india and iran in gas export deal india has signed a $40bn (£21bn) deal to import millions of tonnes of liquefied natural gas from iran.  firms led by the oil & natural gas corporation (ongc) will also assist in the development of iranian oil fields. ministers  eager to gain access to energy supplies to meet the demands of a booming economy  secured a similar deal to one between iran and china. the announcement comes as ongc said it was in talks to buy former assets of troubled russian oil firm yukos. the agreements with iran were sealed after talks in new delhi between middle east producers and asia s biggest energy consumers - china  india  japan and south korea.  iran - opec s second-biggest oil producer and one of the world s top gas producers - has been pursuing a series of deals  rewarding lng buyers with participation in development of its oil fields. under the agreement  it will supply india with 7.5 million tonnes of lpg annually over a 25 year period from 2009. ongc and the national iranian oil company (nioc) reached a preliminary deal for indian firms to take part in the development of the yadavaran and jufeyr oilfields  both countries said in a statement. india s oil production has stagnated over recent years  and it is having to look abroad to secure future supplies. india imports about 70% of its total oil consumption. consumption has jumped to 2.4 million barrels per day  compared with 474 000 bpd in 1973.


prutton poised for lengthy fa ban southampton s david prutton faces a possible seven-match ban when he goes before the football association.  the 23-year-old has admitted two charges of improper conduct following his dismissal against arsenal. the first charge relates to his failure to leave the field promptly  pushing referee alan wiley and remonstrating with assistant referee paul norman. and the second charge is for using threatening words and/or behaviour to a match official during the 1-1 draw.  paolo di canio was given a seven-match suspension when he pushed referee paul alcock over in a premiership game between sheffield wednesday and arsenal in 1998. prutton will be joined at wednesday s hearing by saints boss harry redknapp  who believes that the fa will throw the book at his player. redknapp himself sprinted along the touchline to help physio jim joyce and coach denis rofe shepherd the enraged prutton away from referee s assistant norman.  david has made a big mistake and he knows it. i can t condone what he s done. he was out of order but he knows that   said redknapp.  he s a decent lad. he over-reacted badly for some reason - he had a rush of blood from somewhere. off the pitch you couldn t meet a nicer lad.  prutton has apologised publicly for his actions and to arsenal s robert pires  who was injured in a wild tackle by the saints  midfield man.  he said:  it s an horrendous situation. i apologise to the ref and linesman  who were only doing their job.  i ve also seen what happened to pires  leg and i m sorry for that as well.   i apologise for the people who saw it. i know you get lots of kids going to the match now and they don t pay money to see that sort of thing.  it s not a cop-out  but it was all a bit of a blur. sometimes you react and it s beyond your control    added prutton.


uk house prices dip in november uk house prices dipped slightly in november  the office of the deputy prime minister (odpm) has said.  the average house price fell marginally to £180 226  from £180 444 in october. recent evidence has suggested that the uk housing market is slowing after interest rate increases  and economists forecast a drop in prices during 2005. but while the monthly figures may hint at a cooling of the market  annual house price inflation is still strong  up 13.8% in the year to november. economists  however  forecast that odpm figures are likely to show a weakening in annual house price growth in coming months.  overall  the housing market activity is slowing down and that is backed up by the mortgage lending and the mortgage approvals data   said mark miller  at hbos treasury services.  the odpm data is a fairly lagging indicator.   the figures come after the bank of england said the number of mortgages approved in the uk has fallen to the lowest level for nearly a decade. the halifax  meanwhile  said last week that house prices increased by 1.1% in december - the first monthly rise since september.  the uk s biggest mortgage lender said prices rose 15.1% over the whole of 2004  but by only 2.8% in the second half of the year. it is predicting a 2% fall in overall prices in 2005 as the market stabilises after large gains in recent years. the odpm attributed the monthly fall of prices in november to a drop in the value of detached houses and flats. it said annual inflation rose between october and november because prices had fallen by 1.1% in the same period in 2003.  the odpm data showed the average house price was £192 713 in england; £139 544 in wales; £116 542 in scotland  and £111 314 in northern ireland.  all areas saw a rise in annual house price inflation in november except for northern ireland and the west midlands  where the rate was unchanged  the odpm said. the north east showed the highest rate of inflation at 26.2%  followed by yorkshire and the humber on 21.7%  and the north west on 21.1%. the east midlands  the west midlands and the south west all had an annual inflation rate of more than 15%. in london  the area with the highest average house price at £262 825  annual inflation rose only slightly in november to 7.1% from 7% the previous month.


ireland win eclipses refereeing  errors  the international rugby board may have to step in to stop frustrated coaches and players from publicly haranguing referees when things go belly-up.  it may have to go the whole way and have nfl-style video cameras all over the field  or slap the vociferous perpetrators over the knuckles. what the irb does not want is a football scenario where the verbal slanging matches often overshadow the game itself. sunday s explosive six nations clash at lansdowne road was a good example as ireland took another step towards their first grand slam since 1948. the game was as exciting as it comes  with a much-improved england side enraged at a few decisions that did not go their way. one can understand that frustration. there was no doubt that ireland had the rub of the green in their 19-13 victory  but the reaction from the england camp may not have endeared them to the sport s  blazers . referee jonathan kaplan was not perfect by any means and two decisions in particular made him the villain of the piece. i doubt whether kaplan would have been too pleased at the comments made. after all  he has no public recourse to criticism.  it was the same for simon mcdowell  the touch judge who was heavily criticised by scotland coach matt williams after their defeat against france. as far as england were concerned  there were queries over mark cueto s first half-effort when he went over in the corner from a charlie hodgson kick.  england coach andy robinson referred to a similar case at ravenhill in january when ulster were playing gloucester in the heineken cup. on that occasion  david humphreys kicked to tommy bowe  who touched down in the corner only for the try to be wiped out. but you cannot have cameras at every conceivable angle to pick up such anomalies. perhaps robinson was right to say the referee should have gone upstairs when josh lewsey was driven over the irish line near the end.  lewsey claims he touched it down and was in full control. however  one has to credit ireland flanker johnny o connor for cleverly scooping the ball away and blocking any evidence of a touchdown. but in rugby  everything tends to even out over the 80 minutes. the referee also missed england s danny grewcock taking out ronan o gara off the ball to allow martin corry a sunday stroll to the line. those were the stand-out moments in a classic game between the two old foes.  but there were many more  and one should not take away from those. brian o driscoll s winning try was as well-conceived as they come  while charlie hodgson s brilliant kicking display was another highlight. and ronan o gara s tremendous ability to control the game was also a crucial component. but the defining moments came with ireland under the cosh in the final 15 minutes. two outstanding pieces of defensive play denied england and allowed ireland to hold on. the first was denis hickie s brilliant double tackle in the right-hand corner. he gobbled up cueto from another hodgson cross-field kick  then regained his feet to stop lewsey from scoring a certain try. ireland s second-row colossus paul o connell was equally superb. england had turned ireland one way then the other  and the defence cordon was slowly disintegrating. england prop matt stevens ran in at full steam to suck in a few more tacklers. unfortunately he ran into o connell who hit him hard - very hard - and then wrestled the ball away for a crucial turnover. that spoke volumes about ireland s back-foot display  with defensive coach mike ford taking a bow at the end. to win a game like that showed that ireland have moved forward. it may be tries that win games  but it is defence that wins championships.


us blogger fired by her airline a us airline attendant suspended over  inappropriate images  on her blog - web diary - says she has been fired.  ellen simonetti  known as queen of the sky  wrote an anonymous semi-fictional account of her life in the sky. she was suspended by delta in september. in a statement  she said she was initiating legal action against the airline for  wrongful termination . a delta spokesperson confirmed on wednesday that ms simonetti was no longer an employee. delta has repeatedly declined to elaborate on what it calls  internal employee matters . a spokesperson reiterated this position on wednesday  confirming only that ms simonetti was no longer with the company. the spokesperson also confirmed that there were  very clear rules  attached to the unauthorised use of delta branding  including uniforms. ms simonetti announced on her blog she had been fired on 1 november.  she said in an official statement:  as a result of my suspension and subsequent termination without cause by delta airlines i am moving forward with filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government eeoc [us equal employment opportunity commission].  she added she had also hired a texas-based law firm to initiate legal action for  wrongful termination  defamation of character and lost future wages.  ms simonetti told the bbc news website she had received no warning or further explanation when she was suspended on 25 september. queen of the sky has received a lot of support and advice from the global blogging community since news of her suspension was brought to light on the bbc news website and others.  her story has highlighted concerns amongst the growing blogging community about conflicts of interest  employment law and free speech on personal websites. the blog  which she started in january as a way of getting over her mother s death  contains a mix of fictional and non-fictional accounts. queen of the sky developed over the months as a character in her own right  according to ms simonetti. in the postings  she made up fictional names for cities and other companies she mentioned to protect anonymity. but some postings contained images of herself in uniform. of the 10 or so images only one showed ms simonetti s flight  wings . she removed them as soon as she was informed of her suspension.  i never meant it as something to harm my company and don t understand how they think it did harm them   ms simonetti said. a legal expert in the us speculated that delta might be concerned that the fictional content on the blog may be linked back to the airline after the images were posted.  delta has been hit recently by pressures of rising fuel costs and fierce competition. it has said it needs to cut between 6 000 and 7 000 jobs and reduce costs by $5bn (£2.7bn) a year. analysts had warned recently that the airline might have to seek chapter 11 bankruptcy prevention. last week  it struck a $1bn cost-cutting deal with its pilots which could save it from bankruptcy. the deal would see pilots accept a 32% pay cut in return for the right to buy 30 million delta shares  unions said. and on monday  it negotiated a deal to defer about $135m in debt which was due next year  until 2007. the airline also said it had agreed the terms of a $600m loan from american express.


