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teenagers to be allowed to be mps teenagers will be able to become mps under plans unveiled by ministers. in a written statement constitutional affairs minister christopher leslie said the current minimum age of 21 for an mp would be reduced to 18. the proposals follow a recommendation last year by elections watchdog the electoral commission. the government intends to legislate when parliamentary time allows to lower the age said mr leslie who was elected in 1997 at the age of 24. even if the move does go ahead it is unlikely it will be in place before the next general election widely predicted for may. the announcement from mr leslie - who was elected in 1997 in a formerly safe tory seat - prompted calls for a lowering of the voting age to 16. the votes at 16 alliance said it was a good thing to engage people by lowering the candidacy age but argued lowering the voting age would be much more effective. candidacy affects only politicians. the voting age affects millions of younger people said spokesman alex folkes. we would hope that the government will table a bill that is broad enough to allow for amendments to be brought to test support for a reduction in the voting age. currently candidates in both local and national votes must be 21 while the voting age is 18. that is because the age of majority was reduced to 18 in 1969 but laws dating from 1695 which determine the current voting age stayed in place. irish republican bernadette devlin was one of just a handful of 21-year-olds elected to parliament in the 20th century winning a seat in 1969. but the youngest is understood to have been tory edward turnour who won the 1904 horsham by-election aged 21 and 144 days and served in parliament for 47 continuous years. last april s report by the electoral commission said there was no strong argument for leaving the age for standing for election at 21. the commission found the most common approach around the world is for the voting age to be the same as the candidacy age.

politics

new delay hits eu software laws a fresh delay has hit controversial new european union rules which govern computer-based inventions. the draft law was not adopted by eu ministers as planned at a brussels meeting on monday during which it was supposed to have been discussed. the fresh delay came after polish officials had raised concerns about the law for the second time in two months. critics say the law would favour large companies over small ones and could impact open-source software innovation. there was at one point the intention to put the item on today s agenda. but in the end we could not put it on an eu spokesman told the reuters agency. he added that no date had been chosen for more discussion of the law. in december poland requested more time to consider the issue because it was concerned that the law could lead to the patenting of pure computer software. its ministers want to see the phrasing of the text of the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions changed so that it excludes software patenting. poland is a large eu member so its backing for the legislation is vital. the eu says the law would bring europe more in line with how such laws work in the us but this has caused some angry debate amongst critics and supporters. in the us the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. this means that the us-based amazon.com holds a patent for its one-click shopping service. critics say a similar model in europe would hurt small software developers which do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies. but supporters say current law does not let big companies protect inventions which they have spent years developing.

tech

rapper jay-z becomes label boss rap star jay-z is to become a record company executive after being put in charge of one of hip-hop s most influential labels def jam. jay-z who said he would make no more music after 2003 s the black album will become the company s president and chief executive from january. def jam s parent company universal made the appointment after buying jay-z s roc-a-fella label. def jam s artists include ll cool j dmx ludacris ja rule and ashanti. jay-z will continue to run roc-a-fella which he founded with damon dash in 1995 and has kanye west and beanie sigel on its roster. universal said on wednesday it had bought the 50% of roc-a-fella it did not already own. antonio la reid chairman of the island def jam music group said: i can think of no-one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon def jam s fantastic legacy. he hoped jay-z would move the company into its next groundbreaking era he added. jay-z real name shawn carter said: i have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop def jam and roc-a-fella. i feel this is a giant step for me and the entire artist community. one of the most successful and respected rap stars of the last eight years jay-z s hits have included hard knock life dirt off your shoulder and 03 bonnie and clyde with his girlfriend beyonce knowles. he said he would retire after the black album but has just released an album and been on an ill-fated tour with r kelly. def jam was founded in 1984 by russell simmons and producer rick rubin and signed artists including run-dmc the beastie boys and public enemy.

entertainment

south africa sweep top awards south africa s schalk burger was named player of the year as the tri-nations champions swept the top honours at the international rugby board s awards. the flanker topped a list which included ireland star gordon d arcy and australian sensation matt giteau. jake white claimed the coaching award while his side held off grand slam winners france to take the team award. england player simon amor beat team-mate ben gollings and argentine lucio lopez fleming to win the sevens award. burger s award came just a week after he won the equivalent prize from his fellow international players and white who also coached burger at under-21 level paid tribute to him. schalk s emergence as a major force has meant a lot to south african rugby but has also influenced world rugby said white. he s become to south african rugby what jonty rhodes was to south african cricket. it s amazing what he has achieved in such a short time so far in his international career. amor who will captain england in this season s opening irb sevens tournament the dubai sevens which start on thursday was delighted with his award. there are so many great sevens players on the circuit at the moment that this is a genuine honour said the gloucester fly-half.

sport

totp turns to elvis impersonator top of the pops has turned to the star of elvis presley musical jailhouse rock after the late rock legend scooped the uk s 1 000th number one single. mario kombou who plays the presley role on stage will sing one night on friday s bbc one show as producers are unable to use presley video footage. it is his second number one in a row. the show used presley photos last week. presley will feature in the charts for several more months as all 18 of his original uk chart-toppers are reissued. a top of the pops spokesperson said: it s a very special number one as it s the uk s 1 000th. we wanted to pay tribute to elvis in the best way we knew how so we thought getting a professional would be the best way for top of the pops to do that. kombou is likely to appear on the show again next week as the next presley re-release a fool such as i is on course to give him his third number one in three weeks. kombou plays vince everett in jailhouse rock - the same role presley played in the 1957 film of the same name.

entertainment

podcasters look to net money nasa is doing it 14-year-old boys in bedrooms are doing it couples are doing it gadget lovers - male and female - are definitely doing it. it is podcasting - diy radio in the form of downloadable mp3 audio files. they can done by anyone who has a microphone simple software the net and something to say. some liken them to talking audioblogs because many complement text-based weblogs - diary-like sites where people share their thoughts. they are essentially amateur radio shows on the net on demand and the movement is at very early stages. it s about real people saying real things and communicating says adam curry former mtv vj and the pied piper of podcasting. he was one of a community of people who created ipodder a small computer program known as an aggregator . it collects and automatically sends mp3 files to any digital music-playing device that can play wmp formats. those with digital music players can select which podcasts they like and subscribe - for free - to that show s feed . when a new podcast is available it is automatically sent to the device when connected to a computer. it is totally going to kill the business model of radio thinks curry. i just did a tour of madison avenue where all the big brands and advertising agencies of the world are he says. and they are scared to death of the next generation - like my daughter who is 14 - who don t listen to radio. they are on msn they ve got their ipod their mp3 player they ve got their xbox - they are not listening to radio. so how are they going to reach these audiences it is the distribution that is changing and the barriers are being brought down so everyone can be part of it. it is a fledgling movement but it is gaining momentum now that people have started thinking about how to make a business from it. ian fogg jupiter research analyst thinks there could be potential for business but it could take an interesting turn if big companies like apple and microsoft get involved. it is a nascent area but quite exciting. it is yet another area that demonstrates the move to a digital lifestyle and digital home is not over he says. podcasting is one of those interesting areas that bridges what you do at home and what you do out and about - a classic hybrid. it is another aspect of the time-shifting of content - the latest industry buzzword for being able to listen to what you want when and wherever you want. audiences are in the 10s 100s and 1 000s rather than millions. more than 4 300 podcasts are currently listed. curry s daily source code - which he committed to doing daily to inspire the community - has 10s of thousands of listeners. but dave winer is doubtful. he designed the format called rss (really simple syndication) which gives web users an easy way to keep updated automatically on sites they like. podcasts rely on his technology because it is the way they are distributed. he is also writer of the longest-running weblog on the net scripting news. he thinks its power lies in its democratising potential not in its over-hyped business promise. we re the sources the people doing stuff and podcasting is a way to tell people who care what we re doing. no matter how you look at it commercialising this medium isn t going to make very much money he says. podcasting is going to be a medium of niches with audiences measured in the single digits like e-mail or blogs. maybe in a few years maybe six or seven digits. but it will have to sustain interest beyond the hype balloon. curry and associate ron bloom s new venture called podshow is to help ordinary people produce post distribute and market their podcasts. because of the way podcasts work based on rss the latest podcasts which people can select mean that they are ready-made targets. when you look at podcasting - wow this is a pretty interesting audience. the audience is pre-selected. they have decided to subscribe to your program explains curry. advertising in his eyes can be tailored to podcasts to make it more imaginative and unobtrusive. how i believe this will work is to create a network that in aggregation will have enough numbers to support a return on investment for the advertisers and for the podcasters. i have 50 60 70 000 listeners. i could make a couple of bucks off that but not much. if you are talking a million podcasters and then you can kind of divide that amongst ourselves then that is kind of interesting. essentially he says if you are doing a bass fishing podcast someone who is selling bait and tackle will probably want to advertise on your show. he is clear the ads will not be the traditional in-your-face type familiar to commercial radio now. we are really going to see these microcosms and commerce will be all over the place. it is happening already. coffee-loving curry has sold $4 000 worth of coffee machines through a referral link to amazon from his site. others use in-show promotions like the dawn and drew show. one eric rice has won sponsorship from warner bros. he can now legally play the music of a band warner bros wants to push. some commentators on the net say it has a similar feel to the dotcom days. others say it is just another element of setting media free from big companies and letting people be creative. one thing is for sure; they are not about to disappear in a hurry. the creative forces behind radio are elated says curry. for now he tunes out the negative comments within the podcasting community. i should be knighted for this he adds with a wry chuckle people are going to be so happy to sit at home make their podcast and make a little money.

tech

man city 0-2 man utd manchester united reduced chelsea s premiership lead to nine points after a scrappy victory over manchester city. wayne rooney met gary neville s cross to the near post with a low shot which went in via a deflection off richard dunne to put united ahead. seven minutes later the unfortunate dunne hooked a volley over david james head and into his own net. steve mcmanaman wasted city s best chance when he shot wide from three yards in the first half. in the opening 45 minutes united had looked unlikely to earn the win they needed to maintain any chance of catching chelsea in the title race. their approach play was more laboured than patient and they managed to fashion just one chance - a paul scholes header over the bar. and city seemed to be content to sit back and try and hit their rivals on the break as the game settled into a tepid pattern. only shaun wright-phillips appeared capable of interrupting the monotony looking lively down the right and causing gabriel heinze problems. wes brown also found wright-phillips to be a difficult opponent when the tricky winger embarrassed him near the touchline. wright-phillips sublime skill and pace took him past brown and he delivered a pin-point centre to the feet of mcmanaman. but the former liverpool player demonstrated why he has never scored against united by side-footing the easy chance wide. john o shea was forced off after an earlier clash with sylvain distin and cristiano ronaldo came on to replace him. he immediately caused ben thatcher some discomfort and looked set to inject some much-needed pace into the united attack. rooney was being well marshalled by dunne - but that was all about to change. after the break united poured forward and there was a renewed urgency about their play. and when neville delivered a cross in a carbon copy of city s best first-half chance rooney showed mcmanaman how to do it - even if he needed the help of dunne s leg. worse was to come for dunne who had been having a fine match. on 75 minutes he scored a horrible own goal when attempting to volley clear rooney s cross and united seemed home and dry. however city did fight back and fowler missed another great chance from close range. and united keeper roy carroll saved well from kiki musampa. but united could have a had a third late on when substitute ryan giggs hit the post. - manchester city boss kevin keegan: we had a great chance to take the lead and the first goal was always going to be crucial. we started off with a good tempo but then we allowed them to dictate the pace a bit too much. but we still had four good chances two after we d gone 2-0 down the one mcmanaman missed was very similar to the one wayne rooney scored from. - manchester united boss sir alex ferguson: it wasn t our best performance of the last three months but i think we re deserved winners. at times especially in the first half we didn t play with enough speed. but with (cristiano) ronaldo and (ryan) giggs on the speed improved. derby games can be like that they can be scrappy dull horrible and it was maybe like that. man city: james mills (bradley wright-phillips 83) dunne distin thatcher shaun wright-phillips barton (macken 68) sibierski mcmanaman musampa fowler. subs not used: weaver onuoha flood. booked: fowler sibierski. man utd: carroll gary neville ferdinand brown heinze o shea (ronaldo 33) keane fortune fletcher (giggs 64) rooney scholes (phil neville 84). subs not used: howard bellion. booked: rooney scholes keane. goals: rooney 68 dunne 75 og. att: 47 111 ref: s bennett (kent).

sport

terror suspects face house arrest uk citizens suspected of involvement in terrorism could face house arrest as part of a series of new measures outlined by the home secretary. it comes after law lords ruled that the detention of 12 foreign terror suspects without trial breached human rights. charles clarke s planned control orders mean anyone suspected of being involved in terrorism could be subject to house arrest curfews or tagging. the law society dubbed mr clarke s new proposals an abuse of power . deals are already being sought to deport some of the foreign detainees who are mainly held in belmarsh prison in london under the current laws introduced after the us terror attacks on 11 september 2001. mr clarke said efforts would continue to deport them to their countries of origin algeria tunisia egypt and jordan without them facing torture or death. under the proposed changes - prompted by the house of lords ruling - the home secretary could order british citizens or foreign suspects who could not be deported to face house arrest or other measures such as restrictions on their movements or limits on their use of telephones and the internet. british citizens are being included in the changes after the law lords said the current powers were discriminatory because they could only be used on foreign suspects. mr clarke also said intelligence reports showed some british nationals were now playing a more significant role in terror threats. human rights lawyer clive stafford-smith said the plans were a further abuse of human rights in britain . mr clarke said prosecutions were the government s first preference and promised the powers would only be used in serious cases with independent scrutiny from judges. he told mps: there remains a public emergency threatening the life of the nation. he accepted the law lords ruling but argued detention powers had helped prevent attacks and deter terrorists. the current detainees would not be freed until the new powers were in place as they were still considered a national security threat he told mps. there have been calls for the rules for wire-tap and intercept evidence to be allowed to be used in courts but mr clarke refused to back that change. he said intercept evidence was only a small part of the case against the men and some of it could not be used because it could put sources lives at risk. most of the terror suspects are being held indefinitely at belmarsh prison in london. conservative shadow home secretary david davis was worried about extending special powers to cover british citizens. he warned: throughout history internment has generally backfired because of the resentment it creates. so unless the process is clearly just the home secretary could find himself confining one known terrorist only to recruit 10 unknown terrorists. he suggested changing the law to let security-cleared judges view evidence gathered by phone-tapping could allow more terror cases to come to court. liberal democrat spokesman mark oaten also backed use of wire-tap evidence. he said the standard of proof for the new powers would have to be very high indeed and he asked whether ministers had looked at measures which fitted with human rights laws. shami chakrabarti from human rights group liberty joined calls for intercept evidence to be allowed in trials. she said: adherence to the rule of law should not be a game of cat and mouse. the government should not swap one human rights opt out for another.

politics

oscars race enters final furlong the race for the oscars entered its final stages as the deadline for voters to choose their winners passed. the 5 808 academy voters had until tuesday afternoon to return their ballots - any late submissions will not be included in the count. the next five days will be spent counting the voting forms and preparing the winners envelopes. best actor nominee leonardo dicaprio is to present a statuette for the first time at the la ceremony on sunday. the 30-year-old actor who is nominated for playing howard hughes in the aviator will join other hopefuls such as co-star cate blanchett natalie portman and kate winslet as oscar presenters. the only people who will know the oscar winners before they are revealed at the ceremony will be the auditors who are in charge of looking after the ballot count. after collating the results they are responsible for sealing the results in the famous golden envelopes which will be revealed by a host of celebrity presenters at the ceremony. former academy award winners gwyneth paltrow dustin hoffman and halle berry will also present prizes. the event at the kodak theatre will be attended by 3 300 people including some of the best-known names in film and organisers say they expect it will be watched on television by one billion people around the world. one current concern is the torrential rain which has lashed los angeles for the past week flooding suburbs and causing mudslides. it is hoped the forecast for sunday for cool weather but no rain will prove accurate. the last time it rained on oscars night was in the mid-to-late 1980s said oscars communications director john pavlik. we have had rain up until the day before the show many times but for some reason the oscar gods always shine on sunday and we hope they will do so again this year he added.

entertainment

tevez - an argentine in brazil some 65 years ago bernardo gandulla left boca juniors in his native argentina and headed for brazil. he arrived at the vasco da gama club with considerable prestige - which he failed to live up to. he left an impression but not for reasons he would have wanted. the only thing of note he did was to throw the ball back when it went out of play. even today gandula is the term used in brazil for ballboy. brazilians delighted in the failure of gandulla then and many will delight now if history is repeated. another boca juniors player is coming to brazil. the new maradona - carlos tevez - is joining corinthians for nearly $20m in a strong candidate for the strangest move of the year. corinthians - or the london-based company who have just entered into partnership with them - appear to have paid well above the odds for tevez. it is particularly strange as - until last week - tevez was not even an especially big name in brazil where the argentine championship is not shown. presumably there is some financial logic behind the move. what is harder to work out is why tevez should be interested in heading north rather than across the atlantic. argentina s brightest new star hit top form in august as he spearheaded the charge towards the olympic gold medal. but the subsequent months have not been easy for tevez. boca re-signed martin palermo forcing tevez to vacate his favoured centre forward role. and off the pitch he gave the press plenty to report - atletico madrid gave up on him after declaring his private life to be disorganized. hounded by the press tevez grew tired of his life in buenos aires. so now he says that he is heading for corinthians in search of tranquillity. anyone acquainted with the city of são paulo will relish the nonsense of this declaration. brazil s biggest city is a sprawling ugly restless metropolis. once it shared with buenos aires the same melancholy air of a city of italian immigrants. but that world now lies buried under skyscrapers. the most turbulent place in this frenetic city is sport club corinthians. it is the most passionately supported club in brazil. pelé scored reams of goals against them reasoning that unless he did something special the corinthians fans were capable of winning the game on their own. that passion can also be turned against the team - especially nowadays when the level of urban violence gives a hysterical edge to life in brazil s big cities. corinthians fans have invaded the dressing room or ambushed the team coach to attack the players. tevez then can kiss tranquillity goodbye. he can also say farewell to the copa libertadores south america s champions league. corinthians have not qualified. indeed he will have a long wait for a worthwhile match. next year s brazilian championship only gets underway at the end of april. until then he will have to make do with the foolish são paulo state championship an appalling waste of his talent. there will be matches in small towns on poor pitches with plenty of defenders keen to kick him all the way back to argentina. like so many of the top south american players tevez has the gift of being able to surprise - to feint right and go left to pass when he was expected to dribble to shoot and catch the goalkeeper unawares. but his choice of destination is the biggest surprise of all.

sport

labour s election love-in peace and love have been in short supply in the labour party in recent days. if press reports are to be believed alan milburn and gordon brown have been at each other s throats over the contents of labour s next election manifesto. but the pair were all smiles on tuesday morning as they joined john prescott to unveil labour s latest poster campaign. the event - at old billingsgate fish market on the banks of the thames - was a carefully choreographed show of unity. and the surest sign yet that we are heading for a general election in the next few months. it was also one of the most bizarre photo opportunities of recent years. the first inkling something slightly odd was afoot was when - in place of the soft rock music normally chosen for such occasions - labour s speakers crackled to life with the sound of booker t and the mgs. then a vw camper van trundled into view decked out in that most mind-bending of psychedelic messages - lowest mortgage rate for 40 years . as the side-door slid open it looked for one glorious moment as if the cabinet had decided to bury their differences and go on the road together scooby doo-style. but sadly it wasn t the cabinet who had raided the dressing-up box - just six rather ill-at-ease looking labour students. two were dressed as regency dandies - to unveil a poster trumpeting the longest period of economic growth for 200 years . another pair of students were in a beatle wig and sgt pepper jacket to highlight the lowest interest rates since the 1960s . the remaining two were dressed in a vague approximation of disco chic to demonstrate the lowest unemployment since the seventies . the politicians - led out by john prescott - were soberly-suited as always. the event may have been designed to highlight labour s economic success under mr brown but there was little doubt who was in charge. the chancellor walked side-by-side with mr milburn pointedly exchanging chit chat as they approached the microphone. but it was mr milburn who took centre stage speaking of the positive campaign the party hoped to stage in the coming weeks and months . the mobile poster vans would let people know britain is working again . mr brown repeated the familiar mantras displayed on the posters and spoke of labour s shared purpose and united dedication . it was left to mr prescott to pay glowing tribute to the chancellor s record and in a final flourish to produce his famous pledge card from 1997 claiming labour has met all of its promises. the event was carefully stage-managed to underline cabinet unity. and more specifically to demonstrate the central role mr brown will play in the election campaign despite being sidelined as campaign chief in favour of mr milburn. but keen students of body language will have had a field day. there was much forced smiling for the cameras but only mr prescott who revels in such occasions seemed to be truly enjoying himself. mr milburn made a point of turning to face the chancellor as he spoke nodding thoughtfully. but it was the former health secretary s final gesture placing an arm on mr brown s back as they walked away from the microphones which was perhaps the most telling. thanks for dropping by gordon he might have been saying.

