be buying one. interest in the new products launched at macworld expo was so strong that websites for apple s store and the show struggled to cope with demand. according to response statistics gathered by netcraft many visiting the apple store in the wake of mr jobs  speech suffered lengthy response times. the macworld expo site was completely overwhelmed and went offline.   i think fundamentally it s a good idea because it s cheap even for a pc   said nick ross  deputy labs editor at pc pro. apple s work on making things easy to use would also help the mac mini win fans  he said.  i think people expect it just to work now and really it should   hesaid. the mac mini could find a role in homes that need a second computer that is easy to install and administer  he said.  for browsing the web  e-mail and all kinds of basic duties it s going to be absolutely adequate   said mr ross. ian fogg  broadband and personal technology analyst at jupiter research  agreed that the mac mini could be very popular.  apple has been hoping that sales of the ipod will have a halo effect on the sales of the mac   he said.  before now  he said  apple has been seen as a premium brand. but  he said  the mac mini changed that perception.  it s a particularly good price when you see that it s apple that is doing it   he said. apple expects the mac mini to sell for £339 in the uk and $499 in the us. adding extras such as a larger hard drive  more memory and networking options will increase the basic price. it will go on sale from 22 january.  for consumers interested in style  design and small size - which is what the majority of ipod customers are interested in - it s a natural next step   said mr fogg. apple has traditionally done well in the market that the mac mini is aimed at  said mr fogg  who also expected many pc makers to release copycat devices in reaction.  his only misgivings were over how easy other consumers  other than ipod owners  would find using the machine. he said anyone wanting to use the mac mini with the peripherals from an old computer may find it odd to have something so small and sleek next to a hulking monitor.  they d be much more likely to pair a mac mini with a lcd or flat panel monitor which increases the upgrade cost   he said. those with flat screens and lcd monitors are likely to have bought them recently and not be in the market for a new machine.  there are also questions over whether the mac mini will work with very old peripherals  such as display  keyboard and mouse. the mac mini also fell short of being a media server that can be a video recorder as well as a store for all the digital music  movies and images people accumulate  said mr fogg.  the mac mini is not quite ready for that yet   he said.  it does not have the right connectors that fit a tv screen or enough storage.  said mr fogg:  it s very much a computer.  one dissenting opinion came from brian gammage  vice-president of research at analysts gartner. he said:  i don t think it changes the world.  although the mac mini was very cheap for an apple computer  it was still expensive compared to many pcs. also  he said  it appealed in categories that few consumers care about when buying a home computer.  the pc world is a pile-em-high  sell-em-cheap market   he said   and all of them are pretty interchangeable.   since the days when apple ruled the personal computing world its market share has been on a long  slow decline   he said.  every few years it does something to give its market share a kick then it starts to go back down again   said mr gammage. the release of the mac mini fit perfectly with this trend  he said.


desailly backs blues revenge trip marcel desailly insists there is no chance of history repeating itself when chelsea take on barcelona on wednesday.  the french star was part of the chelsea side crushed 5-1 at the nou camp in the champions league quarter-final second leg in 2000.  things will be totally different this time   he told bbc sport.  now everyone knows about chelsea and is a little bit afraid of them. they are one of the major clubs in europe and the pressure will be on barcelona.  chelsea have not played barcelona since that quarter-final tie five years ago. the blues had looked destined to progress after winning the first leg at stamford bridge 3-1  courtesy of two goals from tore andre flo and one by gianfranco zola. but they collapsed in the second leg  going down to strikes from rivaldo (2)  luis figo  dani and patrick kluivert.  former chelsea captain desailly  who is now playing for al-gharafa in qatar  says there is no comparison between that side and the current blues team  who are top of the premiership.  mentally they are much stronger  even though a lot of their players are young   the 36-year-old said.  we made some mistakes at the nou camp in 2000 - a lot of them were individual mistakes.  it would not happen now. this team has a new motivation and a different mentality.  world cup winner desailly saw huge changes during his time at stamford bridge. he was signed for £4.6m from ac milan in 1998 by ruud gullit and went on to play under gianluca vialli and claudio ranieri. but the biggest change occurred when billionaire roman abramovich bought the club in 2003. desailly says the russian s arrival helped to instil a winning mentality at the club as well as a demand for success.  the whole of chelsea is different now - the chairman  the manager and all the players   he said.   everything is new and there is a huge determination to win.  since that game in 2000  chelsea have gained more experience in europe and were very close to reaching the champions league final last season.  desailly is one of the most decorated players in the history of football. he won the 1998 world cup and 2000 european championship with france  the champions league in 1993 with marseilles and 1994 with ac milan  two serie a titles and the fa cup in 2000 with chelsea. he is now winding down his career in qatar  alongside the likes of frank lebeouf  josep guardiola  titi camara  gabriel batistuta and christophe dugarry. so he is full of admiration for two of his colleagues from the great milan side of the mid-90s who are likely to line up against manchester united on wednesday - paolo maldini and alessandro costacurta.  i m happy that they have managed to play so long at a high level   he said.  i made a vow to costacurta that as long as he plays  i will continue to play.  and it s amazing that paolo has managed to play at such a high level for such a long time.


microsoft plans  safer id  system microsoft is planning to make windows and internet explorer more secure by including software to give people more control over personal information.   info cards  will help people manage personal details on their pcs to make online services safer  said microsoft. microsoft s two previous programs  passport and hailstorm  aimed to protect users but were criticised. id fraud is one of the uk s fastest-growing crimes  with criminals netting an estimated £1.3bn last year. a quarter of uk adults has either had their id stolen  via hi-tech or other means  or knows someone who has  a recent report by which  magazine found.  microsoft is developing a new version of internet explorer browser and its operating system  windows  which has been code-named longhorn. michael stephenson  director in microsoft s windows server division  would not confirm however whether the new info cards id system will be built into the current windows xp version or longhorn.   we re trying to make the end-user experience as simple as possible   mr stephenson said. the system would differ from its previous attempts to make online transactions more secure  said microsoft. while passport and hailstorm stored user information centrally on the net  the latest system will store data on a user s pc.  it s going to put control of digital ids into the hands of an end-user  the end-user will be in full control   said mr stephenson.  hailstorm was criticised by privacy campaigners for putting too much sensitive information into the hands of a single company. passport provides a single log-in for more than one website and stores basic personal information. but its popularity suffered after security scares. up to 200 million passport accounts were left vulnerable to online theft and malicious hackers after a flaw in the system was exploited in 2003. online auction site  ebay  stopped supporting it in january 2005. although the flaw was fixed  microsoft has come under regular criticism for the number of security loopholes in internet explorer. last year  it released a major security update for windows  service pack 2  to combat some of the security concerns. longhorn is due to be released commercially in late 2006  but an updated version of internet explorer is due for release later this year.