us hacker breaks into t-mobile a man is facing charges of hacking into computers at the us arm of mobile phone firm t-mobile.  the californian man  nicholas lee jacobsen  was arrested in october. mr jacobsen tried at least twice to hack t-mobile s network and took names and social security numbers of 400 customers  said a company spokesman. the arrest came a year after t-mobile uncovered the unauthorised access. the us secret service has been investigating the case.  t-mobile has stringent procedures in place where we monitor for suspicious activity so that limited his activities and we were able to take corrective action immediately   peter dobrow  a t-mobile spokesperson said. it is thought that mr jacobsen s hacking campaign took place over at least seven months during which time he read e-mails and personal computer files  according to court records.  although mr jacobsen  21  managed to get hold of some data  it is thought he failed to get customer credit card numbers which are stored on a separate computer system  said mr dobrow. t-mobile confirmed that the us secret service was also looking into whether the hacker accessed photos that t-mobile subscribers had taken with their camera phones. the associated press agency reported that mr jacobsen also read personal files on the secret service agent who was apparently investigating the case. a los angeles grand jury indicted mr jacobsen with intentionally accessing a computer system without authorisation and with the unauthorised impairment of a protected computer between march and october 2004. he is currently on bail. t-mobile is a subsidiary company of deutsche telekom and has about 16.3 million subscribers in the us.


athens memories soar above lows well  it s goodbye to another olympic year and as usual there were plenty of highs and lows in athens.  obviously  there s no getting away from the differing fortunes of kelly holmes and paula radcliffe. but i want to remind you of a few more events that made 2004 another year to remember - or forget - for athletics.      one of my favourite olympic moments was kelly s success in the 800m.  winning that race was the key to her success because if she won that then the 1500m would be a bit of a formality. kelly had been full of  should i  shouldn t i   thoughts about going for the double in athens. i thought why wouldn t you do the 800m  it s your best event  it was such good fun to commentate on her 1500m and it was nice to be able to be part of her athens story.      the victory for the british men s 4x100m relay team was a bit of a surprise but a great climax to the games. i think the four of them - jason gardener  darren campbell  marlon devonish and mark lewis-francis - knew deep down that it was their best chance of a medal. the lads had run poorly in the individual sprints so maybe they did lift their game when they knew something was really at stake.      hicham el guerrouj s olympic double is a much bigger achievement than kelly s on a global scale.  he was the first man since for 80 years to win both the 1500m and 5 000m titles. as soon as he had added the 5 000m crown and i had finished commentating  i jumped up  ran down the stairs  pushed everyone out the way and just gave him a big hug. he is one of the few african runners who has embraced the tradition of the mile and he loves to hear all the roger bannister stories. hicham is someone i enjoy having a bit of time with  even though my french and his english are not very good.      what happened to paula in athens this year is the obvious low on a personal level and for the expectations of the nation as well. there were a set of circumstances around athens that conspired to produce a very dramatic ending which i think has been greatly misunderstood. dropping out of the marathon was the right thing to do but starting in the 10 000m five days later was not wise. that was her heart and not her head reacting. paula had a lot of little things going wrong in her preparation and on the day.  things like niggling injuries  not being able to do all her running sessions and feeling the pressure of the race looming ahead of her. i think she came to the start line in athens physically and emotionally drained. and if even the smallest thing doesn t feel right when you are preparing to race a marathon  10 miles down the road it will hit you like a brick wall. the positive thing to take from paula s olympics it that she will have learned a lot from it and so will a lot of people - including me.      purely as a race  paula s victory in the new york marathon has to go down as one of the most thrilling. it was so nip-and-tuck between her and kenya s susan chepkemei and you don t usually get that kind of excitement in marathons. it was also a real delight for all athletics fans because  to use one of my favourite words  paula showed real  bouncebackability . and it was a bit of a rarity for me too because i genuinely did not have an inkling how the race was going to pan out.      kelly and the 4x100m boys  victories papered over the cracks in the general performance of the british team. we should be concerned that we re not producing enough people who are capable of reaching finals at senior level.  the only individual men s finalist on the track was michael east in the 1500m. i am beginning to look down and wonder where are the new breed  and that s where things begin to look even gloomier for british athletics as we did not win any medals at the world junior championships in italy. dani barnes came fourth in the 1500m and she was the highest finisher for team gb. the thing is if we don t have athletes getting into the finals at junior level then it really doesn t look good for the beijing olympics and beyond.      i tell you what i really enjoyed this year  benita johnson winning the world cross country championships back in march. in the absence of paula  we tend to think of the event as something of an african preserve. so to have an australian come up and deliver such a surprise was something special.      to be honest  i m getting bored with all the drug scandals  especially balco. i just wish the whole thing would come to a head so we can move on.  having said that  i m always pleased when drugs cheats are caught because it shows the sport is standing up to it and not turning a blind eye anymore. and one of the positive things to come out of balco is people are starting to blow the whistle. we need more people to come forward and help the authorities kick out the cheats. as regards the case against greek sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou  well suspicions have been hanging over kenteris for a while. the bottom line is we cannot keep letting drugs damage the sport because if we do then it stops everyone enjoying it.


winemaker rejects foster s offer australian winemaker southcorp has rejected a takeover offer worth 3.1bn australian dollars ($2.3bn; £1.8bn) from brewing giant foster s group.  southcorp  whose brands include penfolds  rosemount and lindemans  dismissed the offer as inadequate. the two companies held four days of talks after foster s bought an 18.8% stake in southcorp on 13 january. a merger would create a global player with worldwide annual sales of 39m cases and revenues of a$2.6bn.  southcorp said foster s a$4.17-a-share takeover proposal offered a  excellent strategic fit  but undervalued the company.  southcorp s board has informed foster s that it is not prepared to recommend the offer as it does not adequately reflect the strategic value of the company   said southcorp chairman brian finn.  southcorp said foster s takeover offer was  opportunistic . however  it said that the offer may represent an  opening bid   opening up the possibility of foster s returning with an improved offer.  foster s said a combination of the two companies would create a global player with an  unrivalled  collection of premium wine brands. despite being best known for brewing foster s lager  foster s is already one of australia s largest wine producers  owning the beringer and wolf blass brands among others.  the combination of foster s and southcorp will transform the global wine industry and significantly enhance australia s competitive position on the global stage   said trevor o hoy  foster s chief executive officer. foster s spent a$584m on buying an 18.8% stake in southcorp from the oatley family  which founded the rosemount estates business and later merged it into southcorp. shares in both companies were suspended while the two held talks about a deal. southcorp s shares rose 12% to a$4.76 on news of the offer but foster s shares fell 3.7% to a$5.44.


dawson set for new wasps contract european champions wasps are set to offer matt dawson a new deal.  the 31-year-old world cup winning scrum-half has impressed since joining the london side from northampton this summer on a one-year contract. wasps coach warren gatland told the daily mirror:  we have not yet offered matt a new contract but we will be doing so.  i m very happy with his contribution and i think he s good enough to play for another couple of years.  dawson played a vital part in england s world cup win last year but has fallen out of favour with new coach andy robinson after missing a training session in september. however he hopes the new deal will help him regain his england place.   rugby is still my priority and there s still a burning desire within me to play the best rugby i possibly can   he said.  i know within myself  if i was given the chance i could play for england again.  i know i m fit enough  i m strong enough  i m skilful enough.


