radcliffe eyes hard line on drugs paula radcliffe has called for all athletes found guilty on drugs charges to be treated as criminals.  the marathon world record holder believes more needs to be done to rid athletics of the  suspicions and innuendoes  which greet any fast time.  doping in sport is a criminal offence and should be treated as such   the 30-year-old told the sunday times.  it not only cheats other athletes but also cheats promoters  sponsors and the general public.   radcliffe s comments come at a time when several american sports stars are under suspicion of steroid use.  being caught in possession of a performance-enhancing drugs should carry a penalty   she added.   the current system does not detect many of the substances being abused by athletes.  this means that often athletes do not know if they are competing on a level playing field  if their hard work and sacrifice is being trumped by an easier scientific route.  often  when an athlete puts in a good performance  they are subjected to suspicions and innuendoes instead of praise.  having been on the receiving end of accusations like this i can testify as to how much this hurts.


gm pays $2bn to evade fiat buyout general motors of the us is to pay fiat 1.55bn euros ($2bn; £1.1bn) to get out of a deal which could have forced it to buy the italian car maker outright.  fiat had sold gm a stake in 2000  as part of a partnership agreement. but fiat s heavy losses have convinced gm - whose own european operations are in the red - to back away. the pay-off means the two firms will unwind joint ventures  but fiat will keep supplying diesel engines and the money will allow it to reduce its debt. fiat s shares on the milan stock exchange rose 4.5% by 0900 gmt to 6.2 euros  having shot up more than 7% in early trading.  we now have absolute freedom to design our own future   said fiat chief executive sergio marchionne.  analysts said fiat seemed to have done well out of the deal  although some predictions had expected a 2bn euro pay-off. fiat is to get 1bn euros immediately  with another 550m to follow within 90 days. the firm is italy s largest private employer  and a failure to reach an agreement could have had severe consequences for thousands of workers and for the italian economy. for its part  gm was keen to ward off any criticism that the deal had been a mistake.   we needed scale in europe to get costs down  and we were able to do that in working with fiat   said gm chief executive rick wagoner.  the fiat-gm alliance came about in 2000 as an alternative to selling fiat outright. german-us car firm daimlerchrysler had been willing to buy the firm  but fiat patriarch gianni agnelli did not want to give up control. instead  gm swapped a 6% stake in itself for 20% of fiat - and gave fiat a  put option  to sell gm the rest of the car maker between january 2004 and july 2009. but despite the alliance fiat failed to put itself back on track  continuing to lose money and market share. as a result  the sell-off looked better and better for the italians - and much worse for gm  which is struggling with its own loss-making european marques opel and saab. the relationship soured further after fiat sold half its finance arm and recapitalised in 2003  halving gm s stake to 10%.


williams battles to aussie title serena williams staged a remarkable recovery to beat lindsay davenport and win her second australian open title.  the 2003 champion claimed her seventh grand slam title  and her first since wimbledon in 2003  2-6 6-3 6-0. williams had looked close to quitting with a rib injury when she left the court for treatment after five games. she quickly dropped the first set but from 3-3 in the second found another gear as davenport s game collapsed  allowing williams to take the title. williams later explained her injury problem  saying it was the result of lunging for a ball early in the first set.  lindsay had me on the run out wide on my backhand and my back went but eventually i was able to come back  thank goodness   she said. davenport paid tribute to williams  saying:  she s had a tough couple of years and she s come back like a champion.   the 23-year-old former world number one was in desperate trouble in the early stages as the injury hampered her service action. davenport took advantage to race through the opening set and held six break points in game five of the second.  i kept thinking to myself  i m not losing this game   said williams afterwards.   i don t care if my arm falls off  i m not losing this game . and i guess that s what happened.  i didn t want to lose that particular game because it would have given her a lot of momentum  and a lot of confidence.  despite letting the break points slip away davenport looked comfortable enough at 3-3  but from 40-0 up she just folded. williams won nine consecutive points for the set and powered through the decider as a lacklustre davenport looked to have run out of energy after a gruelling two weeks.  i felt like i was playing well and in control pretty much of the match   said davenport.  then i just had that horrible lapse  i think serving up 40-0  and made a few errors and opened up the door for her and she just kept going through it.  at the end i think i was a little bit fatigued but she took advantage of it and kept going - she s a great frontrunner when she gets going.


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


jones doping probe begins an investigation into doping claims against marion jones has been opened by the international olympic committee.  ioc president jacques rogge has set up a disciplinary body to look into claims by victor conte  of balco laboratories. jones  who says she is innocent  could lose all her olympic medals after conte said he gave her performance-enhancing drugs before the sydney olympics. but rogge said it was too early to speculate about that  hoping only that  the truth will emerge .  any decision on the medals would be taken by the ioc s executive board and could hinge on interpretation of a rule stating that olympic decisions can only be challenged within three years of the games closing. the sydney olympics ended more than four years ago  but world anti-doping agency chief dick pound said the rule may not apply because the allegations are only coming out now.  we will find a way to deal with that   pound said. in a statement released through her attorney rich nichols  jones repeated her innocence and vowed she would be cleared.  victor conte s allegations are not true and the truth will be revealed for the world to see as the legal process moves forward   she said.  conte is someone who is under federal indictment and has a record of issuing contradictory  inconsistent statements.


cebit fever takes over hanover thousands of products and tens of thousands of visitors make cebit the place to be for technology lovers.   welcome to cebit 2005  was the message from the pilot as we landed  the message on flyers at the airport  and the message on just about every billboard in town. cebit fever has taken over hanover. hotels have been booked out for months; local people are letting out rooms in their homes to the hoards of exhibitors  visitors  and journalists. cebit itself is huge  the exhibition site could almost be classified as a town in its own right.  there are restaurants  shops  and a bus service between the halls - of which there are 27. there are more than 6 000 companies here  showing their latest products. the list of them that i was given when i came in is the size and weight of a phone book. one of the mains themes this year is the digital home  and one of the key buzzwords is convergence.  the  entertainment pc  is being billed as the replacement for dvd players  stereos  telephones and computers - offering a one-box solution  wirelessly connected throughout a house. to show them off  one display has been modelled as a prototype  digital lifestyle home  by german magazine computer reseller news.  we wanted to show how this fits into a living room or workplace  to give people a feeling how it would work in their homes   said claudia neulling from the magazine. the house has webcams for security in each room  which can be called up on the high definition tv  connected to the pc in the living room.  that pc provides home entertainment  movies or music. it can also be linked to the car parked outside  which is kitted out with a processor of its own  along with a dvd player and cordless headphones for the kids in the back.  convergence for me is about how technology  the transfer of data  can do things that make it easier and more convenient for me as a consumer   said mark brailey  director of corporate marketing for intel.  the real challenge is to show people it s easier than they think  and fun.   he firmly believes that entertainment pcs are the future  but says they have to get past people s fears of frequent crashes and incompatibilities. that is something microsoft is trying to do too - its stand has computers running windows xp media centre edition 2005 for people to try out. mobile phones do not escape the convergence theme. samsung is showing off its sgh-i300  a handset with a three gigabyte hard drive  that can be used to watch compressed video or as an mp3 player. and if you would rather watch live tv than a downloaded movie nec is showing a phone  on sale in china  which can show analogue tv on its colour screen.   i think the most probable application is at somewhere like the train station - if you want to check the status of the soccer game for example  said koji umemoto  manager of mobile terminals marketing for nec. he admitted that the signal quality is not very good if you are on the move  and they do not have plans to launch it in europe at the moment. nokia was happy to demonstrate its 6230i  an upgrade to the very popular 6230.  it now has a 1.3 megapixel camera  and a music player that can handle multiple formats  rather than just mp3s. it is also compatible with nokia s new visual radio technology. the handset can receive fm broadcasts  and the user can interact with compatible broadcasts using a gprs connection  to take part in competitions or get extra information such as the name of the song playing. most companies are reluctant to show prototypes  preferring to display products that are already on sale  or just about to hit the market.  portable media player firm creative showed off a new wireless technology  based on magnetic inductance rather than radio - a system some hearing aids use.  the benefits over conventional bluetooth are the lack of interference  and longer battery life   said riccardo de rinaldini  creative s european marketing manager. the firm has a prototype headset linked up to a zen micro player. the transmitter on the player creates a private  magnetic  bubble  around the user  which is picked up by the headset. the range is only about one metre so it is only suitable for personal use. a single aaa battery is said to last up to 30 hours. creative expects it to hit the market in its final form later this year. even clothing is likely to be part of the convergence trend. adidas has a trainer which  according to susanne risse from the company  can  sense  understand  and adapt to your running style . it has a battery  processor  and motor embedded in the sole. buttons on the side allow you to set the amount of cushioning you would like by adjusting the tension on a cable running through the heel. the processor then monitors the surface you are running on  and adjusts the tension accordingly. it is being billed as  the world s first intelligent shoe .


