ibm frees 500 software patents computer giant ibm says 500 of its software patents will be released into the open development community.  the move means developers will be able to use the technologies without paying for a licence from the company. ibm described the step as a  new era  in how it dealt with intellectual property and promised further patents would be made freely available. the patents include software for a range of practices  including text recognition and database management. traditional technology business policy is to amass patents and despite ibm s announcement the company continues to follow this route.  ibm was granted 3 248 patents in 2004  more than any other firm in the us  the new york times reports. for each of the past 12 years ibm has been granted more us patents than any other company. ibm has received 25 772 us patents in that period and reportedly has more than 40 000 current patents. in a statement  dr john e. kelly  ibm senior vice president  technology and intellectual property  said:  true innovation leadership is about more than just the numbers of patents granted. it s about innovating to benefit customers  partners and society.   our pledge today is the beginning of a new era in how ibm will manage intellectual property.  in the past  ibm has supported the non-commercial operating system linux although critics have said this was done only as an attempt to undermine microsoft.  the company said it wanted to encourage other firms to release patents into what it called a  patent commons . adam jollans  ibm s world-wide linux strategy manager  said the move was a genuine attempt to encourage innovation.  we believe that releasing these patents will result in innovation moving more quickly.  this is about encouraging collaboration and following a model much like academia.  mr jollans likened the plan for a patent commons to the way the internet was developed and said everyone could take advantage of the result of collaboration.  the internet s impact has been on everyone. the benefits are there for everyone to take advantage of.  stuart cohen  chief executive of us firm open source development labs  said the move could mean a change in the way companies deal with patents.   i think other companies will follow suit   he said. but not everyone was as supportive. florian mueller  campaign manager of a group lobbying toprevent software patents becoming legal in the european union dismissed ibm s move as insubstantial.  it s just diversionary tactics   wrote mr mueller  who leadsnosoftwarepatents.com  in a message on the group s website.  let s put this into perspective: we re talking aboutroughly one percent of ibm s worldwide patent portfolio. they filethat number of patents in about a month s time   he added. ibm will continue to hold the 500 patents but it has pledged to seek no royalties from the patents. the company said it would not place any restrictions on companies  groups or individuals who use them in open-source projects. open source software is developed by programmers who offer the source code - the origins of the program - for free and allow others to adapt or improve the software. end users have the right to modify and redistribute the software  as well as the right to package and sell the software. other areas covered by the patents released by ibm include storage management  simultaneous multiprocessing  image processing  networking and e-commerce.


building giant in asbestos payout australian building products group james hardie has agreed to pay $1.1bn (£568m) to victims of asbestos-related diseases.  the landmark deal could see thousands of people suffering from lung diseases - caused by asbestos the company once made - receive compensation. the move follows angry protests after the firm said a previous compensation fund was running out of money. a subsequent new south wales state inquiry criticised hardie s actions. in september  the inquiry found that the company had misled the public about the amount of money set aside to cover its asbestos-related liabilities  sparking the resignation of its then chief executive  peter macdonald.  campaigners welcomed news of the preliminary agreement.  this is a momentous day in the fight for victims and their families   said asbestosis sufferer bernie banton  who leads a victims  association.  there is still a long way to go  but we are getting there.  james hardie chairwoman  meredith hellicar  said the deal provided for a funding arrangement  that is affordable  sensible and workable .  at the end of the day we are dealing with compensation for people who are terminally ill. we don t know exactly how many of them there will be  we don t know over what exact period they will fall ill   she said. however  the deal still has to receive the approval of hardie s shareholders.  hardie  which currently makes more than 80% of its revenues in the us  was once australia s biggest supplier of asbestos building materials. in 2001  the company set up a fund to compensate asbestos victims  but it later admitted the fund was running short of money. a decision by hardie to move its headquarters to the netherlands - while remaining a listed company in australia - provoked a damaging public outcry. victims groups accusing it of trying to escape its responsibilities by moving abroad  a charge the company denies. australia s securities watchdog is currently investigating hardie s former chief executive and former chief financial officer over allegations of misleading investors and the general public.


moya emotional after davis cup win carlos moya described spain s davis cup victory as the highlight of his career after he beat andy roddick to end the usa s challenge in seville.  moya made up for missing spain s 2000 victory through injury by beating roddick 6-2 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead.  i have woken up so many nights dreaming of this day   said moya.  all my energy has been focused on today.  what i have lived today i do not think i will live again.  spain s only other davis cup title came two years ago in valencia  when they beat australia. and moya  nicknamed charly  admitted:  the davis cup is my dream and i was a bit nervous at the outset.  some people have said that i am obsessed but i think that it is better this way. it helps me reach my goals if i am obsessed.  it s really incredible - to get the winning point is really something.  spanish captain jordi arrese said:  charly played a great game. it was his opportunity and he hasn t let us down.  he had lost three times to roddick  and this was his day to beat him.  he had been waiting years to be in this position.  spain s victory was also remarkable for the performance of rafael nadal  who beat roddick in the opening singles.  aged 18 years and 185 days  the mallorcan became the youngest player to win the davis cup.  what a great way to finish the year   said nadal afterwards. us coach patrick mcenroe wants roddick and the rest of his team to play more tennis on clay and hone their skills on the surface.  i think it will help these guys even on slow hard courts to learn how to mix things up a little bit and to play a little bit smarter and tactically better.   obviously it s unrealistic to say that we re going to just start playing constantly on clay  with the schedule.  but certainly i think we can put the work in at the appropriate time and play a couple more events and play against these guys who are the best on this stuff   said mcenroe. roddick was left frustrated after losing both his singles on the slow clay of seville s olympic stadium.  it s just tough because i felt like i was in it the whole time against one of the top three clay-courters in the world   said the american.  i had my chances and just didn t convert them. the bottom line is they were just better than us this weekend.  they came out  took care of business and they beat us. it s as simple as that.


bt boosts its broadband packages british telecom has said it will double the broadband speeds of most of its home and business customers.  the increased speeds will come at no extra charge and follows a similar move by internet service provider aol. many bt customers will now have download speeds of 2mbps  although there are usage allowances of between one gigabyte and 30 gigabytes a month. the new speeds start to come into effect on 17 february for home customers and 1 april for businesses.  britain is now broadband britain   said duncan ingram  bt s managing director  broadband and internet services. he added:  ninety percent of our customers will see real increases in speed.   these speed increases will give people the opportunity to do a lot more with their broadband connections   he said. upload speeds - the speed at which information is sent from a pc via broadband - will remain at the same speed  said mr ingram. despite the increases  bt will continue to have usage allowances for home customers.  the allowances are extremely generous   said mr ingram  for what we are seeing in the market place - they are really not an issue.  bt will begin enforcing the allowances in the summer. customers who exceed the amounts will either be able to pay for a bigger allowance or see their download speeds reduced. bt now has a 36% share of the broadband market - down from 39% - which is becoming increasingly competitive. in the last few months  many rival isps have begun to offer 2mbps services  including aol  plusnet and uk online.  but britain continues to lag behind some countries - especially japan and south korea - which offer broadband speeds of up to 40mbps. but mr ingram said it was important to  separate hype from reality . he said that a limited number of people with those connections consistently received speeds of 40mbps. customers will not see their connections double immediately on 17 february. mr ingram said there would be a roll out across the network in order to prevent any problems.


oil prices reach three-month low oil prices have fallen heavily for a second day  closing at three-month lows after news that us crude stocks have improved ahead of winter.  london brent crude closed at $40.15 on thursday - a drop of 5.1% - having dived below $40 a barrel for the first time since mid-september. us light crude traded in new york lost more than $2 to $43.25  its lowest close since 10 september. the price of both benchmark crudes has dropped 12% in two days. the falls were triggered when the energy information administration (eia) said on wednesday that us crude stocks were 3.5% higher than a year ago. the news calmed worries about winter shortages. weak us fuel and heating oil stocks have been a persistent factor in pushing up oil prices.  it s amazing how quickly sentiment changed   said rick mueller  an analyst at energy security analysis. analysts also attributed the fall to mild early-winter weather  which has tempered demand for heating oil.  the stronger fuel inventories helped boost us stock markets to nine-month highs on wednesday  though only the nasdaq index had hung onto those gains by the end of thursday.  in london  the ftse 100 index closed 15 points higher at 4 751. the long-awaited drop in oil prices helped to ease persistent investor jitters over the impact of energy costs on company profits and economic growth. however  traders warned that the fall could be short-lived if there is a cold snap in north america this winter or any major supply problems in other parts of the world.  the price of crude is still up about 30% on the start of 2004  but has fallen from the record of $55.67 set in late october. opec nations have increased production to 25-year highs to meet global demand and this has helped rebuild us stocks hit by supply disruptions after hurricane ivan in september. traders were also encouraged by comments on wednesday from the energy minister of opec member algeria. chakib khelil said the cartel was likely to keep output unchanged when it meets next week. however  some analysts believe the sharp fall in crude prices may harden opec s attitude to over-production  leading to a scaling back of oil output.  fears still remain over the level of us heating oil stocks  which are rising but remain down on 2004 levels. a cold spell in north america would start to deplete supplies and could spark further price rises. analysts  however  say prices will fall further if inventories continue to rise.  mother nature is going to be huge in the next several weeks   said kyle cooper  at citigroup global markets.  long term i think we re headed to $30-35 but i don t think we re doing that yet. we have a lot of winter left.  john person  president of national futures advisory services  said the eia data indicated there should be adequate supplies for the next three months in the us. .


