s korea spending boost to economy south korea will boost state spending next year in an effort to create jobs and kick start its sputtering economy.  it has earmarked 100 trillion won ($96bn) for the first six months of 2005  60% of its total annual budget. the government s main problems are  slumping consumption and a contraction in the construction industry . it aims to create 400 000 jobs and will focus on infrastructure and home building  as well as providing public firms with money to hire new workers.  the government has set an economic growth rate target of 5% for next year and hinted that would be in danger unless it took action.  internal and external economic conditions are likely to remain unfavourable in 2005   the finance and economy ministry said in a statement.  it blamed  continuing uncertainties such as fluctuating oil prices and foreign exchange rates and stagnant domestic demand that has shown few signs of a quick rebound . in 2004  growth will be between 4.7% and 4.8%  the ministry said. not everyone is convinced the plan will work.  our primary worry centres on the what we believe is the government s overly optimistic view that its front loading of the budget will be enough to turn the economy around   consultancy 4cast said in a report.  the problem facing south korea is that many consumers are reeling from the effects of a credit bubble that only recently burst. millions of south koreans are defaulting on their credit card bills  and the country s biggest card lender has been hovering on the verge of bankruptcy for months. as part of its spending plans  the government said it will ask firms to  roll over mortgage loans that come due in the first half of 2005  . it also pledged to look at ways of helping families on low incomes.  the government voiced concern about the effect of redundancies in the building trade.  given the economic spill over and employment effect in the construction sector  a sharp downturn in the construction industry could have other adverse effects   the ministry said.  as a result  south korea will give private companies also will be given the chance to build schools  hospitals  houses and other public buildings. it also will look at real estate tax system. other plans on the table include promoting new industries such as bio-technology and nano-technology  as well as offering increased support to small and medium sized businesses.  the focus will be on job creation and economic recovery  given that unfavourable domestic and global conditions are likely to dog the korean economy in 2005   the ministry said.


iaaf awaits greek pair s response kostas kenteris and katerina thanou are yet to respond to doping charges from the international association of athletics federations (iaaf).  the greek pair were charged after missing a series of routine drugs tests in tel aviv  chicago and athens. they have until midnight on 16 december and an iaaf spokesman said:  we re sure their responses are on their way.  if they do not respond or their explanations are rejected  they will be provisionally banned from competition. they will then face a hearing in front of the greek federation  which will ultimately determine their fate. their former coach christos tzekos has also been charged with distributing banned substances. under iaaf rules  the athletes could receive a maximum one-year suspension. kenteris and thanou already face a criminal trial after being charged with avoiding a drug test on the eve of the athens olympics and then faking a motorcyle crash.  no date for the trial has yet been set and again tzekos is also facing charges. the iaaf issued an official warning to the trio last year after they were discovered training in qatar rather than in crete  where they had said they would be. all athletes must inform their national federations where they are at all times  so they can be available for out-of-competition drugs tests. but kenteris and thanou then went on to skip tests in tel aviv and chicago  when they decided to fly back to greece early. then just before the olympics  the pair dramatically missed another test in athens and withdrew from the games.


hacker threat to apple s itunes users of apple s music jukebox itunes need to update the software to avoid a potential security threat.  hackers can build malicious playlist files which could crash the program and let them seize control of the computer by inserting trojan code. a new version of itunes is now available from the apple website which solves the problem. security firm idefence  which notified users of the problem  recommended that users upgrade to itunes version 4.7.1. the problem affects all users of itunes - windows and mac os - running versions 4.7 and earlier. users can automatically upgrade itunes by opening the  look for updates  window in the program. the security firm says users should avoid clicking on or accessing playlist files - which have the file extension of .pls or .m3u - which have come from unknown sources. itunes is the world s most popular online music store with more than 200 million songs downloaded since it launched in 2003.


lewis-francis turns to christie mark lewis-francis has stepped up his preparations for the new season by taking advice from british sprint icon linford christie.  the 22-year-old is set to compete at sheffield this weekend and will then take on maurice greene and kim collins in birmingham on 18 february.  training in wales and getting advice from linford christie is broadening my mind   said lewis-francis. the sprinter has also shed weight since winning relay gold at the athens games.  last year i was 91kg  now i am 86.9kg - hopefully my times will come down   he said.  this has been brought about by eating the right foods and cutting out the snacks. it is just discipline and being more focused about what i am doing.   i am still keeping up my weights work and i can see the improvement in my running.  despite playing his part in britain s successful 4x100m relay team  lewis-francis still feels the frustration of missing out on the individual 100m final at the 2004 olympics.  that was heartbreaking  but i had made it to the semi-final and for me  on a personal level  that was an achievement.  i just have to be patient and build up for the next olympics. that is my goal and whatever i do between now and then will be geared to making the final.


