$1m payoff for former shell boss shell is to pay $1m (£522 000) to the ex-finance chief who stepped down from her post in april 2004 after the firm over-stated its reserves.  judy boynton finally left the firm on 31 december  having spent the intervening time as a special advisor to chief executive jeroen van der veer. in january 2004  shell told shocked investors that its reserves were 20% smaller than previously thought. shell said the pay-off was in line with ms boynton s contract. she was leaving  by mutual agreement to pursue other career opportunities   the firm said in a statement. the severance package means she keeps long-term share options  but fails to collect on a 2003 incentive plan since the firm has failed to meet the targets included in it.  the revelation that shell had inflated its reserves led to the resignation of its chairman  sir phil watts  and production chief walter van der vijver.  an investigation commissioned by shell found that ms boynton had to share responsibility for the company s behaviour. despite receiving an email from mr van de vijver which said the firm had  fooled  the market about its reserves  the investigation said  she did nothing to inquire further. in all  shell restated its reserves four times during 2003. in september  it paid £82.7m in fines to regulators on both sides of the atlantic for violating market rules in its reporting of its reserves.


mixed reaction to man utd offer shares in manchester united were up over 5% by noon on monday following a new offer from malcolm glazer.  the board of man utd is expected to meet early this week to discuss the latest proposal from the us tycoon that values the club at £800m ($1.5bn). manchester united revealed on sunday that it had received a detailed proposal from mr glazer. a senior source at the club told the bbc:  this time it s different . the board is obliged to consider this deal. but the man utd supporters club urged the club to reject the new deal. manchester united past and present footballers eric cantona and ole gunnar solskjaer  and club manager sir alex ferguson  have lent their backing to the supporters  group  shareholders united. they have all spoken out against the bid.  a spokesman for the supporters club said:  i can t see any difference (compared to mr glazer s previous proposals) other than £200m less debt.  he isn t bringing any money into the club; he ll use our money to buy it.   mr glazer s latest move is being led by mr glazer s two sons  avi and joel  according to the financial times. a proposal was received by david gill  united s chief executive  at the end of last week  pitched at about 300p a share. david cummings  head of uk equities for standard life investments  said he believed a  well funded  300p a share bid would be enough for mr glazer to take control of the club.  i do not think there is anything that manchester united fans can do about it   he told the bbc.  they can complain about it but it is curtains for them. they may not want him but they are going to get him.  the us tycoon  who has been wooing the club for the last 12 months  has approached the united board with  detailed proposals   it has confirmed.  mr glazer  who owns the tampa bay buccaneers team  hopes this will lead to a formal bid being accepted. he is believed to have increased the amount of equity in the new proposal  though it is not clear by how much. for his proposal to succeed  he needs the support of united s largest shareholders  the irish horseracing tycoons jp mcmanus and john magnier. they own 29% of united through their cubic expression investment vehicle. mr glazer and his family hold a stake of 28.1%. but it is not yet known whether mr mcmanus and mr magnier would support a glazer bid. nm rothschild  the investment bank  is advising mr glazer  according to the financial times. his previous adviser  jpmorgan  quit last year when mr glazer went ahead and voted against the appointment of three united directors to the board  against its advice. but the ft said it thought jp morgan may still have had some role in financing mr glazer s latest financial proposal.


uk helps raped rwandan women britain is to give a £4m grant to help women survivors of the rwandan genocide who were raped and often deliberately infected with hiv/aids.  an estimated 25 000 girls and women were raped during the 1994 genocide. about 800 000 tutsis and moderate hutus were killed by hutu militias after the assassination of an ethnic hutu leader. the five-year department for international development funding will enable more survivors to have access to anti-retroviral treatment.  the plight of the infected women was overshadowed for a long time. it was overshadowed by rwanda s emergence from the 100 days of slaughter  during which time the mass killings took place  and the women s fate was largely a taboo subject. but many of the women were widowed and they now not only have their own children to care for but  in many cases  orphans too.  as the women die  the number of rwanda s orphans rises. until recently  very few of the women have had access to anti-retroviral treatment. that is now starting to change. this funding is intended to make anti-retrovirals and other care available for some 2 500 women. mary kayitesi blewitt  founder of the survivors fund (surf)  one of the organisations through which the funds are being channelled  said it was a recognition  before it was too late  that the survivors should be a priority for help.


tautou  to star in da vinci film  french actress audrey tautou  star of hit film amelie  will play the female lead in the film adaptation of the da vinci code  it has been reported.  the movie version of dan brown s best-selling novel is being directed by ron howard and also stars tom hanks. tautou will play hanks  code-cracking partner  according to various newspapers. she is currently starring in a very long engagement  directed by jean-pierre jeunet. jeunet was also responsible for directing tautou in amelie in 2001  which launched the actress into the mainstream.  she also starred as the lead role in critically-acclaimed film dirty pretty things in 2002. oscar-winning director ron howard chose tautou for the part  preferring a french actress to a big name hollywood star. uk actress kate beckinsale had been widely tipped as a possibility for the role alongside vanessa paradis and juliette binoche. the thriller upon which the movie is based has sold more than 17 million copies and is centred on a global conspiracy surrounding the holy grail mythology. the louvre museum  scene of the gruesome murder at the beginning of the novel  recently gave permission for filming to take place there  showbusiness newspaper variety reported. the $100m movie will be produced by columbia/sony pictures and is due for release on may 19  2006 in the united states and france.


record year for chilean copper chile s copper industry has registered record earnings of $14.2bn in 2004  the governmental chilean copper commission (cochilco) has reported.  strong demand from china s fast-growing economy and high prices have fuelled production  said cochilco vice president patricio cartagena. he added that the boom has allowed the government to collect $950m in taxes. mr cartagena said the industry expects to see investment worth $10bn over the next three years.   with these investments  clearly we are going to continue being the principle actor in the mining of copper. it s a consolidation of the industry with new projects and expansions that will support greater production.  australia s bhp billiton - which operates la escondida  the world s largest open pit copper mine - is planning to invest $1.9bn between now and 2007  while state-owned codelco will spend about $1bn on various projects. chile  the biggest copper producer in the world  is now analyzing ways of to keep prices stable at their current high levels  without killing off demand or leading customers to look for substitutes for copper. the copper price reached a 16-year high in october 2004. production in chile is expected rise 3.5% in 2005 to 5.5 million tonnes  said mr cartagena. cochilco expects for 2005 a slight reduction on copper prices and forecasts export earnings will fall 10.7%.


