microsoft seeking spyware trojan microsoft is investigating a trojan program that attempts to switch off the firm s anti-spyware software.  the spyware tool was only released by microsoft in the last few weeks and has been downloaded by six million people. stephen toulouse  a security manager at microsoft  said the malicious program was called bankash-a trojan and was being sent as an e-mail attachment. microsoft said it did not believe the program was widespread and recommended users to use an anti-virus program. the program attempts to disable or delete microsoft s anti-spyware tool and suppress warning messages given to users.  it may also try to steal online banking passwords or other personal information by tracking users  keystrokes.  microsoft said in a statement it is investigating what it called a criminal attack on its software. earlier this week  microsoft said it would buy anti-virus software maker sybari software to improve its security in its windows and e-mail software. microsoft has said it plans to offer its own paid-for anti-virus software but it has not yet set a date for its release. the anti-spyware program being targeted is currently only in beta form and aims to help users find and remove spyware - programs which monitor internet use  causes advert pop-ups and slow a pc s performance.


steady job growth continues in us the us created fewer jobs than expected in december  but analysts said that the dip in hiring was not enough to derail the world s biggest economy.  according to labor department figures  157 000 new jobs were added last month. that took 2004 s total to 2.2 million  the best showing in five years. job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy. while worries still remain  the conditions are set for steady growth in 2005  analysts said. the unemployment rate stayed at 5.4% in december  and about 200 000 jobs will need to be created each month if that figure is to drop.   it was a respectable report   said michael moran  analyst at daiwa securities.   payroll growth in december was a little lighter than the consensus forecast  but we had upward revisions to the prior two months and an increase in manufacturing employment.   manufacturing is a cyclical area of the economy and if it s showing job growth  it s a good indication that the economy is on a solid growth track.  that means that the federal reserve is likely to continue its policy of raising interest rates. the fed lifted borrowing costs five times last year to 2.25%  citing evidence the us economic recovery was becoming more robust.  job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy  and proved to be a main topic of debate in the us presidential election. while demand for workers is far from booming  the conditions are set for steady growth.  overall  compared to the previous year it looks great  it just keeps going stronger and stronger and i expect that to be the case  in 2005  said kurt karl  economist at swiss re in new york. meanwhile  economists cautioned against reading too much into data from the federal reserve showing an unexpected $8.7bn drop in consumer debt in november. a fall in consumer spending  which makes up about two-thirds of all us economic activity  could help limit the extent of any future interest rate rises. but economists said there could be a number of reasons for a fall in the borrowing  which include credit cards and personal loans  while noting that such figures can vary on a month-to-month basis.


newcastle 2-1 bolton kieron dyer smashed home the winner to end bolton s 10-game unbeaten run.  lee bowyer put newcastle ahead when he fed stephen carr on the right flank  then sprinted into the area to power home a header from the resultant cross. wanderers hit back through stelios giannakopoulos  who ended a fluid passing move with a well-struck volley. but dyer had the last word in a game of few chances  pouncing on a loose ball after alan shearer s shot was blocked and firing into the top corner. neither side lacked urgency in the early stages of the game  with plenty of tackles flying in  but opportunities in front of goal were harder to come by. bolton keeper jussi jaaskelainen had to make two saves in quick succession midway through the first-half - keeping out shearer s low shot and dyer s close-range header - but that was the only goalmouth action of note. and it was almost out of nothing that the magpies took the lead on 35 minutes. bowyer found space with a neat turn on the half-way line and striding forward picked out carr to his right. he then continued his run and with perfect timing made his way into the box where he met carr s cross with a downward header into the far corner. bolton had produced little going forward at this point but they responded well.  they were level within six minutes thanks to a smart finish from giannakopoulos. jay-jay okocha twisted and turned on the edge of the area and after a neat exchange of passes involving kevin davies and gary speed  the greek striker found the bottom corner with a first-time strike. the magpies were opened up again before half-time as davies set giannakopoulos in space and given had to block at his near post. but the home side survived  and they should have re-taken the lead with the first meaningful attack of the second half. fernando hierro cynically chopped down dyer on the edge of the area with the midfielder clean through. but the veteran defender escaped with a booking as there were other defenders nearby  and from the resultant free-kick laurent robert curled the ball just wide. bolton were creating little going forward and they seemed content to frustrate the magpies. their strategy seemed to be working until the 69th minute. alan shearer s snap-shot was charged down and dyer reacted first to smash the ball past the despairing jaaskelainen from six yards.  - bolton boss sam allardyce  i am bitterly disappointed with the result  but i am probably more disappointed with the second-half performance.  in the first half we had put them under a lot of pressure  and our goal matched theirs in quality.  i thought it would lift us and that they might be tired after playing a lot of games  but unfortunately we were not up for the battle in the second half.  we allowed them to heap too much pressure on us  and in the end we cracked.    - newcastle boss graeme souness  we deserved the win. we had a really good second half.  bolton are a difficult side to play. you have to match them physically first but we did that  and then we played some football.  we had a slow first 45 minutes when we looked a bit tired but we got going after that. the scoreline flattered them and we could have had one or two more goals.  newcastle: given  carr  boumsong  bramble  babayaro  dyer  faye  bowyer  robert (jenas 77)  ameobi  shearer. subs not used: butt  harper  milner  hughes. goals: bowyer 35  dyer 69. bolton: jaaskelainen  hunt (fadiga 14)  n gotty  ben haim  candela  giannakopoulos  okocha (vaz te 77)  hierro (campo 64)  speed  gardner  davies. subs not used: jaidi  poole. booked: ben haim  hierro. goals: giannakopoulos 41. att: 50 430 ref: s dunn (gloucestershire).


brazil plays down varig rescue the brazilian government has played down claims that it could step in to save the country s biggest airline.  brazil s airport authority chief carlos wilson had claimed the government was on the brink of stepping in to save varig  brazil s flagship airline. however  the country s vice president jose alencar has said the government still is looking for a solution. varig is struggling under a huge debt burden of an estimated debt of 6.5 billion reais ($2.3bn or £1.2bn). asked whether a rescue was on the cards following a meeting of the country s congress to discuss the airline s crisis  mr alencar replied:  no  i don t think so. we will see.   earlier  mr wilson had said that president luiz inacio lula da silva has decided to step in and a decree of some kind of intervention could be signed this week.  in practice  it will be an intervention  although this is not the technical name used   he said. an intervention means that the government would take administrative control of the company and its finances. for that to happen varig s main shareholder  the non-profit ruben berta foundation which represents the airline s employees  would have to be removed  mr wilson said. however  no jobs would be lost and the airline would keep on flying  he added. varig  which operates in 18 countries apart from brazil  has been driven to the brink of collapse because of the country s economic downturn.  the depreciation of brazil s currency has had a direct impact on the airline s dollar debt as well as some of its costs. business has improved recently with demand for air travel increasing and a recovery in the brazilian economy. the airline could also win a sizeable windfall from a compensation claim against the government. on tuesday the courts awarded varig 2bn reais ($725m)  after ruling in favour of its compensation claim against the government for freezing tariffs from 1985 to 1992. but the government can appeal the decision.