algeria hit by further gas riots algeria suffered a weekend of violent protests against government plans to raise gas prices  local press reports.  demonstrators in a number of regions blocked roads  attacked public buildings and overturned vehicles  newspapers including el watan reported. the price of butane gas  a vital fuel for cooking  has risen to 200 dinars ($2.77) per canister from 170 dinars. even before the hike  failing economic conditions had been fanning resentment in some of algeria s poorest regions.  demonstrators took to the streets last week when the cost change was first announced  but police seemed to have restored order. according to local press reports  trouble flared up again on saturday and carried on into sunday. el watan said that a number of hot spots centred on the villages and towns close to bouira  about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital algiers. among the other main areas affected were the western tiaret region and sidi ammar in the east of the country  agence france presse (afp) reported. riots also flared up in the maghnia region close to the border with morocco in the west  afp said. butane gas and fuel oil are used as the main source of fuel to heat homes and cook food in algeria s remote mountain areas.


format wars could  confuse users  technology firms sony  philips  matsushita and samsung are developing a common way to stop people pirating digital music and video.  the firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying. the move could mean more confusion for consumers already faced by many different  and conflicting  content control systems  experts warned. they say there are no guarantees the system will even prevent piracy.  currently many online stores wrap up downloadable files in an own-brand control system that means they can only be played on a small number of media players. systems that limit what people can do with the files they download are known as digital rights management systems. by setting up the alliance to work on a common control system  the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats. in a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy  appropriately licensed video and music on any device  independent of how they originally obtained that content . the firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music  movies and other digital content they have bought. called the marlin joint development association  the alliance will define basic specifications that every device made by the electronics firms will conform to. marlin will be built on technology from rights management firm intertrust as well as an earlier drm system developed by a group known as the coral consortium.  the move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by apple and microsoft. confusingly for consumers  the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as microsoft and apple.  in many ways the different drm systems are akin to the different physical formats  such as betamax and vhs  that consumers have seen in the past   said ian fogg  personal technology and broadband analyst at jupiter research.  the difference is that it is very fragmented   he said.  it s not a two-horse race  it s a five  six  seven or even eight-horse race  mr fogg said consumers had to be very careful when buying digital content to ensure that it would play on the devices they own. he said currently there were even incompatibilities within drm families. although initiatives such as microsoft s  plays for sure  program could help remove some of the uncertainty  he said  life was likely to be confusing for consumers for some time to come.  shelley taylor  analyst and author of a report about online music services  said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers. apple s itunes service was a perfect example of this  she said.  although itunes has been hugely successful  apple could not justify its existence if it did not help sell all those ipods   she said.  she said rampant competition between online music services  of which there are now 230 according to recent figures  could drive more openness and freer file formats.  it always works out that consumer needs win out in the long run   she said   and the services that win in the long run are the ones that listen to consumers earliest.  ms taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop.  people want portability   she said   and with peer-to-peer they have 100% portability.  cory doctorow  european co-ordinator for the electronic frontier foundation which campaigns for consumers on many cyber-rights issues  expressed doubts that the marlin system would achieve its aims.  not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying   he said. he said many firms readily admit that their drm systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy. instead  said mr doctorow  drm systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers.  the studios and labels perceive an opportunity to sell you your media again and again - the ipod version  the auto version  the american and uk version  the ringtone version  and so on.