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


army chiefs in regiments decision military chiefs are expected to meet to make a final decision on the future of scotland s army regiments.  a committee of the army board  which is made up of the most senior defence figures  will discuss plans for restructuring regiments on monday. the proposals include cutting scotland s six single-battalion regiments to five and merging these into a super regiment. the plans have faced stiff opposition from campaigners and politicians alike. the committee s decision must be ratified by defence secretary geoff hoon and prime minister tony blair. it is expected that it will be made public next week. when ministers announced a reorganisation of the army it drew a question mark over the futures of the black watch  the kings own scottish borderers  the royal scots  the royal highland fusiliers and the argyll and sutherland highlanders. in october  the council of scottish colonels proposed the merger of the royal scots and the king s own scottish borderers into a single battalion.  under their vision  it would be one of five in the new super regiment. the proposals to either merge or amalgamate the six regiments into a super regiment sparked a political outcry  with labour backbenchers and opposition politicians opposing the plan. they felt the timing was insensitive because the black watch was in the frontline in iraq  suffering casualties. the save the scottish regiments campaigners were so angered they threatened to stand against labour at the next general election.  speaking ahead of the expected army board meeting  a spokesman said:  the government and the army board have spent the past four months attempting to trick serving soldiers and the public into thinking their planned changes for the scottish regiments are for the good of the army and for that of the serving soldier.  they are very much not for the good and will destroy scotland s regiments by moulding them into a single super regiment which will lead to severe recruitment problems  a loss of local connections to those regiments and a loss to scotland of an important part of her heritage and  most importantly  her future - the regiments are the envy of armies around the world.  an alternative blueprint had been put forward by labour mp eric joyce  who proposed going ahead with the merger while preserving the other regiments. for a brief time  there was speculation the prime minister might consider the plan  but that now seems unlikely. speaking in scotland last week  mr blair said the aim was to preserve tradition but introduce a more effective structure and hinted that a super regiment was likely. he said:  they don t want to get rid of the history or the traditions of the regiment or the local connections - far from it  all they want to do is make sure they can transfer people easily across regiments and deploy them more flexibly.  the prime minister said he hoped campaigners  concerns would be taken into account but the need for effective change had to be paramount.


smart search lets art fans browse if you don t know art but know what you like  new search technology could prove a useful gateway to painting.  artgarden  developed by bt s research unit  is being tested by the tate as a new way of browsing its online collection of paintings. rather than search by the name of an artist or painting  users are shown a selection of pictures. clicking on their favourite will change the gallery in front of them to a selection of similar works.  the technology uses a system dubbed smart serendipity  which is a combination of artificial intelligence and random selection. it  chooses  a selection of pictures  by scoring paintings based on a selection of keywords associated with them. so  for instance a whistler painting of a bridge may have the obvious keywords such as bridge and whistler associated to it but will also widen the search net with terms such as aesthetic movement  19th century and water. a variety of paintings will then be shown to the user  based partly on the keywords and partly on luck.  it is much more akin to wandering through the gallery   said jemima rellie  head of the tate s digital programme. for richard tateson  who worked on the artgarden project  the need for a new way to search grew out of personal frustration.  i went to an online clothes store to find something to buy my wife for christmas but i didn t have a clue what i wanted   he said. the text-based search was restricted to looking either by type of garment or designer  neither of which he found helpful. he ended up doing his present shopping on the high street instead.  he thinks the dominance of text-based searching is not necessarily appealing to the majority of online shoppers. similarly  with art  browsing is often more important than finding a particular object.  you don t arrive at tate britain and tell people what you want to see. one of the skills of showing off the collection is to introduce people to things they wouldn t have asked for   he said. the tate is committed to making its art more accessible and technology such as artgarden can help with that  said ms rellie. she hopes the technology can be incorporated on to the website in the near future. bt research is looking at extending the technology to other searching  such as for music and films.


japan bank shares up on link talk shares of sumitomo mitsui financial (smfg)  and daiwa securities jumped amid speculation that two of japan s biggest financial companies will merge.  financial newspaper nihon keizai shimbun claimed that the firms will join up next year and already have held discussions with japanese regulators. the firms denied that they are about to link up  but said they are examining ways of working more closely together. smfg shares climbed by 2.7% to 717 000  and daiwa added 5.3% to 740 yen.  combining smfg  japan s third-biggest lender  and daiwa  the country s second-largest brokerage firm  would create a company with assets of more than $1 000bn (£537bn). smfg president yoshifumi nishikawa said that the companies needed to bolster their businesses.  both companies need to strengthen retail and other operations   he said  adding that  it s an issue we have in common . daiwa said that  although it is true that the two groups have been engaging in various discussions to enhance cooperation  there are no plans to enter into negotiations to consolidate the two businesses . analysts said that consolidation in japan s financial sector was likely to continue and that it was likely to have a positive impact on earnings.  cross-selling opportunities between banks and brokers are increasing thanks to deregulation  so we can expect the relationship to get even stronger   said heronry nozaki  an analyst at nikkocitigroup. the merger  would be a good move   he added.


uganda bans vagina monologues uganda s authorities have banned the play the vagina monologues  due to open in the capital  kampala this weekend.  the ugandan media council said the performance would not be put on as it promoted and glorified acts such as lesbianism and homosexuality. it said the production could go ahead if the organisers  expunge all the offending parts . but the organisers of the play say it raises awareness of sexual abuse against women.  the play promotes illegal  unnatural sexual acts  homosexuality and prostitution  it should be and is hereby banned   the council s ruling said.  the show  which has been a controversial sell-out around the world  explores female sexuality and strength through individual women telling their stories through monologues. some parliamentarians and church leaders are also siding with the media council  uganda s new vision newspaper reports.  the play is obscene and pornographic although it was under the guise of women s liberation   mp kefa ssempgani told parliament.  but the work s author  us playwright eve ensler  says it is all about women s empowerment.  there is obviously some fear of the vagina and saying the word vagina   ms ensler told the bbc.  it s not a slang word or dirty word it s a biological  anatomical word.  she said the play is being produced and performed by ugandan women and it is not being forced on them. the four ugandan ngos organising the play intended to raise money to campaign to stop violence against women and to raise funds for the war-torn north of the country.  i m extremely outraged at the hypocrisy   the play s organiser in uganda  sarah mukasa  told the bbc s focus on africa programme.  i m amazed that this country uganda gives the impression that it is progressive and supports women s rights and the notions of free speech; yet when women want to share their stories the government uses the apparatus of state to shut us up.


sport betting rules in spotlight a group of mps and peers has called for a tightening of regulations controlling betting on sport.  the parliamentary group on betting and gaming held a substantial inquiry into betting last year. it followed fears that a massive increase in betting on sport  such as that done using the internet and mobile phones  has led to more cheating. the all-party group recommended 15 ways to protect punters and improve the integrity of sports betting. they include a proposal for raising the maximum jail sentence for gambling cheats above the current two years. lord condon  head of the international cricket council s anti-corruption unit  who originally made the call for longer prison sentences  said the two-year penalty was  derisory .  you could get a bigger sentence for failing to pay your hotel bill criminally than you could for corruption in major sports.  symbolically  a higher penalty  perhaps as the bill passes through the two houses  might be appropriate.   the report recommended the governing bodies of sports have a say in the type of bets offered to punters  and for bookmakers to set up  audit trails  - something the new betting exchanges already do - to allow suspicious betting patterns to be traced.  lord faulkner of worcester  who chaired the inquiry  said:  whilst we accept that the greater part of sports betting is neither corrupt nor unfair to punters  the evidence convinces us that the growth of betting exchanges - because of the facility they provide to bet against a result - has increased the potential for corruption.  it is important that the government works with sporting administrators to review the difficulties faced by governing bodies in convicting the guilty and penalising them appropriately.  the panel s aim was to try to define what constitutes cheating  assess how much might be going on and suggest what the government might do to put it right. as well as the growth of internet and mobile phone betting  there has been the creation of betting exchanges which allow punters to fix odds between themselves. betting exchanges allow punters to back (to win) but also lay (to lose) a horse. this means they can control their odds at winning by placing their money both ways.