india unveils anti-poverty budget india is to boost spending on primary schools and health in a budget flagged as a boost for the ordinary citizen.  india s defence budget has also been raised 7.8% to 830bn rupees ($19bn). the priority for finance minister palaniappan chidambaram is to fight poverty and keep the government s communist allies onside. but his options are limited by a new law which makes him cut the budget deficit  which he said would be 4.5% of gdp in the year to march 2005. the country s overall deficit is thought to be more than 10%  if the spending of india s 35 states and territories is included. under the fiscal responsibility law  mr chidambaram has to trim the deficit by 0.3 percentage points each year  a target he says he has now met for the current year.  but the heavy spending on poverty reduction means the 2005-6 target for the deficit will be 4.3%  mr chidambaram said - falling short of the new law s requirement.  i was left with no option but to press the pause button vis a vis the act   he said. the following year  though  would have to be back on track  he warned.   i may add that we are perilously close to the limits of fiscal prudence and there is no more room for spending beyond our means   he said. the coming year s reduction has meant bringing more of the businesses in india s burgeoning services sector into the tax system and restructuring the personal tax system  although there are numerous corporate tax and duty reductions built into the budget.  presenting his budget in the lower house of parliament  mr chidambaram said the indian economy was performing strongly and that inflation has been reined in. he said india s economy grew 6.9% in 2004. in his budget mr chidambaram has:  - increased spending on primary education to 71.56bn rupees ($1.6bn)   - increased spending on health to 102.8bn rupees ($2.35bn)   - announced that 80bn rupees ($1.8bn) will be spent on building rural infrastructure   - pledged 102.16bn rupees ($2.3bn) for tsunami victims   - increased flow of funds to agriculture by 30%   - announced a package for the sugar industry  in addition  up to 100bn rupees ($2.3bn) to be spent on infrastructure will be sourced by borrowing against the country s foreign exchange reserves  keeping budgeted spending under control.  given the resilience of the indian economy... it is possible to launch a direct assault on poverty   mr chidambaram said.  the whole purpose of democratic government is to eliminate poverty.  the new indian government  led by the congress party  was voted into power last may after it pledged to introduce economic reforms with a  human face .  the finance minister says he is committed to continue reforming india s tax system while expanding the tax base. as part of his reforms he has announced:  - duty cuts on capital goods and raw materials   - expanded service tax net   - raised the income-tax threshold to 100 000 rupees ($2 300)   - reduced income tax for those earning less than 250 000 rupees ($5 700) to 20%   - reduced corporate tax rates to 30%  an annual economic survey released on friday said india needed to ease limit restriction on foreign investment  reform labour laws and cut duties apart from widening the tax base for long-term economic growth. but mr chidambaram is under pressure from the communist parties to focus on increasing social spending. the communists are also hostile to measures seeking to increase foreign investment and allow companies to hire and fire employees at will. in recent months  they have expressed their displeasure at the government s economic reform plans including increasing foreign direct investment in telecommunication and aviation. in his last budget  mr chidambaram had pledged billions of dollars for improving education and health services for the poor as well as special assistance for farmers.


holmes is hit by hamstring injury kelly holmes has been forced out of this weekend s european indoor athletics championships after picking up a hamstring injury during training.  the double olympic champion said:  i am very disappointed that i have been forced to withdraw.  i can hardly walk at the moment and i won t be able to do any running for two or three weeks although i ll be keeping fit as best i can.  holmes will have now have intensive treatment in south africa.  the 34-year-old made a cautious start to the season but looked back to her best when she stormed to the 1 000m title at the birmingham grand prix 10 days ago. after that race and more progress in training  holmes revealed she had decided to compete at the european indoors before her plans were wrecked last weekend.  on saturday night i pulled my hamstring running the last bend on my final 200m of the night   said holmes.  i was going really  really well when i felt a massive spasm in my left leg and my hamstring blew.  i saw the doctor here and he has said it is not serious but it s frustrating missing madrid when i knew i was in great shape.  holmes has now been advised by her coach margot jennings not to rush back into training and it is unlikely she will compete again until the summer. helen clitheroe now goes to madrid as the only british competitor in the women s 1500m while there will be no representative in the 800m.


ethnic producers  face barriers  minority ethnic led (mel) production companies face barriers in succeeding in the film and television industries  research has suggested.  the study  commissioned by pact and the uk film council  included interviews with industry experts and individuals. they indicated that career progression and a lack of role models are among the main problems within such companies. the research indicated that about 10% of independent production companies in the uk are minority ethnic led.  a minority ethnic led company is defined as one in which the majority of decision-making power rests with an individual or individuals from a minority ethnic group. the report also explored the problems faced by such companies when attempting to compete within the film and tv industries. it said they are often smaller than other companies and lack the resources  so are often squeezed out of the market by bigger firms. the research recommended that minority ethnic led companies could benefit from such positive actions as career training and business advice  plus improved communication within the film and tv sectors.  the uk has a rich and diverse culture and it is essential that it is reflected on film and television   said arts minister estelle morris of the findings.  i welcome this report which i hope will lead to more doors being opened and all businesses in our film and television industries being given the same opportunities.


england children s tsar appointed the first children s commissioner for england has been appointed.  great ormond street hospital professor of child health  al aynsley-green  was chosen by the government and will start the £100 000-a-year job immediately. he will oversee a £2.5m annual budget and have the power to look into  any matter relating to the interests and well-being of children . prof aynsley-green has also been the national clinical director for children in the department of health. he promised to make sure that children s opinions  count .   i will be drawing on my experience of working with children and young people to help ensure that those with the power to improve children s lives do live up to their responsibilities.  i want all children and young people to know that they can approach me to discuss any matter that affects them  knowing that i will value their opinion.  education secretary ruth kelly said prof aynsley-green would  strengthen the voice of children and young people . prof aynsley-green was a lecturer at oxford university  trained at guy s hospital medical school  university of london; oriel college  oxford; and in switzerland. he is described as  a proud grandfather  of four. scotland  wales and northern ireland already have children s commissioners.


