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ireland 21-19 argentina an injury-time dropped goal by ronan o gara stole victory for ireland from underneath the noses of argentina at lansdowne road on saturday. o gara kicked all of ireland s points with two dropped goals and five penalties to give the home side a 100% record in their autumn internationals. an impressive argentina appeared in control until the dying seconds. the pumas shocked the irish early on with a try from federico aramburu and felipe contepomi kicked 14 points. the well-drilled and sharper pumas out-played and out-thought ireland in the early stages. indiscipline allowed argentina s leinster fly-half contepomi to open the scoring in the third minute with a straightforward penalty. he was on the mark again two minutes later when argentina shocked a ragged ireland with the first try of the game. ireland turned the ball over and manuel contepomi broke through an unstructured defence before feeding his midfield partner aramburu to sprint in under the posts. o gara finally got ireland on the board with a dropped goal in the ninth minute only for contepomi to rifle over his second penalty two minutes later. playing into a strong wind and rain ireland continued to come second best in tight situations and turnovers began to mount up against a rugged defence. o gara managed to land his second penalty in the 36th minute but once again contepomi replied in kind four minutes into first-half injury time. the second-half started as the first had ended. o gara rifled over another penalty in the 45th minute but contepomi matched it three minutes later. the upper-body strength of the pumas never allowed ireland to take control up front while the three-quarters had no space to manoeuvre. ireland had to rely on o gara s boot to keep in touch rather than any contrived running plays. the munsterman landed two more penalties - one of them from 48 metres - to bring his team to within four points with 13 minutes on the clock remaining. and ireland s chance came when argentina s number eight gonzalo longo was yellow carded with six minutes to go for an offence in the line-out. o gara made no mistake as he rifled over his fifth penalty to set up a tense final few minutes. but ireland showed great composure to get themselves into a position to allow o gara to thump over a massive drop goal to complete a tremendous if fortuitous comeback.

sport

deal to ban homophobic reggae the reggae industry is to refuse to release or stage concerts featuring homophobic songs under a global deal struck with gay rights groups. a damaging campaign against stars such as beenie man and sizzla has been waged over lyrics that allegedly call for gay people to be killed or assaulted. the campaign which led to gigs being scrapped and a uk police investigation will now be dropped under the truce. brett lock of gay group outrage! said they were wiping the slate clean . the protests had been led by the stop murder music coalition an umbrella group including outrage! the black gay men s advisory group and jamaican movement j-flag. that coalition has reached a verbal agreement with major dancehall reggae record labels and concert promoters covering eight of the scene s biggest stars. but the artists themselves were not involved in the negotiations and have not directly signed up. instead the record companies have pledged not to release or re-release any offensive songs - many of which date back a number of years. and it is believed promoters will make stars agree not to perform such tunes on stage. the reggae industry will work with the artists while still maintaining their freedom of speech and artistic freedom according to media and pr strategist glen yearwood who is representing the reggae industry. the industry would halt any attempt by an artist to perform or release a song inciting violence against any group or gender he said. we ll advise them this is not the way forward in a civilised society. the stop murder music campaign saw protesters picket gigs resulted in sizzla s uk tour being cancelled in november forced mobo award organisers to drop artists from nominations and saw beenie man dropped from an mtv show in august. police have also been investigating whether lyrics incite the assault and murder of gay people. the campaign was a blow to the reggae industry mr yearwood admitted. if you can t have major stars touring then you don t sell many albums he said. but the artists - beenie man sizzla elephant man buju banton bounty killer tok capleton and vybz kartel - will not have to apologise for past songs or comments. outrage! s mr lock said: the main players in the dancehall reggae industry will attempt to regulate the industry themselves to ensure that there aren t any violently homophobic or gay-bashing lyrics in the future. as a gesture of good faith the stop murder music coalition has agreed to suspend our aggressive campaigning against murder music. so we shall not be picketing concerts or calling for prosecutions to give the industry the space to regulate and reform itself. record companies vp and greensleeves distributor jet star and concert promoters including jammins and apollo entertainment are all on board.

entertainment

cars pull down us retail figures us retail sales fell 0.3% in january the biggest monthly decline since last august driven down by a heavy fall in car sales. the 3.3% fall in car sales had been expected coming after december s 4% rise in car sales fuelled by generous pre-christmas special offers. excluding the car sector us retail sales were up 0.6% in january twice what some analysts had been expecting. us retail spending is expected to rise in 2005 but not as quickly as in 2004. steve gallagher us chief economist at sg corporate & investment banking said january s figures were decent numbers . we are not seeing the numbers that we saw in the second half of 2004 but they are still pretty healthy he added. sales at appliance and electronic stores were down 0.6% in january while sales at hardware stores dropped by 0.3% and furniture store sales dipped 0.1%. sales at clothing and clothing accessory stores jumped 1.8% while sales at general merchandise stores a category that includes department stores rose by 0.9%. these strong gains were in part put down to consumers spending gift vouchers they had been given for christmas. sales at restaurants bars and coffee houses rose by 0.3% while grocery store sales were up 0.5%. in december overall retail sales rose by 1.1%. excluding the car sector sales rose by just 0.3%. parul jain deputy chief economist at nomura securities international said consumer spending would continue to rise in 2005 only at a slower rate of growth than in 2004. consumers continue to retain their strength in the first quarter he said. van rourke a bond strategist at popular securities agreed that the latest retail sales figures were slightly stronger than expected .

business

india s rupee hits five-year high india s rupee has hit a five-year high after standard & poor s (s&p) raised the country s foreign currency rating. the rupee climbed to 43.305 per us dollar on thursday up from a close of 43.41. the currency has gained almost 1% in the past three sessions. s&p which rates borrowers creditworthiness lifted india s rating by one notch to bb+ . with indian assets now seen as less of a gamble more cash is expected to flow into its markets buoying the rupee. the upgrade is positive and basically people will use it as an excuse to come back to india said bhanu baweja a strategist at ubs. money has moved out from india in the first two or three weeks of january into other markets like korea and thailand and this upgrade should lead to a reversal. india s foreign currency rating is now one notch below investment grade which starts at bbb- . the increase has put it on the same level as romania egypt and el salvador and one level below russia.

business

who do you think you are the real danger is not what happens to your data as it crosses the net argues analyst bill thompson. it is what happens when it arrives at the other end. the financial services authority has warned banks and other financial institutions that members of criminal gangs may be applying for jobs which give them access to confidential customer data. the fear is not that they will steal money from our bank accounts but that they will instead steal something far more valuable in our digital society - our identities. armed with the personal details that a bank holds plus a fake letter or two it is apparently easy to get a loan open a bank account with an overdraft or get a credit card in someone else s name. and it is then a simple matter to move the money into another account and leave the unwitting victim to sort out the mess when statements and demands for payment start arriving. identity theft is an increasingly significant economic crime and we are all becoming more aware of the dangers of leaving bills receipts and bank statements unshredded in our rubbish. but however careful you may be if the organisations you trust with your personal data bank accounts and credit cards are not able to look after their databases properly then you are in trouble. it is surprising that it has taken the gangs so long to realise that a well-placed insider is by far the simplest way to break the security of a computer system. in fact i suspect that the fsa is probably very late to this particular party and that this sort of thing has been going on for rather a long time. has anyone checked bob cratchit s family links to the criminal underworld i wonder and it is hardly likely to be only banks that are being targeted. health authorities government agencies and of course the big e-commerce sites like amazon must also offer rich pickings for the fraudsters. the good news is that better auditing is likely to catch out those who access account details that they are not supposed to. and as we all become aware of the danger of identity theft and look more carefully for unexpected transactions on our statements banks should have good enough records and logs to trace the people who might have accessed the account details. fortunately there are now ways to keep bank systems more secure from the sort of data theft that involves taking a portable hard drive or flash memory card into the office plugging it into a usb slot and sucking down customer files. companies like securewave for example can restrict the use of usb ports just to authorised devices or even to an individual s personal memory card. these solutions are not perfect but it does not feel like a wave of fraud is about to wash away the entire financial system. however the warning does highlight one of the major issues with e-commerce and online trading - the security or otherwise of the servers and other systems that make up the back office . it has been clear for years that the real danger in paying for goods online with a credit card is not that the number will be intercepted in transit but that the shop you are dealing with will be hacked. in fact i do not know of a single case where an e-mail containing payment details has led to card fraud. there are simply too many e-mails passing over the net for interception to be a sensible tool for anyone out to commit fraud. cd universe powergen and many other companies have left their databases open and suffered the consequences. and just last week the online bank cahoot admitted that its customer account details could be read by anyone who could guess a login name. whether it is external hackers breaking in because of poor system security or internal staff abusing the access they get as part of their job the issue is the same: how do we make sure that our personal data is not abused any organisation that processes personal data is of course bound by the data protection act and must take proper care of it. unauthorised disclosure is not allowed but the penalties are small and the process of prosecuting under the act so convoluted as to be worthless in practice. this is not something we can just leave it to the market. the consequences of having one s identity stolen are too serious and markets respond too slowly. after all i bank with cahoot but it would be so much hassle to move my accounts that i did not even consider it when i heard about their security problems. i doubt many others have closed their accounts especially when there is little guarantee that other banks are not going to make the same sort of mistake in future. the two options would seem to be more stringent data protection law so that companies really feel the pressure to improve their internal processes or a wave of civil lawsuits against financial institutions with sloppy practices whose customers suffer from identity theft. i have never felt comfortable with the us practice of suing everything that moves partly because it seems to make lawyers richer than their clients so i know which i d prefer. bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.

tech

fed chief warning on us deficit federal reserve chairman alan greenspan has warned that allowing huge us budget deficits to continue could have severe consequences. speaking to the house budget committee he urged congress to take action to cut the deficit such as increasing taxes. while the us economy is growing at a reasonably good pace he warned that budget concerns were clouding the economic outlook for the us. pension and healthcare costs posed the greatest risks to the economy he said. the government program faces severe financial strains in coming decades as the massive baby-boom generation retires. i fear that we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby-boom generation in its retirement years than our economy has the capacity to deliver. if existing promises need to be changed those changes should be made sooner rather than later mr greenspan said. he also warned that unless the nation sees unprecedented rises in productivity retirement and health programmes would need significant changes. he called on congress to cut promised benefits for retirees as the promised benefits for the soon-to-retire baby boom generation were much larger than the government could afford. meanwhile any move to narrow the deficit gap by raising taxes could pose a significant risk to the economy by dampening growth and spending he added. he also urged congress to reinstate lapsed rules that require tax cuts and spending to be offset elsewhere in the budget in an effort to prevent the us heading further into the red. despite the dire warnings mr greenspan did offer some good news for the short term. as us growth gathers steam and incomes rise that should lead to a narrowing of the deficit. recent increases in defence and homeland security spending were also not expected to continue indefinitely which should cut some costs. since president george w bush came to office the federal budget has swung from a record surplus to a record deficit of $412bn last year.

business

verizon seals takeover of mci verizon has won a takeover battle for us phone firm mci with a bid worth $6.8bn (£3.6bn) reports say. the two firms are expected to seal the deal on monday morning according to news agency reports despite what was thought to be a higher bid from qwest. the us telecoms market is consolidating fast with former long-distance giant at&t being bought by former subsidiary sbc earlier this year for $16bn. mci exited bankruptcy in april having gone bust under previous name worldcom. the bankruptcy followed its admission in 2002 that it illegally booked expenses and inflated profits. shareholders lost about $180bn when the company collapsed while 20 000 workers lost their jobs. former worldcom boss bernie ebbers is currently on trial accused of overseeing an $11bn fraud. qwest has itself come under suspicion of sub-standard behaviour paying the securities and exchange commission $250m in october to settle charges that it manipulated its results to keep wall street happy. mci is the us s second-biggest long distance firm after at&t. consolidation in the us telecommunications industry has picked up in the past few months as companies look to cut costs and boost client bases. a merger between mci and verizon would be the fifth billion-dollar telecoms deal since october. last week sbc communications agreed to buy its former parent and phone trailblazer at&t for about $16bn. buying mci would give either qwest or verizon access to mci s global network and business-based subscribers. the rationale is similar to the one underpinning sbc s at&t deal. verizon is by far the bigger company and has its own successful mobile arm - factors which may have swung the board in its favour since both suitors are offering a mixture of cash and shares.

business

petrol duties frozen brown says chancellor gordon brown has announced a freeze on fuel duty in his pre-budget speech to the commons on thursday. mr brown told the house that government policy is to raise fuel duty at least in line with inflation each year to fulfil environmental commitments. but this financial year because of volatility in the oil market he said the duty would be frozen. during 2000 many motorists campaigned against the rises but environmentalists believe less duty means more pollution. he said: it is our policy that each year fuel duties should rise at least in line with inflation as we seek to meet our targets for reducing polluting emmissions and fund our public services. but this financial year because of the sustained volatility in the oil market i propose to match the freeze in car vehicle licence duty with a continuation on the freeze on the main road fuel duties. the rac welcomed the news calling it an early christmas present for motorists. but the organisation urged drivers to continue to shop around to get the best price for petrol. environmental group transport 2000 said the freeze sends the wrong message to motorists. we are concerned that although britain leads the world in rhetoric about climate change it often fails in practical action said a spokesman. in 2000 the people s fuel lobby caused chaos by blocking roads with slow-moving convoys after mr brown threatened to raise fuel taxes. the chancellor did not raise duty that year but despite threats of more protests in 2003 he added 1.28p per litre.

politics

ink helps drive democracy in asia the kyrgyz republic a small mountainous state of the former soviet republic is using invisible ink and ultraviolet readers in the country s elections as part of a drive to prevent multiple voting. this new technology is causing both worries and guarded optimism among different sectors of the population. in an effort to live up to its reputation in the 1990s as an island of democracy the kyrgyz president askar akaev pushed through the law requiring the use of ink during the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. the us government agreed to fund all expenses associated with this decision. the kyrgyz republic is seen by many experts as backsliding from the high point it reached in the mid-1990s with a hastily pushed through referendum in 2003 reducing the legislative branch to one chamber with 75 deputies. the use of ink is only one part of a general effort to show commitment towards more open elections - the german embassy the soros foundation and the kyrgyz government have all contributed to purchase transparent ballot boxes. the actual technology behind the ink is not that complicated. the ink is sprayed on a person s left thumb. it dries and is not visible under normal light. however the presence of ultraviolet light (of the kind used to verify money) causes the ink to glow with a neon yellow light. at the entrance to each polling station one election official will scan voter s fingers with uv lamp before allowing them to enter and every voter will have his/her left thumb sprayed with ink before receiving the ballot. if the ink shows under the uv light the voter will not be allowed to enter the polling station. likewise any voter who refuses to be inked will not receive the ballot. these elections are assuming even greater significance because of two large factors - the upcoming parliamentary elections are a prelude to a potentially regime changing presidential election in the autumn as well as the echo of recent elections in other former soviet republics notably ukraine and georgia. the use of ink has been controversial - especially among groups perceived to be pro-government. widely circulated articles compared the use of ink to the rural practice of marking sheep - a still common metaphor in this primarily agricultural society. the author of one such article began a petition drive against the use of the ink. the greatest part of the opposition to ink has often been sheer ignorance. local newspapers have carried stories that the ink is harmful radioactive or even that the ultraviolet readers may cause health problems. others such as the aggressively middle of the road coalition of non-governmental organizations have lauded the move as an important step forward. this type of ink has been used in many elections in the world in countries as varied as serbia south africa indonesia and turkey. the other common type of ink in elections is indelible visible ink - but as the elections in afghanistan showed improper use of this type of ink can cause additional problems. the use of invisible ink is not without its own problems. in most elections numerous rumors have spread about it. in serbia for example both christian and islamic leaders assured their populations that its use was not contrary to religion. other rumours are associated with how to remove the ink - various soft drinks solvents and cleaning products are put forward. however in reality the ink is very effective at getting under the cuticle of the thumb and difficult to wash off. the ink stays on the finger for at least 72 hours and for up to a week. the use of ink and readers by itself is not a panacea for election ills. the passage of the inking law is nevertheless a clear step forward towards free and fair elections. the country s widely watched parliamentary elections are scheduled for 27 february. david mikosz works for the ifes an international non-profit organisation that supports the building of democratic societies.

tech

campaigners attack mtv sleaze mtv has been criticised for incessant sleaze by television indecency campaigners in the us. the parents television council (ptc) which monitors violence and sex on tv said the cable music channel offered the cheapest form of programming. the group is at the forefront of a vociferous campaign to clean up american television. but a spokeswoman for mtv said it was unfair and inaccurate to single out mtv for criticism. the ptc monitored mtv s output for 171 hours from 20 march to 27 march 2004 during the channel s spring break coverage. in its report - mtv smut peddlers: targeting kids with sex drugs and alcohol - the ptc said it witnessed 3 056 flashes of nudity or sexual situations and 2 881 verbal references to sex. brent bozell ptc president and conservative activist said: mtv is blatantly selling raunchy sex to kids. compared to broadcast television programmes aimed at adults mtv s programming contains substantially more sex foul language and violence - and mtv s shows are aimed at children as young as 12. there s no question that tv influences the attitudes and perceptions of young viewers and mtv is deliberately marketing its raunch to millions of innocent children. the watchdog decided to look at mtv s programmes after janet jackson s infamous wardrobe malfunction at last year s super bowl. the breast-baring incident generated 500 000 complaints and cbs - which is owned by the same parent company as mtv - was quick to apologise. mtv spokeswoman jeannie kedas said the network follows the same standards as broadcasters and reflects the culture and what its viewers are interested in. it s unfair and inaccurate to paint mtv with that brush of irresponsibility she said. we think it s underestimating young people s intellect and level of sophistication. ms kedas also highlighted the fact mtv won an award in 2004 for the fight for your rights series that focused on issues such as sexual health and tolerance.

entertainment

yahoo moves into desktop search internet giant yahoo has launched software to allow people to search e-mail and other files on their pcs. the firm is following in the footsteps of microsoft google and ask jeeves which have offered similar services. search has become a lucrative and hotly-contested area of expansion for net firms looking to extend loyalty beyond the web. with hard drives providing bigger storage users could need more help to locate important files such as photos. the desktop search technology has been licensed from a us-based firm x1 technologies. it is designed to work alongside microsoft s outlook and outlook express e-mail programs. searching e-mail effectively is becoming increasingly important especially as the amount of spam increases. according to research from message analysts the radicati group up to 45% of businesses critical information is stored in e-mail and attachments. yahoo s software can also work separately on the desktop searching for music photos and other files. users can search under a variety of criteria including file name size date and time. it doesn t yet incorporate web searching although yahoo has promised that future versions will allow users to search both web-based and desktop data. we are all getting more and more files on our desktop but the real commercial opportunity lies with linking this through to web content said julian smith an analyst with research firm jupiter. it is all about extending the idea of search and getting a closer relationship with consumers by organising not just how they search on the internet but the files on your computer as well he said. search engines are often the first port of call for users when they go onto the web. the new foray into desktop search has rung alarm bells for human rights groups concerned about the implications to privacy. and not everyone is impressed with the functionality of such services. alexander linden vice president of emerging technologies at analyst firm gartner downloaded the google product but has since removed it. it was just not very interesting he said. he believes the rush to enter the desktop business is just a way of keeping up with rivals. desktop search is just one of many features people would like but i m suspicious of its usefulness he said. more useful would be tools that can combine internet intranet and desktop search alongside improvements to key word searching he said.

tech

hodges announces rugby retirement scarlets and usa eagles forward dave hodges has ended his playing career to pursue a coaching role in the states. the 36-year-old who has 54 caps was llanelli s player of the season in 2001/2 but has battled injury for the last two of his seven years at stradey. he tore a pectoral muscle against the ospreys on boxing day an injury that would have kept him out for the season. realising i would be unable to play this season the club and i agreed to end my contract early said hodges. it allows me to move back to the us and pursue opportunities there and allows the scarlets to look to the next generation. the scarlets have begun to rebuild their squad for next season after a disappointing heineken cup campaign with plenty more signings and departures expected in the coming weeks. scarlets chief executive stuart gallacher confirmed that 17 of the current squad would be out of contract in the summer. we have a deliberate policy whereby around half the squad are coming out of contract and they know they won t all be re-signed it s a chance to invigorate the squad he said. i m positive about the future of the scarlets both on and off the field. gallacher was keen to pay tribute to the role back-five forward hodges has played at stradey park though. david has been a highly influential member of our squad for seven years said gallacher. he is a real professional and we thank him for the part he has played in our success. i am sure he has an enormous contribution to make to the development of rugby in the us and we wish him and his family well. hodges described his years at stradey as the best time of my life.