tindall wants second opinion england centre mike tindall is to seek a second opinion before having surgery on a foot injury that could force him to miss the entire six nations.  the bath player was already out of the opener against wales on 5 february because of a hand problem.  mike had a specialist review on a fracture in his right mid foot   said england doctor simon kemp.  before a final decision is made on surgery... medical teams have decided he should see a second specialist.   england coach andy robinson is already without centre will greenwood and flanker richard hill while fly-half jonny wilkinson is certain to miss at least the first two games. robinson is expected to announce his new-look england line-up on monday for the match at the millennium stadium. and newcastle s 18-year-old centre mathew tait is set to stand in for tindall alongside club team-mate jamie noon.  meanwhile  tindall is targeting a return to action before the end of the regular zurich premiership season on 30 april. he will also aim to be back to full fitness before the lions tour to new zealand this summer.


mobile multimedia slow to catch on there is no doubt that mobile phones sporting cameras and colour screens are hugely popular.  consumers swapping old phones for slinkier  dinkier versions are thought to be responsible for a 26% increase in the number of phones sold during the third quarter of 2004  according to analysts gartner more than 167 million handsets were sold globally between july and september 2004  a period that  according to gartner analyst carolina milanesi is  seldom strong . but although consumers have mobiles that can take and send snaps  sounds and video clips few  so far  are taking the chance to do so.  in fact  the numbers of people not taking and sending pictures  audio and video is growing. figures gathered by continental research shows that 36% of british camera phone users have never sent a multimedia message (mms)  up from 7% in 2003. this is despite the fact that  during the same period  the numbers of camera phones in the uk more than doubled to 7.5 million. getting mobile phone users to send multimedia messages is really important for operators keen to squeeze more cash out of their customers and offset the cost of subsidising the handsets people are buying. the problem they face  said shailendra jain  head of mms firm adamind  is educating people in how to send the multimedia messages using their funky handsets.   also   he said   they have to simplify the interface so its not rocket science in terms of someone understanding it.  research bears out the suspicion that people are not sending multimedia messages because they do not know how to. according to continental research  29% of the people it questioned said they were technophobes that tended to shy away from innovation. only 11% regarded themselves as technically savvy enough to send a picture or video message. the fact that multimedia services are not interoperable across networks and phones only adds to people s reluctance to start sending them  said mr jain.  they ask themselves:  if i m streaming video from one handset to another will it work    he said.  there s a lot of user apprehension about that.   there are other deeper technical reasons why multimedia messages are not being pushed as strongly as they might. andrew bud  executive chairman of messaging firm mblox  said mobile phone operators cap the number of messages that can be circulating at any one time for fear of overwhelming the system.  the rate we can send mms into the mobile network is fairly constant   he said. the reason for this is that there are finite capacities for data traffic on the second generation networks that currently have the most users.  no-one wants to take the risk of swamping these relatively narrow channels so the number of mms messages is capped  said mr bud. this has led to operators finding other technologies  particularly one known as wap-push  to get multimedia to their customers. but when networks do find a good way to get multimedia to their customers  the results can be dramatic. israeli technology firm celltick has found a way to broadcast data across phone networks in a way that does not overwhelm existing bandwidth. one of the first firms to use the celltick service is hutch india  the largest mobile firm in the country. the broadcast system gets multimedia to customers via a rolling menu far faster than would be possible with other systems. while not multimedia messaging  such a system gets people used to seeing their phones as a device that can handle all different types of content. as a result 40% of the subscribers to the hutch alive  which uses celltick s broadcast technology  regularly click for more pictures  sounds and images from the operator.  operators really need to start utilising this tool to reach their customers   said yaron toren  spokesman for celltick. until then  multimedia will be a message that is not getting through.


s korean credit card firm rescued south korea s largest credit card firm has averted liquidation following a one trillion won ($960m; £499m) bail-out.  lg card had been threatened with collapse because of its huge debts but the firm s creditors and its former parent have stepped in to rescue it. a consortium of creditors and lg group  a family owned conglomerate  have each put up $480m to stabilise the firm. lg card has seven million customers and its collapse would have sent shockwaves through the country s economy.  the firm s creditors - which own 99% of lg card - have been trying to agree a deal to secure its future for several weeks. they took control of the company in january when it avoided bankruptcy only through a $4.5bn bail-out.  they had threatened to delist the company  a move which would have triggered massive debt redemptions and forced the company into bankruptcy  unless agreement was reached on its future funding.  lg card will not need any more financial aid after this   laah chong-gyu  executive director of korea development bank - one of the firm s creditors - said.  the agreement will see some 12 trillion won of debt converted into equity.  the purpose of the capital injection is to avoid delisting and the goal will be met   david kim  an analyst at sejong securities  told reuters. south korea s consumer credit market has been slowly recovering from a crisis in 2002 when a credit bubble burst and millions of consumers fell behind on their debt repayments. lg card returned to profit in september but needed further capital to avoid being thrown off the market. south korea s stock exchange can delist any firm if its debt exceeds its assets two years running.


moya sidesteps davis cup in 2005 carlos moya has chosen not to help spain try and defend the davis cup crown they won in seville in november.  moya led spain to victory over the usa but wants to focus on the grand slams in 2005  although insists he will return to the davis cup in 2006.  after two years of total commitment with the davis cup team... i have taken this difficult decision to concentrate on the regular circuit   said moya.  they know that after this season they can count on me again if they so wish.  the 1998 french open champion is determined to make an impact in the major events after spending much of the last eight years in the top 10.  at the age of 29 i have set some tough goals in my professional career and this season i need to fix my objectives on specific dates and tournaments   he said.  since the davis cup in seville i have been working on my condition as well as technical and medical aspects of my game which will allow me to come into the big events of the year in top form.   moya began 2005 with victory in the chennai open on sunday.


prodigy monfils blows away gaudio french prodigy gael monfils underlined his huge promise by beating french open champion gaston gaudio 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the first round of the qatar open.  the 18-year-old wild card won three of the four junior grand slam events last year  including wimbledon. fabrice santoro  the 2000 champion  beat sweden s thomas johansson 6-4 6-2 but fourth seed mikhail youzhny lost 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to rafael nadal. roger federer plays greg rusedski in the second round on wednesday. monfils  who was given a wildcard into the tournament  said:  this is my first win over a top 10 player and i am delighted.  i play my best tennis when i am fired up on the court and the reason i won today was because i was able to play my natural  attacking game   he said.  of course i was a bit tired in the second set. but i was confident i could survive had there been a third set.