microsoft makes anti-piracy move microsoft says it is clamping down on people running pirated versions of its windows operating system by restricting their access to security features.  the windows genuine advantage scheme means people will have to prove their software is genuine from mid-2005. it will still allow those with unauthorised copies to get some crucial security fixes via automatic updates  but their options would be  limited . microsoft releases regular security updates to its software to protect pcs. either pcs detect updates automatically or users manually download fixes through microsoft s site. those running pirated windows programs would not have access to other downloads and  add-ons  that the software giant offers.  people who try to manually download security patches will have to let microsoft run an automated checking procedure on their computer or give an identification number.  microsoft s regular patches which it releases for newly-found security flaws are important because they stop worms  viruses and other threats penetrating pcs. some security experts are concerned that restricting access to such patches could mean a rise in such attacks and threats  with more pcs left unprotected. but graham cluley  senior consultant at security firm sophos  told the bbc news website that it was a positive decision.  it sounds like their decision to allow critical security patches to remain available to both legitimate and illegitimate users of windows is good news for everyone who uses the net   he said. windows genuine advantage was first introduced as a pilot scheme in september 2004 for english-language versions of windows.  microsoft s windows operating system is heavily exploited by virus writers because it is so widespread and they are constantly seeking out new security loopholes to take advantage of. the company is trying to tackle security threats whilst cracking down on pirated software at the same time. software piracy has cost the company billions  it says. the company announced earlier in january that it was releasing security tools to clean up pcs harbouring viruses and spyware  which 90% of pcs are infected with. the virus-fighting program  updated monthly  is a precursor to microsoft s dedicated anti-virus software. last year it introduced the windows xp counterfeit project  a uk-based pilot scheme  which ran from november to december. the scheme meant that anyone with pre-installed copies of the operating system in pcs bought before november could replace counterfeit versions of windows xp with legal ones for free. it is also increasing efforts to squash software piracy in china  norway and the czech republic  where pirated software is a huge problem  by offering discounts on legitimate software to users of pirated copies windows.  china in particular is a problem  with piracy estimated at 92%   said mr cluley.


technology gets the creative bug the hi-tech and the arts worlds have for some time danced around each other and offered creative and technical help when required.  often this help has come in the form of corporate art sponsorship or infrastructure provision. but that dance is growing more intimate as hi-tech firms look to the creative industries for inspiration. and vice versa. uk telco bt is serious about the idea and has launched its connected world initiative. the idea  says bt  is to shape a  21st century model  which will help cement the art  technology  and business worlds together.  we are hoping to understand the creative industry that has a natural thirst for broadband technology   said frank stone  head of the bt s business sector programmes. he looks after several  centres of excellence  which the telco has set up with other institutions and organisations  one of which is focused on creative industries.  to mark the initiative s launch  a major international art installation is to open on 15 april in brussels  with a further exhibit in madrid later in the summer. they have both been created using the telco s technology that it has been incubating at its research and development arm  including a sophisticated graphics rendering program. using a 3d graphics engine  the type commonly used in gaming  bafta-winning artists langlands & bell have created a virtual  story-based  3d model of brussels  coudenberg cellars.  they have recently been excavated and are thought to be the remnants of coudenberg palace  an historical seat of european power. the 3d world can be navigated using a joystick and offers an immersive experience of a landscape that historically had a river running through it until it was bricked up in the 19th century.  the river was integral to the city s survival for hundreds of years and it was equally essential to the city that it disappeared   said the artists.  we hope that by uncovering the river  we can greater understand the connections between the past and the present  and appreciate the flow of modernity  once concealing  but now revealing the river senne.  in their previous works they used the quake game graphics engine. the game engine is the core component of a video game because it handles graphics rendering  game ai  and how objects behave and relate to each other in a game. they are so time-consuming and expensive to create  the engines can be licensed out to handle other graphics-intensive games. bt s own engine  tara (total abstract rendering architecture) has been in development since 2001 and has been used to recreate virtual interactive models of buildings for planners. it was also used in 2003 in encounter  an urban-based  pervasive game that combined both virtual play in conjunction with physical  on-the-street action. because the artists wanted video and interactive elements in their worlds  new features were added to tara in order to handle the complex data sets. but collaboration between art and digital technology is by no means new  and many keen coders  designers  games makers and animators argue that what they create is art itself.  as more tools for self-expression are given to the person on the street  enabling people to take photos with a phone and upload them to the web for instance  creativity will become an integral part of technology. the orange expressionist exhibition last year  for example  displayed thousands of picture messages from people all over the uk to create an interactive installation.  technology as a way of unleashing creativity has massive potential  not least because it gives people something to do with their technology. big businesses know it is good for them to get in on the creative vein too. the art world is  fantastically rich   said mr stone  with creative people and ideas which means traditional companies like bt want to get in with them. between 1997 and 2002  the creative industry brought £21 billion to london alone. it is an industry that is growing by 6% a year too. the partnership between artists and technologists is part of trying to understand the creative potential of technologies like broadband net  according to mr stone.  this is not just about putting art galleries and museums online   he said.  it is about how can everyone have the best seat in house and asking if technology has a role in solving that problem.  with broadband penetration reaching 100% in the uk  businesses with a stake in the technology want to give people reasons to want and use it. the creative drive is not purely altruistic obviously. it is about both industries borrowing strategies and creative ideas together which can result in better business practices for creative industries  or more patent ideas for tech companies.  what we are trying to do is have outside-in thinking.  we are creating a future cultural drive for the economy   said mr stone.


confusion over high-definition tv now that a critical mass of people have embraced digital tv  dvds  and digital video recorders  the next revolution for tv is being prepared for our sets.  in most corners of tv and technology industries  high-definition (hdtv) is being heralded as the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour. hd essentially makes tv picture quality at least four times better than now. but there is real concern that people are not getting the right information about hd on the high street. thousands of flat panel screens - lcds (liquid crystal displays)  plasma screens  and dlp rear-projection tv sets - have already been sold as  hd   but are in fact not able to display hd.   the uk is the largest display market in europe   according to john binks  director of gfk  which monitors global consumer markets.  but  he added:  of all the flat panel screens sold  just 1.3% in the uk are capable of getting high-definition.  there are 74 different devices that are being sold as hd but are not hd-ready  according to alexander oudendijk  senior vice president of marketing for satellite giant astra. they may be fantastic quality tvs  but many do not have adaptors in them - called dvi or hdmi (high-definition multimedia interface) connectors - which let the set handle the higher resolution digital images. part of this is down to lack of understanding and training on the high street  say industry experts  who gathered at bafta in london for the 2nd european hdtv summit last week.  we have to be careful about consumer confusion. there is a massive education process to go through   said mr binks. the industry already recognised that it would be a challenge to get the right information about it across to those of us who will be watching it. eventually  that will be everyone. the bbc is currently developing plans to produce all its tv output to meet hdtv standards by 2010.  preparations for the analogue switch-off are already underway in some areas  and programmes are being filmed with hd cameras. bskyb plans to ship its first generation set-top boxes  to receive hdtv broadcasts  in time for christmas. like its sky+ boxes  they will also be personal video recorders (pvrs). the company will start broadcasts of hdtv programmes  offering them as  premium channel packages   concentrating  to start with  on sports  big events  and films  in early 2006. but the set-top box which receives hdtv broadcasts has to plug into a display - tv set - that can show the images at the much higher resolution that hd demands  if hdtv is to be  real . by 2010  20% of homes in the uk will have some sort of tv set or display that can show hd in its full glory.  but it is all getting rather confusing for people who have only just taken to  being digital . as a result  all the key players  those who make flat panel displays  as well as the satellite companies and broadcasters  formed a hd forum in 2004 to make sure they were all talking to each other. part of the forum has been concerned with issues like industry standards and content protection. but it has also been preoccupied with how to help the paying public know exactly what they are paying for.  from next month  all devices that have the right connectors and resolution required will carry a  hd-ready  sticker. this also means they are equipped to cope with both analogue and hdtv signals  and so comply with the minimum specification set out by the industry.  the logo is absolutely the way forward   said david mercer  analysts with strategy analytics.  but it is still not appearing on many retail products.  the industry is upbeat that the sticker will help  but it is only a start.  we can only do so much with the position we are in today with manufacturers   said mr oudendijk.  there may well be a number of dissatisfied customers in the next few months.  the european broadcast union (ebu) is testing different flavours of hd formats to prepare for even better hdtv further down the line. it is similarly concerned that people get the right information on hdtv formats  as well as which devices will support the formats.  we believe consumers buying expensive displays need to ensure their investment is worthwhile   said phil laven  technical director for the ebu. the tv display manufacturers want us to watch hd on screens that are at least 42in (106cm)  to get the  true impact  of hd  they say  although smaller displays suffice. what may convince people to spend money on hd-ready devices is the falling prices  which continue to tumble across europe. the prices are dropping an average of 20% every year  according to analysts. lcd prices dropped by 43% in europe as a whole last year  according to mr oudendijk.