sport

blair rejects iraq advice calls tony blair has rejected calls for the publication of advice on the legality of the iraq war amid growing calls for an investigation. the prime minister told his monthly press conference the matter had been dealt with by the attorney general. earlier conservative mp michael mates joined calls for a probe into claims lord goldsmith s statement to parliament was drawn up at number 10. mr blair said the statement was a fair summary of lord goldsmith s opinion. that s what he (lord goldsmith) said and that s what i say. he has dealt with this time and time and time again mr blair told his monthly news conference in downing street. he refused to answer further questions on the issue saying it had been dealt with literally scores of times and the position has not changed . lord goldsmith has denied being leaned on and says the words written were his. the government refuses to publish his advice on the legality of the war - saying such papers have always been kept confidential. mr mates who is a member of the commons intelligence and security committee and was part of the butler inquiry into pre-war intelligence told the bbc on friday: that as a general rule is right but it s not an absolute rule. he said there had been other occasions when advice had been published most recently regarding prince charles s marriage plans. the government could not pick and choose when to use the convention he said. mr mates added: we discovered that there were two or three occasions in the past when law officers advice to the government has been published. and this may be one of those special occasions... when it would be in the public interest to see the advice which the attorney general gave to the prime minister. this is argument was rejected by mr blair who said: firstly we haven t broken the precedent and secondly peter goldsmith has made his statement and i have got absolutely nothing to add to it. in a book published this week philippe sands qc a member of cherie blair s matrix chambers says lord goldsmith warned tony blair on 7 march 2003 that the iraq war could be illegal without a second un resolution sanctioning military action. but a short statement about lord goldsmith s position was presented in a written parliamentary answer on 17 march 2003 - just before a crucial commons vote on the military action. mr sands book suggests it was actually written by home office minister lord falconer and downing street adviser baroness morgan. former minister clare short who resigned from the government over the iraq war said it was the same statement that was earlier shown to the cabinet as it discussed military action. she told the bbc the full advice should have been attached according to the ministerial code. my view is we need the house of lords to set up a special committee summon the attorney get all the papers out look at exactly what happened she said. the conservatives and liberal democrats say they want the publication of the full legal advice given by the attorney general. on thursday lord goldsmith said his statement had not been written by or at number 10 . in my parliamentary answer on march 17 2003 i explained my genuinely held independent view that military action was lawful under the existing security council resolutions he said.

politics

us state acts to stop spammers us state texas has filed a lawsuit against two men believed to be among the world s top five spammers. it is seeking millions of dollars in damages in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this week. the texas attorney general said it started the legal action as messages sent by the alleged spammers broke three laws governing e-mail marketing. the company named in the lawsuit denied any wrongdoing and said it complied with all relevant laws. the texas lawsuit was filed against ryan samuel pitylak a university oftexas student and mark stephen trotter of california. both are thought to be the top executives in three companies - payperaction llc. leadplex llc. and leadplex inc - that are suspected of sending out many millions of unwanted e-mail messages. illegal spam must be stopped said greg abbott texas attorney general announcing the legal action. spam is one of the most aggravating and pervasive problems facing consumers today. the attorney general alleges that messages sent by mr pitylak and mr trotter s companies broke the 2003 controlling the assault of non-solicited pornography and marketing act (can-spam) as well as the texas electronic mail and solicitation act and texas deceptive trade practices act. all three acts confer cash penalties for each violation of their terms. if the men are found guilty and all penalties are applied the two men could face a damages bill running into millions. mr abbott said the messages sent by the pair broke laws by using misleading subject lines not identifying themselves as adverts and offering services for which they had no licence to do so in texas. lawyers for the alleged spammers said the lawsuit was groundless and the two men would defend themselves strongly against the accusations. leadplex and payperaction are legitimate internet marketing companies that are in complete compliance with the federal can-spam act said lin hughes speaking on behalf of mr pitylak and mr trotter. in a similar move the us federal trade commission (ftc) has won a court order that stops an international group of spammers sending sexually explicit e-mail. the ftc took the action because the messages being sent violated several parts of the can-spam act. in particular the pornographic messages did not identify themselves as being sexually explicit had deceptive subject headings did not have working opt-out mechanisms failed to mention they were adverts and did not give the sender s real world address. the court order stops the spammers sending e-mail and freezes assets prior to a hearing on a permanent injunction.

tech

paris promise raises welsh hopes has there been a better six nations match than saturday s epic in paris and can the welsh revival continue all the way to a first grand slam since 1978 those are the two questions occupying not just wales supporters but rugby fans as a whole after a scintillating display in paris. welsh legend mervyn davies a member of two of three grand slam-winning sides of the 1970s hailed it as one of the great performances of the past three decades . martyn williams wales two-try scorer on the day called it one of the most surreal games i have ever played in . a crestfallen france coach bernard laporte simply observed: there was a french half and there was a welsh half . and what a half it was for the red dragonhood transforming a 15-6 half-time deficit into an 18-15 lead within five mesmerising minutes of the second period. but while that passage of play showed the swelling self-belief of a side prepared to back its own spirit of adventure the final quarter told us a whole lot more about this welsh side. that they recovered from a battering in the first half-hour to first stem the tide before half-time then reverse it on the resumption was remarkable enough. but in resisting a seemingly unstoppable wave of french pressure in a nail-biting final five minutes wales showed not only their physical attributes but their mental resolve. in international rugby any of the top seven sides can beat each other on a given day but the great sides are those that win the close contests on a consistent basis. england suffered some infamous six nations disappointments en route to world cup glory the pain of defeat forging bonds that ultimately led to victory when it really mattered. wales have some way to go before they can be remotely considered in a similar light. but the signs are that players previously on the receiving end are learning how to emerge on the right side of the scoreline. ten of the 22 on duty on saturday were also involved when wales were trounced 33-5 in paris two years ago. but since they threw off the shackles against new zealand in the 2003 world cup wales have rediscovered much of what made them a great rugby nation in the first place. the confidence in the squad has been building and building since the world cup and we now have young players who are becoming world class noted coach mike ruddock. the likes of michael owen gethin jenkins dwayne peel and gavin henson are certainly building strong cases for inclusion on this summer s lions tour to new zealand. and players like stephen jones martyn williams shane williams and gareth thomas are proving it is not only the youngsters that are on an upward curve. jones after his superb man-of-the-match display observed that we are a very happy camp now . ruddock and thomas can take much of the credit for that ensuring the tribal and regional divisions that have often scarred welsh rugby do not extend to the national squad. the joie de vivre so evident in that magical second-half spell in paris also stems from a style of play that first wooed supporters the world over in the 1970s. if england had half the innate attacking exuberance wales have produced in this championship they would not be contemplating the debris of three consecutive defeats. similarly wales have learnt that style alone does not win matches and that forward power mental toughness and good decision-making under pressure are equally important. so on to murrayfield where wales have not won on their last three visits. while the hype in the principality will go into overdrive the players will set about the task of beating scotland. only then - with the visit of ireland to finish - can they start thinking about emulating the hallowed players of the 1970s and writing their own names into welsh legend.

sport

yukos accused of lying to court russian oil firm yukos lied to a us court in an attempt to stop the russian government selling off its key production unit the court has heard. the unit yugansk was sold to pay off a $27.5bn (£14.5bn) back tax bill. yukos argued that since it had a us subsidiary and local bank accounts the us court could declare it bankrupt and stop the auction of yugansk. but deutsche bank - itself a target of a yukos lawsuit - said documents had been backdated to strengthen the case. deutsche bank s evidence came on the first day of a two-day hearing in houston. its lawyer hugh ray told the court that yukos had claimed it had transferred $27m into two texas bank accounts opened by its new us subsidiary. by doing so he said the firm had intended to reinforce its us presence - and thus its chances of getting its case heard in us courts. but he said that the papers documenting the transaction were not drawn up till weeks after yukos made its bankruptcy application on 14 december and then backdated. yukos chief financial officer bruce misamore who had moved to the us in early december to set up yukos usa acknowledged the point. he said the discrepancy was only in the paperwork but that money had indeed been transferred on 14 december. even so he told the court that only $480 000 had been in the accounts that day with the rest arriving a day later. deutsche bank is involved in the case because it is itself being sued by yukos. it had agreed to loan to an arm of russian state gas firm gazprom the money to bid for yuganskneftegaz as the yukos unit is formally known. the sale went ahead despite an order from the us bankruptcy court ordered that it should be stopped. in the end the auction was won by an unknown shell company for $9.4bn - much less than most assessments of its value - before ending up in the hands of state-controlled oil firm rosneft. rosneft meanwhile has agreed to merge with gazprom bringing a large chunk of russia s very profitable oil business back under state control. yukos maintains that it filed for bankruptcy in the us because it feared it would not be able to do so in russia. it also said that in the event of going bust it could offer the chance of restructuring. it gives us a kind of life after death alternative said yukos chief executive steven theede. yukos is currently suing four companies - gazprom its unit gazpromneft rosneft and the shell company which won the bidding - for their part in yugansk s disposal. it has also threatened to sue the russian government for $28bn. analysts have questioned whether a us court has any jurisdiction over russian companies while moscow officials have dismissed yukos legal wrangling as meaningless. yukos claims that the rights of its shareholders have been ignored and that is has been punished for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky. mr khodorkovsky once russia s richest man is in prison having been charged with fraud and tax evasion and repeatedly denied bail.

business

joy division story to become film the life of late joy division singer ian curtis is to be made into a film it has been announced. the manchester-based production is called touching from a distance after a book by curtis s widow deborah which forms the basis for the film. music mogul tony wilson who headed the record company joy division were signed to will be co-executive producer. the musician committed suicide in 1980 aged 23 shortly before the band were due to go on tour in the us. mr wilson who has remained friends with curtis s widow and daughter natalie who he says asked for his involvement to make the film official . people have different ideas as to why ian committed suicide so maybe the film will reflect those different views he told the bbc news website. plans for a separate joy division film had been announced at the cannes film festival earlier this year but the project did not get off the ground as it failed to get the backing of curtis s family. mr wilson who was also involved with joy division s sucessor band new order as well as the happy mondays said he would rather not appear in the film. he made a cameo appearance in 24 hour party people in which his leading role was played by steve coogan. i m not an actor and i did a lousy job playing my part in 24 hour party people said the factory records founder who has been associated with the manchester music scene since the 1970s. film people have a tendency to mess up when they touch music but i hope this one works. this is much more than the music - they want to do the real story of ian he said. the film is to be directed by dutch-born anton corbijn who has made music movies for depeche mode and u2. it will be produced by a us production company while the widow of ian curtis will also be an executive producer.

entertainment

fresh hope after argentine crisis three years after argentina was hit by a deadly economic crisis there is fresh hope. the country s economy is set to grow about 8% this year after seeing 9% growth last year a sharp turnaround from 2002 when output fell 11%. the unemployment rate is improving too: it is set to slip below 13% by the end of the year down from 20% in may 2002. true problems remain but the overall picture is one of vast improvement. even the international monetary fund (imf) admits this. the argentine authorities are proud should be proud of the strong performance of the economy thomas dawson an imf director said earlier this month. argentina has made a remarkable recovery from a hideous and lengthy recession which in 2001 culminated in the government halting debt repayments to its private creditors. the debt default sparked a deep and prolonged economic crisis which at least initially was made worse by the government s decisions. pension payments were halted and bank accounts frozen as part of austerity measures introduced by the government to deal with the country s massive debts. in response angry crowds of ordinary argentines took to the streets where dozens of lives were lost in clashes with the police. two presidents and at least three finance minister resigned in less than a month. argentina was on the brink of collapse. the fix was found in the currency markets with the abandonment of the peso s decade-long peg to the us dollar in february 2002. the subsequent devaluation saw thousands of people s life savings disappear. scathes of companies went bust. three years ago every sector [of the economy] was hit by the crisis said entrepreneur drayton valentine. it really was dire. but since then the general mood on the ground has improved dramatically in part because the devaluation helped attract fresh direct investment from abroad and stimulate business within brazil. agriculture and tourism are helping said entrepreneur drayton valentine. mr valentine who was born in the united states but grew up in argentina was fortunate: at the time of the crisis his savings were held in dollar accounts abroad. but now he is using his money to help with the start-up a trading company. he explained that initially his firm is going to export building materials to spain and united states. then he would like to diversify to other areas depending on the market. locally there is a sense of recovery many companies are exporting now he said noting that a lot of firms which were closed during the crisis are re-opening. but not all that shines is gold. argentina is still burdened by its failure to pay private creditors at the end of 2001. president nestor kirchner s administration is still trying to hammer out an agreement with the creditors but with the debts nominal value standing at around $100bn it is not proving easy. debt defaults make further lending agreements both difficult and expensive to negotiate. argentina s current offer implies that the creditors would get just 25 cents for each dollar they are owed according to the creditors. understandably they want more and until they do both they and others are loath to continue lending. for president kirchner this proves a hopeless challenge. real losses have been suffered and somebody has to pay observed jack boorman adviser to imf s managing director rodrigo rato. everyone needs to keep in mind the enormous cost on the part of both creditors and the argentine society and people that will have been endured by the time a settlement is reached he said. the cost is enormous and continues to be paid and will not be reversed by any restructuring. with the international negotiations being troubled it is of little help to president kirchner that the domestic situation remains strained as well. this is partly because there are still bank account holders who are waiting to recover some of their deposits. the situation is bad for those who had previously chosen to save in argentina said carlos baez silva president of aara an association that represents bank account and bond holders. few people have recovered more than about half their savings mr baez silva estimated pointing out that many of the savers who have lost out are pensioners or others who once trusted the government people who set aside money for the future in the belief that their investment would be safe. a lot of them invested in good faith he said. the argentine state responded by taking most of their investments. the affair has made mr baez silva disillusioned with the country s legal system. on occasion the supreme court has ruled against the interests of the people he represents he says insisting that the system cannot be trusted. people have to deposit their money in the banks not necessarily because they trust them but because crime is so high that people cannot have their money in their homes beneath their mattresses. mr valentine who was born in the united states but grew up in argentina agreed. if i have to save pesos [the local currency] there is not much problem but i will think twice before i deposit dollars in a bank .

business

cage film s third week at us top nicolas cage movie national treasure has topped the us and canada box office for the third week in a row. national treasure made $17.1m (£8.8m) in ticket sales from friday to sunday according to studio estimates taking its total to $110.2m (£56.7m). comedy christmas with the kranks starring tim allen and jamie lee curtis was in second place. the polar express entered in third place while jude law film closer made its debut at number six. oliver stone s big-budget epic alexander starring colin farrell followed last week s disappointing sixth-place opening with a slump to seventh place and takings of $4.7m (£2.4m). critics have savaged the three-hour epic which reportedly cost $150m (£77m) to make. national treasure which sees cage s character ben gates chase a hidden fortune has been made by disney studios. it is cage s fourth collaboration with jerry bruckheimer who is usually noted for his male-orientated action films.

entertainment

prodigy join v festival line-up essex act prodigy are to headline the second stage at this year s v festival joining main stage headliners scissor sisters and franz ferdinand. the event which is in its 10th year will be held at two venues - hylands park in essex and weston park in staffordshire on 20 and 21 august. meanwhile rock veterans new order have joined the t in the park line-up alongside athlete and green day. the manchester band will play on 9 july at scotland s biggest festival. it will be their debut performance at the music event which is held over the weekend of 9 and 10 july in balado near kinross. other bands at the sold-out festival include queens of the stone age the killers keane the streets and foo fighters. a month later at the v festival prodigy will play at weston park on saturday 20 august and hylands park on sunday 21 august and the chemical brothers vice versa. it will be the chemical brothers only uk festival performance of the year. v festival director bob angus said: with the prodigy and the chemical brothers now confirmed to headline the second stage we are headed for a really stellar line-up. we pride ourselves on putting on an unbeatable live music experience and v festival 2005 will not disappoint. tickets for the v festival go on sale on friday 11 march.

entertainment

us trade gap ballooned in october the us trade deficit widened by more than expected in october hitting record levels after higher oil prices raised import costs figures have shown the trade shortfall was $55.5bn (£29bn) up 9% from september the commerce department said. that pushed the 10 month deficit to $500.5bn. imports rose by 3.4% while exports increased by only 0.6%. a weaker dollar also increased the cost of imports though this should help drive export demand in coming months. things are getting worse but that s to be expected said david wyss of standard & poor s in new york. the first thing is that when the dollar goes down it increases the price of imports. we are seeing improved export orders. things seem to be going in the right direction. despite this optimism significant concerns remain as to how the us will fund its trade and budget deficits should they continue to widen. another problem highlighted by analysts was the growing trade gap with china which has been accused of keeping its currency artificially weak in order to boost exports. the us imported almost $20bn worth of goods from china during october exporting a little under $3bn. it seems the key worry that has existed in the currency market still remains said anthony crescenzi a bond strategist at miller tabak in new york. the trade deficit and the shortfall with china are big issues going forward . the commerce department figures caused the dollar to weaken further despite widespread expectations that the federal reserve will raise interest rates for a fifth time this year. borrowing costs are tipped to rise by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.25% at a fed meeting later on tuesday.

business

kidman wins photographer battle actress nicole kidman has won a restraining order against two paparazzi photographers who she claims left her fearful of leaving her sydney mansion. the oscar-winning star took action against jamie fawcett and ben mcdonald after a bugging device was found outside her home earlier this week. lawyers for the pair denied allegations they had planted the device. the australian actress is currently in sydney to film her latest movie eucalyptus with russell crowe. kidman was prompted to take action following a reported high-speed car chase with members of the paparazzi in sydney last weekend. according to local newspaper the daily telegraph the incident involved paparazzi driving through red lights and on the wrong side of the road in pursuit of kidman s vehicle. lawyers for mr fawcett and mr mcdonald denied that the pair were involved in the chase. kidman sought the apprehended violence orders - normally used in australia in cases of domestic violence and similar incidents - after being advised to do so by local police. nicole would like to make it clear that she acknowledges she is a public figure and that reporters and photographers have a job to do and she respects that said kidman s publicist wendy day. however these are specific actions against two individuals who over a period of time have caused her to feel threatened intimidated and unable to leave her home without fearing for her safety. magistrate lee gilmore who issued the restraining order at waverley local court in sydney said she understood the photographers were entitled to earn a living but there had to be limits to their behaviour. miss kidman says she s willing to put up with some of it but it s gone beyond that she said. i do believe the allegation in relation to the driving is a serious issue.

entertainment

barcelona title hopes hit by loss barcelona s pursuit of the spanish title took a blow on sunday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to atletico madrid. fernando torres gave athletico an ideal start with a goal in the first minute. ronaldino wasted a second-half chance to equalise for barca when he put a penalty wide but torres made no such mistake with a last-minute spot-kick. the defeat coupled with real madrid s 4-0 win over espanyol on saturday reduces barca s lead to four points. former everton midfielder thomas gravesen scored his first goal for real in the comfortable victory at the bernabeu. zinedine zidane had opened the scoring before raul bagged a brace. gravesen who replaced zidane completed the scoring in the 84th minute with a low shot. david beckham watched by sven-goran eriksson came off in the 67th minute with a shoulder injury but should be fit for england s game against holland. england team-mate michael owen came on for raul after 76 minutes with the game already won. real have now won six consecutive primera liga games since coach wanderley luxemburgo took charge.

sport

gardener wins double in glasgow britain s jason gardener enjoyed a double 60m success in glasgow in his first competitive outing since he won 100m relay gold at the athens olympics. gardener cruised home ahead of scot nick smith to win the invitational race at the norwich union international. he then recovered from a poor start in the second race to beat swede daniel persson and italy s luca verdecchia. his times of 6.61 and 6.62 seconds were well short of american maurice greene s 60m world record of 6.39secs from 1998. it s a very hard record to break but i believe i ve trained very well said the world indoor champion who hopes to get closer to the mark this season. it was important to come out and make sure i got maximum points. my last race was the olympic final and there was a lot of expectation. this was just what i needed to sharpen up and get some race fitness. i m very excited about the next couple of months. double olympic champion marked her first appearance on home soil since winning 1500m and 800m gold in athens with a victory. there was a third success for britain when edged out russia s olga fedorova and sweden s jenny kallur to win the women s 60m race in 7.23secs. maduaka was unable to repeat the feat in the 200m finishing down in fourth as took the win for russia. and the 31-year-old also missed out on a podium place in the 4x200m relay as the british quartet came in fourth with russia setting a new world indoor record. there was a setback for jade johnson as she suffered a recurrence of her back injury in the long jump. russia won the meeting with a final total of 63 points with britain second on 48 and france one point behind in third. led the way for russia by producing a major shock in the high jump as he beat olympic champion stefan holm into second place to end the swede s 22-event unbeaten record. won the triple jump with a leap of 16.87m with britain s tosin oke fourth in 15.80m. won the men s pole vault competition with a clearance of 5.65m with britain s nick buckfield 51cm adrift of his personal best in third. and won the women s 800m with britain s jenny meadows third. there was yet another russian victory in the women s 400m as finished well clear of britain s catherine murphy. chris lambert had to settle for fourth after fading in the closing stages of the men s 200m race as sweden s held off leslie djhone of france. france s won the men s 400m with brett rund fourth for britain. took victory for sweden in the women s 60m hurdles ahead of russia s irina shevchenko and britain s sarah claxton who set a new personal best. italy grabbed their first victory in the men s 1500m as kicked over the last 200 metres to hold off britain s james thie and france s alexis abraham. a botched changeover in the 4x200m relay cost britain s men the chance to add further points as france claimed victory.