politics

philippoussis doubt over open bid mark philippoussis is almost certain to miss the australian open after suffering a groin injury during the hopman cup loss to the netherlands. the 28-year-old suffered two tears to the adductor muscle and was unable to play in the deciding mixed doubles. he is now unlikely to be fit in time for the australian open which begins on 17 january in melbourne. he has to strengthen it enough to cope with repetitive days of tennis said hopman cup doctor hamish osborne. it would be very unlikely in my opinion for him to do a five-setter once let alone two days in a row inside two weeks. the injury is more common in australian rules football and a fit footballer would normally take three to four weeks to recover fully although mark s injury is slightly different. the australian has suffered a host of injury problems throughout his career but is still holding out slim hope that he can make the event. it s something i ll have to go by feel. i ll start treatment as soon as possible and try to strengthen it without tearing it any more he said. what doesn t kill you makes you stronger. i know i can come back from this and that s all that matters. - former world number two tommy haas is also a doubt for the australian open after picking up a thigh injury playing for germany in the hopman cup. the 26-year-old had treatment on his left thigh while leading argentine guillermo coria 7-5 2-2. he played one more game but his movement was hampered and he quit.

sport

court mulls file-sharing future judges at the us supreme court have been hearing evidence for and against file-sharing networks. the court will decide whether producers of file-sharing software can ultimately be held responsible for copyright infringement. they questioned if opening the way for the entertainment industry to sue file-sharers could deter innovation. they also said that file-trading firms had some responsibility for inducing people to piracy. the lawsuit brought by 28 of the world s largest entertainment firms has raged for several years. legal experts agree that if the supreme court finds in favour of the music and movie industry they would be able to sue file-trading firms into bankruptcy. but if the judge rules that grokster and morpheus - the file-sharers at the centre of the case - are merely providers of technology that can have legitimate as well as illegitimate uses then the music and movie industry would be forced to abandon its pursuit of file-sharing providers. instead they would have to pursue individuals who use peer-to-peer networks to get their hands on free music and movies. the hi-tech and entertainment industries have been divided on the issue. intel filed a document with the supreme court earlier this month in defence of grokster and others despite misgivings about some aspects of the file-sharing community. it summed up the attitude of many tech firms in its submission which states that its products are essentially tools that like any other tools capable of being used by consumers and businesses for unlawful purposes . asking firms to second-guess the uses that its technologies would be put to and to build in ways of preventing illegitimate use would stifle innovation it said. the electronic frontier foundation a civil rights watchdog is also defending streamcast networks the company behind the morpheus file-sharing software. the case raises a question of critical importance at the border between copyright and innovation it said. it cites as do many the landmark ruling in 1984 which found that sony should not be held responsible for the fact that its betamax video recorder could be used for piracy. defenders remain optimistic that the judges will rule in favour of the peer-to-peer networks upholding the precedent set by the sony betamax case. a small band of supporters were outside the court as the lawyers entered wearing save betamax t-shirts. the betamax principles stand as the magna carta for the technology industry and are responsible for the explosion in innovation that has occurred in the us over the past 20 years said gary shapiro chief executive of the consumer electronics association. supreme court justice stephen breyer said that inventions from printing to apple s ipod could be used to illegally duplicate copyrighted materials but had on balance been beneficial to society. he said that while file-trading software can be used to illegally trade movies and music conceptually the technology had some really excellent uses . based on tuesday s hearing it seems unlikely that the betamax ruling will be overturned but file-sharing firms might still be held responsible for encouraging or inducing piracy. grokster s lawyer argued that the company should be judged by its current behaviour rather than what it did when it first set up. but this argument was dismissed as ridiculous by justice david souter. cea boss mr shapiro thinks the case is the most important that the supreme court will hear this year. it s about preserving america s proud history of technological innovation and protecting the ability of consumers to access and utilise technology he said. the case has already been heard by two lower courts and both found in favour of the peer-to-peer networks. they ruled that despite being used to distribute millions of illegal songs file-sharing could also be used to cheaply distribute software government documents and promotional copies of music.

tech

lawyer attacks anti-terror laws a senior barrister who has resigned in protest over the government s anti-terror laws says the current system is giving britain a bad name. ian macdonald qc quit when the government failed to recognise a house of lords ruling that detaining terror suspects indefinitely is unlawful. he was part of a 19-strong panel who have special security clearance to act for suspected terrorists. five more barristers are now reported to be threatening to resign. mr macdonald told bbc news: the reason why i am resigning is because i fundamentally disagree with locking people up without any trial for an indefinite period on reasonable suspicion. the current legal system is certainly having a very adverse effect on the muslim community in britain and the whole asian community. i think it is giving britain a bad name internationally . under the anti-terrorism crime and security act introduced by the government in 2001 in response to the 11 september attacks foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism who cannot be deported can be held indefinitely without trial. but mr macdonald believes that detainees currently being held should be entitled to a trial by jury. my own view is we need to have a full return to trial by jury a proper criminal trial with proper accusations. as far as i m concerned the government have to start all over again and rethink their whole strategy for dealing with this. he added. the attorney general lord goldsmith will receive a letter of resignation from mr macdonald on monday. according to the independent his resignation is expected to be followed by those of five other barristers - nicholas blake qc andrew nicol qc manjit singh gill qc rick scannell and tom de la mare. they are all believed to be carefully considering their positions on the panel of special advocates who represent detainees before the special immigration appeals commission (siac) - a secure court without a jury which tries terror suspects. mr macdonald said he had no idea whether further resignations would follow. but barry hugill a spokesman for the campaign group liberty told radio 4 s today programme that more lawyers may go. i can assure that there is a distinct possibilty that more lawyers may be resigning he said. they are now in a situation where everything they have been trained to believe in the right to trial by jury has been abandoned and that is what gives some of them sleepless nights. helena kennedy a labour peer and a human rights lawyer said the special advocates main concern was that once they had seen any special intelligence they were not allowed to speak to the detainees. when this whole procedure was being considered immediately after 11 september there was a great deal of argument particularly in the house of lords about whether there really was a process that could be considered a judicial review she said. without that you are having detention with no habeus corpus and really a blot as ian mcdonald has said on our legal landscape something really quite shocking with regard to the rule of the law.

politics

alfa romeos to get gm engines fiat is to stop making six-cylinder petrol engines for its sporty alfa romeo subsidiary unions at the italian carmaker have said. the unions claim fiat is to close the fiat powertrain plant at arese near milan and instead source six-cylinder engines from general motors. fiat has yet to comment on the matter but the unions say the new engines will be made by gm in australia. the news comes a week after gm pulled out of an agreement to buy fiat. gm had to pay former partner fiat 1.55bn euros ($2bn; £1.1bn) to get out of a deal which could have forced it to buy the italian carmaker outright. fiat and gm also ended their five-year alliance and two joint ventures in engines and purchasing but did agree to continue buying each other s engines. powertrain told us today that alfa romeo engines will no longer be made in arese said union leader vincenzo lilliu as reported by the reuters news agency. the assembly line will be dismantled and the six-cylinder alfa romeo motor will be replaced with an engine gm produces in australia. reuters also said that mr lilliu and other union bosses shouted insults at fiat chairman luca di montezemolo following a meeting on tuesday regarding the future of the arese plant. the unions said the end of engine production at the facility would mean the loss of 800 jobs. all alfa romeo models can be bought with a six-cylinder engine - the 147 156 156 sportwagon 166 gtv gt and spider.

business

playstation 3 chip to be unveiled details of the chip designed to power sony s playstation 3 console will be released in san francisco on monday. sony ibm and toshiba who have been working on the cell processor for three years will unveil the chip at a technology conference. the chip is reported to be up to 10 times faster than current processors. it is being designed for use in graphics workstations the new playstation console and has been described as a supercomputer on a chip. sony has said the cell processor could be used to bridge the gap between movies and video games. special effects and graphics designed for films could be ported for use directly in a video game sony told an audience at the e3 exhibition in los angeles last year. cell could also be marketed as an ideal technology for televisions and supercomputers and everything in between said kevin krewell the editor in chief of microprocessor report. the chip will be made of several different processing cores that work on tasks together. the playstation 3 is expected in 2006 but developers are expecting to get prototypes early next year to tune games that will appear on it at launch. details of the chip will be released at the international solid state circuits conference in san francisco. some details have already emerged however. when put inside powerful computer servers the cell consortium expects it to be capable of handling 16 trillion floating point operations or calculations every second. the chip has also been refined to be able to handle the detailed graphics common in games and the data demands of films and broadband media. ibm said it would start producing the chip in early 2005 at manufacturing plants in the us. the first machines off the line using the cell processor will be computer workstations and servers. a working version of the ps3 is due to be shown off in may 2005 but a full launch of the next generation console is not expected to start until 2006. in the future all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network said ken kutaragi chief operating officer of sony said last year. current pc architecture is nearing its limits he added.

tech

house prices rebound says halifax uk house prices increased by 1.1% in december the first monthly rise since september the halifax has said. the uk s biggest mortgage lender said prices rose 15.1% over the whole of 2004 but by only 2.8% in the second half of the year. the average price of a house in the uk now stands at £162 086 halifax said. the survey seems to fly in the face of recent evidence that the uk housing market has been slowing substantially in response to interest rate rises. last week the nationwide said that house prices fell 0.2% in december with annual inflation running at a three year low. on tuesday figures from the bank of england showed that the number of mortgages approved in the uk has fallen to the lowest level for nearly a decade. new loans in november fell to 77 000 from 85 000 in october the lowest rate since september 1995 the bank of england said. growth in unsecured lending such as personal loans and credit cards also slowed last month. capital economics which has in the past predicted a sharp fall in uk house prices branded halifax s findings a temporary surprise which would be reversed over the coming months. the month by month volatility of the halifax house price data should not distract from the fact that there is a clear downward trend in house prices a capital economics statement said. experts believe five interest rate rises since november 2003 are cutting borrowers appetite for debt. despite recording a price rise in december the halifax survey concluded that there was continuing signs of a genuine slowdown in the housing market. martin ellis halifax chief economist said that there was no need to revise the bank s prediction made last month that prices would fall by 2% in 2005. sound housing market fundamentals will continue to underpin the market in 2005 ensuring that the market remains healthy and that house prices fall only slightly mr ellis said. if the bank s prediction of a 2% price drop comes true it will be the first annual fall in nine years. the bank said that the recent pattern of house prices rising the fastest in the north of england continued in december. in the north west and yorkshire and the humber halifax said prices rose by 3% and 1.2% in the two regions respectively during the month. at the other send of the scale prices in the south east and london fell by 1.6% and 0.5% respectively. the biggest decline was seen in wales where prices fell by 6.2% an area that had experienced strong house price growth during most of 2004. overall halifax said prices in the final quarter of 2004 were 0.1% higher than in the previous quarter. this was the smallest quarterly rise since the second quarter of 2000 the bank said. as a result annual house price inflation dipped below 20% during the final few months of 2004.

business

mayor will not retract nazi jibe london mayor ken livingstone has again refused to retract a nazi insult made to a jewish reporter. labour s mr livingstone who says he is standing by his remarks had accused an evening standard journalist of being like a concentration camp guard . at his weekly press conference on tuesday he said his comments were not racist and refused to apologise. he said to media representatives: if you think they are racist i think you are wrong. the mayor said his comments would not affect the 2012 olympic bid and added that his determination to stand up for what he believed in may impress bid chiefs who arrived in london on tuesday. i think it is important that the ioc (international olympic committee) members realise that when we get the games...they have a mayor who is not going to panic change course or get in a great flap but will deliver the games on time and to budget he said. on tuesday the mayor said he would be making a full written response to the chairman of the assembly. two motions were passed by the london assembly which is made up of 25 members elected to examine the mayor s activities on monday asking him to apologise and withdraw his comments. the mayor said he had recounted to the assembly a number of examples of intrusion by journalists into his and his family s private life. i don t suggest for one minute that has anything to do with the holocaust which was uniquely the most evil chapter in history. but when reporters say to me i m only doing this because it s my job... that s the same abdication of moral responsibility at the thin end of the wedge that in its most extreme and horrific version ends up with others being prepared to stand as a concentration camp guard. we are responsible for our own choices in this life i always have been and so have reporters. an official complaint has been made to local government watchdogs by the board of deputies of british jews demanding an investigation by the standards board of england. it has the power to suspended or bar him from office but mr livingstone said: there must have been 20 instances like this over the last 24 years. i have never in response to any of that modified a policy i believed to be right or modified a position i believed to be right and i don t intend to now. because if i do that effectively you hand power over your policies and position to the editors of papers. on tape mr livingstone who once worked as a freelance restaurant critic on the paper is heard asking reporter oliver finegold if he is a german war criminal . mr finegold replies: no i m jewish i wasn t a german war criminal. i m quite offended by that. the mayor then says: ah right well you might be but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard you are just doing it because you are paid to aren t you

politics

uk s national gallery in the pink the national gallery home to some of the uk s greatest artworks has seen a big jump in visitor numbers. five million visitors made the london gallery - which houses treasures like raphael s madonna of the pinks - the uk s most visited museum in 2004. it recorded a 13.8% rise in numbers and was the country s second most visited tourist attraction behind blackpool pleasure beach. charles saumarez smith the gallery s director said he was delighted . he said the number of visitors through the doors had boosted figures to pre-11 september 2001 levels. mr saumarez smith added that the pedestrianisation of trafalgar square where the gallery is located and strong temporary collections throughout 2004 had led to the strong performance. our 2004 exhibition programme of el greco russian landscape in the age of tolstoy and raphael: from urbino to rome was particularly strong and exceeded all targets he said. the exceptional quality of the paintings in our permanent collection is also huge draw for the public. the expectations of today s visitors are higher than ever and we have kept pace with their demands. mr saumarez smith said he was confident the gallery could maintain the attendance. with important exhibitions of the work of caravaggio stubbs and rubens in place for 2005 i am confident that the gallery is set for another highly successful year he added. the figures were prepared by the association of leading visitor attractions (alva). it found that the figures had been boosted by an increase in europeans travelling to the uk on budget airlines. popular cultural tourist spots such as the tate modern and the natural history museum all recorded increases of more than 10% in visitor numbers compared with 2003. but for legal or confidentiality reasons some alva members did not submit figures for 2004 including buckingham palace windsor castle madame tussauds and alton towers. alva director robin broke said: visits from western europe were up by 10% and from north america by some 9% compared to 2003 while numbers from the rest of the world rose 20%. european figures were helped by the rapid growth of low-cost flights to britain from europe especially from new eu countries.

entertainment

school sport is back says pm tony blair has promised that sport is back as a priority for schools. the prime minister launched a £500m initiative to allow school sports clubs in england to provide up to three hours of extra activity a week by 2010. it s an important part of education and it s an important part of health mr blair said. but the conservatives say government proposals - which include two hours pe within school for 75% of pupils by 2006 - are unrealistic. the latest move is aimed at encouraging more diversity in sport with activities such as yoga and tai chi being options. launching the initiative mr blair completed an agility course and shot basketball hoops with students from the all-girl waverley sports college in southwark south london. he said: you ve got to bring back school sport. it s got to be done differently than it was 30 or 40 years ago. it s still very very important. earlier education secretary charles clarke told bbc news there were at least three areas which needed a coherent framework and dedicated funding . these were training for pe teachers establishing more specialist schools and the development of partnerships for activities such as inter-school competitions. he added the government had originally pledged for every pupil to get at least two hours of high-quality physical education a week. the proportion was currently at 62% and the government was hoping this would rise to 85% by 2008 and 100% by 2010. the money for the initiative will come from a new £500m fund. the £500m move will also increase the number of specialist sport colleges from 350 to 400. but the conservatives warned of rising obesity levels and said that since only a third of children do two hours of sport a week currently the government is promising something it cannot guarantee. shadow spokesman for sport hugh robertson said: i suspect the correct way to tackle it is to look at the other end of the spectrum and try to enable the clubs - which is where the real passion for sport exists - to deliver the school sport offer. he said more emphasis should be put on traditional sports saying that an anti-competitive sport agenda had been pursued in recent years. martin ward of the secondary heads association said members did not like ring-fenced funds and that it should be up to the schools themselves to decide how to spend their money.

politics

china s shanda buys stake in sina chinese online game operator shanda interactive entertainment has bought a 20% stake in sina the country s biggest internet portal firm. the move may be a precursor to a full takeover with analysts saying that a better-known international firm may also now show an interest in sina. shanda said that it may boost its stake in sina even buying it outright. a merger would create a firm that offers online role-playing games news entertainment and wireless messaging. sina said that the purchase of a stake by shanda would have no impact on its business. the board of directors said in a statement that it would continue to act in the best interests of all the company stakeholders including shareholders employees and customers . both companies are listed on the new york stock exchange s (nyse) technology-dominated nasdaq index. in a filing with the us securities and exchange commission sina said its shares were purchased between 12 january and 10 february for about $230m. rumours about a possible takeover boosted sina s shares by more than 10% on friday. they added an extra 6.4% to $27.24 in electronic trading after the trading session had finished. and there may be more gains amid bid speculation when trading resumes in new york on tuesday after monday s public holiday analysts forecast. there could still be some potential parties that could still counter bid said wallace cheung an analyst at dbs vickers. even though shanda has 20% of sina they still have quite a long way to take full control. however mr cheung noted that a foreign company trying to take control of a chinese internet portal firm with its ability to filter and pass on news may not be viewed very favourably by beijing.

business

levy tipped for whitbread prize novelist andrea levy is favourite to win the main whitbread prize book of the year award after winning novel of the year with her book small island. the book has already won the orange prize for fiction and is now 5/4 favourite for the £25 000 whitbread. second favourite is a biography of mary queen of scots by john guy. a panel of judges including sir trevor mcdonald actor hugh grant and writer joanne harris will decide the overall winner on tuesday. the five writers in line for the award won their respective categories - first novel novel biography poetry and children s book - on 6 january. small island levy s fourth novel is set in post-war london and centres on a landlady and her lodgers. one is a jamaican who joined british troops to fight hitler but finds life difficult out of uniform when he settles in the uk. what could have been a didactic or preachy prospect turns out to hilarious moving humane and eye-popping. it s hard to think of anybody not enjoying it wrote the judges. the judges called guy s my heart is my own: the life of mary queen of scots an impressive and readable piece of scholarship which cannot fail but leave the reader moved and intrigued by this most tragic and likeable of queens . guy has published many histories including one of tudor england. he is a fellow at clare college cambridge and became a honorary research professor of the university of st andrews in 2003. the other contenders include susan fletcher for eve green which won the first novel prize. fletcher has recently graduated from the university of east anglia s creative writing course. the fourth book in the running is corpus michael symmons roberts fourth collection of poems. as well as writing poetry symmons roberts also makes documentary films. geraldine mccaughrean is the final contender having won the children s fiction category for the third time for not the end of the world. mccaughrean who went into magazine publishing after studying teaching previously won the category in 1987 with a little lower than angels and in 1994 with gold dust.

entertainment

google shares fall as staff sell shares in google have fallen 6.7% after employees and early investors in the web search took advantage of the first chance to sell their holdings. restrictions were imposed ahead of its flotation in august to prevent shares being dumped quickly onto the market. in one of the most closely-watched initial public offerings in stock market history the us-based company sold 19.6 million shares at $85 each. google shares have risen since but fell $12.33 on tuesday to close at $172.55. the restriction - known as a lockup - is being eased piecemeal: in all some 227 million additional shares will become free to trade by february 2005. selling the shares could turn many of google s workers into millionaires. there were fears that the potential increase of shares in circulation from tuesday would ease demand for stock. however analysts say they expected most shareholders would be holding back from selling all their shares immediately as google s good performance and future growth potential means demand will hold. in its first earnings report since floating on the stock market google said it made a net profit of $52m in the three months ending 30 september. sales surged to $805.9m in the third quarter up from $393.9m a year earlier. google s main service - its internet search - is free to users so the firm makes much of its money from selling advertising space linked to the words for which its users search. it also sells the use of its technology to companies who need to make either their websites or their internal information systems searchable.