rivals of the £400 apple... the mac mini is the cheapest apple computer ever. but though it is cheap for a mac how does it compare to pcs that cost about the same amount  dot.life tries to find out if you can you get more for your money if you stick with the beige box.      an extremely small computer that is designed to bring the macintosh to the masses.  apple offer a less powerful mac mini for £339 but the £399 models has a 1.4ghz power pc chip  80 gigabyte hard drive  combined cd burner/dvd player. it comes equipped with usb and firewire ports for peripheral connections  ethernet port for broadband  a port for standard video output and an audio/headphone jack.the machine comes with mac os x  the apple operating system  the software suite ilife  which includes itunes  iphoto  imovie  idvd and garageband.  a monitor  keyboard or mouse. there is also no built-in support for wireless technology or any speakers. the lack of a dvd burner is an omission in the age of backing-up important software. wireless and a dvd burner can be added at extra cost.  apple are targeting people who already have a main computer and want to upgrade - especially pc users who have used an apple ipod.  compact and stylish  the mac mini would not look out of place in any home. apple computers are famously user friendly and offer much better network security  which means fewer viruses. the package of software that comes with the machine is the best money can buy.  the mac mini is just a box. if you don t already have a monitor etc  adding them to the package sees the value for money begin to dwindle. macs don t offer the upgrade flexibility of a pc and the machine s specifications lack the horse power for tasks such as high-end video editing or games.   the mac mini puts the macintosh within the reach of everyone   an apple spokesman said.  it will bring more customers to the platform  especially pc users and owners.     an entry-level machine designed for basic home use.  a 2.6ghz intel celeron chip  40 gigabyte hard drive  256mb  combined cd burner/dvd player. it comes equipped with a 17 inch monitor  keyboard and mouse. the machine has 6 usb ports and an ethernet port for broadband connection. there s also a port for standard video output. the machine comes with windows xp home edition. it provides basic home tools such as a media player and word processor.  a dvd burner  or any wireless components built in. wireless and a dvd burner can be added at extra cost.  homes and small offices  including those looking to add a low cost second computer.  cost is the clear advantage. the dell provides enough power and software for basic gaming and internet surfing. it s easily upgradeable so a bigger hard drive  better sound and graphics cards can be added.  the dell is hardly stylish and the hard drive is on the small size for anyone wanting to store photos or a decent sized digital music collection.   this machine is for small businesses and for people who want a second computer for basic home use  perhaps in a kids bedroom   a spokesman for dell said.  i think we offer better value once you realise all the extras needed for the mac mini.     a desktop computer that pc pro magazine dubbed best performer in a group test of machines that cost only £399 (£469 including vat).  a good basic pc that  according to pc pro  has  superb upgrade potential . for your money you get a 1.8ghz amd sempron processor  512mb of ram  120gb hard drive  dvd writer  16-inch monitor  mouse  keyboard and windows xp2  much more than the basics. it cannot handle 3d graphics and has no firewire slots.  those on a limited budget who want a machine they can add to and improve as their cash allows.  it s cheap and has plenty of room to improve but that could end up making it expensive in the long run. it s a good basic workhorse.  it s not pretty and has a monitor rather than a flat-panel display. some of the upgrades offered by jal to the basic model are pricey. you might find that you want to chop and change quite quickly.  nick ross  deputy labs editor at pc pro  said the important point about buying a cheap and cheerful pc is the upgrade path. interest has switched from processor power to graphics and sound cards as that s what makes the difference in games.  even manufacturers are not going to be marketing machines as faster   he said   they ll emphasise the different features.     a computer built from bits you buy and put together yourself.  a surprisingly good pc sporting an amd athlon xp 2500 processor  512 megabytes ram  a graphics card with 128 ram on board plus tv out  a 40 gb hard drive  cd-writer and dvd player  windows xp home.  anything else. you re building it so you have to buy all the software you want to install and do your own trouble-shooting and tech support. building your own machine is easier than it used to be but you need to read specifications carefully to make sure all parts work together.  experienced and keen pc users. building your own pc  or upgrading the one you have  is a great way to improve your understanding of how it all works.  it s cheap  you can specify exactly what you want and you get the thrill of putting it together yourself. and a bigger thrill if everything works as it should.  once it s built you won t be able to do much with it until you start buying software for it. if it starts to go wrong it might take a lot of fixing. as gavin cox of the excellent buildyourown.org.uk website put it:  it will be tough to obtain/build a pc to ever be as compact and charming as the mac mini.    performance-wise  it s not  cutting edge  and is barely entry-level by today s market  but up against the mac mini  i believe it will hold its own and even pull a few more tricks   says gavin cox. the good news is that the machine is eminently expandable. by contrast  says mr cox  the mac mini is almost disposable.


putin backs state grab for yukos russia s president has defended the purchase of yukos  key production unit by state-owned oil firm rosneft  saying it followed free market principles.  vladimir putin said it was quite within the rights of a state-owned company to ensure its interests were met. rosneft bought 100% of baikal finance group  in a move that amounts to the renationalisation of a major chunk of russia s booming oil industry. rosneft will now control about 16% of russia s total crude oil output. yukos share jumped in moscow  climbing as much as 50% before being suspended.  rosneft is already in the process of merging with gazprom  the world s biggest gas company  a move that will see gazprom return to majority state-ownership.  baikal was the surprise buyer of oil and gas giant yukos s main production division at a forced auction on sunday.  everything was done by market methods   mr putin said at his year-end press conference in moscow. shedding some light on the kremlin s motivation  mr putin referred to a period of so-called  cowboy capitalism  that followed the collapse of the soviet union.  he said privatisations carried out in the early 1990s had involved trickery  including law breaking  by people seeking to acquire valuable state property.  now the state  using market methods  is safeguarding its interests. i think this is quite normal   the russian president said. a rosneft spokesman has said the acquisition is part of its plan to build a  balanced  national energy corporation.   the latest announcement comes after more than a year of wrangling that has pushed yukos  one of russia s biggest companies to the brink of collapse. the russian government put yukos s yuganskneftegas subsidiary up for sale last week after hitting the company with a $27bn (£14bn) bill for back taxes and fines.  analysts say that yukos s legal attempts to block the auction by filing for bankruptcy protection in the us are probably what caused this week s cloak-and-dagger dealings. gazprom  the company originally tipped to buy yuganskneftegas  was banned from taking part in the auction by a us court injunction. by selling the yukos unit to little-known baikal and then to rosneft  russia is able to circumvent a host of tricky legal landmines  analysts said.  you cannot sue the russian government   said eric kraus  a strategist at moscow s sovlink securities.  the russian government has sovereign immunity.   the government is renationalising yuganskneftegas.   even so  analysts reckon that the saga still has a long way to go. the rosneft announcement came just hours after yukos accused gazprom of illegally taking part in sunday s auction. it has said it will be seeking damages of $20bn. the claim was made at the latest hearing in the us bankruptcy court in houston  texas  where yukos  had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. if found in contempt of the us court order blocking the auction  gazprom could face having foreign assets seized. yukos  lawyers had also been expected to try to have baikal s assets frozen. lawyers claimed the auction was illegal because yukos - with an office in houston - had filed for bankruptcy and therefore its assets were under the protection of us law which has worldwide jurisdiction. further muddying the waters is a merger between rosneft and gazprom which authorities have said will go ahead as planned.


deutsche boerse boosts dividend deutsche boerse  the german stock exchange that is trying to buy its london rival  has said it will boost its 2004 dividend payment by 27%.  analysts said that the move is aimed at winning over investors opposed to its bid for the london stock exchange. critics of the takeover have complained that the money could be better used by returning cash to shareholders. deutsche boerse also said profit in the three months to 31 december was 120.7m euros ($158.8m; £83.3m). sales climbed to 364.4m euros  lifting revenue for the year to a record 1.45bn euros.  frankfurt-based deutsche boerse has offered £1.3bn ($2.48bn; 1.88bn euros) for the london stock exchange. rival pan-european bourse euronext is working also on a bid. late on monday  deutsche boerse said it would lift its 2004 dividend payment to 70 euro cents (£0.48; $0.98) from 55 euro cents a year earlier.  there is a whiff of a sweetener in there   anais faraj  an analyst at nomura told the bbc s world business report.  most of the disgruntled shareholders of deutsche boerse are complaining that the money that is being used for the bid could be better placed in their hands  paid out in dividends   mr faraj continued. deutsche boerse is  trying to buy them off in a sense   he said.


asian quake hits european shares shares in europe s leading reinsurers and travel firms have fallen as the scale of the damage wrought by tsunamis across south asia has become apparent.  more than 23 000 people have been killed following a massive underwater earthquake and many of the worst hit areas are popular tourist destinations. reisurance firms such as swiss re and munich re lost value as investors worried about rebuilding costs. but the disaster has little impact on stock markets in the us and asia.  currencies including the thai baht and indonesian rupiah weakened as analysts warned that economic growth may slow.  it came at the worst possible time   said hans goetti  a singapore-based fund manager.  the impact on the tourist industry is pretty devastating  especially in thailand.  travel-related shares dropped in europe  with companies such as germany s tui and lufthansa and france s club mediterranne sliding. insurers and reinsurance firms were also under pressure in europe.  shares in munich re and swiss re - the world s two biggest reinsurers - both fell 1.7% as the market speculated about the cost of rebuilding in asia. zurich financial  allianz and axa also suffered a decline in value.  however  their losses were much smaller  reflecting the market s view that reinsurers were likely to pick up the bulk of the costs. worries about the size of insurance liabilities dragged european shares down  although the impact was exacerbated by light post-christmas trading. germany s benchmark dax index closed the day 16.29 points lower at 3.817.69 while france s cac index of leading shares fell 5.07 points to 3.817.69. investors pointed out  however  that declines probably would be industry specific  with the travel and insurance firms hit hardest.  it s still too early for concrete damage figures   swiss re s spokesman floiran woest told associated press.  that also has to do with the fact that the damage is very widely spread geographically.   the unfolding scale of the disaster in south asia had little immediate impact on us shares  however. the dow jones index had risen 20.54 points  or 0.2%  to 10 847.66 by late morning as analsyts were cheered by more encouraging reports from retailers about post-christmas sales. in asian markets  adjustments were made quickly to account for lower earnings and the cost of repairs. thai airways shed almost 4%. the country relies on tourism for about 6% of its total economy. singapore airlines dropped 2.6%. about 5% of singapore s annual gross domestic product (gdp) comes from tourism. malaysia s budget airline  airasia fell 2.9%. resort operator tanco holdings slumped 5%.  travel companies also took a hit  with japan s kinki nippon sliding 1.5% and his dropping 3.3%. however  the overall impact on asia s largest stock market  japan s nikkei  was slight. shares fell just 0.03%. concerns about the strength of economic growth going forward weighed on the currency markets. the indonesian rupiah lost as much as 0.6% against the us dollar  before bouncing back slightly to trade at 9 300. the thai baht lost 0.3% against the us currency  trading at 39.10. in india  where more than 2 000 people are thought to have died  the rupee shed 0.1% against the dollar analysts said that it was difficult to predict the total cost of the disaster and warned that share prices and currencies would come under increasing pressure as the bills mounted.