sport

box office blow for alexander director oliver stone s historical epic alexander has failed in its bid to conquer the box office entering the us film charts at number six. the swords and sandals blockbuster rumoured to have cost more than $150m (£79m) to make earned just $13.5 (£7m) over three days at the us box office. due to the thanksgiving holiday the film opened on wednesday bringing its total takings to $21.6m (£11.4m). top of the box office for a second week was action movie national treasure. the family adventure starring nicolas cage took $33.1m (£17.m) ahead of animated comedy the incredibles - now in its fourth week in the charts - which took $24.1m (£12.7m). last week oliver stone s film met with scathing reviews from us critics. the film stars irish actor colin farrell as one of history s most celebrated leaders - a relentless and arrogant warrior who conquered much of the known world by the age of 25. in particular its portrayal of alexander as a bisexual has met with a hostile reception and the threat of legal action from greek lawyers. though the battles have the blood-and-sinew bravado you expect from oliver stone this three-hour buttnumbathon is hamstrung by a hectoring grandiosity wrote one reviewer in rolling stone magazine. others poured scorn on farrell s bleached hair and angelina jolie s unwieldy accent which variety called a combination of mata hari and count dracula . but novelist gore vidal defended the film saying it was barrier-breaking for its frank depiction of bisexuality. in sweden last thursday to pick up a lifetime achievement award at the stockholm international film festival stone expressed the hope that alexander might be better appreciated in europe. one of the reasons i am being honoured here is europeans tend to see me a little differently than they do in the us said the director behind jfk platoon and born on the fourth of july. he added alexander was not an easy movie but then i ve never made easy movies .

entertainment

brits return keane to number one brits success has helped return keane s award-winning album hopes and fears back to the top of the uk album chart. the debut album which took the best british album title at the brits on tuesday moved up seven places from number eight to number one. also capitalising on brits success were the scissor sisters whose eponymous album moved three places to number two. u2 s latest single sometimes you can t make it on your own took the top spot in the singles chart ahead of elvis. the track from their current album how to dismantle an atomic bomb pushed eminem s like toy soldiers from number one to number three. elvis wooden heart which entered the chart at number two is the sixth in a series of 18 reissues to mark the 70th anniversary of presley s birth. there are currently six re-released elvis tracks occupying spots in the top 40 singles chart including are you lonesome tonight at number 20 it s now or never at number 27 and jailhouse rock at number 37. soldier by destiny s child ti and lil wayne debuted at number four while almost here the duet from former westlife star brian mcfadden and delta goodrem fell from number three to number five. there was more follow up to brits success for franz ferdinand won best rock act and best british group last week. their self-titled album moved from 13 to number four. last week s number one album tourist by athlete fell to number three.

entertainment

dvd review: harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban this third harry potter film brought a change of director and a dramatic visual shake-up that really shines on dvd. gone are the warm bright colours found in the two earlier films alfonso cuaron brings in a bleak and cold feel that is simply gorgeous - and looks even better here than in the cinema. it is all part of the progression of harry s story into darker areas but you ll spend time just marvelling at the beautiful hogwarts landscape. this is the first potter film where you get so lost in the screen adaptation that you forget the book. it is the third year at hogwarts and studies are interrupted as they always are by a calamity that only harry ron and hermione can put right. it sounds corny. but harry is no longer the winsome hero he is a moody teenager and daniel radcliffe pulls it off very well. emma watson is ever better as hermione and the young stars are joined by the usual myriad famous actors including gary oldman and emma thompson. the film itself is the reason to buy this dvd. but it is laden with behind-the-scenes extras including funny if shallow interviews with all the main cast. but what seems like a long list of features can be swiftly whittled down to the few that you are going to watch. younger viewers will go for the games which include a magic you may have missed memory test and crookshanks chasing off after scabbers. adult viewers will ignore those and go straight to the deleted scenes. you will understand why they were deleted but it is fun to see more footage - and not have to hunt through endless menus to find it as we did on the first harry potter dvd. the most interesting pieces are an interview with jk rowling in creating the vision and conjuring a scene a short featurette about the making of the film s big moments.

entertainment

rapper 50 cent scores chart first rapper 50 cent has become the first solo artist to have three singles in the us top five in the same week. his track candy shop remained at the top of the charts while disco inferno crept up from six to five. 50 cent also appears on rap protege the game s song how we do number four in the us but now outside the uk top ten. the pair had a recent dispute which saw the game thrown out of 50 cent s rap collective g-unit accusing him of disloyalty in an ongoing feud. 50 cent who burst onto the music scene in 2003 has had less success in the uk charts with three singles making the top ten. his debut album get rich and die tryin narrowly missed out on becoming a uk chart topper. but in the us he headed the 2003 end of year charts for the album and r&b and hip hop artists. newcomer the game s debut reached the top of the charts five weeks ago while 50 cent s second collection the masscre was released in the us at the end of last week. last may r&b star usher scored a chart first with three concurrent singles in the us top 10 a feat which was previously matched only by the bee gees and the beatles. the hit songs were taken from the 24-year-old s confessions album which topped the american chart for eight weeks.

entertainment

white prepared for battle tough-scrummaging prop julian white is expecting a resurgent wales to give him a rough ride in england s six nations opener in cardiff on saturday. the leicester tight-head is in the form of his life making the england number three shirt his own. but he knows wales will put his technique under immense scrutiny. the welsh scrum is a force to be reckoned with he told bbc sport. they have made a lot of changes for the better over the last few years. white is also impressed with the welsh pack s strength in depth. gethin jenkins is starting at loose-head for them. he has played a bit at tight-head but i think his favoured position is loose-head and he is very good he added. the 31-year-old has made a massive contribution to the england and leicester cause of late and is arguably the form tight-head prop in the world. he destroyed south africa s os du randt in the scrum at twickenham last autumn to give england the platform for an impressive 32-16 victory. leicester who signed white from bristol when the west country side were relegated from the zurich premiership in the summer of 2003 have also been aided by white s presence this season. the tigers are sitting pretty at the top of the premiership table and have also booked their place in the last eight of the heineken cup. i am pleased with my form he said. but my form is helped by the people i play with at leicester - people like martin johnson and graham rowntree. it s been a good season so far and to be in the starting xv for the first game of the six nations is what every player wants. i am delighted with the way things have gone but we have to get it right this weekend. white is now one of the more experienced members of the england squad which takes to the field on saturday. injuries have taken their toll and coach andy robinson has been deprived of richard hill jonny wilkinson martin corry mike tindall will greenwood and stuart abbott. and with 27 caps and a world cup winner s medal to his name white is now in a position to offer his experience to youngsters such as centres matthew tait and jamie noon. i don t know how much experience a tight-head can give a centre but you are there to give them a pat on the back if things go wrong or to be there if they want to talk in any way he added. when i first came into the squad people like jason leonard and martin johnson were the first to come over and talk through things and help out. it gives you a lot of confidence when people like that speak to you. i was in awe of a lot of them so to sit down and speak with them and realise you are on the same wavelength is good. white missed the vast majority of last year s six nations because of a knee injury and is raring for the 2005 event to get going. and that is despite the opening game taking place amid the red-hot atmosphere in cardiff. i enjoy the atmosphere. the millennium stadium is probably one of the best stadiums in the world he said. to go down there and hear the shouting and the singing - it s one of my favourite places to play. this is probably the most even six nations for a long time. england ireland france and wales are all contenders. on form ireland should be favourites but you just don t know - that s the great thing about this tournament.

sport

retail sales show festive fervour uk retail sales were better than expected in november as christmas shoppers began their seasonal flock to the high street figures show. the office for national statistics (ons) said retail sales rose 0.6% on the month and 6.1% on the year. but the figures along with this week s inflation report could trigger another interest rate rise in the new year. however recent data from the british retail consortium showed a 0.2% slip in high street sales during november. the ons data confounded analyst expectations. many had expected sales to fall slightly in november as shoppers put off buying christmas presents until december. however retailers attempts to draw in the crowds may be behind november s unexpected rise in sales they say. aggressive tactics such as one-day discount sales adopted by stores such as marks & spencer appear to have paid off. price discounting has certainly accounted for much of this because the value of retail sales hasn t grown as much as volumes said investec economist david page. the figures sparked a rally for sterling as the data supported the view that it is too early to assume that base rates have peaked.

business

labour chooses manchester the labour party will hold its 2006 autumn conference in manchester and not blackpool it has been confirmed. the much trailed decision was ratified by labour s ruling national executive committee in a break with the traditional choice of a seaside venue. it will be the first time since 1917 that the party has chosen manchester to host the annual event. blackpool will get the much smaller february spring conference instead in what will be seen as a placatory move. for years the main political parties have rotated between blackpool bournemouth and brighton. and the news the much larger annual conference is not to gather in blackpool will be seen as a blow in the coastal resort. in 1998 the party said it would not return to blackpool but did so in 2002. the following year bournemouth hosted the event before the party signed a two year deal for brighton to host the autumn conference. colin asplin blackpool hotel association said: we have tried very hard to make sure they come back to blackpool. obviously we have failed in that. i just hope manchester can handle the crowds. it amazes me that the labour party which is a working class party doesn t want to come to the main working class resort in the country. the exact cost to blackpool in terms of lost revenue for hotel accommodation is not yet known but it is thought that block bookings will be taken at the major manchester hotels after the official announcement.

politics

reyes tricked into real admission jose antonio reyes has added to speculation linking him with a move from arsenal to real madrid after falling victim to a radio prank. the spaniard believed he was talking to real madrid sporting director emilio butragueno when he allegedly berated his team-mates as bad people . i wish i was playing for real madrid the 21-year-old told cadena cope. hopefully it could happen. i love the way madrid play. i m not happy with the way things are. the striker joined the gunners from seville for £17m at the start of 2004 but it has frequently been reported that he is homesick. he began the season in superb form but has struggled to maintain his high standards as arsenal have gradually lost the premiership initiative to manchester united and chelsea. if i m not (playing for real) i m going to have to carry on playing with some bad people he added. i m sure there are none in the real dressing room. i m happy madrid is interested in me because it has always been my dream since i was little to play there. before the story surfaced reyes had moved to play down reports linking him with the spanish giants issuing a statement through arsenal describing the speculation as flattering . i have seen the stories in the media linking me with real madrid he had said on thursday lunchtime. but not only am i under contract at arsenal i am happy here and committed to helping the team win more trophies. butragueno meanwhile was angry at being impersonated by the radio disc jockey. it is a disgrace there is no foundation to this he said. he is an arsenal player and we have to be respectful. we have to be careful because of the rumours that appear in the news.

sport

tobacco giants hail court ruling us tobacco companies have welcomed an appeal court s decision to reject the government s $280bn (£155bn) claim for alleged deceit about smoking dangers. tobacco stocks rose sharply on wall street after the 2-1 decision. the court in washington found the case - filed by the clinton administration in 1999 - could not be brought under federal anti-racketeering laws. anti-smoking groups urge the government to fight on but the justice department has not said if it will appeal. among the accused were altria group rj reynolds tobacco lorillard tobacco liggett group and brown and williamson. they were delighted by the decision which sent reynolds shares up 4.5% and altria shares up 5.11%. charles a blixt executive vice-president of rj reynolds tobacco said the ruling dramatically transforms the government s lawsuit. altria group said in a statement the government now must not only prove that the companies have engaged in fraudulent behaviour in the past but that they are likely to do so in the future. the government had claimed tobacco firms - manipulated nicotine levels to increase addiction - targeted teenagers with multi-billion dollar advertising campaigns - lied about the dangers of smoking and ignored research to the contrary. prosecutors wanted the cigarette firms to disgorge $280bn in profits accumulated over the past 50 years and impose tougher rules on marketing their products. they brought the case under racketeering laws which were passed to deny mafia gangs the profits of their crimes. but the tobacco companies denied that they illegally conspired to promote smoking and defraud the public. they also said they had already met many of the government s demands in a landmark $206bn settlement reached with 46 states in 1998. the three-judge panel in the district of columbia s court of appeals ruled on friday that the us government could not sue the firms under the anti-racketeering laws. judge david sentelle in his ruling said such laws were aimed at putting an end to illegal conduct going forward. we hold that the language of (the law) and the comprehensive remedial scheme of (the law) preclude disgorgement as a possible remedy in this case he wrote. the justice department refused to say if it would appeal. all we re saying today is that we have received the ruling and are reviewing it a spokeswoman said on friday. but william corr of the campaign for tobacco-free kids urged the government to continue pressing its case. today s ruling should not be an excuse for this administration to seek a weak settlement that lets the tobacco industry off the hook he said.

business

tulu to appear at caledonian run two-time olympic 10 000 metres champion derartu tulu has confirmed she will take part in the bupa great caledonian run in edinburgh on 8 may. the 32-year-old ethiopian is the first star name to enter the event. tulu has won the boston london and tokyo marathons as well as the world 10 000m title in 2001. we are delighted to have secured the services of one the most decorated competitors the sport has ever seen said race director matthew turnbull. her record speaks for herself and there are few other women distance runners who would dare compare their pedigree with tulu s he added. she might be 33 next month but that didn t stop her winning the olympic 10 000m bronze medal last summer. she s an ultra-consistent championships racer.

sport

rock star sued by ex-girlfriend motley crue guitarist mick mars is being sued by his ex-girlfriend for $10 million (£5.4 million) claiming he broke a promise to take care of her. the woman robin mantooth said mars promised her repeatedly that he would provide financial support in the event of the couple breaking up. when they split in december mantooth says mars denied any such agreement. she is asking a los angeles court to award her half the musician s property a monthly allowance and damages. mantooth added that the pair became lovers in 1990 after which she abandoned her career as a documentary film-maker to move in with the guitarist at his malibu home. she is also claiming that mars 53 has failed to provide her with any material support since they ceased to be a couple. motley crue recently reunited after being apart for a period of five years. they originally formed in the early 1980s and scored six hits in the uk including girls girls girls in 1987. they are embarking on a world tour later this year which will take in 60 cities across the us europe asia and australia. mars - real name bob allen deal - underwent hip replacement surgery in october. he suffers from a degenerative rheumatic disease which causes ligaments and tendons to attach to the bone.

entertainment

blair and blunkett sheffield trip tony blair is to join home secretary david blunkett in a visit to sheffield on thursday. mr blunkett s conduct is being looked at to establish whether he abused his position in relation to his ex-lover. the parliamentary standards watchdog is looking at his decision to give kimberly quinn free rail tickets. he is also being investigated over the visa application of mrs quinn s ex-nanny. the visit to sheffield will be seen as a show of unity by mr blair. on wednesday during prime minister s questions tory leader michael howard went on the offensive over comments mr blunkett is alleged to have made in a new biography. he is understood to have made a series of criticisms about his cabinet colleagues from the prime minister down. mr howard said mr blunkett had complained he had inherited a giant mess when he took over at the home office from jack straw now foreign secretary. the tory leader went on: he doesn t stop there: he thinks the culture secretary s weak; he thinks the trade secretary doesn t think strategically and he thinks the education secretary hasn t developed as expected. he says the prime minister doesn t like being told the truth and the chancellor - no doubt the prime minister will agree with this - is a bully. mr blair retorted voters remembered the record of a government and no comments by politicians. the home secretary has already admitted he was wrong to give the two first class tickets given to him as an mp to mrs quinn and has since paid the £180 back. he has apologised for a genuine mistake and says he will write to the watchdog to answer further questions. the rail tickets are meant to help mps spouses get between westminster and their constituencies. after his inquiry parliamentary watchdog sir philip mawer will report to the commons standards and privileges committee the group of mps who will recommend to the full house of commons what action - if any - should be taken against mr blunkett. the separate inquiry by ex-senior civil servant sir alan budd is investigating whether the home secretary helped fast-track a bid by mrs quinn s nanny leoncia casalme to stay in the uk. last week mr blunkett won the first round of a high court battle with mrs quinn for access to her son. mr blunkett declined to comment about his own position saying the inquiry was under way and the high court had stressed his right to privacy did not affect his job in improving security and stability. downing street has stressed mr blair s support for the home secretary.

politics

sydney return for henin-hardenne olympic champion justine henin-hardenne will return to action in january s sydney international tournament. the belgian has not competed since losing her top world ranking at the us open in september where she was beaten in the fourth round by nadia petrova. she took time out to shake off a virus but will defend her titles in sydney and at the australian open. women s world number one lindsay davenport and french open champion anastasia myskina will also compete. in the men s event world number three lleyton hewitt returns to defend his title along with runner-up carlos moya. moya spain s davis cup final hero in their recent win over the us had to retire with an ankle injury in the first set of the final. tournament director craig watson said: i had a message relayed to me from him after spain s davis cup victory saying he was looking forward to trying to make up for his disappointment in the (2004) final. the tournament will take place from 9-15 january.

sport

capriati to miss melbourne jennifer capriati has become the third leading lady to withdraw from the australian open because of injury. the organisers of the first grand slam of 2005 which begins on 17 january said the american has a problem with her right shoulder. it comes as a blow to the women s draw as last year s champion justin henin-hardenne and runner-up kim clijsters will also be absent. capriati is a two-time champion in melbourne with wins in 2001 and 2002. she is believed to have picked up the injury at the advanta championships at philadelphia in november and had to pull out of an exhibition match with wimbledon champion maria sharapova on 17 december. capriati also decided against competing in the australian open warm-up event the sydney international.

sport

asian banks halt dollar s slide the dollar regained some lost ground against most major currencies on wednesday after south korea and japan denied they were planning a sell-off. the dollar suffered its biggest one-day fall in four months on tuesday on fears that asian central banks were about to lower their reserves of dollars. japan is the biggest holder of dollar reserves in the world with south korea the fourth largest. the dollar was buying 104.76 yen at 0950 gmt 0.5% stronger on the day. it also edged higher against both the euro and the pound with one euro worth $1.3218 and one pound buying $1.9094. concerns over rising oil prices and the outlook for the dollar pushed down us stock markets on tuesday; the dow jones industrial average closed down 1.6% while the nasdaq lost 1.3%. the dollar s latest slide began after a south korean parliamentary report suggested the country which has about $200bn in foreign reserves had plans to boost holdings of currencies such as the australian and canadian dollar. on wednesday however south korea moved to steady the financial markets. it issued a statement that the bank of korea will not change the portfolio of currencies in its reserves due to short term market factors . japan too steadied nerves. a senior japanese finance ministry official told reuters we have no plans to change the composition of currency holdings in the foreign reserves and we are not thinking about expanding our euro holdings . japan has $850bn in foreign exchange reserves. at the start of the year the us currency which had lost 7% against the euro in the final three months of 2004 and had fallen to record lows staged something of a recovery. analysts however pointed to the dollar s inability recently to extend that rally despite positive economic and corporate data and highlighted the fact that many of the us s economic problems had not disappeared. the focus has been on the country s massive trade and budget deficits and analysts have predicted more dollar weakness to come.

business

dj double act revamp chart show dj duo jk and joel are taking over bbc radio 1 s flagship chart show on sunday adding showbiz news celebrity interviews and between-song banter. they hope to boost ratings for the long-running show which has been overtaken in popularity by independent radio s hit 40 uk rundown. radio 1 s chart show is an institution and remains the station s single most popular show says jk also known as jason king. for years people have been tuning in at four o clock with their tape recorders ready to record their favourite tunes. not that i ever did that. but things have moved on a lot now so it was time for a change. that change involved ejecting previous host wes butters and relocating king and dj partner joel ross from their weekend afternoon radio 1 slot. the pair have worked together for a decade - meeting on viking radio in hull before moving to manchester station key 103 and winning two sony radio awards. they also presented gadget series playboyz and car show motor maniacs for cable tv channel granada men and motors and pure soap on bbc three. on the revamped chart show their cheeky laddish banter will punctuate star interviews and competitions film and dvd charts plus a look at future single releases in addition to the singles chart itself. the chart rundown is no longer the only point of the programme says ross. the show used to be the only way to discover who was in the top 40. now you can just click on the internet to find that out so the show has plenty of extra items too. the show s reduced reliance upon the top 40 also reflects the fact that music fans are now more likely to download songs in digital format rather than buy them on compact disc vinyl or cassette. i personally buy downloads rather than cd singles says 27-year-old ross. even my grandma can download songs now. jk is still struggling with the technology though. but it s premature for people to say that the singles chart is dead ross adds. while sales of singles on traditional formats are down interest in songs has been revived by download sales which will be incorporated into our main chart rundown from april. music fans still want to know what is the most popular song of the week. ross will be plumping for chart success from rapper verbalicious and the stereophonics on sunday while king is more of an r&b and dance music fan. so listeners will get the advantage of both our music tastes says king 30 who describes outgoing host butters as an extremely professional and competent broadcaster . the advantage joel and i have is that we re a double act with a rapport between us that makes the show much more interactive king says. wes has a great broadcasting career ahead of him. and if not i could always use a cleaner he jokes. ross says the pair have done their best to ignore the weight of expectation placed upon the revamped show. other people can worry about that we are going to continue doing what we do well he says. at the end of the day this is a radio show that is meant to be entertaining. nobody died.