bush to outline  toughest  budget president bush is to send his toughest budget proposals to date to the us congress  seeking large cuts in domestic spending to lower the deficit.  about 150 federal programs could be cut or axed altogether as part of a $2.5 trillion (£1.3 trillion) package aimed at curbing the giant us budget deficit. defence spending will rise  however  while the proposals exclude the cost of continuing military operations in iraq. vice-president dick cheney said the budget was the  tightest  so far.  at the heart of the administration s fifth budget  presented to congress on monday  is an austere package of domestic measures. these would see discretionary spending rise below the projected level of inflation.  such belt-tightening is designed to tackle the massive budget deficit increases of president bush s first term. mr cheney admitted that the budget was the toughest of the bush presidency but argued it was  fair and responsible .  it is not something we have done with a meat axe  nor are we suddenly turning our back on the most needy people in our society   he said. the wars in iraq and afghanistan  increased expenditure on national security after 9/11 and the 2001 recession wiped out the budget surplus inherited by president bush in 2001 and turned it into a record deficit. the shortfall is projected to rise to $427bn in 2005.  education  environmental protection and transport initiatives are set to be scaled back as a first step towards reducing the deficit to $230bn by 2009.  most controversially  the government is seeking to cut the medicaid budget  which provides health care to the nation s poorest  by $45bn and to reduce farm subsidies by $587m. spending on defence and homeland security is set to increase  although not by as much as originally planned. president bush s proposals would see the pentagon s budget rise by $19bn to $419.3bn while homeland security would get an extra $2bn.  the budget does not include the cost of running military operations in iraq and afghanistan  for which the administration in expected to seek an extra $80bn from congress later this year.  also not featuring in the proposals is the cost of funding the administration s radical proposed overhaul of social security provision. some expects believe this could require borrowing of up to $4.5bn trillion over a twenty year period. despite the republicans holding a majority in both houses of congress  the proposals will be fiercely contested over the next few months.  john mccain  a republican senator  said he was pleased the administration was prepared to tackle the deficit.  with the deficits that we are now running  i am glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget   he said. however  democratic senator kent conrad said the proposals exposed the country to huge financial commitments beyond 2009.  the cost of everything he [president bush] advocates explodes   he said.


firefox browser takes on microsoft microsoft s internet explorer has a serious rival in the long-awaited firefox 1.0 web browser  which has just been released.  few people get excited when some new software is released  especially when the program is not a game or a music or movie player. but the release of the first full version of firefox has managed to drum up a respectable amount of pre-launch fervour. fans of the software have banded together to raise cash to pay for an advert in the new york times announcing that version 1.0 of the browser is available. the release of firefox 1.0 on 9 november might even cause a few heads to turn at microsoft because the program is steadily winning people away from the software giant s internet explorer browser.  firefox has been created by the mozilla foundation which was started by former browser maker netscape back in 1998. much of the development work done since then has gone into firefox which made its first appearance under this name in february. earlier incarnations  but which had the same core technology  were called phoenix and firebird. since then the software has been gaining praise and converts  not least because of the large number of security problems that have come to light in microsoft s internet explorer. rivals to ie got a boost in late june when two us computer security organisations warned people to avoid the microsoft program to avoid falling victim to a serious vulnerability.  internet monitoring firm websidestory has charted the growing population of people using the firefox browser and says it is responsible for slowly eroding the stranglehold of ie. before july this year  according to websidestory  internet explorer was used by about 95% of web surfers. that figure had remained static for years. in july the ie using population dropped to 94.7% and by the end of october stood at 92.9%. the mozilla foundation claims that firefox has been downloaded almost eight million times and has publicly said it would be happy to garner 10% of the windows- using  net-browsing population. firefox is proving popular because  at the moment  it has far fewer security holes than internet explorer and has some innovations lacking in microsoft s program. for instance  firefox allows the pages of different websites to be arranged as tabs so users can switch easily between them. it blocks pop-ups  has a neat way of finding text on a page and lets you search through the pages you have browsed.  one of the most powerful features of firefox is the many hundreds of extras  or extensions  produced for it. the mozilla foundation is an open source organisation which means that the creators of the browser are happy for others to play around with the core code for the program. this has resulted in many different add-ons or extensions for the browser which now include everything from a version of the familiar google toolbar to a homeland security monitor that keep users aware of current threat levels. firefox  which used to be called firebird and before that phoenix  also has a growing number of vocal net-based fans. a campaign co-ordinated by the spread firefox website attempted to raise the $50 000 needed for a full page advert in the new york times. the campaign set itself a target of recruiting 2500 volunteers. ten days in to the campaign 10 000 people had signed up and now about $250 000 has been raised. the ad is due to run sometime in a three-week period in late november/early december. the surplus cash will be used to help keep the mozilla foundation running. microsoft is facing a growing challenge to ie s hold on the web using population. from alternative browsers such as opera  safari  amaya and even netscape.