business

india-pakistan peace boosts trade calmer relations between india and pakistan are paying economic dividends with new figures showing bilateral trade up threefold in the summer. the value of trade in april-july rose to $186.3m (£97m) from $64.4m in the same period in 2003 the indian government said. nonethless the figures represent less than 1% of india s overall exports. but business is expected to be boosted further from 2006 when the south asian free trade area agreement starts. both countries eased travel and other restrictions as part of the peace process aimed at ending nearly six decades of hostilities. sugar plastics pharmaceutical products and tea are among the major exports from india to its neighbour while firms in pakistani have been selling fabrics fruit and spices. if the positive trend continues two-way trade could well cross half a billion dollars this fiscal year india s federal commerce minister kamal nath said. according to official data the value of india s overall exports in the current fiscal year is expected to reach more than $60bn while in pakistan s case it is set to hit more than $12bn. meanwhile the indian government said the prospects for the country s booming economy remained very bright despite a temporary aberration this year. its mid-year economic review forecasts growth of 6-6.5% in 2004 compared with 8.2% in 2003. higher oil prices the level of tax collections and an unfavourable monsoon season affecting the farm sector had hurt the economy in april-september it said.

business

ask jeeves joins web log market ask jeeves has bought the bloglines website to improve the way it handles content from web journals or blogs. the bloglines site has become hugely popular as it gives users one place in which to read search and share all the blogs they are interested in. ask jeeves said it was not planning to change bloglines but would use the 300 million articles it has archived to round out its index of the web. how much ask jeeves paid for bloglines was not revealed. bloglines has become popular because it lets users build a list of the blogs they want to follow without having to visit each journal site individually. to do this it makes use of a technology known as really simple syndication (rss) that many blogs have adopted to let other sites know when new entries are made on their journals. the acquisition follows similar moves by other search sites. google acquired pyra labs makers of the blogger software in 2003. in 2004 msn introduced its own blog system and yahoo has tweaked its technology to do a better job of handling blog entries. jim lanzone vice president of search properties at ask jeeves in the us said it did not acquire bloglines just to get a foothold in the blog publishing world. he said ask jeeves was much more interested in helping people find information they were looking for rather than helping them write it. the universe of readers is vastly larger than the universe of writers he said. mr lanzone said the acquisition would sit well with ask s my jeeves service which lets people customise their own web experience and build up a personal collection of useful links. search engines are about discovering information for the first time and rss is the ideal way to keep track of and monitor those sites he said. it would also help drive information and entries from blogs to the portals that ask jeeves operates. there would be no instant sweeping changes to bloglines said mr lanzone. our intent is to take our time to figure out the right business model not to try to monetise it right away he said. though mr lanzone added that ask jeeves would be helping organise the database of 300m blog entries bloglines holds with its own net indexing technology. being able to search the blogosphere as one corpus of information will be very useful in its own right said mr lanzone. rumours about the acquisition were broken by the napsterization weblog which said it got the hint from ask jeeves insiders.

tech

swiss cement firm in buying spree swiss cement firm holcim has bid $800m (£429m) to buy two indian cement firms and a holding company in the country. it plans to buy associated cement companies (acc) ambuja cement eastern and the holding firm ambuja cement india ltd a holcim statement said. shares in acc fell 5.5% as investors who thought the offer was underpriced decided to sell. meanwhile uk-based firm aggregate industries said it had agreed a £1.8bn takeover by holcim. the deal with aggregates will give holcim the world s second-biggest cement maker an entry into the uk market and boost its presence in the us. peter tom who will remain as aggregate chief executive said the 138p a share offer provided significant value for shareholders. the markfield leicestershire-based company runs 142 quarries in the uk and the us. it also has 164 ready-mixed concrete plants 90 asphalt plants and 32 pre-cast concrete factories. if the indian deals go ahead it will give holcim a major presence in the world s fastest-growing market behind china. acc is india s second-largest cement maker with an annual capacity of 18.2 million tonnes and a market share of 13%. holcim is looking to buy it (acc) very cheap said kk mittal a fund manager with escorts mutual fund in new delhi. the market is not impressed. if they want a substantial chunk then they should be paying a premium over the market price. shares in holcim rose by 2.3% on thursday following news of the takeover.

business

gritty return for prince of persia still basking in the relatively recent glory of last year s sands of time the dashing prince of persia is back in warrior within and in a more bellicose mood than last time. this sequel gives the franchise a grim gritty new look and ramps up the action and violence. as before you control the super-athletic prince from a third-person perspective. the time-travelling plot hinges on the dahaka an all-consuming monster pursuing our hero through the ages. the only way to dispel it is to turn back the clock again and kill the sultry empress of time before she ever creates the sands of time that caused the great beast s creation. studiously structured though this back story is everything boils down to old-fashioned fantasy gameplay which proves on the whole as dependable as it needs to be. ever since the series then-groundbreaking beginnings on the commodore amiga prince of persia has always been about meticulously-animated acrobatic moves that provide an energetic blend of leaping preposterously between pieces of scenery and lopping off enemies body parts. those flashy moves are back in full evidence and tremendous fun to perform and perfect. combining them at speed is the best fun although getting a handle of doing so takes practice and plenty of skill. until you reach that point it is a haphazard business. all too often you will perform a stunning triple somersault pirouette off a wall knock out three enemies in one glorious swoop before plummeting purposefully over a cliff to your doom. that in turn can mean getting set back an annoyingly long distance for you can only save at the fountains dotted along the path. the expected fiendish puzzles are all present and correct but combat is what is really been stepped up and there is more of it than before. the game s developers have combined acrobatic flair with gruesome slaying techniques in some wonderfully imaginative ways. slicing foes down the middle is one particularly entertaining method of seeing them off. warrior within is a very slick package; the game s intro movie is so phenomenally good that it actually does an ultimate disservice once the game itself commences. it is on a par with the jaw-dropping opening sequence of onimusha 3 earlier this year and when the game begins it is something of an anti-climax. that said the graphics are excellent and indeed among the most striking and satisfying elements of the game. the music is probably the worst aspect - a merit-free heavy metal soundtrack that you will swiftly want to turn off. there is something strangely unsatisfying about the game. perhaps precisely because its graphics and mechanics are so good that the story and overall experience are not quite as engaging as they should be. somehow it adds up to less than the sum of its parts and is more technically impressive than it is outright enjoyable. but that is not to say warrior within is anything other than a superb adventure that most will thoroughly enjoy. it just does not quite take the character to the new heights that might have been hoped for.

tech

india widens access to telecoms india has raised the limit for foreign direct investment in telecoms companies from 49% to 74%. communications minister dayanidhi maran said that there is a need to fund the fast-growing mobile market. the government hopes to increase the number of mobile users from 95 million to between 200 and 250 million by 2007. we need at least $20bn (£10.6bn) in investment and part of this has to come as foreign direct investment said mr maran. the decision to raise the limit for foreign investors faced considerable opposition from the communist parties which give crucial support to the coalition headed by prime minister manmohan singh. potential foreign investors will however need government approval before they increase their stake beyond 49% mr maran said. key positions such as those of chief executive chief technology officer and chief financial officer are to be held by indians he added. analysts and investors have welcomed the government decision. it is a positive development for carriers and the investment community looking to take a longer-term view of the huge growth in the indian telecoms market said gartner s principal analyst kobita desai. the fdi relaxation coupled with rapid local market growth could really ignite interest in the indian telecommunication industry added ernst and young s sanjay mehta. investment bank morgan stanley has forecast that india s mobile market is likely to grow by about 40% a year until 2007. the indian mobile market is currently dominated by four companies bharti televentures which has allied itself with singapore telecom essar which is linked with hong kong-based hutchison whampoa the sterling group and the tata group.

business

labour faces cold calls inquiry labour is to be investigated by a watchdog over claims its election campaign has broken the rules on cold calling householders. the information commissioner is to look into a complaint from the lib dems about how labour uses its call centres. the lib dems say labour is telephoning people who have signed up to make sure they do not get marketing calls. labour denies breaking rules. it says calls are not marketing if they just ask about people s voting intentions. the party says it would expect the watchdog to take complaints seriously but it has clear legal advice on the issue. telephone call centres are expected to be used as never before by all the three major parties in the run-up to the general election. but seven million telephone numbers are on the telephone preference service (tps) lists which ban unsolicited sales and marketing calls. lib dem chairman matthew taylor has written to the watchdog accusing labour of a flagrant and systematic breach of the laws governing the tps. he says the initial call may not be marketing but it identifies voters to whom the party can send promotional material in the future. his letter to the commissioner quotes from a labour party handbook about identifying target voters . and it quotes a stevenage labour party members newsletter explaining how voters will be telephoned about their voting intentions. the voters are put in 24 categories according to their last known voting intention ranging from labour (firm) to target (conservative) - those who supported the party in the past but this time will be voting tory. the newsletter says: using the information we know about people we can send them direct mailings. for example we could send the target (conservative) people a letter from someone who had defected from the tories to labour explaining the reasons why voting tory is a bad idea or we could send labour (weak) people a letter encouraging them to sign up for a postal vote. mr taylor tells the commissioner: it is clear beyond peradventure from the above that the labour party is engaging in a large-scale voter id project for subsequent promotional purposes through targeted and segmented mailings. insofar as this project is directed at tps subscribers it is equally clear that it is unlawful. the lib dems raised worries about labour and conservative calls in february and 680 people have signed up to the website they set up to help people to complain. a party official said there was only scattered evidence of the tories breaking the rules but people had complained every day about labour. a spokeswoman for the information commissioner s office said it was examining one complaint about political calls - understood to be mr taylor s. we are investigating one of the complaints where some evidence has been given to us she said. obviously evidence is needed for us to start investigations. the commissioner s office will now examine the lib dem evidence. the guidance is that cold calling can be made as long as no marketing is going on said the spokeswoman. if labour is judged to have broken the rules it will be asked stop immediately. if it fails to do so after two or three warning letters the commissioner can issue an enforcement notice spelling out what the party needs to do or stop doing. the party could appeal against the decision to an information tribunal. if the appeal fails and it continues breaking the rules it could be fined up to £5 000. labour says it avoids those on tps lists when telephoning people about membership or fundraising but not when making voter identification calls. asked about the commissioner s inquiry a labour spokesman told bbc news: we expect the information commissioner to take any complaint seriously. however we are absolutely clear that we haven t broken any rules. as the information commissioner himself has said if people are not marketing something if they are asking them which way they are going to vote they are not in breach of the law. we always ask everyone we phone up whether they would be happy to be contacted by the labour party again.

politics

anti-terror plan faces first test plans to allow home secretary charles clarke to place terror suspects under house arrest without trial are set for their first real test in parliament. tories lib dems and some labour mps are poised to vote against the plans. mr clarke says the powers are needed to counter terror threats. opponents say only judges not politicians should be able to order detention of uk citizens. the government is expected to win wednesday s vote in the commons but faces a battle in the house of lords. the prevention of terrorism bill was published on tuesday. it proposes control orders which would mean house arrest in the most serious cases and curfews electronic tagging and limits on telephone and internet access for other suspects. the two opposition parties are particularly worried that the control orders would initially be imposed on the say-so of the home secretary rather than a judge. tory shadow home secretary david davis warned of the potential for miscarriages of justice like the guildford four - for which tony blair recently apologised - as a result of the pressure on politicians to lock up terror suspects. those pressures would be much more for a politician than they would on a judge and that s why we have serious concerns abut that approach he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. mr clarke says he does not intend to use the house arrest powers now - even for the 11 current terror detainees. he also said that any decision he made would be reviewed by a judge within seven days. the foreign terror suspects currently detained are mostly held at london s belmarsh prison. they are held under laws which the law lords have ruled break human rights rules - and which are due to expire on 14 march. the new powers designed to replace the existing laws and meet the law lords concerns would apply to british as well as foreign terror suspects. critics say that giving politicians the power to deprive uk citizens of their freedom is the biggest attack on civil liberties for 300 years. opposition mps are also angry they will have only two days - wednesday and next monday - to debate the new plans before they pass to the house of lords. but the government says the existing powers run out soon so must be replaced urgently. in a rare move the tories and lib dems have jointly tabled a motion opposing the new bill saying the house arrest plans are excessive . it argues decisions should be taken on a higher standard of proof and the plan wrongly infringes the right to liberty by failing to bring terrorists to trial where there is evidence. mr davis told today: it gives a minister for the first time in modern history the right to detain without trial without showing the evidence and indeed in some respects almost the allegation against the individual concerned. he questioned why there was such a rush to introduce the legislation when mr clarke had indicated he was not planning to use the house arrest powers straight away. liberal democrat home affairs spokesman mark oaten said: we believe it should be the judge that takes decisions not politicians. mr clarke said the security services and police backed his measures and it would be rash and negligent to ignore their advice. nobody should doubt that terrorists at home and abroad wanted to attack the uk and its interests he argued.

politics

plaid mp s cottage arson claim a plaid cymru mp believes uk security services were involved in some arson attacks blamed on welsh extremists. it is 25 years since the start of 12 years of fire-bombings attributed to a shadowy group known as meibion glyndwr. plaid cymru s elfyn llwyd has suggested the security services could have been involved with the intention of discrediting the nationalist vote. ex-welsh office minister lord roberts of conwy denied security services were involved. in march this year north wales police reopened the case saying materials kept during their investigations would be examined to find whether it would yield dna evidence. meibion glyndwr - which means sons of glyndwr - began burning property in december 1979 in protest at homes in rural wales being sold as holiday cottages to people from england. the group was linked to most of the 220 or so fire-bombing incidents stretching from the llyn peninsula to pembrokeshire. the campaign continued until the early 1990s. police were accused in some quarters of targeting anyone who was a nationalist. although one man sion aubrey roberts was convicted in 1993 of sending letter bombs in the post the arson cases remain unsolved. as a solicitor elfyn llwyd represented welsh singer bryn fôn when he was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the arson campaign. fôn was released without charge . but now as mp for merionnydd nant conwy and plaid cymru s parliamentary leader mr llwyd has argued that some of the terror attacks may have had the involvement of the security services and not meibion glyndwr. he believes that elements of the british security services may have carried out renegade actions in order to discredit plaid cymru and the nationalist vote ahead of elections. the claim is made in an interview for bbc wales maniffesto programme to be shown on s4c on sunday. mr llwyd said that the sophistication of many of the devices used in the attacks compared to the crude nature of many others suggests a degree of professionalism which could only have come from individuals who knew exactly what they were doing. he said: what i m saying is that the role that they took wasn t the appropriate one i.e. like an agent provocateur and perhaps interfering and creating a situation where it looked like it was the nationalists that were responsible. the programme also heard from lord roberts of conwy who was a welsh office minister at the time. he denied that the security services played any improper role. mr llwyd s theory has also been questioned by plaid cymru s former president dafydd wigley. he accepted that the fires damaged plaid cymru s public image but believed that the security services had their hands full at the time with the ira and animal rights activists. - maniffesto can be seen on s4c on sunday 12 december at 1200 gmt.

politics

solutions to net security fears fake bank e-mails or phishing and stories about id theft are damaging the potential of using the net for online commerce say e-business experts. trust in online security is falling as a result. almost 70% of those asked in a poll said that net firms are not doing enough to protect people. the survey of more than 1 000 people reported that 43% were not willing to hand over personal information online. it is worrying for shopaholics and firms who want to exploit the net. more people are becoming aware of online security issues but they have little confidence that companies are doing enough to counter the threats said security firm rsa which carried out the poll. an estimated 12 million britons now use the net as a way of managing their financial affairs. security experts say that scare stories and the vulnerabilities dogging e-commerce and e-banking are being taken seriously - by banks in particular. i don t think the threat is overplayed barry beal global security manager for capgemini told the bbc news website. he added: the challenge for banks is to provide the customer with something that improves security but balances that with usability. ensuring extra security measures are in place protects them too as well as the individual and it is up to both parties to make sure they do what is necessary to prevent fraud he said. card issuers will keep us informed of types of attacks and what procedure to take to protect ourselves. if we do that they will indemnify us he said. many believe using login details like usernames and passwords are simply not good enough anymore though. one of the biggest challenges to improving security online is how to authenticate an individual s identity. several security companies have developed methods which complement or replace passwords which are easily compromised and easy to forget. last year a street survey found that more than 70% of people would reveal their password for a bar of chocolate. on average people have to remember four different passwords. some resort to using the same one for all their online accounts. those who use several passwords often write them down and hide them in a desk or in a document on their computer. in a separate survey by rsa 80% said they were fed up with passwords and would like a better way to login to work computer systems. for many the ideal is a single online identity that can be validated once with a series of passwords and questions or some biometric measurement like a fingerprint or iris scan with a token like a smartcard. activcard is just one of the many companies like rsa security which has been trying to come up with just that. rsa has a deal with internet provider aol that lets people pay monthly for a one-time passcode generation service. users get a physical token which automatically generates a code which stays active for 60 seconds. many companies use a token-based method already for employees to access networks securely already. activcard s method is more complex. it is currently trailing its one-time passcode generation technology with uk banks. steve ash from activcard told the bbc news website there are two parts to the process of identification. the most difficult is to ascertain whether an individual is who they say they are when they are online. the end solution is to provide a method where you combine something the user knows with something they have and present those both. the method it has developed makes use of the chip embedded in bank cards and a special card reader which can generate unique codes that are active for a specified amount of time. this can be adjusted at any time and can be active for as little as 30 seconds before it changes. it combines that with usual usernames and passwords as well as other security questions. you take the card put it in the reader enter your pin number and a code is given. if you wanted then to transfer funds for instance you would have to have the code to authorise the transaction. the clever bit happens back at the bank s secure servers. the code is validated by the bank s systems matching the information they expect with the customer s unique key. each individual gets a key which is unique to them. it is a 2048-bit long number that is virtually impossible to crack said mr ash. it means that in a typical security attack explains mr ash even if password information is captured by a scammer using keystroke software or just through spoof websites they need the passcode. by the time they go back [to use the information] the code has expired so they can t prove who they are according to mr ash. in the next few years mr ash predicts that this kind of method will be commonplace before we see biometric authentication that is acceptable for widespread use. pcs will have readers built into them the cost of readers will be very cheap and more people will have the cards. the gadgets we carry around like personal digital assistants (pdas) and mobiles could also have integrated card reader technology in them. the pda or phone method is a possible alternative as people are always carrying phones around he said.

tech

bnp leader nick griffin arrested the leader of the british national party has been arrested as part of a police inquiry following the screening of a bbc documentary. a party spokesman said nick griffin was arrested on tuesday morning on suspicion of incitement to commit racial hatred. west yorkshire police confirmed they had arrested a 45-year-old man from outside their area. bnp founding chairman john tyndall was arrested on sunday on the same charge. in july the bbc documentary secret agent featured covertly-filmed footage of bnp activists. mr griffin is the twelfth man to be arrested following the documentary. nine men from west yorkshire and another man from leicester have been arrested and freed on bail. seven of the men had been held variously in connection with suspected racially aggravated public order offences conspiracy to commit criminal damage and possession of a firearm. two men both from keighley were arrested in september on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage. a 24-year-old man from leicester was detained on monday on suspicion of incitement to commit racial hatred. a bnp spokesperson said mr tyndall from brighton was arrested following a speech he made in burnley lancashire and was released on police bail.

politics

casual gaming to take off games aimed at casual players are set to be even bigger in 2005 according to industry experts. easy-to-play titles that do not require too much time and that are playable online or downloadable to mobile devices will see real growth in the coming year. the trend shows that gaming is not just about big-hitting games console titles which appeal more to hardcore gamers said a panel of experts. they were speaking before the annual consumer electronics show in las vegas which showcases the latest trends in gadgets and technologies for 2005. the panel also insisted that casual gamers were not just women a common misconception which pervades current thinking about gamer demographics. casual games like poker pool bridge bingo and puzzle-based titles which can be played online or downloaded onto mobile devices were gender neutral and different genres attracted different players. greg mills program director at aol said its figures suggested that sports-based games attracted 90% of 18 to 24-year-old males while puzzle games were played by 80% of females. games like bridge tended to attract the over-50 demographic of gamers. but hardcore gamers who are more attracted to blockbuster gamers which usually require hi-spec pcs like half-life 2 or halo 2 on xbox also liked to have a different type of gaming experience. when hardcore gamers are not playing halo they are playing poker and pool based on our research said geoff graber director of yahoo games which attracts about 12 million gamers a month. with the growth of powerful pc technology and ownership broadband take-up portable players and mobile devices as well as interactive tv casual gaming is shaping up to be big business in 2005 according to the panel. the focus for the coming year should be about attracting third-party developers into the field to offer more innovative and multiplayer titles they agreed. we are at a time where we are on the verge of something much bigger said mr graber. casual games will get into their stride in 2005 will be really big in 2006 and will be about community. with more people finding more to do with their gadgets and high-speed connections casual games would start to open up the world of gaming as a form of mass-market entertainment to more people. key to these types of titles is the chance they give people who may not see themselves as gamers to dip in and out of games when they liked. portal sites which offer casual games like aol yahoo and realarcade as well as other games-on-demand services allow people to build up buddy lists so they can return and play against the same people. this aspect of community is crucial for gamers who just want to have quick access to free or cheap games without committing long periods of time immersed in £30 to £40 console or pc titles said the panel. about 120 000 people are expected to attend the ces trade show which stretches over more than 1.5 million square feet and which officially runs from 6 to 9 january. the main theme is how new devices are getting better at talking to each other allowing people to enjoy digital content like audio video and images when they want and where they want.