entertainment

giggs handed wales leading role ryan giggs will captain wales as he wins his 50th cap in wednesday s friendly against hungary in cardiff. john toshack in his first game as coach after succeeding mark hughes admits he is surprised that giggs has only just reached the landmark. with the games he s played for united proportionately it doesn t seem that many for wales toshack said. but he s one of the greatest of all welsh internationals and on his 50th cap it s appropriate he s captain. giggs admits he had briefly considered retirement from the international game but is now targetting playing for wales in the 2008 european championships. the manchester united wing revealed how club manager sir alex ferguson talked him into extending his wales career. i briefly discussed my international future with sir alex but he urged me to carry on giggs said. he feels like myself that i have no weight problems and keep myself fit so in three or four years time i will be able to play in the european finals if we get there. the manager has always wanted me to play for my club and country and he was keen for me to continue because i am fit enough. giggs admits he was wavering and considering joining the likes of former wales skipper gary speed and united team-mate paul scholes in committing the remaining years of his career to club football. but giggs is now focussed on making the toshack era even more successful than the time hughes spent at the helm. the manchester united winger won his first cap as a 17-year-old in 1991 an away loss to germany and now faces his landmark appearance at the age of 31. with giggs leading wales out against hungary there is every chance that he will become the permanent successor to speed. however toshack refused to reveal whether he sees giggs as a long-term option. for this particular game i think it is appropriate that ryan giggs will be captain it s his 50th cap and he s known for some time about that toshack said. on wednesday night toshack takes charge of his first match since replacing hughes and giggs said: it s my 50th cap and i am looking forward to it and i hope to play a lot more times from here on in. it s important to be here all the players feel the same. it s a new start and all the top players certainly see it as important. i see myself leading by example it is something i have taken on for wales as well as united these past few seasons. the way john is looking at things he is aiming to build his side around the experienced lads right up to the next tournament the euro 2006 event. i have told john i will be around for the next european tournament by then i will be 35 so hopefully i will still be okay. a lot can happen but i m hoping to be around. giggs own personal future at old trafford is still up in the air as he has yet to reach agreement on a new contract with manchester united offering one extra year and giggs seeking two. i have put the contract thing to the back of my mind at the moment said giggs. it is an important period for the club and i am just concentrated on that. i ve heard the suggestions hopefully there is a two-year deal about to be offered because that is what i am looking for to get it sorted out. i m enjoying my football the way united have been playing and my own form you have to enjoy it. we have massive games coming up: manchester city this week then the everton cup tie followed by ac milan in the champions league and my first wales game under john toshack so it s an important time.

sport

henman overcomes rival rusedski tim henman saved a match point before fighting back to defeat british rival greg rusedski 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 at the dubai tennis championships on tuesday. world number 46 rusedski broke in the ninth game to take a tight opening set. rusedski had match point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break after henman double-faulted but missed his chance and henman rallied to clinch the set. the british number one then showed his superior strength to take the decider and earn his sixth win over rusedski. serve was held by both players with few alarms until the seventh game of the final set when rusedski s wild volley gave henman a vital break. a furious rusedski slammed his racket onto the ground in disgust and was warned by the umpire. henman seeded three then held his serve comfortably thanks to four serve-and-volley winners to take a clear 5-3 lead. rusedski won his service game but henman took the first of his three match points with a service winner to secure his place in the second round at dubai for the first time in three years. it was the first match between the pair for three years - henman last lost to rusedski six years ago - and lasted two hours and 40 minutes. the pair are now likely to only face each other on court as rivals - rather than as team-mates - after henman decided to retire from davis cup tennis leaving rusedski to lead the team out against israel on 4-6 march. henman who now faces russian igor andreev in the last 16 admitted afterwards it was difficult coming up against his compatriot on a fast surface. you just take it point by point when you re fighting to stay in the match he said. i had to keep playing aggressively and competing to get a chance. i now have to recover in time for the next match because the body doesn t recover as quick as it used to especially after two hours and 40 minutes.

sport

blair moves to woo jewish voters tony blair has pledged to never ever ever attack tory leader michael howard over his jewish beliefs. the prime minister told the jewish chronicle: if you look at what i do i attack michael howard politically. mr blair also distanced himself from recent labour campaign posters featuring mr howard which critics claimed were anti-semitic . these were not intended to cause any offence to anyone on the jewish community mr blair insisted. one poster depicted mr howard and his shadow chancellor oliver letwin who is also jewish as flying pigs. another pictured the tory leader swinging a pocket watch on a chain which critics said echoed the jewish money lender shylock in shakespeare s merchant of venice. others compared the image to the character fagin in charles dickens oliver twist. labour has since taken the designs of its website saying members had preferred other designs. during his interview with the jewish chronicle mr blair said: i ve been a very strong supporter of the jewish community and israel and will always be so. pressed on whether he would draw attention to mr howard s jewish beliefs in an attempt to attract muslim support he replied: the idea that i would allow anybody to make such a charge is outrageous. it s untrue. if you look what i do i attack michael howard politically. i would never ever ever attack him on that basis. mr blair also defended his party s attitude towards the jewish community pointing out that it was his government that had introduced the holocaust memorial day. he added that labour also aggressively fought all forms of racism. neither the conservatives nor the liberal democrats wished to comment on mr blair s words. the prime minister was speaking as london s labour mayor ken livingstone remains embroiled in a row over comments he made to a jewish reporter from the city s evening standard newspaper. mr blair repeated calls for the mayor to apologise for likening the reporter oliver finegold to a concentration camp guard. mr livingstone should have withdrawn the comment immediately once he realised the journalist was jewish said mr blair. i m sure that is what in truth he wants to do. well he should do it. mr livingstone has said he could not sincerely say sorry for the comments he made and claims he has been targeted by the newspaper. he conceded his comments may have been offensive but were not racist and said earlier this week he would not apologise even if mr blair asked.

politics

spider-man creator wins profits spider-man creator stan lee is to get a multi-million dollar windfall after winning a court battle with comic book company marvel. a judge has upheld lee s demand for 10% of marvel s profits from the hugely successful spider-man films. spider-man and its sequel made $1.6bn (£857m) at box offices worldwide. of the cut now due to lee 82 who created spider-man in 1962 his lawyer said: it could be tens of millions of dollars that s no exaggeration. us district court judge robert w sweet ruled lee should get a tenth of profits generated since november 1998 by marvel tv and movie productions involving the company s characters. lee took legal action in 2002 saying marvel shut him out of jackpot profits from the first blockbuster film. he said the company - where he worked for more than 60 years - had gone back on agreement to give him the 10%. as well as spider-man lee co-created the incredible hulk x-men daredevil and fantastic four characters. he said: i am gratified by the judge s decision although since i am deeply fond of marvel and the people there i sincerely regret that the situation had to come to this. the ruling also means he is entitled to a slice of profits from dvd sales and certain merchandise. marvel said it would appeal and did not expect the decision to impact on financial forecasts for 2004 and beyond. the new york court did not rule on lee s claims to a share of profits from some spider-man and hulk movie merchandise which will be decided at a future trial marvel said.

entertainment

camera phones are must-haves four times more mobiles with cameras in them will be sold in europe by the end of 2004 than last year says a report from analysts gartner. globally the number sold will reach 159 million an increase of 104%. the report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a built-in camera by 2008. improving imaging technology in mobiles is making them an increasingly must-have buy. in europe cameras on mobiles can take 1.3 megapixel images. but in japan and asia pacific where camera phone technology is much more advanced mobiles have already been released which can take 3.2 megapixel images. japan still dominates mobile phone technology and the uptake there is huge. by 2008 according to gartner 95% of all mobiles sold there will have cameras on them. camera phones had some teething problems when they were first launched as people struggled with poor quality images and uses for them as well as the complexity and expense of sending them via mms (multimedia messaging services). this has changed in the last 18 months. handset makers have concentrated on trying to make phones easier to use. realising that people like to use their camera phones in different ways they have introduced more design features like rotating screens and viewfinders removable memory cards and easier controls to send picture messages. mobile companies have introduced more ways for people to share photos with other people. these have included giving people easier ways to publish them on websites or mobile blogs - moblogs. but the report suggests that until image quality increases more people will not be interested in printing out pictures at kiosks. image sensor technology inside cameras phones is improving. the gartner report suggests that by mid-2005 it is likely that the image resolution of most camera phones will be more than two megapixels. consumer digital cameras images range from two to four megapixels in quality and up to six megapixels on a high-end camera. but a lot of work is being done to make camera phones more like digital cameras. some handsets already feature limited zoom capability and manufacturers are looking into technological improvements that will let people take more photos in poorly-lit conditions like nightclubs. other developments include wide-angle modes basic editing features and better sensors and processors for recording film clips. images from camera phones have even made it into the art world. an exhibition next month in aid of the charity mencap will feature snaps taken from the camera phones of top artists. the exhibition fonetography will feature images taken by photographers david bailey rankin and nan goldin and artists sir peter blake tracey emin and jack vettriano. but some uses for them have worried many organisations. intel samsung the uk s foreign office and lawrence livermore national laboratories in the us have decided to ban camera phones from their buildings for fear of sensitive information being snapped and leaked. many schools fitness centres and local councils have also banned them over fears about privacy and misuse. italy s information commissioner has also voiced concern and has issued guidelines on where and how the phones can be used. but camera phone fears have not dampened the manufacturers profits. according to recent figures sony ericsson s profits tripled in the third-quarter because of new camera phones. over 60% of mobiles sold during the three months through to september featured integrated cameras it said.

tech

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

tech

brits return keane to number one brits success has helped return keane s award-winning album hopes and fears back to the top of the uk album chart. the debut album which took the best british album title at the brits on tuesday moved up seven places from number eight to number one. also capitalising on brits success were the scissor sisters whose eponymous album moved three places to number two. u2 s latest single sometimes you can t make it on your own took the top spot in the singles chart ahead of elvis. the track from their current album how to dismantle an atomic bomb pushed eminem s like toy soldiers from number one to number three. elvis wooden heart which entered the chart at number two is the sixth in a series of 18 reissues to mark the 70th anniversary of presley s birth. there are currently six re-released elvis tracks occupying spots in the top 40 singles chart including are you lonesome tonight at number 20 it s now or never at number 27 and jailhouse rock at number 37. soldier by destiny s child ti and lil wayne debuted at number four while almost here the duet from former westlife star brian mcfadden and delta goodrem fell from number three to number five. there was more follow up to brits success for franz ferdinand won best rock act and best british group last week. their self-titled album moved from 13 to number four. last week s number one album tourist by athlete fell to number three.

entertainment

uk s useless quangos under fire the uk has 529 quangos financed with billions of pounds of taxpayers cash - many of which are useless or duplicate each other s efforts a report claims. essential guide to british quangos 2005 author dan lewis said at least 111 of the appointed bodies had been set up since labour won power in 1997. he urged a limit on the number of quangos that could be set up by any individual government department. tories and lib dems welcomed the report and called for a slimming down . conservative deregulation spokesman john redwood said: the research endorses our policy of destroying unwanted and unnecessary quangos and slimming down the rest. a conservative government will axe 162 quangos as part of its drive for more efficient and more accountable government. lib dem spokesman ed davey meanwhile said instead of the bonfire of quangos new labour had promised there had been an explosion of them. for over two decades under both tory and labour governments these unaccountable agencies have mushroomed. liberal democrats would abolish many merge others and make any that remain properly accountable. labour representatives were unavailable for comment. the quango guide follows last year s government-commissioned gershon report which recommended significant cuts in bureaucracy across the public sector. mr lewis wants a public inquiry into regional development agencies which cost £1.8bn a year - cash he says which appears to be almost entirely wasted . as well as a departmental limit on quangos he also wants a statutory five-year limit on any such body with executive powers. he also listed what he dubbed the nine most useless quangos . they were the british potato council the milk development council the energy savings trust agricultural wages committees the wine standards board the westminster foundation for democracy the football licensing authority investors in people uk and the economic and social research council. mr lewis branded the existence of the 60-employee potato council set up in 1997 to research and promote overseas potato markets surprising . he said the £80m spent annually on the energy savings trust which promotes renewable energy would be better spent on eight million boiler jackets for british homes. and he argued it was absurd to charge farmers for agricultural wages committees which set working and wage standards in the industry when many were prepared to take advantage of immigrant labour prepared to work for £1 an hour. if a football team can afford to pay £27m for wayne rooney why should the taxpayer - not all of whom like football - be forced to fund the football licensing authority to the tune of over £1.1m a year mr lewis asked. the report is published by the efficiency in government unit - a joint effort by right of centre think tanks the economic research council and the centre for policy studies. it says before a new public body is set up an assessment should be made whether its proposed role is already carried out by an existing charity or other private organisation.

politics

china to overtake us net use the chinese net-using population looks set to exceed that of the us in less than three years says a report. china s net users number 100m but this represents less than 8% of the country s 1.3 billion people. market analysts panlogic predicts that net users in china will exceed the 137 million us users of the net by 2008. the report says that the country s culture will mean that chinese people will use the net for very different ends than in many other nations. already net use in china has a very different character than in many western nations said william makower chief executive of panlogic. in many western nations desktop computers that can access the net are hard to escape at work. by contrast in china workplace machines are relatively rare. this combined with the relatively high cost of pcs in china and the time it takes to get phone lines installed helps to explains the huge number of net cafes in china. only 36% of chinese homes have telephones according to reports. net usage tends to happen in the evening said mr makower they get access only when they go home and go off to the internet café. its fundamentally different usage to what we have here he said. net use in china was still very much an urban phenomenon with most users living on the country s eastern seaboard or in its three biggest cities. the net is key to helping chinese people keep in touch with friends said mr makower. many people use it in preference to the phone or arrange to meet up with friends at net cafes. what people can do on the net is also limited by aspects of chinese life. for instance said mr makower credit cards are rare in china partly because of fears people have about getting in to debt. the most popular way to pay is cash-on-delivery he said and that s quite a brake to the development of e-commerce. the arrival of foreign banks in china due in 2006 could mean greater use of credit cards but for the moment they are rare said mr makower. but if chinese people are not spending cash online they are interested in the news they can get via the net and the view it gives them on western ways of living. a large part of the attraction of the internet is that it goes below the radar he said. generally it s more difficult for the government to be able to control it. its real value is as an open window onto what s happening elsewhere in the world he said. government restrictions on how much advertising can appear on television means that the net is a source of many commercial messages chinese people would not see anywhere else. familiarity with the net also has a certain social cachet. it s a sign of them having made it that they can use the internet and navigate around it said mr makower.

tech

clijsters set for february return tennis star kim clijsters will make her return from a career-threatening injury at the antwerp wta event in february. kim had considered returning to action in paris on 7 february a statement on her website said. she s decided against this so that she does not risk the final phase of her recovery. if all goes well kim will make her return on february 15. the 21-year-old has not played since last october after aggravating a wrist injury at the belgian open. back then a doctor treating the belgian feared that her career may be over with the player having already endured an operation earlier in the season to cure her wrist problem. i hope she comes back but i m pessimistic said bruno willems. clijsters was also due to marry fellow tennis star lleyton hewitt in february but the pair split for private reasons back in october.

sport

charity single for quake relief singers including sir cliff richard and boy george are recording a charity single to help raise funds for victims of the asian tsunami. they hope the song will raise more than £2m for the relief fund. the song titled grief never grows old and described as a melancholy ballad was written by radio dj mike read. former boyzone singer ronan keating may also take part if a studio can be found close to where he is holidaying in switzerland. other music stars being approached include robin and barry gibb of the bee gees jazz sensation jamie cullum chris rea and olivia newton-john. sir cliff has recorded his vocal part in barbados while boy george has recorded his in new york. read wrote the song before the boxing day tragedy but had thought it was too gloomy to release. now he plans to have it recorded by a collection of pop stars under the name one world project. it s a natural home for it because people kept saying to me it s such a good song but it s such a sad song read said. he said the song was a slow ballad and would work with around 10 singers rather than a sing-along like the band aid 20 single raising money for famine relief in africa. the backing track has already been recorded and organisers hope it can be finished within the next week to get it into record shops as soon as possible. read went to the disasters emergency committee (dec) which is co-ordinating the british relief effort with the idea the day after boxing day. i was totally shocked at the enormity and suddenness of the disaster and in tears on seeing the orphaned children wandering aimlessly in search of their parents he said. read said all the funds raised by the record would go to the dec. i d only be pleased in terms of what it meant for sales if it got to number one he added. the charity welcomed the news of the single and said money raised would help its agencies working in the affected region to rebuild survivors lives and livelihoods.

entertainment

belle named best scottish band belle & sebastian have been named the best scottish band of all time after a three month-long public poll. the group beat travis and idlewild into second and third place respectively. franz ferdinand who recently picked up five brit award nominations ended up in 15th place while the eurythmics wound up at a lowly 38. other scottish acts such as the mull historical society who also featured in the top 50 performed at a party in glasgow where the result was announced. scottish-based band snow patrol who finished 14th in the vote and have been nominated for a pair of brit awards were among the performers who covered well-known scottish pop songs at the party on wednesday night. indie stalwarts belle & sebastian have enjoyed a chart career stretching back to 1997. they were the surprise winners of the brit award for best breakthrough act two years later. scottish bands from earlier musical eras also made it into the final list including 1970s tartan boy band the bay city rollers and goth favourites the jesus and mary chain. scottish magazine the list recently compiled a list of the top 50 scottish bands of all time but left the final decision to the public. the magazine s music editor mark robertson said: the idea behind the project was simple - to rediscover the very best of scottish music from the finest musical talent spanning from the age of 70s rock through to 80s pop right up to today s international stars. everyone has strong opinions about this and we wanted to open it up to the public to decide he added. bbc radio scotland presenter vic galloway who has been involved in the project said it had been great fun to look back at scotland s musical heritage and take note of up-and-coming scottish acts.

entertainment

houllier praises benitez regime former liverpool manager gerard houllier has praised the work of his anfield successor rafael benitez. houllier was angry at reports that he has been critical of benitez since the spaniard took over at liverpool. but houllier told bbc sport: in private and in public i have stressed i believe rafa is doing a good job. he is the right man at the right place. rafa is a good coach and a good man. i ve spoken to him since he has been at liverpool and never criticised him. houllier also revealed he is now ready to return to the game after leaving liverpool in may following six years at anfield. the former france boss has been linked with a host of jobs and pulled out of the race to succeed mark hughes as wales national coach. he has been working for uefa covering the premiership for french television and also coaching in brazil with national coach carlos alberto perreira. houllier said: if a good club comes up at the right time then yes i am ready to come back. it has been interesting to watch games from a different perspective and i have learned things. i have been involved in football since leaving liverpool and my batteries are recharged. houllier has been impressed with the quality in the premiership after watching as a pundit - particularly with jose mourinho s work at leaders chelsea. he said: chelsea are doing very well. they have some very good creative players in damien duff and arjen robben and didier drogba showed he can change the face of a game when he came on against newcastle. they have got a good team spirit and are strong mentally. they have shown they can cope with all the pressure put on them because of the expectations and cope well with jose s principles. jose had results before he came to chelsea and i think he will have an impact in the premiership because he manages his team very cleverly. and houllier away from his brief at liverpool has been hugely impressed with the premiership. he said: it is a very exciting league. it is entertaining goals are scored and teams are always trying to win. it has been very interesting to watch the game from a different perspective. games switch from end-to-end and there is more pace to the premiership than other leagues. it is a very good product.

sport

spam e-mails tempt net shoppers computer users across the world continue to ignore security warnings about spam e-mails and are being lured into buying goods a report suggests. more than a quarter have bought software through spam e-mails and 24% have bought clothes or jewellery. as well as profiting from selling goods or services and driving advertising traffic organised crime rings can use spam to glean personal information. the business software alliance (bsa) warned that people should stay alert . many online consumers don t consider the true motives of spammers said mike newton a spokesperson for the bsa which commissioned the survey. by selling software that appears to be legitimate in genuine looking packaging or through sophisticated websites spammers are hiding spyware without consumers knowledge. once the software is installed on pcs and networks information that is given over the internet can be obtained and abused. the results also showed that the proportion of people reading - or admitting to reading - and taking advantage of adult entertainment spam e-mails is low at one in 10. the research which covered 6 000 people in six countries and their attitudes towards junk e-mails revealed that brazilians were the most likely to read spam. a third of them read unsolicited junk e-mail and 66% buy goods or services after receiving spam. the french were the second most likely to buy something (48%) with 44% of britons taking advantage of products and services. this was despite 38% of people in all countries being worried about their net security because of the amount of spam they get. more than a third of respondents said they were concerned that spam e-mails contained viruses or programs that attempted to collect personal information. both industry and the media have helped to raise awareness of the issues that surround illegitimate e-mail helping to reduce the potential financial damage and nuisance from phishing attacks and spoof websites said william plante director of corporate security and fraud protection at security firm symantec. at the same time consumers need to continue exercising caution and protect themselves from harm with a mixture of spam filters spyware detection software and sound judgement.

tech

t in the park sells out in days tickets for scotland s biggest music festival have sold out in record time five months before the event is held. the 12th annual t in the park festival which takes place at balado near kinross in july sold out just four days after the line-up was announced. green day the foo fighters and keane are among the acts that had already been lined up to appear at the event. however the organisers have revealed scots favourites travis as well as soulman james brown will also appear. last year tickets sold out 10 weeks before the festival but organisers confirmed that all 130 000 for the two-day event had been sold. geoff ellis ceo of festival organisers big day out ltd said this year s event promises to be the best yet. after last year s sell-out we did think this year s event would sell slightly earlier however this is way beyond our expectations mr ellis said. we are extremely proud that fans are so excited about t in the park that they have made absolutely sure that their place at balado is booked for 2005 and we will deliver one of the greatest events yet for them in july. more than 120 acts will play on eight stages over the weekend of 9 and 10 july. brit award winners keane and the streets are among the main attractions while the killers and dance act the prodigy are also on the bill. both green day and the foo fighters last played at the festival in 2002 the same year oasis and basement jaxx were among the headline acts.