yukos owner sues russia for $28bn the majority owner of embattled russian oil firm yukos has sued the russian government for $28.3bn (£15.2bn).  the kremlin last year seized and sold yukos  main production arm  yugansk  to state-run oil group rosneft for $9.3bn to offset a massive back tax bill. group menatep  the gibraltar-based holding company which controls 51% of yukos  says this was illegal. menatep has already asked rosneft to repay a $900m loan that yugansk had secured on its assets.  the russian government s argument for selling yuganskneftegaz - the unit s full name - was that yukos owed more than $27bn in back taxes for the years from 2000 onwards. it accused the firm of using a web of offshore firms to avoid its tax liabilities  and the courts sent in bailiffs to freeze yukos accounts and seize yugansk.  but critics say the sell-off  and the assault on yukos  finances  are part of an attempt to bring the energy industry back under state control. according to menatep  the government s actions were contrary to the 1994 energy charter treaty  which was designed to regulate disagreements over energy investments.  we have warned the russian government about their continuing attacks against yukos  its personnel and its shareholders and we have warned any buyer of yuganskneftegaz that they would face a lifetime of litigation   said tim osborne  a director of group menatep.  the time for warning is over and actions to recover the value of our losses begin in earnest today.   menatep said the value of its yukos shareholding had gone from $17.8bn to  virtually nothing  since 2003 as a result of the russian government s action  as its shares have fallen 97%. according to its paris lawyer  emmanuel gaillard of shearman and sterling  the overall claim is based on that figure  with a 60% addition for the share gains that could have accrued since then. arbitration of the lawsuit could take place in stockholm or the hague  mr gaillard said. while russia has signed the charter  it has never ratified it - which some experts say could make it difficult for menatep to press its case. but mr gaillard told bbc news that the charter came into effect on signature  not ratification.  russia has said in the past that it is bound by it  so as to attract foreign investors   he said.  yukos is still waiting to see what will happen to its filing in a us court for bankruptcy protection. it took the action to try to prevent the forced sale of yugansk - first 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. mr khodorkovsky  currently facing fraud and tax evasion charges of his own  was one of the founders of menatep. he has since signed over his shareholding to one of his fellow investors.


new browser wins over net surfers the proportion of surfers using microsoft s internet explorer (ie) has dropped to below 90%  say web analysts.  net traffic monitor  onestat.com  has reported that the open-source browser firefox 1.0  released on 9 november  seems to be drawing users away from ie. while ie s market share has dropped 5% since may to 88.9%  mozilla browsers - including firefox - have grown by 5%. firefox is made by the mozilla foundation which was set up by former browser maker netscape in 1998. although there have been other preview versions of firefox  version 1.0 was the first complete official program.  it seems that people are switching from microsoft s internet explorer to mozilla s new firefox browser   said niels brinkman  co-founder of amsterdam-based onestat.com.  mozilla browsers - including firefox 1.0 - now have 7.4% of the market share  the figures suggest. mozilla said that more than five million have downloaded the free software since its official release. supporters of the open-source software in the us managed to raise $250 000 (£133 000) to advertise the release of firefox 1.0 in the new york times  and support the mozilla foundation. there was a flurry of downloads on its first day of release.  the figures echo similar research from net analyst websidestory which suggested that ie had 92.9% of users in october compared to 95.5% in june. microsoft ie has dominated the browser market for some time after taking the crown from netscape  and its share of users has always stayed at around the 95% mark. firefox is attractive to many because it is open-source. that means people are free to adapt the software s core code to create other innovative features  like add-ons or extensions to the program. fewer security holes have also been discovered so far in firefox than in ie. paul randle  microsoft windows client product manager  responded to the figures:  we certainly respect that some customers will choose alternative browsers and that choosing a browser is about more than a handful of features.  microsoft continues to make significant investments in ie  including service pack 2 with advanced security technologies  and continues to encourage a vibrant ecosystem of third party add-ons for internet explorer.  firefox wants to capture 10% of the market by the end of 2005. other browser software  like opera and apple s safari  are also challenging microsoft s grip on the browser market. opera is set to release its version 7.60 by the end of the year. onestat.com compiled the statistical measurements from two million net users in 100 countries.


williams says he will never quit defiant matt williams says he will not quit as scotland coach even if his side slump to a new low with defeat by italy at murrayfield.  that would leave the scots as favourites to win the wooden spoon for the second year running.  i have never quit anything in my life  apart from maybe painting the kitchen   he told bbc sport.  the support we have been given from murrayfield in my whole time here has been 100%.  williams has yet to experience an rbs six nations victory after seven attempts and scotland have lost 12 of their 14 games under his leadership. but he rejected the comparison made in some media sources with berti vogts  recently sacked as scotland football manager after a poor run of results.   how can a german football coach and an australian rugby coach have anything in common   he asked.  it is a bizarre analogy. it is so absurd that it borders on the humorous.  williams insists that he is revelling in the pressure  despite the possibility of a second six nations series without a victory.  that is not beyond the realms of possibility   he admitted.  there s nothing much between the teams  so we could win the next three games or lose them.  but i actually really enjoy seeing how you cope with such pressure as a coach.  it helps the team grow and helps you grow as a coach.  we could have won in paris but for the last five minutes and now we have two defeats  but we were confident for those two first games and we are confident we can beat italy too.


how to make a greener computer the hi-tech industry is starting to get more environmentally aware. bill thompson thinks it s about time.  my first car ran on four star petrol and pumped vast quantities of lead into the atmosphere as i drove around cambridge. now you can t buy petrol with lead additives  and we re all better off as a result. chip giant intel recently began shipping computer circuit boards that are lead free too  reflecting a growing awareness on the part of the technology industry that products have to be designed and built in more environmentally friendly ways.  apart from reducing the use of toxic materials like arsenic  mercury  cadmium and other heavy metals in the products themselves  the manufacturing process is also being cleaned up  with fewer complex and potentially damaging organic chemicals used as solvents. and work is going into making power supplies that are more energy efficient  since current transformers are astonishingly wasteful as they charge our laptops  mobiles and music players.  one of the key aspects of the new approach is to design products that are easier to recycle. if you have got a phone or a computer with toxic chemicals or heavy metals in it then extracting them can be tricky and expensive. a well-designed electronic component is able to be recycled at low cost. this is going to be very important to hardware manufacturers in europe since from august the new waste electronic and electrical equipment directive will oblige them to accept returned products for recycling.  they will end up paying if they build things that are expensive or impossible to take apart and will find their profits hit  something which is likely to motivate them where appeals to the wider public interest might fall on deaf ears. it is  as they say  about time. we have a long and depressing history of developing new technologies with complete disregard for their potential impact on the environment  and waiting until there is a crisis looming before we try to redesign them to cause less damage. the car engine is a case in point: lead additives helped stop petrol vapour exploding too early in the cylinder  a phenomenon called  knocking   so they were simply used without any real thought for the fact that the lead would end up in the atmosphere. redesigning engines and making petrol slightly different was a lot more work  so it took decades before it was done. we re seeing the same thing in the technology industry and  as a result  there are billions of devices  from old mobile phones to antique handhelds  that will have to be recycled in years to come. if apple gets its way then a lot of people are going to be buying a new mac mini and throwing away their old pc  keeping the monitor and other peripherals.  even if apple does not get its way  four or five-year-old computers are not good enough to run modern programs and it s not unreasonable to replace them. but what do we do with the old ones   i ve just looked around my office and i find two monitors  an old 386 pc  two old handhelds  three ancient laptops  four antique mobile phones  a collection of rechargeable batteries and even a sun workstation that is no longer really much use. they are all old enough to be hazardous waste - the monitors alone will be full of arsenic and lead - but it s possible that some of the components could be useful. i could take them up the to the council recycling centre  but it s a 10-mile drive away across town  and like many other people my commitment to recycling is shallow at best. here in cambridge we have green bins for compostable waste  a box for glass  cans and paper that can be recycled  and a black bin for the rest. there are bottle banks and clothing banks scattered around town and in supermarket car parks. would it be too much to ask for an electronics recycling box too  i d probably remember to take my old mobile with me to the supermarket and drop it in a box - at least eventually.  bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.