tech

ebbers aware of worldcom fraud former worldcom boss bernie ebbers was directly involved in the $11bn financial fraud at the firm his closest associate has told a us court. giving evidence in the criminal trial of mr ebbers ex-finance chief scott sullivan implicated his colleague in the accounting scandal at the firm. mr sullivan worldcom s former number two is the government s chief witness in its case against mr ebbers. mr ebbers has denied multiple charges of conspiracy and fraud. senior worldcom executives are accused of orchestrating a huge fraud at the former telecoms company in which they exaggerated revenues and hid the cost of expenses. the firm was forced into bankruptcy the largest in us history. mr sullivan 42 pleaded guilty to fraud last year and agreed to assist the government with its case against mr ebbers. prosecutors have alleged that mr ebbers 63 directed mr sullivan to hide the true state of the company s finances by providing false information to the firm s accountants. mr ebbers has denied all the charges saying he was unaware of the fraud. his lawyers claim that their client was unfamiliar with detailed accounting practices and left that side of the business to mr sullivan. however on monday mr sullivan named mr ebbers as one of five executives who participated in the accounting fraud. he [ebbers] has got a hands-on grasp of financial information mr sullivan told a new york court. on his first day of questioning mr sullivan admitted to falsifying the company s financial statements. we did not disclose these adjustments he said. we did not talk about these adjustments and the information was false. mr sullivan said his former boss knew more about accounting matters than many chief financial officers and described him as detail-oriented . he portrayed mr ebbers a charismatic businessman who built up worldcom from a small regional operator into one of america s largest telecoms firms as obsessed with costs. he would talk about that there were more coffee filters than coffee bags and that means employees are taking coffee home he said. we needed to cut expenses. we needed to cut a lot more than coffee expenses. mr sullivan is at the centre of the government s case against mr ebbers. mr ebbers could face a sentence of 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing.

business

edu blasts arsenal arsenal s brazilian midfielder edu has hit out at the club for stalling over offering him a new contract. edu s deal expires next summer and he has been linked with spanish trio real madrid barcelona and valencia. he told bbc sport: i m not sure if i want to stay or not because the club have let the situation go on this far. if they had really wanted to sign they should have come up with an offer six months before indicating they wanted to sign me and that s made me think. edu s brother and representative amadeo fensao has previously said that arsenal s current offer to the midfielder was well short of what he was seeking. and edu 26 added: my brother is due to come to london on thursday. there is a meeting planned for 6 or 7 january to sort it out with arsenal. now i have a choice to stay or go. i want to sort it out as soon as possible that s in the best interests of both the club and myself. i m going to make my decision after the meeting later this week. edu is now able to begin negotiations with other clubs because fifa regulations allow players to start talks six months before their contracts expire. the midfielder who broke in to the brazilian national side in 2004 admitted he had been flattered to have been linked with the three spanish giants. edu said: i ve just heard stories from the news that the madrid president florentino perez the valencia people as well as barcelona are interested. that s nice but i ve never talked to them so i can t say they want me sign 100%. last month wenger said he we was hopeful edu would sign a new deal and played down suggestions that the lure of a club like real madrid would be too strong for edu. edu added that he had been encouraged by wenger s support for him. i still have a good relationship with arsene wenger - he s always said he wants me to sign.

sport

johansson takes adelaide victory second seed joachim johansson won his second career title with a 7-5 6-3 win over taylor dent at the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide. the swede was made to graft american dent surviving three break points in the fifth game of the match. but johansson got the breakthrough with a sublime backhand return winner and won the second set with more ease. his first tournament win was at memphis in 2004 helping him leap from 113th in the world rankings to number 11. afterwards dent said he rated us open semi-finalist johansson as a top contender at the australian open which starts on 17 january. i believe men s tennis is all about holding serve and if he s playing like that on his own serve i don t see how guys are going to break him said dent. johansson was more restrained in his assessment: i have to improve my serve if i m going to go all the way in melbourne.

sport

dvd review: spider-man 2 it s a universal rule that a film can either be a superhero special effects extravaganza or it can be good. but spider-man 2 breaks that rule in two. it s not fantastically deep but you get quickly drawn into the tale of spidey versus doc ock and more so into the fate of poor peter parker. gigantic action set pieces seamlessly work with more brooding personal torment and it all looks stunning. a few effects look false but tobey maguire kirsten dunst and alfred molina make this compelling. the other universal rule is that dvds of superhero films will have making of features only about the effects. this disc covers those special effects enough but as just one part of a detailed look at the film. then there are commentaries trailers and a blooper reel. sometimes quality comes in bulk: this set contains no less than 34 john wayne films ranging from the westerns and war movies to the quiet man. now is that a christmas present or what give this to someone on 24 december and you won t see them again until early in the new year. it s not truly a complete collection and leans more toward wayne s earlier films: there s no true grit for instance though there is hellraisers. the films look well transferred to dvd though none has extras. it was very daft but it knew it was and somehow this famous 1979 series became a cult favourite that s been long awaited on dvd. this set has the first season of buck (gil gerard) and wilma s (erin gray) tongue-in-cheek adventures and it s all as camp and gaudy as you remember. but it s also a disappointment. the us dvd has this and the more po-faced second season - and you can import it for just about the same price. the bigger omission though is that there are no extras. that s particularly disappointing because originally there were meant to be commentaries and stars gerard and gray had agreed to do them.

entertainment

newest eu members underpin growth the european union s newest members will bolster europe s economic growth in 2005 according to a new report. the eight central european states which joined the eu last year will see 4.6% growth the united nations economic commission for europe (unece) said. in contrast the 12 euro zone countries will put in a lacklustre performance generating growth of only 1.8%. the global economy will slow in 2005 the unece forecasts due to widespread weakness in consumer demand. it warned that growth could also be threatened by attempts to reduce the united states huge current account deficit which in turn might lead to significant volatility in exchange rates. unece is forecasting average economic growth of 2.2% across the european union in 2005. however total output across the euro zone is forecast to fall in 2004 from 1.9% to 1.8%. this is due largely to the faltering german economy which shrank 0.2% in the last quarter of 2004. on monday germany s bdb private banks association said the german economy would struggle to meet its 1.4% growth target in 2005. separately the bundesbank warned that germany s efforts to reduce its budget deficit below 3% of gdp presented huge risks given that headline economic growth was set to fall below 1% this year. publishing its 2005 economic survey the unece said central european countries such as the czech republic and slovenia would provide the backbone of the continent s growth. smaller nations such as cyprus ireland and malta would also be among the continent s best performing economies this year it said. the uk economy on the other hand is expected to slow in 2005 with growth falling from 3.2% last year to 2.5%. consumer demand will remain fragile in many of europe s largest countries and economies will be mostly driven by growth in exports. in view of the fragility of factors of domestic growth and the dampening effects of the stronger euro on domestic economic activity and inflation monetary policy in the euro area is likely to continue to wait and see the organisation said in its report. global economic growth is expected to fall from 5% in 2004 to 4.25% despite the continued strength of the chinese and us economies. the unece warned that attempts to bring about a controlled reduction in the us current account deficit could cause difficulties. the orderly reversal of the deficit is a major challenge for policy makers in both the united states and other economies it noted.

business

abortion not a poll issue - blair tony blair does not believe abortion should be an election issue arguing it is a matter for individual conscience. the prime minister s spokesman set out mr blair s view after the top catholic in england and wales backed michael howard s stance on abortions. the tory leader supports a reduction in the legal limit from 24 weeks to 20 and has said current rules are tantamount to abortion on demand . the prime minister has made it clear he has no plans to the change the law. mr blair s spokesman said: the catholic church has a well-known position on this issue and it was one of many issues the cardinal mentioned and therefore it should be seen in that context. his words came as cardinal cormac murphy o connor the archbishop of westminster backed mr howard s stance and distanced himself from labour. in a statement he said abortion was a very key issue saying: the policy supported by mr howard is one that we would commend on the way to a full abandonment of abortion. cardinal o connor claimed labour had developed the notion that it was the natural party of catholics but he said: we are not going to suggest people support one particular party. the family planning association says a reduction would particularly affect young women who often seek help later. more than 180 000 women in england and wales had terminations last year of which fewer than 1% were carried out between 22 and 24 weeks. in the cosmopolitan interview mr howard said: i believe abortion should be available to everyone but the law should be changed. in the past i voted for a restriction to 22 weeks and i would be prepared to go down to 20. all three main parties say the issue is one for each mp s conscience rather than one where there is a party-wide policy. mr howard stressed his views were his personal views. shadow home secretary david davis said he understood mr howard had been signalling that a conservative government would allow a commons vote on the issue. mr blair and liberal democrat leader charles kennedy also gave their views during interviews conducted as part of the magazine s high heeled vote campaign. mr blair who last year denied he planned to join his wife and four children in the catholic faith despite regularly taking communion said abortion was a difficult issue . however much i dislike the idea of abortion you should not criminalise a woman who in very difficult circumstances makes that choice. obviously there is a time beyond which you can t have an abortion and we have no plans to change that although the debate will continue. mr kennedy said he had previously voted for a 22-week limit but medical advances mean i don t know what i would do now . the roman catholic archbishop of cardiff the most reverend peter smith told bbc radio 4 s today programme that the church merely wanted people to reflect on issues in light of the gospel before voting. anne weyman chief executive of the family planning association asked: what is the benefit to women or to the potential child of forcing a woman to have a baby anti-abortion group the pro-life alliance congratulated mr howard on his new stance but said it did not go far enough.

politics

o connor aims to grab opportunity johnny o connor is determined to make a big impression when he makes his rbs six nations debut for ireland against scotland on saturday. the wasps flanker replaces denis leamy but o connor knows that the munster man will be pushing hard for a recall for the following game against england. it s a horses for courses selection really said o connor. there s a lot of competition here and i can t just drag my heels around if i don t get picked. it looks a definite head-to-head battle between himself and 23-year-old leamy - three stone heavier than o connor - for the number seven role against the world champions. nonetheless all o connor is currently concerned about is making an impression while winning his third cap. missing the italian game was disappointing certainly but you can t dwell on these things - it s part and parcel of rugby. denis has been playing really well and deserved his opportunity. it s a good situation to be in if there are good players around you pushing for a place in the side. o connor who celebrated his 25th birthday on wednesday was touted by wasps director of rugby warren gatland as a possible 2005 lions test openside as far back as last september. and his reputation as a breakdown scavenger and heavy hitter has seen him come to the forefront of o sullivan s mind for the scottish tussle. o connor added: it will be interesting to see how situations on the deck is reffed with the new laws having come in. obviously the breakdown a big part of what i do on the pitch so i m hoping to hold some influence there against what is a very solid scottish pack. o connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over south africa last november.

sport

can yahoo dominate next decade yahoo has reached the grand old age of 10 and in internet years that is a long time. for many yahoo remains synonymous with the internet - a veteran that managed to ride the dot-com wave and the subsequent crash and maintain itself as one of the web s top brands. but for others there is another newer net icon threatening to overshadow yahoo in the post dot-com world - google. the veteran and the upstart have plenty in common - yahoo was the first internet firm to offer initial public shares and google was arguably the most watched ipo (initial public offering) of the post-dot-com era. both began life as search engines although in 2000 when yahoo chose google to power its search facility while it concentrated on its web portal business it was very much yahoo that commanded press attention. in recent years the column inches have stacked up in google s favour as the search engine also diversifies with the launch of services such as gmail its shopping channel froogle and google news. for jupiter analyst olivier beauvillain yahoo s initial decision to put its investment on search on hold was an error. yahoo was busy building a portal and while it was good to diversify they made a big mistake in outsourcing search to google he said they thought google would just be a technology provider but it has become a portal in its own right and a direct competitor he added. he believes yahoo failed to see how crucial search would become to internet users something it has rediscovered in recent years. it is interesting that in these last few years it has refocused on search following the success of google he said. but for allen weiner a research director at analyst firm gartner and someone who has followed yahoo s progress since the early years the future of search is not going to be purely about the technology powering it. search technology is valuable but the next generation of search is going to be about premium content and the interface that users have to that content he said. he believes the rivalry between google and yahoo is overblown and instead thinks the real battle is going to be between yahoo and msn. it is a battle that yahoo is currently winning he believes. microsoft has amazing assets including software capability and a global name but it has yet to show me it can create a rival product to yahoo he said. he is convinced yahoo remains the single most important brand on the world wide web. i believe yahoo is the seminal brand on the web. if you are looking for a text book definition of web portal then yahoo is it he said. it has achieved this dominance mr weiner believes by a canny combination of acquisitions such as that of inktomi and overture and by avoiding direct involvement in either content creation or internet access. that is not to say that yahoo hasn t had its dark days. when the dot-com bubble burst it lost one-third of its revenue in a single year bore a succession of losses and saw its market value fall from a peak of $120bn to $4.6bn at one point. crucial to its survival was the decision to replace chief executive tim koogle with terry semel in may 2001 thinks mr weiner. his business savvy coupled with the technical genius of founder jerry yang has proved a winning combination he says. so as the internet giant emerges from its first decade as a survivor how will it fare as it enters its teenage years the game is theirs to lose and msn is the only one that stands in the way of yahoo s domination predicted mr weiner. nick hazel yahoo s head of consumer services in the uk thinks the fact that yahoo has grown up with the first wave of the internet generation will stand it in good stead. search will be a key focus as will making yahoo messenger available on mobiles forging new broadband partnerships such as that with bt in the uk and continuing to provide a range of services beyond the desktop he says. mr weiner thinks yahoo s vision of becoming the ultimate gateway to the web will move increasing towards movies and television as more and more people get broadband access. it will spread its portal wings to expand into rich media he predicts.

tech

mourinho plots impressive course chelsea s win at fulham - confirming their position at the premiership summit - proves that they now have everything in place to mount serious challenges on all fronts this season. they have got strength in depth great players an outstanding manager in jose mourinho and finances no other club in the world can match. all they need to add now is the big prizes which as we all know is the most difficult part of all. one thing is certain - they have put themselves in a position to make that leap to success very impressively indeed. they beat a very tough everton at stamford bridge won at newcastle in the carling cup and then won 4-1 at fulham which was a great result given that they had been showing good form. as i said winning the major honours is the hardest task of all but in mourinho they have a manager who will make it a whole lot easier to handle the anticipation and expectation that will come their way now. mourinho has won the biggest club prize of all the champions league and that track record and confidence transmits itself to top players. it is a priceless commodity. no-one can be anything other than highly-impressed by mourinho. he is regarded as a touch arrogant by some people and maybe he can appear that way but he has the silverware to back up the talk. mourinho doesn t simply talk a good game - he s won some very big games such as the champions league final with porto. some may criticise his talk but the words are backed up with actions. i ve also found him to be very realistic whenever i ve heard him. he s spent a lot of money and it seems to be working and we should remember lots of managers have spent money and it has not worked. the buys are now integrating and in arjen robben he has the player who is giving them that extra dimension. in the early games he was slaughtered for defensive tactics and yet he was winning games. you cannot win titles early on in the season but you can certainly lose them and those points on the board were vital. i also thought the criticism was very harsh because even though they were not scoring goals they were creating chances by the hatful. now they are taking those chances have the double threat of robben and damien duff and things are looking good. i just wonder if they lack a predator particularly with didier drogba injured. he was starting to look the part before he was sidelined but you have to feel if chelsea had a ruud van nistelrooy they would be even more of a safe bet for the title. chelsea also have all the tools to go far in the champions league. i felt they would never have a better chance than last season but they have swept all before them in europe so far this season. it will now be very interesting to see how mourinho prioritises things but his life will be made easier by the size of chelsea s squad. i have said i believed chelsea would win the league this season even when arsenal were flying at the start and i have seen nothing to make me change me mind. if anything what i have seen has confirmed my early impressions. and chelsea would have taken encouragement from arsenal s rocky defensive display at spurs even though they ran out 5-4 winners. mourinho had his say on that game complaining: five-four is a hockey score not a football score. in a three-against-three training match if the score reaches 5-4 i send the players back to the dressing rooms as they are not defending properly. so to get a result like that in a game of 11 against 11 is disgraceful. on a more serious note it was a game that merely confirmed the importance of sol campbell to arsenal. much criticism has been aimed at pascal cygan but i believe the problem lies with the absence of campbell and its overall effect on arsenal s defence. confidence is a crucial factor in defending. when you start conceding goals you suddenly get a chill in the bones every time the ball comes into the penalty area. you think oh no - then find your worst fears confirmed. arsenal need to reverse the process with or without campbell and get some clean sheets on the board. but the return of campbell is key. he solidifies the unit has pace and is powerful in the air and on the deck. he is vastly experienced and has a calming influence on all around him. campbell pulls it all together at the back and gets the defence playing as a unit. chelsea have no such problems at present which is why i would still place my money on them to edge out arsenal as champions this season.

sport

jones files lawsuit against conte marion jones has filed a lawsuit for defamation against balco boss victor conte following his allegations that he gave her performance-enhancing drugs. the sydney olympic gold medallist says conte damaged her reputation and she is seeking $25m (£13m) in the suit. conte whose company is at the centre of a doping investigation made the claims in a us television programme. he and three others were indicted in february by a federal grand jury for a variety of alleged offences. in an email to the associated press on wednesday conte said: i stand by everything i said . jones won three gold medals and two bronzes in sydney in 2000. her lawsuit filed in the us district court in san francisco said the sprinter had passed a lie detector test and that she has never taken banned performance-enhancing drugs . conte s statements the suit added were false and malicious . after the abc television program earlier this month jones lawyer richard nicholls said: marion has steadfastly maintained her position throughout: she has never ever used performance-enhancing drugs. victor conte is a man facing a 42-count federal indictment while marion jones is one of america s most decorated female athletes. mr conte s statements have been wildly contradictory. mr conte chose to make unsubstantiated allegations on television while marion jones demanded to take and then passed a lie detector examination. mr conte is simply not credible. we challenge him to submit to the same lie detector procedure that marion jones passed. the sport s ruling body the iaaf is taking a cautious approach to conte s allegations but contacted the us anti-doping agency. communications director nick davies said the iaaf would seek to contact conte for further information . but davies stressed it would be up to the american authorities to decide whether they will take action against jones in light of conte s television interview and the world governing body would monitor the situation closely. if it is felt there is case to answer it would be for its national governing body (usa track and field) to take the appropriate disciplinary action he added. the us anti-doping agency has proved itself to be very diligent in its anti-doping war. and i am sure like ourselves they will be watching the television programme with great interest. jones who is under investigation for steroid use by the us anti-doping agency has continually denied ever taking illegal substances since being investigated in the balco scandal although she praised a zinc supplement conte marketed. jones who did not win any medals in athens in august has never failed a drugs test. meanwhile conte who has been charged along with three other men of distributing illegal steroids and money laundering is due to face trial in march.

sport

portishead back after eight years cult british group portishead have revealed they are writing their third album their first in eight years. founding member geoff barrow told bbc 6 music the record was well on the way to being completed. we re actually into it as we speak. we took some time off for christmas but generally we re doing another record barrow told the digital radio station. news of their album plans comes after confirmation the bristol band will play a tsunami charity show next month. portishead will play alongside fellow bristol band massive attack at oxfam s tsumani appeal held at the bristol academy on 19 february. barrow said he was surprised people thought the band who won a mercury music prize in 1995 for their debut album dummy had split up. we ve just had our heads down really we ve never actually broken up or parted or whatever. so for us it just seems even though we haven t played for years we still see each other and write - we just haven t released a record for a long time. portishead will not play any new material at next month s concert which will feature singer beth gibbons playing with an acoustic backing. other acts appearing include liverpool band the coral and former led zeppelin singer robert plant. portishead became an international success and a deeply influential band despite their scant recorded output. dummy was a critics favourite in 1994 hailed for its blend of menacing sounds and hip-hop beats married to old soul samples. the follow up portishead was released three years later.