us insurer marsh cuts 2 500 jobs up to 2 500 jobs are to go at us insurance broker marsh & mclennan in a shake up following bigger-than-expected losses.  the insurer said the cuts were part of a cost-cutting drive  aimed at saving millions of dollars. marsh posted a $676m (£352m) loss for the last three months of 2004  against a $375m (£195.3m) profit a year before. it blamed an $850m payout to settle a price-rigging lawsuit  brought by new york attorney general elliot spitzer. under the settlement announced in january  marsh took a pre-tax charge of $618m in the october-to-december quarter  on top of the $232m charge from the previous quarter.  clearly 2004 was the most difficult year in mmc s financial history   marsh chief executive michael cherkasky said.  an ongoing restructuring drive at the group also led to a $337m hit in the fourth quarter  the world s biggest insurer said.  analysts expect its latest round of cuts to focus on its brokerage unit  which employs 40 000 staff. the latest layoffs will take the total number of jobs to go at the firm to 5 500 and are expected to lead to annual savings of more than $375m. as part of its efforts to cut costs  the company said it was halving its dividend payment to 17 cents a shares from 34 cents  a move which should enable it to save $360m. looking ahead  mr cherkasky forecast profitable growth for the year ahead  with an operating margin in the upper-teens  and with the opportunity for further margin expansion . meanwhile  the company also announced it would spin-off its mmc capital private equity unit  which manages the $3bn trident funds operation  to a group of employees. marsh did not say when the move would take place  but said it had signed a letter of intent.  the insurer hit the headlines in october last year when it faced accusations of price rigging. new york attorney general elliot spitzer sued the company  accusing it of receiving illegal payments to steer clients to selected firms as well as rigging bids and fixing prices. in january  marsh agreed to pay $850m to settle the suit - a figure in line with the placement fees it collected in 2003 - and agreed to change its business practices. in february  a former senior executive pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a wide-ranging probe of fraud and bid-rigging in the insurance industry. in january  a former senior vice president also pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the investigation. in an effort to reform its business practises  marsh said it has already introduced new leadership  new compliance procedures and new ways of dealing with customers.  as a result  we are ready to put these matters behind us and move ahead in 2005 to restore the trust our clients have placed in us and to rebuild shareholder value   mr cherkasky said.


standard life cuts policy bonuses standard life  europe s largest mutual life insurer  has cut bonuses for with-profit policyholders.  annual bonus rates on its with-profits life policies were cut from 2.5% to 2%  while bonuses on pension policies were reduced from 3.25% to 2.5%. it is the sixth time in three years standard life has made cuts to bonus rates  despite an 8.7% rise in the value of the with-profits fund in 2004. the insurer blamed the cuts on poor share returns and low interest rates.  with-profits policies are designed to smooth out the peaks and troughs of stock market volatility. profits made in good years are kept in reserve to pay investors an annual bonus even when the stock market performs badly. slumping share prices throughout 2001 and 2002 forced most firms to trim bonus rates on their policies. standard life came in for criticism for sticking with stock market investments during 2001 and 2002. the insurer argued that shares outperformed other investments over the long term and that policyholders would feel the benefit when the stock market recovered. recently  norwich union and axa sun life both cut their with-profit bonus rates.  john gill  managing director of the insurer s life and pensions division  said that a strong stock market recovery in the past two years had only  partly compensated for losses during 2001 and 2002 . in addition  low interest rates meant that  long-term investment returns are well below historic levels   mr gill added. however  mr gill maintained that with-profits continued to perform well over the long term.  our payouts continue to stand up well against other types of long-term investments over similar periods   he said. standard life has an estimated 2.4 million with-profits policyholders. last year  the company announced that it was looking to float on the stock market in 2006.


norway upholds  napster  ruling a norwegian student who ran a website which linked to downloadable mp3 files has been ordered to pay compensation by the country s supreme court.  frank allan bruvik was ordered to pay 100 000 kroner (£8 000) to the music industry in norway. he was a student when he set up his napster.no site  which allowed users to submit and receive links to mp3 files. bruvik had earlier been cleared on appeal after a lower court had found for the music industry. music industry bosses in norway said the ruling would help build confidence in the internet as a distribution medium.  frank allan bruvik set up the napster.no website as part of a school project in 2001 while studying computer engineering in the norwegian town of lillehammer. the website was not associated with the napster.com site in the usa  which had been operating since 1999 and was already facing legal action.  bruvik s site was online between august and november 2001  and while it did not host any music  at its peak it was providing links to more than 170 free files on other servers. as well as providing links  the site allowed those visiting it to submit links that could later be accessed by other visitors. a legal complaint for copyright violation was filed by groups including norway s performing rights society  tono  and the norwegian branches of sony music and universal music  who saw it as an important test of principle.  a norwegian court ruled in 2003 that bruvik would have to pay 100 000 kroner to the music industry  but the country s court of appeal cleared him  saying that the copyright violation occurred when others posted the music. however  the supreme court stated that the music was clearly published in violation of copyright law it added that the case was decided based on the responsibility for abetting an illegal act  and that bruvik s actions were premeditated. norway s music industry said it was satisfied with the ruling  because showed that music piracy would not be accepted.  meanwhile  in the usa a further 717 lawsuits against people alleged to have traded copyrighted songs were filed this week by the recording industry association of america. the suits  brought on behalf of the major record companies  cite the individuals for illegally distributing music via unauthorized peer-to-peer services such as kazaa and edonkey. as with preceding cases  the fresh action was made against so-called  john doe  defendants  who are identified only by the codes given to their computers  internet connections.


saudi investor picks up the savoy london s famous savoy hotel has been sold to a group combining saudi billionaire investor prince alwaleed bin talal and a unit of hbos bank.  financial details of the deal  which includes the nearby simpson s in the strand restaurant  were not disclosed. the seller - irish-based property firm quinlan private - bought the savoy along with the berkeley  claridge s and the connaught for £750m last year. prince alwaleed s hotel investments include the luxury george v in paris. he also has substantial stakes in fairmont hotels & resorts  which will manage the savoy and simpson s in the strand  and four seasons. fairmont said it planned to invest $48m (£26m) in renovating parts of the savoy including the river room and suites with views over the river thames. work was expected to be completed by summer 2006  fairmont said.


nintendo ds makes its euro debut nintendo s ds handheld game console has officially gone on sale in europe.  many stores around the uk opened at midnight to let keen gamers get their hands on the device. the two-screen clamshell gadget costs £99 (149 euros) and 15 games are available for it at launch  some featuring well-known characters such as super mario and rayman. the ds spearheads nintendo s attempt to continue its dominance of the handheld gaming market.  since going on sale in japan and the us at the end of 2004  nintendo has sold almost 4m ds consoles.  part of this popularity may be due to the fact that the ds can run any of the catalogue of 700 games produced for nintendo s gameboy advance handheld. games for the ds are expected to cost between £19 and £29. about 130 games for the ds are in development.  as well as having two screens  one of which is controlled by touch  the ds also lets players take on up to 16 other people via wireless. a  download play  option means ds owners can take each other on even if only one of them owns a copy of a particular game. other ds owners can also be sent text messages and drawings. nintendo is also planning to release a media adapter for the handheld so it can play music and video. five virgin megastores and 150 game shops were expected to open early on friday morning to let people buy a ds.  we know that customers want it as soon as it s released - and that means the minute  not the day   said robert quinn  game s uk sales director.  but nintendo will only have sole control of europe s handheld gaming market for a few weeks because soon sony is expected to release its psp console. although nintendo is aiming for younger players and the psp is more for older gamers  it is likely that the two firms will be competing for many of the same customers. sony s psp represents a real threat to nintendo because of the huge number of playstation owners around the world and the greater flexibility of the sleek black gadget. the psp uses small discs for games  can play music and movies without the need for add-ons and also supports short-range wireless play. when it goes on sale the psp is likely to cost between £130 and £200.