rolling out next generation s net the body that oversees how the net works  grows and evolves says it has coped well with its growth in the last 10 years  but it is just the start.   in a sense  we have hardly started in reaching the whole population   the new chair of the internet engineering task force (ietf)  brian carpenter  says. the ietf ensures the smooth running and organisation of the net s architecture. with broadband take-up growing  services like voice and tv will open up interesting challenges for the net.  i think voip (voice-over internet protocol  allowing phone calls to be made over the net) is very important - it challenges all the old cost models of telecoms   says dr carpenter.  second  it challenges more deeply the business model that you have to be a service provider with a lot of infrastructure. with voip  you need very little infrastructure.   a distinguished ibm engineer  dr carpenter spent 20 years at cern  the european laboratory for particle physics. as the new chair of the ietf  his next big challenge is overseeing ipv6  the next generation standard for information transfer and routing across the web. at cern  dr carpenter helped pioneer advanced net applications during the development of the world wide web  so he is well-placed to take on such a task. the net s growth and evolution depend on standards and protocols  and ensuring the architecture works and talks to other standards is a crucial job of the ietf. the top priority is to ensure that the standards that make the net work  are open and free for anyone to use and work with.  the net is built on a protocol called tcp/ip  which means transmission control protocol  and internet protocol. when computers communicate with the net  a unique ip address is used to send and receive information. the ietf is a large international community of network designers  operators  vendors  and researchers working on the evolution of the net s architecture and the way this information is sent and received. they make sure it all knits together leaving no gaps.  we ve seen some interesting effects over last few years   explains dr carpenter.  the net was growing at a fantastic rate at the end of the 90s. then there was a bit of a glitch in 2000.  we are now seeing a very clear phase of consolidation and renewed growth.   that renewed growth is also being buoyed by emerging economies  like china  which are showing fast uptake of broadband net and other technologies. the number of broadband subscribers via dsl (digital subscriber line) doubled in a year to 13 million  according to figures released at the end of 2004.  the challenges we face are about continuing to produce standards to allow for that growth rate   explained dr carpenter.  given it [the net] was designed for the whole community  it has done well to reach millions. if you want to reach the whole population  you have to make sure it can scale up.  ipv6  the standard that will replace the existing ipv4  will allow for billions more addresses on the net  and it is gradually being worked into network infrastructure across the world.  the actual number of addresses with ipv4 is limited to four billion ip addresses.  that clearly is not enough when you have 10 billion people to serve  so there is technical solution  the new version of ip - ipv6.  it has much larger address space possibilities with no practical limits   said dr carpenter. standards are vital to something as complex as the net  and making sure standards are open and can work with across networks is a big task. the difference this next generation standard  ipv6  will make to the average net user is almost invisible.  our first goal is that it [ipv6] should make no difference - people should not notice a difference.  it is like when the london telephone numbers got longer. a lot of the process will be invisible.  people are usually given an ip address without knowing it.  technically deployment has started and the standards for are just about settled  said dr carpenter.  the one problem with the net that may never disappear completely is security. to dr carpenter  the solution comes out of technological and human behaviour. people have to be educated about  sensible behaviour  he says  such as ignoring e-mails that claim you have won something.   i don t think it is going to get worse. people will remain concerned about security and they probably should do - just as you would be concerned walking along a dark street.  we have to do work to make sure there are better security internet standards. it is a never-ending battle in a sense.  but  he adds:  even if security has improved  you still worry a bit. unfortunately  it is just part of life. we have a duty to do what we can.


warning over tsunami aid website net users are being told to avoid a scam website that claims to collect cash on behalf of tsunami victims.  the site looks plausible because it uses an old version of the official disasters emergency committee webpage. however  dec has no connection with the fake site and says it has contacted the police about it. the site is just the latest in a long list of scams that try to cash in on the goodwill generated by the tsunami disaster.  the link to the website is contained in a spam e-mail that is currently circulating. the message s subject line reads  urgent tsunami earthquake appeal  and its text bears all the poor grammar and bad spelling that characterises many other phishing attempts. the web address of the fake site is decuk.org which could be close enough to the official www.dec.org.uk address to confuse some people keen to donate. patricia sanders  spokeswoman for the disaster emergency committee said it was aware of the site and had contacted the computer crime unit at scotland yard to help get it shut down. she said the spam e-mails directing people to the site started circulating two days ago shortly after the domain name of the site was registered. it is thought that the fake site is being run from romania. ms sanders said dec had contacted us net registrars who handle domain ownership and the net hosting firm that is keeping the site on the web.  dec was going to push for all cash donated via the site to be handed over to the official organisation. bt and dec s hosting company were also making efforts to get the site shut down  she said.  ms sanders said sending out spam e-mail to solicit donations was not dec s style and that it would never canvass support in this way. she said that dec hoped to get the fake site shut down as soon as possible. all attempts by the bbc news website to contact the people behind the site have failed. none of the e-mail addresses supplied on the site work and the real owner of the domain is obscured in publicly available net records. this is not the first attempt to cash in on the outpouring of goodwill that has accompanied appeals for tsunami aid. one e-mail sent out in early january came from someone who claimed that he had lost his parents in the disaster and was asking for help moving an inheritance from a bank account in the netherlands. the con was very similar to the familiar nigerian forward fee fraud e-mails that milk money out of people by promising them a cut of a much larger cash pile. other scam e-mails included a link to a website that supposedly let people donate money but instead loaded spyware on their computers that grabbed confidential information. in a monthly report anti-virus firm sophos said that two e-mail messages about the tsunami made it to the top 10 hoax list during january. another tsunami-related e-mail is also circulating that carries the zar worm which tries to spread via the familiar route of microsoft s outlook e-mail program. anyone opening the attachment of the mail will have their contact list plundered by the worm keen to find new addresses to send itself to.


qpr keeper day heads for preston queens park rangers keeper chris day is set to join preston on a month s loan.  day has been displaced by the arrival of simon royce  who is in his second month on loan from charlton. qpr have also signed italian generoso rossi. r s manager ian holloway said:  some might say it s a risk as he can t be recalled during that month and simon royce can now be recalled by charlton.  but i have other irons in the fire. i have had a  yes  from a couple of others should i need them.   day s rangers contract expires in the summer. meanwhile  holloway is hoping to complete the signing of middlesbrough defender andy davies - either permanently or again on loan - before saturday s match at ipswich. davies impressed during a recent loan spell at loftus road. holloway is also chasing bristol city midfielder tom doherty.


lasers help bridge network gaps an indian telecommunications firm has turned to lasers to help it overcome the problems of setting up voice and data networks in the country.  tata teleservices is using the lasers to make the link between customers  offices and its own core network. the laser bridges work across distances up to 4km and can be set up much faster than cable connections. in 12 months the lasers have helped the firm set up networks in more than 700 locations.   in this particular geography getting permission to dig the ground and lay the pipes is a bit of a task   said mr r. sridharan  vice president of networks at tata.  heavy traffic and the layout under the ground mean that digging is uniquely difficult   he said. in some locations  he said  permission to dig up roads and lay cables was impossible to get. he said it was far easier to secure permission for putting networking hardware on roofs. this has led chennai-based tata to turn to equipment that uses lasers to make the final mile leap between tata s core network and the premises of customers. the lightpointe laser bridges work over distances of up to 4km and are being used to route both voice and data from businesses on to the backbone of the network. the hardware works in pairs and beam data through the air in the form of laser pulses.  the laser bridges can route data at speeds up to 1.25gbps (2 000 times faster than a 512kbps broadband connection) but tata is running its hardware at more modest speeds of 1-2mbps. the lasers are also ideal for india because of its climate.  it s particularly suitable as the rain rate is a little low and it s hardly ever foggy   he said. in places where rain is heavy and fog is common laser links can struggle to maintain good connection speeds. the laser links also take far less time to set up and get working  said mr sridharan.  once we get the other permissions  normal time period for set up is a few hours   he said. by contrast  he said  digging up roads and laying cables can take weeks or months. this speed of set up has helped tata with its aggressive expansion plans. just over 12 months ago the firm had customers in only about 70 towns and cities. but by the end of march the firm hopes to reach more than 1 000.  speed is very important because of the pace of competition   said mr sridharan.


ericsson sees earnings improve telecoms equipment supplier ericsson has posted a rise in fourth quarter profits thanks to clients like deutsche telekom upgrade their networks.  operating profit in the three months to 31 december was 9.5bn kronor (£722m; $1.3bn) against 6.3bn kronor last year. shares tumbled  however  as the company reported a profit margin of 45.6%  less than the 47.3% forecast by analysts and down from 47.1% in the third quarter. ericsson shares dropped 5.9% to 20.7 kronor in early trading on thursday. however  the company remained optimistic about its earnings outlook after sales in the fourth quarter rose 9% to 39.4bn kronor.  long-term growth drivers of the industry remain solid   ericsson said in a statement.  chief executive carl-henric svanberg explained that about  27% of the world s population now has access to mobile communications .  this is exciting for a company with a vision of an all-communicating world   he added. mr svanberg  however  warned that the extra demand that had driven 2004 sales had already dissipated and it was  business as usual . he added that sales in the first three months of 2005 would be subject to  normal seasonality . for the whole of 2004  ericsson returned a net profit of 19bn kronor  compared with a loss of 10.8bn kronor in 2003. sales climbed to 131.9 billion kronor from 117.7bn kronor in 2003.