eu software patent law faces axe the european parliament has thrown out a bill that would have allowed software to be patented.  politicians unanimously rejected the bill and now it must go through another round of consultation if it is to have a chance of becoming law. during consultation the software patents bill could be substantially re-drafted or even scrapped. the bill was backed by some hi-tech firms  saying they needed protections it offered to make research worthwhile.  hugo lueders  european director for public policy at comptia  an umbrella organization for technology companies  said only when intellectual property was adequately protected would european inventors prosper. he said the benefits of the bill had been obscured by special interest groups which muddied debate over the rights and wrongs of software patents. other proponents of the bill said it was a good compromise that avoided the excesses of the american system which allows the patenting of business practices as well as software. but opponents of the bill said that it could stifle innovation  be abused by firms keen to protect existing monopolies and could hamper the growth of the open source movement. the proposed law had a troubled passage through the european parliament. its progress was delayed twice when polish meps rejected plans to adopt it. also earlier this month the influential european legal affairs committee (juri) said the law should be re-drafted after it failed to win the support of meps. to become law both the european parliament and a qualified majority of eu states have to approve of the draft wording of the bill. the latest rejection means that now the bill on computer inventions must go back to the eu for re-consideration.


ea to take on film and tv giants video game giant electronic arts (ea) says it wants to become the biggest entertainment firm in the world.  the us firm says it wants to compete with companies such as disney and will only achieve this by making games appeal to mainstream audiences. ea publishes blockbuster titles such as fifa and john madden  as well as video game versions of movies such as harry potter and the james bond films. its revenues were $3bn (£1.65bn) in 2004  which ea hoped to double by 2009. ea is the biggest games publisher in the world and in 2004 had 27 titles which sold in excess of one million copies each. nine of the 20 biggest-selling games in the uk last year were published by ea.  gerhard florin  ea s managing director for european publishing  said:  doubling our industry in five years is not rocket science.  he said it would take many years before ea could challenge disney - which in 2004 reported revenues of $30bn (£16bn) - but it remained a goal for the company.  we will be able to bring more people into gaming because games will be more emotional.  mr florin predicted that the next round of games console would give developers enough power to create real emotion.   it s the subtleties  the eyes  the mouth - 5 000 polygons doesn t really sell the emotion.   with ps3 and xbox 2  we can go on the main character with 30 000 to 50 000 polygons   he said.  with that increased firepower  the finding nemo video game looks just like the movie  but it will be interactive.  mr florin said that more than 50% of all ea s games were sold to adults and played by adults  but the perception remained that the video game industry was for children.  our goal is to bring games to the masses which bring out emotions.  ea said the video game industry was now bigger than the music industry.  nobody queues for music anymore.    you can t ignore an industry when people queue to buy a game at midnight because they are so desperate to play it   he said  referring to demand for titles for such as grand theft auto: san andreas and halo 2.  jan bolz  ea s vice president of sales and marketing in europe  said the firm was working to give video games a more central role in popular culture. he said the company was in advanced stages of discussions over a reality tv show in which viewers could control the actions of the characters as in its popular game the sims.  one idea could be that you re controlling a family  telling them when to go to the kitchen and when to go to the bedroom  and with this mechanism you have gamers all over the world  playing the show    said mr bolz.  he also said ea was planning an international awards show  similar to the oscars and the grammys  which would combine video games  music and movies. mr bolz said video games firm had to work more closely with celebrities.  people will want to play video games if their heroes like robbie williams or christina aguilera are in them.  mr florin said the challenge was to keep people playing in their 30s  40s and 50s.  there s an indication that a 30 year old comes home from work and still wants to play games.  if that s true  that s a big challenge for tv broadcasters - because watching tv is the biggest pastime at present.


davenport puts retirement on hold lindsay davenport has put any talk of retirement on hold after having a largely injury-free 2004 campaign.  the 28-year-old world number one had said that she would quit at the end of last year  but after a successful season she has had a change of heart.  finally i felt i put myself in a position to try and win grand slams again   said davenport.  it would be tough to walk away when i feel like i can contend so there s no point in hanging it up quite yet.  davenport has won three grand slams  the 2000 australian open  wimbledon in 1999 and the 1998 us open. her career has been hit by a series of injuries but last year she started hitting top form and won seven titles. she was due to take part in this week s hopman cup in perth but decided she wanted to rest her knee.  i just really wanted to make sure my right knee was going to be able to really withstand all the rigours of the whole year coming up   she said.


