Datasets:

Siki-77

/

news_3class

like 0

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Business

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

speech takes on search engines a scottish firm is looking to attract web surfers with a search engine that reads out results. called speegle it has the look and feel of a normal search engine with the added feature of being able to read out the results. scottish speech technology firm cec systems launched the site in november. but experts have questioned whether talking search engines are of any real benefit to people with visual impairments. the edinburgh-based firm cec has married speech technology with ever-popular internet search. the ability to search is becoming increasingly crucial to surfers baffled by the huge amount of information available on the web. according to search engine ask jeeves around 80% of surfers visit search engines as their first port of call on the net. people visiting speegle can select one of three voices to read the results of a query or summarise news stories from sources such as the bbc and reuters. it is still a bit robotic and can make a few mistakes but we are never going to have completely natural sounding voices and it is not bad said speegle founder gordon renton. the system is ideal for people with blurred vision or for those that just want to search for something in the background while they do something else. we are not saying that it will be suitable for totally blind people although the royal national institute of the blind (rnib) is looking at the technology he added. but julie howell digital policy manager at the rnib expressed doubts over whether speegle and similar sites added anything to blind people s experience of the web. there are a whole lot of options like this springing up on the web and one has to think carefully about what the market is going to be she said. blind people have specialised screen readers available to them which will do the job these technologies do in a more sophisticated way she added. the site uses a technology dubbed panavox which takes web text and converts it into synthesised speech. in the past speech technology has only been compatible with broadband because of the huge files it downloads but cec says its compression technology means it will also work on slower dial-up connections. visitors to speegle may notice that the look and feel of the site bears more than a passing resemblance to the better known if silent search engine google. google has no connection with speegle and the use of bright colours is simply to make the site more visible for those with visual impairments said mr renton. it is not a rip-off. we are doing something that google does not do and is not planning to do and there is truth in the saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery he said. speegle is proving popular with those learning english in countries such as japan and china. the site is bombarded by people just listening to the words. the repetition could be useful although they may all end up talking like robots said mr renton.

Science_and_Techology

cheaper chip for mobiles a mobile phone chip which combines a modem and a computer processor on one bit of silicon instead of two could make phones cheaper and more powerful. the specially-designed chip developed by texas instruments could drive down the cost of making mobiles capable of 3d gaming and 30-frame-a-second video. currently rich multimedia features tend to be on more expensive handsets. the technology omap-vox is being tested by firms in europe and asia and could appear by the end of the year. texas which makes computer chips for more than half the world s mobile phones said it was keen to make multimedia functions like video and gaming more affordable. we re going to drive them down into meat-and-potatoes phones that have the largest market share said doug rasor a marketing vice president at texas. the chip also uses much less power than conventional chips said texas which means less strain on mobile battery life. more than 50 million people own a mobile in the uk but mobile operators are keen to encourage people to move onto more sophisticated handsets that can do more. texas is keen to cash in on the third generation (3g) of mobile technology which offers high-speed networks for video streaming and other multimedia functions. but it faces stiff competition from the likes of intel which is also looking to provide better chips for high-end mobiles. competition to get people using 3g mobiles will grow in the next year as almost all of the uk s operators have now launched third generation networks. a recent survey by sony ericsson predicted that the number of 3g handsets sold in 2005 would double from 2004 to account for 10% of all phones sold. many consumers are still to be convinced though. a further recent survey said that only 4% of mobile owners were thinking of upgrading to 3g phones. many said they were confused about the different ways to pay for phones and the vast array of features most have onboard. but there will be continued demand for better chips as the industry continues to develop new standards and future networks. earlier in january ntt docomo and vodafone joined forces to develop the next generation of high-speed networks known as super 3g intended to be 10 times faster than 3g services. the first stage of development is to be completed by 2007 but no date has been set for a commercial launch the newly-designed omap-vox chip set was announced ahead of the start of a major mobile industry conference 3gsm which takes place in cannes france this week.