high fuel prices hit ba s profits british airways has blamed high fuel prices for a 40% drop in profits.  reporting its results for the three months to 31 december 2004  the airline made a pre-tax profit of £75m ($141m) compared with £125m a year earlier. rod eddington  ba s chief executive  said the results were  respectable  in a third quarter when fuel costs rose by £106m or 47.3%. ba s profits were still better than market expectation of £59m  and it expects a rise in full-year revenues.  to help offset the increased price of aviation fuel  ba last year introduced a fuel surcharge for passengers.  in october  it increased this from £6 to £10 one-way for all long-haul flights  while the short-haul surcharge was raised from £2.50 to £4 a leg. yet aviation analyst mike powell of dresdner kleinwort wasserstein says ba s estimated annual surcharge revenues - £160m - will still be way short of its additional fuel costs - a predicted extra £250m. turnover for the quarter was up 4.3% to £1.97bn  further benefiting from a rise in cargo revenue. looking ahead to its full year results to march 2005  ba warned that yields - average revenues per passenger - were expected to decline as it continues to lower prices in the face of competition from low-cost carriers. however  it said sales would be better than previously forecast.  for the year to march 2005  the total revenue outlook is slightly better than previous guidance with a 3% to 3.5% improvement anticipated   ba chairman martin broughton said. ba had previously forecast a 2% to 3% rise in full-year revenue.  it also reported on friday that passenger numbers rose 8.1% in january. aviation analyst nick van den brul of bnp paribas described ba s latest quarterly results as  pretty modest .  it is quite good on the revenue side and it shows the impact of fuel surcharges and a positive cargo development  however  operating margins down and cost impact of fuel are very strong   he said. since the 11 september 2001 attacks in the united states  ba has cut 13 000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting drive.  our focus remains on reducing controllable costs and debt whilst continuing to invest in our products   mr eddington said.  for example  we have taken delivery of six airbus a321 aircraft and next month we will start further improvements to our club world flat beds.  ba s shares closed up four pence at 274.5 pence.


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


parmalat founder offers apology the founder and former boss of parmalat has apologised to investors who lost money as a result of the italian dairy firm s collapse.  calisto tanzi said he would co-operate fully with prosecutors investigating the background to one of europe s largest financial scandals. parmalat was placed into bankruptcy protection in 2003 after a 14bn euro black hole was found in its accounts. more than 130 000 people lost money following the firm s collapse. mr tanzi  66  issued a statement through his lawyer after five hours of questioning by prosecutors in parma on 15 january.  prosecutors are seeking indictments against mr tanzi and 28 others - including several members of his family and former parmalat chief financial officer fausto tonna - for alleged manipulation of stock market prices and making misleading statements to accountants and italy s financial watchdog. two former parmalat auditors will stand trial later this month for their role in the firm s collapse.   i apologise to all who have suffered so much damage as a result of my schemes to make my dream of an industrial project come true   mr tanzi s statement said.  it is my duty to collaborate fully with prosecutors to reconstruct the causes of parmalat s sudden default and who is responsible.  mr tanzi spent several months in jail in the wake of parmalat s collapse and was kept under house arrest until last september. parmalat is now being run by a state appointed administrator  enrico bondi  who has launched lawsuits against 80 banks in an effort to recover money for the bankrupt company and its shareholders. he has alleged that these companies were aware of the true state of parmalat s finances but continued to lend money to the company. the companies insist they were the victims of fraudulent book-keeping. parmalat was declared insolvent after it emerged that 4 billion euros (£2.8bn; $4.8bn) it supposedly held in an offshore account did not in fact exist. the firm s demise sent shock waves through italy  where its portfolio of top-selling food brands and its position as the owner of leading football club parma had turned it into a household name.


radcliffe will compete in london paula radcliffe will compete in the flora london marathon this year after deciding her schedule for 2005.  the 31-year-old won the race in 2002 on her marathon debut  defended her title 12 months later and will now seek a third title in the 17 april race.  it doesn t get any better than this for the 25th anniversary   said race director david bedford.  after announcing the greatest men s field ever we now have the greatest women s distance runner ever.  three years ago radcliffe smashed the women s world record in two hours 18 minutes 15 seconds.  the bedford star returned to london 12 months later  lowering her mixed-race world record of 2:17:18  which she set in chicago in october 2003  by one minute 53 secs. radcliffe s career took a setback when she failed to complete the olympic marathon and later dropped out of the athens 10 000m last august. but the 31-year-old bounced back to win the new york marathon in november. radcliffe  however  passed up the chance to go for the  big city  marathon grand slam. with wins in chicago  london and new york  only the boston marathon remains to be conquered but that takes place a day after london.  boston is definitely a race i want to do at some point  but london is very special to me   said radcliffe.  i don t pick races thinking about things like pressure. i pick the ones in my heart i really want to do.  i love the atmosphere  crowds and course and know it will always be a great quality race.  it is also the 25th anniversary this year which adds to the occasion.


go-ahead for new internet names the internet could soon have two new domain names  aimed at mobile services and the jobs market.  the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers (icann) has given preliminary approval to two new addresses - .mobi and .jobs. they are among 10 new names being considered by the net s oversight body. others include a domain for pornography  an anti-spam domain as well as .post and .travel  for the postal and travel industries.  the .mobi domain would be aimed at websites and other services that work specifically around mobile phones  while the .jobs address could be used by companies wanting a dedicated site for job postings. the process to see the new domain names go live in cyberspace could take months and icann officials warned that there were no guarantees they would ultimately be accepted. applicants paid £23 000 apiece to have their proposals considered. the application for .mobi was sponsored by technology firms including nokia  microsoft and t-mobile.  of the 10 currently under consideration  the least likely to win approval is the .xxx domain for pornographic websites. there are currently around 250 domain names in use around the globe  mostly for specific countries such as .fr for france and .uk for britain. perhaps unsurprisingly  .com remains the most popular address on the web.


anti-spam screensaver scrapped a contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped.  lycos europe s make love  not spam campaign began in late november but its tactics proved controversial. lycos has shut down the campaign saying it had been started to stimulate debate about anti-spam measures and had now achieved this aim. the anti-spammer screensaver came under fire for encouraging vigilante activity and skirting the edge of the law.  through the make love  not spam website  users could download a screensaver that would endlessly request data from the net sites mentioned in many junk mail messages. more than 100 000 people are thought to have downloaded the screensaver that lycos europe offered.  the company wanted to keep the spam sites running at near total capacity to make it much less financially attractive to spammers to operate the sites. but the campaign was controversial from the moment it kicked off and many net veterans criticised it for using spamming-type tactics against the senders of junk mail. some net service firms began blocking access to the lycos europe site in protest at the action. monitoring firm netcraft found that the anti-spam campaign was proving a little too successful. according to response-time figures gathered by netcraft  some of the sites that the screensaver targeted were being knocked offline by the constant data requests. in a statement from lycos europe announcing the scrapping of the scheme  the company denied that this was its fault.  there is nothing to suggest that make love  not spam has brought down any of the sites that it has targeted   it said.  at the time that netcraft measured the sites it claims may have been brought down  they were not in fact part of the make love  not spam attack cycle   it added. the statement issued by lycos also said that the centralised database it used ensured that traffic to the target sites left them with 5% spare capacity.  the idea was simply to slow spammers  sites and this was achieved by the campaign   the company said. many security organisations said users should not participate in the lycos europe campaign. the closure comes only days after the campaign was suspended following the outbreak of criticism.