xbox 2 may be unveiled in summer details of the next generation of microsoft s xbox games console - codenamed xenon - will most likely be unveiled in may  according to reports.  it was widely expected that gamers would get a sneak preview of xbox s successor at the game developers conference (gdc) in march. but a microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that it would not be at gdc. sony  microsoft and nintendo are all expected to release their more powerful machines in the next 18 months. the next xbox console is expected to go on sale at the end of the year  but very few details about it have been released. it is thought that the machine may be unveiled at the electronic entertainment expo (e3) in los angeles  which takes place in may  according to a reuters news agency report. e3 concentrates on showing off the latest in gaming to publishers  marketers and retailers. the gdc is aimed more at game developers. microsoft chief  bill gates  used the gdc event to unveil the original xbox five years ago. since its launch  microsoft has sold 19.9 million units worldwide.  at the consumer electronics show earlier this year  there was very little mention of the next generation gaming machine. in his keynote speech  mr gates only referred to it as playing an essential part of his vision of the digital lifestyle.  but the battle between the rival consoles to win gamers  hearts and thumbs will be extremely hard-fought. sony has traditionally dominated the console market with its playstation 2. but earlier this year  microsoft said it had reached a european milestone  selling five million consoles since its european launch in march 2002. hit games like halo 2  which was released in november  helped to buoy the sales figures.  gamers are looking forward to the next generation of machines because they will have much more processing and graphical power.  they are also likely to pack in more features and technologies that make them more central as entertainment and communications hubs. although details of playstation 3  xenon  and nintendo s so-called revolution  are yet to be finalised  developers are already working on titles. rory armes  studio general manager for games giant electronic arts (ea) in europe  recently told the bbc news website in an interview that ea was beginning to get a sense of the capabilities of the new machines. microsoft had delivered development kits to ea  but he said the company was still waiting on sony and nintendo s kits. but  he added  the playstation 3 was rumoured to have  a little more under the hood [than xbox 2] .


bargain calls widen softbank loss japanese communications firm softbank has widened losses after heavy spending on a new cut-rate phone service.  the service  launched in december and dubbed  otoku  or  bargain   has had almost 900 000 orders  softbank said. the firm  a market leader in high-speed internet  had an operating loss for the three months to december of 7.5bn yen ($71.5m; £38.4m). but without the otoku marketing spend it would have made a profit - and expects to move into the black in 2006. the firm did not give a figure for the extent of profits it expected to make next year. it was born in the 1990s tech boom  investing widely and becoming a fast-rising star  till the end of the tech bubble hit it hard. its recent return to a high profile came with the purchase of japan telecom  the country s third-biggest fixed-line telecoms firm. the acquisition spurred its broadband internet division to pole position in the japanese market  with more than 5.1 million subscribers at the end of december.


lacroix label bought by us firm luxury goods group lvmh has sold its loss-making christian lacroix clothing label to a us investment group.  the paris-based firm has been shedding non-core businesses and focusing on its most profitable brands including moet & chandon champagne and louis vuitton. lvmh said the french designer s haute couture and ready-to-wear labels had been purchased by the falic group for an unspecified sum. the falic group bought two cosmetics labels from lvmh in 2003. the sale of the lacroix label comes as many fashion houses are struggling to make money from their expensive haute couture ranges. the florida-based falic group  which also runs a chain of 90 duty free stores in the us  said it planned to expand the brand by opening new stores. mr lacroix said he planned to stay at the label he founded in 1987 although exact details are still to be confirmed.


text message record smashed uk mobile owners continue to break records with their text messaging  with latest figures showing that 26 billion texts were sent in total in 2004.  the figures collected by the mobile data association (mda) showed that 2.4 billion were fired off in december alone  the highest monthly total ever. that was 26% more than in december 2003. the records even surpassed the mda s own predictions  it said. every day 78 million messages are sent and there are no signs of a slow down. before december s bumper text record  the previous highest monthly total was in october 2004  when 2.3 billion were sent. text messaging is set to smash more records in 2005 too  said the mda  with forecasts suggesting a total of 30 billion for the year.  even though mobiles are becoming increasingly sophisticated with much more multimedia applications  texting is still one of the most useful functions of mobiles. people are using sms to do much more too. booking cinema tickets  text voting  and news or sports text alerts are growing popular. mobile owners have also given the chance to donate to the disasters emergency committee s (dec) asian tsunami fund by texting  donate  to a simple short code number. looking further ahead in the year  the mda s chairman mike short  has predicted that more people will go online through their mobiles  estimating 15 billion wap page impressions. handsets with gprs capability - an  always on  net connection - will rise to 75%  while 3g mobile ownership growing to five million by the end of 2005. these third generation mobiles offer a high-speed connection which means more data like video can be received on the phone. globally  mobile phone sales passed 167 million in the third quarter of 2004  according to a recent report from analysts gartner. that was 26% more than the previous year. it is predicted that there would be two billion handsets in use worldwide by the end of 2005.