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


hewitt falls to dent lleyton hewitt suffered a shock defeat to taylor dent in the quarter-finals of the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide on friday.  the top seed was a strong favourite for the title but went down 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to the american. dent will face juan ignacio chela next after the fourth seed was too strong for jurgen melzer. olivier rochus beat third seed nicolas kiefer 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 and will take on second seed joachim johansson. the swede reached the last four by beating compatriot thomas enqvist 6-3 4-6 6-1.  i felt like i was striking the ball much better   said johansson.  i felt like i had a lot of break chances  i didn t take care of them all  but i broke him four times and he only broke me once.  i felt that was the key to get up in the set early.


s&n extends indian beer venture the uk s biggest brewer  scottish and newcastle (s&n)  is to buy 37.5% of india s united breweries in a deal worth 4.66bn rupees ($106m:£54.6m).  s&n will buy a 17.5% equity stake in united  maker of the well-known kingfisher lager brand  and make a public offer to buy another 20% stake. a similar holding will be controlled by vijay mallya  chair of the indian firm. the deal was a  natural development  of its joint venture with united  said tony froggatt  s&n s chief executive.  its top brands include newcastle brown ale  foster s  john smith s  strongbow and kronenbourg. in 2002 s&n and united agreed to form a strategic partnership  one that would include a joint venture business and a uk investment in the indian brewer. the joint venture was established in may 2003. with both parties having a 40% stake in the venture - millennium alcobev. millennium alcobev will now be merged with united  which expects post-merger to have about half of india s beer market.  india  with a population of more than one billion  consumes about 1.2 billion bottles of beer every year. kingfisher has market share of about 29%. in addition to the equity stake s&n is to invest 2.47bn rupees in united through non-convertible redeemable preference shares. meanwhile  united s budget airline  kingfisher airlines  is to buy 10 a320 aircraft from airbus and has the option to buy 20 more aircraft in a deal worth up to $1.8bn. the airline  the brainchild of mr mallya  expects to start its operations by the end of april. the new airline would break even in the very first year of operation  mr mallya said.


moore questions captaincy brian moore believes the england captain should not be a full-back.  jason robinson has led the team during their opening three defeats in the six nations tournament  in the absence of fly-half jonny wilkinson. the world champions have struggled since the retirement of former captain martin johnson  a lock forward. and former england captain moore told the bbc:  full-backs are too far away from the action. that s not a reflection on robinson personally.  he added:  i just think the point of influence needs to move closer to the pack - which is  after all  where games usually start and finish.  moore says a lack of cohesion in the forwards is one of the reasons why england have lost against wales  france and ireland in this year s tournament.  assertiveness in the pack isn t there  we re not getting enough people into the breakdowns   he explained.  wer e not getting quick ball  which means the backs are being stifled. their creativity depends on quick ball and we re not getting that.   with injuries depriving him of key players like wilkinson  coach andy robinson has given youngsters such as harry ellis and jamie noon a chance. and moore believes the last two games against italy and scotland are a good opportunity to experiment further.  the problem is the players that are around to replace the icons which have been lost because of retirement and injury don t have the requisite experience   moore added.  you can t do anything about that but play them. there are players who have been knocking on the door  it s time for them to be looked at in these last two games because there s nothing on them.  we then go into next season with a greater certainty of who can and cannot handle the pressure of international rugby.


italy 17-28 ireland two moments of magic from brian o driscoll guided ireland to a workmanlike victory against italy.  a pair of classic outside breaks from the ireland captain set up tries for geordan murphy and peter stringer. italy led 9-8 early in the second half but stringer s try gave ireland a lead they never lost. the hosts cut the gap to 18-12 with 10 minutes left and nearly scored through ludovico nitoglia  but denis hickie s try ensured an irish victory. italy came flying out of the blocks and took the lead through a luciano orquera penalty after seven minutes.  it could have been better for the hosts but the fly-half missed two kickable penalties and ireland drew level with a ronan o gara penalty midway through the first half. the italians were driving at the heart of the irish defence and  for the first quarter  the irish pack struggled to secure any ball for their talented backs.  when they finally did  just before the half-hour mark  o driscoll promptly created a sparkling try for murphy. the ireland captain ran a dummy scissors and made a magical outside break before drawing the full-back and putting the diving murphy in at the corner. o gara missed the twice-taken conversion and the visitors found themselves trailing once again. roland de marigny took over the kicking duties for italy from the hapless orquera  and he landed a penalty either side of the break to edge italy into a 9-8 lead.  the only ireland player offering a real threat was o driscoll  and it was his break that set up the second try for the visitors. shane horgan threw an overhead pass as he was about to be forced into touch and stringer scooted over  with o gara landing the tricky conversion. a penalty apiece saw ireland leading 18-12 as the game entered the final quarter  but they were lucky to survive when italy launched a series of attacks. winger nitoglia dropped the ball as he reached for the line and italy nearly rumbled over from a driving maul.  an o gara penalty put ireland more than a converted try ahead and they made the game safe when hickie latched onto an inside pass from murphy and crossed for a converted try. o driscoll limped off late on  joining centre partner gordon d arcy on the sidelines  and the final word went to italy. prop martin castrogiovanni powered over for a try which was fitting reward for an italian pack which had kept the irish under pressure throughout.  de marigny; mi bergamasco  canale  masi  nitoglia; orquera  troncon; lo cicero  ongaro  castrogiovanni; dellape  bortolami; persico  ma bergamasco  parisse.  perugini  intoppa  del fava  dal maso  griffen  pozzebon  robertson.  murphy  horgan  o driscoll  d arcy  hickie  o gara  stringer  corrigan  byrne  hayes  o kelly  o connell  s easterby  leamy  foley.  sheahan  horan  o callaghan  miller  g easterby  humphreys  dempsey.  p o brien (new zealand)


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


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


microsoft debuts security tools microsoft is releasing tools that clean up pcs harbouring viruses and spyware.  the virus-fighting program will be updated monthly and is a precursor to microsoft releasing dedicated anti-virus software. also being released is a software utility that will help users find and remove any spyware on their home computer. although initially free it is thought that soon microsoft will be charging users for the anti-spyware tool.  the anti-spyware tool is available now and the anti-virus utility is expected to be available later this month. microsoft s windows operating system has long been a favourite of people who write computer viruses because it is so ubiquitous and has many loopholes that can be exploited. it has proved such a tempting target that there are now thought to be more than 100 000 viruses and other malicious programs in existence. latest research suggests that new variants of viruses are being cranked out at a rate of up to 200 per week. spyware is surreptitious software that sneaks on to home computers  often without users  knowledge. in its most benign form it just bombards users with pop-up adverts or hijacks web browser settings. the most malicious forms steal confidential information or log every keystroke that users make. surveys have shown that most pcs are infested with spyware. research by technology firms earthlink and webroot revealed that 90% of windows machine have the malicious software on board and  on average  each one harbours 28 separate spyware programs. before now microsoft has left the market for pc security software to specialist firms such as symantec  mcafee  trend micro and many others. it said that its virus cleaning program would not stop machines being infected nor remove the need for other anti-virus programs. on spyware freely available programs such as ad-aware and spybot have become widely used by people keen to keep the latest variants at bay. microsoft s two security tools have emerged as a result of acquisitions the company has made over the last two years. in 2003 it bought romanian firm gecad software to get hold of its anti-virus technology. in december 2004 it bought new york-based anti-spyware firm giant company software. last year microsoft also released the sp2 upgrade for windows xp that closed many security loopholes in the software and made it easier for people to manage their anti-virus and firewall programs.