blues slam blackburn over savage birmingham have confirmed blackburn made a bid for robbie savage - but managing director karen brady has called it  derisory .  rovers have reportedly offered £500 000 up front for the wales star  30  with the fee rising to £2.2m. but brady told the sun the bid was  a waste of fax paper and my time . she added:  the way things are going all this could affect the relationship between the clubs. they ve got into robbie s head. but he s not for sale.  savage s future at birmingham has been the source of speculation for several weeks  with some fans criticising his performances for the club earlier in the season. however  good displays against west brom and aston villa have impressed blues fans.  the crowd gave me a massive standing ovation when i came off on saturday which was nice   he said.  it was fantastic even though i was criticised by a number of them in recent weeks and on saturday it showed how much i mean to them.  it s not for me to say (about transfer rumours)  it s between the two clubs.  i haven t created the speculation myself  i haven t phoned every national newspaper saying   blackburn are trying to buy me . it s not up to me.  birmingham manager steve bruce insists he does not want to sell savage.  a lot is said and written about sav but he has been terrific for birmingham city the last two and a half years   he said.   the fans love him because he epitomises them. he works hard  they like people like that and there are not many like him.  and why the hell should i sell him to someone else  i am not interested.


nortel in $300m profit revision telecoms equipment maker nortel networks has sharply revised downwards its profits for the 2003 fiscal year.  in a long-awaited filing  nortel said it had made $434m (£231m)  compared to the previously reported $732m. but the figures - revised after an audit which led to the sacking of the canadian firm s chief - showed revenue was about 4% higher than first thought. nortel shares  which have lost nearly 50% of their value since last year  climbed 1.46% in toronto on tuesday. nortel s head frank dunn and two other executives were fired in january last year after the company announced it had conducted the internal audit. securities and police authorities in both the us and canada are still conducting inquiries into the accounts.  nortel also issued new figures for the 2001-2002 period  which they had previously indicated had understated losses.  with the completion of our restatements we have a solid foundation on which to move forward with our business   said nortel president and chief executive bill owens.  the restatement has been a monumental task  both complex and demanding.  the company also said 12 senior executives - none of whom were involved directly in the accounting of the revised figures - have voluntarily agreed to repay to bonuses awarded in 2003 totalling $8.6m. nortel added:  these members of the core executive team share the board s deep disappointment over the circumstances that led to the restatement.


gm  ford cut output as sales fall us car firms general motors (gm) and ford have been forced to cut production in the face of falling car sales.  us sales at gm sank 12.7% in february compared to a year ago while ford sales dropped 3% as foreign rivals took a bigger share of the market. meanwhile  asian carmakers fared well - toyota sales jumped 11% while rival nissan notched up a 10% increase. overall. sales across the industry also fell to 1.25 million vehicles from 1.27 million a year earlier.  gm and ford blamed high fuel prices for low sales of big trucks and gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles (suvs) - the vehicles that provide the biggest profits.  gm added that us truck sales fell 9% in february while car business tumbled 17%  however it did acknowledge that some new products - such as the pontiac g6 and chevrolet cobalt - had put in solid performances.  the calendar year is starting off slower than expected  both for gm and the industry   said mark laneve  gm s vice president for north american sales  service and marketing. the slump in sales prompted the group to cut production in north america by 3% - it has already reduced output by around 9% in the face of growing stockpiles. meanwhile  ford which posted its ninth consecutive drop in monthly us sales  said it was cutting first-quarter north american production by another 10 000 vehicles  or 1.2%. chrysler  the us unit of germany s daimlerchrysler  was the only detroit based automaker to boast an increase in market share during the month - with sales rising 8%.  but america s loss was its foreign rivals  gain as they continued to nibble away at the us market. while japan s top car maker toyota and nissan saw sales accelerate  even the smaller suzuki motor corp snapped up a more business with sales improving 17.6% on a year ago. in 2003  the firm launched an ambitious plan to triple us sales by 2007 as it seeks to become a bigger player in the asian assault on the us market. korea s hyundai was another big gainer  turning in a 19% surge in february sales. toyota put its rise in sales down to strong results for its redesigned avalon sedan and a 120% surge in sales of its gas-electric prius hybrid mid-size sedan as petrol-price conscious consumers looked to vehicles that were cheaper to run.  as gas prices continue their upward march  fuel efficiency catches the public eye   jim press  vice president and chief operating officer of toyota s us sales arm  said in a statement.


juninho demand for o neill talks juninho s agent has confirmed that the player is hoping for talks with martin o neill as the brazilian midfielder comes closer to departing celtic.  brian hassell says no official approach has been received from manchester city but that the english club had been earmarked as a possible destination. but it was being stressed to bbc sport that juninho would prefer to remain with the scottish champions. juninho wants assurances that he will return to o neill s first-team plans. he has become frustrated with his lack of first-team action since his move from middlesbrough in the summer. hassel says juninho  who has just bought a new home  would  desperately like to stay at celtic  but will seek a move if it is made clear that he is not wanted.  the agent also stressed that nothing should be read into the 30-year-old s father being in scotland and talk of a move back to botafogo in brazil. juninho s father was simply in the country to see his son and grandchildren.  i know there is interest from a brazilian club  but i know juninho doesn t want to go there   said hassel.  he wants to stay in britain. in fact  he wants to stay at celtic.  hassall made it clear that a move to manchester city  who are badly in need of a midfield play-maker  was more of a possibility than botafogo  or mexican outfit red sharks veracruz  who also expressed an interest.  it was a thought at one stage   he said.  if you are not going to get a game under one manager  you look for another whose style of play suits you.  he is a fan of kevin keegan s style of play. it would not be a bad move for him.  juninho had earlier told the daily record:  the manager has had a lot of chances to put me in his team but it hasn t happened.  if that is the case then this is the opportunity for me to go. that would be good for the club and good for me.  if i have no part in his plans  there is no point in remaining here waiting for a chance that never comes.  the attacking midfielder also claims he has not had the backing of boss martin o neill since his move to celtic park.  i can t understand why i am in this situation   he continued.  when a manager brings a new player to the club  he gives that player support.