house prices drop as sales slow house prices fell further in november and property sale times lengthened as rate rises took their toll  the royal institute of chartered surveyors found.  a total of 48% of chartered surveyor estate agents reported lower prices in the three months to november - the highest level in 12 years. meanwhile the number of sales dropped 32% to an average of 22 per surveyor. the amount of unsold properties on their books rose for the sixth month in a row to an average of 67 properties.  the slowdown occurring in the market has given buyers more power to negotiate  but this time of year is traditionally a quiet one   rics housing spokesman ian perry said.  the decision by the bank of england not to increase interest rates further and the healthy economy is allowing confidence to consolidate.   the figures support recent data from the government and other bodies which all point to a slowdown in the housing market. on monday  the council of mortgage lenders  british bankers association and building societies association all said mortgage lending was slowing. the figures were published as another survey by property website rightmove said the average asking price of a home fell by more than £600 from £190 329 in november to £189 733 in december. around the uk  the midlands and south saw the biggest price falls  while london prices fell but at less than the national rate. in scotland  where prices have remained on an upward path  increases were more  moderate   rics added. but the news failed to dent confidence that sales will recover in future  with surveyors at their most optimistic in a year - as new purchase inquiries stabilised despite holding at lower levels.  sales usually pick up in the new year and i am confident this year will be no exception   mr perry added. looking ahead  the group is anticipating a quiet start to 2005 with the market picking up in the second half - prompting a 3% rise in prices over the coming 12 months.


asia shares defy post-quake gloom thailand has become the first of the 10 southern asian nations battered by giant waves at the weekend to cut its economic forecast.  thailand s economy is now expected to grow by 5.7% in 2005  rather than 6% as forecast before tsunamis hit six tourist provinces. the full economic costs of the disaster remain unclear. in part  this is because of its scale  and because delivering aid and recovering the dead remain priorities. but indonesian  indian and hong kong stock markets reached record highs on wednesday  suggesting that investors do not fear a major economic impact.  the highs showed the gap in outlook between investors in large firms and individuals who have lost their livelihoods.  investors seemed to feel that some of the worst-affected areas - such as aceh in indonesia - were so under-developed that the tragedy would little impact on asia s listed companies  according to analysts.  obviously with a lot of loss of life  a lot of time is needed to clean up the mess  bury the people and find the missing. but it s not necessarily a really big thing in the economic sense   said abn amro chief asian strategist eddie wong. india s bombay stock exchange inched slightly above its previous record close on wednesday. expectations of strong corporate earnings in 2005 drove the indonesian stock exchange in jakarta to a record high on wednesday. in hong kong  the hang seng index may be benefiting in part from the potential for its listed property companies to gain from rebuilding contracts in the tsunami-affected regions of south east asia. in sri lanka  some economists have said that as much as 1% of annual growth may be lost. sri lanka s stock market has fallen about 5% since the weekend  but it is still 40% higher than at the start of 2004.  thailand may lose 30bn baht (£398m; $768m) in earnings from tourism over the next three months  according to tourism minister sontaya kunplome.  in the affected provinces  he expects the loss of tourism revenue to be offset by government reconstruction spending. thailand intends to spend a similar sum - around 30bn baht - on the rebuilding work.  it will take until the fourth quarter of next year before tourist visitors in phuket and five other provinces return to their normal level   said naris chaiyasoot  director general at the ministry s fiscal policy office. in the maldives the cost of reconstruction could wipe out economic growth  according to a government spokesman.  our nation is in peril here   said ahmed shaheed  the chief government spokesman. he estimated the economic cost of the disaster at hundreds of millions of dollars. the maldives has gross domestic product of $660m.  it won t be surprising if the cost exceeds our gdp   he said.  in the last few years  we made great progress in our standard of living - the united nations recognised this. now we see this can disappear in a few days  a few minutes.  shaheed noted that investment in a single tourist resort - the economic mainstay - could run to $40m. between 10 and 12 of the 80-odd resorts have been severely damaged  and a similar number have suffered significant damage. however  many experts  including the world bank  have pointed out that it is still difficult to assess the magnitude of the disaster and its likely economic impact.


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


qatar and shell in $6bn gas deal shell has signed a $6bn (£3.12bn) deal with the middle eastern sheikhdom of qatar to supply liquid natural gas (lng) to north america and europe.  the uk-dutch group will own 30% of the project  with qatar s state oil firm owning the rest. the agreement is the latest in a string of deals reached by qatar  which is trying to make itself a regional leader in natural gas. us oil giant exxonmobil signed up for a $12.8bn deal earlier on sunday. france s total is expected to join the exxonmobil scheme  dubbed qatargas-2  on monday  taking 5 million tonnes of lng a year. exxonmobil will be taking some 15 million tonnes each year for 25 years from the end of 2007 under the deal. shell s agreement  under the name qatargas-4  foresees the building of new facilities to handle 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas  and 7.8 million tonnes of lng each year from 2011 onwards.


johnson announces june retirement former england captain martin johnson has announced he is to retire from rugby union at the end of the season.  johnson  who captained england to world cup glory in 2003  will play his final match in june. johnson won 84 england caps and quit test rugby at the start of 2004  just two months after leading sir clive woodward s team to victory in sydney. the 34-year-old leicester lock s final match will be his testimonial at twickenham on 4 june.  i m confident i have made the right decision to retire   said johnson.  i m sure there will be times next season when i ll wish i was out there playing for the tigers  but you know when the time is right to go and i feel this is the right time.  i feel physically that i could play for another season  but playing week in and week out in the premiership is a full-time occupation and i only want to be out there for the right reasons.  johnson will always be revered by england fans for captaining england to their dramatic world cup win against australia in sydney  but his list of achievements does not stop at that.  he is the only man to captain the lions twice and he also led england to a six nations grand slam. johnson also had huge success as captain of leicester  guiding the tigers to back to back heineken cup victories and several premiership titles. apart from his marvellous captaincy johnson was also one of the finest second rows to ever play the game. teak tough and physically intimidating  he ruled the rucks and mauls for the best part of a decade and was integral in england s rise to the top of the world game. his final appearance will be in his testimonial at twickenham  where he will lead a team against a side captained by new zealand winger jonah lomu. the all black is aiming to return to action after a kidney transplant and johnson expects it to be a memorable occasion.  this game against jonah will be a great way to end the season and end my career   said johnson. lomu  rugby union s first global superstar after his exploits in the 1995 world cup  said he was proud to be part of johnson s farewell.  we hold him in such high esteem   said lomu.  he is such a great leader and i am just honoured to be on the same pitch.


golden rule  intact  says ex-aide chancellor gordon brown will meet his golden economic rule  with a margin to spare   according to his former chief economic adviser.  formerly one of mr brown s closest treasury aides  ed balls hinted at a budget giveaway on 16 march. he said he hoped more would be done to build on current tax credit rules. any rate rise ahead of an expected may election would not affect the labour party s chances of winning  he added. last july  mr balls won the right to step down from his treasury position and run for parliament  defending the labour stronghold of normanton in west yorkshire.  mr balls rejected the allegation that mr brown had been sidelined in the election campaign  saying he was playing a  different  role to the one he played in the last two elections. he rejected speculation that mr brown was considering becoming foreign secretary  saying his recent travels had been linked to efforts to boost international development. gordon brown s decision to announce the date of the budget while on a trip to china was a  sensible thing to do   since he was talking about skills and investment at the time  mr balls told the bbc. commenting on speculation of an interest rate rise  he said it was not within the remit of the bank of england s monetary policy committee (mpc) to factor a potential election into its rate decisions. expectations of a rate rise have gathered pace after figures showed that house prices are still rising. consumer borrowing rose at a near-record pace in january.  i don t believe it would be a big election issue in britain or a problem for labour   mr balls said. prime minister tony blair has yet to name the date of the election  but most pundits are betting on 5 may as the likely day.


rescue hope for borussia dortmund shares in struggling german football club borussia dortmund slipped on monday despite the club agreeing a rescue plan with creditors on friday.  the club  which has posted record losses and racked up debts  said last week that it was in  a life-threatening profitability and financial situation . creditors agreed on friday to suspend interest payments until 2007. news of the deal had boosted shares in the club on friday  but the stock slipped back 7% during monday morning.  in addition to the interest-payment freeze  borussia dortmund also will get short-term loans to help pay salaries. it estimated that it needs almost 30m euros ($39m; £21m) until the end of june if it is to pay its bills. the football club is hoping that all its creditors will agree to defer rent payments on its westfalen stadium. borussia officials met with almost all the banks involved in its financing on friday and over the weekend. three creditors have yet to agree to the deal struck last week. on 14 march  one of these creditors - property investment fund molsiris which owns the club s stadium - holds its agm at which it will discuss the rescue plan. chief executive gerd niebaum stepped down last week and creditors have been pushing for a greater say in how the club is run. borussia dortmund also is facing calls to appoint executives from outside the club. the club posted a record loss of 68m euros in the 12 months through june. adding to its woes  borussia dortmund was beaten 5-0 by bayern munich on saturday.