isinbayeva heads for birmingham olympic pole vault champion yelena isinbayeva has confirmed she will take part in the 2005 norwich union grand prix in birmingham on 18 february.   everybody knows how much i enjoy competing in britain. i always seem to break records there   said isinbayeva.  as olympic champion there will be more attention on me this year  but hopefully i can respond with another record in birmingham.  kelly holmes and carolina kluft are among other athens winners competing. the organisers are hoping that isinbayeva s main rival  fellow russian svetlana feofanova  will also take part in the event. the pair had a thrilling battle in athens which ended with isinbayeva finally jumping a world record of 4.91m to claim the gold medal. isinbayeva  22  has set 10 world records in the pole vault  three of which have come on british soil.


halo 2 heralds traffic explosion the growing popularity of online gaming could spell problems for net service firms  warns network monitoring company sandvine.  it issued the warning following analysis which shows that traffic on the xbox game network increased fourfold on the launch day of halo 2. the 9 november traffic explosion has continued into december  said sandvine. service providers now need to make sure that their networks can cope with the increasing demands for bandwidth. as well as being a popular single-player title  halo 2 can be connected to microsoft s subscription-based broadband network  xbox live. gamers who want to play online can create their own clan  or team  and take on others to see how well they compare.  but the surge in numbers and huge demands for bandwidth should be a wake-up call to the industry which must ensure that their networks can cope with the increases in traffic  said sandvine s chief technology officer marc morin.  in a bid to cope and ease congestion  providers are increasingly making their networks intelligent  finding out who is using bandwidth and for what. it could become common to charge people for the amount of bandwidth they use.  the explosion in xbox live traffic attributed to halo 2 should be seen as a clarion call   he said.  isps need to enhance the broadband experience for these high-end users by prioritising or reserving bandwidth for games   he added.  one of the main factors that spoils online gaming is  lag  in which there is a noticeable delay between a gamer clicking on a mouse or keyboard and what happens in the online gaming world. gamers tend to migrate toward networks with the lowest  lag . analysing traffic will become increasingly important for service providers if they are to hold on to bandwidth-hungry gamers said lindsay schroth  an analyst with research firm the yankee group.  in the competitive broadband environment  operators need to differentiate the way they offer access to services like live-play gaming   she said. in countries such as korea  which has high levels of fast net connections to homes  online gaming is hugely popular.


murphy: that was a bruising battle that s what i call a tough game. it was very physical and fair play to the italians they made us work very hard for our victory.  their organisation was very  very good and they proved again that they are getting better and better as the years go by. it is by far the strongest italian team that we have faced. we knew all along that we would be a huge threat particularly the first game in the championship. it was not like the days gone by when you could get scores on the board early. we had to work our socks off and try and build our scores gradually. it was really hard work out there and the players have plenty of bumps and bruises to prove it. i m not too bad  but there are one or two others who will be feeling it a bit on monday morning. in the backs  we were not frustrated at such  but the new rucking laws were a little bit problematical. the different interpretations between the referee and the players was a little difficult. but we managed to get the ball in our hands and i got a try near the end of the first half. it s always good to score. it was great work by brian and i always knew i had scored even though it went upstairs to the video referee. eddie (o sullivan) was very calm at half-time even though we were only 8-6 ahead. he spelled out what we needed to do and advocated getting the ball out of our own territory.  that new ruck law made it a bit more difficult to get out of our own half. we were penalised a lot at the breakdown  and if they had kicked all their chances at goal we would have been behind at the break. so really we went back to playing a territory game and simplifying things and having more patience on the ball. every one was a little down after the game following the injuries to brian and gordon. as yet we do not know the full extent of the injuries  but it does not that good. now we have to focus on scotland and only six days to recover. it s a big ask after such a bruising encounter. i was very impressed the way the scots played against the french on saturday. it could so easily have gone their way but for a couple of decisions. we will be under no illusions it is going to be tough for us. in the meantime  when in rome ... .


ford gains from finance not cars ford  the us car company  reported higher fourth quarter and full-year profits on thursday boosted by a buoyant period for its car loans unit.  net income for 2004 was $3.5bn (£1.87bn) - up nearly $3bn from 2003 - while turnover rose $7.2bn to $170.8bn. in the fourth quarter alone ford reported net income of $104m  compared with a loss of $793m a year ago. but its auto unit made a loss. fourth quarter turnover was $44.7bn  compared to $45.9bn a year ago.  though car and truck loan profits saved the day  ford s auto unit made a pre-tax loss of $470m in the fourth quarter (compared to a profit of £13m in the year-ago period) and its us sales dipped 3.8%.  yesterday general motor s results also showed its finance unit was a strong contributor to profits. however  ford is working hard to revitalise its product portfolio  unveiling the fusion and zephyr models at the international motor show in detroit. it also brought out a number of new models in the second half of 2004.  in 2004  our company gained momentum  delivering...more new products  and more innovative breakthroughs  such as the escape hybrid  the industry s first full-hybrid sport utility vehicle   said chairman and chief executive officer bill ford.    we also confronted operating challenges with our jaguar brand and high industry marketing costs   he added. but ford declined to provide guidance for first quarter 2005. it will do so at a presentation in new york on 26 january. in addition  the company said 2004 net income was affected by a fourth-quarter pre-tax charge taken to reduce the value of a receivable owed to ford by visteon  a former subsidiary. recent new models introduced by ford include the ford five hundred and mercury montego sedans  the ford freestyle crossover  the ford mustang  the land rover lr3/discovery  and volvo s40 and v50 in north america and europe. total company vehicle unit sales in 2004 were 6 798 000  an increase of 62 000 units from 2003. fourth-quarter vehicle unit sales totalled 1 751 000  a decline of 133 000 units. for the full year  ford s worldwide automotive division earned a pre-tax profit of $850m  a $697m improvement from $153m a year ago.


hewitt falls to dent in adelaide lleyton hewitt suffered a shock defeat to taylor dent in the quarter-finals of the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide on friday.  the top seed was a strong favourite for the title but went down 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to the american. dent will face juan ignacio chela next after the fourth seed was too strong for jurgen melzer. olivier rochus beat third seed nicolas kiefer 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 and will take on second seed joachim johansson. the swede reached the last four by beating compatriot thomas enqvist 6-3 4-6 6-1.  i felt like i was striking the ball much better   said johansson.   i felt like i had a lot of break chances  i didn t take care of them all  but i broke him four times and he only broke me once.  i felt that was the key to get up in the set early.  hewitt played down his defeat and insisted he is focused solely on the australian open  which starts on 17 january.  when you ve been number one in the world for a couple of years and won a couple of slams  you look at the big picture and what motivates you   said hewitt.  that s the grand slams and melbourne s as big for me as any of the four. even if i don t win sydney next week it s no big deal.