london irish 19-33 wasps wasps made light of the absence of several internationals to sink london irish with a trio of second-half tries.  rob hoadley returned to haunt his old club at the madejski stadium  scoring the opening try in the 43rd minute. tom voyce powered through the irish defence for wasps  second try before richard birkett went over unchallenged. mark van gisbergen added 18 points. irish replied with three penalties and a mark mapletoft drop goal before scott staniforth ran in a consolation try. barry everitt  who replaced mapletoft late in the game  added the conversion to become the fourth premiership player to reach 1 000 points. he joins jonny wilkinson  tim stimpson and paul grayson in achieving that target. wasps piled on the pressure in an attempt to grab a fourth try which would have secured them a bonus point  but they were denied by some desperate defending from irish. director of rugby warren gatland revealed that harsh words at half-time inspired his wasps side to raise their game after the restart.   they got a roasting and it was a good second-half performance when they came out and played to instructions   he said. gatland also singled out stand-in flankers tom rees and john hart for special praise.  they did very well. the back row played some fantastic rugby   he added. london irish coach gary gold felt the result exposed his side s lack of consistency.  irish trailed by just two points at the break and gold said:  for 55 minutes we lived with the best but we have got to get back for the full 80 minutes.  gold will now turn his attention to next week s powergen cup semi-final at struggling leeds.  we ve got a good chance but with leeds facing possible relegation they re going to come out firing   he added.  horak  staniforth  penney  nordt  bishop; mapletoft  edwards; hatley  van der walt  hardwick; kennedy  casey; gustard  dawson  murphy.  replacements: everitt for mapletoft (53)  hodgson for edwards (77)  wheatley for hatley (71)  paice for van der walt (60)  strudwick for kennedy (60)  danaher for gustard (66)  reid for murphy (47)  van gisbergen; voyce  erinle  hoadley  roberts; king  richards; payne  greening  dowd; shaw  purdy; hart  rees  dallaglio.  replacements: priscott for roberts (71)  green for dowd (71)  skivington for shaw (71)  birkett for hart (57)  gotting for rees (39). not used: fury  brooks


o leary agrees new villa contract aston villa boss david o leary signed a three-and-a-half year contract extension on thursday  securing his future at the club until summer 2008.  o leary s future was in question  but villa chairman doug ellis said he was happy to secure the deal.  david s record since his arrival in 2003 is excellent and he shares the board s amibitions in taking this club forward   he told villa s website.  for this reason it was important we got this right.  o leary put pen to paper after deals were sorted for his right-hand men roy aitken and steve mcgregor.  it was important to me roy and steve  an integral part of my team  should stay for the same time   o leary said on thursday ahead of signing his new deal.  someone has to try and put aston villa back where they should belong and i m up for the challenge. earlier in december  there were rumours o leary would quit if he is not offered a new deal before the end of the season.  but he denied that  saying he was happy to take on the challenge of improving villa s fortunes in the long term.  i want to make sure by the end of the five years i would have been in charge that villa are achieving top six finishes in the premiership on a regular basis   said o leary  who took over at villa park in may 2003.  but to achieve that  and take the next step forward  we do need to bring in quality players.  i would like a couple next month if at all possible to set us on the way.  meanwhile  o leary has rapped skipper olof mellberg for his comments before sunday s derby with birmingham.  mellberg spoke of his dislike of villa s rivals ahead of the match  which steve bruce s side won 2-1.  i ve had more than a quiet word with olof. it s been said within the whole group  not as a one-to-one   he told villa s website.  you shouldn t leave yourself open to be shot down. you shouldn t give people the chance to take cheap shots at you and he set himself up for that.


bank set to leave rates on hold uk interest rates are set to remain on hold at 4.75% following the latest meeting of the bank of england.  the bank s rate-setting committee has put up rates five times in the past year but rates have been on hold since september amid signs of a slowdown. economic growth slowed in the previous quarter  as manufacturing output fell  while consumer confidence has slipped. there is also growing evidence that the previously booming uk housing market is now cooling.  house prices fell 0.4% in october  according to the nationwide  their biggest monthly fall since february 2001. last month  bank of england governor mervyn king said that the economy had hit a  softer patch  after rapid economic growth in the first half of 2004. richard jeffrey  chief economist at bridgewell securities  said it was very unlikely that the bank of england would put rates up again this time around.  there have been sufficient signs in the economy of a slowdown to stay the bank of england s hand   he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. however  mr jeffrey said he believed the slowdown in economic activity was temporary and it was dangerous to assume that rates had peaked.  i still think interest rates are going up   he said.  we are not out of the woods.