cabs collect mountain of mobiles gadgets are cheaper  smaller and more common than ever. but that just means we are more likely to lose them.  in london alone over the past six months more than 63 000 mobile phones have been left in the back of black cabs  according to a survey. that works out at about three phones per cab. over the same period almost 5 000 laptops and 5 800 pdas such as palms and pocket pcs were left in licensed cabs. even the great and good are not immune to losing their beloved gadgets. jemima khan reportedly left her ipod  phone and purse in a cab and asked for them to be returned to her friend who turned out to be hugh grant. as the popularity of portable gadgets has grown  and we trust more of our lives to them  we seem to be forgetting them in ever larger numbers. the numbers of lost laptops has leapt by 71% in the last three years.  this has left londoners  or those travelling by cab in the capital  as the world s best at losing laptops  according to the research by the licensed taxi drivers association and pointsec  a mobile-data backup firm. more than twice as many laptops were left in the back of black cabs in london as in any of the nine other cities (helsinki  oslo  munich  paris  stockholm  copenhagen  chicago and sydney) where the research into lost and found gadgets was carried out. by contrast danes were most adept at losing mobile phones being seven times more likely to leave it behind in a cab than travellers in germans  norwegians and swedes. top of the range phones can carry enormous amounts of data - enough to hold hundreds of pictures or thousands of contact details. given that few people back up the data on their pc it is a fair bet that even fewer do so with the phone they carry around. you could be losing a fair chunk of your life in the back of that cab not least because many people collect numbers on their phone that they do not have anywhere else.  equally  phones let you navigate through contacts by name so many people have completely forgotten their friends  numbers and could not reconstruct them if they had to. this growing habit of losing gadgets explains the rise of firms such as retrofone which lets people buy a cheap old-fashioned phone to replace the tiny  shiny expensive one they have just lost. briton s growing love of phones has also led to the creation of the mobile equipment national database that lets you register the unique id number of your phone so it can be returned to you in the event of it being lost or stolen. according to statistics 50% of all muggings and snatch theft offences involve mobiles. millions of gadgets are now logged in the database and organisations such as transport for london regularly consult it when trying to re-unite folk with their phones and other gadgets. for the drivers  finding a mobile in the back of their cab is one of the more pleasant things many have found. the survey of what else has been left behind included a harp  a dog  a hamster and a baby.


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


malik rejects all-black mp lists a call for ethnic minority shortlists to boost the number of black and asian mps has been rejected by one of labour s most senior asians.  shahid malik  who is on labour s ruling nec  accepted people s frustration but said there should be targets not lists to boost representation of minorities. just 13 of britain s 659 mps are from ethnic minority groups  he added. commission for racial equality chief trevor phillips argued on sunday the time had come for such shortlists. that came after it emerged that one of britain s most ethnically diverse constituency  west ham  was to get a women-only shortlist for the next election following an nec ruling.  mr phillips said changes to the race relations legislation might allow political parties to reserve seats for under-represented groups. for example in west ham  this might allow only women and minorities to seek to be candidates.  if we get to the other side of the general election and find that minorities are not represented  we have to say that after 20 or 30 years of talking about this  we cannot go on the same way   he said. he added:  it would be terribly disappointing if in the least white constituency [west ham] in the whole of europe we didn t have a minority candidate.  appearing on bbc radio 4 s today programme  mr malik  who is himself running for the seat of dewsbury  acknowledged that so far women-only shortlists had failed to deliver a boost in the number of ethnic minority candidates.  but he argued:  i do think that there currently things that parties can do and which they aren t doing... for example setting targets to ensure that existing democratic structures are more reflective.  labour mp diane abbot  who backs mr phillips  proposal of shortlists  said she had been elected along with three other ethnic minority mps - keith vaz  paul boateng and bernie grant - in 1987 but it took another 10 years before another black woman was able to win a seat. that was a rate of progress ms abbott described as  painful .  i am a little older than shahid and served on the national executive committee in the 1990s - i was the first black person on the nec ... crossing our fingers and hoping we are going to get more black and asian mp hasn t worked   she said.  the shortlist strategy works for women and i believe that it can be made to work for black and asian people.  on tuesday labour chairman ian mccartney said his party was  ambitious  to improve black and asian representation.  we haven t ruled out all-black shortlists and welcome a debate in the party about this   he said.


europe asks asia for euro help european leaders say asian states must let their currencies rise against the us dollar to ease pressure on the euro.  the european single currency has shot up to successive all-time highs against the dollar over the past few months. tacit approval from the white house for the weaker greenback  which could help counteract huge deficits  has helped trigger the move. but now europe says the euro has had enough  and asia must now share some of the burden.  china is seen as the main culprit  with exports soaring up 35% in 2004 partly on the back of a currency pegged to the dollar.  asia should engage in greater currency flexibility   said french finance minister herve gaymard  after a meeting with his german counterpart hans eichel. markets responded by pushing the euro lower  in the expectation that the rhetoric - and the pressure - is unlikely to ease ahead of a meeting of the g7 industrialised countries next week. early on tuesday morning  the dollar had edged higher to 1.3040 euros. the yen  meanwhile  had strengthened to 102.975 against the dollar by 0730 gmt.


nigeria to boost cocoa production the government of nigeria is hoping to triple cocoa production over the next three years with the launch of an ambitious development programme.  agriculture minister adamu bello said the scheme aimed to boost production from an expected 180 000 tonnes this year to 600 000 tonnes by 2008. the government will pump 154m naira ($1.1m; £591 000) into subsidies for farming chemicals and seedlings. nigeria is currently the world s fourth-largest cocoa producer.  cocoa was the main export product in nigeria during the 1960s. but with the coming of oil  the government began to pay less attention to the cocoa sector and production began to fall from a peak of about 400 000 tonnes a year in 1970. at the launch of the programme in the south-western city of ibadan  mr bello explained that an additional aim of the project is to encourage the processing of cocoa in the country and lift local consumption. he also announced that 91m naira of the funding available had been earmarked for establishing cocoa plant nurseries. the country could be looking to emulate rival ghana  which produced a bumper crop last year. however  some farmers are sceptical about the proposals.  people who are not farming will hijack the subsidy   said joshua osagie  a cocoa farmer from edo state told reuters.  the farmers in the village never see any assistance   he added.  at the same time as nigeria announced its new initiative  ghana - the world s second largest cocoa exporter - announced revenues from the industry had broken new records. the country saw more than $1.2bn-worth of the beans exported during 2003-04. analysts said high tech-production techniques and crop spraying introduced by the government led to the huge crop  pushing production closer to levels seen in the 1960s when the country was the world s leading cocoa grower.