t-mobile bets on  pocket office  t-mobile has launched its latest  pocket office  third-generation (3g) device which also has built-in wi-fi - high-speed wireless net access.  unlike other devices where the user has to check which high-speed network is available to transfer data  the device selects the fastest one itself. the mda iv  released in the summer  is an upgrade to the company s existing smartphone  the 2.5g/wi-fi mda iii. it reflects the push by mobile firms for devices that are like mini laptops. the device has a display that can be swivelled and angled so it can be used like a small computer  or as a conventional clamshell phone. the microsoft mobile phone  with two cameras and a qwerty keyboard  reflects the design of similar all-in-one models released this year  such as motorola s mpx.  one in five european workers are already mobile - meaning they spend significant time travelling and out of the office   rene obermann  t-mobile s chief executive  told a press conference at the 3gsm trade show in cannes. he added:  what they need is their office when they are out of the office.  t-mobile said it was seeing increasing take up for what it calls  office in a pocket  devices  with 100 000 mdas sold in europe already.  in response to demand  t-mobile also said it would be adding the latest phone-shaped blackberry to its mobile range. reflecting the growing need to be connected outside the office  it announced it would introduce a flat-fee £20 ($38) a month wi-fi tariff for people in the uk using its wi-fi hotspots. it said it would nearly double the number of its hotspots - places where wi-fi access is available - globally from 12 300 to 20 000.  it also announced it was installing high-speed wi-fi on certain train services  such as the uk s london to brighton service  to provide commuters a fast net connection too. the service  which has been developed with southern trains  nomad digital (who provide the technology)  begins with a free trial on 16 trains on the route from early march to the end of april. a full service is set to follow in the summer. wi-fi access points will be connected to a wimax wireless network - faster than wi-fi - running alongside the train tracks. brian mcbride  managing director of t-mobile in the uk  said:  we see a growing trend for business users needing to access e-mail securely on the move.   we are able to offer this by maintaining a constant data session for the entire journey.  he said this was something other similar in-train wi-fi services  such as that offered on gner trains  did not offer yet. mr obermann added that the mobile industry in general was still growing  with many more opportunities for more services which would bear fruit for mobile companies in future. thousands of mobile industry experts are gathered in cannes  france  for the 3gsm which runs from 14 to 17 february.


uk heading wrong way  says howard tony blair has had the chance to tackle the problems facing britain and has failed  michael howard has said.   britain is heading in the wrong direction   the conservative leader said in his new year message. mr blair s government was a  bossy  interfering government that takes decisions that should be made by individuals   he added. but labour s campaign spokesman fraser kemp responded:  britain is working  don t let the tories wreck it again . mr howard also paid tribute to the nation s character for its generous response to the asian quake disaster. the catastrophe was overshadowing the hopes for the future at this usually positive time of the year  mr howard said.   we watched the scenes of destruction with a sense of disbelief. the scale  the speed  the ferocity of what happened on boxing day is difficult to grasp.  yet britain s response has shone a light on our nation s character. the last week has shown that the warm  caring heart of britain beats as strong as ever.  he went on to reflect on the values that  most britons hold dear . looking ahead to the coming general election  he pledged to  turn these beliefs into reality  and set out the choices he says are facing britain.  how much tax do people want to pay  who will give taxpayers value for money  the clean hospitals and good  disciplined schools they want   who can be trusted to get a grip on the disorder on our streets and the chaos in our immigration system    mr blair has failed to tackle these problems  he claimed  saying he has the  wrong solution  to them.   the result is big government and higher taxes eroding incentives  undermining enterprise and denying people choice.  worst of all  it is a government that has wasted people s money and failed to tackle the problems families face today.  the tories  he said  can cut crime and improve public services without asking people to pay more taxes.  we can have progress without losing what makes britain great - its tolerance  the respect for the rule of law  the ability of everyone to fulfil their potential.  we simply need to change direction. the election will give britain the chance to change.  this is the record mr blair will have to defend in the coming months  he said  urging voters to hold him to account.  but labour spokesman mr kemp said:  it would be more appropriate for this message to come out on 1 april  not 1 january.   let us never forget that when michael howard was in government britain suffered mass unemployment  15% interest rates  record home repossessions  and the introduction of the poll tax.  with labour britain is working. rather than alluding to false promises michael howard should be starting 2005 with an apology to the british people for the misery that the government  of which he was a member  inflicted upon the country.


nuclear strike  key terror risk  the uk and us must realise they cannot prevent all terror attacks and should focus on making sure they are not nuclear strikes  says a top academic.  amitai etzioni  a key influence on new labour thinking  says the us emphasis on an  axis of evil  is misplaced. the priority should instead be on  failing states   including russia and pakistan  who cannot properly control their nuclear material  he argues. his report demands a major overhaul of world rules on nuclear technology.  professor etzioni was a senior adviser to president carter s white house and is the guru behind communitarian ideas which influenced the development of blairite third way politics. in a report for the foreign policy centre think tank  he says a nuclear terrorist attack is the main danger faced by many nations.   attempts to defend against it by hardening domestic targets cannot work  nor can one rely on pre-emption by taking the war to the terrorists before they attack   he says. that means there is an urgent need to curb terrorists  access to nuclear arms and the materials used to make them.  we must recognise that we will be unable to stop all attacks and thus ensure terrorists will not be able to strike with weapons of mass destruction   prof etzioni continues.  he suggests so-called rogue states such as iran and north korea are less of a problem than  failed and failing states   which are more likely to be a source of nuclear materials. he names russia as the  failing state  of gravest concern as it has an estimated 90% of all fissile material outside america. and he is also worried about pakistan after one of its top nuclear scientists  abdul qadeer khan  admitted leaking nuclear secrets. prof etzioni criticises the us for overlooking those reports  suggesting it was done in return for pakistani help in hunting osama bin laden.  this is like letting a serial killer go because he promised to catch some jay-walkers   he says.    - upgrading security at nuclear arms stores as a temporary measure   - creating a new global safety authority to tackle nuclear terrorism  using the intelligence links established in the wake of 11 september - backed by the united nations  authority   - encouraging  pressuring and using  all available means  to persuade countries to switch their highly-enriched uranium for less dangerous less-enriched uranium   - when possible  taking fissile material away from failing states to safe havens where it can be blended down or converted   - compelling  failing and rogue states   and eventually all states  to destroy their nuclear bombs.