Science_and_Techology

electrolux to export europe jobs electrolux saw its shares rise 14% on tuesday after it said it would be shifting more of its manufacturing to low-cost countries. the swedish firm the world s largest maker of home appliances said it is to relocate about 10 of its 27 plants in western europe and north america. it did not say which facilities would be affected but intends moving them to asia eastern europe and mexico. the company has two manufacturing sites in county durham. it makes lawn and garden products in newton aycliffe and cookers and ovens in spennymoor. the newton aycliffe plant could also be affected by electrolux s separate announcement that it is to spin-off its outdoor products unit into a new separate company. electrolux s subsidiary brands include aeg zanussi and frigidaire. the company said it was speeding up its restructuring programme which aims to save between £190m and £265m annually from 2009. we see that about half the plants in high-cost countries - that is around 10 - are at risk said electrolux chief executive hans straberg. it looks pretty grim said swedish trades union official ulf carlsson. what are we going to end up producing in sweden

Business

moya fights back for indian title carlos moya became the first man to successfully defend the chennai open title by beating four-times finalist paradorn srichaphan 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5). the spaniard then donated his £28 000 prize money to relief efforts for the victims of the asian tsunami. the final was close throughout with thai second seed srichaphan - the 2003 winner - closing out the first set. but moya took the second set before bouncing back from 5-2 down in the decider to force and win a tie-break. moya confirmed afterwards: i m donating my prize money from this tournament for the tsunami victims hoping it makes some difference to their lives. his contribution follows pledges by four other players to donate their prize money from the tournament which went ahead after the 26 december disaster which has so far claimed at least 150 000 lives. scrichapan said he would donate an unspecified amount for relief work in thailand where more than 5 000 people were killed. the atp has announced that it would contribute the us$25 000 tournament fee to unicef s emergency relief fund in tamil nadu. the atp tour s sponsor mercedes said it would also contribute increasing the atp donation to us$40 000.

Sports

britain boosted by holmes double athletics fans endured a year of mixed emotions in 2004 as stunning victories went hand-in-hand with disappointing defeats and more drugs scandals. kelly holmes finally fulfilled her potential by storming to double gold on the track at the olympic games. holmes helped erase the gloom hanging over team gb after their biggest medal hope paula radcliffe dropped out of the marathon and then the 10 000m. britain s men s 4x100m relay team also did their bit by taking a shock gold. holmes had started the year in disappointing style falling over in the final of 1500m at the world indoor championships where she was favourite. her olympic build-up was clouded by self doubt but that proved unfounded as she overhauled rival maria mutola to win the 800m - her first global title. just five days later the 34-year-old made it double gold in the 1500m. it was the first time in 84 years a briton has achieved the olympic middle-distance double. while holmes left athens as the star of team gb it was radcliffe who carried expectations before the august games. the 30-year-old marathon world record holder went into the athens event as favourite but an exhausted radcliffe dropped out after 23 miles in tears. her decision to enter the 10 000m five days later also backfired as she again pulled out with eight laps remaining. but radcliffe helped put her olympic trauma behind her with a thrilling win in november s new york marathon. the 4x100m team grabbed some last-gasp glory for the british men s olympic squad after a poor start to the games. it seemed as though athens would be the first games where the men would fail to win a medal with michael east the only individual track finalist in the 1500m. but darren campell jason gardener marlon devonish and mark lewis-francis made amends in the sprint relay. the quartet held off favourites the usa to win britain s first relay medal since 1912 in 38.07 seconds. gardener added the olympic relay crown to his world indoor title over 60m and just like holmes finally lived up to his promise in 2004. kelly sotherton completed team gb s athletics medal haul in athens with a surprise bronze in the heptathlon. the 28-year-old won her first championship medal since becoming a full-time athlete in 2003. but it was a different story for britain s defending champion denise lewis who withdrew on day two of the competition after some poor results. lewis who was troubled by injury has ruled out retiring while sotherton is tipped to build on her success. the athens olympics proved to be a landmark occasion for steve backley who retired from competition after finishing fourth in the javelin. the battling 35-year-old leaves the sport with a vast medal haul including two silvers and one olympic bronze. and backley s departure was balanced by the return of injury-hit decathlete dean macey who came fourth in athens. the continued improvement of sprinter abi oyepitan and long jumper chris tomlinson also boosted team gb. sadly the 2004 olympics did not escape the problems of drugs misuse. on the eve of the games greek sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou missed a drugs test and claimed to have been involved in a road crash. kenteris the 200m champion in 2000 and thanou have since been charged by the greek authorities and await trial. at the games adrian annus (hammer) robert fazelas (discus) and irina korzhanenko (shot) were all stripped of their titles because of doping issues. hungarian compatriots annus and fazelas both refused to give urine samples while russian korzhanenko tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. the fallout from the thg scandal which rocked the sport in 2003 continued to impact in olympic year. britain s 4x100m team took gold without the services of dwain chambers who was handed a two-year ban in february after testing positive for steroid thg. american kelli white was suspended and stripped of her world 100m and 200m titles after failing a drugs test. and world 400m champion jerome young landed a life ban from us chiefs after a second doping offence. russian pole vaulter yelena isinbayeva provided some light relief by smashing the world record seven times on her way to the world indoor and olympic titles. her rivalry with compatriot svetlana feofanova livened up the field events. morocco s hicham el guerrouj also delighted fans by racing to a historic olympic double in the 1500m and 5 000m. and though there was no paula radcliffe in the london marathon there was plenty of drama as kenyans evans rutto and margaret okayo took the titles. rutto held on to win despite slipping on some cobblestones and tumbling into a barrier. okayo also had to battle back after mistiming her tactics but clinched victory on her debut.