ban on forced retirement under 65 employers will no longer be able to force workers to retire before 65  unless they can justify it.  the government has announced that firms will be barred from 2006 from imposing arbitrary retirement ages. under new european age discrimination rules  a default retirement age of 65 will be introduced. workers will be permitted to request staying on beyond this compulsory retirement age  although employers will have the right to refuse. trade and industry secretary patricia hewitt said people would not be forced to work longer than they wanted  saying the default age was not a statutory  compulsory retirement age. she said employers would be free to continue employing people for as long as they were competent.  under age discrimination proposals from the department of trade and industry last year workers were to be allowed to work on till 70 if they wished.  business leaders had opposed the plan as they said it would be too costly and cumbersome. the british chambers of commerce welcomed the latest proposal.  this move today is the best of both worlds   it said.  employers have the ability to define the end point of the employer-employee relationship and employees have flexibility with a right to request to work past the age of 65.  but age concern said imposing a retirement age of 65 was  cowardly  and a  complete u-turn .  this makes a mockery of the government s so-called commitment to outlawing ageism  leaving the incoming age discrimination law to unravel   said gordon lishman  director general of age concern england .  it is now inevitable that older people will mount legal challenges to the decision using european law.  the decision will have no impact on the age at which workers can collect their state pension  the government has said.


gamer buys $26 500 virtual land a 22-year-old gamer has spent $26 500 (£13 700) on an island that exists only in a computer role-playing game (rpg).  the australian gamer  known only by his gaming moniker deathifier  bought the island in an online auction. the land exists within the game project entropia  an rpg which allows thousands of players to interact with each other. entropia allows gamers to buy and sell virtual items using real cash  while fans of other titles often use auction site ebay to sell their virtual wares. earlier this year economists calculated that these massively multi-player online role-playing games (mmorpgs) have a gross economic impact equivalent to the gdp of the african nation of namibia.   this is a historic moment in gaming history  and this sale only goes to prove that massive multi-player online gaming has reached a new plateau   said marco behrmann  director of community relations at mindark  the game s developer.  the virtual island includes a gigantic abandoned castle and beautiful beaches which are described as ripe for developing beachfront property. deathifier will make money from his investment as he is able to tax other gamers who come to his virtual land to hunt or mine for gold. he has also begun to sell plots to people who wish to build virtual homes.  this type of investment will definitely become a trend in online gaming   said deathifier. the entopia economy lets gamers exchange real currency into ped (project entropia dollars) and back again into real money. ten peds are the equivalent to one us dollar and typical items sold include iron ingots ($5) and shogun armour ($1.70) gamers can theoretically earn money by accumulating peds through the acquisition of goods  buildings  and land in the entropia universe. mmorpgs have become enormously popular in the last 10 years with hundreds of thousands of gamers living out alternate lives in fantasy worlds. almost 200 000 people are registered players on project entropia.


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


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


court rejects $280bn tobacco case a us government claim accusing the country s biggest tobacco companies of covering up the effects of smoking has been thrown out by an appeal court.  the demand for $280bn (£155bn) - filed by the clinton administration in 1999 - was rejected in a 2-1 decision. the court in washington found that the case could not be brought under federal anti-racketeering laws. among the accused were altria group  rj reynolds tobacco  lorillard tobacco  liggett group and brown and williamson. in its case  the government claimed tobacco firms manipulated nicotine levels to increase addiction  targeted teenagers with multi-billion dollar advertising campaigns  lied about the dangers of smoking and ignored research to the contrary.  prosecutors wanted the cigarette firms to surrender $280bn in profits accumulated over the past 50 years and impose tougher rules on marketing their products. but the court of appeals for the district of columbia ruled that the us government could not sue the firms under legislation drawn up to counteract mafia infiltration of business. the tobacco companies deny that they illegally conspired to promote smoking and defraud the public. they also say they have already met many of the government s demands in a landmark $206bn settlement reached with 46 states in 1998. shares of tobacco companies closed higher after the ruling  with altria rising 5% and reynolds showing gains of 4.5%.


smith keen on home series return scotland manager walter smith has given his backing to the reinstatement of the home international series.  such a plan is to be proposed by the new chief executive of the northern irish fa  howard wells  at the next meeting of the four home countries. the english fa has expressed doubt as to whether the fixtures could be accommodated at the end of each season. but smith said:  bringing it back would add meaning to friendly games and that s something that s needed.  the home international series was done away with in 1984  with the traditional scotland-england fixture continuing until 1989. that game is one smith would be delighted to see reinstated.  the scotland v england match was a highlight of the end of the season   he added.  i was in italy for their friendly with russia last week and they made seven substitutions while only around 20 000 fans turned up to watch.  england were criticised for the 0-0 draw against holland - the way scotland were slammed in the past for poor results in friendlies.  you have to put a performance on in friendly games. if you don t  they can be de-motivating.  it can be a dangerous road to go down  if players don t apply themselves in the manner they should.  so i would support the return of the home internationals - the only problem would be fitting them in to the fixture schedule.


parmalat sues 45 banks over crash parmalat has sued 45 banks as it tries to reclaim money paid to banks before the scandal-hit italian dairy company went bust last year.  the firm collapsed with debts of about 14bn euros ($19bn; £10bn) and new boss enrico bondi has already taken legal action against a number of lenders. he claims the banks were aware of the problems but continued to work with the company so they could earn commissions. parmalat has not identified which banks it has gone after this time. under italian law  administrators can seek to get back money paid to financial institutions prior to insolvency  if there is a suspicion that the institutions knew that the company was in financial trouble. the firm also said it is preparing further law suits.  according to the reuters news agency  35 of the companies sued on thursday are italian while the remaining 10 are international. the unidentified parmalat source also told reuters that the company was planning to take action against a total of 80 financial institutions. among those already targeted are bank of america  ubs  credit suisse first boston  deutsche bank and citigroup. it has also gone after auditors grant thornton. they have all denied any wrongdoing. parmalat was declared insolvent in december 2003 after it emerged that 4bn euros thought to be held in an offshore account did not in fact exist. in the investigation that followed it became apparent that the company  among other things  had been billing clients twice in order to boost sales and bolster the balance sheet. that enabled parmalat to borrow heavily and expand overseas  allowing it to become a darling of the italian stock exchange.


iaaf will contest greek decision the international association of athletics federations will appeal against the acquittal of greek athletes kostas kenteris and katerina thanou.  the high-profile duo were cleared of doping offences by the greek athletics federation (segas) last month. now the iaaf will lodge an appeal with the court of arbitration for sport (cas) and has suspended both athletes. an iaaf statement said:  the doping review board concluded that the decision is erroneous.  the statement continued:  both athletes  cases will be refered to arbitration before the cas. the decision in both cases will be final and binding.   segas said the iaaf appeal was  expected  and  understandable.   now we are going to await the final result  which we cannot prejudge   said segas chairman vassilis sevastis. kenteris  who won olympic 200m gold at the 2000 olympics  and thanou were suspended by the iaaf last december after failing to take routine drugs tests before the athens games. however  the independent tribunal overturned those bans  clearing the sprinters of avoiding tests in tel aviv  chicago and athens and failing to notify anti-doping officials of their whereabouts before the olympics.  kenteris  lawyer gregory ioannidis described the iaaf s decision as  not unexpected  but told bbc sport he did not expect the organisation to take action so quickly.  the iaaf s timing is extremely surprising and it creates concerns and questions   said ioannidis.  the iaaf has not yet received the complete file of proceedings which include statements  testimonies  the closing speeches of defence counsel... and nine audio tapes.   we have the evidence and it is time the world discovered the truth.  kenteris and thanou dramatically withdrew from last summer s olympics after missing a drugs test at the olympic village on 12 august. the pair then spent four days in a hospital  claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash. it was the international olympic committee who demanded the iaaf investigate the affair. thanou and kenteris still face a criminal trial later this year for allegedly avoiding the test and then faking a motorcycle accident