entertainment

g7 backs africa debt relief plan g7 finance ministers have backed plans to write off up to 100% of the debts of some of the world s poorest countries. uk chancellor gordon brown said the london meeting of the world s seven richest nations would be remembered as the 100% debt relief summit . some 37 countries could benefit after a case-by-case review by bodies including the world bank and the imf he said. but the us says it cannot support mr brown s international finance facility to boost aid to developing countries. bbc correspondents said the meeting had produced some movement towards the uk s ambitions but much work was needed. mr brown said it was a major breakthrough for the international organisations to offer up to 100% multilateral debt relief - the vast bulk of money owed by the poorest countries. we could be at the beginning of the final stage of the process where the debts that were owed by the poorest countries built up over 20 or 30 years debts that are simply unpayable in the real world are finally taken care of he said. he added: it is the richest countries hearing the voices of the poor. but he said they would insist on government reforms and the need for transparency tackling corruption and openness from both the poorest and richest nations. bbc correspondent patrick bartlett said while it was an agreement in principle the organisations involved now have to look at how it would work in practice. oxfam senior policy adviser max lawson welcomed the statement and said g7 ministers had passed the first hurdle of 2005 . but he added: they need to move quickly to turn their proposals into real change for the world s poorest. two million children will die needlessly between now and the next meeting in april. if rich countries are going to keep their promises to tackle obscene poverty they need deliver - and deliver quickly. talks are continuing on how to finance increased overseas development assistance. the international monetary fund (imf) is to look at a proposal to use its gold supplies to help the debt relief effort when it meets in april. mr brown said g7 ministers had agreed to defer debt interest payments and repayments for some countries affected by the tsunami until the end of 2005. but uk plans for an international finance facility (iff) to help deal with debt in the developing world have not been agreed. mr brown wanted to provide $10bn (£5.38bn) a year over a decade using g7 backing so the money could be borrowed up front on financial markets. it is a key element of his proposals for a modern version of the marshall plan which brought us aid to rebuild europe after world war ii for the developing world. mr brown said it was winning support every day and said a programme had been agreed to draw up more details in time for the g8 summit in july. but us treasury under-secretary john taylor said the us could not support the iff because of its legislative process . the us is completely committed to poverty reduction and providing financing to do that he said. but this particular mechanism does not work for the united states. it works for other countries and that is fine. earlier he told bbc radio 4 s today programme the us had increased support for africa in the past four years from $1.1bn per year to $4.6bn per year. but south africa finance minister trevor manuel told the bbc s talking point programme what was needed was one approach with all wealthy nations on board. he said much of the money pledged by the us had not yet been dispensed. the uk has made poverty in the poorest nations a key theme for its 2005 presidency of the group of eight (g8) which comprises the g7 and russia. the g8 countries will meet at gleneagles in scotland. at a dinner on friday night former south african president nelson mandela backed mr brown s plan when he urged the finance chiefs to write-off african debt and provide an extra $50bn (£26.69bn) a year in aid for the next decade. talks also centred on the impact of the rising economies of china and india the us budget and trade deficits how the us europe and japan can act to boost global economic growth and hiv/aids. g7 ministers called for more flexibility in international exchange rates and said excess volatility would impede economic growth. representatives from china india russia south africa and brazil were invited to attend some of the sessions. a g8 summit is set to take place in july.

business

robertson out to retain euro lure hearts manager john robertson hopes a place in the knock-out stages of the uefa cup could help keep some of his out-of-contract players at the club. it could help. if we get through and have another european tie it may encourage players to stay at least until the end of the season he said. if we manage to get through it shows how well the club s progressing. they have to think whether they are going to get other clubs like that should they decide to move on. a win for robertson s side against ferencvaros would put them through to the last 32 if basle fail to beat feyenoord. it s very much the player s prerogative but the fact that we ve been playing european football for the last three or four years is obviously an incentive added robertson. but we want players who want to play for the football club who are committed and a run in europe always helps a little bit. with the game being played at murrayfield instead of tynecastle because of uefa regulations robertson sees both positive and negative aspects to the change of venue. the pitch is not in the greatest condition. the heineken cup game was there at the weekend and the pitch is a bit threadbare he said. it s not ideal but it s the same for both teams so we just have to go out and there and perform. that s the most important thing. but he added: if tynecastle could have hosted 30 000 it would have been fantastic but that s one of the benefits of murrayfield - it allows us to bring even more of our supporters into it. there will be a good atmosphere and the hearts fans have an important role to play. we need their encouragement we need them to get right behind the side and make it as good an atmosphere as possible. hopefully the players will respond to that and i know they will because it s a fantastic european night for the club.

sport

preview: ireland v england (sun) lansdowne road dublin sunday 27 february 1500 gmt bbc1 radio 4 lw and this website ireland are going for their first grand slam since 1948 after two opening wins and england represent their sternest test of the championship so far. england were sloppy and leaderless in the defeats against wales and france and another loss would be unthinkable. the pressure is on coach andy robinson and his side have to deliver. despite england s dramatic dip in form since the world cup final - they have lost eight of their last 13 matches - ireland coach eddie o sullivan says his side should not underestimate the visitors. had they kicked their points they would have beaten france and that would have created a different landscape for sunday he said. this is england we are talking about. they have a depth of talent and a very good record against ireland. they will target a victory in dublin as the turning point in their six nations. the differences between the sides is also highlighted in the team selections for the dublin encounter. ireland despite having gordon d arcy still out injured have been boosted by the return of star skipper brian o driscoll who missed the scotland game with a hamstring injury. the knowledge that the england game was coming up really helped during rehabilitation he said. the will to play in this game was enormous. it doesn t get much bigger than england at home. as well as entering the tournament without players like jonny wilkinson mike tindall and richard hill england have now lost two tighthead props in julian white and phil vickery while blind-side flanker lewis moody is a major concern. robinson who received a lot of flak for the inclusion and then dropping of centre mathew tait has kept faith with kicking fly-half charlie hodgson despite his horror show at twickenham. if england slump in dublin it will be their worst run of results in the championship since 1987. but robinson was bullish during the week about the game saying that his side are going there to get in their faces and has identified the line-out and tackle area as the key to england s chances. and despite the recent results skipper jason robinson believes there is nothing wrong with the mood in the camp. there is no lack of confidence in the team said the sale full-back. we have had a good week s training and we are all looking forward to the challenge. i still believe in this team. i know if we get our game right we will win the games. g murphy; g dempsey b o driscoll s horgan d hickie; r o gara p stringer; r corrigan s byrne j hayes; m o kelly p o connell; s easterby j o connor a foley. f sheahan m horan d o callaghan e miller g easterby d humphreys k maggs. j robinson (capt); m cueto j noon o barkley j lewsey; c hodgson h ellis; g rowntree s thompson m stevens; d grewcock b kay; j worsley l moody m corry. a titterrell d bell s borthwick a hazell m dawson a goode o smith.

sport

pension hitch for long-living men male life expectancy is much higher than originally estimated leading pension researchers have said. the pensions policy institute (ppi) said life expectancy for unskilled and professional men has been understated. life expectancy at birth is 71 years for a manual worker and 79 years for a professional - a gap of eight years. but if measured at age 65 instead the ppi said a manual worker will live to 81 years and a professional worker to 86 years - a gap of just five years. the ppi s estimate is higher because it excludes people who have died before they reach 65 years of age and also takes into account ongoing improvements in life expectancy. the government has ruled out raising the state pension age because it says it would penalise lower-skilled workers who generally have lower life expectancies. chris curry ppi research director said its calculations suggested there could be more pressure on state pension spending than originally envisaged. even people in social class v [unskilled manual workers] who are widely likely to have the lowest life expectancy can still expect to live 16 years after state pension age he said. researchers have not updated life expectancy projections for women who on average live longer than men.

business

kinnock to urge reform in lords neil kinnock has said his acceptance of a seat in the house of lords will allow him to help achieve further progress with substantial democratic reform. on the bbc s breakfast with frost it was put to mr kinnock that he had once referred to lords members as brigands muggers bribers and gangsters . but the outgoing european commissioner said his comments - made some 26 years ago - needed to be put in context. he said advocates for reform needed to be inside the lords to vote for it. it was pointed out to me that if the additional democratic reform is going to take place it is going to require advocates in the lords and people there willing to vote for it. mr kinnock added that the second factor behind his acceptance of the peerage was his appointment as chairman of the british council. history demonstrates that it s immensely useful for the british council to have its chairman in the house of lords and that was a conclusive factor. mr kinnock said he thought about the decision for quite a long time because he had long had reservations about the lords. but he added: the process of reform has developed substantially but not sufficiently and consequently i did take all these factors into consideration because it s not a decision to be made glibly. the former labour leader said he would probably take the title of lord kinnock of bedwellty - his first constituency for which he was selected in 1969.

politics

sayeed to stand down as tory mp tory mp jonathan sayeed is to stand down on the grounds of ill health. the decision comes after mr sayeed survived an attempt to de-select him in a row over allegations he had profited from private tours of parliament. the mid-bedfordshire mp had denied a claim that he was paid for guiding visitors around the palace of westminster. conservative leader michael howard has now accepted the mp s resignation it has been announced. mr sayeed was suspended from parliament for two weeks last month after the commons standards and privileges committee said his conduct had fallen well below the standards expected . the conservative party had already been withdrawn the whip for a month. but his constituency association voted against a move to deselect him with mr sayeed winning 173 of the 299 votes. after the vote mr sayeed said only a fifth of association members had voted against him and he intended to get on with winning the election. but the vote prompted constituency association president sir stanley odell to resign in protest. the standards and privileges committee inquiry was launched after the sunday times alleged english manner limited charged clients for access to westminster through mr sayeed. mr sayeed had denied the claims saying the suspension was unjust and wrong but he made an unreserved apology to mps in the commons chamber. he insisted that the committee s report had contained a few errors of fact . mr sayeed has been mp for mid-bedfordshire since 1997. he represented bristol east from 1983 to 1992.

politics

russia gets investment blessing soaring oil sales and a budget surplus mean russian debt is no longer a risky investment one of the world s leading credit rating agencies says. standard & poor s has classed russian bonds as investment grade up from their former speculative rating. russia s reputation among investors has been hurt in recent months by the heavy tax bills and asset seizures imposed on companies such as oil giant yukos. s&p said the solidity of government finances outweighed the risk. russia is now a net creditor rather than a debtor. gold and foreign currency reserves of $119bn beat its foreign public debt of some $113bn. the other two major ratings agencies - fitch and moody s have long since upped their rating of russia s sovereign debt. s&p had held back through fear that the government was dragging its feet on economic and legal reforms. now though it has finally followed suit. but the agency made it clear that the improved rating did not mean that the risks were a thing of the past. instead with russian government coffers brimming with tax revenues from energy sales s&p said the government s own debt is looking a good bet. these improvements are so significant that they now outweight the serious and growing political risk that continues to be a key ratings constraint on russia wrote s&p credit analyst helena hessel. the yukos saga is the most high-profile of the political risks to which ms hessel alludes. the company s founder and ex-chief executive mikhail khodorkovsky is in jail on trial for tax evasion and fraud. many believe the real motive for his prosecution is that he threatened to use his wealth to set up a political alternative to president vladimir putin. his company meanwhile is widely believed to have fallen victim to the kremlin s wish to get russian energy resources as far as possible back under state control.

business

ukraine revisits state sell-offs ukraine is preparing what could be a wholesale review of the privatisation of thousands of businesses by the previous administration. the new president viktor yushchenko has said a limited list of companies is being drawn up. but on wednesday prime minister yulia tymoshenko said the government was planning to renationalise 3 000 firms. the government says many privatised firms were sold to allies of the last administration at rock-bottom prices. more than 90 000 businesses in all from massive corporations to tiny shopfronts have been sold off since 1992 as the command economy built up when ukraine was part of the soviet union was dismantled. ms tymoshenko said prosecutors had drawn up a list of more than 3 000 businesses which were to be reviewed. we will return to the state that which was illegally put into private hands. a day earlier mr yushchenko - keen to reassure potential investors - had said only 30 to 40 top firms would be targeted. the list will be limited and final and will not be extended after its completion he said. an open-ended list could further damage outside investors fragile faith in ukraine said stuart hensel of the economist intelligence unit. but the government seemed keen not to make the review look like the kind of wholesale renationalisation which many fear in russia mr hensel said. as a result it was planning to resell rather than keep firms in state hands. they re aware of the need not to scare investors and to be careful of internal divides within ukraine he said. they don t want to be seen to be transferring assets from one set of oligarchs to a new set. foreign investment in ukraine at about $40 a head in 2004 is one of the lowest among ex-soviet states. mr yushchenko became president after two elections in december the first of which was annulled amid allegations of voting irregularities and massive street protests. his opponent viktor yanukovich still has huge support in the country s eastern industrial heartland. mr yushchenko s administration has accused its predecessor led by ex-president leonid kuchma of corruption. the privatisation review s number one target is a steel mill sold to a consortium which included viktor pinchuk mr kuchma s son-in-law for $800m (£424m) despite higher bids from several foreign groups. the mill krivorizhstal is one of the world s most profitable. we say krivorizhstal was stolen and at any cost we will return it to the state mr yushchenko told an investors conference in kiev. one of the jilted bidders netherlands-based group lnm said it welcomed the possibility that the mill might be back on the market. if the original privatisation is annulled and a new tender issued then we would look at it with great interest a spokesman told bbc news. a resale of krivorizhstal could potentially triple the price according to the economist intelligence unit s mr hensel. but he warned that the government could decide to take the easy route of revaluing the company and charging the existing owners the revised price rather than undertaking a fresh sale. that way mr yushchenko can go to the public and say he has forced the oligarchs to play by the rules he told bbc news.

business

edwards tips idowu for euro gold world outdoor triple jump record holder and bbc pundit jonathan edwards believes phillips idowu can take gold at the european indoor championships. idowu landed 17.30m at the british trials in sheffield last month to lead the world triple jump rankings. it s all down to him but if he jumps as well as he did in sheffield he could win the gold medal said edwards. his ability is undoubted but all his best performances seem to happen in domestic meetings. idowu made his breakthrough five years ago but so far has only a commonwealth silver medal to his name. edwards himself kept idowu off top spot at the manchester games. but he believes the european indoors in madrid represent a chance for the 26-year-old to prove his credentials as britain s top triple jumper. he has to start producing at international level and here is the beginning said edwards. phillips still needs to be much more consistent. i m sure a victory in madrid will build up his confidence and self-belief that he can be best in the world. the qualifying round of the men s triple jump in madrid takes place on friday with the final scheduled for saturday. olympic champion christian olsson will not be taking part as he is out for the entire indoor season with an ankle injury.

sport

zambia confident and cautious zambia s technical director kalusha bwalya is confident and cautious ahead of the cosafa cup final against angola on saturday in lusaka. bwalya said: nothing short of victory will do. however bwalya warned his side not to be too complacent. i don t want my team to be too comfortable or too sure of victory as it is going to be a difficult game. for me the main aim of the game is to enjoy and to win. zambia have shown their determination to win this final by recalling nine of their foreign-based players. however the 41 year-old bwalya who became the oldest player to appear in the competition when he played and scored against mauritius is uncertain whether he will take to the field or not. the chipolopolo fans however are not being so cautious with a victory concert already scheduled for after the match featuring some of the country s top musicians. both sides are hoping to win the competition for a record third time and so keep the trophy for good. the chipolopolo won the first two editions of the regional tournament for southern african nations in 1997 and 1998. they were prevented from a third straight win by angola who knocked out the zambians at the semi-final stage in 1999. that victory for angola also marked a first defeat in 14 years for zambia at lusaka s independence stadium where saturday s game is being played. angola named just four overseas-based players in their preliminary squad. the palancas negras have been unable to secure the release of many of their portugal-based players.

sport

sony psp tipped as a must-have sony s playstation portable is the top gadget for 2005 according to a round-up of ultimate gizmos compiled by stuff magazine. it beats the ipod into second place in the top ten essentials list which predicts what gadget-lovers are likely to covet this year. owning all 10 gadgets will set the gadget lover back £7 455. that is £1 000 cheaper than last year s list due to falling manufacturing costs making gadgets more affordable. portable gadgets dominate the list including sharp s 902 3g mobile phone the pentax optio sv digital camera and samsung s yepp yh-999 video jukebox. what this year s essentials shows is that gadgets are now cheaper sexier and more indispensable than ever. we ve got to the point where we can t live our lives without certain technology said adam vaughan editor of stuff essentials. the proliferation of gadgets in our homes is inexorably altering the role of the high street in our lives thinks mr vaughan. take digital cameras who would now pay to develop an entire film of photos or legitimate downloads who would travel miles to a record shop when they could download the song in minutes for 70p he asks. next year will see a new set of technologies capturing the imaginations of gadget lovers stuff predicts. the xbox 2 high-definition tv and mp3 mobiles will be among the list of must-haves that will dominate 2006 it says. the spring launch of the psp in the uk is eagerly awaited by gaming fans.

tech

d arcy injury adds to ireland woe gordon d arcy has been ruled out of the ireland team for saturday s six nations clash against scotland in murrayfield. like skipper brian o driscoll d arcy failed to recover from a hamstring injury. the side will now be led by munster lock paul o connell. shane horgan switches from wing to centre where he will be joined by ulster s kevin maggs. girvan dempsey comes into the team to take the right wing spot while gavin duffy is called up to the replacements. we gave gordon a chance but it didn t work out said ireland coach eddie o sullivan. in terms of the risk element it was a sensible precaution. he should be fine for the next game but we do not want to tempt fate. maggs who will win his 67th cap was the obvious replacement at centre while shane horgan was always likely to be moved from the wing. the only other change to the ireland side from last weekend s win in rome sees wasps flanker johnny o connor replacing denis leamy. o connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over south africa last november. : murphy dempsey horgan maggs hickie o gara stringer corrigan byrne hayes o kelly o connell capt s easterby o connor foley. : sheahan horan o callaghan miller g easterby humphreys duffy.

sport

mitsubishi in peugeot link talks trouble-hit mitsubishi motors is in talks with french carmaker psa peugeot citroen about a possible alliance. on tuesday mitsubishi the only major japanese car firm in the red confirmed earlier reports of negotiations. but a spokesman refused to comment on speculation that mitsubishi could end up building cars for psa and perhaps its japanese rival nissan. mitsubishi has been hit by a recall scandal and the withdrawal of support from shareholder daimlerchrysler. the us-german firm once a majority shareholder decided last april to stop providing financial backing. mitsubishi s sales have slid 41% in the past year catalysed by the revelation that the company had systematically been hiding records of faults and then secretly repairing vehicles. mitsubishi is due to unveil a recovery plan later in january. analysts said that alliances with other carmakers would be a necessary part of whatever it came up with not least because its own slow sales have left its manufacturing capacity under-used.

business

us tv special for tsunami relief a us television network will screen a celebrity tv special to benefit the tsunami relief effort in south asia. nbc will encourage viewer donations during an hour-long show featuring musical performances on 15 january. actress sandra bullock has donated $1m (£525 000) to the american red cross and actor leonardo dicaprio pledged a sizable aid contribution to unicef. meanwhile 70 hong kong music and movie stars re-recorded we are the world in mandarin and cantonese to raise funds. the song will not be released as a single but will be played regularly during a chinese telethon on friday in aid of victims of the boxing day disaster. around 140 000 people were killed and five million left homeless or without food and water after an earthquake below the indian ocean sent waves crashing into coastal communities in 11 countries. the united nations warned that the number killed in the disaster could rise sharply with aid yet to reach some remote areas. performers have yet to be confirmed for nbc s aid relief benefit later this month. it follows a two-hour telethon carried by all four major us television networks 10 days after the 11 september terror attacks in 2001. america: a tribute to heroes raised more than $150m (£79m) to help victims of the suicide attacks on the world trade center and pentagon.

entertainment

arnesen denies rift with santini tottenham sporting director frank arnesen has denied that coach jacques santini resigned because of a clash of personalities at white hart lane. there had been newspaper speculation that santini had felt undermined by arnesen s role at the club. it is absolutely not true arnesen told bbc radio five live. there is only one thing that made him resign and that is his own personal problems. he has talked to me recently and said this matter is absolutely for himself. arnesen said he was unable to throw any light onto the problems that caused santini to quit after just 13 games in charge. he added: jacques has never gone into exactly what it was. but i trust him in that; you have to accept it. i think we should respect it. the plan is now that over the weekend we will have talks with the board and then on monday we will clarify the situation. arnesen countered criticism at the timing of the announcement coming less than 24 hours before tottenham s premiership fixture with charlton. when it comes down to personal problems i don t think we should talk about timing he said. and he also denied reports that santini had been given a £3m pay-off. that is absolute nonsense. he is the one who said i will go and so he went said the spurs sporting director. tottenham s structure of having a sporting director working alongside a coach is based on a continental model and arnesen sees no reason why they should change it. i have confidence in this structure. i am confident that we have started something here in july and i still have a lot of confidence in tottenham and what we are doing he said. however former spurs and england defender gary stevens said he would not be surprised if the system had caused a rift. i think the problems go a lot deeper between the director of football at white hart lane and santini stevens told five live. on paper they could have worked together. but frank arnesen was a very creative forward-thinking and expansive player - whereas i think santini was very much the opposite more a case of being organised disciplined and happy not conceding goals. that sort of arrangement can work if the two people have the same principles and ideals and work very closely. but it seems that has not happened.