fantasy book wins hollywood deal a british author has had the film rights to her children s bestseller snapped up for a seven-figure sum  with ridley scott set to direct.  michelle paver s wolf brother  a fantasy set 6 000 years ago  is the first in a planned series of six books. film studio fox has bought the rights for around $4m (£2.13m) for scott s company scott free to develop. the director said he was  thrilled  with the project.  wolf brother is an enchanting book   he said. paver  who lives in london and previously worked as a lawyer  began writing the book in 1982 while studying biochemistry at oxford university.  she was an established author of love stories when she turned the work-in-progress into a children s novel. it was published in 2004  with paver earning an advance of $5m (£2.8m) - the highest sum ever paid for a debut children s book. wolf brother tells the story of torak  a 12-year-old hunter who lives in the forest. after his father is killed he teams up with a wolf cub and sets out to rid the forest of an evil force. paver is currently writing the second book in the series.  michelle paver lives and breathes the worlds she writes about   said a spokesman for the author.  i ve told her about the film deal but at the moment she is writing the second book and her mind is 6000 years away deep in the primeval forest.


microsoft launches its own search microsoft has unveiled the finished version of its home-grown search engine.  the now formally launched msn search site takes the training wheels off the test version unveiled in november 2003. the revamped engine indexes more pages than before  can give direct answers to factual questions  and features tools to help people create detailed queries. microsoft faces challenges establishing itself as a serious search site because of the intense competition for queries.  google still reigns supreme as the site people turn to most often when they go online to answer a query  keep up with news or search for images. but in the last year google has faced greater competition than ever for users as old rivals  such as yahoo and microsoft  and new entrants such as amazon and blinkx  try to grab some of the searching audience for themselves. this renewed interest has come about because of the realisation that many of the things people do online begin with a search for information - be it for a particular web page  recipe  book  gadget  news story  image or anything else. microsoft is keen to make its home-grown search engine a significant rival to google. to generate its corpus of data  microsoft has indexed 5 billion webpages and claims to update its document index every two days - more often than rivals. the microsoft search engine can also answer specific queries directly rather than send people to a page that might contain the answer.  for its direct answer feature  microsoft is calling on its encarta encyclopaedia to provide answers to questions about definitions  facts  calculations  conversions and solutions to equations. tony macklin  director of product at ask jeeves  pointed out that its search engine has been answering specific queries this way since april 2003.  the major search providers have moved beyond delivering only algorithmic search  so in many ways microsoft is following the market   he said. tools sitting alongside the msn search engine allow users to refine results to specific websites  countries  regions or languages. microsoft is also using so-called  graphic equalisers  that let people adjust the relevance of terms to get results that are more up-to-date or more popular. the company said that user feedback from earlier test versions had been used to refine the workings of the finished system. the test  or beta  version of the msn search engine unveiled in november had a few teething troubles. on its first day many new users keen to try it were greeted with a page that said the site had been overwhelmed.


real will finish abandoned match real madrid and real socieded will play the final six minutes of their match  which was abandoned on sunday because of a bomb scare.  the bernabeu was evacuated with the score at 1-1 and two minutes of normal time remaining in the game. the teams will now play the final two minutes  plus four minutes of injury time  on 5 january. brazilian ronaldo and england captain david beckham had to wait in the street in their kit after the abandonment. real sociedad president jose luis astiazaran said:  we thought the best thing was to play the time remaining.   hundreds of fans streamed across the pitch on their way to the exits after the game was called off. tourists and fans took advantage of the opportunity for a photograph between the famous stadium s goalposts. the two clubs met the spanish fa on monday and astiazaran added:  we thought about giving the game as concluded but after talking with the fa we decided there was no precedent for that and the best thing was to play the time that was remaining.  real madrid director of sport emilio butragueno praised the spectators inside the ground for their conduct.  i d like to highlight the behaviour of the fans  who showed great maturity and it was an example of good citizenship   he said. butragueno confirned  before confirming that tuesday s charity match - which has been billed as  ronaldo s friends against zidane s friends  - will go ahead as planned.  i d also like to take the chance to say that tomorrow s game will take place   butragueno declared of the  partido contra la pobreza  (game against poverty). he added:  football is important for society and we want to show that.  we also think that football should be a fiesta  we had programmed and people deserve to enjoy the game.