entertainment

drive to save festive holidays efforts are being made to protect workers days off on christmas day and new year s day. support is being sought for a bill which would ensure that large retailers in scotland remain closed on christmas day and 1 january. the usdaw trade union said shop workers should be able to enjoy a break with their families. msp karen whitefield wants to ensure only those whose roles are essential are at work over the festive season. in recent years more stores have been opening on traditional holidays with some starting their end-of-year sale on christmas day or new year s day. ms whitefield said: i have found members of the public to be very supportive when i have been campaigning on the streets. the early evidence shows quite clearly that the vast majority of people believe that shop workers should be given these two special days to spend with friends and family. usdaw general secretary john hannett added: christmas day and new year s day are special days for everyone in scotland and the fact that shops do not open is an important part of making them special. they are largely collective days of rest. we want people to tell karen through her consultation whether they want the special nature of these days to remain or whether they want them to become like any other trading day with shops open for business as usual. the consultation on a christmas & new year s day trading bill has so far attracted almost 500 responses and closes on 7 february.

politics

gebrselassie in london triple bid double olympic 10 000m champion haile gebrselassie will race in the london marathon for the next three years. the ethiopian legend won sunday s almeria half-marathon in spain on his return from an operation on his achilles tendon. he was third in london in 2002 in his first serious attempt at the marathon. it is a coup for us to secure haile s presence for the next three years and it guarantees a quality race said race director david bedford. gebrselassie will face olympic champion stefano baldini world champion jaouad gharib and arch-rival paul tergat the current world record holder. if i didn t think i could win i would not be here said gebrselassie who has set world records on 18 occasions in his illustrious career and is keen to add the marathon record to his collection. there are a lot of fantastic runners in the race but i shall be doing my utmost to upset them.

sport

slovakia seal hopman cup success slovakia clinched the hopman cup for the second time by beating argentina 3-0 in saturday s final in perth. daniela hantuchova put the third seeds ahead recovering from a terrible start to beat gisela dulko 1-6 6-4 6-4. dominik hrbaty who had not lost a set in his three singles matches in the group stages then upset world number seven guillermo coria 6-4 6-1. hantuchova and hrbaty then won the mixed doubles after coria was forced to withdraw because of a sore back. slovakia s win made up for last year s final defeat to the united states. i would like to congratulate daniela hrbaty said. i was so nervous watching her today i almost had a heart attack. i also feel a little sorry for guillermo because i get very excited whenever i play for my country. i show lots of emotions and played such good tennis. world number 31 hantuchova ranked two places above dulko looked nervous as she dropped the first four games of the match. dulko who had lost all three of her singles matches in the group stages grew in confidence and took the opening set in just 27 minutes. but hantuchova hit back to take the next two and the match. i was so nervous because i really wanted to win for the team and for dominik as he played so well all week she said. i didn t think i was playing my best but i just tried to hang in there and fight hard for every point for my country. slovakia won the cup on their first appearance in 1998 when karol kucera and karina habsudova beat france.

sport

tories outlining policing plans local communities would be asked to go to the polls to elect their own area police commissioner under plans unveiled by the conservatives. party leader michael howard said the new role would replace inconspicuous police authorities. he said the new office would not supersede the job of a chief constable. the lib dems said the plan could let extreme groups run policing while labour criticised extravagant tory promises on policing. responding to the plans the chairman of the police federation of england and wales which represents rank and file officers said it was essential operational independence was retained. jan berry said: it is a service not a political football to be kicked around every time an election approaches. these plans could result in those with extreme political views dictating what actually happens on the ground she warned. outlining his crime manifesto mr howard said elected police commissioners would be more accountable than police authorities which are made up of local councillors and magistrates. the commissioner will have the powers which existing police authorities have he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. the trouble is and it s no reflection on the people who are on the police authority - they are good people - but hardly anyone knows who they are. mr howard said the authorities were not providing the local accountability that we want to see and that elected police commissioners would be more visible. critics fear the move could hand control of the police to single-issue campaigners who would ignore the needs of the wider community. lord harris who sits on the executive of association of police authorities said the plans seemed to suggest chief constables should be told what to do by a single politician. that is overturning nearly 200 years of the way in which we have organised policing in this country to avoid the politicisation of policing decisions he said. liberal democrat home affairs spokesman mark oaten said the plan was dangerous and could create conflict between chief constables and elected officials . mr oaten said local people had too little control over policing but a far better solution would be for elected councillors to draw up a minimum policing guarantee with their chief constables. a labour party spokesman criticised michael howard s record saying police numbers had fallen by 1 132 when he was home secretary. he said: today the tories are making more extravagant promises on the police without making clear how they would pay for them other than through fantasy savings to the asylum system. the tories insists the commissioner role would not be like that of an american sheriff. other tory law and order plans include building more prisons and making criminals serve full jail sentences.

politics

joke e-mail virus tricks users a virus that disguises itself as a joke is spreading rapidly across the net. anti-virus firms are issuing high-level warnings about the new version of the bagle e-mail program that seems to be catching a lot of people out. the windows virus grabs e-mail addresses from microsoft outlook and uses its own mail sending software to spread itself to new victims. when it infects a machine the bagle variant turns off security measures that usually protect pcs. the new variant is called bagle.at bagle.bb and bagle.au and the attachment bearing the virus code is labelled as either joke or price . the body of the virus usually contains nothing but a smiley or emoticon. the virus can strike computers running windows 95 98 me nt 2000 and xp. users will be infected if they open the attachment that travels with the e-mail. as well as plundering microsoft outlook for e-mail addresses to send itself to bagle.at also tries to turn off the firewall and security centre services on windows xp machines. bbc news online has received five warnings about the virus from security companies. finnish company f-secure gave the virus its second highest threat level. we ve had several reports all over the world said mikko hypponen director of anti-virus research for f-secure. security firm network box said that it stopped more than 30 000 copies an hour of the virus as the outbreak reached a peak. black spider said it had stopped more than 1 million copies of bagle.at since the outbreak began at 0630 bst (0530 gmt). anti-virus firms urged users to be wary of unexpected e-mail messages bearing attachments and to update their software to ensure they are protected against the latest threats.

tech

irish company hit by iraqi report shares in irish oil company petrel resources have lost more than 50% of their value on a report that the firm has failed to win a contract in iraq. reuters news agency reported that iraq s oil ministry has awarded the first post-war oilfield contracts to a canadian and a turkish company. by 1700 gmt petrel s shares fell from 97p ($1.87) to 44p ($0.85). petrel said that it has not received any information from iraqi authorities to confirm or deny the report. iraq is seeking to award contracts for three projects valued at $500m (£258.5m). turkey s everasia is reported by reuters to have won a contract to develop the khurmala dome field in the north of the country. a canadian company named iog is reported to have won the contract to run the himrin field. ironhorse oil and gas has denied to reuters that it is the company in question. these two projects aim to develop khurmala field to produce 100 000 barrels per day and raise the output of himrin. the winners of the contract are to build new flow lines and build gas separation stations. the contract to develop the suba-luhais field has not yet been awarded as iraq s oil ministry is studying the offers. if iraq s cabinet approves the oil ministry s choice of companies then this will be the first deal that iraq has signed with a foreign oil company. iraq is still trying to boost its production capacity to match levels last seen in the eighties before the war with iran. oil officials hope to double iraq s output by the end of the decade.

business

black sabbath top rock album poll black sabbath have topped a list of the best british rock albums of all time. the band once fronted by ozzy osbourne led a poll of kerrang! magazine readers with their 1970 self-titled debut. the band have three more efforts on the list including fifth-placed paranoid. osbourne appears more than any other act with two solo records featured. the top five includes led zeppelin iron maiden and sex pistols. queen muse manic street preachers and the clash complete the top 10. a mix of heavy metal punk glam rock and even dance music makes up the list. motorhead judas priest and prodigy are included along with newer acts like the darkness and lostprophets. kerrang! editor ashley bird said: it s amazing to see so many incredible homegrown albums in one list and without any of the abysmal fashion bands that currently clog up the music scene. these are the real opinions of proper rock fans. formed by four teenage friends in the west midlands in the late 1960s black sabbath are one of britain s most successful heavy rock bands. their debut was a uk top 10 hit in 1970 and sold more than a million copies in the us. osbourne said the band s success in the kerrang! poll was a triumph for british rock. he said: back then you d hear: if you go to san francisco be sure to wear a flower in your hair . we lived in aston birmingham. the only flowers i ever saw were on a gravestone in our local cemetery. despite being disliked by many critics black sabbath s subsequent albums included multi-million sellers but internal rows led to osbourne leaving in 1979. the band continued without osbourne who went on to solo success but also had to battle alcoholism and legal action over his music allegedly inciting teenagers to commit suicide. he was eventually cleared of the charges. osbourne who bit off the head of a live bat on stage in 1982 rejoined the band to play the live aid charity concert in 1985. after many changes in line-up the original four members reunited to play live dates in 1997. black sabbath have reunited regularly in recent years while osbourne has gone on to wider fame with his family through mtv documentary series the osbournes.

entertainment

brown outlines third term vision gordon brown has outlined what he thinks should be the key themes of new labour s next general election bid. he said ensuring every child in britain had the best start in life could be a legacy to match the nhs s creation. the chancellor has previously planned the party s election strategy but this time the role will be filled by alan milburn - a key ally of tony blair. the premier insisted mr brown will have a key role in labour s campaign and praised his handling of the economy. writing in the guardian newspaper mr brown outlined his view of the direction new labour should be taking. as our manifesto and our programme for the coming decade should make clear labour s ambition is not simply tackling idleness but delivering full employment; not just attacking ignorance disease and squalor but promoting lifelong education good health and sustainable communities. bbc political editor andrew marr said that mr brown s article was a warning shot to mr blair not to try and cut him out of the manifesto writing process. it was as always coded and careful... but entirely deliberate was mr marr s assessment. the prime minister was asked about mr brown s article and about his election role when he appeared on bbc radio 4 s today programme. mr blair said a decision had yet to be taken over how the election would be run but the chancellor s role would be central . mr blair argued that under new labour the country had changed for the better and that was in part because of mr brown s management of the economy. and he pledged childcare would be a centrepiece of labour s manifesto. he also predicted the next general election will be a tough tough fight for new labour. but the prime minister insisted he did not know what date the poll would take place despite speculation about 5 may. mr blair said he was taking nothing for granted ahead of the vote - warning that the tory strategy was to win power via the back door by hinting they were aiming to cut labour s majority instead of hoping for an outright win.

politics

oscar nominee dan o herlihy dies irish actor dan o herlihy who was nominated for best actor at the 1955 oscars has died at the age of 85. o herlihy whose oscar nomination was for luis bunuel s the adventures of robinson crusoe died at his home in malibu california a spokesman said. the actor began his film career in the 1940s playing macduff to orson welles macbeth in 1948 and was also a regular in on the dublin stage. he later appeared in robocop and its sequel and cult tv show twin peaks. he played the ceo of omni consumer products in 1987 s robocop and robocop 2 three years later and was saw mill owner andrew packard in twin peaks also in 1990. despite his oscar nomination he had few other lead roles and became a familiar supporting actor on tv and in film. the year he was nominated the academy award was won by marlon brando for on the waterfront.

entertainment

russia wto talks make progress talks on russia s proposed membership of the world trade organisation (wto) have been making good progress say those behind the negotiations. but the chairman of the working party ambassador stefan johannesson of iceland warned that there was still a lot of work has to be done . his comments came as president george w bush said the us backed russian entry. but he said for russia to make progress the government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law . his comments come three days before he is due to meet president vladimir putin. russia has been waiting for a decade to join the wto and hopes to finally become a member by early 2006. a decision could be reached in december when the wto s 148 current members gather for a summit in hong kong. that would allow an earliest date for membership of january 2006 if the hong kong summit gave its approval. while pinpointing several areas in which there are difficulties in the bilateral and multilateral work with russia the us said the meeting was much more efficient than we ve seen for some time . and australia said it was one of the best (meetings) we can recall in terms of substance . mr johannesson also said progress on the bilateral market access side is accelerating . sticking points to membership have included limits on foreign ownership in the telecommunications and life insurance businesses as well as issues surrounding counterfeiting piracy and data protection. some wto members also dislike russia s energy price subsidies which competitors say give russian businesses an unfair advantage.

business

police praise courageous ozzy rock star ozzy osbourne has been praised by police for very courageously tackling a burglar who stole jewellery from his house. the singer grabbed an intruder who then jumped 30ft (10m) from a first floor window as the star gave chase at his buckinghamshire home on monday. i acted on impulse osbourne said. in hindsight it could have been a lot worse. it could ve got really ugly. a £100 000 reward has been offered for information leading to a conviction. his wife sharon who called the police said her wedding rings were taken from her bedside table as she slept. the heavy metal star said he could have met the same fate as late beatle george harrison who was repeatedly stabbed in a break-in in 1999. i could have been badly injured or shot or anything osbourne said. i just thank god that no-one got injured. he added he was glad the intruders were not hurt. i wouldn t want anyone to get injured. the singer did not want to talk in detail about his actions but when asked whether he would do the same again replied: is the pope a catholic the incident happened at 0400 gmt on monday in chalfont st peter. detective inspector paul miller of thames valley police said it appeared a man used a ladder to get into the house through a first floor bedroom window. whilst selecting items of jewellery the burglar was disturbed by ozzy who very courageously tackled this burglar and pursued him from the house he said. ozzy said he was just coming to grips with what had happened and his opinion of the uk had been lowered after 12 relatively trouble-free years in the us. we lived in los angeles where people get shot every day and have been trailed by lots of different stalkers - and yet we come back to england and i m very disappointed. at a press conference on tuesday sharon osbourne gave details of nine stolen items. they included a diamond wedding ring and two handmade wedding bands ozzy gave her when they renewed their vows two years ago. she said she wished she had worn them at night. i always take them off and put them beside my bed and that s where they were right beside me on my bedside table. also taken were a pearl necklace and a sapphire bought as an investment for their daughters described by sharon as one of the only 24-carat sapphires that is absolutely pure . a daisy chain necklace that was a 20th anniversary present and a franck muller watch sharon said was one of only 10 made were also stolen. she expressed her anger at the person who hasn t worked and wants to take what s yours . but the thing is we worked for everything. i came from brixton. ozzy came from not a very nice part of birmingham and everything we ve got we have worked our arses off for. if i choose to make an investment for my kids in whatever way i choose to make it that s my business and i worked for every god damn penny. ozzy also lamented two years in which the family has been plagued by problems including his critical injury in a quad bike accident his wife s colon cancer their childrens drug problems and now the burglary. on sunday night the osbournes had been celebrating the birthday of singer sir elton john s partner david furnish. police described the intruder as well-built about 5 10 tall and said he was wearing a ski-mask a light-coloured jacket and trainers. they believe he may have injured himself when he jumped from the window. there is no description of his accomplice. police think the pair were driving a large vehicle possibly a van and are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen one leaving chalfont st peter at speed. police appealed for public help to find the perpetrators and stolen items on 0845 8 505 505 or 0800 555 111.

entertainment

rings of steel combat net attacks gambling is hugely popular especially with tech-savvy criminals. many extortionists are targeting net-based betting firms and threatening to cripple their websites with deluges of data unless a ransom is paid. but now deep defences are being put in place by some of the uk s biggest net firms to stop these attacks. increasing numbers of attacks and the huge amounts of data being used to try to bump a site off the web are prompting firms to adopt the measures. net firms are realising that it s not just about anti-virus and firewalls said paul king chief security architect at cisco. there are more things that can be done in the network to protect data centres. mr king said the only way to properly combat these so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks was with intelligent net-based systems. many of the gambling sites suffering ddos attacks are in offshore data and hosting centres so any large scale data flood could knock out access to many more sites than just the one the criminals were targeting said mr king. this overspill effect was only likely to grow as attacks grow in size and scale. malcolm seagrave security expert at energis said the most common types of attacks hit sites with 10 megabytes of data over short periods of time. bigger attacks sending down 200 megabytes of traffic or more were rarely seen he said. it does feel like they are turning the dial because you see this traffic gradually growing he said. so far there have been no attacks involving gigabytes of data said mr seagrave. however he added that it was only a matter of time before such large attacks were mounted. maria capella spokeswoman for net provider pipex said that when ddos attacks were at their height customers were getting hit every four to five days. the defences being put in place constantly monitor the streams of data flowing across networks and pluck out the traffic destined for target sites. it s about understanding what s genuine traffic and keeping attack traffic from going to the site she said. we study the profile of their traffic and as soon as we see an anomaly in the profile that s when we start to get the backbone engineering boys to see if we are going to sustain an attack said ms capella. this traffic can be hard to spot because ddos attacks typically use thousands of computers in many different countries each participating machine only sends a small part of the entire data flood. typically these computers have been infected by a virus or worm which reports its success and the net address of compromised machines back to the malicious hacker or hi-tech criminal that set off the virus. hijacked computers are known as zombies or bots and collections of them are called bot nets. many spammers rent out bot nets to help them anonymously send junk mail. most of the zombies are based outside the country that hosts the target site so getting the attacking pcs shut off can be difficult. often pipex and other net suppliers do get advance notice that an attack is about to happen. the serious players tend to precede an attack with some kind of ransom e-mail said ms capella. we ask as part of the service we provide that customers notify us of anything they have in advance that would give us forewarning. once an attack is spotted dedicated net hardware takes over to remove the attack traffic and ensure that sites stay up. energis took a similar approach said mr seagrave. we have technology out there that allows us to detect attacks in minutes rather than let network engineers spend hours pulling the information together said mr seagrave. also net firms were starting to work more closely together on the problem of ddos attacks and pool information about where they are coming from. information gathered on attacks and where they originated has led to some arrests. he said energis also did its own intelligence work to get in insight into which sites criminal gangs plan to target. we have people in places where they shouldn t be monitoring tech sites he said. sometimes though he said spotting the next victim was easy. you can see them going alphabetically through the list with the gambling sites trying one after another said mr seagrave.

tech

keegan hails comeback king fowler manchester city boss kevin keegan has praised striker robbie fowler for his landmark return to form. the 29-year-old out of favour at city earlier this season took his premiership goal tally past 150 with a brace in monday s 3-2 win at norwich. he is still a quality player and knows where the net is - we have just got to supply him with ammunition and in the end we did keegan said. he has worked hard to get back to where he is now. the former liverpool striker who moved to city in 2003 after a poor stint at leeds has battled back into first-team contention after struggling with fitness at the start of the season. fowler overtook les ferdinand on tuesday evening to become the third highest scorer of all time in the premiership with 151 goals and he only trails alan shearer (250) and andy cole (173). and keegan believes there is still more to come from the former england forward. he can get better if we can supply him better added keegan. people want to write him off but if he has kept the articles of those people who have written him off he could throw them back at them and they would be left with a bit of egg on their face. fowler s double strike helped city come back from two goals down to clinch a dramatic win at carrow road and keegan sympathised with norwich boss nigel worthington afterwards. i feel a bit for nigel worthington he said. his team have got great character they have a lot of drive and enthusiasm. i know it is a killer blow for norwich but i really think they have brought something to the premiership. the stadium and the atmosphere is great it is just a tough league to stay in - as they are finding out and as we know.

sport

van gogh festival film withdrawn murdered director theo van gogh s controversial film submission has been pulled from the rotterdam film festival because of security fears. it was one of three of his works to be shown as part of a freedom of expression event in tribute to the late film-maker s life. the film is critical of the treatment of women under islam. its tv screening is thought to have led to his murder. the 10-day dutch festival begins on wednesday. submission was made with liberal somali-dutch politician ayaan hirsi ali and was due to be shown on 30 january. van gogh was shot and stabbed to death in november 2004 several months after receiving death threats following submission s first broadcast on dutch television. two of van gogh s other films will be shown as planned including the theatrical world premiere of his last feature 06/05. festival director sandra den hamer said: the festival reflects what happens around us and within cinema itself. the festival opens with the french film the 10th district court moments of trials made by raymond depardon. the event sees 14 films competing to win three top tiger awards which aim to introduce promising new talent. new sections added to this year s festival include cinema of the future and cinema of the world with special focus on russian and south-east asian productions. there is also an iraqi-german offering entitled underexposure which looks at life in iraq after saddam hussein.