sport

chinese exports rise 25% in 2004 exports from china leapt during 2004 over the previous year as the country continued to show breakneck growth. the spurt put china s trade surplus - a sore point with some of its trading partners - at a six-year high. it may also increase pressure on china to relax the peg joining its currency the yuan with the weakening dollar. the figures released by the ministry of commerce come as china s tax chief confirmed that growth had topped 9% in 2004 for the second year in a row. state administration of taxation head xie xuren said a tightening of controls on tax evasion had combined with the rapid expansion to produce a 25.7% rise in tax revenues to 2.572 trillion yuan ($311bn; £165bn). according to the ministry of commerce china s exports totalled $63.8bn in december taking the annual total up 35.4% to $593.4bn. with imports rising a similar amount the deficit rose to $43.4bn. the increased tax take comes despite healthy tax rebates for many exporters totalling 420bn yuan in 2004 according to mr xie. china s exporting success has made the trade deficit of the united states soar even further and made trade with china a sensitive political issue in washington. the peg keeping the yuan around 8.30 to the dollar is often blamed by us lawmakers for job losses at home. a us report issued on tuesday on behalf of a congressionally-mandated panel said almost 1.5 million posts disappeared between 1989 and 2003. the pace accelerated in the final three years of the period said the report for the us-china economic and security review commission moving out of labour-intensive industries and into more hi-tech sectors. the us s overall trade deficit with china was $124bn in 2003 and is expected to rise to about $150bn for 2004.

business

industrial revival hope for japan japanese industry is growing faster than expected boosting hopes that the country s retreat back into recession is over. industrial output rose 2.1% - adjusted for the time of year - in january from a month earlier. at the same time retail sales picked up faster than at any time since 1997. the news sent tokyo shares to an eight-month high as investors hoped for a recovery from the three quarters of contraction seen from april 2004 on. the nikkei 225 index ended the day up 0.7% at 11 740.60 points with the yen strengthening 0.7% against the dollar to 104.53 yen. weaker exports normally the engine for japan s economy in the face of weak domestic demand had helped trigger a 0.1% contraction in the final three months of last year after two previous quarters of shrinking gdp. only an exceptionally strong performance in the early months of 2004 kept the year as a whole from showing a decline. the output figures brought a cautiously optimistic response from economic officials. overall i see a low risk of the economy falling into serious recession said bank of japan chief toshihiko fukui despite warning that other indicators - such as the growth numbers - had been worrying. within the overall industrial output figure there were signs of a pullback from the export slowdown. among the best-performing sectors were key overseas sales areas such as cars chemicals and electronic goods. with us growth doing better than expected the picture for exports in early 2005 could also be one of sustained demand. electronics were also one of the keys to the improved domestic market with products such as flat-screen tvs in high demand during january.

business

howl helps boost japan s cinemas japan s box office received a 3.8% boost last year with ticket sales worth 211bn yen (£1.08bn). the surge was led by animated movie howl s moving castle which took 20bn yen (£102m) to become the biggest film in japan in 2004. it is expected to match the 30.7bn yen (£157m) record of hayao miyazaki s previous film spirited away. japan motion picture producers figures showed that 170 million cinema admissions were made in japan in 2004. the last samurai starring tom cruise was the biggest foreign movie hit in japan last year taking 13.8bn yen (£70.7m). it was followed by harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban finding nemo and the lord of the rings: the return of the king. the second highest-grossing japanese film was romantic drama crying out love in the centre of the world followed by be with you and pocket monsters advanced generation. japanese films accounted for 37.5% of japan s box office total last year with foreign films taking the remaining 62.5%. this represented a 4.5% gain for the proportion of japanese films in 2004 compared to 2003. the number of japanese films released rose to 310 in 2004 from 287 the previous year. sales of movies on dvd and video amounted to 497bn yen (£2.54bn) for the year.

entertainment

security warning over fbi virus the us federal bureau of investigation is warning that a computer virus is being spread via e-mails that purport to be from the fbi. the e-mails show that they have come from an fbi.gov address and tell recipients that they have accessed illegal websites. the messages warn that their internet use has been monitored by the fbi s internet fraud complaint center. an attachment in the e-mail contains the virus the fbi said. the message asks recipients to click on the attachment and answer some questions about their internet use. but rather than being a questionnaire the attachment contains a virus that infects the recipient s computer according to the agency. it is not clear what the virus does once it has infected a computer. users are warned never to open attachment from unsolicited e-mails or from people they do not know. recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the fbi does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner the fbi said in a statement. the bureau is investigating the phoney e-mails. the agency earlier this month shut down fbi.gov accounts used to communicate with the public because of a security breach. a spokeswoman said the two incidents appear to be unrelated.

tech

brainwave cap controls computer a team of us researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer. four people two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes. previous research has shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes implanted into their brain. the new york team reported their findings in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences. the results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two directions said jonathan wolpaw and dennis mcfarlane. the research team from new york state department of health and state university of new york in albany said the research was another step towards people controlling wheelchairs or other electronic devices by thought. the four people faced a large video screen wearing a special cap which meant no surgery or implantation was needed. brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer. such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves of muscles so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively. the impressive non-invasive multidimensional control achieved in the present study suggests that a non-invasive brain control interface could support clinically useful operation of a robotic arm a motorised wheelchair or a neuroprosthesis said the researchers. the four volunteers also showed that they could get better at controlling the cursor the more times they tried. although the two partially-paralysed people performed better overall the researchers said this could be because their brains were more used to adapting or that they were simply more motivated. it is not the first time researchers have had this sort of success in brain-control experiments. some teams have used eye motion and other recording techniques. earlier this year a team at the mit media labs europe demonstrated a wireless cap which read brain waves to control a computer character.

tech

howard attacks pay later budget tory leader michael howard has dismissed gordon brown s budget as vote now pay later spending plans. the simple fact was that under a new labour government taxes would go up after the election to plug a financial black hole mr howard said. everyone could see the chancellor s sweeteners but these hid tax rises for hard working families he said. labour s faltering election campaign would not be helped by the package of measures mr howard added. mr brown s budget was not about what was good for the country but all about the interests of the labour party the tory leader said after mockingly welcoming the chancellor back to the election campaign. he went on to accuse mr brown of giving with one hand while taking away with the other. he urged the chancellor to admit he had been responsible for dragging millions of people in to the net to pay stamp duty and inheritance tax. we can all see the sweeteners but they hide the crippling tax rises for hard-working families that are inevitable if labour wins. he also accused the government and the chancellor of running out of solutions to the problems britain faced. their only answer is to tax to spend and to waste - to get people to vote now and pay later. mr brown liked to rattle off magical balances conjured out of thin air in a bid to convince people there was no black hole in the nation s finances the tory leader said. this dodgy government that brought us the dodgy dossier is now publishing a dodgy budget based on dodgy numbers he said. you now propose to borrow over the next six years no less than £168 billion; so much for prudence. the chancellor s forecasts of surpluses are no better than the prime minister s forecasts of weapons of mass destruction. mr brown s council tax rebate for pensioners was £300 less than what the tories were offering mr howard said. there was nothing in the budget that would put more police on the streets make hospitals cleaner or give parents and teachers the discipline and skills they wanted in schools. people would face a clear choice at the election either more waste and higher taxes under labour or lower taxes and value for money with the conservatives he said. that s the battleground of this election. that s what this election is going to be all about and i say bring it on he concluded to loud tory cheering.

politics

mccall earns tannadice reprieve dundee united manager ian mccall has won a reprieve from the sack with chairman eddie thompson calling for an end to speculation over his future. it is understood that mccall would have been sacked if sheffield wednesday manager paul sturrock had been willing to return to tannadice. but sturrock has distanced himself from the position. we re in a difficult situation. we must get out of it through the efforts of current personnel said thompson. ian mccall and i have had a long and detailed talk about a number of areas including the current league position and the manner of the exit from the league cup he added. however the continuing speculation is doing no one any good especially as we have several crucial games coming up. the minds of the coaching staff and the players have to be on those games and those games only. our season would of course improve considerably if in the next few weeks we achieved some improved league results and there is also the potential of another cup semi-final subject to the draw. all that matters at the present time - is us all having a total focus on the games ahead and a positive series of results being achieved. dundee united players had expressed their solidarity with mccall after their side s 3-0 scottish cup win over queen of the south. we want the boss to stay we don t want someone else coming in said jim mcintyre. hopefully now he gets the chance to stay. keeper tony bullock echoed mcintyre s sentiments. i think all the boys are behind ian mccall he added. at the moment it is all speculation and we have got to rise above all that and do a job on the pitch. on saturday sturrock insisted that he had unfinished business with wednesday who are fourth in league one. i ve only been here five months and i don t expect to be leaving very very soon he said. i can appreciate the rumours because i ve emphasised my thoughts and ambitions to go back to dundee united. i can assure you the timescale is not the right one. it (dundee united) is my team. i had five years there as a coach six as a player two years as a manager - once you ve done that kind of thing it s the result you look for. the important thing now is i ve come here to do a job and i m going to try to finish it.

sport

russian film wins bbc world prize russian drama the return (vozvrashchenie) has been named winner of the bbc four world cinema award. the film tells the story of two adolescent boys who are subjected to a harsh regime when their strict father returns after a 10-year absence. directed by andrey zvyagintsev the return previously won the 2003 golden lion award at the venice film festival. the prize was presented at an awards ceremony held in london on thursday and hosted by jonathan ross. the winner was chosen by a panel which included x files actress gillian anderson critic roger clarke and touching the void director kevin mcdonald. ross who is the presenter of bbc one s film 2005 was also involved in the deliberations. a shortlist of six films from around the world had been drawn up from which the panel chose. other nominees included the motorcycle diaries zatoichi and hero. a viewer poll saw director zhang yimou s martial arts epic hero emerge as the favourite with 32% of votes cast. tragedy struck the production of the return when one of the young stars 15-year-old vladimir girin drowned in a lake where some of the film s scenes were set. the winner of the world cinema award last year was the french animated feature belleville rendezvous

entertainment

tory leader urges harry apology prince harry should personally make clear how sorry he is about wearing a nazi uniform to a friend s fancy dress party says tory leader michael howard. mr howard whose grandmother died in auschwitz said many people would be offended by the prince s actions clarence house has issued a statement saying the prince has apologised and realised it had been a poor costume. number 10 said an error was made but now harry had apologised the matter should be left to the palace. that was a message repeated by home secretary charles clarke who said the matter should now be left to lie. but lib dem leader charles kennedy said harry was in a privileged position and said he should apologise in person. there is a reservoir of goodwill for prince harry and prince william with him in this country but i think he needs to remember that it can t last forever. he added that sandhurst would probably be good for harry as it would teach him some self discipline. former labour mp lord janner who is a high profile member of britain s jewish community branded harry s action s stupid and evil . he told itv: the time has come for him to make a public apology. it is about common decency of respect to the people who fought the nazis to the families of those who were killed by the nazis and to people who suffered during the holocaust. he added: i would send him in the army as fast as possible. i hope that would teach him not to behave like that. a photograph of prince harry wearing a swastika armband and german desert uniform at the party appears in thursday s sun newspaper under the headline: harry the nazi. mr howard acknowledged the prince s apology and said he had no doubt the prince s father and family would have much to say to him privately about the incident. but he told bbc radio 4 s today programme: it might be appropriate to tell us himself just how contrite he is. mr howard declined to say what form the statement should take. but former buckingham palace press spokesman dicky arbiter said the prince should make a personal broadcast apology. mr clarke said he recognised people s concerns about the costume but argued: he has apologised and i think we should leave the matter there.

politics

newcastle line up babayaro newcastle manager graeme souness is closing in on signing chelsea defender celestine babayaro when the transfer window reopens. souness is bidding to bolster his defence and according to reports contract negotiations are at an advanced stage with the player. babayaro has been in the premiership since 1997 when he moved to chelsea for £2.25m from anderlecht. but the 26-year-old has been surplus to requirements this season. souness would not be drawn on specifics over individual players. but he said: all i can tell you is that the chairman has worked really hard in the last couple of months to try to do deals. we have said from day one we want to strengthen and that is what we are hoping to do in the coming weeks.

sport

merritt close to indoor 400m mark teenager lashawn merritt ran the third fastest indoor 400m of all time at the fayetteville invitational meeting. the world junior champion clocked 44.93 seconds to finish well clear of fellow american bershawn jackson in arkansas. only michael johnson has gone quicker setting the world record of 44.63secs in 1995 and running 44.66secs in 1996. kenyan bernard lagat missed out on the world record by 1.45secs as he ran the third quickest indoor mile ever to beat canada s nate brannen by almost 10secs. the olympic silver medallist s time of three minutes 49.89secs was inferior only to the 1997 world record of moroccan hicham el guerrouj and former world record holder eamonn coghlan of ireland s 3:49.78. lagat was on course to break el guerrouj s record through 1200m but could not maintain the pace over the final 400m. ireland s continued his excellent form by winning a tight 3 000m in 7:40.53. cragg who recently defeated olympic 10 000m champion kenenisa bekele in boston held off bekele s ethiopian colleague markos geneti by only 0.19secs to secure his victory. mark carroll who will join cragg in the european indoor championships next month finished a solid third in 7:46.78. olympic 200m gold medallist of jamaica ran the fastest women s 60m in the world this year as she equalled her personal best of 7.09secs. world indoor 60m hurdles champion also won improving his season-leading time to 7.51secs.

sport

s korean lender faces liquidation creditors of south korea s top credit card firm have said they will put the company into liquidation if its ex-parent firm fails to back a bail-out. lg card s creditors have given lg group until wednesday to sign up to a $1.1bn rescue package. the firm avoided bankruptcy thanks to a $4.5bn bail-out in january 2004 which gave control to the creditors. lg group has said any package should reflect the firm s new ownership and it will not accept an unfair burden. at least seven million people in south korea use lg card s plastic for purchases. lg card s creditors have threatened parent group lg group with penalties if it fails to respond to their demands. creditors would seek strong financial sanctions against lg group if lg card is liquidated said yoo ji-chang governor of korean development bank (kdb) - one of the card firm s major creditors. lg group has said providing further help to the credit card issuer could hurt its corporate credibility and could spark shareholder lawsuits. it says it wants fair and reasonable guidelines on splitting the financial burden with the creditors who now own 99.3% of lg card. the creditors have asked the government to mediate to avoid any risk to the stability of financial markets kdb said. analysts believe a compromise is likely. lg group knows the impact on consumer demand and the national economy from a liquidation of lg card said kim yungmin an equity strategist at dongwon investment trust management. lg card almost collapsed in 2003 due to an increase in overdue credit card bills after the bursting of a credit bubble. the firm returned to profit in september 2004 but now needs a capital injection to avoid being delisted from the korea stock exchange. the exchange can delist a company if its debt exceeds its assets for two years running. lg card s creditors fear that such a move would triggered massive debt redemption requests that could bankrupt the firm which owes about $12.05bn. eventually lg group will have to participate but they have been stalling to try to earn better concessions said mr kim.

business

dawson wins england squad recall wasps scrum-half matt dawson has been recalled to england s training squad ahead of the rbs six nations and been reinstated in the elite player squad. coach andy robinson dropped dawson for the autumn tests after he missed training to film a question of sport. i always said i would consider bringing matt back if i felt he was playing well robinson said. he merits his return on current form. newcastle s 18-year-old centre mathew tait is also in the training squad. it s obviously an honour to be asked to train with england said tait who has burst into contention recently. i look forward to going down and doing the sessions but the most important thing at the moment is sunday s game against newport so i m not looking any further than that. robinson has invited 42 players to attend a three-day session in leeds next week in which his squad will train in part with the leeds rhinos rugby league squad. with mike tindall ruled out of the opening two matches and will greenwood sidelined for the entire six nations tait is one of six or seven contenders for the two centre berths. stuart abbott jamie noon ollie smith olly barkley and henry paul - who retains his place despite his early substitution against australia - are also in the mix. ben cohen could also be considered after switching from the wing for his club northampton recently. prop phil vickery and lock simon shaw both return to the squad after missing the autumn tests through injury while wasps wing tom voyce is recalled. the group also includes bath flanker andy beattie and leicester hooker george chuter. beattie has matured greatly as a player these past two seasons robinson said. jonny wilkinson tindall and martin corry have all been included despite their unavailability for the opening two matches against wales and france. the revised 56-man elite squad includes wasps hooker phil greening who replaces the retired mark regan and sale wing mark cueto. cueto was selected for the november internationals despite not being part of the group but scored four tries in three england appearances. leicester scrum-half harry ellis has also been promoted from the senior national academy and will contest the number nine jersey with dawson and gloucester s andy gomarsall. the players in robinson s elite squad can only play 32 matches for club and country. they can be called up for a total of 16 training days in addition to the recognised international weeks for each of the years leading up to the next world cup. balshaw cohen cueto lewsey robinson simpson-daniel voyce abbott noon paul smith tait tindall barkley hodgson king wilkinson dawson ellis gomarsall. chuter thompson titterrell rowntree sheridan stevens vickery white borthwick brown l deacon grewcock kay shaw beattie corry forrester hazell jones moody vyvyan j worsley. abbott balshaw borthwick a brown chuter cohen corry cueto dawson ellis flatman gomarsall greening greenwood grewcock hazell hill hodgson kay king lewsey moody noon paul robinson rowntree shaw simpson-daniel thompson tindall titterrell vickery vyvyan white wilkinson j worsley m worsley. barkley beattie christophers l deacon forrester c jones palmer rees sheridan skinner smith stevens tait voyce. dowson haughton monye roques p sanderson.

sport

download chart debut is delayed the inclusion of downloaded music in the official singles chart has been delayed for a month. the british phonographic industry (bpi) had planned to include download formats in the chart from 20 march. but the date has been put back to 17 april to create a level playing field for independent labels. the bpi is concerned that independent repertoire is not adequately represented online and said they were looking at ways of rectifying it. bpi chairman peter jamieson said: the inclusion of download formats in the official uk singles chart is the most significant development in the charts for 20 years. but for a multitude of reasons the current chart representation of independent repertoire at the major download outlets is poor. i am very pleased we have secured this delay on behalf of independents. we have to try and establish a realistic level playing field of opportunity. the official uk charts are run by the official uk charts company (occ) - a joint venture between the bpi and the british association of record dealers (bard). at an occ board meeting on wednesday the occ board agreed with bpi members that the 20 march start date be postponed. download formats will now be included in the official uk singles chart for the first time in the chart published on 17 april - the sales week beginning 10 april. the us has already merged downloaded singles into its billboard hot 100 chart.

entertainment

uk risks breaking golden rule the uk government will have to raise taxes or rein in spending if it wants to avoid breaking its golden rule a report suggests. the rule states that the government can borrow cash only to invest and not to finance its spending projects. the national institute of economic and social research (niesr) claims that taxes need to rise by about £10bn if state finances are to be put in order. the treasury said its plans were on track and funded until 2008. according to niesr if the government s current economic cycle runs until march 2006 then it is unlikely the golden rule will be met. should the cycle end a year earlier then the chances improve to 50/50 . either way fiscal tightening is needed niesr said. the report is the latest to call into question the viability of government spending projections. earlier this month accountancy firm ernst & young said that chancellor of the exchequer gordon brown s forecasts for tax revenues were too optimistic. it claimed revenues were likely to be £6bn below estimates by the end of the tax year despite the economy growing in line with forecasts. a treasury spokesperson dismissed the latest claims saying it was on track to meeting spending rules and the golden rule in the current cycle and beyond . spending plans have been set out until 2008 and they are fully affordable. other than its warning on possible tax hikes the niesr report was optimistic about the state of the uk and global economy. it said the recent record-busting surge in oil prices would have a limited effect on worldwide expansion saying that if anything the world economy will continue to grow strongly . global gross domestic product (gdp) is tipped to be 4.1% this year dipping to 4% in 2005 before picking up again to 4.2% in 2006. the us will continue to drive expansion until 2006 albeit at a slightly slower rate as will be the case in japan. hinting at better times for uk exporters niesr said the euro zone is expected to pick up speed . growth in britain also is set to accelerate it forecast. despite weak growth in the third quarter the forces sustaining the upswing remain intact and the economy will expand robustly in 2005 and 2006 niesr said adding that the economy will become better balanced over the next two years as exports stage a recovery . gdp is expected at 3.2% in 2004 and 2.8% in both 2005 and 2006. the main cloud on the horizon niesr said was the uk s much analysed and fretted over property market.