white admits to balco drugs link banned american sprinter kelli white says she knowingly took steroids given to her by bay area lab co-operative (balco) president victor conte.  conte faces a federal trial next year on charges of distributing steroids and tax evasion  and white said at first he tried to cover up what he was doing.  he s the one who told me that it wasn t what he said it was   white said in the san francisco chronicle. but she added:  it was my decision to go to him  not anybody else s.  white said conte at first told her the substance was flaxseed oil  only to change his story later. white failed a drugs test after winning the 100m and 200m titles at the 2003 world athletics championships. she was subsequently handed a two-year ban in may this year and has admitted taking the stimulant modafinil. at first  white claimed she took the drug to combat narcolepsy but she now takes full responsibility for her actions.   my whole belief about victor is that he was selling a product   white said in the la times.  whether it be a good product or a bad product  he was selling a product.  white was introduced to conte through her coach remy korchemy  who is also a defendant in the balco case. the 27-year-old believes doping is so common in sport she felt compelled to cheat herself if she was to have any chance of winning.  i have no clue what it s going to take to change that   said white.  i would say i made a mistake and i would never  ever go back.  i would never recommend anyone to take that route.


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


bridge could miss rest of season chelsea left-back wayne bridge could miss the rest of the season with a suspected broken ankle.  the england international  24  was hurt in an innocuous challenge with alan shearer during the londoners  fa cup defeat at newcastle on sunday.  we think it s a big injury   said jose mourinho  whose chelsea team this week meet barcelona in the champions league and liverpool in the carling cup final. william gallas and damien duff could also miss the barcelona game. france defender gallas and ireland winger duff both picked up their injuries in the closing stages of chelsea s 1-0 defeat at st james  park.  with bridge having gone off after mourinho used all three substitutes  those knocks plus carlo cudicini s red card meant chelsea finished the game with seven able-bodied players. cudicini would not have played against barcelona  but had been promised a game in the carling cup final  although he will now miss the cardiff showpiece through suspension. the manager is not planning to add any new names to his squad ahead of the trip to barcelona  even though he has few options to replace bridge at left-back.  celestine babayaro left the club in january  ironically to join newcastle  and although gallas has deputised at left-back before  he is struggling to be fit himself. it could be that paulo ferreira  usually a right-back  is switched to left-back with glen johnson  who ended the newcastle game in goal  playing on the right. youngsters ben hudell  joe keenan and sam tillen would be options should mourinho decide to call up a replacement  but it is unlikely he would risk an untried prospect in a champions league tie. bridge s injury also means mourinho  who reportedly wants to sign ashley cole from arsenal  will not have a specialist  senior left-back for the run-in to the season.   he (bridge) has no chance of playing against barcelona  probably will not play against liverpool (in the carling cup final) and maybe not for the rest of the season   he said.  the medical department will try to do everything to recover gallas and duff. we will have to wait and see  but i won t cry about injuries because we will have 11 players to play on tuesday.  shearer said he was unsure what caused bridge s injury.  i don t know what happened.  he said.  it was just a shame. i don t think we even touched each other.  by all accounts it s pretty serious. i went into the dressing-room after the game and wished him all the best.  mourinho  whose team are chasing three trophies  has already lost winger arjen robben to a serious injury.


gadget growth fuels eco concerns technology firms and gadget lovers are being urged to think more about the environment when buying and disposing of the latest hi-tech products.  at the consumer electronics show in las vegas earlier this month  several hi-tech firms were recognised for their strategies to help the environment. ebay also announced the rethink project bringing together intel  apple  and ibm among others to promote recycling. the us consumer electronics market is set to grow by over 11% in 2005. but more awareness is needed about how and where old gadgets can be recycled as well as how to be more energy efficient  said the us environmental protection agency (epa). of particular growing concern is how much energy it takes to recharge portable devices  one of the fastest growing markets in technology. the consumer electronics association (cea) has predicted that shipments of consumer technologies in 2005 will reach more than $125.73 billion (nearly £68 billion).  ebay s initiative pulls together major technology firms  environment groups  government agencies and ebay users to give information about what to do with old computers and where to send them. the online auction house thinks that its already-established community of loyal users could be influential.  we really became aware of the e-waste issue and we saw that our 125 million users can be a powerful force for good   ebay s david stern told the bbc news website.   we saw the opportunity to meet the additional demand we have on the site for used computers and saw the opportunity too to good some good for the environment.  but it is not just computers that cause a problem for the environment. teenagers get a new mobile every 11 months  adults every 18 months and a 15 million handsets are replaced in total each year. yet  only 15% are actually recycled. this year  a predicted two billion people worldwide will own a mobile  according to a deloitte report. schemes in the us  like ripmobile  could help in targeting younger generations with recycling messages. the initiative  which was also launched at ces  rewards 10 to 28-year-olds for returning unused phones.  this system allows for the transformation of a drawer full of unused mobile phones into anything from music to clothes to electronics or games   said seth heine from ripmobile.  one group of students collected 1 000 mobiles for recycling in just three months. mr heine told the bbc news website that what was important was to raise awareness amongst the young so that recycling becomes  learned behaviour . europe is undoubtedly more advanced than the us in terms of recycling awareness and robust  end of life  programmes  although there is a tide change happening in the rest of the world too. intel showcased some its motherboards and chips at ces which are entirely lead free.   there is more and more awareness on the consumer side  but the whole industry is moving towards being lead free   intel s allen wilson told the bbc news website.  there is still low-level awareness right now  but it is on the rise - the highest level of awareness is in europe.  a european union (eu) directive  weee (waste electronic and electrical equipment)  comes into effect in august. it puts the responsibility on electrical manufacturers to recycle items that are returned to them. but developments are also being made to design better technologies which are more energy efficient and which do not contain harmful substances. elements like chromium  lead  and cadmium - common in consumer electronics goods - will be prohibited in all products in the eu by 2006.  but it is not just about recycling either. the predicted huge growth in the gadget market means the amount of energy used to power them up is on the rise too. the biggest culprit  according to the epa  is the innocuous power adaptor  nicknamed  energy vampires . they provide vital juice for billions of mobile phones  pdas (personal digital assistants)  digital cameras  camcorders  and digital music players.  although there is a focus on developing efficient and improved circuits in the devices themselves  the technologies inside rechargers are still outdated and so eat up more energy than is needed to power a gadget. on 1 january  new efficiency standards for external power supplies came into effect as part of the european commission code of conduct. but at ces  the epa also unveiled new guidelines for its latest energy star initiative which targets external power adapters. these map out the framework for developing better adaptors that can be labelled with an energy star logo  meaning they are about 35% more efficient. the initiative is a global effort and more manufacturers  adaptors are being brought on board. most are made in china. about two billion are shipped global every year  and about three billion are in use in the us alone. the epa is already working with several companies which make more than 22% of power supplies on the market.  we are increasingly finding companies that not only want to provide neat  hi-tech devices  but also bundle with it a hi-tech  efficient power supply   the epa s andrew fanara said. initiatives like this are critical; if power adaptors continue to be made and used as they are now  consumer electronics and other small appliances will be responsible for more than 40% of electricity used in us homes  said the epa.


us to rule on yukos refuge call yukos has said a us bankruptcy court will decide whether to block russia s impending auction of its main production arm on thursday.  the russian oil firm has filed for bankruptcy protection in the us in an attempt to halt the forced sale. however  judge letitia clark said the hearing would continue on thursday when arguments in the case would be heard. russian authorities are due to auction off yuganskneftegas on 19 december to pay a huge tax bill sent to yukos.  russian prosecutors are forcing the sale of the firm s most lucrative asset yuganskneftegas to help pay a $27bn (£14bn) back tax bill  which they claim is owed by yukos.  filing for bankruptcy protection in the us was  a last resort to preserve the rights of our shareholders  employees and customers   said yukos chief executive steven theede. the company added it had opted to take action through american courts as us bankruptcy law gives worldwide jurisdiction over a debtor company s property and because it was seeking a judiciary willing to protect the value of shareholders  investments. however  as the firm is based in russia and has no significant us assets  lawyers are unsure of the outcome of the case.  we are here to stop 60% of our body from being cut off on sunday   zack clement  a lawyer for yukos  told judge clark in an emergency hearing in houston  texas  on wednesday. as well as the bid to get chapter 11 bankruptcy - which protects firms from creditors  allowing them to continue trading as they restructure their finances - the group also made a claim for damages against the russian government. yukos asked the houston court to order russia to arbitration so that it can press claims for billions of dollars in damages over a  campaign of illegal  discriminatory and disproportionate  tax claims. mr clement said that under russian law  the russian government was obliged to enter into arbitration as set out in international law.  he added that the opening bid for the firm s yuganskneftgas unit was $8bn - less than half of the $20bn that yukos advisers say it is worth.  we believe the only significant bidder at the auction on sunday is gazprom   he said  referring to russia s natural gas giant. yukos maintains that the forced auction is illegal and  will cause the company to suffer immediate and irreparable harm.  many commentators believe the russian government s aggressive pursuit of yukos is a politically-motivated response to the political ambitions of its former chief executive  mikhail khodorkovsky. mr khodorkovsky  who had funded liberal opposition groups  was arrested in october last year on fraud and tax evasion charges and is still in jail analysts believe that if its production unit is auctioned off  it is likely to be bought up by a government-backed firm  like gazprom  effectively bringing a large chunk of russia s lucrative oil and gas industry back under state control.