bat spit drug firm goes to market a german firm whose main product is derived from the saliva of the vampire bat is looking to raise more than 70m euros ($91m; £49m) on the stock market.  the firm  paion  said that it hoped to sell 5 million shares - a third of the firm - for 11-14 euros a share. its main drug  desmoteplase  is based on a protein in the bat s saliva. the protein stops blood from clotting - which helps the bat to drink from its victims  but could also be used to help stroke sufferers. the company s shares go on sale later this week  and are scheduled to start trading on the frankfurt stock exchange on 10 february. if the final price is at the top of the range  the company could be valued at as much as 200m euros. the money raised will be spent largely on developing the company s other drugs  since desmoteplase has already been licensed to one manufacturer  forest laboratories.


chelsea ridiculed over complaint barcelona assistant coach henk ten cate has branded chelsea s expected complaint to uefa as  pathetic .  the blues are poised to complain about an alleged half-time incident during wednesday s 2-1 loss at the nou camp. the source of chelsea s anger was an alleged talk between barca boss frank rijkaard and referee anders frisk  who later dismissed didier drogba.  to react the way chelsea have is pathetic. mourinho lied with the line-ups  and now this   ten cate said. uefa has said its own tunnel representative witnessed nothing unusual out of the ordinary during the half-time break. spokesman william gaillard said:  frisk says rijkaard greeted him and apologised he had not had the opportunity to say hello before the game.  we had two uefa officials there and neither witnessed it. the referee s dressing room was locked and he and his assistants were the only people allowed in.  indeed  it is the londoners who could be on the receiving end of any punishment after failing to turn up for the compulsory press conference after the defeat.  uefa delegate thomas giordano added:  the only unusual thing that happened as far as we are concerned is that chelsea failed to present themselves in the press conference.  the referee is not expected to include any of the alleged incidents in his report to uefa - weakening chelsea s case. rijkaard was critical of mourinho s decision not to speak to the media after the match.  there was a lot of talking before the game and now surprisingly there is a lot of talking after the game. it is not good behaviour after a match   he said.  maybe they want to start something and make it worse than than it is. i really don t understand it. i am very calm about it.   barca midfielder deco  formerly managed by mourinho at porto  agreed that it was not typical of his fellow portuguese to lodge a protest.  it s not normal behaviour on his part. it was not logical he did not give a news conference   he said. rijkaard added:  chelsea is the team which has conceded fewest goals in the english league and they defend very well so i am very pleased with the win.  my men deserved victory and i am pleased to have won this match. i congratulate my players.


blind student  hears in colour  a blind student has developed software that turns colours into musical notes so that he can read weather maps.  victor wong  a graduate student from hong kong studying at cornell university in new york state  had to read coloured maps of the upper atmosphere as part of his research. to study  space weather  mr wong needed to explore minute fluctuations in order to create mathematical models. a number of solutions were tried  including having a colleague describe the maps and attempting to print them in braille. mr wong eventually hit upon the idea of translating individual colours into music  and enlisted the help of a computer graphics specialist and another student to do the programming work.   the images have three dimensions and i had to find a way of reading them myself   mr wong told the bbc news website.  for the sake of my own study - and for the sake of blind scientists generally - i felt it would be good to develop software that could help us to read colour images.  he tried a prototype version of the software to explore a photograph of a parrot. in order to have an exact reference to the screen  a pen and tablet device is used. the software then assigns one of 88 piano notes to individually coloured pixels - ranging from blue at the lower end of this scale to red at the upper end. mr wong says the application is still very much in its infancy and is only useful for reading images that have been created digitally.  if i took a random picture and scanned it and then used my software to recognise it  it wouldn t work that well.   mr wong has been blind from the age of seven and he thinks that having a  colour memory  makes the software more useful than it would be to a scientist who had never had any vision.  as the notes increase in pitch i know the colour s getting redder and redder  and in my mind s eye a patch of red appears.  the colour to music software has not yet been made available commercially  and mr wong believes that several people would have to work together to make it viable. but he hopes that one day it can be developed to give blind people access to photographs and other images.


hodgson relishes european clashes former blackburn boss roy hodgson says the premiership should follow the rest of europe and have a winter break - but insists that a gruelling domestic schedule will not damage the english elite s bid for champions league glory.  hodgson - now in charge at viking stavanger - was at liverpool s clash with bayer leverkusen at anfield on tuesday as a member of uefa s technical committee. hodgson is a fierce advocate of the winter break employed throughout europe  although not in england - where the champions league contenders have ploughed through a heavy fixture list. but hodgson told bbc sport that while he believes the premiership should embrace the idea  he does not expect it to cost the english representatives in the last 16 of the champions league.  i just feel it is very difficult to say with certainty that teams who have had the break will have a definite edge.  i am a fervent supporter of the break. it gives players the chance to recharge their batteries midway through the season  which some suggest will give teams an advantage in the champions league.  the other school of thought suggests having a break then coming back to it puts you at a disadvantage.  the bigger discussions around the winter break should be to do with the nature of football today  the needs of football players and the way the premiership has developed  rather than one or two matches in the champions league in february.  hodgson believes a winter break carries many advantages  explaining:  as i said  it is the perfect chance to recharge batteries.   and certainly if i was still a manager in england i would be supporting any calls for its introduction.  in pre-season you get a lot of enthusiasm and energy but by the time you get towards christmas many players  having also played plenty of international matches for club and country and travelled a lot  find themselves getting very jaded.  the break gives them a chance to recover that energy and enthusiasm and  perhaps more importantly  recover their mental strength during the break and get ready for the games ahead.  the mental side is by far the most important thing.  hodgson added:  the length of breaks can vary. in italy the break was very short. you just took christmas and new year.  it was so short you didn t do anything. you gave the players a week or 10 days off  then you were training for a week or 10 days and then went into a game.  if it is longer  it is important those responsible for physical fitness give the players a programme to follow to ensure the physical strength they have accumulated stays with them.  and hodgson believes a winter break would be a positive step in the premiership. he said:  if we talk about football at elite level  which the premiership is  then i would support a winter break.  if you examine the demands of the premier league and  in particular on players who play international football for their club and country  then a break would do them the world of good - physically and mentally.


train strike grips buenos aires a strike on the buenos aires underground has caused traffic chaos and large queues at bus stops in the argentine capital.  tube workers walked out last week demanding a 53% pay rise and in protest against the installation of automatic ticket machines. metrovias  the private firm which runs the five tube lines in the city  has offered an 8% increase in wages. the firm promised no jobs would be lost as a result of new ticket machines. it said it would put this commitment on paper.  underground staff have warned they will continue with the protests until the management put an acceptable offer on the table. the argentine work ministry has been mediating in the conflict and it could call an  obligatory conciliation   which would force both sides to find a solution and put an end to the conflict. some tube commuters have not hidden their frustration at the ongoing strike and have broken the windows of the underground trains  according to the local press.  we are taken as hostages. i don t know who is right  but the harm ones are us   said accountant jose lopez.


worldcom trial starts in new york the trial of bernie ebbers  former chief executive of bankrupt us phone company worldcom  has started in new york with the selection of the jury.  mr ebbers  63  is accused of being the mastermind behind an $11bn (£6bn) accounting fraud that eventually saw the firm collapse in july 2002. his indictment includes charges of securities fraud  conspiracy and filing false reports with regulators. if found guilty  mr ebbers could face a substantial jail sentence. he has firmly declared his innocence.  under mr ebbers  leadership  worldcom emerged from mississippi obscurity to become a $160bn telecoms giant and the darling of late 1990s investors. yet as competition intensified and the telecoms boom petered out  worldcom found itself under growing financial stress. when worldcom finally collapsed  shareholders lost about $180bn and 20 000 workers lost their jobs. mr ebbers  trial  which is expected to last two months  is the latest in a series of attempts by us prosecutors to pursue senior executives for fraud. it will coincide with the retrial of former tyco international chief dennis kozlowski and his top lieutenant  accused of looting the industrial conglomerate to the tune of $600m. trail preparations are also preparing for former executives of shamed us energy firm enron.