terror powers expose  tyranny  the lord chancellor has defended government plans to introduce control orders to keep foreign and british terrorist suspects under house arrest  where there isn t enough evidence to put them on trial.  lord falconer insists that the proposals do not equate to a police state and strike a balance between protecting the public against the threat of terrorism and upholding civil liberties. but thriller writer frederick forsyth tells bbc news of his personal response to the move.    there is a mortal danger aimed at the heart of britain. or so says home secretary charles clarke. my reaction  so what  it is not that i am cynical or just do not care. i care about this country very much.  but in the 66 years that i have been alive  there has not been one hour  of one day  of one month  of one year  when there has not been a threat aimed at us. my point is  the british have always coped without becoming a dictatorship. we have coped with fear without becoming a state based on fear; we have coped with threat without turning our country into a land of state threat. but that is what the blair government now seeks to do - create a tyranny to defend us from the al-qaeda tyranny.  i was born on 25 august  1938. the mortal threat back then was a scruffy little austrian called adolf hitler. a week after my first birthday  the threat had become reality. we were at war. my father wore a uniform for five years. after 1945 we yearned for peace at last. but in 1946 winston churchill told us - from the baltic to the adriatic an iron curtain has descended across europe. behind the iron curtain  another genocidal psychopath  another threat. josef stalin triggered the cold war  with the berlin blockade in 1948. my whole generation was blighted by it.  we were threatened by the nuclear holocaust  the nuclear wind  the nuclear winter. we built shelters that would have sheltered nothing. we spent our treasure on weapons instead of hospitals. we took silly precautions. some fought it; some marched futilely against it. some pretended it was not there. the cold war lasted 43 years  but we remained a parliamentary democracy. by the early seventies it was terrorism as well. al fatah  black september  red brigades  but most of all for us the ira and the inla. thirty more years; 300 policemen and women  over 600 soldiers  more than 3 000 civilians dead  but we won because even ira bombs could not force us to become a tyranny. that was why the tyrants lost. civil rights were infringed as little as humanly possible. evidence had to be taken in secret to protect covert sources; yes   and one judge  no-jury courts had to be instituted when juries were terrorised. informants had to be given immunity from their own crimes to win the bigger battle. but habeas corpus did not die; right of appeal was not abolished. now the threat is islamic fundamentalism. its leaders want to destroy our society; so did the ira.  it is based and funded abroad; so was the ira. it has sleeper fanatics inside our society; so did the ira. it is extremely hard to penetrate with our agents; so was the ira. the prime movers are not easy to bring to trial; neither were the ira. but we did. and without becoming a tyranny. now the blair government proposes the law system of fascism and communism. the citizen can be arrested and held without charge or trial  not even on the careful consideration of an experienced judge  but the whim of a political activist called a government minister. to be protected from terror the government says  we must become a tyranny. but a tyranny is based on the citizen s terror. this is not victory; this is defeat before a shot is fired.  an interesting article - its good to see widening participation in the debate - but i suggest we move one step further. our own bombs and bullets will can only shatter peace  because invading foreign nations  imprisoning the innocent and  hunting  in the  shadows  cannot destroy an evil of the mind  and hatred within the heart. rather than focusing upon effect  we should consider the cause  because terrorism does not begin with bombs. why not try a foreign policy of compassion  it can only enhance our democracy  and share our freedom.  i agree with frederick forsyth. we really can t deal with terrorism by turning britain into a fascist state. what we really need is more honesty from our security services and our politicians. if they do not have evidence to bring these people to trial  there probably isn t any. our security services  behave like the detective who having decided that a certain person is guilty  rakes over all kinds of obscure and flimsy evidence to try and prove it  while the real villain gets away. remember there were no wmd in iraq. just because a person may have made some stupid and naive decisions in life does not make them a terrorist.  in this overly  politically correct  society  it is good to see someone like mr. forsyth speak out. yes  there has been oppression by the british government in the past  and overstepping the mark in places like ireland  but yes  we are still a democracy where it is rare to be arrested without charge/trial etc. (apart from a number of prisoners in belmarsh goal  for example).this country signs up to human rights  and then pretends that they only apply to the people with nothing to fear  the innocent people (defined by whom ). when id cards become mandatory  the data collected will not be protected by the data protection act  and will be readily available to people like gchq  with no control by the person whose id is being checked.  the threat now is new. you cannot compare the threats of past years with now. forsyth says 3000 died over 30 years or terrorism; 3000 people died in one morning in ny on september 11th 2001. the threat today is that terrorists will acquire nuclear or biological technology. a kilo of semtex will flatten a building  a kilo of plutonium will flatten a city. you now have a combination of people who will perform terrorist acts with technology that is rapidly becoming accessible. i agree  the government is probably encouraging a degree of mass-hysteria and talking up the threat; but talking-down the threat and doing nothing is unacceptable too.  the problem with this issue is not that it isn t important  but the fact that in general we brits can be so politically apathetic some times  that we will just let this go without telling the government no. however  as the nation that gave the world the common law and a true sense of the rights of individual liberty i hope this will prove to be one step too far.  as somebody of chinese origin  i can say that this country used to be a good place to migrate and start a new life. whilst life wasn t perfect  we could make better for ourselves. now we are riddled with red tape and be told what we can or cannot do. we have to be politically-correct and we are not allowed to have beliefs or opinions. we have a prime minister who spends too much time meddling in us politics and affairs which have little to do with the lives of british citizens at home or abroad. mr forsyth has done a good job in voicing his opinions. let s hope the bbc doesn t get gagged for letting people express their views. the people have the right to know and the bbc s role is to inform  educate and entertain...  i agree. terrorists intend to spread fear but in reality it is the government which has spread the fear  by its constant publicising of the this invisible enemy so dangerous that we must allow them to ride roughshod over our rights and liberties. in the end  the very thing we seek to protect is what we are giving up in the name of safety from this invisible enemy. the terrorists have already won.  i absolutely agree with frederick forsyth. yes we have to defend ourselves against terrorism but existing laws seem to be more than adequate. the idea that the  new terrorism  demands new powers is erroneous. the evidence of any real terrorist capability in the uk is scant. ricin  for example  is a dangerous poison but it is not a weapon of mass destruction. what is really worrying is the enthusiasm of mr blair and his government for authoritarian reactions and attempts to manipulate the electorate through fear.  if the government has its way with id cards  tracking and so on then totalitarianism has won and as such it then matters little whether we give in to the terrorists demands or not. we will have lost the precious freedom which bush and blair constantly tells us we have and that they seek to bring to others.  i agree wholeheartedly with mr forsyth. i am shocked at the ease with which this government is prepared to wipe out a major portion of the liberties that british people have enjoyed for centuries - the right not to be deprived of our liberty without a trial in open court. that goes right back to magna carta  and ordinary people have spilled their blood to enforce that right against governments who thought they  knew best .  when you look at today s britain  you realise george orwell was only wrong about one thing: the date.  frederick forsyth puts it beautifully. the government is seeking to introduce a police state. the new powers of home internment without trial follow a pattern which includes the introduction of surveillance via compulsory id cards and the linking of data bases  together with the un-british idea that we will have to swear allegiance to the state at the age of 18 years. we are sleep-walking into this. wake up!  an interesting view but missing two crucial facts of this new threat: 1) if these terrorists acquire weapons of mass destruction they will use them without fear of mutually assured destruction that kept the cold war in a state of tense balance. these people will use devastating force against us without fear of any consequence. 2) the terrorists are prepared to use suicide bombers which means they could kill innocent people on the london underground and we could do very little to stop it. because these terrorists are potentially so deadly  we have to come up with new  tougher responses. it will be a little late in the day when people outside london wake up one morning to find out that london has been nuked. we won t have much of a society left to debate !  he s correct in most of what he says. mind you he does seem to have forgotten that disgraceful internment policy in northern ireland which probably caused many idealistic if misguided young catholics to join the ira. administrative detention of muslims could have a similar effect now.  surely we the public would be better protected if the security services  rather than alerting a suspect terrorist by placing them under house arrest (and for how long )they were to place suspect terrorist under surveillance and maybe acquire sufficient evidence to prosecute or even better prevent a terrorist attack.  i don t usually have much time for mr forsyth s largely right wing views but this time he has got it spot on. there is no doubt that there are terrorist organisations who would like to do harm to the u.k. but it is very doubtful whether al-qaeda is a global organisation co-ordinating this. the rise of surveillance cameras  id cards  the plan to charge for road use by tracking every vehicle at all times  this is the stuff of nightmares. add to this this new legislation which effectively means that the protection of the law will be removed from anyone at the whim of the home secretary  and i genuinely wonder what sort of world my two children will inherit. where will this end. as it stands terrorists do not need to attack the u.k. it s government will soon have it s people terrorised more that they could very achieve with a few bombs.  mr forsyth has expressed exactly what my gut fears and reservations were about this proposed legislation  but could not verbalise. thank you.  mr forsyth seems to forget that killings in the troubles occurred on both sides of the religious divide and was carried out by killers from both sides. he also forgets basic human rights were suspended then as now. experienced judges sat over some of the greatest miscarriages of justice during those times. for very little return and maximum alienation. these laws and the emphasis on the islamic threat will just do the same.  forsyth is wrong. the nature of the current threat is new. it is no longer to our armed forces  as the soviet threat in the eastern bloc was. it is to you and i. the terrorist aim to kill indiscriminately. the best comparison is therefore the blitz  1941. at this time  let us not forget  suspects (foreign and british were routinely rounded up and interned for the duration of the war  without any complaints from the public. we must not forget we are at war.  i d say that that the likelihood of an attack by a sleeper cell of fundamentalist lunatics against a major uk target is a  when  not an  if  probability. i ll bet any money you like that the day after any such attack freddie forsyth will be saying that the government didn t do enough to protect the uk. people like forsyth can only see one side of any argument and for him it is the side that is opposite new labour and tony blair.  