Sports

wenger keeping faith with almunia arsene wenger has pledged to keep faith with stand-in keeper manuel almunia for the crunch week which could define arsenal s season. almunia will start tuesday s champions league group tie against rosenborg and is likely to face chelsea on sunday. wenger said: you don t think i would take out one goalkeeper for just one game do you i don t do that. i have to give him a run for a few games. it s just that i don t want to make this story bigger than it is. wenger insists he has complete faith in the 27-year-old spaniard who was signed last summer from celta vigo as back-up to jens lehmann. if you look at my career you will see that i have left many big players out for a long time. i ve done it with dennis bergkamp kanu everybody. it s because it s a goalkeeper that s all. it s a usual situation for me. you put your best team out no matter who it is. for me it was not a big mistake at old trafford and i wasn t alarmed by what happened against birmingham either. it s nothing against lehmann. i think he s a great keeper as is almunia. you can only play one of them. these people are not robots - they have good periods and less good periods. just because lehmann doesn t play for two or three weeks or longer or shorter it doesn t mean i ve lost faith in him. but former arsenal keeper david seaman believes lehmann has been harshly treated. seaman told the daily mail: jens is a fantastic keeper. he deserves another chance. he has made a few mistakes but on form he deserves to be the first-team choice. with arsenal hit by injuries and suspension inexperienced midfield pair of mathieu flamini and cesc fabregas will line up against rosenborg but wenger is confident they will prove more than capable. it puts a lot of pressure on them but it s a good learning process said wenger. i m not worried as they are both mentally strong and will put in the needed workrate. the gunners go into the game boosted by the news that defender sol campbell is on the verge of signing a new deal with the club. and the 30-year-old whose current contract runs out in the summer has made it clear he is determined to achieve champions league success with arsenal. campbell said: it means a lot to me to go through it s everything. we want to carry on in this competition. that s where the best teams in europe are. to be in there playing against these guys and trying to win the trophy is the first thing in my mind. meanwhile thierry henry believes he will be blamed if arsenal fail to qualify for the next stage of the champions league. henry will captain the side in place of the suspended patrick vieira as the gunners seek the required victory over rosenborg. and the striker said: if we don t win and we go out of the competition like it or not it s going to be my fault. that s the way it is. if the team don t win i know i will be criticised no matter how i play.

Sports

fast moving phone bugs appear security firms are warning about several mobile phone viruses that can spread much faster than similar bugs. the new strains of the cabir mobile phone virus use short-range radio technology to leap to any vulnerable phone as soon as it is in range. the cabir virus only affects high-end handsets running the symbian series 60 phone operating system. despite the warnings there are so far no reports of any phones being infected by the new variants of cabir. the original cabir worm came to light in mid-june 2004 when it was sent to anti-virus firms as a proof-of-concept program. a mistake in the way the original cabir was written meant that even if it escaped from the laboratory the bug would only have been able to infect one phone at a time. however the new cabir strains have this mistake corrected and will spread via short range bluetooth technology to any vulnerable phone in range. bluetooth has an effective range of a few tens of metres. the risk of being infected by cabir is low because users must give the malicious program permission to download on to their handset and then must manually install it. users can protect themselves by altering a setting on symbian phones that conceals the handset from other bluetooth using devices. finnish security firm f-secure issued a warning about the new strains of cabir but said that the viruses do not do any damage to a phone. all they do is block normal bluetooth activity and drain the phone s battery. anti-virus firm sophos said the source code for cabir had been posted on the net by a brazilian programmer which might lead to even more variants of the program being created. so far seven versions of cabir are know to exist one of which was inside the malicious skulls program that was found in late november. symbian s series 60 software is licenced by nokia lg electronics lenovo panasonic samsung sendo and siemens.