hollywood campaign hits websites movie studio efforts to stop pirated films being shared on peer-to-peer networks have claimed a high-profile victim.  the campaign of legal action is thought to be behind the closure of the widely used suprnova.org website. the site was the most popular place for people swapping and sharing links for the bittorrent network. a recent study showed that more than half of the peer-to-peer traffic during june was for the bittorrent system.  in a message posted on suprnova.org on sunday  the site s controllers said the site was  closing down for good in the way that we all know it . if the site did return  the message said  it would not be hosting any more torrent links. it continued:  we are very sorry for this  but there was no other way  we have tried everything.   the only parts that would keep going  said the operators of the suprnova site  were the discussion forums and net chat channels. the site is thought to have closed following an announcement by the motion picture association of america that it was launching legal action against those operating bittorrent servers rather than end users. because of the way that bittorrent works  server sites do not host the actual file being shared  instead they host a link that points people to others that have it. by targeting servers  the mpaa hopes to cripple bittorrent s ability to share files. in the opening days of the mpaa campaign  the organisation filed 100 lawsuits against operators of bittorrent server site. the launching of the legal seems to be having an effect. phoenix torrents  another popular bittorrent site  has also decided to shut down and  though it gave no reasons for the closure  it is thought to be motivated by the threat of legal action. last week finnish police raided a bittorrent site based in the country that  according to reports  let 10 000 users shared pirated films  software  music and games.


yahoo celebrates a decade online yahoo  one of the net s most iconic companies  is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week.  the web portal has undergone remarkable change since it was set up by stanford university students david filo and jerry yang in a campus trailer. the students wanted a way of keeping track of their web-based interests. the categories lists they devised soon became popular to hundreds of people and the two saw business potential in their idea.  originally dubbed  jerry s guide to the world wide web  the firm adopted the moniker yahoo because the founders liked the dictionary definition of a yahoo as a rude  unsophisticated  uncouth person. the term was popularised by the 18th century satirist jonathan swift in his classic novel  gulliver s travels.  we were certainly not sophisticated or civilised   mr yang told reporters ahead of the anniversary  which will be officially recognised on 2 march.  they did have business brains however  and in april 1995 persuaded venture capitalists sequoia capital  which also invested in apple computer and cisco systems  to fund yahoo to the tune of $2m (£1.04m). a second round of funding followed in the autumn and the company floated in april 1996 with less than 50 employees. now the firm employs 7 600 workers and insists its dot com culture of  work hard  play hard  still remains. it is one of just a handful of survivors of the dot-com crash although it now faces intense rivalry from firms such as google  msn and aol. jerry yang  who remains the firm s  chief yahoo   is proud of what the company has achieved.  in just one decade  the internet has changed the way consumers do just about everything - and it s been a remarkable and wonderful experience   he said. through it all  we wanted to build products that satisfied our users wants and needs  but it s even more than that - it s to help every one of us to discover  get more done  share and interact.


wright-phillips to start on right england coach sven-goran eriksson has revealed shaun wright-phillips will start against the netherlands.  but wright-phillips will not make his first start for england playing on the left  as had been widely expected.  shaun wright-phillips will probably start the game   said eriksson.  but i m not going to start wright-phillips on the left.  eriksson also revealed that wes brown will start alongside jamie carragher in the injury-hit centre of defence. when asked if brown and carragher would start eriksson replied:  i could tell you yes.  it s a blow that four or five central defenders are away because of injuries.  on the other hand it s good for carragher and brown to show what they can do at this level. that s positive.  the england coach said that he had been impressed by wright-phillips  form for manchester city.  he deserves his chance. he has been playing well all season and i look forward to seeing him.  and he added that andy johnson and stewart downing - the other two new players in the squad - would also get a chance to impress.  wright-phillips  downing and johnson will start or get the chance to play some part.  johnson was not in my plans a year ago but he is doing a great season and scoring a lot of goals.  downing is another one making a great season. he is young  talented and there are not too many left-footed players in the squad.