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


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


tv s future down the phone line internet tv has been talked about since the start of the web as we know it now.  but any early attempts to do it - the uk s home choice started in 1992 - were thwarted by the lack of a fast network. now that broadband networks are bedding down  and it is becoming essential for millions  the big telcos are keen to start shooting video down the line. in the face of competition from cable companies offering net voice calls  they are keen to be the top iptv dogs. software giant microsoft thinks iptv - internet protocol tv - is the future of television  and it sits neatly with its vision of the  connected entertainment experience .  telcos have been wanting to do video for a long time   ed graczyk  director of marketing for microsoft iptv  told the bbc news website.  the challenge has been the broadband network  and the state of technology up until not so long ago did not add up to a feasible solution.  compression technology was not efficient enough  the net was not good enough. a lot of stars have aligned in the last 18 months to make it a reality.   last year  he said  was all about deal making and partnering up; shaping the  iptv ecosystem . this year  those deals will start to play out and more services will come online.  2006 is where it starts ramping up and expanding to other geographies - over time as broadband becomes more prevalent in south america  and other parts of asia  it will expand   he added. what telcos really want to do is to send the  triple-play  of video  voice  and data down one single line  be it cable or dsl (digital subscriber line). some are talking about  quadruple play   too  with mobile services added into the mix. it is an emerging new breed of competition for satellite and cable broadcasters and operators. according to technology analysts  tdg research  there will be 20 million subscribers to iptv services in under six years.  key to the appeal of sending tv programmes down the same line as the web data  whenever a viewer wants it  is that it uses the same technology as the internet. it means there is not just a one-way relationship between the viewer and the  broadcaster . this allows for more dvd-like interactivity  limitless storage and broadcast space  bespoke channel  playlists   and thousands of hours of programmes or films at a viewer s fingertips. it potentially lets operators target programmes to smaller  niche or localised audiences  sending films to bollywood fans for instance  as well as individual devices.  operators could also send high-definition programmes straight to the viewer  bypassing the need for a special broadcast receiver. perhaps most compelling - yet some might say insignificant - is instantaneous channel flicking. currently  there is a delay when you try to do this on satellite  cable or freeview. with iptv  the speed is 15 milliseconds.  that gets rounds of applause   according to mr graczyk. microsoft is one of the companies that started thinking about iptv some time ago.  we believe this will be the way all tv is delivered in the future - but that is several years away   said mr graczyk.  as with music  tv has moved to digital formats.  the things software can do to integrate media into devices means a whole new generation of connected entertainment experiences that cross devices from the tv  to the mobile  to the gaming console and so on.  the company intends its microsoft s iptv edition software  an end-to-end management and delivery platform  to let telcos to do exactly that  seamlessly. it has netted seven major telcos as customers  representing a potential audience of 25 million existing broadband subscribers. its deal with us telco sbc was the largest tv software deal to date  said mr graczyk.  iptv is about more than telcos  though. there are several web-based offerings that aim to put control in the hands of the consumer by exploiting the net s power. jeremy allaire  chief of brightcove  told the bbc news website that it would be a flavour of iptv that was about harnessing the web as a  channel .   it is not just niches  but about exploiting content not usually viewed   he said.  we are focussed on the owners of video content who have rights to digitally distribute content  and who often see unencumbered distribution.  for them to do it through cable and so on is price-prohibitive   he said. this type of iptv service might also be a distribution channel for more established publishers who have unique types of content that they cannot offer through cable and satellite operators - history channel archives  for instance. what is a clear sign that iptv has a future is that microsoft is not the only player in the field. there are a lot of other  middleware  players providing similar management services as microsoft  like myrio and c-cor. but it will up to the viewer to decide if it really is to be successful.


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


markets fall on weak dollar fears rising oil prices and the sinking dollar hit shares on monday after a finance ministers  meeting and stern words from fed chief alan greenspan.  the london ftse fell 0.8% while tokyo s nikkei 225 dropped 2.11%  its steepest fall in three months. g20 finance ministers said nothing about supporting the dollar  whose slide could further jeopardise growth in japan and europe. and mr greenspan warned asian states could soon stop funding the us deficit.  on monday afternoon  the euro was close to an all-time high against the dollar at above $1.30. oil pushed higher too on monday  as investors fretted about cold weather in the us and europe and a potential output cut from oil producers  group opec  although prices had cooled by the end of the day. in london  the benchmark brent crude price closed down 51 cents at $44.38 a barrel  while new york light sweet crude closed down 25 cents at $48.64 a barrel. the slide comes as the us has been attempting to talk up the traditional  strong dollar  policy.  the latest to pitch in has been president george w bush himself  who told the asia pacific economic co-operation (apec) summit in chile that he remained committed to halving the budget deficit. together with a $500bn trade gap  the red ink spreading across america s public finances is widely seen as a key factor driving the dollar lower. and last week us treasury secretary john snow told an audience in the uk that the policy remained unaltered. but he also said that the rate was entirely up to the markets - a signal which traders took as advice to sell the dollar. some had looked to the g20 meeting for direction. but mr snow made clear exchange rates had not been on the agenda.  for the us government  letting the dollar drift is a useful short-term fix.  us exports get more affordable  helping perhaps to close the trade gap. in the meantime  the debt keeps getting bigger  with congress authorising an $800bn rise in what the us can owe - taking the total to $8.2 trillion. but in a speech on friday  federal reserve chairman alan greenspan warned that in the longer term things are likely to get tricky. at present  much of gap in both public debt is covered by selling bonds to asian states such as japan and china  since the dollar is seen as the world s reserve currency. similarly  asian investment helps bridge the gap in the current account - the deficit between what the us as a whole spends and what it earns. but already they are turning more cautious - an auction of debt in august found few takers. and mr greenspan said that could turn into a trend  if the fall of the dollar kept eating into the value of those investments.  it seems persuasive that  given the size of the us current account deficit  a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point   he said.


domain system scam fear a system to make it easier to create website addresses using alphabets like cyrillic could open a back door for scammers  a trade body has warned.  the internationalised domain names system has been a work in progress for years and has recently been approved by the internet electronic task force. but the uk internet forum (ukif) is concerned that the system will let scammers create fake sites more easily. the problem lies in the computer codes used to represent language.  registering names that look like that of legitimate companies but lead users to fake sites designed to steal passwords and credit card details could become a whole lot easier for determined scammers  says stephen dyer  director of ukif. domain names are the  real language  addresses of websites  rather than their internet protocol address  which is a series of numbers. they are used so people can more easily navigate the web. so-called ascii codes are used to represent european languages but for other languages a hybrid of a system called unicode is used. so  for example  website paypal could now be coded using a mixture of the latin alphabet and the russian alphabet. the resulting domain as displayed to the users would look identical to the real site as a russian  a  look just like an english  a . but the computer code would be different  and the site it would lead users to could be a fake. this is more than just a theory. a fake paypal.com has already been registered with net domain giant verisign by someone who has followed the debate around the internationalised domain name (idn) system  said mr dyer. as the idea was to prove a point rather than be malicious the fake domain has now been handed back to paypal but it sets a worrying precedent  mr dyer said.  although the idn problem is well known in technical circles  the commercial world is totally unaware how easily their websites can be faked   said mr dyer.   it is important to alert users that there is a new and invisible and almost undetectable way of diverting them to what looks like a perfectly genuine site   he added. there are solutions. for instance  browsers could spot domains that use mixed characters and display them in different colours as a warning to users. mr dyer acknowledged that it would be a huge undertaking to update all the world s browsers. another solution  to introduce idn-disabled browsers could be a case of  throwing out the baby with the bath water   he said. centr  the council of european national top level domain registries  agrees.  a rush to introduce idn-disabled browsers into the marketplace is an overly-zealous step that will harm public confidence in idns - a technology that is desperately needed in the non-english speaking world   the organisation said in a statement.