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


fao warns on impact of subsidies billions of farmers  livelihoods are at risk from falling commodity prices and protectionism  the un s food & agriculture organisation has warned.  trade barriers and subsidies  severely  distort the market  the fao report on the  state of agricultural commodity markets 2004  said. as a result  the 2.5 billion people in the developing world who rely on farming face food insecurity. the most endangered are those who live in the least-developed countries. the fao report said that support for farmers in industrialised nations was equivalent to 30 times the amount provided as aid for agricultural development in poor countries.  the fao has urged the world trade organisation to swiftly conclude negotiations to liberalise trade  easing developing countries  access to the world market. it also criticised the high tariffs imposed by both developed and developing nations. it recommends that developing countries reduce their own tariffs to encourage trade and take advantage of market liberalisation.  according to the organisation  subsidies and high tariffs have a strong impact on the trade of products such as cotton and rice. global exports of these products are mainly in the hands of the european union and the us  who - thanks to subsidies - sell them at very low prices. in fact  almost 30 wealthy nations spend more than $300bn (£158.8bn; 230.9bn euros) in agricultural subsidies. the market situation has divided developing nations in two groups  the fao said. the first group have a reasonably diverse range of agricultural products while in the second group  agriculture lies largely in the hands of small-scale producers. for 43 developing countries  more than 20% of their export incomes come from the sale of just one product. these countries are mainly situated in sub-saharan africa  latin america and the caribbean.


bank voted 8-1 for no rate change the decision to keep interest rates on hold at 4.75% earlier this month was passed 8-1 by the bank of england s rate-setting body  minutes have shown.  one member of the bank s monetary policy committee (mpc) - paul tucker - voted to raise rates to 5%. the news surprised some analysts who had expected the latest minutes to show another unanimous decision. worries over growth rates and consumer spending were behind the decision to freeze rates  the minutes showed. the bank s latest inflation report  released last week  had noted that the main reason inflation might fall was weaker consumer spending.  however  mpc member paul tucker voted for a quarter point rise in interest rates to 5%. he argued that economic growth was picking up  and that the equity  credit and housing markets had been stronger than expected.  the bank s minutes said that risks to the inflation forecast were  sufficiently to the downside  to keep rates on hold at its latest meeting. however  the minutes added:  some members noted that an increase might be warranted in due course if the economy evolved in line with the central projection . ross walker  uk economist at royal bank of scotland  said he was surprised that a dissenting vote had been made so soon. he said the minutes appeared to be  trying to get the market to focus on the possibility of a rise in rates .  if the economy pans out as they expect then they are probably going to have to hike rates.  however  he added  any rate increase is not likely to happen until later this year  with mpc members likely to look for a more sustainable pick up in consumer spending before acting.


broadband challenges tv viewing the number of europeans with broadband has exploded over the past 12 months  with the web eating into tv viewing habits  research suggests.  just over 54 million people are hooked up to the net via broadband  up from 34 million a year ago  according to market analysts nielsen/netratings. the total number of people online in europe has broken the 100 million mark. the popularity of the net has meant that many are turning away from tv  say analysts jupiter research. it found that a quarter of web users said they spent less time watching tv in favour of the net  the report by nielsen/netratings found that the number of people with fast internet access had risen by 60% over the past year.  the biggest jump was in italy  where it rose by 120%. britain was close behind  with broadband users almost doubling in a year. the growth has been fuelled by lower prices and a wider choice of always-on  fast-net subscription plans.  twelve months ago high speed internet users made up just over one third of the audience in europe; now they are more than 50% and we expect this number to keep growing   said gabrielle prior  nielsen/netratings analyst.  as the number of high-speed surfers grows  websites will need to adapt  update and enhance their content to retain their visitors and encourage new ones.  the total number of europeans online rose by 12% to 100 million over the past year  the report showed  with the biggest rise in france  italy  britain and germany.  the ability to browse web pages at high speed  download files such as music or films and play online games is changing what people do in their spare time.  a study by analysts jupiter research suggested that broadband was challenging television viewing habits. in homes with broadband  40% said they were spending less time watching tv. the threat to tv was greatest in countries where broadband was on the up  in particular the uk  france and spain  said the report. it said tv companies faced a major long-term threat over the next five years  with broadband predicted to grow from 19% to 37% of households by 2009.  year-on-year we are continuing to see a seismic shift in where  when and how europe s population consume media for information and entertainment and this has big implications for tv  newspaper and radio   said jupiter research analyst olivier beauvillian.


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 is 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.


itunes user sues apple over ipod a user of apple s itunes music service is suing the firm saying it is unfair he can only use an ipod to play songs.  he says apple is breaking anti-competition laws in refusing to let other music players work with the site. apple  which opened its online store in 2003 after launching the ipod in 2001  uses technology to ensure each song bought only plays on the ipod. californian thomas slattery filed the suit in the us district court in san jose and is seeking damages.   apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard drive digital music player of their choice   the lawsuit states. the key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a single brand like itunes is a market in itself separate from the rest of the online music market  according to ernest gellhorn  an anti-trust law professor at george mason university.  as a practical matter  the lower courts have been highly sceptical of such claims   prof gellhorn said. apple has sold more than six million ipods since the gadget was launched and has an 87% share of the market for portable digital music players  market research firm npd group has reported.  more than 200 million songs have been sold by the itunes music store since it was launched.  apple has unlawfully bundled  tied  and/or leveraged its monopoly in the market for the sale of legal online digital music recordings to thwart competition in the separate market for portable hard drive digital music players  and vice-versa   the lawsuit said. mr slattery called himself an itunes customer who  was also forced to purchase an apple ipod  if he wanted to take his music with him to listen to. a spokesman for apple declined to comment. apple s online music store uses a different format for songs than napster  musicmatch  realplayer and others. the rivals use the mp3 format or microsoft s wma format while apple uses aac  which it says helps thwart piracy. the wma format also includes so-called digital rights management which is used to block piracy.