i agree wholeheartedly with mr forsyth. the very reason this country has been such a wonderful place to live  is under attack  not from terrorists  but from this government. the perpetuation of the perceived terrorist threat is not because of what the  alleged  terrorists are doing  but from our own government. i believe what this government is doing  is  at the very least  highly questionable and at worst  sinister. at what point will they feel they have enough control over every single person in the british isles; when we are all tagged and monitored constantly  our freedom is being craftily and surreptitiously whittled away by this government and we are gaining nothing. it should be of great concern to everyone.  i am slightly older than mr forsyth and therefore have lived through the same history as him. i am against a police state and would not like to think that i lived in one. i think that the attack on iraq made the international situation worse and may have provoked further acts of terrorism.  how true. there are extremely worrying parallels between britain now and germany during the 30 s. i never thought it would be so easy to take over a country from within.  mr forsyth has forgotten one key point; the terrorists who threaten britain today are well aware that hitler  stalin  and the ira all failed. as a result modern day terrorists are willing to do things their predecessors did not. that does not mean that the civil liberties of modern britain must be eroded to counter the threat; that should always be the absolute last resort. but to meet the new threat  to defeat the sinister fanaticism of today s terrorists  we may need to do things a little differently. let us hope not.  frederic forsythe s comments seem to me to be a well-thought-out analysis of why we (human society as a whole  and britain in particular) should resist the temptation to over-protect through fear. it is this fear which enables terrorists to succeed in the end  and terrorists can come in all forms  as mr. forsythe s opening comments suggest.  i am reminded of a quote attributed to thomas jefferson.  a nation that limits freedom in the name of security will have neither.   the government are faced with an incredibly difficult task  and have made a policy to deal with it. it s all very well criticising that policy  but if mr forsythe can t draw on his years of experience to offer an alternative  i say  so what   to his opinions.  frederick forsyth s rhetoric is absurd and his conclusions laughable. he distorts reality to serve his own prejudice against new labour. this government seeks to balance protection of our democracy with minimum loss of civil rights. it is frederick forsyth who is the extremist  because he does not appreciate the need for balance.  i rarely find myself agreeing with my forsyth  but in this instance i think he is correct. the rule of law must prevail  civil liberties are worth defending. if the government can hold  suspects  without charge or trial  what s next   i agree absolutely. by introducing fascist type laws we loose the moral high ground in our fight against terror. our democratic system is not perfect  but as churchill points out it is  better than all the others that have been tried . terrorist attacks will take place but for many reasons we should take that personal risk in return for personal freedom.  i do not usually agree with mr. forsyth  but he is spot on here. the single biggest threat we face is that of a government dedicated to acting illegally and manipulating international and national law to suit its own purpose. totalitarianism always requires an outside threat  justifying a range of extraordinary powers leaders want. the british government is a far greater threat that and terrorist organisation.  although  in principle i agree with him  frederick forsyth fails to address one key point- al-qaeda attacks (though obviously there have been none yet in the uk) seek to kill the maximum number of people. the ira wanted to limit the death toll of their attacks so as to maintain support among the republican movement.  yes  i agree with mr. forsyth s views. i do not believe the government s plans are justified. there is over reaction to and the negative influence of the us president s interpretation of democracy and freedom. he uses the same arguments that were current before the wwii  the wars to  liberate  iraq  afghanistan with syria and iran to come. we are leaving a poor inheritance for the future generations.  mr forsyth is a wonderful writer and should keep his fiction where it belongs. the british government is not going down the road that mr forsyth suggests. sadly comments such as his will make a lot of people believe that they are governed by people who are fast becoming tyrants instead of being genuinely committed to stopping tyranny  even if the method employed to do that is at the moment alien to the british people who have lived in a democracy protected by tony blair and others of like mind who  mr. forsyth seems to be putting along side the  scruffy little austrian.   thomas hobbes would be smiling in his grave at labour s propositions. like new labour  he called himself a libertarian. like new labour  he believed he was promoting the people s best interests. but as forsythe criticises this government  hobbes has been criticised by most subsequent philosophers for arguing his way into the hands of the totalitarians. simply put  he argued that in favour of the ultimate liberty - the liberty to live - man should be prepared to surrender all other liberties to a supreme sovereign  as protection against his fellow  barbaric  man. hobbes has been roundly condemned by posterity  and rightly so. i hope new labour suffers the same treatment.  i agree with mr forsyth s views. the governments approach is totally against the spirit of british democracy. they must not be allowed to get away with it.  of course frederick is wrong about britain winning the war against the ira and he s wrong too about the country not becoming a tyranny. has he forgotten about shoot to kill  torture  internment without trial  collusion with loyalist death squads etc   my background is somewhat similar to freddie s so i am persuaded to agree with many of his sentiments. we can have no moral justification for imposing our system of government on anyone while we are systematically depriving our own citizens of basic individual and collective freedoms.  whilst the principle of keeping potential terrorists under house arrest might seem superficially attractive  it is  unfortunately  also the first step towards totalitarianism. who is to decide whom is a suspect  why should we believe them  who can have faith in the honesty  integrity  and competence of our intelligence services and politicians in light of the events of recent years  what is to stop false denunciations  what of those falsely accused who will lose their careers  who will support their families  will their children still go to school  it smacks to me of the methods of nazi germany  stalin s russia  ceausescu s romania - the list goes on. it looks as if a new dark age is coming.  i see that opinion on mr forsyth s remarks are divided. the problem i see is that those who support imprisonment without trial believe it will never happen to them or their family  only to people they don t like or are scared of. but history has shown that if you have laws like that  they always get abused by those in power. after all  today you may be scared of the same people as those in power but someday those in power may be scared of you! and that day  you ll be the one imprisoned without the chance of justice. our laws are such that you cannot just be imprisoned at the whim of our police forces  you have to be shown to be deserving of it. if we imprison people without trial for an indeterminate period  we are no better that those we are fighting.  i never thought it possible for me to agree with a single word uttered by frederick forsyth  but i m in wholehearted agreement with him on this one. we  as a nation are in grave danger of being duped by pro us propaganda  which of course also means we ll inherit most  if not all of their total paranoia  and allow our governments  of any political persuasion incidentally  to gradually  and insidiously  impose a police state by well tried & tested back door methods. i grieve for the future of my children  it s no wonder they re adamant they don t ever want any of their own.  this government  with much fanfare  signs us up to the european convention on human rights but now wants to introduce indefinite house arrest without trial. this puts it on a par with the government of burma.  like many of your respondents  i wouldn t usually think of mr forsyth as someone whose views i share  but in the instance of opposing charles clark s proposals for house arrest  i agree wholeheartedly with mr forsyth/  i agree with mr forsyth. just look at the facts - our government (along with the us) invaded another sovereign country (iraq) by selecting intelligence that backed it s case based on fear. the facts turned out to be very different. if individuals are treated in the same distorted way  then we ve done ourselves more damage than any terrorist organisation could with bombs. we become animals too.  i agree in many ways with what mr forsyth has said - if we are to be respected and have influence within the world we must be seen to be walking the walk as well as talking the talk - how can we accuse countries such as zimbabwe and burma of human rights abuses when we are locking up people who may be totally innocent  it is hypocrisy of the highest order. mr forsyth links  islamic fundamentalism  to the new  threat . however it appears that he has misunderstood the term  islamic fundamentalism . it should be pointed out that a muslim who adheres to the true fundamentals of the qur aan and the teachings of the last prophet muhammad is an islamic fundamentalist. this person does not commit suicide in any shape or form  nor does she/he kill innocent women  men and children. this person is self-reflective and constantly tries to better her/his actions by being good to others. the people who mr forsyth labels the new  threat  are those who do not follow the correct teachings of islam. they have arrived at their own interpretations and assumptions with regards their actions. on top of that  they claim to be following islam in its true form!  i accept that the intentions of these policies are to make britain a safer place but i cannot think of a single example from history where doing this sort of thing has ever made any difference - in northern ireland internment certainly didn t achieve anything - the bombings didn t stop  and it could be argued that all it achieved was to just supply the ira with yet more angry and resentful republicans willing to take up arms against the british.  being eight years older than frederick forsyth and a survivor of the blitz on london  it is easy to agree with him  he is absolutely spot on. during the ira bombings there were massive explosions in canary wharf  to the right of where i write this  and also to the left in the city of london. notwithstanding these and the attempted and nearly successful assassination attempts on prime minister thatcher in brighton and on later occupants of 10 downing street  there was no retaliatory blitz on belfast or dublin as there has been on afghanistan and iraq. even when england was in true peril in 1940 apart from some detentions there were no wholesale derogation of habeas corpus and the like. we have to see off these latest attempts on our liberties including id cards  which winston churchill decided had to go since  he said  the average bobby on the beat could not be relied on to not be tempted to take undue advantage against the citizen going about their lawful activities (incidentally i can still remember my old id card number). hence it is clear that the far too great police state powers set for the statute books have to be resisted and neutered.  what can i add to mr. forsyth s eloquently put arguments... except applause! well done that man for standing up and being counted in the  war against tyranny .