holmes starts 2005 with gb events kelly holmes will start 2005 with a series of races in britain.  holmes will make her first track appearance on home soil since winning double olympic gold in january s norwich union international in glasgow. she will also run in the grand prix in birmingham in february and may defend her indoor aaa 800m title in sheffield earlier that month.  i am still competitive and still want to win   she said.  i m an athlete and i can t wait to get back on the track.  she added:  these events are also a great opportunity to thank the british public for the enormous levels of support they have given me from the moment i stepped off that plane from greece.  the glasgow meeting will see holmes compete over 1500m in a five-way match against sweden  france  russia and italy.


be careful how you code a new european directive could put software writers at risk of legal action  warns former programmer and technology analyst bill thompson.  if it gets its way  the dutch government will conclude its presidency of the european union by pushing through a controversial measure that has been rejected by the european parliament  lacks majority support from national governments and will leave millions of european citizens in legal limbo and facing the possibility of court cases against them. if the new law was about border controls  defence or even the new constitution  then our tv screens would be full of experts agonising over the impact on our daily lives. sadly for those who will be directly affected  the controversy concerns the patenting of computer programs  a topic that may excite the bloggers  campaigning groups and technical press but does not obsess middle britain. after all  how much fuss can you generate about the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions  and the way it amends article 52 of the 1973 european patent convention  yet if the new directive is nodded through at the next meeting of one of the eu s ministerial councils  as seems likely  it will allow programs to be patented in europe just as they are in the us. many observers of the computing scene  including myself  think the results will be disastrous for small companies  innovative programmers and the free and open source software movement. it will let large companies patent all sorts of ideas and give legal force to those who want to limit their competitors  use of really obvious ideas.  in the us you cannot build a system that stores customer credit card details so that they can pay without having to re-enter them unless amazon lets you  because they hold the patent on  one-click  online purchase. it is a small invention  but amazon made it to the patent office first and now owns it.  we are relatively free from this sort of thing over here  but perhaps not for long. the new proposals go back to 2002  although argument about patentability of software and computer-implemented inventions has been going on since at least the mid-1980s. they have come to a head now after a year in which proposals were made  endorsed by the council of ministers  radically modified by the european parliament and then re-presented in their original form. some national governments seem to be aware of the problems. poland has rejected the proposal and germany s main political parties have opposed it  but there is not enough opposition to guarantee their rejection. early in december the british government held a consultation meeting with those who had commented on the proposals. science minister lord sainsbury went along to listen and outline the uk position  but according to those present  it was embarrassing to see how little the minister and his officials actually understood the issues concerned.  the draft directive is being put through the council as what is called an  a  item and can only be approved or rejected. no discussion or amendment is allowed. so why should we be worried  first  there is the abuse of the democratic process involved in disregarding the views of the parliament and abandoning all of their carefully argued amendments. this goes to the heart of the european project  and even those who do not care about software or patents should be worried. if coders are treated like this today  who is to say that it will not be you tomorrow   more directly  once software patents are granted then any programmer will have to worry that the code they are writing is infringing someone else s patent. this is not about stealing software  as code is already protected by copyright. patents are not copyright  but something much stronger. a patent gives the owner the right to stop anyone else using their invention  even if the other person invented it separately. i have never  to my shame  managed to read lord byron s childe harold s pilgrimage. if it was pointed out that one of my articles contained a substantial chunk of the poem then i could defend myself in court by claiming that i had simply made it up and it was coincidence. the same does not hold for a patent. if i sit down this afternoon and write a brilliant graphics compression routine and it happens to be the same as the lzw algorithm used in gif files  then i am in trouble under patent law  at least in the us. coincidence is no defence. the proposed directive is supported by many of the major software companies  but this is hardly surprising since most of them are us-based and they have already had to cope with a legal environment that allows patents. they have legal departments and  more crucially  patents of their own which they can trade or cross-license with other patent holders.  even this system breaks down  of course  as microsoft found out last year when they initially lost a case brought by eolas which claimed that internet explorer (and other browsers) infringed an eolas patent. that one was eventually thrown out  but only after months of uncertainty and millions of dollars. but small companies  and the free and open software movement do not have any patents to trade. much of the really useful software we use every day  programs like the apache web server  the gnu/linux operating system and the fearsomely popular firefox browser  is developed outside company structures by people who do not have legal departments to check for patent infringements. the damage to software will not happen overnight  of course. if the directive goes through it has to be written into national laws and then there will be a steady stream of legal actions against small companies and open source products. eventually someone will decide to attack linux directly  probably with some secret funding from one or two large players. the new directive will limit innovation by forcing programmers to spend time checking for patent infringements or simply avoiding working in potentially competitive areas. and it will damage europe s computer industry. we can only hope that the council of ministers has the integrity and strength to reject this bad law.  bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.


england  to launch ref protest  england will protest to the international rugby board (irb) about the referee s performance in the defeat by ireland  reports the daily mail.  england coach andy robinson has called on ex-international referees colin high and steve lander to analyse several of jonathan kaplan s decisions.  i want to go through the tape with colin and steve   robinson told the daily mail.  i want to speak to the irb about it. i think only one side was refereed.  high  the rugby football union s referees  manager  claimed kaplan made three major errors which changed the outcome of sunday s match. england were beaten 19-13 by the irish in dublin  their third straight defeat in the 2005 six nations.  the international rugby board will be disappointed   high told the daily mail.  jonathan kaplan is in the top 20 in the world but that wasn t an international performance.  it would not have been acceptable in the zurich premiership.  if one of my referees had done that  i would have had my backside kicked for making the appointment.  if any english referee refereed like that in a european match  there would be an inquest. no question about that.  if someone had performed like that  he would have been pulled from the next game.


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.


qantas sees profits fly to record australian airline qantas has posted a record fiscal first-half profit thanks to cost-cutting measures.  net profit in the six months ending 31 december rose 28% to a$458.4m ($357.6m; £191m) from a year earlier. analysts expected a figure closer to a$431m. qantas shares fell almost 3%  however  after it warned that earnings growth would slow in the second half. sales will dip by at least a$30m after the indian ocean tsunami devastated many holiday destinations  qantas said.   the tsunami affected travel patterns in ways that we were a bit surprised about   chief executive geoff dixon explained.  it certainly affected japanese travel into australia. as soon as the tsunami hit we saw ... a lessening with bookings for australia.  higher fuel costs also are expected to eat into earnings in coming months.  we don t have as much hedging benefit in the second half as we had in the first   said chief financial officer peter gregg. qantas is facing increased pressure from rivals such as low-cost carrier virgin blue and the australian government is in talks about whether to allow singapore airlines to fly between the australia and the us - one of qantas  key routes.  even so  the firm is predicting that full-year earnings will increase from the previous 12 months. analysts have forecast full-year profit will rise about 11% to around a$720 million ($563 million). qantas boss mr dixon also said he would be reviewing the group s cost-cutting measures. during the first six months of the fiscal year  qantas made savings of a$245m  and is on track to top its target of a$500m for the full year. last month  the company warned it may transfer as many as 7 000 jobs out australia  with mr dixon quoted as saying that the carrier could no longer afford to remain  all-australian .


brazil buy boosts belgium s inbev belgian brewing giant inbev has seen its profits soar thanks to its acquisition of brazil s biggest beer firm ambev last year.  inbev  which makes stella artois  said pre-tax profits for 2004 rose 56% to 1.16bn euros ($1.5bn; £800m)  and said it expected solid growth in 2005. the performance comes on sales up 21% at 8.6bn euros. the firm  formerly interbrew  became the world s biggest brewer by volume when it bought ambev in august 2004. the acquisition meant its sales by volume grew 57% in 2004  with four months of ambev sales accounting for almost all of the increase. us beermaker anheuser-busch sells less beer by volume than inbev but is bigger in terms of the value of its sales. continuing demand for inbev s products in the south american markets where its brazilian arm is most popular means it expects to keep boosting its turnover.  it s the brazil business that s doing it   said ing analyst gerard rijk of inbev s strong performance. ambev boosted its share of brazil s beer market from 62% at the end of 2003 to more than 68% by december 2004  inbev reported. in contrast  inbev s european business saw volume sales fall 2.5%  although central and eastern european sales rose 12%. overall  net profits were up 42% to 719m euros.


gaming firm to sell uk dog tracks six uk greyhound tracks have been put up for sale by gaming group wembley as part of a move which will lead to the break-up of the group.  wembley announced the planned sale as it revealed it was to offload its us gaming division to blb investors. us gaming consortium blb will pay $339m (£182.5m) for the us unit  although the deal is subject to certain conditions. blb holds a 22% stake in wembley and last year came close to buying the whole firm in a £308m takeover deal. shares in wembley were up 56 pence  or 7.6%  at 797p by mid-morning.  the sale of the us gaming unit will leave wembley with its uk business. this includes greyhound tracks at wimbledon in london  belle vue in manchester  perry barr and hall green in birmingham  oxford and portsmouth. analysts have valued the six tracks at between £40m-£50m. the us business accounts for about 90% of wembley s operating profit and consists of operations in rhode island and colorado. blb s purchase of the us unit is subject to the agreement of a revenue-sharing deal being struck with rhode island authorities. wembley said that  once the deal was completed  it anticipated returning surplus cash to shareholders.  whilst the completion of the sale of the us gaming division remains subject to a number of conditions  we believe this development is a positive step towards the maximisation of value for shareholders   said wembley chairman claes hultman. wembley sold the english national football stadium in 1999 to concentrate on its gaming operations.