apple laptop is  greatest gadget  the apple powerbook 100 has been chosen as the greatest gadget of all time  by us magazine mobile pc.  the 1991 laptop was chosen because it was one of the first  lightweight  portable computers and helped define the layout of all future notebook pcs. the magazine has compiled an all-time top 100 list of gadgets  which includes the sony walkman at number three and the 1956 zenith remote control at two. gadgets needed moving parts and/or electronics to warrant inclusion. the magazine specified that gadgets also needed to be a  self-contained apparatus that can be used on its own  not a subset of another device .   in general we included only items that were potentially mobile   said the magazine.   in the end  we tried to get to the heart of what really makes a gadget a gadget   it concluded. the oldest  gadget  in the top 100 is the abacus  which the magazine dates at 190 a.d.  and put in 60th place. other pre-electronic gadgets in the top 100 include the sextant from 1731 (59th position)  the marine chronometer from 1761 (42nd position) and the kodak brownie camera from 1900 (28th position). the tivo personal video recorder is the newest device to make the top 10  which also includes the first flash mp3 player (diamound multimedia)  as well as the first  successful  digital camera (casio qv-10) and mobile phone (motorola startac). the most popular gadget of the moment  the apple ipod  is at number 12 in the list while the first sony transistor radio is at number 13.  sony s third entry in the top 20 is the cdp-101 cd player from 1983.  who can forget the crystalline  hiss-free blast of madonna s like a virgin emenating from their first cd player   asked the magazine. karl elsener s knife  the swiss army knife from 1891  is at number 20 in the list. gadgets which could be said to feature surprisngly low down in the list include the original telephone (23rd)  the nintendo gameboy (25th)  and the pulsar quartz digital watch (36th). the list also contains plenty of oddities: the pez sweet dispenser (98th)  1980s toy tamagotchi (86th) and the bizarre ronco inside the shell egg scrambler (84th).  why worry about mobile phones. soon they will be subsumed into the pda s / laptops etc.  what about the marine chronometer  completely revolutionised navigation for boats and was in use for centuries. for it s time  a technological marvel!  sony net minidisc! it paved the way for more mp3 player to explode onto the market. i always used my netmd  and could not go anywhere without it.  a laptop computer is not a gadget! it s a working tool!  the sinclair executive was the world s first pocket calculator. i think this should be there as well.  how about the clockwork radio  or gps  or a pocket calculator  all these things are useful to real people  not just pc magazine editors.  are the people who created this list insane   surely the most important gadget of the modern age is the mobile phone  it has revolutionalised communication  which is more than can be said for a niche market laptop. from outside the modern age  the marine chronometer is the single most important gadget  without which modern transportation systems would not have evolved so quickly.  has everyone forgot about the breville pie maker    an interesting list. of the electronic gadgets  thousands of journalists in the early 1980s blessed the original noteboook pc - the tandy 100. the size of a4 paper and light  three weeks on a set of batteries  an excellent keyboard  a modem. a pity tandy did not make it dos compatible.  what s an apple powerbook 100   it s out of date - not much of a  gadget . surely it has to be something simple / timeless - the tin opener  swiss army knife  safety razor blade  wristwatch or the thing for taking stones out of horses hooves    it has to be the mobile phone. no other single device has had such an effect on our way of living in such a short space of time.  the ball point pen has got to be one of the most used and common gadgets ever. also many might be grateful for the pocket calculator which was a great improvement over the slide rule.  the casio pocket calculator that played a simple game and made tinny noises was also a hot gadget in 1980. a true gadget  it could be carried around and shown off.  all top 10 are electronic toys  so the list is probably a better reflection of the current high-tech obsession than anyhting else. i say this as the swiss army knife only made no 20.  sinclair ql a machine far ahead of its time. the first home machine with a true multi-takings os. shame the marketing was so bad!!!  apple.. a triumph of fashion over... well everything else.  utter rubbish. yes  the apple laptop and sony walkman are classic gadgets. but to call the sextant and the marine chronometer  gadgets  and rank them as less important than a tv remote control reveals a quite shocking lack of historical perspective. the former literally helped change the world by vastly improving navigation at see. the latter is the seed around which the couch potato culture has developed. no competition.  i d also put apple s newton and the first palm pilot there as the front runners for portable computing  and possibly the toshiba libretto for the same reason. i only wish that vulcan inc s flipstart wasn t just vapourware otherwise it would be at the top.  how did a laptop ever manage to beat off the challenge of the wristwatch or the telephone (mobile or otherwise)  what about radios and tvs   the swiss army knife. by far the most useful gadget. i got mine 12 years ago. still wearing and using it a lot! it stood the test of time.  psion organiser series 3  should be up there. had a usable qwerty keyboard  removable storage  good set of apps and programmable. case design was good (batteries in the hinge - a first  i think). great product innovation.  the first mobile pc was voted best gadget by readers of...err... mobile pc ! why do you keep putting these obviously biased lists on your site  it s obviously the mobile phone or remote control  and readers of a less partisan publication would tell you that.  the motorola startac should be number one. why  there will be mobile phones long after notebook computers and other gadgets are either gone or integrated in communications devices.  the psion series 3c! the first most practical way to carry all your info around...  i too would back the sinclair spectrum - without this little beauty i would never have moved into the world of it and earn the living that i do now.  i d have put the mobile phone high up the list. probably a nokia model.  sinclair spectrum - 16k. it plugged into the tv. games were rubbish but it gave me a taste for programming and that s what i do for a living now.  i wish more modern notebooks -- even apple s newest offerings -- were more like the pb100. particularly disheartening is the demise of the trackball  which has given way to the largely useless  trackpad  which every notebook on the market today uses. they re invariably inaccurate  uncomfortable  and cumbersome to use.  congratulations to apple  a deserved win!


van nistelrooy set to return manchester united striker ruud van nistelrooy may make his comeback after an achilles tendon injury in the fa cup fifth round tie at everton on saturday.  he has been out of action for nearly three months and had targeted a return in the champions league tie with ac milan on 23 february. but manchester united manager sir alex ferguson hinted he may be back early. he said:  there is a chance he could be involved at everton but we ll just have to see how he comes through training.  the 28-year-old has been training in holland and ferguson said:  ruud comes back on tuesday and we need to assess how far on he is.  the training he has been doing in holland has been perfect and i am very satisfied with it.  even without van nistelrooy  united made it 13 wins in 15 league games with a 2-0 derby victory at manchester city on sunday. but they will be boosted by the return of the dutch international  who is the club s top scorer this season with 12 goals. he has not played since aggravating the injury in the 3-0 win against west brom on 27 november. ferguson was unhappy with van nistelrooy for not revealing he was carrying an injury. united have also been hit by injuries to both alan smith and louis saha during van nistelrooy s absence  meaning wayne rooney has sometimes had to play in a lone role up front. the teenager has responded with six goals in nine games  including the first goal against city on sunday.


italy 8-38 wales wales secured their first away win in the rbs six nations for nearly four years with a six-try victory in rome.  tries from jonathan thomas  tom shanklin and martyn williams gave the visitors a 19-5 half-time advantage. luciano orquera did reply with one for italy but second-half efforts from brent cockbain  shane williams and robert sidoli sealed victory. fly-half stephen jones added four conversions as wales maintained their superb start to this year s tournament. starting full of confidence after their victory over england  the visitors scored the opening try after just four minutes. diminutive wing shane williams fielded a kick ahead and danced past the onrushing andrea masi and aaron persico into the italian half. his pass to tom shanklin appeared forward but when the centre was held up short  the ball was switched left and michael owen s long cut-out pass gave the lurking thomas an easy run-in.  stephen jones  who retained the kicking duties despite gavin henson s heroics against england  slotted an excellent conversion from wide out. wales twice threatened further scores but failed to find the crucial pass  and italy hit back out of the blue in the 11th minute.  henson  sporting gold boots rather than the silver variety that did for england  beat two players with ease out on the left touchline. but his attempted chip ahead was charged down by orquera  who snaffled the loose ball and hared away from halfway to score in the right corner. with the welsh line-out stuttering and italy twice turning the visitors  scrum  the home side s forward power brought them back into it. but a clever high kick from henson almost brought a try for hal luscombe when roland de marigny and ludovico nitoglia made a hash of claiming it as the ball bounced into touch.  wales regained control with a second try in the 21st minute  henson lobbing up a high kick to the left corner where shanklin jumped higher than nitoglia to dot down his 15th test try. jones was unable to convert and de marigny then hit the upright with a penalty attempt for italy. henson was also narrowly short with a long-range effort at goal  but wales ended the half with a vital third score to give themselves some breathing space.  henson sent luscombe streaking away and when he off-loaded to martyn williams  the flanker showed his nous to ground the ball against the padding of the post  jones adding the conversion. italy  who lost flanker mauro bergamasco with a head knock before half-time  built up a head of steam on the resumption. de marigny landed a penalty to make it 19-8 and a nitoglia break through the middle threatened a try only for the move to break down with a knock-on. but wales put the outcome beyond doubt with two superb tries in four minutes before the hour. their fourth after 53 minutes was sparked by another mazy run from shane williams  who beat several players with ease  and finished with a powerful angled run from lock cockbain. before italy could recover from that blow  a strong surge from gareth thomas and great off-loads from martyn williams and replacement kevin morgan saw shane williams scamper over.  with jones converting both for a 33-8 lead  wales had the luxury of sending on five more replacements for the final quarter. the icing on the cake came with a sixth try after more superb support work  shane williams and ceri sweeney combining to send sidoli over in the left corner. the only downside for wales was a hamstring injury suffered by luscombe. but after back-to-back wins at the start of the tournament for the first time in 11 years  they will travel to paris in a fortnight looking like genuine contenders.  r de marigny; mirco bergamasco  w pozzebon  a masi  l nitoglia; l orquera  a troncon; a lo cicero  f ongaro  m castrogiovanni  s dellape  m bortolami (capt)  a persico  mauro bergamasco  s parisse.  g intoppa  s perugini  ca del fava  d dal maso  p griffen  m barbini  kp robertson.  g thomas (capt); h luscombe  t shanklin  g henson  s williams; s jones  d peel; g jenkins  m davies  a jones; b cockbain  r sidoli; j thomas  m williams  m owen.  r mcbryde  j yapp  i gough  r sowden-taylor  g cooper  c sweeney  k morgan.  andrew cole (australia).