uk net users leading tv downloads british tv viewers lead the trend of illegally downloading us shows from the net  according to research.  new episodes of 24  desperate housewives and six feet under  appear on the web hours after they are shown in the us  said a report. web tracking company envisional said 18% of downloaders were from within the uk and that downloads of tv programmes had increased by 150% in the last year. about 70% were using file-sharing program bittorrent  the firm said.  it s now as easy to download a pirate tv show as it is to programme a vcr   said ben coppin from envisional. a typical episode of 24 was downloaded by about 100 000 people globally  said the report  and an estimated 20 000 of those were from within the uk.  fans of many popular us tv programmes  like 24  usually have to wait weeks or months until the latest series is shown in the uk. but in some cases  said the report  people were able to watch the new episodes in britain before us audiences on the west coast of the country.  missing a television show presents little problem to anyone with a basic knowledge of the internet   explained mr coppin.   two clicks and your favourite programme is downloading. in effect  the internet is now a global video recorder.  exact figures are difficult to pin down  but it is thought that about 80 000 to 100 000 people in the uk download tv programmes. some may just want the odd episode  others are downloading regularly. many broadcast analysts agree that the net is radically altering the way people get content  like tv programmes. this presents a challenge to broadcasters who are concerned that channel schedules may become less important to people. it is also of concern to them because advertisements are usually cut out of the downloaded programmes. the industry has coined the term  time-shifting  to describe this trend of being able to watch what you want  when you want. the increased popularity of personal digital video recorders  tivo-type boxes which automatically record programmes like sky+  have also contributed to the trend. there are also numerous programs available on the net which automatically search and store tv programmes for viewers  effectively creating a personal video recorder on a computer.  within half an hour  recorded episodes can be uploaded - or posted - onto file-sharing networks or other download sites. because they tend to be shorter then full-length films  they can be processed - digitised - quickly. more people with high-speed broadband connections in the uk also means that episodes can be downloaded quickly.  according to jupiter research 40% of homes with broadband say it helps them pick and choose the programmes they want to see or that friends have recommended. the envisional reports said that the tv industry should consider offering a legal way to download shows. the bbc ran a trial of what it calls the interactive media player (imp) last year  which was based on a peer-to-peer distribution model. it let people download programmes it held the rights to up to eight days after they had already aired. it is looking to do a more expansive trial later this year. the bbc already allows radio fans to hear programmes they missed online up to a week after broadcast. about six million people in the uk now have a fast  always-on net connection via cable or phone lines.