mansfield 0-1 leyton orient an second-half goal from andy scott condemned mansfield to a ninth successive game without a win.  early in the second half wayne carlisle s cross was met by scott and he blasted the ball home from just outside the penalty area. as orient chased a second  mansfield had to clear alan white s header off the line and kevin pilkington saved well from michael simpson. by the end mansfield fans were chanting for the head of chairman keith haslam.  pilkington  talbot  buxton  dimech  artell  corden  murray  curtis  neil  warne  barker. subs not used: white  mcintosh  wood  lloyd  herron.  harrison  lockwood  donny barnard  white mackie  scott  saah  simpson  carlisle  lee barnard  ibehre. subs not used: morris  wardley  newey  zakuani  mcmahon.  scott 51.  3 803  s mathieson (cheshire).


bees handed potential man utd tie brentford face a home tie against holders manchester united in the fa cup sixth round if they can come through their replay against southampton.  the league one side held the saints at st mary s in their fifth-round tie and were rewarded with a potential draw against sir alex ferguson s side. newcastle will be at home to either tottenham or nottingham forest. bolton host arsenal or sheffield united and leicester will visit the winners of the burnley and blackburn replay. the ties will be played on the weekend of 12-13 march.  was delighted to be paired with united  although he admitted they still have plenty of work to do to set up a dream tie.  we ve got our work cut out next tuesday but you can t deny it s exciting   he said.   it would be a sell-out. it will probably be on television. we have financial problems and the revenue it could bring in would certainly help our situation.  we re happy to be in the draw but we ve still got to beat a premiership team.  we ve got to beat southampton first and that s going to be a hard game but if we do there will be some celebration.   welcomed the opportunity to face united.  we re not counting on anything yet   he said.  it is obviously going to be a difficult replay judging by the way brentford came back at us on saturday and the fact that united have come out of the hat will give them even more incentive.  but i ve been drawn against united so many times in cups and beaten them at both bournemouth and west ham.  there are no easy ties in the fa cup and i m sure nobody is counting on one.   newcastle v tottenham or nottingham forest  southampton or brentford v manchester united  bolton v arsenal or sheffield united  burnley or blackburn v leicester


us interest rate rise expected us interest rates are expected to rise for the fifth time since june following the us federal reserve s latest rate-setting meeting later on tuesday.  borrowing costs are tipped to rise by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.25%. the move comes as a recovery in the us economy  the world s biggest  shows signs of robustness and sustainability. the dollar s record-breaking decline  meanwhile  has spooked markets and along with high oil prices has raised concerns about the pace of inflation.  we are seeing evidence that inflation is moving higher   said ken kim  an analyst at stone & mccarthy research.  it s not a risk  it s actually happening.  mr kim added that borrowing costs could rise further.  the fed has said that it will move in a  measured  way to combat price growth and lift interest rates from their 40-year lows that were prompted by sluggish us and global growth.  with the economic picture now looking more rosy  the fed has implemented quarter percentage point rises in june  august  september and november. although the us economy grew at an annual rate of 3.9% in the three months to september  analysts warn that fed has to be careful not to move too aggressively and take the wind out of the recovery s sails. earlier this month figures showed that job creation is still weak  while consumer confidence is subdued.  i think the fed feels it has a fair amount of flexibility   said david berson  chief economist at fannie mae.  while inflation has moved up  it hasn t moved up a lot.   if economic growth should subside... the fed would feel it has the flexibility to pause in its tightening.  but if economic growth picked up and caused core inflation to rise a little more quickly  i think the fed would be prepared to tighten more quickly as well.


euronext  poised to make lse bid  pan-european group euronext is poised to launch a bid for the london stock exchange  uk media reports say.  last week  the lse rejected a takeover proposal from german rival deutsche boerse - the 530 pence-a-share offer valued the exchange at about £1.35bn. the lse  which saw its shares rise 25%  said the bid undervalued the business. euronext - formed after the brussels  paris and amsterdam exchanges merged - is reportedly working with three investment banks on a possible offer. the lse  europe s biggest stock market  is a key prize  listing stocks with a total capitalisation of £1.4 trillion.  euronext already has a presence in london due to its 2001 acquisition of london-based options and futures exchange liffe. trades on the lse are cleared via clearnet  in which euronext has a quarter stake.  euronext  which also operates an exchange in lisbon  last week appointed ubs and abn amro as additional advisors. it is also working with morgan stanley. despite the rejection of the deutsche boerse bid last week  werner seifert  chief executive of the frankfurt-based exchange  may well come back with an improved offer. it has long wanted to link up with london  and the two tried and failed to seal a merger in 2000. responding to the lse s rebuff  deutsche boerse - whose market capitalisation is more than £3bn - said it believed it could show its proposal offered benefits  and that it still hoped to make a cash bid.  last week the lse said not only was the bid undervalued  but that it had  been advised that there can be no assurance that any transaction could be successfully implemented . however  it has indicated it is open for further talks. meanwhile  german magazine der spiegel said part of mr seifert s negotiations with the lse were about where to base the future board of any merged exchange. while mr seifert has suggested a merged company would be run out of london  the mayor of frankfurt has raised concerns that such a move could cost german jobs. many analysts believe german boerse has more financial firepower than euronext if it came to a bidding war.


german economy rebounds germany s economy  the biggest among the 12 countries sharing the euro  grew at its fastest rate in four years during 2004  driven by strong exports.  gross domestic product (gdp) rose by 1.7% last year  the statistical office said. the economy contracted in 2003. foreign sales increased by 8.2% last year  compared with a 0.3% slide in private consumption. concerns remain  however  over the strength of the euro  weak domestic demand and a sluggish labour market. the european central bank (ecb) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2% on thursday. it is the nineteenth month in a row that the ecb has not moved borrowing costs. economists predict that an increase is unlikely to come until the second half of 2005  with growth set to sputter rather than ignite.   during 2004 we profited from the fact that the world economy was strong   said stefan schilbe  analyst at hsbc trinkaus & burkhardt.  if exports weaken and domestic growth remains poor  we cannot expect much from 2005.  many german consumers have been spooked and unsettled by government attempts to reform the welfare state and corporate environment. major companies including volkswagen  daimlerchrysler and siemens have spent much of 2004 in tough talks with unions about trimming jobs and costs. they have also warned there are more cost cutting measures on the horizon.


dutch bank to lay off 2 850 staff abn amro  the netherlands  largest bank  is to cut 2 850 jobs as a result of falling profits.  the cuts - amounting to 3% of the bank s workforce - will result in a one-off charge of 790m euros ($1.1bn). about 1 100 jobs will go in investment banking while 1 200 and 550 will go in it and human resources respectively. abn amro is the third large european bank to announce cutbacks in the past month following deutsche bank and credit suisse group.  its profitability has been hit by a fall in mortgage lending in the united states - the bank s largest single market - following recent interest rate rises. abn amro s operations in the netherlands and the united kingdom will be hardest hit. jobs will also be lost in the us - which accounted for 46% of profit in the first half of 2004 - and across its operations in the americas and asia-pacific regions.  the restructuring is designed to improve efficiency by reducing administrative costs and increasing focus on client service. the bank said it was on course for a 10% rise in net income this year but operating profits are set to fall because of a fall in us revenues. abn amro currently has more than 100 000 staff.  to get any profit growth in the coming years  they will have to lower costs  so shedding jobs makes total sense   ivo geijsen  an analyst with bank oyens & van eeghen  told bloomberg. europe s leading banks seem set for a period of retrenchment. deutsche bank said earlier this month it would reduce its german workforce by 1 920 while as many as 300 jobs will be lost at credit suisse first boston.


gangsters dominate gaming chart video games on consoles and computers proved more popular than ever in 2004.  gamers spent more than £1.34bn in 2004  almost 7% more than they did in 2003 according to figures released by the uk gaming industry s trade body. sales records were smashed by the top title of the year gta: san andreas - in which players got the job of turning central character cj into a crime boss. the game sold more than 1 million copies in the first nine days that it was on sale. this feat made it the fastest selling video game of all time in the uk. although only released in november the sprawling story of guns  gangsters game beat off strong competition and by year end had sold more than 1.75 million copies. there were also records set for the number of games that achieved double-platinum status by selling more than 600 000 copies. five titles  including sony eyetoy play and ea s need for speed: underground 2  managed this feat according to figures compiled by chart-track for the entertainment and leisure software publishers association (elspa). electronic arts  the world s biggest games publisher  had 9 games in the top 20.  2004 was a  stellar year  said roger bennett  director general of elspa.  in a year with no new generation consoles being released  the market continued to be buoyant as the industry matured and the increasingly diverse range of games reached new audiences and broadened its player base - across ages and gender   he said. part of the success of games in 2004 could be due to the fact that so many of them are sequels. 16 out of the top 20 titles were all follow-ups to established franchises or direct sequels to previously popular games. halo  the sims  driver  need for speed  fifa football  burnout were just a few that proved as popular as the original titles. despite this fondness for older games  doom 3 did not make it to the top 20. movie tie-ins also proved their worth in 2004. games linked to shrek  the incredibles  spider-man  harry potter and lord of the rings were all in the top 20. elspa noted that sales of xbox games rose 37.9% during the year. however  sony s playstation 2 was the top seller with 47% of the £1.34bn spent on games in 2004 used to buy titles for that console. despite winning awards and rave reviews half-life 2 did not appear in the list. this was because it was only released on pc and  compared to console titles  sold in relatively small numbers. also the novel distribution system adopted by developer valve meant that many players downloaded the title rather than travel to the shops to buy a copy. valve has yet to release figures which show how many copies of the game were sold in this way.