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


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


vera drake scoops film award oscar hopefuls mike leigh and imelda staunton were both winners at the 2004 evening standard british film awards.  vera drake - leigh s 1950s drama about a backstreet abortionist - was named best film and staunton  who played the title role  was named best actress. other winners included paddy considine  who was crowned best actor for his role in dead man s shoes. bridget jones: the edge of reason was named evening standard readers  film of 2004 at the central london ceremony.  leigh was presented with his winner s statuette by timothy spall and staunton s award was announced by patrick stewart  during the glittering ceremony at the savoy on sunday night. evening standard film critic derek malcolm said:  he [leigh] has never made a film that is better controlled and technically more secure... if this isn t one of the films of the year  i don t know what is.  the alexander walker special award - which honours those who have made a supreme contribution to british film - went to tim bevan and eric fellner  the co-chairmen of working title films. the production company is behind films such as my beautiful laundrette  billy elliot  about a boy  shaun of the dead and bridget jones: the edge of reason.  simon pegg  who stars in and co-wrote shaun of the dead  won the 2004 peter sellers award for comedy. other winners included emily blunt and nathalie press who were jointly named itv london most promising newcomer award for their performances in pawel pawlikowski s rites-of-passage story  my summer of love. pawlikowski won the best screenplay statuette  while roger deakins won the technical achievement award for his cinematography on the village and the ladykillers. guests at the ceremony included dame judi dench  kim cattrall  charles dance  bill nighy and colin firth. the awards  which were hosted by jack dee  are to be screened on itv london on tuesday at 2300 gmt.


robots learn  robotiquette  rules robots are learning lessons on  robotiquette  - how to behave socially - so they can mix better with humans.  by playing games  like pass-the-parcel  a university of hertfordshire team is finding out how future robot companions should react in social situations. the study s findings will eventually help humans develop a code of social behaviour in human-robot interaction. the work is part of the european cogniron robotics project  and was on show at london s science museum.   we are assuming a situation in which a useful human companion robot already exists   said professor kerstin dautenhahn  project leader at hertfordshire.  our mission is to look at how such a robot should be programmed to respect personal spaces of humans.   the research also focuses on human perception of robots  including how they should look  and how a robot can learn new skills by imitating a human demonstrator.  without such studies  you will build robots which might not respect the fact that humans are individuals  have preferences and come from different cultural backgrounds   professor dautenhahn told bbc news online.  and i want robots to treat humans as human beings  and not like other robots   she added.  in most situations  a companion robot will eventually have to deal not only with one person  but also with groups of people. to find out how they would react  the hertfordshire cogniron team taught one robot to play pass-the-parcel with children.  showing off its skills at the science museum  the unnamed robot had to select  approach  and ask different children to pick up a parcel with a gift  moving it arm as a pointer and its camera as an eye. it even used speech to give instructions and play music. however  according to researchers  it will still take many years to build a robot which would make full use of the  robotiquette  for human interaction.  if you think of a robot as a companion for the human being  you can think of 20 years into the future   concluded professor dautenhahn.  it might take even longer because it is very  very hard to develop such a robot.   you can hear more on this story on the bbc world service s go digital programme.


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


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


fast lifts rise into record books two high-speed lifts at the world s tallest building have been officially recognised as the planet s fastest.  the lifts take only 30 seconds to whisk passengers to the top of the 508m tall tfc 101 tower in taipei  taiwan. the guinness book of records has declared the 17m per second speed of the two lifts the swiftest on earth. the lifts also have a pressure control system to stop passengers  ears popping as they ascend and descend at high speed.  in total  the tfc tower has 61 lifts  34 of them double-deckers  and 50 escalators to shuttle people around its 106 floors. the tfc 101 tower is due to be officially opened on 31 december.  the super-fast lifts can speed up to 24 passengers to the tip of the tower in about 30 seconds  while ascending their 382m track. the 17m/s top speed of the lifts translates to about 38mph (61km/h). curiously the lifts take longer to descend and spend almost a whole minute returning to ground level from the top of the tfc tower. the key new technologies applied in the world s fastest elevators include:    - a pressure control system  which adjusts the atmospheric pressure inside a car by using suction and discharge blowers  preventing  ear popping    - an active control system which tries to balance the lift more finely and remove the sources of vibrations   - streamlined cars to reduce the whistling noise produced by running the lifts at a high speed inside a narrow shaft      the certification of our elevators as world record-holders by the authoritative guinness world records is a great honour for us   said masayuki shimono  president of manufacturer toshiba elevator and building systems which installed the lifts. the first record for the world s fastest passenger elevators was published in the first edition of the guinness book of records in 1955.  as such  it is an interesting indicator of how technology has advanced in the 50 years since that first edition  when the record was 426m per minute  or 25.6 km/h  less than half the speed of the new record   said hein le roux  specialist researcher at the guinness world records. taipei s tfc 101 tower is more than 50m taller than the petronas towers in kuala lumpur  malaysia - formerly the world s tallest skyscraper.


research fears over kelly s views scientists have expressed concerns that new education secretary ruth kelly s religious views could hamper vital scientific research.  ms kelly  who is catholic  is reported to be  pro-life  and has opposed embryo research. medical research council professor nancy rothwell said ms kelly s views mattered as she was responsible for training future scientists. the department for education and skills would not comment on the concerns.  a spokeswoman said:  it is not news that ms kelly is a catholic but we are not going into any details on this.  but she added that claims ms kelly was in charge of a £1bn university research budget were not true. it was down to the higher education funding council and the research councils to decide on universities  research allocations. british law is open to the cloning of human embryos to create stem cells  master cells that can develop into all the body s tissue types. this cloning activity is not permitted for reproductive purposes - only for research into new disease treatments. however  it is controversial because it involves the destruction of embryos.  professor rothwell  who is also vice-president of research at manchester university  told the times higher education supplement it would worry her  a great deal  if ministers were anti-stem cell. she said:  the views of ministers in the dfes do matter as they are responsible for training the next generation of scientists.  you can t have a higher education policy that is at odds with the government s science policy.  head of developmental genetics at the national institute of medical research  professor robin lovell-badge  said he had witnessed the confused situation in the us where many religious groups opposed the practice. he said:  if someone as senior as ruth kelly is not going to favour stem cell research we will end up with a similarly schizophrenic system in this country. it is very worrying.  but fertility expert lord winston said he thought it was  rather good  ministers held ethical views. concerns have also been raised by  pro-choice  organisations that ms kelly s views might affect sex education policy in schools.  family planning association chief executive  anne weyman  said teaching pupils about contraception and abortion were key.  young people must be informed about all the issues within sexual health  which include contraception and abortion.  i think it is very important that the government maintains its commitment to the teenage pregnancy strategy.  currently  individual schools devise their own sex education policies based on a framework provided by the dfes. ms kelly has not set out her detailed views on either issue yet  but has said she intends to put parents first in education policy. this would include the quality of teaching  classroom discipline and academic standards in schools  she said.