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


irish duo could block man utd bid irishmen jp mcmanus and john magnier  who own a 29% stake in manchester united  will reportedly reject any formal £800m offer for the club.  the sunday times and the sunday telegraph say they will oppose any formal £800m takeover bid from us tycoon malcom glazer. mr glazer got permission to look at the club s accounts last week. irish billionaires mr mcmanus and mr magnier are said to believe that an £800m bid undervalues club prospects.  mr magnier and mr mcmanus  who hold their stake through their cubic expression investment vehicle have the power to block a bid. mr glazer s financial backers  including jp morgan  the us investment bank have said they won t back a bid unless it receives backing from the owners of at least 75% of the club s shares. however  there has been much speculation that the irish duo simply do not think the price offered - 300p a share - is high enough. mr glazer has been stalking the premier league football club since 2003.  mr magnier and mr mcmanus issued a statement late on friday saying that they remained  long-term investors  in man utd. the sunday telegraph says the board of manchester united also considered a management buyout at just over 300p but did not go ahead with it.


nuclear body seeks new tech the computer systems used to monitor the world s nuclear power installations are so outdated that they are hampering the work of inspectors.  a spokesman for the international atomic energy agency (iaea) said its current technology could allow key information to be overlooked as it was more than 20 years old. such systems are the only method of tracking nuclear material worldwide. the agency has appealed for more funds to update its hardware and software.  a major overhaul of the system is needed to allow inspectors immediate  secure online access to information   said project manager livio costantini.  iaea inspectors make around 3 000 visits a year to more than 900 nuclear facilities worldwide. they are there to verify official reports of activities in the plants  to carry out environmental checks  and also to look for any signs that nuclear material is being smuggled in or out of the facility.  the computer system inspectors currently use for comparing data from earlier visits  for instance  was built in the 1970s and largely paper based. an iaea spokesman said this was extremely inefficient and makes searching for anomalies like searching for a needle in a haystack. the organisation is aiming to start a system upgrade in november  aiming to provide inspectors in the field with secure online access to previous inspection data  design blueprints of nuclear facilities  even satellite images of the plant. where possible  it hopes to link the system with national records of the import and export of nuclear materials. further analysis of these could help spot potential smuggling activities or illicit technology transfers between countries  according to a spokesman.  computer specialist at the iaea  peter smith  would like to be able to incorporate state of the art visualisation techniques  more familiar to video games players  into the inspector s toolkit.  the commercials you now see have people are moving around in a virtual world   he said.  if we could have that on our laptops  we could be walking through the plant seeing  on the laptop  how the plant should look.  and if there s a door in the wall that is not on our laptop  then we have a problem.  the iaea estimates the total cost of the four-year project to upgrade its technology will be $40m. so far it has only received $11m from the us and the uk.  failure to replace the hardware and software  and to integrate fully all the information system components will carry large risks   said an agency statement.


pc photo printers challenge pros home printed pictures can be cheaper and higher quality than those from high street developers  tests shows.  a survey carried out by pc pro magazine looked at which of 100 home photo printers offered a better deal than handing your snaps to a photo lab. the tests found that images from top pc printers kept their colour longer than professionally produced photographs. but using the wrong printer cartridge could means snaps fade in months  warned the magazine.  the group test of 100 home photo printers for pcs discovered how much it costs to create images using the devices compared to online developers as well as high street names such as jessops  boots and snappy snaps. the comprehensive test also revealed how quickly different printers produced images  the quality of the finished image and how resistant finished pictures were to smudging or water damage. it found that although some ink for printers now costs more than £2 per millilitre it can still be cheaper to produce prints from photographs at home than it is to send them off to a high street store.  if you really like your photos  then it s definitely worth printing at home instead of going to the high street  but only if you choose the right printer   said nick ross  top tester at pc pro.  mr ross said that a new generation of printers produced images with brighter colours and that were less likely to fade than many high street developers or even some professional wedding photographers. some high street photo shops can be the cheapest when it came to developing prints that were 6x4in  said mr ross  but the test revealed that images 7x5in and 8x10in in size were cheaper to produce at home. according to pc pro  producing a print 8x10in on an epson r800 printer using top quality paper costs £1.87. at jessops the same image would cost £2.50 and at snappy snaps £9.99. a 10x7in snap at boots would cost £4.99.  considering how inconvenient it can be to go to the high street and how silver-halide prints can fade in the sun  we re adamant that it s now better  cheaper and more convenient to print at home   he said. ann simpson  marketing manager at snappy snaps believes the convenience of high street printing will continue to attract customers.  some people will want to do their own thing on their computer but the feedback to us is that customers often have to print two or three pictures at home in order to get a good one   she said.  many people are not skilled at getting the colour  contrast and cropping right and they don t want the hassle   she added. the magazine test found that which ink consumers use determined how long their prints lasted before they started fading. it recommended avoiding so-called third-party inks not produced by printer makers because they tended to produce prints that fade the quickest.


us firm  bids for lacroix label  a us firm has said it is in final negotiations with luxury goods group lvmh to buy the loss-making christian lacroix haute-couture house.  paris-based lvmh has been selling non-core businesses and focusing on its most profitable labels including moet & chandon champagne and louis vuitton. privately-held falic group bought two cosmetics brands  hard candy and urban decay  from lvmh in early 2003. the florida company also own a chain of 90 duty free stores in the us. lvmh refused to comment on the reports. but one of the three brothers behind the falic group said the firm had also held talks with the designer christian lacroix  and wished to retain him.  we are buying his name   simon falic told the reuters news agency.  we have plans to increase the exposure of the brand and increase the volume of business.


firms pump billions into pensions employers have spent billions of pounds propping up their final salary pensions over the past year  research suggests.  a survey of 280 schemes by incomes data services  (ids) said employer contributions had increased from £5.5bn to £8.2bn a year  a rise of 49.7%. companies facing the biggest deficits had raised their pension contributions by 100% or more  ids said. many firms are struggling to keep this type of scheme open  because of rising costs and increased liabilities. a final salary scheme  also known as a defined benefit scheme  promises to pay a pension related to the salary the scheme member is earning when they retire.  the rising cost of maintaining such schemes has led many employers to replace final salary schemes with money purchase  or defined contribution  schemes. these are less risky for employers. under money purchase schemes  employees pay into a pension fund which is used to buy an annuity - a policy which pays out an income until death - on retirement.  ids said there were some schemes in good health.  but  in many cases  firms had been forced to top up funds to tackle  yawning deficits . the level of contributions paid by employers has increased gradually since the late 1990s. in 1998/99  for example  contributions rose by 4.7% and in 2002/03 by 8.6%. in contrast  between 1996 and 1998  some employers cut their contribution levels. helen sudell  editor of the ids pensions service  said the rise in contributions was  staggering  and the highest ever recorded by ids.  we have warned before that the widespread closure of final salary schemes to new entrants is just the beginning of a much bigger movement away from paternalistic provision   said ms sudell.  with figures like this there can be little doubt that many employers will have to reduce future benefits at some point for those staff still in these schemes.