sculthorpe wants lions captaincy paul sculthorpe has admitted he would love to succeed andy farrell as great britain skipper if the wigan star does switch codes to rugby union.  sculthorpe was vice-captain in the tri-nations  and took the st helens captaincy from chris joynt last year.  i would definitely want the job - i make no bones about it   sculthorpe told bbc sport.  it s something i ve always wanted to do. i d gladly take it if it was offered to me.   the 27-year-old  who captained st helens to challenge cup success last year  said following in the footsteps of farrell would be a challenge.  andy would be a hard act to follow but it s something i m confident of being up to   he said.  the gb team isn t a one-man team. there are a lot of good young players who are pushing for places anyway.   sculthorpe said the rugby league world would understand if farrell did decide to move to rugby union.  it s a short career and you have to make of it what you can   said sculthorpe.  nobody can blame him if he does go - he s done everything in the game of rugby league.   financially it could set him up for life. if he fancies a new challenge  then who could fault him   sculthorpe also called on the rugby league authorities to have a serious look at the number of games the top players are being asked to play. sean long  sculthorpe s saints and lions team-mate  has expressed doubts about his international future  i think sean s situation is to do with the sheer number of games we re playing   he said.   the way he s looking at it is that if he can extend his career by a couple of years by not playing international rugby  then he s willing to do that.  the rfl has got to do something about the fixtures. we re playing 42 weeks of the year and it s too much.  a lot of the niggly injuries that i ve suffered with over the last couple of years have come about because of the lack of rest time.  st helens have been strongly linked with a move for brilliant young forward sonny bill williams  and sculthorpe said he would love the 19-year-old to come to knowsley road.  he s a great player - a big strong lad who can certainly hit hard in defence  but who is also very skilful   he said.  i d love him to come to st helens. who knows what might happen  but you want the best players in your team  and he s certainly one of the best players in the world.


jobs go at oracle after takeover oracle has announced it is cutting about 5 000 jobs following the completion of its $10.3bn takeover of its smaller rival peoplesoft last week.  the company said it would retain more than 90% of peoplesoft product development and product support staff. the cuts will affect about 9% of the 55 000 staff of the combined companies. oracle s 18-month fight to acquire peoplesoft was one of the most drawn-out and hard-fought us takeover battles of recent times. the merged companies are set to be a major force in the enterprise software market  second only in size to germany s sap.  in a statement  oracle said it began notifying staff of redundancies on friday and the process would continue over the next 10 days.  by retaining the vast majority of peoplesoft technical staff  oracle will have the resources to deliver on the development and support commitments we have made to peoplesoft customers over the last 18 months   oracle s chief executive larry ellison said in a statement.  correspondents say 6 000 job losses had been expected - and some suggest more cuts may be announced in future. they say mr ellison may be trying to placate peoplesoft customers riled by oracle s determined takeover strategy. hours before friday s announcement  there was a funereal air at peoplesoft s headquarters  reported ap news agency. a peoplesoft sign had been turned into shrine to the company  with flowers  candles and company memorabilia.  we re mourning the passing of a great company   the agency quoted peoplesoft worker david ogden as saying. other employees said they would rather be sacked than work for oracle.  the new company is going to be totally different   said anil aggarwal  peoplesoft s director of database markets.  peoplesoft had an easygoing  relaxed atmosphere. oracle has an edgy  aggressive atmosphere that s not conducive to innovative production.  on the news  oracle shares rose 15 cents - 1.1% - on nasdaq. in after-hours trading the shares did not move.


turkey turns on the economic charm three years after a gruelling economic crisis  turkey has dressed its economy to impress.  as part of a charm offensive - ahead of 17 december  when the european union will decide whether to start entry talks - turkey s economic leaders have been banging the drum to draw attention to recent achievements. the economy is growing fast  they insist. education levels among its young and large population are rising. unemployment levels  in percentage terms  are heading fast towards single digits. inflation is under control. a new law to govern its turbulent banking system is on the cards. the tourism industry is booming and revenues from visitors should more than double to $21bn (£10.8bn) in three years.  moreover  government spending is set to be frozen and a burdensome social security deficit is being tackled. income and corporate taxes will be cut next year in order to attract $15bn of foreign investment over the next three years. a loan restructuring deal with the international monetary fund (imf) is pretty much in the can. and following recent macroeconomic restructuring efforts  its currency is floating freely and its central bank is independent.  the point of all this has been to convince europe s decision makers that rather than being a phenomenally costly exercise for the eu  allowing turkey in would in fact bring masses of economic benefits.   the cake will be bigger for everybody   said deputy prime minister abdullatif sener earlier this month.  turkey will not be a burden for the eu budget.  if admitted into the eu  turkey would contribute almost 6bn euros ($8bn; £6bn) to its budget by 2014  according to a recent impact study by the country s state planning organisation. as turkey s gross domestic output (gdp) is set to grow by 6% per year on average  its contribution would rise from less than 5bn euros in 2014 to almost 9bn euros by 2020. turkey could also help alleviate a labour shortage in  old europe  once its population comes of age. by 2014  one in four turks - or about 18 million people - will be aged 14 or less.  a literate and qualified turkish population   insisted mr sener   will make a positive impact on the eu.   this runs contrary to the popular view that turkey is getting ready to dig deep into eu taxpayers  wallets. however  turkey s assertions are confirmed by brussels  own impact studies  which indeed say that turkish membership would be good news for the eu economy. but only over time. costs are projected to be vast during the early years of turkey s membership  with subsidies alone estimated to exceed 16.5bn euros and  according to some predictions  balloon to 33.5bn euros. this would include vast agricultural subsidies and regional aid  though such payments should decline as the country s farm sector  which currently employs one in three turks  would employ just one in five by 2020.  such high initial expenses would be coupled with risks that the benefits flagged up by turkey s government would never be delivered  say those who feel the turkish project should be shunned.  some fear that rather than providing an educated  sophisticated labour force for europe at large  the people who will leave turkey to seek work abroad will be poor  uneducated - and plentiful. more recently  less palatable concerns - at least in liberal european circles - have been voiced  with senior eu or member state officials talking darkly of a  river of islam   an  oriental  culture and a threat to europe s  cultural richness . of course  many opponents are politically motivated - their views ranging from xenophobic prejudices about the country s muslim traditions to well-documented concerns about the government s human rights record. yet their economic arguments should not be dismissed out of hand.  critics insist that much of the optimism about turkey s economic roadmap has been over-egged - an argument amplified by a 134% rise in the country s current account deficit to $10.7bn during the first 10 months of this year.  the country s massive debt - which includes $23bn owed to the imf and billions borrowed via the international bond markets - also remains a major obstacle to its ambition of joining the eu.  in the new member states of the european union  gross public debt is typically about 40% of gross domestic product   says reza moghadam  assistant director of the imf s european department.  at about 80% of gdp  turkey s gross debt is double that figure.  turkey s debts have largely arisen from its efforts to push through banking reform after a run on the banks in 2001 caused the country s devastating recession.  there is no question that although turkey is doing much better than in the past  it remains quite vulnerable   says michael deppler  director of the imf s european department.  its debt is far too high for an emerging economy.  a key factor for eu decision makers should be whether or not turkey has met its economic criteria. but economics is not a science. and although the state of turkey s economy is important  as is its pace of reform  the final decision on 17 december will be taken by politicians who will  of course  be guided by their political instincts.