safin plays down wimbledon hopes newly-crowned australian open champion marat safin has ruled out any chance of winning wimbledon in the future.  after losing in round one last year  safin said he had  given up  on wimbledon and winning his second grand slam title has not changed his mind.  i ll play  but with no expectations. i feel like i can t waste my time  my energy on that surface   he said.  some people  they cannot play on clay. some people  they cannot play on a hard court. me  i can t play on grass.  however  safin is hopeful that winning the australian open will give him the belief he needs to win more grand slam titles.  it s a relief for me. two grand slams  it s already something. but with this one i worked really hard for it   he said.  basically  i would love to win a couple more. i think i have a chance if i continue this way.   if (coach) peter lundgren will stick around with me and wants to work with me for a bit longer  i think i can make it.  the 25-year-old shocked pete sampras in the 2000 us open final to win his first major title but then lost in two australian open finals. safin admitted he had begun to doubt whether he would win another grand slam.  i didn t expect that (to win the 2000 us open) - it was against sampras  i wasn t the favourite so i had no pressure whatsoever   he said.  after the first final that i didn t win against thomas johansson (in 2002)  i couldn t see myself winning the grand slams anymore.  i was once in the semi-finals of the french open  but i didn t believe i can win it.  i just couldn t handle the pressure. you need to believe in yourself  and i didn t.   and after losing the first set 6-1 to lleyton hewitt in sunday s final  safin said he began to doubt himself again.  i am 25. i m playing against hewitt. at least you have to have the opportunity to win it  at least have a chance   he said.  it s like you go there and you lose first set 6-1  then you start to think:  this is not my day. the way i m playing is ridiculous.   but then you start to really be a little bit more selfish and try to find a way out of there.  and i found it. i was like really much i was much happier than in 2000  that s for sure  because i get over it.


europe backs digital tv lifestyle how people receive their digital entertainment in the future could change  following the launch of an ambitious european project.  in nice last week  the european commission announced its networked & electronic media (nem) initiative. its broad scope stretches from the way media is created  through each of the stages of its distribution  to its playback. the commission wants people to be able to locate the content they desire and have it delivered seamlessly  when on the move  at home or at work  no matter who supplies the devices  network  content  or content protection scheme. more than 120 experts were in nice to share the vision of interconnected future and hear pledges of support from companies such as nokia  intel  philips  alcatel  france telecom  thomson and telefonica. it might initially appear to be surprising that companies in direct competition are keen to work together. but again and again  speakers stated they could not see incompatible  stand-alone solutions working. a long-term strategy for the evolution and convergence of technologies and services would be required.  the european commission is being pragmatic in its approach. they have identified that many groups have defined the forms of digital media in the areas that nem encompasses. the nem approach is to take a serious look at what is available and what is in the pipeline  pick out the best  bring them together and identify where the gaps are. where it finds holes  it will develop standards to fill them. what is significant is that such a large and powerful organisation has stated its desire for digital formats to be open to all and work on any gadget. this is bound to please  if not surprise  many individuals and user organisations who feel that the wishes of the holder of rights to content are normally considered over and above those of the consumer. many feel that the most difficult and challenging area for the commission will be to identify a solution for different digital rights management (drm) schemes. currently drm solutions are incompatible  locking certain types of purchased content  making them unplayable on all platforms. with the potential of having a percentage of every media transaction that takes place globally  the prize for being the supplier of the world s dominant drm scheme is huge. although entertainment is an obvious first step  it will encompass the remote provisions of healthcare  energy efficiency and control of the smart home. the 10-year plan brings together the work of many currently running research projects that the ec has been funding for a number of years.  simon perry is the editor of the digital lifestyles website  which covers the impact of technology on media


israeli club look to africa four african players  including zimbabwe goalkeeper energy murambadoro  are all ready to play for israeli club hapoel bnei sakhnin in the uefa cup.  bnei sakhnin are the first arab side ever to play in european competition and will play english premiership side newcastle united in the first round. warriors  goalkeeper murambadoro  who made a name for himself at the african nations cup finals in tunisia  helped bnei sakhnin overcome albania s partizani tirana 6-1 in the previous round. murambadoro moved to israel recently after a brief stint with south african club hellenic. the club won the israeli cup final last season and are based in sakhnin  which is near haifa. the club have a strong ethic and are high profile promoters of peace and co-operation within israel. the three other africans at the club are former cameroon defender ernest etchi  dr congo s alain masudi and nigerian midfielder edith agoye  who had a stint with tunisian side esperance.


arsenal  may seek full share listing  arsenal vice-chairman david dein has said the club may consider seeking a full listing for its shares on the london stock exchange.  speaking at the soccerex football business forum in dubai  he said a full listing was  one of the options  for funding after the club moves to its new stadium. the club - which is currently listed on the smaller ofex share exchange - is due to move into its new 60 000-seater emirates stadium at ashburton grove for the start of the 2006/07 season. mr dein also warned the current level of tv coverage of the premiership may be reaching saturation level  with signs that match attendances have been dropping off in the first few months of this season.  when arsenal moves to its new stadium it will see its proportion of turnover from media earnings drop from 52% this season to 34% in two years  time. the club is hoping to increase matchday earnings from 29% to 40% of turnover  and has not ruled out other money-earning means  including a full share listing.  when the new stadium opens we will go through a thorough financial review   mr dein said.   listing would be one option  but we are flexible and no decisions have been made on that issue yet.  we want to be in the best financial health - maybe clubs can do it (listing)  manchester united have been a success.   mr dein said that  although television money and coverage had driven the english game forward in the past 10 years  he feared there might now be too many games being shown. since the formation of the premier league in season 1992/93  premiership clubs have seen their income from television soar.  television has been the driving force over the past 10 years... but we must constantly improve if we want to remain as the world s leading league competition.  we must monitor the quality of the product and ensure attendances do not decline  and we must balance that with the quantity of exposure on tv too.  i think we have practically reached saturation point... sometimes i think less is more.   the club is funding its move to ashburton grove through a number of sources  including debt from banks  from money it already has and will receive in coming years from sponsors  and from the sale of surplus property  including its highbury stadium. it is also looking to create new revenue streams from overseas markets  including asia.  we have two executives travelling round japan and china at the moment building relationships with organisations and clubs  and we know our supporters clubs are growing there too  as they are around the world.  we have got a very good product  so it is very important we go and look at these markets  and make sure we are on the case.


lufthansa flies back to profit german airline lufthansa has returned to profit in 2004 after posting huge losses in 2003.  in a preliminary report  the airline announced net profits of 400m euros ($527.61m; £274.73m)  compared with a loss of 984m euros in 2003. operating profits were at 380m euros  ten times more than in 2003. lufthansa was hit in 2003 by tough competition and a dip in demand following the iraq war and the killer sars virus. it was also hit by troubles at its us catering business. last year  lufthansa showed signs of recovery even as some european and us airlines were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. the board of lufthansa has recommended paying a 2004 dividend of 0.30 euros per share. in 2003  shareholders did not get a dividend. the company said that it will give all the details of its 2004 results on 23 march.


melzer shocks agassi second seed andre agassi suffered a comprehensive defeat by jurgen melzer in the quarter-finals of the sap open.  agassi was often bamboozled by the austrian s drop shots in san jose  losing 6-3 6-1. defending champion and top seed andy roddick rallied to beat sweden s thomas enqvist 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5. but unseeded cyril saulnier beat the fourth seed vincent spadea 6-2 6-4 and tommy haas overcame eighth seed max mirnyi 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2. melzer has now beaten agassi in two of their three meetings.   i had a good game plan and i executed it perfectly   he said.  it s always tough to come out to play andre.  i didn t want him to play his game. he makes you run like a dog all over the court.  and agassi  who was more than matched for power by his opponent s two-handed backhand  said melzer was an example of several players on the tour willing to take their chances against him.  a lot more guys are capable of it now   said the american.  he played much better than me. that s what he did both times.  i had opportunities to loosen myself up   agassi added.  but i didn t convert on the big points.