putting a face to  big brother  literally putting a face on technology could be one of the keys to improving our interaction with hi-tech gadgets.  imagine a surveillance system that also presents a virtual embodiment of a person on a screen who can react to your behaviour  and perhaps even alert you to new e-mails. basic versions of these so-called avatars already exist. together with speech and voice recognition systems  they could replace the keyboard and mouse in the near future. some of these ideas have been showcased at the london s science museum  as part of its future face exhibition.  one such avatar is jeremiah. it is a virtual man  which you can download for free and install in your computer.  his creator  richard bowden  lecturer at the centre for vision  speech and signal processing at the university of surrey  refers to jeremiah as  him   rather than it.  jeremiah is a virtual face that attempts to emulate humans in the way it responds to activity. he is very childlike  he likes visual stimulus   he told the bbc news website.  when he sees children running and laughing and waving at him  he smiles at them. if you ignore him  he gets angry. if you leave  he gets sad. and you can also even surprise him.  jeremiah is not actually intelligent. it works on vision  reacting in a preset way to the information provided by a surveillance tracker system. it is not able to talk or to hear you  at least not yet. the surrey team is already working on jeremiah s next version  that will replace the human face with an underwater and more interactive creature: finn the fish.  i am interested in the interaction  providing the ability of a system to watch what s going on and make decisions based on that   explained dr bowden.  the research comes at a time when people are having to cope with an increasing number of hi-tech gadgets.  experts say a much more natural way to interact with these devices  such as a virtual human  could make it much easier to make the most of all those new gizmos.  if you get up at three o clock in the morning  and you go downstairs  there are probably two things you are going to do: either going to the bathroom  or maybe you are going to make a cup of tea   said dr bowden.  now if the system can watch your behaviour over time  it can learn this  so it would predict what you are going to do  turn on the lights for you  or  before you even get to the kettle  it could have switched it on.  you might even be able to tell your home surveillance system that you will be going away on holiday  and ask if it could make sure that the house is secure once you have left. this might sound like a scary vision of an orwellian future. but it might all depend on the face that is watching you.  when we put the surveillance cameras in our centre  a lot of people were very unhappy about the fact that there was a system watching them   said dr bowden.  but when jeremiah s camera went in  nobody minded  because although it s still watching them  they could see what it was watching.


global blogger action day called the global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned iranian bloggers.  the month-old committee to protect bloggers  is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 february to the  free mojtaba and arash day . arash sigarchi and mojtaba saminejad are both in prison in iran. blogs are free sites through which people publish thoughts and opinions. iranian authorities have been clamping down on prominent sites for some time.  i hope this day will focus people   curt hopkins  director of the committee  told the bbc news website.  the group has a list of actions which it says bloggers can take  including writing to local iranian embassies. the committee has deemed tuesday  free mojtaba and arash day  as part of its first campaign. it is calling on the blogsphere - the name for the worldwide community of bloggers - to do what it can to help raise awareness of the plight of mojtaba and arash as well as other  cyber-dissidents .  if you have a blog  the least you could do is put nothing on that blog except  free mojtaba and arash day    said mr hopkins.  that would mean you could see that phrase 7.1 million times. that alone will shine some light on the situation.  if you don t have one  find one dedicated to that - it takes about 30 seconds.  technorati  a blog search engine  tracks about six million blogs and says that more than 12 000 are added daily. a blog is created every 5.8 seconds  according to a us research think-tank.  the committee to protect bloggers was started by us blogger curt hopkins and counts fired flight attendant blogger ellen simonetti as a deputy director. she has since started the international bloggers  bill of rights  a global petition to protect bloggers at work. although not the only website committed to human rights issues by any means  it aims to be the hub or organisation  information and support for bloggers in particular and their rights to freedom of speech.  the committee  although only a month old  aims to be the focal point for blogger action on similar issues in the future  and will operate as a non-for-profit organisation.  blogging is in this weird no man s land. people think of it as being one thing or another depending on their point of view   said mr hopkins.  some think of themselves as pundits  kind of like journalists  and some like me have a private blog which is just a publishing platform.  but they do not have a constituency and are out there in the cold.   it is not just human rights issues in countries which have a track record of restricting what is published in the media that is of concern to bloggers. the question of bloggers and what rights they have to say what they want on their sites is a thorny one and has received much press attention recently. high profile cases in which employees have been sacked for what they have said on their personal  and often anonymous blogs  have highlighted the muddy situation that the blogsphere is currently in.   this is a big messy argument   explained mr hopkins. he added:  it is just such a new way of doing business  there will be clamp downs.  but the way these issues get tested is through the courts which  said mr hopkins   is part of the whole messy conversation.   if you haven t already got bloggers in your company  you will have them tomorrow - and if you don t have a blogger policy now you had better start looking at having one. mr hopkins said that the blogsphere - which is doubling every five months - was powerful because it takes so little time and expertise to create a blog.  everyone does this - mums  radicals  conservatives   he said. many companies offer easy-to-use services to create a blog and publish it in minutes to a global community.  that is the essential difference. what i call  templating software  gives every single person on earth the chance to have one.  you don t even have to have your own computer.


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


boeing secures giant japan order boeing is to supply japan airlines with up to 50 of its forthcoming 7e7 planes in a deal that could be worth as much as $6bn (£3.1bn) for the us giant.  japan airlines has made a firm order for 30 of the aircraft  at $120m each  with the option to buy 20 more. asia s biggest airline joins japanese rival all nippon as one of the first carriers to order the mid-size 7e7  which boeing says is super-economical. airbus this week announced the first pre-sale of its 7e7 rival - the a350. boeing s great european competitor is to sell 10 of its forthcoming a350 to spanish carrier air europe  which has the option to buy two more in a deal that could be worth more than $1.8bn. both the 7e7 and the a350 are being designed to be as fuel-efficient as possible in the 200- to 300-seat sector  and each will be available in both short and long range versions.  japan airlines said it had looked at both aircraft before choosing the 7e7  also known as the dreamliner.  we chose the 7e7 after carefully considering both it and airbus  aircraft   said a japan airlines spokesman.  the 7e7 fits better for what we needed and it could be delivered when we hoped to get it.  boeing continues to enjoy a dominance over airbus in japan  and japanese companies are taking key roles in building the 7e7. the first 7e7s will be delivered to japan airlines in april 2008. boeing has set itself a target of getting 200 firm commitments for the 7e7 by the end of this year  and has orders for 56 so far. airbus hopes to have 50 orders in place for the a350 by mid-2005.


strachan turns down pompey former southampton manager gordon strachan has rejected the chance to become portsmouth s new boss.  the scot was pompey chairman milan mandaric s first choice to replace harry redknapp  who left fratton park for rivals saints earlier in december.  i think it s a fantastic job for anybody apart from somebody who has just been the southampton manager   strachan told the bbc. club director terry brady held initial talks with strachan on saturday. the former scotland international added that joining southampton s local rivals would not be a wise move.  it s got everything going for it but i ve got too many memories of the other side and i don t want to sour those memories   he said.  everything s right - it s 10 minutes away  there are good players there  a good set-up  a good atmosphere at the ground.  there s lots to do but it s not right for somebody who has just been the southampton manager.  since redknapp s departure  executive director velimir zajec and coach joe jordan have overseen first-team affairs.  the duo had gone five matches unbeaten until sunday s 1-0 defeat at home to champions arsenal  but the club are still in a respectable 12th place in the premiership table. strachan left st mary s in february  after earlier announcing his intention to take a break from the game at the end of the 2003-04 season. his previous managerial experience came at coventry  whom he led for five years from 1996 to 2001.


wenger shock at newcastle dip arsenal manager arsene wenger has admitted he is at a loss to explain why newcastle are languishing in the bottom half of the table.  the gunners travel to st james  park on wednesday  with newcastle 14th in the premiership after a troubled season. and wenger said:  at the beginning of the season you would expect them to be fighting for the top four.  i don t know how they got to be where they are. it looks to me from the outside that they have many injuries.   arsenal go into the game on the back of a 2-0 victory over fulham on sunday. and wenger added:  the best way to prepare for a game is to win the previous one. we will go to newcastle in good shape.  fatigue won t play too big a part in the next few weeks as we have players coming back so i can rotate a bit more.  we do not play a season with 11 players and i believe that all of our squad deserve a chance in the team.  striker thierry henry  along with robert pires  scored against fulham. and henry afterwards described the display as  beautiful to watch . he said:  what matters is winning and the three points  of course. that is the only thing that really matters. but it is more enjoyable when you play like we did against fulham.  we are playing as a team and that is important because there were some games when we maybe were not there as a team and suffered for that. those were games we lost.