business

california sets fines for spyware the makers of computer programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home pcs could face hefty fines in california. from 1 january a new law is being introduced to protect computer users from software known as spyware. the legislation which was approved by governor arnold schwarzenegger is designed to safeguard people from hackers and help protect their personal information. spyware is considered by computer experts to be one of the biggest nuisance and security threats facing pc users in the coming year. the software buries itself in computers and can collect a wide range of information. at its worst it has the ability to hijack personal data like passwords login details and credit card numbers. the programs are so sophisticated they change frequently and become impossible to eradicate. one form of spyware called adware has the ability to collect information on a computer user s web-surfing. it can result in people being bombarded with pop-up ads that are hard to close. in washington congress has been debating four anti-spyware bills but california is a step ahead. the state s consumer protection against spyware act bans the installation of software that takes control of another computer. it also requires companies and websites to disclose whether their systems will install spyware. consumers are able to seek up to $1 000 in damages if they think they have fallen victim to the intrusive software. the new law marks a continuing trend in california towards tougher privacy rights. a recent survey by earthlink and webroot found that 90% of pcs are infested with the surreptitious software and that on average each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs. currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as spybot and ad-aware.

tech

scotland v italy (sat) murrayfield edinburgh saturday 26 february 1400 gmt bbc1 five live and this website victory for the azzurri in rome last year saw scotland end their campaign without a victory. and the pressure is on scotland coach matt williams as he seeks a first six nations victory at the eighth attempt. italy have lost both their opening games at home to ireland and wales but travel to edinburgh with high hopes. their coach john kirwan has warned his side they must eradicate the errors that blighted their loss to wales however or risk suffering a third successive defeat. if the defeat against wales has taught us anything it s that at this level we can t make any mistakes kirwan said. in the six nations every error you make will come at a high price. we have to be aggressive for 80 minutes keep calm in every situation and display great maturity on the pitch. it will be fundamental to keep cool in the difficult moments - in the key situations of the game. kirwan has recalled the experienced cristian stoica at centre and drafted in david dal maso at open-side after star flanker mauro bergamasco was ruled out for the rest of the tournament. scotland have also made two changes simon webster replacing simon danielli on the wing and simon taylor returning for his first test in a year for injured flanker jason white. taylor s recovery from a serious knee injury is a major boost to scottish hopes. he is one of the world-class players in the tournament and you want them in your team acknowledged williams. despite a record of only two victories from 14 tests williams insists he is revelling in the pressure. i actually really enjoy seeing how you cope with such pressure as a coach he said optimistic despite opening defeats to france and ireland. we were confident for those two first games and we are confident we can beat italy too he added. : c paterson; s webster a craig h southwell s lamont; d parks c cusiter; t smith g bulloch (capt) g kerr; s grimes s murray; s taylor j petrie a hogg. r russell b douglas n hines j dunbar m blair g ross b hinshelwood. r de marigny; mirco bergamasco c stoica a masi l nitoglia; l orquera a troncon; a lo cicero f ongaro m castrogiovanni; s dellape m bortolami (capt); a persico d dal maso s parisse. g intoppa s perugini ca del fava s orlando p griffen r pedrazzi kp robertson.

sport

lions blow to world cup stars british and irish lions coach clive woodward says he is unlikely to select any players not involved in next year s rbs six nations championship. world cup winners lawrence dallaglio neil back and martin johnson had all been thought to be in the frame for next summer s tour to new zealand. i don t think you can ever say never said woodward. but i would have to have a compulsive reason to pick any player who is not available to international rugby. dallaglio back and johnson have all retired from international rugby over the last 12 months but continue to star for their club sides. but woodward added: the key thing that i want to stress is that i intend to use the six nations and the players who are available to international rugby as the key benchmark. my job along with all the other senior representatives is to make sure that we pick the strongest possible team. if you are not playing international rugby then it s still a step up to test rugby. it s definitely a disadvantage. i think it s absolutely critical and with the history of the lions we have got to take players playing for the four countries. woodward also revealed that the race for the captaincy was still wide open. it is an open book he said. there are some outstanding candidates from all four countries. and following the all blacks impressive displays in europe in recent weeks including a 45-6 humiliation of france woodward believes the three-test series in new zealand will provide the ultimate rugby challenge. their performance in particular against france was simply awesome said the lions coach. certain things have been suggested about the potency of their front five but they re a very powerful unit. with his customary thoroughness woodward revealed he had taken soundings from australia coach eddie jones and jake white of south africa following their tour matches in britain and ireland. as a result woodward stressed his lions group might not be dominated by players from england and ireland and held out hope for the struggling scots. scotland s recent results have not been that impressive but there have been some excellent individual performances. eddie in particular told me how tough they had made it for australia and i will take on board their opinions. and scotland forward simon taylor looks certain to get the call provided he recovers from knee and tendon problems. i took lessons from 2001 in that they did make a mistake in taking lawrence dallaglio when he wasn t fit and went on the trip. every player has to be looked at on their own merits and simon taylor is an outstanding player and i have no doubts that if he gets back to full fitness he will be on the trip. i am told he should be back playing by march and he has plenty of time to prove his fitness for the lions - and there are other players like richard hill in the same boat.

sport

giving financial gifts to children your child or grandchild may want the latest toy this christmas but how about giving them a present that will help their financial future gifts of the financial variety might have a longer lasting impact. it may encourage children to save or start a fund which could count towards university costs for example. the government is trying to encourage saving at an early age through its new child trust fund. the first vouchers worth £250 or £500 for low-income families will be distributed from january. all children born after 1st september 2002 will be eligible. parents will need to decide which financial institution will manage this gift in time for the start of the scheme in april 2005. parents and relatives will be able to top up the fund with up to £1 200 a year which will grow free of income and capital gains tax. as the child trust fund will not be in force in time for christmas relatives could invest their gifts in a higher rate children s deposit account and use this as a feeder fund. there are accounts designed to start children off in the savings habit and they often pay a higher rate of interest. some of the best instant-access accounts currently available include the ladybird account from the saffron walden building society paying 5.35% for a minimum balance of £1 and the alliance & leicester firstsaver which pays 5.25% also starting at £1. interest earned by children is subject to income tax. however children like adults have a personal income tax allowance (£4 745 for the current tax year). if the account holds money gifted by friends and relatives - but not parents - any interest earned from the savings account may be set against the allowance. as long as the total amount of interest falls within the allowance then no tax will be payable. when the account is opened a form r85 available from the bank or building society should be completed. this confirms that the account holder is a non-taxpayer and allows interest to be received without the deduction of income tax. the tax rules are different for parents who save on behalf of a child. only £100 of interest (per parent) can be tax-free. where interest exceeds this level the whole of the interest will be taxed on the parent. this is to prevent parents from holding their own cash savings in their children s names and taking advantage of the tax allowances. where both parents and other relatives are saving on behalf of a child consideration should be given to opening separate accounts - one for parents gifts and one for gifts from other relatives. therefore it may be preferable for parents to contribute to the child trust fund which is tax free with any gifts from relatives that take the total above the annual £1 200 limit being directed to a deposit account. another favourite solution is premium bonds. with the promise of riches far greater than a mere deposit account they make great presents. the parent or guardian will be responsible for the bonds and will receive notification of the purchase. any prizes will be sent to the parent or child s guardian. the minimum for each purchase is £100 and bonds are sold in multiples of £10. there are gift opportunities beyond cash accounts and these should not be ignored. over the longer term stock market funds have outperformed other types of investment although in the shorter term they can be volatile. one of the benefits of investing for children is that investment is generally for the longer term - more than ten years - which helps to reduce the risks associated with investing in shares. one way to spread the risk is to invest in the stock market through a unit or investment trust. these are pooled investment funds which give access to a wide range of shares. these funds may be actively managed where a fund manager picks individual stocks based on a view of their future potential or passive where a manager invests in all the shares that comprise a stock market index for example the ftse 100. exchange traded funds offer an alternative way to track a stock market. these are single shares that give the return of an underlying index (so are really another form of tracker). the difference is that the charges are quite low. the only drawback with all financial gifts is that the children gain an absolute right to the money at age 18 and parents will have no control over how it is spent. for larger gifts it may be worthwhile taking professional advice on the establishment of a suitable trust that will allow ongoing control over the capital and income.

business

no uk apology for colonial past the days of britain having to apologise for its colonial past are over gordon brown has said. the chancellor speaking during a week-long tour of africa said it was time to talk about enduring british values of liberty and tolerance. mr brown has signed a debt relief deal with tanzania which could cost the uk £1 billion. south african president thabo mbeki has attacked british imperialists saying they treated africans like savages. mr brown said that missionairies had come to africa because of their sense of duty. he added that the history of internationalism and enterprise had given britain a greater global reach than any other country. bbc political correspondent mark mardell said britishness had long been a theme of the chancellor s but never before has he been so outspoken in defending britain s past history . the uk has pledged to pay 10% of the developing world s foreign debt bill in an attempt to fight poverty. on top of the relief deal with tanzania mr brown said the uk would make similar offers to 70 poorer nations around the world. under the plan - which could cost the uk £1bn - countries must spend the cash saved on health education and welfare. we make this offer unilaterally but we are now asking other countries to join us the chancellor said. mr brown on a week-long tour of africa spent two days in tanzania before heading on friday evening to mozambique a country where more than half of the 17-million population lives below the poverty line. there he is expected to strike a similar debt relief pact. the chancellor said he hoped other g8 and european countries would follow suit. the uk has already cancelled its bilateral debts - money the uk alone is owed - with the world s poorest nations including tanzania. former international development secretary clare short questioned the effectiveness of debt relief as a means of tackling poverty.

politics

blair damaged by blunkett row a majority of voters (68%) believe the prime minister has been damaged by the row over david blunkett s involvement in a visa application a poll suggests. but nearly half those surveyed said mr blunkett should return to cabinet if labour won the next election. some 63% of respondents in the sunday times poll thought his former lover - kimberly quinn - acted vindictively and 61% that he had been right to resign. yougov polled a weighted sample of 1 981 voters online on 16-18 december. mr blunkett resigned as home secretary on wednesday after an inquiry uncovered an e-mail showing a visa application by mrs quinn s former nanny had been speeded up. sir alan budd s inquiry also found mr blunkett s account of events had been wrong. almost a quarter (21%) of those polled for the sunday times said he should return to the cabinet straight after the election. one in four said he should be back in the government s top ranks within a year or two while 39% opposed a comeback. three-quarters said mr blunkett was right to go to court for the right to see mrs quinn s son - whom he says he fathered - and just 14% voiced sympathy for mrs quinn. a total of 53% of those polled said they had sympathy for mr blunkett with 40% saying they did not. forty-three per cent thought mr blunkett had done a good job as home secretary and 17% disagreed. meantime 32% said mr blair was a good prime minister and 38% disagreed. a majority 52% said chancellor gordon brown had done a good job and just 16% disagreed. a second poll for the independent on sunday found that support for all political parties remained largely unchanged after the blunkett controversy. labour lead the conservatives by 39% to 34% with the liberal democrats on 19%. communicateresearch interviewed 401 people before david blunkett s resignation and 601 afterwards. some 82% said mr blunkett had set a good example by wanting to take responsibility for the child he says is his but 42% backed his legal action compared to 45% who thought it was unbecoming. thirty per cent said the affair showed mr blunkett could not be trusted as a minister while 63% disagreed.

politics

movie body targets children s pcs the body that represents the us movie industry has released its latest tool in its campaign to clamp down on movie file-sharing aimed at parents. the movie association for america s (mpaa) free parent file scan software lets parents check their children s computers for peer-to-peer programs. it will also list all movie and music files they have on their hard drive. parents then have the choice to remove programs and files. the mpaa said files found would not be passed on to it. our ultimate goal is to help consumers locate the resources and information they need to make appropriate decisions about using and trading illegal files said dan glickman mpaa chief. many parents are concerned about what their children have downloaded and where they ve downloaded it from. but some computer users who had tested the latest software reported on some technology sites that the program had identified windows default wav files as copyrighted material and wanted to delete them. movie piracy cost the industry £3.7bn ($7bn) in 2003 according to analysts. the mpaa said in a statement that it would continue to provide easy access to similar tools in the coming months to combat the deleterious effects of peer-to-peer software including such common problems as viruses trojan horses and identity theft . mr glickman said that the film industry was embracing digital age technologies like movielink and cinemanow which are legal movie sites. but legal services such as these need a chance to grow and thrive without having to compete against illegitimate operations that depend on stolen property to survive he added. the industry body also said it had launched a second round of legal action against online movie-swappers across the us but did not say how many were being sued. its first set of lawsuits were filed in november 2004. it also started a campaign against operators of bittorrent edonkey and directconnect peer-to-peer networks. the first convictions for peer-to-peer piracy were handed out in the us in january. william trowbridge and michael chicoine pleaded guilty to charges that they infringed copyright by illegally sharing music movies and software.

tech

wenger signs new deal arsenal manager arsene wenger has signed a new contract to stay at the club until may 2008. wenger has ended speculation about his future by agreeing a long-term contract that takes him beyond the opening of arsenal s new stadium in two years. he said: signing a new contract just rubber-stamps my desire to take this club forward and fulfil my ambitions. i still have so much to achieve and my target is to drive this club on. these are exciting times for arsenal. the 55-year-old frenchman told arsenal s website www.arsenal.com: my intention has always been clear. i love this club and am very happy here. wenger has won the title and the fa cup three times each during his reign. chairman peter hill-wood said: we are absolutely delighted that arsene has signed an extension to his contract. since his arrival in 1996 he has revolutionised the club both on and off the pitch. as well as the six major honours he s won during his time here arsene has been a leading influence behind all the major initiatives at the club including the construction of our new training centre and also our new stadium. the club has continued to reap the benefits of arsene s natural eye for unearthing footballing talent. we currently have a fantastic crop of young players coming through the ranks together with a number of world-class players who are playing a wonderful brand of football. meanwhile arsenal director danny fiszman is looking for wenger to stay beyond 2008. when we come towards the end of his contract we will both review the situation. i m sure we will want him to stay on and i hope he will too said fiszman.

sport

final hunts held as ban looms hunts in england and wales have begun on the last day that hunting with dogs is legal with more due out later. thousands of supporters are expected to turn out at more than 250 meets many of which have altered their normal schedules to be out on a thursday. the ban on hunting with dogs comes into effect from 0001 gmt on friday. the countryside alliance had its latest legal bid to block the ban thwarted on wednesday when the appeal court ruled the hunting act was lawful. but the group says hunting will continue in some form after the ban comes in with hunts expected to test the new law to its limits. others are expected to defy the ban by continuing to hunt illegally. anti-hunt organisations for whom the ban is the culmination of years of campaigning say they hope most will stay within the law. mike hobday of the league against cruel sports told bbc news: we ve long urged them to go drag hunting - to follow an artificial scent - and that is what we hope they do. but if they continue to chase foxes to chase wild mammals around the countryside that s against the law and we re confident they ll be brought to justice. at the headquarters of quorn hunt in leicestershire feelings were running high as hunt enthusiasts prepared for their final legal hunt. bbc correspondent sarah mukherjee said hunt supporters were in tears. she said many people did not share the countryside alliance s optimism that hunting would be able to continue. farmer geoff brooks a senior member of the quorn hunt told bbc news people s lives revolved around hunting . he described the ban as ridiculous and badly thought out but said it would be hard for most people to defy it as they would not want to risk their incomes by getting a criminal record. at the court of appeal on wednesday the countryside alliance failed in its attempt to have the hunting act ruled invalid. but it says the ban is unenforceable because the law is unclear and impossible to police. the alliance says hunt supporters will go out and test this law to its limits on saturday. the league against cruel sports and the rspca say they will monitor hunts and assist police in bringing prosecutions. the association of chief police officers has issued guidance to forces on how to deal with the new rules. a spokesman said: basically it s not going to be police officers chasing about in cars across fields it will be based on intelligence and information received as well. the decision on how to police individual hunts will be left to local forces with more officers sent to hunts where disruption is expected. he said police would consider evidence submitted by anti-hunt organisations on its merits.

politics

deutsche attacks yukos case german investment bank deutsche bank has challenged the right of yukos to claim bankruptcy protection in the us. in a court filing on tuesday it said the russian oil giant has few texas ties beyond bank accounts and a texas-based finance chief. deutsche bank claimed yukos had artificially manufactured a legal case to stop the sale of its main asset. it had wanted to help fund gazprom s plans for a $10bn (£5.18bn) bid for yukos unit yuganskneftegas. deutsche bank would have earned large fees from the deal which could not be carried out because us chapter 11 bankruptcy rules made the kremlin s auction of yuganskneftegas on 19 december illegal under us law. but the us bankruptcy court judge in texas granted yukos an injunction that barred gazprom and its lenders from taking part. yuganskneftegas will ultimately end up with gazprom. the winning bidder at the auction was a previously unknown firm baikal finance group which was snapped up days later by rosneft a russian oil firm that is in the process of merging with gazprom. the effect of these transactions is to renationalise yuganskneftegas. deutsche bank contends yukos filed for bankruptcy earlier this month in texas in a desperate and unsuccessful bid to stave off the 19 december auction of its top unit by the russian government which was in a tax dispute with yukos. this blatant attempt to artificially manufacture a basis for jurisdiction constitutes cause to dismiss this case deutsche bank said in its court filing. mike lake a spokesman for yukos lawyers said on tuesday that the company stands by its legal action. yukos is confident of its right to us bankruptcy protection and we are prepared to be back in court defending that position again he said. yukos has said it intends to seek $20bn in damages from the buyer of yuganskneftegas once the sale finally goes through. in its filing deutsche bank said houston was a jurisdiction in which yukos owns no real or personal property and conducts no business operations. it also said the us bankruptcy court should not become involved in a tax dispute between the federation and one of its corporate citizens . it suggested the european court or an international arbitration tribunal were more appropriate jurisdictions for the legal fight between russia and yukos. the next hearing in the bankruptcy is expected on 6 january. analysts believe the tax dispute between the russian government and yukos is partly driven by russian president vladimir putin s hostility hostility to the political ambitions of ex-yukos boss mikhail khordokovsky. mr khodorkovsky is in jail and on trial for fraud and tax evasion.

business

collins to compete in birmingham world and commonwealth 100m champion kim collins will compete in the 60m at the norwich union grand prix in birmingham on 18 february. the st kitts and nevis star joins british olympic relay gold medallists jason gardener and mark lewis-francis. sydney olympic 100m champion and world indoor record holder maurice greene and athens olympic 100m silver medallist francis obikwelu will also take part. collins ran in birmingham at the 2003 world indoor championships. i m looking forward to competing against such a strong field he said. i got a great reception form the crowd at the nia when i won my 60m world indoor silver medal in 2003 and it will be really exciting to return to this venue. the world champion says he s in good shape but he isn t underestimating the home competition. jason gardener and mark lewis-francis are olympic gold medallists now and i m sure they ll be aiming to win in front of their home supporters. i m looking forward to competing against britain s best sprinters and i m sure the 60 metres will be one of the most exciting races of the evening. collins was sixth in the olympic final in athens but is hoping for a better result at the world championships in finland this summer. this will be a big year for me and i plan to defend my 100m world title in helsinki in august. before then i want to perform well over 60m indoors and start my year in winning form.

sport

mexicans tracking unhappy juninho mexican outfit red sharks veracruz hope to sign juninho if the brazilian decides to leave celtic frustrated at his lack of first-team action. their president gustavo parente sanchez says juninho does not wish to remain in scottish football anymore . agent brian hassell insists that the 31-year-old brazilian midfielder is determined to win back his place. but if the manager is not going to pick him that s a different ball game he told the sun. that s something we d have to look at. juninho deserves respect. he is not a little kid. hassell warns that juninho could reconsider his future at celtic unless he is given a run of games by the end of the january transfer window. juninho was signed from middlesbrough during the summer but he has failed to live up to high expectations and has lost his place to 18-year-old aiden mcgeady. he has 50 caps for brazil and he s the best signing celtic ever made insisted hassell. he wants to play for martin o neill but does martin o neill want to play him juninho is not someone who has come through the celtic ranks. he deserves much more respect. sanchez is bullish about his hopes of prising juninho from the scottish champions although hassell believes mexico would not be his preferred destination. we have already spoken with juninho and he said if he has no firm offer from a club in spain veracruz will be his destination sanchez told his club s official website. celtic manager o neill is no respecter of reputations. the onus is on juninho to force his way into the team he said. players get a game on merit. that s the way it has always been and that is certainly the case at celtic park.