redknapp poised for saints southampton are set to unveil harry redknapp as their new manager at a news conference at 1500 gmt on wednesday.  the former portsmouth boss replaces steve wigley  who has been relieved of first-team duties after just one win in 14 league games in charge. redknapp  57  quit his fratton park position on 24 november and vowed:  i will not go down the road - no chance.  pompey coach kevin bond is poised to join redknapp  who will be saints  third boss of the season. redknapp s first game in charge will be at home to middlesbrough on saturday. portsmouth chairman milan mandaric said he was  disappointed  by the news and claimed redknapp had been in talks with southampton for  some time .   it would appear that negotiations over this have been going on for some time   mandaric said on portsmouth s official website.  i am surprised and a little shocked that the chairman of southampton has not picked up the phone and kept me informed.  according to mandaric  redknapp vowed he would not join their south coast rivals when he left portsmouth.  i said to harry  i hope you don t go to southampton   and he told me  absolutely not    he said.  i m wouldn t say i m bitter  disgusted or angry  just disappointed  but it s harry s life and it s his decision.  redknapp became a cult hero after leading portsmouth into the premiership for the first time  and then masterminding their survival in their debut season. but he left the club claiming he needed a break from football  though many believed he was upset with mandaric s decision to bring in velimir zajec as executive director.  southampton chairman rupert lowe was desperate to give former academy director wigley  who replaced paul sturrock just two games into the season  every chance to succeed at st mary s. but results under wigley have been poor and southampton are deep in trouble near the foot of the table. when redknapp s appointment is confirmed  he will be saints  ninth manager in eight years.


dollar hovers around record lows the us dollar hovered close to record lows against the euro on friday as concern grows about the size of the us budget deficit.  analysts predict that the dollar will remain weak in 2005 as investors worry about the state of the us economy. the bush administration s apparent unwillingness to intervene to support the dollar has caused further concern. however  trading has been volatile over the past week because of technical and automated trading and light demand. this has amplified reactions to news  analysts said  adding that they expect markets to become less jumpy in january.  the dollar was trading at $1.3652 versus the euro on friday morning after hitting a fresh record low of $1.3667 on thursday. one dollar bought 102.55 yen.  disappointing business figures from chicago triggered the us currency s weakness on thursday. the national association of purchasing management-chicago said its manufacturing index dropped to 61.2  a bigger fall than expected.  there are no dollar buyers now  especially after the chicago data yesterday   said abn amro s paul mackel. at the same time  german chancellor gerhard schroeder and italian prime minister silvio berlusconi voiced concerns about the strength of the euro. mr berlusconi said the euro s strength was  absolutely worrying  for italian exports. mr schroeder said in a newspaper article that stability in foreign exchange markets required a correction of global economic imbalances. investors will now look towards february s meeting of finance ministers from the g7 industrialised nations in london for clues as to whether central banks will combine forces to stem the dollar s decline.


el guerrouj targets cross country double olympic champion hicham el guerrouj is set to make a rare appearance at the world cross country championships in france.  but the moroccan  who has not raced over cross country for 15 years  will not decide until two weeks before the event which starts on 19 march.  if i am to compete in it  it is only if i feel i can win   said the 30-year-old  who is retiring in 2006.  otherwise there is not much point in me going.  el guerrouj achieved a lifetime ambition last august when he clinched his first olympic titles over 1500m and 5 000m. but the four-time world 1500m champion is still hungry for more success before calling time on his career. the 30-year-old has set his sights on clinching the world 5 000m crown in helsinki this summer. and he is aiming to break 10 000m olympic champion kenenisa bekele s 5 000m and 10 000m world records.  el guerrouj could meet bekele in march as the ethiopian is the defending world cross country champion over both the long and short courses. but the moroccan will not commit himself to the st galmier event until he assesses how well his winter training is going.  the return to training was very difficult because i accepted a lot of invitations these past few months   said el guerrouj.  i am almost a month behind but i am on the right track.     - britain s paula radcliffe has also not ruled out competing in the world cross country championships.  i haven t quite decided what events i will compete in prior to london but the world cross country is an event which is also special to me and is a definite possibility   said the two-time champion.


share boost for feud-hit reliance the board of indian conglomerate reliance has agreed a share buy-back  to counter the effects of a power struggle in the controlling family.  the buy-back is a victory for chairman mukesh ambani  whose idea it was. his brother anil  the vice-chairman  said had not been consulted and that the buy-back was  completely inappropriate and unnecessary . the board hopes the move will reverse a 13% fall in reliance s shares since the feud became public last month. the company has been fractious since founder dhirubhai ambani died in 2002  leaving no will.  today s round has gone to [mukesh]  there is no doubt about it   said nanik rupani  president of the indian merchants chamber  a bombay-based traders  body. the company plans to buy back 52 million shares at 570 rupees (£6.80; $13) apiece  a premium of more than 10% to its current market price.


insurance bosses plead guilty another three us insurance executives have pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from an ongoing investigation into industry malpractice.  two executives from american international group (aig) and one from marsh & mclennan were the latest. the investigation by new york attorney general eliot spitzer has now obtained nine guilty pleas. the highest ranking executive pleading guilty on tuesday was former marsh senior vice president joshua bewlay.  he admitted one felony count of scheming to defraud and faces up to four years in prison. a marsh spokeswoman said mr bewlay was no longer with the company. mr spitzer s investigation of the us insurance industry looked at whether companies rigged bids and fixed prices. last month marsh agreed to pay $850m (£415m) to settle a lawsuit filed by mr spitzer  but under the settlement it  neither admits nor denies the allegations .


booming markets shed few tears the market  former british government minister michael heseltine once said  has no morality.  and indeed  stock exchange traders around asia have wasted little time regretting the victims of this week s disaster. stock markets in indonesia and india have hit all-time highs this week; even in sri lanka  more comprehensively affected  the main index has lost only 5% since the waves hit. bigger markets further afield have barely twitched. the msci world share index  a measure of global stock market performance  hit its highest level this week since early 2001; the bbc global 30 has risen by 3% in the past week. and this at a time when - all sentiment aside - insurance costs are already estimated in the tens of billions of dollars  and countries around the region are looking at trimming their growth forecasts.  in fact  the markets are being perfectly rational.  for a start  the notional insurance cost of the disaster will have little bearing on corporate bottom lines. the overwhelming majority of the victims will have had no insurance: according to estimates from india  only one-quarter of those affected there were wealthy enough to afford insurance  and only one-quarter of that group at most will have taken out policies. indonesia is likely to have even lower take-up rates. and where insurance certainly is in place - in  for example  the many tourist complexes affected - the costs will be borne in far-away corners of the global reinsurance market  rather than landing locally.  second  stock markets do not trade the sort of companies likely to have been damaged. most of the biggest companies traded on the soaring jakarta stock exchange are in oil  technology and financial services - none of which have been hit by the flooding. tourist businesses  the most likely sufferers  are either foreign-owned or too small to have their shares listed. those that are listed have suffered: confifi hotel holdings  a small sri lankan tourism firm  has halved in value this week. but there are winners as well as losers. asian stock markets are heavily inclined towards property and construction companies  many of which will be rubbing their hands over the reconstruction opportunities. in indonesia  shares in state construction companies adhi karya and semen gresik have jumped sharply this week.  more broadly  the academic consensus is that major disasters are largely neutral in their longer-term economic impact.  according to the natural hazards research and applications information center at colorado state university  there is little evidence that disasters are inevitably followed by a depression. the need to find money to replace lost and damaged property is balanced by the beneficial effect of reconstruction activity; there is rarely  the centre says  any sort of rebuilding boom  but in most cases sizeable indirect losses are avoided. a study of the 1993 des moines floods  from the disaster research center at the university of delaware*  found that 70% of local businesses were no worse off after the disaster  and another 18% felt themselves better off.  although it is commonly assumed on the basis of anecdotal evidence that disasters result in business failures and bankruptcies on a large scale  our research indicates that most businesses  even those that are especially hard-hit  do indeed recover   the authors concluded.  but disasters have a vast psychological impact  and markets are driven by psychological factors.  in particular  many analysts warn of panic spreading unchecked through the global financial system  as investors seek to cover themselves against the unforeseeable effects of unguessable events. in fact  again  the risks here are lower than they seem. even the costliest natural disaster is rendered minuscule by the global capital market - currently $30 trillion and rising. a series of recent shocks  the colorado centre has argued  have demonstrated that this seamless global contagion hardly ever happens: market tremors rarely translate into economic slumps  and economic woes rarely seriously undermine markets. the trillion-dollar debts of japan s banks  for example  have had no effect on stock markets further afield than tokyo. and the us stock market was on its way down long before 11 september  2001; it rose by 20% during the six months following the attacks.  it is not that the broking community is indifferent to disasters or feelings   one bombay trader said this week.  but the reaction would have been seen if business had been affected. business sense probably tends to overrule everything else.