file-swappers ready new network legal attacks on websites that help people swap pirated films have forced the development of a system that could be harder to shut down.  one site behind the success of the bittorrent file-swapping system is producing its own software that avoids the pitfalls of the earlier program. a test version of the new exeem program will be released in late january. but doubts remain about the new networks ability to ensure files being swapped are  quality copies .  in late december movie studios launched a legal campaign against websites that helped people swap pirated movies using the bittorrent network. the legal campaign worked because of the way that bittorrent is organised. that file-sharing system relies on links called  trackers  that point users to others happy to share the file they are looking for. shutting down sites that listed trackers crippled the bittorrent network. one of the sites shut down by the legal campaign was suprnova.org which helped boost the popularity of the bittorrent system by checking that trackers led to the movies or tv programmes they claimed to.  now the man behind suprnova.org  who goes by the nickname sloncek  is preparing to release software for a new file-swapping network dubbed exeem. in an interview with novastream web radio  sloncek said exeem would combine ideas from the bittorrent and kazaa file-sharing systems. like bittorrent  exeem will have trackers that help point people toward the file they want. like kazaa these trackers will be held by everyone. there will be no centrally maintained list. this  said sloncek  should make the system less vulnerable to legal action aimed at stopping people swapping pirated movies and music. the exeem software has been under development for a few months and is currently being tested by a closed group of users. an early public version of the software should be available before february. sloncek said that currently only a windows version of the software was in development. there were no plans for a linux or mac version. he said that costs of writing the software will be paid for by adverts appearing in the finished version of the program. despite suprnova administrator sloncek s involvement with exeem  the basic technology appears to have been developed by a firm called swarm systems that is based on caribbean island saint kitts and nevis.  users of the exeem system will be able to rate files being swapped to help stop the spread of fake files  sloncek told novastream.  dr johan pouwelse  a researcher at the delft university of technology who studies peer-to-peer networks  said exeem was the next evolution in file-sharing systems. but  he said  it would struggle to be as popular as bittorrent and suprnova because early versions were not taking enough care to make sure good copies of files were being shared.  exeem cannot prevent pollution   he said.  the rating system in exeem seems flawed because it is easy to insert both fake files and fake ratings   he said. studies have shown that organisations working for record labels and movie studios have worked to undermine kazaa by putting in fakes. by contrast moderators on suprnova made sure files being shared were high quality.  the moderators are the difference between having a system that works and one that s full of crap like kazaa   he said.  there is a fundamental tension between distribution and integrity   he said. mr pouwelse said that future versions of file-sharing systems are likely to incorporate some kind of distributed reputation system that lets moderators prove who they are to the network and rate which files are worth downloading. when big files were being shared moderation systems were key  said mr pouwelse. he added that the legal attacks on bittorrent had driven people away from sites such as suprnova but many users had simply migrated to other tracker listing sites many of which have seen huge increases in traffic.  it s hard to compete with free   he said. no-one from the motion picture association of america was immediately available for comment on the file-sharing development.


diageo to buy us wine firm diageo  the world s biggest spirits company  has agreed to buy californian wine company chalone for $260m (£134m) in an all-cash deal.  although diageo s best-known brands include smirnoff vodka and guinness stout  it already has a us winemaking arm - diageo chateau & estate wines. diageo said it expects to get us regulatory approval for the deal during the first quarter of 2005. it said chalone would be integrated into its existing us wine business.   the us wine market represents a growth opportunity for diageo  with favourable demographic and consumption trends   said diageo north america president ivan menezes. in july  diageo  which is listed on the london stock exchange  reported an annual turnover of £8.89bn  down from £9.28bn a year earlier. it blamed a weaker dollar for its lower turnover. in the year ending 31 december 2003  chalone reported revenues of $69.4m.


china  blocks google news site  china has been accused of blocking access to google news by the media watchdog  reporters without borders.  the paris-based pressure group said the english-language news site had been unavailable for the past 10 days. it said the aim was to force people to use a chinese edition of the site which  according to the watchdog  does not include critical reports. google told the bbc news website it was aware of the problems and was investigating the causes.  china is believed to extend greater censorship over the net than any other country in the world.  a net police force monitors websites and e-mails  and controls on gateways connecting the country to the global internet are designed to prevent access to critical information. popular chinese portals such as sina.com and sohu.com maintain a close eye on content and delete politically sensitive comments. and all 110 000 net cafes in the country have to use software to control access to websites considered harmful or subversive.   china is censoring google news to force internet users to use the chinese version of the site which has been purged of the most critical news reports   said the group in a statement.  by agreeing to launch a news service that excludes publications disliked by the government  google has let itself be used by beijing   it said. for its part  the search giant said it was looking into the issue.  it appears that many users in china are having difficulty accessing google news sites in china and we are working to understand and resolve the issue   said a google spokesperson. google news gathers information from some 4 500 news sources. headlines are selected for display entirely by a computer algorithm  with no human editorial intervention. it offers 15 editions of the service  including one tailored for china and one for hong kong. google launched a version in simplified chinese in september. the site does not filter news results to remove politically sensitive information. but google does not link to news sources which are inaccessible from within china as this would result in broken links.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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