sport

kraft cuts snack ads for children kraft plans to cut back on advertising of products like oreo cookies and sugary kool-aid drinks as part of an effort to promote healthy eating. the largest us food maker will also add a label to its more nutritional and low-fat brands to promote the benefits. kraft rival pepsico began a similar labelling initiative last year. the moves come as the firms face criticism from consumer groups concerned at rising levels of obesity in us children. major food manufacturers have recently been reformulating the content of some calorie-heavy products. kraft s new advertising policy which covers advertising on tv radio and in print publications is aimed at children between the ages of six and 11. it means commercials for some of its most famous snacks and cereals shown during early morning cartoon shows on tv will now be replaced by food and drink qualifying for kraft s new sensible solution label. but the firm said it would continue to advertise all its products in media seen by parents and all family audiences. we re working on ways to encourage both adults and children to eat wisely by selecting more nutritionally balanced diets said lance friedmann kraft senior vice president.

business

uk needs tax cuts tories insist a major change of direction is needed in britain if it is to prosper the shadow chancellor said as the tory party spring conference began. oliver letwin said the uk could not compete with other countries without the £4bn tax cuts he was promising. tory co-chairman liam fox had opened the forum in brighton with an attack on labour s record and party leader michael howard is due to speak later. tony blair has said conservative policies would cause economic failure. but mr letwin said britain had fallen from fourth to 11th in the international economic competitiveness league. can this country compete can this country prosper unless we do something about the burden of regulation and tax on our economy he said. if we are going to take on the great challenges the challenges like those posed by the chinese and the indians we have got to do something about getting down the burden of regulation and getting down the burden of tax he said. the fact is the very carefully costed fully funded plans we have laid out for saving £12bn by 2007-2008 are absolutely crucial to delivering an economy that will prosper and provide people with jobs and indeed provide the public services with the money they need on a sustainable long-term basis. mr letwin said voting for labour meant choosing higher taxes borrowing and waste. earlier dr fox had said labour s rule had been characterised by lost trust and failure to deliver . he also attacked the government s failure to control immigration and asylum and criticised its record on the nhs telling delegates labour cannot be trusted on education or crime. a tory government would sort out the shambles of immigration put patients before statistics and bring discipline to schools he said. michael howard who had been due to welcome delegates to the conference on friday will address them in a lunchtime speech. his welcome address had to be postponed after he stayed in london to lead the party s opposition to the prevention of terrorism bill in its lengthy progress through parliament. the bill was finally passed on friday evening after more than 30 hours of debate. mr howard is likely to defend his party s handling of the bill which was only passed after the conservatives accepted prime minister tony blair s promise that mps would be able to review it within a year.

politics

berlin celebrates european cinema organisers say this year s berlin film festival which opens on thursday with period epic man to man will celebrate a revitalised european cinema. of the 21 films in competition for the golden and silver bear awards more than half are from europe with france particularly well represented. festival director dieter kosslick says this strong showing signals a new consciousness for european films . they re on an incredible winning streak he told the reuters agency. this isn t to say there aren t any good american films he continued. it s just that there are more good european films. however mr kosslick refused to accept that widespread opposition to the iraq war had turned audiences against hollywood imports. there is no anti-american mood he said. some 350 films will be screened at this year s festival with a further 300 shown at the european film market that runs alongside it. more than a dozen celebrities are scheduled to attend among them will smith kevin spacey and keanu reeves. but mr kosslick says more would be coming had the academy awards not been brought forward to 27 february. i m not worried that we won t be able to fill the red carpet with stars he said though he admitted the festival may be moved to january next year to avoid a similar clash. the 10-day berlinale runs until 20 february.

entertainment

old firm pair handed suspensions celtic s henri camara and nacho novo of rangers have both been suspended for offences missed by the referee in a recent old firm game. both were given automatic one-match bans and 12 additional disciplinary points for their actions. that means novo will miss a further two games because of his prior record. camara will miss one additional game. novo was found guilty of stamping on celtic s stephen pearson. camara was punished for kicking gregory vignal. i m extremely disappointed. i don t know if there s a lot to add to that said rangers manager alex mcleish of novo s punishment. but what i will say is that i m at a loss as to why that incident should be picked up and highlighted when there were so many other incidents during the game. both players will miss this weekend s games when celtic host dundee united and rangers visit kilmarnock unless they decide to appeal. the additional bans come into effect from 28 december meaning camara will also be unavailable for the home game against livingston while novo will miss the meetings with dundee united and dunfermline. an sfa spokesman said: they have seven days to appeal but with matches coming along at the weekend they would need to do so before friday. but if they do appeal it won t be heard before this weekend because it takes a bit of time to seat up an appeals tribunal. meanwhile bob malcolm and rangers have been informed by letter as to the outcome of the hearing regarding his reaction to rangers being awarded a penalty in the same game. malcolm a substitute on the day was taken from the rangers dug-out and spoken to by police about an alleged gesture he made. but the sfa would not detail what if any punishment malcolm would receive. once rangers receive our letter we will be in a position to make a comment on the findings added the spokesman.

sport

dogged federer claims dubai crown world number one roger federer added the dubai championship trophy to his long list of successes - but not before he was given a test by ivan ljubicic. top seed federer looked to be on course for a easy victory when he thumped the eighth seed 6-1 in the first set. but ljubicic who beat tim henman in the last eight dug deep to secure the second set after a tense tiebreak. swiss star federer was not about to lose his cool though turning on the style to win the deciding set 6-3. the match was a re-run of last week s final at the world indoor tournament in rotterdam where federer triumphed but not until ljubicic had stretched him all the way. i really wanted to get off to a good start this time and i did and i could really play with confidence while he still looking for his rhythm federer said. that took me all the way through to 6-1 3-1 0-30 on his serve and i almost ran away with it. but he came back and that was a good effort on his side. ljubicic was at a loss to explain his poor showing in the first set. i didn t start badly but then suddenly i felt like my racket was loose and the balls were flying a little bit too much. and with roger if you relax for a second it just goes very quick he said. after those first three games it was no match at all. i don t know it was really weird. i was playing really well the whole year and then suddenly i found myself in trouble just to put the ball in the court. but despite his defeat the world number 14 was pleased with his overall performance. i had a chance in the third and for me it s really positive to twice in two weeks have a chance against roger to win the match. it s an absolutely great boost to my confidence that i m up there and belong with top-class players.

sport

taylor poised for scotland return simon taylor has been named in the scotland squad for saturday s six nations clash with italy. the 25-year-old number eight made a scoring return for edinburgh at the weekend - his first game in a year for the capital side. taylor suffered knee ligament damage playing against ireland in dublin in the 2004 six nations championship. simon is one of scotland s truly world class players so it is a huge bonus said team-mate chris paterson. he brings a whole new dimension to us especially in defence and his ability to slow the opposition ball down could be key against italy if he is involved. taylor has turned out for english side saracens in recent weeks during a short-term loan to improve his fitness. edinburgh were not in action during the first two weeks of this season s six nations. so taylor played the last 20 minutes of saracens win over northampton and then 40 minutes in a friendly against south african super 12 side the cats. scotland coach matt williams is due to name his match-day 22 on thursday. both scotland and italy have lost their opening two six nations games and just like last season s encounter which italy won this weekend s game could turn out to be a battle to avoid the wooden spoon. - m blair (edinburgh) a craig (glasgow) c cusiter (borders) s danielli (borders) m di rollo (edinburgh) a henderson (glasgow) b hinshelwood (worcester) r lamont (glasgow) s lamont (glasgow) d parks (glasgow) c paterson (edinburgh) g ross (leeds) h southwell (edinburgh) s webster (edinburgh) - r beattie (northampton) g bulloch (glasgow capt) b douglas (borders) j dunbar (leeds) i fullarton (saracens) s grimes (newcastle) n hines (edinburgh) a hogg (edinburgh) g kerr (leeds) n lloyd (saracens) s murray (edinburgh) j petrie (glasgow) r russell (london irish) c smith (edinburgh) t smith (northampton) s taylor (edinburgh) j white (sale).

sport

us in eu tariff chaos trade row the us has asked the world trade organisation to investigate european union customs tariffs which it says are inconsistent and hamper trade. the eu s own institutions have noted the uneven way eu customs rules are applied but failed to act the us trade representative s office said. small and mid-sized us firms were worst-hit it added. the eu expanded from 15 to 25 member states in may. the us said it filed the complaint after talks failed to find a solution. the move came in the same week that the us and eu stepped back from confrontation in a tense dispute over aircraft subsidies to european manufacturer airbus and us firm boeing. new eu trade commissioner peter mandelson said on tuesday that the two sides had agreed to reopen talks in the aircraft subsidies row which led to tit-for-tat wto filings in last autumn. explaining why it has asked the wto to set up a dispute settlement panel on customs barriers the us trade representative s office said that it wants to tackle the issue early in the eu s process of dealing with the problems of enlargement . ten countries mostly in eastern europe joined the eu in may. the us said its trade with the 25 eu member countries was worth $155.2bn (£82.8bn) in 2003. although the eu is a customs union there is no single eu customs administration a statement issued on behalf of robert zoellick us trade representative said. lack of uniformity coupled with lack of procedures for prompt eu-wide review can hinder us exports especially for small to mid-sized businesses an eu spokesman in washington dismissed the us complaint. we think the us case is very weak. they haven t come up with any evidence that us companies are being harmed said anthony gooch. it could take several months for the wto s dispute settlement panel to report its findings.

business

record fails to lift lacklustre meet yelena isinbayeva may have produced another world pole vault record but her achievement could not hide the fact it was not the best meet we have ever seen in birmingham. and hey there are not many meets that go by without the russian breaking a world record. apparently isinbayeva has cleared five metres in training and i would just love her to put us out of our misery and have a go at it rather than extending the indoor record by one centimetre at a time. athletics to me is all about pushing the barriers and being the best you can and i would like to see her have a go at 5m in competition. mind you every time she breaks the record she gets $30 000 so she can afford to be deliberate about it. world records aside i thought it was a very encouraging evening s work for kelly holmes. she looked good and was very positive. agnes samaria who came second is in very good shape and is in the world s top three 800m runners this season. yes samaria let kelly get away but there was no coming back over the last 200m as kelly dominated the race so beating samaria is a bit of a benchmark for kelly. my gut feeling is that kelly would like to run in the european indoor championships but she just hasn t convinced herself she is fit enough to do so. on the other hand i think jason gardener is struggling to come near what is going to be required to win the men s 60m in madrid. he started well in the final but still could not stay with the front-runners. jason has a lot of experience indoors but for some reason he is struggling to maintain his pace through to the finish. it would have been nice to see what mark lewis-francis could have done in the final if only he hadn t got himself disqualified. he was blatantly playing the false-start game to his advantage but it tripped him up and made him look a bit silly. my view is you re meant to go when the gun goes and not before. and if you try to unsettle your rivals by employing the false-start tactic you have to remember not to false start yourself again. having said that mark is looking in much better shape. but i haven t seen anything from mark or jason yet which suggests france s ronald pognon - who has run 6.45 seconds - will be under threat at the europeans. from a british point of view sarah claxton s victory in the 60m hurdles was the best thing to come out of the meet. something else that probably went unnoticed was melanie purkiss winning the women s national 400m race in a new personal best of 52.98 seconds. aaas champion kim wall came second in another lifetime best so we have a very strong 4x400m squad going to the european championships. scotland s lee mcconnell is probably going to run too so we have a real prospect of a medal. from an international perspective i thought meseret defar was disappointing in the 3 000m but i don t think the pace-making was great. canadian heather hennigar set a fast early pace but could not maintain it and if jo pavey had been in last year s shape she would have given defar a real run for her money. she had a go but just could not hang in there. we were also expecting a bit more from bernard lagat in the men s 1500m. but he has only just come over from the usa so he may not be that sharp and i still think he is in great shape. as for kenenisa bekele he was well beaten by markos geneti. but we only had half expectations for bekele as he has been struggling this season. it was very hot in the national indoor arena and i felt uncomfortable in the commentary box. i think those conditions affected the distance runners and in fact defar complained to her coach after the race that she could not get her breath properly.

sport

dvd review: i robot only one man recognises that robots are a threat to humanity - but that s fine because it only takes one man to save the day in the thriller i robot. will smith co-stars alongside more cgi robots than you can count and as a thrill-a-minute kind of action film it s perfectly adequate. you ll have forgotten it all tomorrow but you ll have a fun night with the film and all the extras. there is a one-disc version that has commentaries and a making of but the two-disc adds more. unusually for this kind of film the extras don t solely concentrate on the special effects. they re covered but there s also a general production diary and a post-production feature. remember the national lottery s draw machines arthur and guinevere they were more accurate than this glossy hollywood version of the tale. but as long as you re not expecting a documentary live with it: king arthur is a fun exciting totally shallow experience and looks excellent. clive owen is the brooding king keira knightly rises above her costume and ray winstone gives it all some grit. it s at its best in its battle scenes which are well done and are also the best part of the making of extra. less flashy than a david attenborough show and less detailed than a simon schama one the bbc series british isles nevertheless turned out to be quite engrossing. admit it the fact that this is one of the shows alan titchmarsh left ground force to present did mean that you expected something equally frothy. but titchmarsh turns out to know his subject and the sight of our present-day landscape being peeled back to reveal the past was fascinating. he s now written an accompanying book too.

entertainment

games win for blu-ray dvd format the next-generation dvd format blu-ray is winning more supporters than its rival according to its backers. blu-ray backed by 100 firms including sony is competing against toshiba and nec-backed hd-dvd to be the format of choice for future films and games. the blu-ray association said on thursday that games giants electronic arts and vivendi would both support its dvd format. the next generation of dvds will hold high-definition video and sound. this offers incredible 3d-like quality of pictures which major hollywood studios and games publishers are extremely keen to exploit in the coming year. in a separate press conference at the consumer electronics show in las vegas toshiba announced that dvd players for its technology would be on the market by the end of 2005. as we move from standard definition video images to high-definition images we have a much greater need for storage richard doherty from panasonic s hollywood laboratories one of the pioneers of blu-ray told the bbc news website. so by utilising blue laser-based technology we can make an optical laser disc that can hold six times as much as today s dvd. a blu-ray disc will be able to store 50gb of high-quality data while toshiba s hd-dvd will hold 30gb. mr doherty added that it was making sure the discs could satisfy all high-definition needs including the ability to record onto the dvds and smaller discs to fit into camcorders. both toshiba and blu-ray are hopeful that the emerging dvd format war akin to the betamax and vhs fight in the 1980s can be resolved over the next year when next-generation dvd players start to come out. when players do come out they will be able to play standard dvds too which is good news for those who have huge libraries of current dvds. but the support from vivendi and electronics arts is a big boost to blu-ray in the battle for supremacy. gaming is a $20 billion industry worldwide so is as crucial as the film industry in terms of money to be made. the technical requirement for game development today demands more advanced optical-disc technologies said michael heilmann chief technology officer for vivendi universal. blu-ray offers the capacity performance and high-speed internet connectivity to take us into the future of gaming. ea a leading games developer and publisher added that the delivery of high-definition games of the future was vital and blu-ray had the capacity functionality and interactivity needed for the kinds of projects it was planning. sony recently announced it would be using the technology in its next generation of playstations. mr doherty said gamers were ravenous for high-quality graphics and technology for the next generation of titles. gamers especially those working on pcs are always focused on more capacity to deliver textures deeper levels for delivering higher-resolution playback. he added: the focus for games moving forward on increased immersion. gaming companies really like to focus on creating a world which involves creating complicated 3d models and textures and increasing the resolution increasing the frame rate - all of these are part of getting a more immersive experience. fitting these models on current dvd technologies means compressing the graphics so much that much of this quality is lost. as games move to more photo-real capability the current technology is limiting. they are thrilled at the advanced capacity to start to build these immersive environments said mr doherty. currently graphics-intensive pc games also require multiple discs for installation. high-definition dvds will cut down on that need. likewise consoles rely on single discs so dvds that can hold six times more data mean much better high-resolution games. blu-ray has already won backing from major hollywood studios such as mgm studios disney and buena vista as well as top technology firms like dell lg samsung and phillips amongst others. while toshiba s hd-dvd technology has won backing from paramount universal and warner bros. the real world benefits (of hd-dvd) are apparent and obvious said jim cardwell president of warner home video. mr cardwell added that rapid time to market and dependability were significant factors in choosing to go with hd-dvd. both formats are courting microsoft to be the format of choice for the next generation xbox but discussions are still on-going. next generation dvds will also be able to store images and other data. ces is the largest consumer electronics show in the world and runs from 6 to 9 january.

tech

sony psp tipped as a must-have sony s playstation portable is the top uk gadget for 2005 according to a round-up of ultimate gizmos compiled by stuff magazine. it beats the ipod into second place in the top ten essentials list which predicts what gadget-lovers are likely to covet this year. owning all 10 gadgets will set the gadget lover back £7 455. that is £1 000 cheaper than last year s list due to falling manufacturing costs making gadgets more affordable. portable gadgets dominate the list including sharp s 902 3g mobile phone the pentax optio sv digital camera and samsung s yepp yh-999 video jukebox. what this year s essentials shows is that gadgets are now cheaper sexier and more indispensable than ever. we ve got to the point where we can t live our lives without certain technology said adam vaughan editor of stuff essentials. the proliferation of gadgets in our homes is inexorably altering the role of the high street in our lives thinks mr vaughan. take digital cameras who would now pay to develop an entire film of photos or legitimate downloads who would travel miles to a record shop when they could download the song in minutes for 70p he asks. next year will see a new set of technologies capturing the imaginations of gadget lovers stuff predicts. the xbox 2 high-definition tv and mp3 mobiles will be among the list of must-haves that will dominate 2006 it says. the spring launch of the psp in the uk is eagerly awaited by gaming fans.

tech

angry williams rejects criticism serena williams has angrily rejected claims that she and sister venus are a declining force in tennis. the sisters ended last year without a grand slam title for the first time since 1998. but serena denied their challenge was fading saying: that s not fair - i m tired of not saying anything. we ve been practising hard. we ve had serious injuries. i ve had surgery and after i got to the wimbledon final. i don t know many who have done that. while serena is through to the australian open semi-finals venus went out in the fourth round meaning she has not gone further than the last eight in her last five grand slam appearances. but serena added: venus had a severe strain in her stomach. i actually had the same injury but i didn t tear it the way she did. if i would have torn it i wouldn t have been here. she played a player (alicia molik) that just played out of her mind and venus made some errors that she probably shouldn t have made. serena also said people tended to forget the impact the 2003 murder of sister yetunde price had had on the family. to top it off we have a very very very very very close family serena continued. to be in some situation that we ve been placed in in the past little over a year it s not easy to come out and just perform at your best when you realize there are so many things that are so important. so no we re not declining. we re here. i don t have to win this tournament to prove anything. i know that i m out here and i know that i m one of the best players out here.

sport

choose hope over fear - kennedy voters will have a clear choice between the politics of fear and the politics of hope in the next general election said charles kennedy. in his new year message the liberal democrat leader said labour and the conservatives were united in relying on fear and populist scares . he said his party was the one of hope and was ready for a 2005 poll. on the asian tsunami he said it had been very heartening to learn of the generosity being shown by britons. mr kennedy said his thoughts were with all those caught up in the disaster which had dominated the christmas and new year period. at home he said many people were turning to the liberal democrats as they became disheartened with the politics of the other two main parties. the general election would be a three-party struggle as the conservative party fades away as a national force and the liberal democrats challenge labour in its heartlands he said. a clear division is emerging in british politics - the politics of fear versus the politics of hope. labour is counting on the politics of fear ratcheting up talk of threats crime and insecurity. while the conservatives are re-working their populist scares about asylum and the european menace he said. he said the government was using this climate of fear to try to strip away civil liberties. it was already using detention without trial at belmarsh prison ignoring a recent law lords judgement that this contravenes basic human rights he said. he also criticised attempts to bring in trial without jury plans to lower the burden of proof in some criminal trials curbing of rights to protest increased stop and search powers and id card plans. he said while everyone had the right to be secure they also had the right to be protected against unfair discrimination. but at the same time an overmighty state is a dangerous one he said. his party instinctively understood the new liberal britain which is no longer a nation with one family structure and one colour he said. we are less deferential; more inclined to think for ourselves; more open about sexuality and equality. our national institutions are changing too. we are no longer a nation of one church; we are a nation of many faiths. in our attitudes and the way we live our lives this is in many ways a liberal britain.

politics