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


singapore growth at 8.1% in 2004 singapore s economy grew by 8.1% in 2004  its best performance since 2000  figures from the trade ministry show.  the advance  the second-fastest in asia after china  was led by growth of 13.1% in the key manufacturing sector. however  a slower-than-expected fourth quarter points to more modest growth for the trade-driven economy in 2005 as global technology demand falls back. slowdowns in the us and china could hit electronics exports  while the tsunami disaster may effect the service sector.  economic growth is set to halve in singapore this year to between 3% and 5%. in the fourth quarter  the city state s gross domestic product (gdp) rose at an annual rate of 2.4%. that was up from the third quarter  when it fell 3.0%  but was well below analyst forecasts.  i am surprised at the weak fourth quarter number. the main drag came from electronics   said lian chia liang  economist at jp morgan chase. singapore s economy had contracted over the summer  weighed down by soaring oil prices. the economy s poor performance in the july to september period followed four consecutive quarters of double-digit growth as singapore bounced back strongly from the effects of the deadly sars virus in 2003.


poll explains free-kick decision referee graham poll said he applied the laws of the game in allowing arsenal striker thierry henry s free-kick in sunday s 2-2 draw with chelsea.  keeper petr cech was organising his defensive wall when henry s quick free-kick flew in  which angered chelsea.  the whistle doesn t need to be blown. i asked henry  do you want a wall  . he said  can i take it please   he was very polite. i said  yes    said poll.  i deal with the laws of the game. i deal with fact.  poll added:  i gave the signal for him to take it. that s what he did.  the same thing happened when i refereed chelsea against west ham in an fa cup replay two years ago - when jimmy floyd hasselbaink scored - and i don t remember them complaining about that.  henry explained why he paused before striking the ball for the goal  which put arsenal 2-1 ahead.  henry told bbc radio five live:  the ref asked me if i wanted 10 yards or if i wanted to take it straight away and i said that i wanted to take it straight away. he said to me   go .  it looks a bit strange because i took my time. i was waiting for eidur gudjohnsen to move and give me some space.  at one point  he turned and that s when i tried it.  former referees  chief philip don backed poll s decision to allow the strike.  the advantage should go to the non-offending team. on this occasion it was arsenal   don told bbc radio five live.  referees have been told to ask the player  do you want to take the quick free-kick   or  do you want me to get the wall back 9.15 metres    if they say  quick   the referee tends to move away and allow the kick.  don was head of the referees for the premier league and revealed all clubs were informed of free-kick options.  we spoke to all the premier league clubs as well as all the football league clubs in the summer of 2003 explaining what the situation was   he added  we gave them the option of either the quick free-kick or the  ceremonial  free-kick. players and clubs were aware of what referees were doing.


bellamy under new fire newcastle boss graeme souness has reopened his dispute with craig bellamy after claiming the welshman was  not good enough  for the magpies. bellamy left newcastle to join celtic on loan after a major row with souness. souness - who refused to refer to the 25-year-old by name - said bellamy did not score enough goals  the chap that s just gone has scored 9.3 goals a season in his time in senior football - half of those weren t even in the top flight   said souness.  that s not good enough for a striker at a club like this.  we need to have two strikers who are near 20 goals on a regular basis.   bellamy turned down a move to birmingham in favour of joining celtic after a disagreement about the welsh international playing out of position quickly escalated. earlier in the week  souness had said that he risked losing the confidence of the players and damaging his own reputation if he had not taken a hard line after bellamy accused him of lying.   there are certain things you can forgive and forget   said souness.  but if i d been seen to be weak in this case there was no future for me with the players in the dressing room or any job i have after newcastle.  he could then return to st james  park - and he says that he wants to. however  it would seem unlikely he will play for newcastle again as long as souness remains in charge.


moreno debut makes oscar mark catalina sandino moreno has joined a rare group of actresses who have been nominated for an oscar for starring in a foreign language film.  the colombian-born actress was the final hope for director joshua marston  who scoured the us and colombia for a lead for maria full of grace. the film sees the 23-year-old play a teenage drug mule who smuggles heroin by swallowing pellets in condoms. plaudits have been raining down on her for her gritty performance  making it all the more surprising that this is her first film. her previous acting experience was in amateur productions in her home city of bogota at the ruben di pietro theatre academy. she has already received a nomination for the independent spirit awards leading actress category but these rarely overlap with academy awards  instead recognising quirkier  low-budget films. and at the 2004 berlin film festival the jury could not choose between her and charlize theron s oscar winning performance in monster so gave them a tied award. sandino moreno is now being regarded as one of the most promising actresses around at the moment. but she is taking her time committing to her next project  hoping to land a strong spanish script and would love to be able to work with directors pedro almodovar or alejandro amenabar.


de niro film leads us box office film star robert de niro has returned to the top of the north american box office with his film hide and seek.  the thriller shot straight to the number one spot after taking $22m (£11.7m) at the box office. de niro recently spent three weeks at the top with comedy meet the fockers  which was at number five this week. oscar hopefuls the aviator  million dollar baby and sideways all cashed in on their multiple nominations with stronger ticket sales.  in hide and seek  de niro plays a widower whose daughter has a creepy imaginary friend. despite lukewarm reviews from critics  the film took more than the expected $18m (£9.5m).  the element of a real actor in a psychological thriller certainly elevated it   said bruce snyder  president of domestic distribution at 20th century fox. clint eastwood s million dollar baby led the oscar hopefuls with $11.8m (£6.3m)  coming in at number three during its first weekend of wide release. the aviator  a film biography of howard hughes that leads the oscar field with 11 nominations  was at number six for the weekend with $7.5m (£4m). oscar best-picture nominee sideways entered the top ten for the first time in its 15th week of release. it came in seventh $6.3 (£3.35m). last week s top film  ice cube s road-trip comedy are we there yet   slipped to second place with $17m (£9m)  while coach carter fell two places to number four  taking $8m (£4.25m) in its third week. rounding out the top ten were in good company - starring dennis quaid and scarlett johansson - racing stripes and assault on precinct 13.


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


uk  world s biggest music buyer  uk consumers are the biggest music buyers in the world  according to new figures released on tuesday by the british phonographic industry (bpi).  but global sales of recorded music were flat in 2004  with growing sales in dvd music videos offset by online and physical piracy in major markets. the uk music industry recorded an overall 3% increase in volume sales  mostly due to its robust albums market. however  world music sales declined by 1.3% to $33.6 billion (£17.7 billion). the uk cd albums market grew by 4.5% in 2004 with a record 174.6 million units sold. on average every briton buys 3.2 cds per person per year.  around 26 000 albums are released in the uk each year  making britain second only to the us in terms of the number of releases. overall sales were driven by new uk-signed artists such as keane  katie melua and scissor sisters  whose debut album sold almost 1.6 million copies in the uk.  a slew of great new british artists have met uk music fans  demand for great music   said bpi chairman peter jameson. the best-selling album globally was usher s confessions - one of eight albums to sell more than five million copies in 2004.  the growth in the dvd market and a sharp increase in sales of digital music ensured a strong market in the us. the total number of tracks downloaded last year were up more than tenfold on 2003. digital sales in the us in the first two months of 2005 are already more than double that of the same period in 2004.  however  some markets in continental europe and asia - notably sweden  finland  france  spain and south korea - have been drastically hit by internet piracy. australia  italy and the netherlands also saw a decline.  on the positive side digital sales are booming   said john kennedy  chief executive of the international federation of phonographic industries (ifpi).  however  commercial piracy and illegal file-sharing are continuing to depress our markets.  the priority in the coming year is to step up the advance of legitimate digital sales and sustain our anti-piracy efforts.   the main choice today s music fan now has to make is whether to get music legally or illegally   added mr jameson.