windows worm travels with tetris users are being warned about a windows virus that poses as the hugely popular tetris game.  the cellery worm installs a playable version of the classic falling blocks game on pcs that it has infected. while users play the game  the worm spends its time using the machine to search for new victims to infect on nearby networks. the risk of infection by cellery is thought to be very low as few copies of the worm have been found in the wild.  the cellery worm does not spread via e-mail like many other viruses. instead it browses computer networks for pcs that have not shut off all the insecure ways they connect to other machines. when it infects a machine  cellery installs a version of tetris that users can play. as the game starts up the worm also starts a music file to accompany it. at the same time the virus starts scouring networks for other vulnerable machines. the virus does no damage to machines but heavily infected networks could slow down as scanning traffic builds. productivity may suffer too if users spend time playing tetris. pcs running windows 95  98  me  nt  2000  and xp could be vulnerable to the worm.  if your company has a culture of allowing games to be played in the office  your staff may believe this is simply a new game that has been installed - rather than something that should cause concern   said graham cluley  spokesman for anti-virus firm sophos. so far the number of people infected by cellery is thought to be very small and the risks of further infection is very low. sophos urged users and companies to update their anti-virus software to keep themselves protected.


jobs growth still slow in the us the us created fewer jobs than expected in january  but a fall in jobseekers pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level in three years.  according to labor department figures  us firms added only 146 000 jobs in january. the gain in non-farm payrolls was below market expectations of 190 000 new jobs. nevertheless it was enough to push down the unemployment rate to 5.2%  its lowest level since september 2001. the job gains mean that president bush can celebrate - albeit by a very fine margin - a net growth in jobs in the us economy in his first term in office. he presided over a net fall in jobs up to last november s presidential election - the first president to do so since herbert hoover. as a result  job creation became a key issue in last year s election. however  when adding december and january s figures  the administration s first term jobs record ended in positive territory.  the labor department also said it had revised down the jobs gains in december 2004  from 157 000 to 133 000.  analysts said the growth in new jobs was not as strong as could be expected given the favourable economic conditions.  it suggests that employment is continuing to expand at a moderate pace   said rick egelton  deputy chief economist at bmo financial group.  we are not getting the boost to employment that we would have got given the low value of the dollar and the still relatively low interest rate environment.   the economy is producing a moderate but not a satisfying amount of job growth   said ken mayland  president of clearview economics.  that means there are a limited number of new opportunities for workers.


palace threat over cantona masks manchester united fans wearing eric cantona masks will not be allowed in selhurst park on saturday.  united fans are planning to mark the 10th anniversary of cantona s infamous kung-fu kick on crystal palace fan matthew simmons by wearing the masks. but palace stadium manager kevin corner has warned:  if they wear them inside selhurst park they will be immediately rejected on safety grounds.  and no fans wearing cantona masks will be allowed entry to the stadium.  united fans had declared saturday as  cantona day  and had planned to wear masks  that were popular during the frenchman s time as a player at the old trafford club. cantona received a nine-month ban following the incident and palace are keen to avoid an incident that would stir up ill feeling between the two sets of supporters. four months after the cantona incident a palace fan  paul nixon  was killed prior to an fa cup semi-final at villa park.


yukos unit buyer faces loan claim the owners of embattled russian oil giant yukos are to ask the buyer of its former production unit to pay back a $900m (£479m) loan.  state-owned rosneft bought the yugansk unit for $9.3bn in a sale forced by russia to part settle a $27.5bn tax claim against yukos. yukos  owner menatep group says it will ask rosneft to repay a loan that yugansk had secured on its assets. rosneft already faces a similar $540m repayment demand from foreign banks. legal experts said rosneft s purchase of yugansk would include such obligations.  the pledged assets are with rosneft  so it will have to pay real money to the creditors to avoid seizure of yugansk assets   said moscow-based us lawyer jamie firestone  who is not connected to the case. menatep group s managing director tim osborne told the reuters news agency:  if they default  we will fight them where the rule of law exists under the international arbitration clauses of the credit.   rosneft officials were unavailable for comment. but the company has said it intends to take action against menatep to recover some of the tax claims and debts owed by yugansk. yukos had filed for bankruptcy protection in a us court in an attempt to prevent the forced sale of its main production arm. the sale went ahead in december and yugansk was sold to a little-known shell company which in turn was bought by rosneft. yukos claims its downfall was punishment for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky and has vowed to sue any participant in the sale.


us duo in first spam conviction a brother and sister in the us have been convicted of sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mail messages to aol subscribers.  it is the first criminal prosecution of internet spam distributors. jurors in virginia recommended that the man  jeremy jaynes  serve nine years in prison and that his sister  jessica degroot  be fined $7 500. they were convicted under a state law that bars the sending of bulk e-mails using fake addresses.  they will be formally sentenced next year. a third defendant  richard rutkowski  was acquitted. prosecutors said jaynes was  a snake oil salesman in a new format   using the internet to peddle useless wares  news agency associated press reported. a  fed-ex refund processor  was supposed to allow people to earn $75 an hour working from home. another item on sale was an  internet history eraser . his sister helped him process credit card payments. jaynes amassed a fortune of $24m from his sales  prosecutors said.  he s been successful ripping people off all these years   ap quoted prosecutor russell mcguire as saying. jaynes was also found guilty of breaking a state law which prohibits the sending of more than 100 000 e-mails in 30 days  virginia state attorney general jerry kilgore reportedly said. prosecutors had asked for 15 years in jail for jaynes  and a jail term for his sister. but jaynes  lawyer david oblon called the nine-year recommended term  outrageous  and said his client believed he was innocent. he pointed out that all three of the accused lived in north carolina and were unaware of the virginia state law. spam messages are estimated to account for at least 60% of all e-mails sent.


blackburn v burnley ewood park  tuesday  1 march  2000 gmt  howard webb (south yorkshire)  home to leicester in the quarter-finals  but defender andy todd is suspended and could be replaced by dominic matteo - if he recovers from a hamstring injury. burnley have major injury concerns over frank sinclair and john mcgreal. michael duff looks set to continue at right-back with john oster in midfield and micah hyde is expected to recover from a knee injury.  - blackburn boss mark hughes:  burnley are resolute and have individual talent but i fully expect us to progress.  i thought we were comfortable in the first game and never thought we were under pressure.  it s a competition we want to progress in and we are doing okay. if we beat burnley  we have a home tie against another lower league club (leicester).    - burnley boss steve cotterill:  they will be fresh and we ll be tired. that is an honest opinion but our lads just might be able to get themselves up for one more big game.  the atmosphere at the last game was very hot - a good verbal contest.  our fans will not need whipping up for this game. i just want them to help us as much as they can in a positive way.  key match stats   - blackburn rovers against bolton is part two of an east lancashire hotpot that didn t turn out to be that spicy when first staged on a sunday lunchtime the weekend before last  and resulted in a scrappy goalless draw.   - rovers  who are aiming to win the cup for a seventh time in their history and first time in 77 years  face another replay against championship opposition after eventually disposing of cardiff at ewood park in the third round. but they ve not been beaten in the competition by a club outside the premiership for nine years  since ipswich - then in the second tier - defeated them 0-1 after extra time in a third round replay at ewood park on 16 january 1996. history is on rovers side. when they last met their near neighbours in the fa cup 45 years ago  it also required an ewood park replay  which the home side won 2-0  and when they last met in the league  rovers did the double. they first won their nationwide division one trip to turf moor 0-2 four seasons ago  and then thrashed the clarets on home soil 5-0.   - manager mark hughes  who won the cup four times as a player  is aiming to steer rovers into the quarter-finals for the second time in 12 years  and first time since the 2000/2001 season. success here  and victory home to leicester in the next round  could see rovers in the semi-finals without having played premiership opposition.   - burnley make the eight mile journey to their fierce rivals  determined to send blackburn the same way as liverpool in the third round. but having failed to pull off another shock at turf moor  it could be that the championship outfit - 17 places inferior on the league ladder - have missed their best opportunity. having said that  burnley are yet to concede a goal in this cup run.   - steve cotterills  clarets have been knocked out in the fifth round four times in the last seven years  and have made only one appearance in the sixth round in 21 years. that was in the season before last  when they disposed of premiership fulham at this fifth round stage.   - while blackburn have not played since the fifth round tie  burnley have had two league outings away from home  drawing 1-1 at derby and losing 1-0 at preston. that takes their winless run to four games. the combatants from one-time prosperous mill towns  are both founder members of the football league. head to head  16th prem  winners (six times)  13th championship  winners (once)


corry backs skipper robinson england forward martin corry says jason robinson is the right man to lead the national team back to winning ways.  after losses to wales and france  critics have started to wonder whether robinson can captain from full-back. but corry has backed robinson  who was given the role after the injury to fly-half jonny wilkinson  ahead of this weekend s trip to ireland.  jason is doing a tremendous job. every week my respect for him goes up   corry told bbc radio five live.  he is an inspirational captain. when he talks with the squad he talks with a lot of sense.  the players have a lot of respect for him. it s an honour to be in the england side and an honour to play under him.   england are under immense pressure following their poor start to the year and victory is vital if they are to rescue their six nations campaign. but corry insists england are in the right frame of mind for the contest.  there is apprehension going into every game   he added.  but you have to use that fear and put it into a positive mindset.  when the whistle goes on sunday  what has happened in the past does not count for anything.   we have not performed but if we put in a performance on sunday then we can start turning results around.  there are a lot of changes taking place with england and we are at the start of something. we have not got off to the greatest of starts but you need to experience the bad the before you can fully appreciate the good.   a trip to lansdowne road is daunting at any time  especially against an ireland side that are flying high after two impressive wins. they are the form team of the tournament and are tipped to claim their first grand slam since 1948. but corry is relishing the prospect of taking on the irish in their own backyard.  they are full of confidence and are playing a great team game   he said.  the forwards are creating a great platform and they have explosive runners out wide.  if you look at the team on paper  they have stars from one to 15. it s a huge task but it is a great opportunity for us.  lansdowne road is a tremendous venue to play in and we have to use it to our advantage.