news corp eyes video games market news corp  the media company controlled by australian billionaire rupert murdoch  is eyeing a move into the video games market.  according to the financial times  chief operating officer peter chernin said that news corp is  kicking the tyres of pretty much all video games companies . santa monica-based activison is said to be one firm on its takeover list. video games are  big business   the paper quoted mr chernin as saying. we  would like to get into it .  the success of products such as sony s playstation  microsoft s x-box and nintendo s game cube have boosted demand for video games. the days of arcade classics such as space invaders  pac-man and donkey kong are long gone. today  games often have budgets big enough for feature films and look to give gamers as real an experience as possible. and with their price tags reflecting the heavy investment by development companies  video games are proving almost as profitable as they are fun.  mr chernin  however  told the ft that news corp was finding it difficult to identify a suitable target.  we are struggling with the gap between companies like electronic arts (ea)  which comes with a high price tag  and the next tier of companies   he explained during a conference in phoenix  arizona.  these may be too focused on one or two product lines.  activision has a stock market capitalisation of about $2.95bn (£1.57bn)  compared to ea s $17.8bn. some of the games industry s main players have recently been looking to consolidate their position by making acquisitions. france s ubisoft  one of europe s biggest video game publishers  has been trying to remain independent since electronic arts announced plans to buy 19.9% of the firm. analysts have said that industry mergers are likely in the future.


kirwan demands italy consistency italy coach john kirwan has challenged his side to match the performance they produced in pushing ireland close when they meet wales on saturday.  despite losing 28-17 in sunday s six nations encounter  the italians confirmed their continuing improvement.  our goal is to match every side we face and against ireland we showed we could do that   said kirwan.  but the most important thing is that we build on that performance when we play wales on saturday.  italy s half-backs had a mixed afternoon  with recalled scrum-half alessandro troncon impressing but fly-half luciano orquera having an off-day with the boot. kirwan said:  i was very happy with troncon. he had an incredible game - he was very good in attack and defence.  orquera s kicking was off but he showed great courage in defence.  he also followed the game plan. we have to give him confidence because he has the capability to do well.


campbell to extend sprint career darren campbell has set his sights on running quicker than ever after deciding not to retire from sprinting.  campbell  who won olympic 4x100m relay gold  had been unsure about his future. but he told five live s sportsweek:  i had to get back into training before i could decide because if i didn t have the same hunger i d have to walk away.  i ve started back and i m thoroughly enjoying it. i m looking forward to it. i ve got to run under 10 seconds (for 100m) and under 20 seconds (for 200m).  campbell was part of the british quartet who shocked the americans to win relay gold in athens in august.  the newport-based athlete and team-mates jason gardener  marlon devonish and mark lewis-francis were rewarded with mbes in the new year honours list. campbell s relay triumph made up for his disappointing displays in the individual 100m and 200m events in athens  when he failed to reach the finals. the 31-year-old  who won olympic 200m silver in sydney in 2000  said during the games that a hamstring injury had stopped him from running at his best.  he was criticised at the time by former olympic champion michael johnson  who cast doubt on campbell s injury claims.  to go to athens and finally get the gold i ve been trying to get for 24 years was a big relief   said campbell.  it was a chance for me to prove that if i d been fit i would have been challenging for the (individual) medals.  every season i go and challenge for the medals so why would last season have been any different   it s just unfortunate that i picked up that injury just before the olympics.  campbell set his 100m personal best of 10.04secs when he won the european title in budapest in 1998. and he ran 20.13secs in the quarter-finals of the 200m in sydney on the way to olympic silver.


radcliffe yet to answer gb call paula radcliffe has been granted extra time to decide whether to compete in the world cross-country championships.  the 31-year-old is concerned the event  which starts on 19 march in france  could upset her preparations for the london marathon on 17 april.  there is no question that paula would be a huge asset to the gb team   said zara hyde peters of uk athletics.  but she is working out whether she can accommodate the worlds without too much compromise in her marathon training.  radcliffe must make a decision by tuesday - the deadline for team nominations. british team member hayley yelling said the team would understand if radcliffe opted out of the event.  it would be fantastic to have paula in the team   said the european cross-country champion.  but you have to remember that athletics is basically an individual sport and anything achieved for the team is a bonus.  she is not messing us around. we all understand the problem.  radcliffe was world cross-country champion in 2001 and 2002 but missed last year s event because of injury. in her absence  the gb team won bronze in brussels.


spain coach faces racism inquiry spain s football federation has initiated disciplinary action against national coach luis aragones over racist comments about thierry henry.  if found guilty aragones could lose his job or face a fine of about £22 000. the federation had initially declined to take action against aragones after comments he made during a national team training session in october. but its president angel maria villar changed his mind after a request by spain s anti-violence commission. aragones insisted the comments  made to henry s arsenal club-mate jose antonio reyes  were meant to motivate the player  and were not intended to be offensive.   i never intended to offend anyone  and for that reason i have a very easy conscience   he said at the time.  i m obliged to motivate my players to get the best results.  as part of that job  i use colloquial language  with which we can all understand each other within the framework of the football world.   england s players made a point of wearing anti-racism t-shirts when training before their friendly against spain in madrid last month.  but the storm increased following racist chanting by spanish fans at england s black players during the game  which spain won 1-0. spain s minister of sport jaime lissavetzky was quick to give his backing to the federation s decision.  everyone who has a public function has to consider their declarations  and make sure they do not give a negative image   he said.  we are going to have zero tolerance in questions of racism.


pandas benefit from wireless net the world s dwindling panda population is getting a helping hand from a wireless internet network.  the wolong nature reserve in the sichuan province of southwest china is home to 20% of the remaining 1 500 giant pandas in the world. a broadband and wireless network installed on the reserve has allowed staff to chronicle the pandas  daily activities. the data and images can be shared with colleagues around the world. the reserve conducts vital research on both panda breeding and bamboo ecology.  using the network  vets have been able to observe how infant pandas feed and suggest changes to improve the tiny cubs  chances of survival.   digital technology has transformed the way we communicate and share information inside wolong and with the rest of the world   said zhang hemin  director of the wolong nature reserve.  our researchers now have state-of-the-art digital technology to help foster the panda population and manage our precious surroundings.  the network has been developed by intel  working closely with the staff at wolong. it includes a 802.11b wireless network and a video monitoring system using five cameras to observe pandas around the clock.  before the new infrastructure arrived at the panda park  staff walked or drove to deliver floppy disks across the reserve. infant panda health was recorded on paper notebooks and research teams in the field had little access to the data. to foster cultural links across the globe  a children s learning lab has been incorporated in the network  in collaboration with globio (federation for global biodiversity education for children)  an international non-profit organisation. it will enable children at local primary schools to hook up with their peers in portland  oregon in the us.  digital technology brings this story to life by enabling a global dialogue to help bridge cultures around the world   said globio founder gerry ellis.


warning over us pensions deficit taxpayers may have to bail out the us agency that protects workers  pension funds  leading economists have warned.  with the pension benefit guaranty corporation (pbgc) some £23bn (£12m) in deficit  the financial economists roundtable (fer) wants congress to act. instead of taxpayers having to pick up the bill  the fer wants congressmen to change the pbgc s funding rules. the fer says firms should not have been allowed to reduce the insurance premiums they pay into the pbgc fund. the fer blames this on a 2004 law  in a statement signed by several members  who include nobel economics laureate william sharpe. it said it was  dismayed  at the situation and wants congress to overturn the legislation.  cash-strapped us companies  including those in the airline  car-making and steel industries  had argued in favour of the 2004 rule change  claiming that funding the insurance premiums adequately would force them to have to cut jobs.  with a little firmer hand on the pensions issues in the us  i think that congress could avoid having to turn to the taxpayer and instead turn the obligations back onto the companies that deserve to pay them   said professor dennis logue  dean of price college of business at the university of oklahoma. the pbgc was founded in 1974 to protect workers  retirement rights. its most recent action came last week when it took control of the pilots  pension scheme at united airlines. with united battling bankruptcy  the carrier had wanted to use the money set aside for pensions to finance running costs. the company has an estimated $2.9bn hole in its pilots  pension scheme  which the pbgc will now guarantee.