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


golden rule boost for chancellor chancellor gordon brown has been given a £2.1bn boost in his attempts to meet his golden economic rule  which allows him to borrow only for investment.  the extra leeway came after the office for national statistics said it had been measuring road expenditure data wrongly over the past five years. it comes just weeks ahead of the budget and an expected general election. shadow chancellor oliver letwin said:  at best the timing of these changes is very convenient for the government.   a review by the ons found it had made a mistake by  double counting  some spending on roads since 1998/9. correcting the error would mean reducing current expenditure and increasing net investment  thus helping mr brown to meet his  golden rule  of borrowing only to invest over the economic cycle. economists speculated that it might also allow for some vote-catching measures in the budget.  the changes by the ons increase the current budget measure for the past five years by £2.1bn in total. mr letwin said:  this is a very murky area... there will inevitably be suspicions that the figures are being fiddled.  the conservatives also said mr brown would still be forced to raise taxes after the general election to fill an annual £10.5bn  black hole  in the nation s coffers. but the treasury said there would be no relaxation of economic discipline and the golden rule would be met even without the data revisions.  in january the independent institute for fiscal studies (ifs) said mr brown would need to raise taxes to get public finances onto the track predicted in last year s budget. it also said the government might narrowly miss its  golden rule  if the current economic cycle ended in 2005/06. after the ons announcement  economists said there could also be a proportionate boost to the current budget in 2004/05 of about £400m.  none of this changes the big picture of a dramatic deterioration in the overall fiscal position over the last four or five years   said jonathan loynes  chief uk economist at capital economics.  accordingly  it seems very likely that some form of fiscal consolidation will be required in due course.


gerrard happy at anfield liverpool captain steven gerrard has reiterated his desire to stay at anfield and win trophies with the club.  the 24-year-old england midfielder is determined to see out his contract  despite reported interest from chelsea. he said:  i m signed here for this season and another two so there is no situation. there s a lot of speculation but that s not down to me.  as club captain all i want to do is help us get back up the table and into the champions league again.  gerrard looked set to move to chelsea during the summer and speculation of a switch to stamford bridge has again arisen  with the january transfer window approaching. he raised doubts about his reds future when he said he wanted the club to prove they were title challengers in the very near future or he might leave. liverpool boss rafael benitez has insisted that gerrard has promised him he wants to stay at anfield. benitez said:  i said to steven that i was sure he wanted to stay here and he said  i do .   i then said to him  look  if you want to win titles  you want medals and you want liverpool to have these things then i am going to need your help .  i really think he wants to stay so now what we must do is make the squad stronger for him.  meanwhile  gerrard has urged the anfield board to sign real madrid striker fernando morientes in the january transfer window. morientes  28  has already expressed a willingness to come to england. gerrard added:  he s a great player. he scores goals in the league  in cup competitions and also in the champions league.  i don t think he d be able to play for us in europe this season but if we are able to get hold of him  we d be getting ourselves a great player.   he d have spanish coaches  a spanish manager and we have got three or four spanish players here now so they ll help him settle in.  rafael benitez knows what he wants and he knows how to strengthen the squad he s got and if the right players become available at the right price i am sure we will strengthen.  it would certainly be nice to see a few new faces in january to freshen things up.


us airways staff agree to pay cut a union representing 5 200 flight attendants at bankrupt us airways have agreed to a new contract that cuts pay by nearly 10%.  the deal will help the carrier  trying to survive by cutting costs by nearly $1bn (£530m) a year  save about $94m. more than two thirds of its 28 000 staff have now accepted wage cuts. but talks are still continuing with a union representing mechanics  baggage handlers and cleaners  which has so far failed to negotiate a new contract. the seventh largest carrier in the us sought bankruptcy protection for a second time in two years last september. it had been one of the quickest to deal with difficulties faced by the aviation industry after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. but it emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy in march 2003 to face competition from low-cost carriers and higher fuel costs. us airways management has said it may need to start liquidating assets if it does not receive concessions from all staff by the middle of this month.


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


honda wins china copyright ruling japan s honda has won a copyright case in beijing  further evidence that china is taking a tougher line on protecting intellectual property rights.  a court ruled that chongqing lifan industry group must stop selling honda brand motorbikes and said it must pay 1.47m yuan ($177 600) in compensation. internationally recognized regulation is now a key part of china s plans for developing its economy  analysts said. beijing also has been threatened with sanctions if it fails to clamp down.  chinese firms copy products ranging from computer software and spark plugs to baby milk and compact discs. despite the fact that product piracy is a major problem  foreign companies have only occasionally won cases and the compensation awarded has usually been small. still  recent rulings and announcements will have boosted optimism that attitudes are changing. earlier this week china said that in future it will punish violators of intellectual property rights with up to seven years in jail. and on tuesday  paws incorporated - the owner of the rights to garfield the cat - won a court battle against a publishing house that violated its copyright. other firms that have taken legal action in china  with varying degrees of success  include yamaha  general motors and toyota.  the problem of piracy is not limited to china  however  and the potential for profit is huge. the european union estimates that the global trade in pirated wares is worth more than 200bn euros a year (£140bn; $258bn)  or about 5% of total world trade. and it is growing. between 1998 and 2002  the number of counterfeit or pirated goods intercepted at the eu s external borders increased by more than 800%  it said. last month the eu said it will start monitoring china  ukraine and russia to ensure they are going after pirated goods. other countries on the eu s hit list include thailand  brazil  south korea and indonesia. any countries that are not making enough of an effort could be dragged to the world trade organisation (wto)  a step that could trigger economic sanctions  the eu warned.


us bank  loses  customer details the bank of america has revealed it has lost computer tapes containing account details of more than one million customers who are us federal employees.  several members of the us senate are among those affected  who could now be vulnerable to identity theft. senate sources say the missing tapes may have been stolen from a plane by baggage handlers. the bank gave no details of how the records disappeared  but said they had probably not been misused. customers  accounts were being monitoring and account holders would be notified if any  unusual activity  was detected  bank officials said.  bank of america said the tapes went missing in december while being shipped to a back-up data centre.  we  with federal law authorities  have done a very robust  thorough investigation on this and neither we nor they would make the statement lightly that we believe those tapes to be lost   alexandra tower  a spokeswoman for the north carolina-based bank  told time magazine. but although there was no evidence of criminal activity  the bank said  the secret service - a federal agency whose brief includes investigations of serious financial crime - is said to be looking into the loss. new york senator charles schumer said he was told by the senate rules committee that the tapes were probably stolen from a commercial plane.  whether it is identity theft  terrorism  or other theft  in this new complicated world baggage handlers should have background checks and more care should be taken for who is hired for these increasingly sensitive positions   the democrat senator said. details of his vermont colleague pat leahy s credit card account are among those missing  senator leahy s spokeswoman tracy schmaler said. about 900 000 military and civilian staff at the defence department are among the 1.2 million affected  according to a pentagon spokesman.