wmc says xstrata bid is too low australian mining firm wmc resources has said it is worth up to 30% more than a hostile 7.4bn australian dollar ($5.8bn; £3bn) bid by rival xstrata.  there is now pressure on swiss-based xstrata to increase its takeover offer. a report from investment firm grant samuel in wmc defence documents values wmc shares at a$7.17 to a$8.24  against xstrata s bid of a$6.35 a share. analysts said the defence documents provided more details on wmc  and may trigger a possible rival bid.  if a bid is going to emerge it is probably likely in the next one to two weeks   said daiwa securities analyst mark pervan. he said the valuation would put increased pressure on xstrata to look at  sweetening  its offer. marc gonsalves  an executive at xstrata  said:  we will review the information contained in the target s statement over the next week or so.  he added:  while we will review the assumptions made by grant samuel in detail  we are extremely sceptical of their conclusion  and suggest that wmc shareholders take extreme care in presuming that these optimistic assumptions are capable of being realised.   last month australia s competition watchdog said it would not oppose the purchase of wmc by zurich and london-based xstrata. on tuesday  wmc chairman tommie bergman said in a statement the directors believed it was in shareholders  best interest to reject the offer. he said wmc would pursue  value-creating options  provided by a portfolio of  world class assets . and wmc chief executive andrew michelmore claimed the xstrata offer was aimed at creating value for xstrata s shareholders  and was not being made for the benefit of wmc s shareholders. grant samuel said its valuation of wmc was based on lower average prices for nickel  copper and uranium than current market levels.  any longer term commodity price improvements would only improve our outlook   mr michelmore said.  in 2003 xstrata acquired australia s largest copper miner - mim holdings. wmc resources is the world s third-largest producer of concentrated nickel  and also a miner of copper and uranium. it owns the olympic dam mine in south australia  which contains about one-third of the world s known uranium resources and is also the world s fourth largest copper mine. xstrata is a global mining giant with operations in australia  south africa  spain  germany  argentina and the uk. its core products are copper  coking coal  thermal coal  ferrochrome  vanadium and zinc. it also has growing businesses in gold  lead and silver.


gizmondo gadget hits the shelves the gizmondo combined media player  phone and gaming gadget goes on sale on saturday.  priced at £229  the handheld device is debuting in the uk and goes on sale in the us and mainland europe in the next few weeks. a catalogue of about 20 games is being prepared for the gadget including the great escape and conflict vietnam. the british-backed gadget faces stiff competition from handheld gaming devices made by nintendo and sony.  the gizmondo device packs a lot of functions inside its black cover and is aimed at gamers and those that want more from their game-playing gadgets.  it can be used to play games  music tracks and movies. it can take and store digital photos and be used like a mobile phone to send text  multimedia and e-mail messages. the phone service to enable people to send messages is being provided by pre-pay vodafone accounts bundled in with the device. it also works with gps (global position system) so can also be used as a navigation aid or to support a variety of location-based services. the gprs and bluetooth wireless data systems onboard mean that it can be used for multi-player gaming. the gadget will be available from the gizmondo store on london s regent street and from several other retail partners. although the device rolls together an impressive list of functions  it will face serious competition from three established names in mobile gaming: nintendo  nokia and sony.  the main competition is likely to come from nintendo and sony. nintendo s ds handheld went on sale on 11 march and priced at £99 costs far less than the gizmondo. it also has a ready pool of fans of earlier nintendo handhelds to draw on. in the first two days it was on sale in europe the 87 000 ds handhelds were sold - a better debut than the gamecube enjoyed. sony s psp was due to make its european debut in march but now this is likely to be delayed by a few months. the psp is due to go on sale in the us later this month and a bundle including the player  accessories and a copy of spiderman 2 is expected to cost about $250 (£129). the psp can also play music and movies and supports wireless multiplayer gaming. nokia s n-gage could also be a competitor on the telecommunications side. this too crams a fully functional phone into a gadget that also plays games.


eu-us seeking deal on air dispute the eu and us have agreed to begin talks on ending subsidies given to aircraft makers  eu trade commissioner peter mandelson has announced.  both sides hope to reach a negotiated deal over state aid received by european aircraft maker airbus and its us rival boeing  mr mandelson said. airbus and boeing accuse each other of benefiting from illegal subsidies. mr mandelson said the eu and us hoped to avoid having to resolve the dispute at the world trade organisation (wto).   with this agreement the eu and us have confirmed their willingness to resolve the dispute which has arisen between them   mr mandelson said.  i hope our negotiations in the next three months will lead to an agreement ending subsidies to development and production of large civil aircraft.  last year  the us terminated an agreement with the eu  reached in 1992  which limits the subsidies countries can hand over to civil aircraft makers. the us filed a complaint against brussels with the wto over state aid to airbus  prompting a retaliatory eu complaint over us support for boeing. however  both sides agreed to suspend their requests for wto arbitration at the beginning of december  to allow bilateral talks to continue. eads and bae systems  the european defence and aerospace firms which own airbus  welcomed mr mandelson s announcement.  it has always been preferable that any differences between the us and europe on this matter be overcome through constructive discussion rather than through legal recourse   the companies said in a joint statement.  separately  the world s largest package delivery company  ups  said it had placed an order for 10 airbus a380 superjumbo freight-carrying jets  with an option to buy 10 more of the triple-decker aircraft. the us company said it needed to expand its air freight capacity following strong international growth  and would begin receiving deliveries of the a380s from 2009. however  ups said it was cutting a previous order for smaller airbus a300s from 90 planes to 53. so far  airbus has delivered 40 a300s to ups. airbus overtook boeing as the world s largest manufacturer of commercial airliners in 2003.


european medal chances improve what have the european indoor trials told us  well  i think we could be heading to the european championships with half a dozen medal prospects.  it was good to see athletes beginning to make steps forward  to see a few new faces and there were lots of personal bests kicking around.  the best performance on the track for me was sarah claxton s win in the 60m hurdles. running sub-eight seconds twice in a week puts her right up there and if she repeats that in madrid she will be close to picking up a medal. but what was great about sunday s performance was that she was under pressure to produce the goods when it counted. diane allahgreen has been our best hurdler for some time now and i think she was surprised to be beaten by sarah. and knowing that she got the better of diane in a head-to-head race will give sarah confidence. in the men s race on saturday  allan scott was right in there and there is definitely more to come from him. in fact  the men s 60m hurdles is so strong  i think the selectors will pick three hurdlers to go to madrid.  phillips idowu lit up the field events  not only with his hair  but also with his leap of 17.30m  which puts him at the top of the world rankings. i had a chat with him before the competition and he was really looking forward to getting out there. he feels he is in great shape and has some big jumps inside him - but then phillips always has. a lot of the athletes said the runway was not very helpful  so for phillips to jump like that is a good performance. he is such a huge talent but just needs some consistency - and if he does that then the big jumps will get even further. across the board i thought kelly sotherton had a great weekend and continued to show she is developing. she picked up three personal bests in the long jump  high jump and 60m hurdles and you can t ask for more than that. kelly will be up against carolina kluft in the pentathlon at the european championships but she has every chance of a medal on the basis of what we ve seen so far.  she has a complicated training regime where different people help her with different disciplines but it seems to be working really well. it wasn t all good news in sheffield. i thought both the 60m races were disappointing in different ways. jason gardener may have won but he wasn t at his best. i chatted to him afterwards and he knows it was an off-day for him. he s there to be shot at and the other lads nearly got a big scalp out there. in the women s race  jeanette kwayke was hoping to run against defending champion joice maduaka. the pair are enjoying a bit of rivalry but joice had to pull out with a chest infection. if she had made the final i think jeanette would have gone a bit quicker.  janine whitlock competed well in the pole vault on her return following a two-year drugs ban. but the most disappointing thing in the wider view is that she is our best pole vaulter by a long way and that shouldn t be the case. the event has moved on immensely since janine has been away and if there was more domestic competition i think that would help her. a couple of other interesting topics to look out for are the citizenship issues surrounding mark findlay and rabah yusuf. findlay is a londoner who has chosen to represent trinidad and tobago but has never run for them so he could still compete for great britain. yusuf  who came third in the 400m  is from the sudan but is trying to gain british citizenship. he came to britain as a high jumper but damaged his toe  started doing more running and found his talent. so we shall have to see what happens to both of them.