junk e-mails on relentless rise spam traffic is up by 40%  putting the total amount of e-mail that is junk up to an astonishing 90%.  the figures  from e-mail management firm email systems  will alarm firms attempting to cope with the amount of spam in their in-boxes. while virus traffic has slowed down  denial of service attacks are on the increase according to the firm. virus mail accounts for just over 15% of all e-mail traffic analysis by the firm has found.  it is no longer just multi-nationals that are in danger of so-called denial of service attacks  in which websites are bombarded by requests for information and rendered inaccessible. email systems refers to a small uk-based engineering firm  which received a staggering 12 million e-mails in january. the type of spam currently being sent has subtlety altered in the last few months  according to email systems analysis. half of spam received since christmas has been health-related with gambling and porn also on the increase. scam mails  offering ways to make a quick buck  have declined by 40%.  january is clearly a month when consumers are less motivated to purchase financial products or put money into dubious financial opportunities   said neil hammerton  managing director of email systems.  spammers seem to have adapted their output to reflect this  focussing instead on medically motivated and pornographic offers  presumably intentionally intended to coincide with what is traditionally considered to be the bleakest month in the calendar   he said.


india s deccan seals $1.8bn deal air deccan has ordered 30 airbus a320 planes in a $1.8bn (£931m) deal as india s first low-cost airline expands in the fast-growing domestic market.  air deccan was set up last year and wants to lure travellers away from the railway network and pricier rivals. the potential of the indian market has attracted attention at home and abroad. beer magnate vijay mallya recently set up kingfisher airlines  while uk entrepreneur richard branson has said he is keen to start a local operation.  the country has a population of more than a billion people and many observers feel that it is underserved by airlines. recently however  the booming economy has boosted personal spending power and helped swell the middle classes and the corporate sector. india s government has given its backing to cheaper and more accessible air travel.  the days of flying being a symbol of only maharajas or the rich are over   the minister for civil aviation praful patel said earlier. infrastructure is being built to handle the expected increase in demand and on tuesday  agence france presse reported that a group led by germany s siemens won the contract to build a private airport near bangalore. india s airports authority and the state government will own 13% each of the finished transport hub. for its part  air deccan  set up by army officer and silk farmer gorur gopinath  plans to increase its fleet to 60 aircraft within five years. to help finance the expansion the company may sell a 25% stake to an investor for about $50m. when it was set up the firm offered tickets that were 50% cheaper than other indian airlines. it said it was basing its business model on european firms such as ireland s ryanair.


souped-up wi-fi is on the horizon super high-speed wireless data networks could soon be in use in the uk.  the government s wireless watchdog is seeking help on the best way to regulate the technology behind such networks called ultra wideband (uwb). ofcom wants to ensure that the arrival of uwb-using devices does not cause problems for those that already use the same part of the radio spectrum. uwb makes it possible to stream huge amounts of data through the air over short distances. one of the more likely uses of uwb is to make it possible to send dvd quality video images wirelessly to tv screens or to let people beam music to media players around their home. the technology has the potential to transmit hundreds of megabits of data per second. uwb could also be used to create so-called personal area networks that let a person s gadgets quickly and easily swap data amongst themselves. the technology works over a range up to 10 metres and uses billions of short radio pulses every second to carry data. at the recent consumer electronics show in las vegas products with uwb chips built-in got their first public airing.  currently  use of uwb is only allowed in the uk under a strict licencing scheme.  we re seeking opinion from industry to find out whether or not we should allow uwb on a licence-exempt basis   said a spokesman for ofcom.  companies have until 24 march to respond. in april the ec is due to start its own consultation on europe-wide adoption of uwb. the cross-europe body for radio regulators  known as the european conference of postal and telecommunications administrations (cept)  is carrying out research for this harmonisation programme. early sight of the cept work has caused controversy as some think it over-emphasises uwb s potential to interfere with existing users. by contrast a preliminary ofcom report found that it would be quite straight-forward to deploy uwb without causing problems for those that already use it. the ofcom spokesman said it was considering imposing a  mask  or set of technical restrictions on uwb-using devices.  we would want these devices to have very strict controls on power levels so they can not transmit a long way or over a wide area   he said. despite the current restrictions the technology is already being used. cambridge-based ubisense has about 40 customers around the world using the short-range radio technology  said david theriault  standards and regulatory liaison for ubisense. he said that uwb was driving novel ways to interact with computers.  it s like having a 3d mouse all the time   he said. he said that european decisions on what to do with uwb allied with ieee decisions on the exact specifications for it would help drive adoption. prior to its adoption as a way for gadgets and computers to communicate  uwb was used as a sensing technology. it is used to spot such things as cracks under the surface of runways or to help firemen detect people through walls.


injury doubts beset wales squad wales have a clutch of injury worries before wednesday s international friendly against hungary in cardiff.  west ham s gavin williams (ankle) looks certain to be out  so uncapped wrexham defender stephen roberts is drafted in. defenders danny gabbidon and gareth roberts  plus ryan giggs have hamstring concerns  while there are also doubts over robbie savage (groin). however  manchester united winger giggs is expected to recover in time to earn his 50th cap at the millennium stadium. there were also doubts over gabbidon s fellow cardiff defender rhys weston  but the full-back appears to have shrugged off the knock he picked up in the bluebirds  1-0 loss to west ham on sunday. the news leaves wales boss john toshack short in defence for his first game in charge  with aston villa s mark delaney injured and james collins with the under-21s. that could clear the way for new faces danny collins and dave partridge to make their wales debuts.  coyne (burnley)  jones (wolves)  roberts (wrexham)  collins (sunderland)  edwards (wolves)  gabbidon (cardiff)  page (cardiff)  partridge (motherwell)  ricketts (swansea)  roberts (tranmere)  weston (cardiff)  davies (tottenham)  fletcher (west ham)  giggs (man utd)  koumas (west brom)  robinson (sunderland)  savage (blackburn)  williams (west ham)  bellamy (newcastle)  earnshaw (west brom)  hartson (celtic).