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 for five sets.  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.


laura ashley chief stepping down laura ashley is parting company with its chief executive ainum mohd-saaid.  the clothing and home furnishing retailer said ms mohd-saaid had resigned for personal reasons. her departure will come into effect on 1 february and follows the departure of co-chief executive rebecca navarednam on 1 january. ms mohd-saaid is to be replaced by lillian tan  presently a non-executive director of the company and head of a malaysian retailer.  in a statement issued on thursday  laura ashley thanked ms mohd-saaid for her services to the company. its shares were down 8.51% to 10.75p in late thursday morning trading on the london stock exchange.  since 2002  ms tan has been managing director and chief executive of metrojaya  one of the largest retail groups in malaysia. laura ashley  which is due to issue its next trading statement in the next few weeks  has in recent months been hit by reports of poor sales. in october last year  it announced the closure of one of its two welsh factories. in september  the company had said that its half-year clothing sales had been  below expectations . in recent times  it has put renewed focus on home furnishings rather than clothing  but last september it reported that interim six month losses had risen from £1m to £1.2m  while sales had fallen from £138m to £118m.  laura ashley  which floated on the london stock exchange for £200m ($376m) in 1995  is majority-owned by malaysia entrepreneur dr khoo kay peng. in 1996  its share price was more than 200p. it has long been reported that dr khoo intends to take the company private  but he has always denied this.  laura ashley is a bit of a shrivelled husk of a company   said retail analyst nick bubb of evolution securities.  it is all pretty odd with its malaysian owners seemingly just shuffling the deckchairs.  laura ashley was founded by its late namesake in kent in 1955  before moving to mid wales in 1961 where it still has its main uk factory.


hingis to make unexpected return martina hingis makes her return to competitve tennis after two years out of the game at the volvo women s open in pattaya  thailand  on tuesday.  she faces german marlene weingartner in the first round.  as a competitor and athlete  i always want to win. i hope my body will hold up   said hingis.  you miss being out there in a grand slam final and not competing. it s a big difference between playing and commenting for tv. i miss it a lot.  the former world number one was 22 when she retired after having surgery on both ankles  and her last wta event was in filderstadt  germany  in october 2002  when she lost to elena dementieva. only last year she insisted that a comeback was unlikely  but speaking in thaliand hingis admitted:  i said that because i didn t know what would happen with my body.  her appearance will also benefit charities in the region and the swiss star will donate her prize money.


fuming robinson blasts officials england coach andy robinson insisted he was  livid  after his side were denied two tries in sunday s 19-13 six nations loss to ireland in dublin.  mark cueto s first-half effort was ruled out for offside before the referee spurned tv replays when england crashed over in the dying minutes.  [i m] absolutely spitting. i m livid. there s two tries we ve been cost   robinson told bbc sport.  we ve got to go back to technology. i don t know why we didn t.  south african referee jonathan kaplan ruled that cueto was ahead of charlie hodgson when the fly-half hoisted his cross-field kick for the sale wing to gather.  kaplan then declined the chance to consult the fourth official when josh lewsey took the ball over the irish line under a pile of bodies for what could have been the game-winning try.  i think mark cueto scored a perfectly legal try and i think he should have gone to the video referee on josh lewsey   said robinson.  it is how we use the technology. it is there  and it should be used.  i am still trying to work out the cueto try. i have looked at both  and they both looked tries.  we are very disappointed  and this will hurt  there is no doubt about that.  we are upset now  but the referee is in charge and he has called it his way and we have got to be able to cope with that.   we did everything we could have done to win the game. i am very proud of my players and  with a couple of decisions  this could have been a very famous victory.  i thought we dominated. matt stevens had an awesome game at tighthead prop  while the likes of charlie hodgson  martin corry and lewis moody all came through well.  josh lewsey was awesome  and every one of the forwards stood up out there. given the pressure we were under  credit must go to all the players.  we have done everything but win a game of rugby  but ireland are a good side. they defended magnificently and they ve got every chance of winning this six nations.  england have lost their first three matches in this year s six nations and four out of their six games since robinson took over from sir clive woodward in september.


mcclaren eyes uefa cup top spot steve mcclaren wants his middlesbrough team to win their uefa cup group by beating partizan belgrade.  boro have already qualified for the knockout stages alongside partizan and villareal  at the expense of lazio. but boss mcclaren is looking for a victory which would mean they avoid a team that has played in the champions league in friday s third-round draw.  to need a win to finish top is fantastic  but it is going to be a tough one   mcclaren said.  when the draw was made  i thought it was the toughest group of them all - and so it has proved.  lazio were favourites  villarreal have been semi-finalists  and partizan have fantastic experience in europe.  the pleasing thing is we did the business in the first two games.  winning those two has put us in a great position and it has been a fantastic experience playing these teams.


unilever shake up as profit slips anglo-dutch consumer goods giant unilever is to merge its two management boards after reporting  unsatisfactory  earnings for 2004.  it blamed the poor results on sluggish decision making  a rise in discounted retailers and a wet european summer. the company also cited difficult trading conditions and a lack of demand for goods such as its slimfast range. unilever  which owns brands including dove soap  said annual pre-tax profit fell 36% to 2.9bn euros (£1.99bn). shares fell 1% to 510.75 pence in london  and dropped by 1.2% to 50.50 euros in amsterdam.  under the restructuring plans  patrick cescau  the uk-based co-chairman  will become group chief executive. dutch co-chairman antony burgmans will take on the role of non-executive chairman.   we have recognised the need for greater clarity of leadership and we are moving to a simpler leadership structure that will provide a sharper operational focus   mr burgmans said.  we are leaving behind one of the key features of unilever s governance but this is a natural development following the changes introduced last year.  the company  which has had dual headquarters in rotterdam and london since 1930  will announce the location of its head office at a later date. unilever is not alone in trying to simplify its business. oil giant shell last year dismantled its dual-ownership structure  after a series of problems relating to the size of its oil reserves that hammered its share price and led to the resignation of key board members.  the best part of the news this morning was that the company announced a structure simplification   said arjan sweere  an analyst at petercam.  the company said the organizational changes would speed decision making  and it also may make further changes.  the company said its main focus will be on improving profits  and it is planning to accelerate and increase investment in its 400 main brands.  while it is certainly the case that markets have been tougher in the past eighteen months than we had expected  we have also lost some market share   said mr cescau.  we let a range of targets limit our ability flexibility and did not adjust our plans quickly enough to a more difficult business environment.   our objective is to reverse the share loss that we experienced in some markets in 2004 and return to growth.   unilever said european sales fell 2.8% last year  dragged down by below part sales at its beverage division  where revenues dipped by almost 4%.  sales of ice cream and frozen food dipped by 3.4% in the us last year  revenue grew by 1.5%  despite disappointing sales in slimfast   the company said. in asia  leading products came under  attack  from rivals such as procter & gamble. unilever took a 1.5bn euro one-time charge in the fourth quarter  including a 650m euro write-down on slimfast diet foods. sales of slimfast products have been hit in recent years by the popularity of the atkins diet. but looking ahead  unilever said it was optimistic about prospects for its slimming products saying that demand is on the wane for rival low-carbohydrate diets. the company also said it planned to spend 500m euros this year buying back shares.


german growth goes into reverse germany s economy shrank 0.2% in the last three months of 2004  upsetting hopes of a sustained recovery.  the figures confounded hopes of a 0.2% expansion in the fourth quarter in europe s biggest economy. the federal statistics office said growth for the whole of 2004 was 1.6%  after a year of contraction in 2003  down from an earlier estimate of 1.7%. it said growth in the third quarter had been zero  putting the economy at a standstill from july onward. germany has been reliant on exports to get its economy back on track  as unemployment of more than five million and impending cuts to welfare mean german consumers have kept their money to themselves. major companies including volkswagen  daimlerchrysler and siemens have spent much of 2004 in tough talks with unions about trimming jobs and costs. according to the statistics office  destatis  rising exports were outweighed in the fourth quarter by the continuing weakness of domestic demand.  but the relentless rise in the value of the euro last year has also hit the competitiveness of german products overseas. the effect has been to depress prospects for the 12-nation eurozone as a whole  as well as germany. eurozone interest rates are at 2%  but senior officials at the rate-setting european central bank are beginning to talk about the threat of inflation  prompting fears that interest rates may rise. the ecb s mandate is to fight rising prices by boosting interest rates - and that could further threaten germany s hopes of recovery.


jarvis sells tube stake to spain shares in engineering group jarvis have soared more than 16% on news that it is offloading its stake in london underground consortium tube lines.  the sale of the 33% stake to spain s ferrovial for £146m ($281m) is a lifeline to jarvis  which was weighed down by debts of more than £230m. the company recently warned it could go under if it did not secure a refinancing deal by mid-january 2005. but now its banks have agreed to extend its credit facilities until march 2006.  the company also said it had agreed terms over the completion of 14 of its biggest construction projects under the government s private finance initiative (pfi).  jarvis wants to scale back the division  which has proved too costly and has been blamed for many of its problems. instead  it plans to focus on uk rail renewal  roads and plant hire work. madrid-based ferrovial already holds a 33% stake in tube lines  which maintains the jubilee  northern and piccadilly lines. the spanish group has been keen to snap up more uk infrastructure assets  having bought amey in 2003. jarvis said the sale  which raked in more than the £100m analysts had expected  would  substantially  enhance its financial position.  i am now confident that we can now move forward in 2005 towards rebuilding jarvis and return it to growth as a profitable business   said chief executive alan lovell. shares in jarvis were up more than 16% to 18 pence by the close of trade on friday.