entertainment

tech helps disabled speed demons an organisation has been launched to encourage disabled people to get involved in all aspects of motorsport which is now increasingly possible thanks to technological innovations. the motorsport endeavour club left the starting grid yesterday at the autosport international 2005 show at birmingham s nec with several technologies to adapt vehicles on display. motorcycle racer roy tansley from derby developed his electronic sequential gear changer following an accident which resulted in part of his left leg being amputated. i needed to find a way of changing gear and generally you do that with your left leg mr tansley told the bbc news website. in simple terms i needed to invent a left foot - initially it was quite a heath robinson device. mr tansley had to argue his case to be allowed to continue competing with motorcycle racing s governing body the autocycle union. at that time they wouldn t let any amputee race at all but eventually they told me i could have a licence as long as i raced sidecars. mr tansley s invention the pro-shift is designed to work with hewland gearboxes which are widely used in motorcycle racing. in addition to helping disabled riders to compete mr tansley reckons that the pro-shift saves at least 20 seconds per lap when he competes in the isle of man tt. as a result there has been considerable interest in the product from other riders keen to improve their performance. i m not prejudiced i ll sell to able-bodied people if i have to! he joked. another exhibit on the motorsport endeavour stand is a subaru impreza rally car adapted to accommodate a variety of disabilities. the vehicle belongs to pararallying the world s only rally school for disabled drivers which is based in lincolnshire. we use the latest technology supplied by an italian company said rally driver dave hawkins who runs the company. the cars have electronic throttles electronic brakes electronic clutches - we ve yet to turn anybody away. mr hawkins - a paraplegic himself - says his customers have included right or left arm amputees quadriplegics people who have had strokes and a woman who had had all four limbs amputated. pararallying uses a vauxhall astra gsi with an automatic gearbox and manual subaru imprezas. the car on display is fitted with a duck clutch - a switch on the gear stick used instead of the clutch pedal. it also has a second ring behind the steering wheel to operate the throttle and a hand operated brake bar. when joy rainey started competing in motorsport in 1974 she was continuing the family tradition - her father murray is a former australian formula 3 champion. and it was rainey senior who modified a sports racer to accommodate his daughter s small stature so that she could take part in hill climbs. she uses an ordinary road car by putting extensions on the pedals a cushion behind her back and raising the seat. but in a competition car you have to have everything right or you ll lose the balance of the car she said. i bring everything back to me - steering wheel steering column gear lever and pedals. when she recently took part in the london to sydney marathon she shared the driving with her partner trevor who now does the engineering work. he designed a system for their morris minor so that the adaptations could be totally removed in under a minute. the motorsport endeavour club is hoping that putting such technologies on display will result in more disabled people becoming involved in all areas of the sport and at every level.

tech

rem announce new glasgow concert us band rem have announced plans to perform for 10 000 scottish fans in a rescheduled gig. the band will play in what has been dubbed europe s biggest tent on glasgow green on tuesday 14 june. they were forced to pull out of a concert at the secc in glasgow last month after bassist mike mills contracted flu. fans who bought tickets for the original 22 february show can attend the rescheduled concert. the june gig will act as a warm-up for rem s open air concert at balloch castle country park on the banks of loch lomond four days later. promoters regular music booked glasgow green as the secc was not available on the most suitable date. mark mackie director of regular music said: it is fantastic news and it really shows rem s commitment to their scottish fans that they are coming back to glasgow for what will be a truly unique gig. the rem gigs will kick-start what promises to be a memorable summer for scottish music lovers. grammy award winners u2 will play hampden on 21 june while oasis will also perform at the national stadium in glasgow on 29 june. coldplay have announced a concert at bellahouston park in glasgow on 1 july and t in the park will be held at balado near kinross from 9-10 july. ticketweb and the secc box office will write to customers who bought tickets for the february gig asking if they want to attend the new show. those who bought tickets in person are being urged to return to the point of purchase. anyone who cannot make the concert will be given a refund. the cut-off date for swapping tickets is 1 april when those remaining will go on sale to the public.

entertainment

manics in charge of bbc 6 music the manic street preachers are to take over the helm of bbc digital radio station 6 music for a week in december. the welsh band whose hits include design for life and if you tolerate this have already chosen which records to play between 6 and 12 december. their albums of the day include who s next by the who and u2 s joshua tree. the group will also perform their own live session. they follow in the footsteps of radiohead who took over the station for a week last year. bass player nicky wire will join phil jupitus on his morning show on monday 6 december while vocalist and guitarist james dean bradfield will appear on andrew collins afternoon show on thursday 9. the group have also chosen documentaries to air such as the leonard cohen story and guitar greats - jimmy page. the live concert session tracks they have picked include the specials rat race recorded at hammersmith odeon in london and public enemy s fight the power and rebel without a pause. the band will also answer questions e-mailed in by 6 music listeners.

entertainment

mci shareholder sues to stop bid a shareholder in us phone firm mci has taken legal action to halt a $6.75bn (£3.6bn) buyout by telecoms giant verizon hoping to get a better deal. the lawsuit was filed on friday after qwest communications which had an earlier offer for mci rejected said it would submit an improved bid. mci s directors have backed verizon despite it tabling less money. they are accused of breaching their fiduciary duties by depriving mci shareholders of maximum value . according the legal papers filed in a delaware court verizon is set to pay an unconscionable unfair and grossly inadequate sum for mci which was formerly known as worldcom. qwest said on wednesday that mci had rejected a deal worth $8bn. a number of large mci shareholders expressed unhappiness at the decision saying that verizon s offer made up of cash shares and dividends undervalued the company. friday s lawsuit argues that the verizon offer makes no provision for future growth prospects and that consolidation in the us phone industry will put a premium on mci s network assets and clients. mci s directors have argued that verizon is bigger than qwest has fewer debts and has built a successful mobile division. chief executive michael capellas spent last week meeting with shareholders in an effort to win their backing. in 2002 investors in the then-named worldcom lost millions when the company filed for bankruptcy following an accounting scandal. however the firm - now renamed mci - has put its operations in order and emerged from bankruptcy protection last april. it is a long-distance and corporate phone firm and would provide the buyer with access to a global telecommunications network and a large number of business-based subscribers. mci shares jumped on friday hitting their highest level since april 2004 amid speculation that it would be the focus of a bidding war. a takeover of mci would be the fifth billion-dollar telecoms deal since october as companies look to cut costs and boost client bases. earlier this month sbc communications agreed to buy its former parent and phone pioneer at&t for about $16bn.

business

howard dismisses tory tax fears michael howard has dismissed fears from some conservatives that his plans for £4bn tax cuts are too modest. he defended the package saying it was a plan for the tories first budget and he hoped to be able to go further. the tories on monday highlighted £35bn in wasteful spending they would stop to allow tax cuts reduced borrowing and more spending on key services. labour and the liberal democrats say the party s sums do not add up and claim it would cut frontline services. the tory tax plan follows complaints from some of the party s mps that mr howard and shadow chancellor oliver letwin have taken too long to unveil the proposals. now they have promised a figure but have yet to reveal which taxes would be targeted. tory backbencher edward leigh said the proposals were a step in the right direction but he told the financial times: i would come up sooner with much greater tax cuts. interviewed on bbc radio 2 s jeremy vine show mr howard said: it is perfectly true that i am being attacked on one side by people who think we ought to be promising much much bigger tax cuts and spending cuts. on the other side there are people who say we won t be able to achieve these tax cuts. i think we have got it about right. mr howard said voters faced a clear choice at the next election between more waste and more tax under labour and tory value for money and lower taxes. he added: i would like to be able to do more and over time i am sure we will be able to do more but at the start we have got to recognise there is a limit to what we can do in one go in our first budget. i have got to be responsible about this. the latest tory plans came as campaigning for the election - widely expected in may - gathered pace. the liberal democrats launched their pre-election platform with leader charles kennedy saying his party was the authentic opposition particularly on the iraq war council tax and university tuition fees. lib dem treasury spokesman vince cable also branded the tory plans as fantasy economics . labour hit back at the tory proposals even before their publication with election coordinator alan milburn accusing mr howard of producing a fraudulent prospectus . the party on tuesday challenged the tories to publish the full report from david james the trouble-shooter they asked to identify possible savings. but the tories are in turn demanding that tony blair spell out which taxes he would raise if he wins the election.

politics

hyundai to build new india plant south korea s hyundai motor has announced that it plans to build a second plant in india to meet the country s growing demand for cars. the company didn t give details of its investment but it said the new plant would produce 150 000 cars a year. this will boost the annual production capacity of the company - india s second-largest car manufacturer - to 400 000 units. hyundai expects its sales in india to grow 16% to 250 000 in 2005. by 2010 it expects to nearly double sales to 400 000 cars. the new plant will be built close to the existing one in chennai in the southern province of tamil nadu. south korea s top car maker estimates that the indian market will grow 15% this year to 920 000 vehicles reaching 1.6 million vehicles by 2010. demand in india has been driven by the poor state of public transport and the very low level of car ownership analysts said. figures show that currently only eight people per thousand are car owners. we desperately need to expand our production in order to meet growing demand in the indian auto market which is growing over 12 percent every year and to top our competitors chairman chung mong-koo said in the statement. he said the company plans to use india as a base for exports to europe latin america and the middle east. the company - which controls half of the south korean s market - aims to become a global top five auto maker by 2010.

business

kilroy launches veritas party ex-bbc chat show host and east midlands mep robert kilroy-silk has said he wants to change the face of british politics as he launched his new party. mr kilroy-silk who recently quit the uk independence party said our country was being stolen from us by mass immigration. he told a london news conference that veritas - latin for truth - would avoid the old parties lies and spin . ukip leader roger knapman says he was glad to see the back of mr kilroy-silk. mr kilroy-silk promised a firm but fair policy on immigration and said they hoped to contest most seats at the forthcoming general election. he said veritas would also announce detailed policies on crime tax pensions health and defence over the next few weeks. and he announced the party would be holding a leadership election. on thursday he is due to announce which constituency he will run in at the next general election - that will come amid speculation he has his sights set on defence secretary geoff hoon s ashfield seat. he was joined in the new venture by one of ukip s two london assembly members damien hockney who is now veritas deputy leader. ukip s chairman petrina holdsworth has said the group will just be a parody of the party the men have left. mr kilroy-silk announced his decision to quit ukip at a public meeting in hinckley leicestershire last week. it came after months of tension as he vied unsuccessfully for the leadership of that party. he said he was ashamed to be a member of a ukip whose leadership had gone awol after the great opportunity offered by its third place at last june s european elections. while ukip has turned its back on the british people i shall not he said. i will be standing at the next general election. i shall be leading a vigorous campaign for the causes i believe in. and unlike the old parties we shall be honest open and straight. mr hockney also left ukip saying mr kilroy-silk would deliver better as the leader of a eurosceptic party. a spokesman for ukip called on mr hockney to quit the london assembly. the party asserts that mr hockney has a moral obligation if not a legal one to stand down. its leader roger knapman has said he is glad to see the back of mr kilroy-silk. he has remarkable ability to influence people but sadly after the [european] election it became clear that he was more interested in the robert kilroy-silk party than the uk independence party so it was nice knowing him now goodbye he said. ukip officials also argue mr kilroy-silk has not been straightforward in attacking the party he once wanted to lead. this is just what the europhiles pray for. as the main eurosceptic party ukip should try to resolve its differences with kilroy to show a united front and give the uk public a serious political voice against europe. having multiple parties with the same view point just splits the vote further. thank goodness that kilroy-silk has gone - now ukip at least has a chance in the election! it is very sad to see the cause of britain regaining its proper relationship with europe damaged by this split within ukip. robert kilroy-silk could have a lot to offer. instead we have a split party and a damaged cause. under the present electoral system people must work together and small parties have no hope of representation. last summer ukip achieved a major advance partly and only partly due to kilroy-silk. it is a great shame this has been dissipated in in-fighting. ukip has a wide platform of policies not just withdrawal from the eu. this kilroy-silk conveniently ignores in the comments surrounding the launch of his own party. neither the english democrats nor the new party were interested in letting him join them and take over their leadership speaks volumes. veritas is the beginning of the end for kilroy-silk. if he believes in truth and democracy then he and the two assembly members should resign and force a by-elections to stand on their own platform rather than this backdoor approach to politics of being elected for one party then defecting to another. so ukip was good enough for him to lead not good enough for him to follow! interesting that a party committed to plain speaking should have a latin name! every opinion poll points to an overwhelming anti-europe feeling in this country. kilroy-silk could be on the verge of something huge if he can broaden his appeal beyond this one issue. he is an extremely able communicator with years of political experience. we wants quality schools top hospitals clean and efficient public transport punishments that fit the crime limited asylum a purge on bureaucracy and less taxes. it needs courage and honesty two qualities sadly lacking in our politicians. kilroy-silk may just have those very qualities. recruit the right colleagues robert and your time may have come! well if you cannot get enough limelight being an ordinary mp then go out and start up your own party. it s all flash and no real policy here let s hope this is the start of both ukip and kilroy-silk slipping into obscurity. veritas the name will doom it. but perhaps i am wrong for surely all modern schoolchildren will understand it since they do still learn latin in the classroom do they not the whole essence of what rks represents is euroscepticism so explain to me how the too-twee label of veritas symbolises that

politics

blair up for it ahead of poll tony blair says his personal standing in the eyes of voters will be an issue in the general election. the prime minister said he was up for it as the country waits to go to the polls possibly in a matter of weeks. he told the observer government life was a constant barrage of attack but said he would not stay in charge if he felt unable to contribute. mr blair also spoke of meeting many people across the country with concerns about the compensation culture. he said britain was in danger of needless panic over public safety issues. speaking amid a flurry of pre-election campaigning the prime minister said: i am an issue i always will be. whoever is the prime minister will be. he added: if you are afraid to take criticism you should go and do another job. asked if he would quit as leader if he felt like a liability to labour he said: it s important always not to do the job unless you feel you have something to contribute. whether he still had something to offer he said was a judgement for people to make. mr blair s assessment is likely to be seen as a signal that replacing him would not bring an upsurge in fortunes for the labour administration. his comments come as the co-chairman of the conservative party liam fox on saturday called him a disappointment of historic proportions as a prime minister. mr blair said he had learned from a series of at times tough encounters with members of the public during question and answer sessions across the country in recent weeks. he pledged to clamp down on britain s growing compensation culture which has brought concerns that doctors teachers and other professionals are being hampered in their work by the fear of frivolous lawsuits. i was quite shocked to be told by people who were running a nursery that they were worried about letting the kids out into the playground when it was wet in case one of them slipped and fell and they ended up having a legal case [against them] he said. we have got to look at a way of getting people protection on that. mr blair said the government was also looking at how to make sure that legal aid is not abused with actions against doctors and others as part of a review being carried out by the lord chancellor s department. and there should be real debate about the risk posed by public safety threats he said. we are in danger of - depending on whatever is the media campaign of the day - ending up spending literally hundreds sometimes millions of pounds meeting quite a small risk. his comments come after the government announced it is to spend £200m on drugs to treat a possible outbreak of bird flu and the sudan 1 food scare. meanwhile commons leader peter hain has warned that on the campaign trail he has seen dangerous complacency being displayed by labour voters convinced of a general election victory. if labour voters stayed at home in marginal seats they could see tory leader michael howard coming in the back door to number 10 with the tradesman s key to number 10 getting into power he added.

politics

ireland v usa (sat) saturday 20 november lansdowne road dublin 1300 gmt the irish coach knows a repeat of the record 83-3 victory over the states in 2000 is not on the agenda and expects a real test at lansdowne road. their coach tom billups will have them very organised said o sullivan. they ran five tries past the french in the summer so we will not take them for granted. we have guys coming into the team who are chomping at the bit. the irish line-up shows nine changes from the team which started against south africa with winger tommy bowe and flanker denis leamy making their international debuts. the other changes see recalls for backs david humphreys kevin maggs and guy easterby with eric miller marcus horan donnacha o callaghan and frank sheehan all returning to the pack. o sullivan said the players coming in had the opportunity to stake claims for inclusion against argentina on 27 november. easterby gets a rare start at scrum-half while humphreys now effectively ronan o gara s deputy at fly-half wins his 65th cap. we have got to get the focus right on the day said ulster man humphreys. the us may be classed as weaker opposition but we will treat them with the respect they deserve. the states lost 39-31 against france in their last international and are ranked 16th in world rugby. the americans have made three changes plus one positional switch from the game in july against the french. lock alec parker blind-side flanker brian surgener and right wing al lakomskis return and captain kort schubert of the cardiff blues shifts to number eight. schubert is the only eagles player remaining from the sides meeting four years ago. g murphy; s horgan b o driscoll (capt) k maggs t bowe; d humphreys g easterby; m horan. f sheahan j hayes d o callaghan p o connell s easterby d leamy e miller. s byrne s best l cullen a foley p stringer r o gara g dempsey. viljoen; lakomskis emerick sika fee hercus timoteo; macdonald wyatt waasdorp parker klerck surgener petruzzella schubert (capt). hobson osentowski gouws mo unga williams sherman tuipulotu.

sport

freeze on anti-spam campaign a campaign by lycos europe to target spam-related websites appears to have been put on hold. earlier this week the company released a screensaver that bombarded the sites with data to try to bump up the running costs of the websites. but the site hosting the screensaver now displays a pink graphic and the words stay tuned . no one at lycos was available for comment on latest developments in its controversial anti-spam campaign. lycos europe s make love not spam campaign was intended as a way for users to fight back against the mountain of junk mail flooding inboxes. people were encouraged to download the screensaver which when their pc was idle would then send lots of data to sites that peddle the goods and services mentioned in spam messages. lycos said the idea was to get the spam sites running at 95% capacity and generate big bandwidth bills for the spammers behind the sites. but the plan has proved controversial. monitoring firm netcraft analysed response times for some of the sites targeted by the screensaver and found that a number were completely knocked offline. the downing of the sites could dent lycos claims that what it is doing does not amount to a distributed denial of service attack. in such attacks thousands of computers bombard sites with data in an attempt to overwhelm them. laws in many countries do not explicitly outlaw such attacks but many nations are re-drafting computer use laws to make them specific offences. lycos europe now appears to have put the plan on hold. the site hosting the screensaver currently shows a holding page with the words stay tuned . the numerical internet address of the site has also changed. this is likely to be in response to spammers who have reportedly redirected traffic from their sites back to the lycos screensaver site. the campaign has come under fire from some corners of the web. many discussion groups have said that it set a dangerous precedent and could incite vigilantism. attacking a spammer s website is like poking a grizzly bear sleeping in your back garden with a pointy stick said graham cluley senior technology consultant for sophos. not only is this screensaver similar in its approach to a potentially illegal distributed denial of service attack but it also is in danger of turning innocent computer users into vigilantes who may not be prepared for whatever retaliation the spammers care to dream up.

tech

europe blames us over weak dollar european leaders have openly blamed the us for the sharp rise in the value of the euro. us officials were talking up the dollar they said but failing to take action to back up their words. meeting in brussels finance ministers of the 12 eurozone countries voiced their concern that the rise of the european currency was harming exports. the dollar is within touching distance of an all-time low reached earlier in november. at 0619 gmt on tuesday the dollar was up slightly at just above $1.29 to the euro and buying 105.6 yen in tokyo. it rallied briefly on monday amid signs that oil prices are easing. but analysts said the respite was likely to be only temporary. the european ministers comments said junya tanase of jpmorgan chase bank in tokyo were generally too weak to produce a market reaction . still by the standards of diplomacy the european ministers were forthright. nicolas sarkozy of france said he and his colleagues were unanimous in their worry that the decline of the dollar would hit europe s economies by eating into their exports. we are concerned about these developments which are destabilising and which are linked to the accumulation of deficits by our american friends he said. the comments come a day after us treasury secretary john snow said a strong dollar was in america s interest . but that was not enough for mr sarkozy. if the americans were to change their policy it s up to them to say so he said. and the european union s monetary affairs commissioner made it clear that action was necessary. i fully welcome the words of mr snow said joaquin almunia but we will need to see decisions adopted in that direction. if the imbalances in the us economy are not adjusted in the future the decision in the market will be as in the past weeks. economists point out that whatever europe says in the short term a weaker dollar is a boon to president george w bush s administration. not only does it boost us exports but it also makes the budget deficit easier to fund. on the other hand slower european exports would mean slower eu growth - potentially reducing the demand for us goods.

business

retirement age could be scrapped the myth that ageing is a barrier to contributing to society needs to be exploded the work and pensions minister has said. this was why the government was considering scrapping the retirement age entirely alan johnson said. it was also committed to stamping out age discrimination and would outlaw it he told a conference on ageing. all three parties have been wooing older voters with both the tories and lib dems pledging higher pensions. mr johnson told age concern s age agenda in london the government was seriously considering introducing pensions based on residency rather than national insurance contributions. this idea has been adopted by the lib dems as policy while the tories have pledged to boost pensions by restoring the link between earnings and pensions. mr johnson s speech comes after he last week unveiled plans to find a consensus on how to reform the country s pension system. this would be based on a series of principles including tackling pensioner poverty and fairer pensions for women he said. speaking at the london conference he said: generalised stereotypes of people past state pension age as dependant incapable and vulnerable are a particularly pernicious form of age discrimination . the government wanted to tackle this by moving to a culture where retirement ages were increasingly consigned to the past . we re sweeping them away entirely for people under 65 and we re giving those above that age a right to request to work past 65 which their employers will have to engage with seriously. and the review in 2011 which will look at whether it is time to sweep retirement ages away entirely is to be tied to evidence ... showing that retirement ages are increasingly outmoded . mr johnson said his department had a long-term aspiration of moving towards an 80% employment rate. this would involve an extra one million older people joining the work force he said.