watchdog probes vivendi bond sale french stock market regulator amf has filed complaints against media giant vivendi universal  its boss and another top executive.  it believes the prospectus for a bond issue was unclear and that executives may have had privileged information. amf has begun proceedings against vivendi  its chief executive jean-rene fourtou and chief operating officer jean-bernard levy. vivendi advisor deutsche bank was also the subject of a complaint filing. deutsche bank  which was responsible for selling the convertible bonds to investors  could face penalties if the complaint is upheld.  vivendi has said it believes there is  no legal basis  for the complaints. the watchdog is said to believe the executive pair were party to  privileged information  surrounding the issue of the bonds. both men bought some of the bonds  the associated press news agency reported. amf is investigating claims that the duo were aware of an interest in vivendi s us assets from investor marvin davis  at the time of the bond sale. vivendi  however  has said that the information was public knowledge as mr davis  offer for the us assets had already been rejected by vivendi s board. amf is also looking into whether the executives knew that vivendi was considering exercising its right to buy british telecom s shares in cegetel. vivendi has rejected the charge  saying the decision to buy the cegetel shares was  no more than a possibility  of which the public was perfectly aware  at the time of the bond issue. back in december  vivendi and its former chief executive jean-marie messier were each fined 1m euros ($1.3m; £690 000) by amf. the fines came after a 15-month probe into allegations that the media giant misled investors after a costly acquisition programme went wrong.


greek pair set for hearing kostas kenteris and katerina thanou will fight the provisional two-year bans imposed on them by the iaaf at an independent tribunal this weekend.  athletics  ruling body took action against the pair for failing to take drugs tests before the athens olympics. an independent tribunal of the greek track and field federation will meet to decide whether to ratify the sanction. the sprint duo face charges of failing to give information on their location and refusing to submit to a drugs test. kenteris  lawyer gregory ioannidis told bbc sport:  we refute both charges as unsubstantiated and illogical.  there have been certain breaches in the correct application of the rules on behalf of the sporting authorities and their officials  and these procedural breaches have also violated my client s rights.  there is also evidence that proves the fact that my client has been persecuted.  ioannidis  who is a law lecturer at the university of buckingham  added:  one of the important rights and foundations of law and justice - that the accused should be presumed innocent unless proved otherwise - has been tarnished.  the panel will also decide on the two-year ban imposed on the athletes  controversial coach christos tzekos by the iaaf. kenteris  the 2000 olympic 200m champion  and thanou  the women s 100m silver medallist from the same games in sydney  quit the olympics on 18 august after failing to give samples on the eve of the opening ceremony.  testers could not find them at the olympic village and the duo were later admitted to hospital after claiming to have been involved in a motorcycle accident. they also missed tests in tel aviv  chicago and athens before the games. in imposing two-year suspensions on the duo on 22 december  the iaaf described their explanations for missing the tests as  unacceptable . whatever the findings of the independent tribunal  all parties will have the right to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport. the tribunal hearing will take place at the hellenic olympic committee building. it will start at 1200 gmt on saturday and is expected to finish early next week. the tribunal panel will consist of five members - president konstantinos panagopoulos and panagiotis dimakos  haralabos hrisanthakis  stilianos perakis and ioannis karmis. kenteris and thanou also face criminal charges in greece for allegedly faking the motorcycle accident. eight criminal charges have been laid against the sprinters as well as tzekos  an eyewitness to the accident and hospital officials. but there has been speculation that the charges could be dropped.


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


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


commodore finds new lease of life the once-famous commodore computer brand could be resurrected after being bought by a us-based digital music distributor.  new owner yeahronimo media ventures has not ruled out the possibility of a new breed of commodore computers. it also plans to develop a  worldwide entertainment concept  with the brand  although details are not yet known. the groundbreaking commodore 64 computer elicits fond memories for those who owned one back in the 1980s.  in the chronology of home computing  commodore was one of the pioneers.  the commodore 64  launched in 1982  was one of the first affordable home pcs. it was followed a few years later by the amiga. the commodore 64 sold more than any other single computer system  even to this day. the brand languished somewhat in the 1990s. commodore international filed for bankruptcy in 1994 and was sold to dutch firm tulip computers. in the late 1980s the firm was a great rival to atari  which produced its own range of home computers and is now a brand of video games  formerly known as infogrames.  tulip computers sold several products under the commodore name  including portable usb storage devices and digital music players. it had planned to relaunch the brand  following an upsurge of nostalgia for 1980s-era games. commodore 64 enthusiasts have written emulators for windows pc  apple mac and even pdas so that the original commodore games can be still run. the sale of commodore is expected to be complete in three weeks in a deal worth over £17m.


wolves appoint hoddle as manager glenn hoddle will be unveiled as the new wolves manager on tuesday.  the club have confirmed that the former england coach will be unveiled as the successor to dave jones at a news conference at molineux at 1100 gmt. hoddle has been linked with a return to former club southampton but wolves have won the race for his services. he has been out of the game since being sacked at spurs in september 2003 and worked alongside wolves caretaker boss stuart gray at southampton. hoddle began his managerial career as player-boss with swindon before moving on to chelsea and then taking up the england job.  his spell in charge of the national side came to an end after the 1998 world cup when he made controversial remarks about the disabled in a newspaper interview. the 47-year-old later returned to management with southampton  where he again succeeded jones - as he has now done at wolves. he engineered an upturn in saints  fortunes before being lured to white hart lane by tottenham - the club where he made his name as a player. that relationship turned sour at the start of the last campaign and he left the london club early last season. since then he has applied unsuccessfully for the post of france manager and had also been linked with a return to southampton. wolves are currently 17th in the championship and have a home game against millwall on tuesday.


broadband in the uk growing fast high-speed net connections in the uk are proving more popular than ever.  bt reports that more people signed up for broadband in the last three months than in any other quarter. the 600 000 connections take the total number of people in the uk signing up for broadband from bt to almost 3.3 million. nationally more than 5 million browse the net via broadband. britain now has among the highest number of broadband connections throughout the whole of europe.  according to figures gathered by industry watchdog  ofcom  the growth means that the uk has now surpassed germany in terms of broadband users per 100 people. the uk total of 5.3 million translates into 7.5 connections per 100 people  compared to 6.7 in germany and 15.8 in the netherlands. the numbers of people signing up to broadband include those that get their service direct from bt or via the many companies that re-sell bt lines under their own name. part of the surge in people signing up was due to bt stretching the reach of adsl - the uk s most widely used way of getting broadband - beyond 6km.  asymmetric digital subscriber line technology lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. the standard speed is 512kbps  though faster connections are available.  this breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas   said paul reynolds  chief executive of bt wholesale which provides phone lines that other firms re-sell. bt retail  which sells net services under its own name  also had a good quarter and provided about 30% of the new broadband customers. this was a slight increase on the previous three months. despite the good news about growth in broadband  figures from telecommunications regulator ofcom show that bt faces increasing competition  and dwindling influence  in other sectors. local loop unbundling  (llu)  in which bt rivals install their hardware in exchanges and take over the line to a customer s home or office  is growing steadily. cable & wireless and ntl have announced that they are investing millions to start offering llu services. by the end of september more than 4.2 million phone lines were using so-called carrier pre-section (cps) services  such as talktalk and one.tel  which route phone calls across non-bt networks from a local exchange. there are now more than 300 different firms offering cps services and the percentage of people using bt lines for voice calls has shrunk to 55.4%.


apple sues to stop product leaks computer firm apple has issued a lawsuit to prevent online leaks of information about future products.  the lawsuit  against an unidentified individual  comes just weeks before the macworld conference in san francisco  used to showcase new products. the complaint said an  unidentified individual... has recently misappropriated and disseminated confidential information . the lawsuit was filed with the santa clara california superior court. apple is famously secretive about its future product launches while apple users are equally famous for speculating about new technology from the company. fans have speculated in recent weeks about the possibility of a new type of ipod being announced at the macworld conference.  apple said in the seven-page complaint  filed on 13 december  that it did not know the  true names or capacities  whether individual  associate  corporate or otherwise   of the defendants. the company said it would amend the complaint once they had discovered the names of those who had allegedly leaked information. it is not the first time apple has sued people who have posted information about future products on the internet. in december 2002  apple sued a former contractor who allegedly posted online drawings  images and engineering details of the company s powermac g4 computer. in a statement  apple said of the current lawsuit:  apple has filed a civil complaint against unnamed individuals who we believe stole our trade secrets and posted detailed information about an unannounced apple product on the internet.