politics

blue beat u2 to top france honour irish band u2 have been honoured at france s biggest music awards but were beaten to a prize by boy band blue. u2 received a special achievement prize at the nrj music awards but blue beat them to the international group award. us band maroon 5 was named best new international artist and took the best international song title for this love. more than five million radio listeners voted in the awards. the international male and female prizes went to usher and avril lavigne respectively. collecting his band s award from model naomi campbell at the cannes ceremony u2 frontman bono said in french: i m not from this country but i ll make a little confession to you - it s at the cote d azur i feel at home. hosted by radio group nrj the ceremony featured performances from usher and jennifer lopez who was accompanied by dancers clad in schoolgirl outfits. us pop act black eyed peas picked up the best international album gong for elephunk. singer jenifer also took home two awards for best french female singer and best french album. french-canadian pop star roch voisine was named best francophone male artist.

entertainment

greer attacks bully big brother germaine greer has criticised celebrity big brother s bullying of housemates after quitting the reality tv show. she said superior bullying tactics like making housemates cold and hungry could encourage playground bullying. she also condemned the complete irresponsibility of adding brigitte nielsen s former mother-in-law jackie stallone to the house on monday. nielsen had panicked that if she reacted badly it could harm her access to her children greer said. the feminist writer and broadcaster said big brother had behaved like a child rather than a parent by taunting contestant john mccririck after denying him a cola drink. i thought it was actually demonstrating the role of taunting in the playground and there are so many children whose lives have actually been destroyed by taunting in the playground greer said. she also said that her fellow housemates had publicity-seeking agendas . i had no idea who would be in here and it s wrong for me to present myself in the same context as they are. media observers had been surprised by greer s initial decision to join the third celebrity version of the channel 4 reality tv show given that she has written critical articles about the format in the past. as she packed her suitcase to leave the house she told fellow housemates: i m leaving over specific issues but best for everyone if i don t discuss them. i have a problem with decisions i make them fast and when i make them i stick to them. greer had earlier failed to persuade other contestants to stage a naked protest against big brother. other celebrities to walk out of a reality show tv include sex pistol john lydon former eastenders actress danniella westbrook and ex-e17 singer brian harvey who all left i m a celebrity... get me out of here. previous big brother housemates to leave before their time were sunita sharma and sandy cumming from the third series of the non-celebrity version of the show. vote was germaine greer right to leave celebrity big brother yes no results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion happy mondays dancer bez is now 2-1 favourite to win the show followed by blazin squad singer kenzie at 5-2 and actor jeremy edwards at 4-1. ladbrokes spokesman warren lush said that the series was still wide open adding that the last 24 hours had also seen a rush of bets on mccririck slashing his odds to 8-1. dj lisa i anson is the outsider with odds of 40-1 while jackie stallone who joined the house on monday is also one of the less popular housemates at 20-1. the first eviction of the series has now been postponed after greer s exit unexpectedly reduced the number of competitors. the eight remaining contestants are competing for a £50 000 prize to be donated to the charity of their choice if they survive a series of public votes. for every 50p vote cast by viewers by telephone or text during the programme s run 9p will go to a tsunami charity appeal.

entertainment

deutsche boerse set to woo lse bosses of deutsche boerse and the london stock exchange are to meet amid talk that a takeover bid for the lse will be raised to £1.5bn ($2.9bn). last month the german exchange tabled a 530 pence-per-share offer for lse valuing it at £1.3bn. paris-based euronext owner of liffe in london has also said it is interested in bidding for lse. euronext is due to hold talks with lse this week and it is reported to be ready to raise £1.4bn to fund a bid. euronext chief jean-francois theodore is scheduled to meet his lse counterpart clara furse on friday. deutsche boerse chief werner seifert is meeting ms furse on thursday in the third meeting between the two exchanges since the bid approach in december. the lse rejected deutsche boerse s proposed £1.3bn offer in december saying it undervalued the business. but it agreed to leave the door open for talks to find out whether a significantly-improved proposal would be in the interests of lse s shareholders and customers. in the meantime euronext which combines the paris amsterdam and lisbon stock exchanges also began talks with the lse. in a statement on thursday euronext said any offer was likely to be solely in cash but added that: there can be no assurances at this stage that any offer will be made. a deal with either bidder would create the biggest stock market operator in europe and the second biggest in the world after the new york stock exchange. according to the ft in its latest meeting deutsche boerse will adopt a charm offensive to woo the london exchange. the newspaper said the german suitor will offer to manage a combined cash and equities market out of london and let ms furse take the helm. other reports this week said the deutsche boerse might even consider selling its luxembourg-based clearstream unit - the clearing house that processes securities transactions. its ownership of clearstream was seen as the main stumbling block to a london-frankfurt merger. lse shareholders feared a deutsche boerse takeover would force them to use clearstream making it difficult for them to negotiate for lower transaction fees.

business

uk firm faces venezuelan land row venezuelan authorities have said they will seize land owned by a british company as part of president chavez s agrarian reform programme. officials in cojedes state said on friday that farmland owned by a subsidiary of the vestey group would be taken and used to settle poor farmers. the government is cracking down on so-called latifundios or large rural estates which it says are lying idle. the vestey group said it had not been informed of any planned seizure. the firm whose agroflora subsidiary operates 13 farms in venezuela insisted that it had complied fully with venezuelan law. prosecutors in the south of the country have targeted hato el charcote a beef cattle ranch owned by agroflora. according to reuters they plan to seize 12 900 acres (5 200 hectares) from the 32 000 acre (13 000 hectare) farm. officials claim that agroflora does not possess valid documents proving its ownership of the land in question. they also allege that areas of the ranch are not being used for any form of active production. the legal boundaries did not match up with the actual boundaries and there is surplus state prosecutor alexis ortiz told reuters. as a consequence the government has taken action. controversial reforms passed in 2001 give the government the right to take control of private property if it is declared idle or ownership cannot be traced back to the 19th century. critics say the powers - which president chavez argues are needed to help the country s poorest citizens and develop the venezuelan economy - trample all over private property rights. the vestey group said it had owned the land since 1920 and would co-operate fully with the authorities. but a spokesman added: agroflora is absolutely confident that what it has submitted will demonstrate the legality of its title to the land. the company pointed out that the farm which employs 300 workers provides meat solely for the venezuelan market. last month the government said it had identified more than 500 idle farms and had yet to consider the status of a further 40 000. the authorities said landowners whose titles were in order and whose farms were productive had nothing to fear . under president chavez the venezuelan government has steadily expanded the state s involvement in the country s economy. it recently said all mining contracts involving foreign firms would be examined to ensure they provided sufficient economic benefits to the state.

business

disney backs sony dvd technology a next generation dvd technology backed by sony has received a major boost. film giant disney says it will produce its future dvds using sony s blu-ray disc technology but has not ruled out a rival format developed by toshiba. the two competing dvd formats blu-ray developed by sony and others and toshiba s hd-dvd have been courting top film studios for several months. the next generation of dvds promise very high quality pictures and sound as well as a lot of data. both technologies use a blue laser to write information. it has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored. disney is the latest studio to announce which technology it is backing in a format battle which mirrors the 1980s betamax versus vhs war. sony lost out to jvc in that fight. the current battle for hollywood s hearts and minds is a crucial one because high-definition films will bring in billions of revenue and the studios would prefer to use one standard. last month paramount universal and warner brothers said they were opting for the toshiba and nec-backed format hd-dvd high-definition discs. those studios currently produce about 45% of dvd content. sony pictures entertainment and mgm studios have already staked their allegiance with the blu-ray disc association whose members also include technology companies dell samsung and matsushita. twentieth century fox is still to announce which technology it will be supporting. if fox decided to go with blu-ray too it would mean the format would have a 47% share of dvd content. disney said its films would be available on the blu-ray format when dvd players for the standard went on sale on north america and japan expected in 2006. universal is to start producing films on the hd-dvd format in 2005 and paramount will start releasing titles using the standard in 2006. toshiba expects sales of hd-dvds to reach 300bn yen ($2.9bn £1.5bn) by 2010.

tech

us peer-to-peer pirates convicted the first convictions for piracy over peer-to-peer networks have been handed down in the us. new yorker william trowbridge and texan michael chicoine have pleaded guilty to charges that they infringed copyright by illegally sharing music movies and software. the two men faced charges following raids in august on suspected pirates by the fbi. the pair face jail terms of up to five years and a $250 000 (£130 000) fine. in a statement the us department of justice said the two men operated the central hubs in a piracy community organised across the direct connect peer-to-peer network. the piracy group called itself the underground network and membership of it demanded that users share between one and 100 gigabytes of files. direct connect allows users to set themselves up as central servers that act as co-ordinating spots for sharers. users would swap files such as films and music by exchanging data over the network. during its investigation fbi agents reportedly downloaded 84 movies 40 software programs 13 games and 178 sound recordings from the five hubs that made up the larger piracy group. the raids were organised under the umbrella of operation digital gridlock which was aimed at fighting criminal copyright theft on peer-to-peer networks . in total six raids were carried out in august. five were on the homes of suspected copyright thieves and one on a net service firm. the department of justice said that both men pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit felony copyright infringement. they also pleaded guilty to acting for commercial advantage. the two men are due to be sentenced on 29 april.

tech

dollar slides ahead of new year the us dollar has hit a new record low against the euro and analysts predict that more declines are likely in 2005. disappointing economic reports dented the currency which had been rallying after european policy makers said they were worried about the euro s strength. earlier on thursday the japanese yen touched its lowest versus the euro on concerns about economic growth in asia. currency markets have been volatile over the past week because of technical and automated trading and light demand. this has amplified reactions analysts said adding that they expect markets to become less jumpy in january. people want to go into the weekend and the new year positioned for a weaker buck said tim mazanec director of foreign exchange at investors bank and trust. the dollar slid to a record $1.3666 versus the euro on thursday before bouncing back to $1.3636. against the yen the dollar was trading down at $103.05. the yen meanwhile dropped to 141.60 per euro in afternoon trading. it later strengthened to 140.55. investors are concerned about the size of the us trade and budget deficits and are betting that george w bush s administration will allow the dollar to weaken despite saying they favour a strong currency. also playing on investors minds are mixed reports about the state of the us economy. on thursday disappointing business figures from chicago brought a sudden end to a rally in the value of the dollar. the national association of purchasing management-chicago said its index dropped to 61.2 more than analysts had expected. 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.

business

brown s poll campaign move denied the government has denied reports that gordon brown is preparing to oust alan milburn as labour s election supremo. work and pensions minister alan johnson said it was wrong to suggest the chancellor would usurp mr milburn adding they would work as a team . a report in the sunday business claimed mr brown has been asked to take charge of media strategy while mr milburn would move to a behind-the-scenes role. labour has always maintained mr brown would have a central campaign role. but many labour backbenchers are said to be dissatisfied with the way election campaigning has gone and have said they wanted to see the chancellor take a bigger role. some commentators say the tories have grasped the initiative putting labour on the back foot having to respond to conservative policy announcements. these claims follow various opinion polls which suggest the tories have been gaining on labour. party strategists are believed to want to bring mr brown to centre-stage having seen support rise in private polling after his budget last week. but another report in the sunday telegraph claims mr milburn is unwilling to allow any new role for the chancellor to come at his expense. mr johnson told bbc news: gordon brown will play a central role in any election campaign. they were wrong when they said milburn was ousting brown and they re wrong now if they are saying brown is ousting milburn. we work as a team. mr milburn has repeatedly said the chancellor was key to the campaign and dismissed claims of a rift. neither downing street nor the labour party would comment directly on the reports.

politics

a question of trust and technology a major government department is without e-mail for a week and technology analyst bill thompson wants to know what happened. a couple of weeks ago i wrote about how my girlfriend had suffered when her cable modem blew up and she was offline for several days. it seems that thousands of civil servants at the uk s department of work and pensions went through the same thing last week. it has emerged that the internal network crashed in a particularly horrible way depriving staff of e-mail and access to the application software they use to calculate people s benefit and pension entitlement or note changes in personal circumstances. senior consultants from eds the computer firm which manage the system and microsoft which supplied the software were running around trying to figure out what had to be done to fix it all while staff resorted to phone fax and probably carrier pigeon to get work done. fortunately the back-office systems which actually pay people their money were still working so only new claims and updates were affected done properly. this is bad enough for those affected but it does mean that the impact is not devastating for millions of pensioners. i am sure regular readers will be expecting one of my usual diatribes against poor software badly specified systems and inadequate disaster recovery plans. although the full story has not yet been told it seems that the problem started when a plan to upgrade some of the computers from windows 2000 to windows xp went wrong and xp code was inadvertently copied to thousands of machines across the network. this is certainly unfortunate but i have a lot of sympathy for the network managers and technology staff involved. today s computer networks are large complex and occasionally fragile. the interconnectedness that we all value also gives us a degree of instability and unpredictability that we cannot design out of the systems. it is the network equivalent of godel s theorem - any system sufficiently complex to be useful is also able to collapse catastrophically. so i will reserve judgment on the technology aspects until we all know what actually happened and whether it was a consequence of software failure or just bad luck. what is really disturbing and cannot be excused is the fact that it took four days for news of this systems failure to leak out into the technical press. it is without a doubt a major story and was the second or third lead item on bbc radio 4 s today programme throughout friday morning. so why did not the prime minister s official spokesman mention it at any lobby briefings before friday why was not the pensions minister in parliament to make an emergency statement on tuesday when it was clear that there was a serious problem if there had been an outbreak of legionnaire s disease in the air conditioning system we would have been told but it seems that major technology problems do not merit the same treatment. while eds and microsoft will no doubt be looking for technical lessons to learn from their week of pain we can learn some political lessons too. and the most important is that in this digital world technology failures are matters of public interest not something that can be ignored in the hope that nobody will notice care or understand. that means we need a full report on what went wrong and what was done to fix it. it would be unacceptable for any of the parties involved to hide behind commercial confidentiality or even parliamentary privilege. a major system has evidently collapsed and we need to know what went wrong and what is being done differently. anything less is a betrayal of public trust. bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.

tech

early elvis recordings go on sale some of elvis presley s earliest recordings - including takes of all shook up - are going under the hammer on sunday at a los angeles auction. the six unedited reel-to-reel tapes - which were owned by the engineer who recorded them - are valued at up to $50 000 (£29 000). highlights of the two hour-long collection will get their public debut at bonhams auction house on saturday. the rca tapes date from september 1956 to september 1957. the pre-masters include a take of jailhouse rock religious songs material for his first christmas album and banter between presley members of his band and engineer thorne nogar. we ve had them for a lot of years and i think the people should enjoy them nogar s son stephen 57 said. and frankly we could use the money. nogar who died in 1994 aged 72 always used to make two tapes of sessions as a back-up in case rca producers wanted to make late changes to songs. he called them his ass-saver tapes his son said. the quality is said to be noticeably crisper than that of a new vinyl record. because the family does not own the copyright to the music the tapes can only be sold for personal enjoyment and they cannot be copied for commercial gain.

entertainment

iraq to invite phone licence bids iraq is to invite bids for two telephone licences saying it wants to significantly boost nationwide coverage over the next decade. bids have been invited from local arab and foreign companies iraq s ministry of communications said. the winner will work in partnership with the iraqi telecommunications and post company (itpc). the firms will install and operate a fixed phone network providing voice fax and internet services. the ministry said that it wanted to increase iraq s very low telephone service penetration rate from about 4.5% today to about 25% within 10 years. it also hopes to develop a highly visible and changeable telecommunication sector . details of the bidding and tender process will be published on the ministry s website on 9 february. it also is planning a road-show for investors in amman jordan. the ministry said it would base its selection on criteria including the speed of implementation tariff rates coverage and the firm s experience and financial strength.

business

digital guru floats sub-$100 pc nicholas negroponte chairman and founder of mit s media labs says he is developing a laptop pc that will go on sale for less than $100 (£53). he told the bbc world service programme go digital he hoped it would become an education tool in developing countries. he said one laptop per child could be very important to the development of not just that child but now the whole family village and neighbourhood . he said the child could use the laptop like a text book. he described the device as a stripped down laptop which would run a linux-based operating system we have to get the display down to below $20 to do this we need to rear project the image rather than using an ordinary flat panel. the second trick is to get rid of the fat if you can skinny it down you can gain speed and the ability to use smaller processors and slower memory. the device will probably be exported as a kit of parts to be assembled locally to keep costs down. mr negroponte said this was a not for profit venture though he recognised that the manufacturers of the components would be making money. in 1995 mr negroponte published the bestselling being digital now widely seen as predicting the digital age. the concept is based on experiments in the us state of maine where children were given laptop computers to take home and do their work on. while the idea was popular amongst the children it initially received some resistance from the teachers and there were problems with laptops getting broken. however mr negroponte has adapted the idea to his own work in cambodia where he set up two schools together with his wife and gave the children laptops. we put in 25 laptops three years ago only one has been broken the kids cherish these things it s also a tv a telephone and a games machine not just a textbook. mr negroponte wants the laptops to become more common than mobile phones but conceded this was ambitious. nokia make 200 million cell phones a year so for us to claim we re going to make 200 million laptops is a big number but we re not talking about doing it in three or five years we re talking about months. he plans to be distributing them by the end of 2006 and is already in discussion with the chinese education ministry who are expected to make a large order. in china they spend $17 per child per year on textbooks. that s for five or six years so if we can distribute and sell laptops in quantities of one million or more to ministries of education that s cheaper and the marketing overheads go away.

tech

souness backs smith for scotland graeme souness believes walter smith would be the perfect choice to succeed berti vogts as scotland manager. souness s former assistant at rangers is hot favourite to take over from vogts who resigned on monday. walter is most definitely the ideal candidate for that job. he d be perfect for it souness told bbc sport. the scottish football association has appointed tommy burns as provisional caretaker-boss for the friendly against sweden on 17 november. he fits the bill because of his knowledge and understanding of the scotland team and football. he is experienced and has been successful. souness added: walter is a real football person as i know from working with him at ibrox. on top of all that he is a proper human being who would command the instant respect of the players and everyone involved in scottish football. souness joined sir alex ferguson in backing smith s claims. the scottish football association is about to embark on the search for vogts successor after appointing tommy burns in a caretaker capacity. ferguson said: he (smith) would be the outstanding candidate as far as i m concerned. you need somebody who knows what they re doing and walter would bring a wealth of experience to the job. the man utd boss continued: i don t know what credentials are needed to do the job but it s a job that needs a lot of experience. he was my assistant with scotland and here at manchester united and he has also managed glasgow rangers. he would need to change the whole shape of scottish football and radical changes are needed. smith was assistant to ferguson at the world cup in mexico in 1986. the former everton and rangers boss has been out of the game since a spell as manchester united assistant last term. bbc sport understands that smith would be willing to discuss taking over if he was approached by the scottish fa. if he is tempted to take over it seems almost certain smith s long-time right-hand man archie knox would also play a part in the national team set-up. smith already has the backing of many pundits and fans including former scotland manager craig brown. brown said: walter is an outstanding candidate without doubt. he would be admirable choice. i spoke to him on sunday and i got the impression he would take it. he was asking me about it and i was positive. other candidates for the job include former scotland midfielders gordon strachan and gary mcallister and vogts assistant tommy burns.

sport

casino royale is next bond movie casino royale author ian fleming s first james bond book is to be the next bond film with goldeneye director martin campbell behind the camera. it will be the 21st james bond film to hit the big screen and speculation has been rife over who will play the lead. casino royale was turned into a spoof spy movie by john huston in 1967 with david niven in the lead role. pierce brosnan led the past four bond films but said producers axed him after offering him the chance to return. among the favourites to take over the coveted role are scottish actor dougray scott oscar nominee clive owen and australian star hugh jackman. producers say no decision has yet been made on who will become the seventh actor including niven to play bond on film. kill bill director quentin tarantino had talked of wanting to take on the casino royale project and said he had spoken to brosnan about it. shooting on casino royale is expected to begin once campbell has finished work on the legend of zorro a sequel to the mask of zorro starring catherine zeta jones and antonio banderas. producers barbara broccoli and michael g wilson expect the film to be released in 2006. the script will once again be developed by neal purvis and robert wade who have both worked on two previous bond movies. fleming s book saw the introduction of bond pitted against a russian spy in a game of baccarat. simultaneously a woman arrives on the scene to take his eye off the game. the novel is one of fleming s most violent and sadistic stories with 007 suffering a savage beating from his nemesis le chiffre. in addition to the 1967 film it was also adapted for television in 1954 with actor barry nelson as an americanised jimmy bond. mgm vice chairman chris mcgurk said: martin (campbell) is an incredibly exciting film-maker. goldeneye was a wonderful movie and helped reinvigorate the bond franchise. we re thrilled to have him back to direct the newest bond. new zealand-born campbell moved to the uk in 1966 and directed tv series such as the professionals minder and bergerac. his film credits include edge of darkness vertical limit and beyond borders which starred angelina jolie and clive owen.

entertainment

house prices show slight increase prices of homes in the uk rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in february says the nationwide building society. the figure means the annual rate of increase in the uk is down to 10.2% the lowest rate since june 2001. the annual rate has halved since august last year as interest rises have cooled the housing market. at the same time the number of mortgage approvals fell in january to a near 10-year low official bank of england figures have shown. nationwide said that in january house prices went up by 0.4% on the month and by 12.6% on a year earlier. we are not seeing the market collapsing in the way some had feared said nationwide economist alex bannister. there have been a number of warnings that the uk housing market may be heading for a downturn after four years of strong growth to 2004. in november barclays which owns former building society the woolwich forecast an 8% fall in property prices in 2005 followed by further declines in 2006 and 2007. and last summer economists at pricewaterhousecoopers (pwc) warned house prices were overvalued and could fall by between 10% and 15% by 2009. the price of an average uk property now stands at £152 879. homeowners now expect house prices to rise by 1% over the next six months mr bannister said. he said if the growth continued at this level then the bank of england may increase interest rates from their current 4.75%. i think the key is what the bank expects to happen to the housing market. we always thought we would see a small rise they thought they would see a small decline. house prices have risen 0.9% this year nationwide said and if this pace of increase persists prices would rise by just under 6% in the year to december. this is slightly above the 0-5% range nationwide predicts. further evidence of a slowdown in the housing market emerged from bank of england lending figures released on tuesday. new mortgage loans in january fell to 79 000 from 82 000 in december the bank said. the past few months have seen approvals fall to levels last seen in 1995. the bank revealed that 48 000 fewer mortgages were approved in january than for the same month in 2004. overall mortgage lending rose by £7.2bn in january marginally up on the £7.1bn rise in december.

business

scissor sisters triumph at brits us band scissor sisters led the winners at the uk music industry s brit awards walking off with three prizes. the flamboyant act scored a hat-trick in the international categories winning the best group best album and best newcomer awards. glasgow group franz ferdinand won two prizes as did keane and joss stone who was voted best urban act by digital tv viewers. robbie williams angels was named the best song of the past 25 years. scissor sisters frontwoman ana matronic collected the best international album prize from singer siouxsie sioux. she told the audience: if you told us a year ago we would be getting these awards today we would have called you crazy. you guys made our dream come true. the band - whose self-titled lp was 2004 s biggest-selling album - thanked all the members of the sisterhood adding: we wouldn t be here without you. the us band who opened the show with take your mama won the best international act and newcomer awards as well as best international album. franz ferdinand who were shortlisted in five categories won best rock act and best british group an award they dedicated to late dj john peel. but they missed out on best british live act which went to muse. keane won best british album and breakthrough act. will young won the best single prize for your game. mcfly won the best pop act prize and gwen stefani picked up the best international female artist award. eminem won the male prize. best british male artist winner mike skinner - aka the streets - does not usually attend award ceremonies but the birmingham hip-hop artist performed his hit dry your eyes at the ceremony. however he did not collect his prize. a bandmate informed the crowd skinner was in the toilet . after beating amy winehouse jamelia natasha bedingfield and pj harvey to the best british female prize joss stone said: i don t know what to say. i don t like doing this at all. i d like to thank my family for being really supportive and everybody that made my record with me. i don t even know what to do right now. thank you all you guys for voting for me i feel sick right now. viewers of digital music tv channel mtv base voted stone the winner in the best urban act category. little britain comedy duo matt lucas and david walliams presented the best song prize to robbie williams dressed as his former take that colleagues gary barlow and howard donald leading him to quip he was always the talented man of the band . williams track beat songs by will young queen kate bush and joy division in a vote by bbc radio 2 listeners to mark 25 years of the uk music industry ceremony. it is his 15th brit award having already received 10 solo awards and four with take that. he told the audience: i m just amazed that my career keeps going. keane frontman tom chaplin thanked fans for enduring rubbish gigs after they won the british breakthrough act prize. he added: a lot of people don t think it s cool that we ve had the guts to be ourselves but it s a vital part of who we are as a band and receiving this is recognition of that. natasha bedingfield - in the running for best british female and best pop act - performed with her brother daniel for the first time at wednesday s event. the chart-topping siblings duetted on the chaka khan hit ain t nobody. meanwhile joss stone performed right to be wrong backed by a gospel choir while lemar and jamelia performed the robert palmer track addicted to love. bob geldof won a prize for his outstanding contribution to music. of the 15 brit awards for achievements in 2004 10 were won by artists tipped in the bbc news website s sound of 2004 list of artists to watch published at the start of last year. scissor sisters franz ferdinand keane joss stone and mcfly were all in the sound of 2004 top 10. the other five brits winners were already established before sound of 2004 was compiled. the ceremony will be televised on itv1 on thursday. i m speechless. best song of the last 25 years yeah right. i very much doubt that angels was even the best song of the week that it came out. like every track robbie has released as a single it s a blatant but poor facsimile of something that someone else has done better before. give us a break...!!! best song in 25 years you must be joking. its good if you like that sort of thing but really! listened to angels on radio 1 this morning when i was driving into work. had not heard it for a while. i love robs voice the lyrics and tune. perfection! as usual the public have short memories when it comes to voting for the greatest . there must be more than a dozen songs in the last 25 years that deserve this award more. it s not exactly groundbreaking. presumably the age range that could be bothered to vote is is pretty low... i m actually embarrassed to be british if that is the best song we have produced in the last 25 years!! what about the specials - ghost town the buzzcocks - ever fallen in love with someone... happy mondays - kinky afro mcalmont & butler - yes joy division - love will tear us apart... angels is middle-of-the-road rubbish. angels is a awful piece of sentimental claptrap. it s musically and lyrically inept; and fantastically overrated a bit like mr williams himself. this result isn t very surprising though the brits has a long history of celebrating rubbish music! best of the last 25 years maybe. cunning to make the timescale not include stairway to heaven or bohemian rhapsody but it does kind of make it a bit of a hollow award really. not much competition in the last 25 years after all. it s alright for a pop song - but the best song of the last 25 years there is no way on earth that song should have been voted the best of the last 25 years....it s a travesty. rubbish! who voted it for it to be included in any list i am a regular listener to radio 2 but i don t recall the invitation to vote for this bland slushy rubbish which might appeal to the masses who wouldn t know a good song if it jumped up and bit them on the nose but is certainly not the best song of the last 25 years. how depressing and just when we thought manufactured pop was on the way out - where on earth did this dreadful list appear from while i am biassed in that i thought love will tear us apart should have won in all seriousness i think that the best song of the last 25 years should not include songs less than 5 years old as that would exclude songs which are popular because of novelty. then again well done robbie good show. you ve got to be kidding. angels is a great song but not the best song of the last 25 years. only the best song to be up for nomination at the brits. i think angels is a great song and deserved to be in the run up for this award but i don t think its the best song from the past 25 years! right enough it is better than some of the others in this catergory for example what was will young doing being nominated in the first place - he is alright but the song isn t that good! i m happy for robbie himself though! best song in the last 25 years what a joke! think of all the great rock and pop songs released in the 80s and pretty much all of them are better than angels. phil collins doesn t deserve awards for all the good songs he wrote angels is an overrated song that got tiresome even before you had finished listening to it. soppy rubbish at best. hopefully manufactured rubbish will die down soon and let the real artists who worked hard for there glory receive awards. so boringly obvious and typical of the bland nature of mainstream music in britain today for me it s proof that music and democracy just don t mix. still at least it wasn t will young... oh it s all just a bit of fun. people take these awards too seriously! robbie has millions of loyal fans while even non-fans know the words to angels. him winning obviously reflects who votes in these awards. personally i wanted will young to win but that was not really due to his musical talent! i hate the song all it brings back is memories of school discos and no-one to slow-dance with! i agree about angels. i never get fed up hearing it. whenever the song comes on the radio i turn the radio up smile and sing along (very badly that is why the radio has to be turned up to drown my voice out). the song makes me calm and serene and happy. well done robbie. i think that although robbie williams is a good performer that angels isn t really that good a song. it certainly isn t anywhere near as good as love will tear us apart by joy division or wuthering heights by kate bush. angels is a fantastic song. all credit to robbie williams and guy chambers. it s a song that will be played forever and bridges all age groups. robbie did in no way deserve that mantle. whenever we have these awards it is always artists from the past five years that seem to win the best of the best...we forget about the late 80s and early 90s for example. they weren t cool at the time but because they are cool again now shows that the songs have greater longevity than people think. yes angels is the best song since the past 25 years because it touches the soul as it carries a lot of meaning. i ve always disliked angels intensely. i believe it to be symbolic of the general capacity of british pre-teens teens and middle aged women to accept low quality/ low aspirational music as classic songwriting. it s orrible. it seems obvious to me that people who like robbie are people who don t particularly like music all that much. folks without collections; folks who have never engaged in that madness one experiences when falling under the spell of pop music. angels adds nothing - it is merely an irritating distraction - a wasp that refuses to go away on a summer s afternoon picnic. what a dreadful result. if you voted for it - you should feel ashamed of yourself - you probably only know a dozen songs or so don t you - so where do get off applying this uninformed filter and casting this ridiculous vote. booo hisss angels best song you are kidding right last five years i might be willing to accept but 25 no way. did whoever voted for this actually have any music knowledge prior to say 1995 really quite insulting to the british music industry of the past quarter of a century. no surprise about robbie williams considering the list. where on earth did the nominations list come from compiled by an eleven year-old girl perhaps i mean will young come on. what a load of crap best song in the last 25 years - i don t think so!! what about all the real artists out there over the last 25 years - the list is endless but robbie williams doesn t even come close. what a joke. that song has become such a bane to me that i have developed a pavlovian response to the word angels where i thrash around and scream no no no no no until someone tells me the radio s off . why a half-baked cheesy ditty like angels which has become the anthem for millions of romantic sops (think how many times it was sung on pop idol for example and by whom) should be voted the best song of the past 25 years is beyond me. if this is the song against which all others are judged then musicians may as well give up. why do we reward mediocrity so highly in this country the initial list was very weak anyway but angels the best song of the last 25 years!!!! i think not i didn t realize radio 2 had so many listeners under the age of 10!! people have such short memories! a great song yes but the best of the last 25 years not a chance. i think the person as opposed to the song has been voted for here. the great british public at work again. it s a mediocre sentimental and safe song. granted it s not too bad either. but can it stand up against anything by the smiths (in particular how soon is now ) or anything from the stone roses first album nope. no because i m not female and i m not 10! ok i like robbie and angels is a decent song. but it is no way the best song of the past 25 years! the shortlist wasn t great but him winning it is a joke! predictable and laughable. the success of angels at this years brits reflects poorly on the state of british music over the last 25 years. the british public are brainwashed by the corporate pulp that is presneted to them as cutting edge music and true talent is being sadly missed. whilst angels is a popular song it is not even the best song in robbie s repertoire never mind best song of the last 25 years. i am a huge robbie fan and love that song. but i think there are a lot more outstanding songs / music out there that influenced music today unfortunately they were left out of the list. have radio 2 listeners even heard of joy division a band who through two albums have had a bigger impact on music and continue to do so over the last 25 years than robbie williams ever will. no doubt about it. there s not a song done by anyone with more emotion and feeling. some people will adopt their slightly snobby stances but angels has hit home with a far larger audience than any other song. it should have been joy division.those guys have played an influential part in shaping modern day music while angels remains yet another pop song. i sincerely do not believe that in 25 years from now the most influential artists will argue that robbie williams inspired their art in the way that the byrds the beatles and nick drake have done for music today. yes!! i think its a brilliantly written song with different meanings to different people. there were other great songs in the category... but somebody had to win! robbie was a deserved winner. i am astounded that such a second-rate record has beaten such a line up of amazing songs! it s a terrible song voted for by the masses who don t have the brains to appreciate innovative and exciting music. the best song of the past 25 years really come on this is surely a joke no i think i need a long lie down... it just goes to show that the british public do not have a clue about good quality music when they pick robbie williams over the beautifully talented kate bush and joy division. i suppose it s confirmed one thing - the british public are consistently dull :- <( no offence robbie but pleeease! there must be a thousand better songs than a formulated cheesy pop song for kids. no one agrees with this and quite frankly it is an embarassment to the integrity of british music and a further nail in the coffin! i think robbie deserves it he has been the most iconic of any stars we have had in britain since john lennon and is an idol to millions worldwide. anybody who says he doesn t deserve it is jealous of his success. the only real challenger was queen but hey another one bites the dust!! obviously all the karaoke singers in the uk voted for it. if this is the best song of the last 25 years then the british music industry is in trouble. sure robbie is talented and produces excellent material but this is not the best record. a sad day for music it s not the type of music i normally like but even as a diehard rock fan i recognise that it is a good song and appelas to most people. that s why it has been voted best song of the last 25 years. it s a good all-rounder. just like robbie. best song in 25 years since 1980 i m confused. angels isn t a bad song. it s a nice catchy formulaic anthem that ticks all the boxes. but this is not great music. if anything it s regressive. bland even. i suppose it s just more evidence of how redundant the brit awards have become. granted angels is a good song however it really wasn t up against any other proper competition. the queen s song was lackluster and apart from kate bush the other choices were pathetic! also why weren t the stones there david bowie etc there are so many greater songs than angels...i wonder if it was simply the fact that robbie wasn t getting more awards so they had to make one up for him! best song of the last 25 years what a ridiculuous concept and an even more ridiculous winner. sigh. on the upside at least it wasn t bohemian rhapsody for which we should all be thankful. angels is without doubt a great song but i really don t think it deserves the title of best song in 25 years.perhaps the vote had more to do with teenage opinion on robbies goodlooks than the actual song!!! don t get me wrong i m not disputing his looks but there are more deserved winners. it would have been a travesty had angels not won. without angels robbie williams may well not be where he is now and britain would have been deprived of one of its most charismatic and talented performing artists. it has to be seen performed live with 125 000 people singing along to be fully appreciated. well done rob. i find it hard to believe that angels is the best we have to show for the past 25 years! i m rapidly redifining best in my own head now to mean most gratuitously played at weddings and funerals because people think it has deep meaning . what about britpop blur oasis suede pulp... not only making fantastic songs but also making changes doing something different. why must best always come down to most commercially popular i ve nothing against robbie i actually like his music but how can this possibly be the best song from the last 25year the brits has proved to be nothing more than a bargaining tool between the pop moguls to boost band profiles and record sales. the same goes with the scissor sisters i think this is a superb record and thoroughly deserves the newcomer award but the album comes no where near u2 s new record neither are they in the same league. once again there have been some baffling discisions made they are not for artisic reasons but for profit. no surprise really it s voted for by the general public. since when did they have taste in music personally i find angels by robbie williams to be one of the most irritating songs i have ever heard! it absolutely deserved to win. it is a song that has united the generations and will continue to be played for many years to come. it s an absolute joke however most of the original 25 were very poor choices as well. all in all a pretty pointless exercise ! the song is overplayed and oversentimental. out of the rather poor five choices that were left it should have gone to either joy division or queen. i suppose we should be thankful that it didn t end up in the hands of will young though. although it has nostalgia value there is no way it deserved to win. everybody knows the words to bohemian rhapsody nothing compares 2 u etc. much better songs and more timeless. give it to someone with real talent. although angels is a good song i think that anyone with the slightest musical taste will realise that this is not the best song of the last 25 years. this is just another example of record company manipulation to keep an artist in the public eye. why not give him an award for the greatest pair of trousers if that s all it means!

entertainment

guantanamo four free in weeks all four britons held by the us in guantanamo bay will be returned to the uk within weeks foreign secretary jack straw told the commons on tuesday. moazzam begg from birmingham and martin mubanga richard belmar and feroz abbasi from london have been held by the us for almost three years. they were detained in the cuban camp as part of the us-led war on terror . mr straw said the us had agreed to release the four after intensive and complex discussions over security. he said the government had been negotiating the return of the detainees since 2003. all four families have been informed of their return and have been involved in regular discussions with the government mr straw said. but he added: once they are back in the uk the police will consider whether to arrest them under the terrorism act 2000 for questioning in connection with possible terrorist activity. the shadow foreign secretary michael ancram welcomed the return of the four detainees. but he said there were still serious questions both over the possible threat the four pose to the uk and the treatment they received while detained. liberal democrat foreign affairs spokesman sir menzies campbell said the four had been rescued from a legal no-man s land . their civil rights were systematically and deliberately abused and they were denied due process. azmat begg father of moazzam thanked his lawyers and the british people for the support he had received while campaigning for his son s release. he added: if they have done something wrong of course they should be punished but if they haven t they shouldn t have been there. lawyer louise christian who represents mr abbasi and mr mubanga said the government should have acted sooner. she said: they should at the outset have said quite clearly to the american government that they were behaving in breach of international law and that the british government wanted no part of it and wanted guantanamo bay shut down. they didn t do that. they colluded with it. moazzam begg s labour mp roger godsiff welcomed his release but said questions remained unanswered particularly about charges. asked about possible damages mr begg and the other detainees could bring against the us mr godsiff said: people get released from prison when it s found that their prosecution was unsustainable and they are quite rightly awarded sizeable sums of money. i don t see any difference in this case. human rights campaigners have been outraged at the treatment of the detainees in cuba. amnesty international has called camp delta a major human-rights scandal and an icon of lawlessness . both amnesty and the lobby group guantanamo human rights commission described the release as long overdue . civil rights group liberty said it was delighted but called on the government to release men indefinitely detained in the uk without charge or trial. director shami chakrabarti called on the government to practise what it preaches and either free or charge 12 detainees at belmarsh and woodhill prisons. law lords ruled last month that the 12 were being held in contravention of human rights laws but they are still behind bars. the us has also announced that 48-year-old australian mamdouh habib previously accused of terrorist offences will be released without charge from camp delta. five british detainees released from guantanamo in march last year were questioned by uk police before being released without charge.

politics

musicians to tackle us red tape musicians groups are to tackle us visa regulations which are blamed for hindering british acts chances of succeeding across the atlantic. a singer hoping to perform in the us can expect to pay $1 300 (£680) simply for obtaining a visa. groups including the musicians union are calling for an end to the raw deal faced by british performers. us acts are not faced with comparable expense and bureaucracy when visiting the uk for promotional purposes. nigel mccune from the musicians union said british musicians are disadvantaged compared to their us counterparts. a sponsor has to make a petition on their behalf which is a form amounting to nearly 30 pages while musicians face tougher regulations than athletes and journalists. if you make a mistake on your form you risk a five-year ban and thus the ability to further your career says mr mccune. the us is the world s biggest music market which means something has to be done about the creaky bureaucracy says mr mccune. the current situation is preventing british acts from maintaining momentum and developing in the us he added. the musicians union stance is being endorsed by the music managers forum (mmf) who say british artists face an uphill struggle to succeed in the us thanks to the tough visa requirements which are also seen as impractical. the mmf s general secretary james seller said: imagine if you were an orchestra from the orkneys every member would have to travel to london to have their visas processed. the us market is seen as the holy grail and one of the benchmarks of success and we re still going to fight to get in there. it s still very important but there are other markets like europe india and china added mr seller. a department for media culture and sport spokeswoman said: we re aware that people are experiencing problems and are working with the us embassy and record industry to see what we can do about it. a us embassy spokesman said: we are aware that entertainers require visas for time-specific visas and are doing everything we can to process those applications speedily. we are aware of the importance of cultural exchange and we will do our best to facilitate that he added.

entertainment

police chief backs drinking move a chief constable has backed the introduction of 24-drinking saying police had a responsibility to ensure people could benefit from a law change. however norfolk police chief andy hayman also warned that a great deal of preparatory work was still needed. i don t subscribe to the views of some of my colleagues who are coming out and objecting to it he said. his comments come after the liberal democrats backed tory demands that the government s plans be put on hold. andy hayman said he did not agree with politicians and senior police officers who have objected to the plans which come into force on 7 february. i feel that is a premature position to be taking he said. among those who have criticised the plans are the uk s top policeman sir john stevens. the metropolitan police chief said last week that the plans for 24-hour drinking should be re-examined because of a binge drinking epidemic . however mr hayman said: it would be totally unacceptable in my view for a chief constable to say i m very sorry . he said that police should make sure that responsible people who wanted a change could benefit from more liberal legislation. my view is that i have got a responsibility to create an environment where that can happen he said. however he believes a lot of preparatory work is still needed to be done by police local authorities and the drinks industry before the nation was ready for 24-hour drinking. but he is confident problems in the early days can be ironed out . he believed the majority of people favoured this law change and we have to accept that lifestyles are changing . but aspects such as transport and basic things such as making sure public toilets are open all night had to be taken into account. prime minister tony blair has defended the licensing act saying it is wrong to deny people the relaxed hours enjoyed elsewhere in europe because of a tiny minority of violent binge drinkers. a six-month transitional period starts on 7 february during which time venues can apply for extended licences. the conservatives have called for 24-hour drinking to be shelved until the problems of binge drinking are solved. on monday the lib dems also called for a delay. lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten said: it would clearly be prudent to allow the police and local authorities more time to prepare for flexible drinking hours. chief constable mr hayman acknowledged that binge drinking did cause problems. if you come to norwich on a friday or saturday night you will see things going on that will you make you feel ashamed. however i want industry to succeed in norwich and i want norwich to be the recognised nightspot of east anglia. there is no way i want to say we cannot manage it or police it. we can.

politics