Science_and_Techology

us seeks new $280bn smoker ruling the us justice department is to try to overturn a court ruling that threw out its claim for $280bn (£149bn) in damages from tobacco firms. earlier this month a three-judge appeal court panel rejected the claim - filed in 1999 by the administration of bill clinton - in a 2-1 decision. government lawyers said they would ask the full us court of appeals for the district of columbia to hear the case. the court room battle is seen as key in government attempts to fight smoking. it s pretty clear that they ve suffered a severe setback said anthony sebok a professor at brooklyn law school adding that the appeal was what the government would be expected to ask for . prosecutors had argued that tobacco firms lied about the dangers of smoking ignored research that highlighted problems looked to increase addiction by manipulating nicotine levels and targeted the young with their adverts. among the firms accused were altria group rj reynolds tobacco lorillard tobacco liggett group and brown and williamson. prosecutors went after the companies using legislation put in place to fight organised crime and accused the firms of conspiring and running racketeer influenced and corrupt organisations . the tobacco companies denied the charges saying that they never illegally conspired to promote smoking and fool the public. they also said that they have met many of the government s demands laid out in a landmark $206bn settlement hammered out in 1998 with 46 states. a three-judge panel agreed with the companies finding that the case could not be brought under federal anti-racketeering laws. central to the government s case was a meeting in the plaza hotel new york on 15 december 1953. prosecutors contend that executives from the major tobacco firms met and agreed to present a unified strategy denying the harmful effects of smoking. despite denying for decades that smoking could be linked to illness the companies have modified their stances in recent years. altria s philip morris now accepts that nicotine is harmful and the company s main lawyer william ohlemeyer told the bbc last year that earlier statements may have been wrong but they were not dishonest. government lawyers have until 21 march to file their appeal.

Business

greek pair attend drugs hearing greek sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou have appeared before an independent tribunal which will decide if their bans should stand. they were given provisional suspensions by athletics ruling body the iaaf in december for failing to take drugs tests before the athens olympics. the pair arrived with former coach christos tzekos to give evidence at the hellenic olympic committee s offices. a decision is expected to be announced before the end of february. whatever the ruling all parties will have the right to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport. yiannis papadoyiannakis who was head of the greek olympic team at the athens games last year also testified at the tribunal along with other greek sports officials and athletes. i believe the tribunal will reach a decision that will uphold the standing of the institution said papadoyiannakis. whatever the athletes have done we must not forget that they have offered us great moments. kenteris won 200m gold at the 2000 sydney olympics while thanou won silver in the 100m. they withdrew from the athens games last august after missing drugs tests on the eve of the opening ceremony. the pair spent four days in a hospital claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash. the five-member tribunal assembled by the hellenic association of amateur athletics is also examining allegations that kenteris and thanou avoided tests in tel aviv and chicago before the games. tzekos was also banned for two years by the iaaf. he faces charges of assisting in the use of prohibited substances and tampering with the doping inspection process. all three who have repeatedly denied the allegations have also been charged by a greek prosecutor and face trial for doping-related charges. a trial date has not been set. in imposing two-year suspensions on the duo on 22 december the iaaf described their explanations for missing the tests as unacceptable . but kenteris lawyer gregory ioannidis told bbc sport earlier this week he was confident the sprinters would be cleared of the charges of failing to give information on their location and refusing to submit to testing. we refute both charges as unsubstantiated and illogical he said. there have been certain breaches in the correct application of the rules on behalf of the sporting authorities and their officials and these procedural breaches have also violated my client s rights. there is also evidence that proves the fact that my client has been persecuted.

Sports

unclear future for striker baros liverpool forward milan baros is uncertain whether he remains part of boss rafa benitez s plans after being dropped for the carling cup final. baros who is liverpool s leading scorer this season denied reports of a row with benitez but claims he is mystified at being left on the bench. he told czech newspaper daily sport: i don t know why i didn t play on sunday. i didn t argue with anybody. i was disappointed but i am not thinking of leaving right now. the czech international came on as a substitute after 74 minutes but could not prevent his side losing 3-2 to chelsea after extra-time. baros denied suggestions he wanted to leave the millennium stadium before the match upon learning of his omission from the starting line-up. but his admission that he guessed something like this was going to happen on saturday will do little to quell claims of a falling-out with benitez. and although baros insisted thoughts of quitting anfield are not in my mind right now he admitted everything is possible .

Sports

laporte tinkers with team france coach bernard laporte has made four changes to the starting line-up that beat england for saturday s six nations clash with wales. he opted for yannick nyanga in the back row instead of grand slam winner imanol harinordoquy who is back in the squad. other changes see julien laharrague win his first cap at full-back aurelien rougerie return after injury on the wing and yannick jauzion in at centre. but laporte has resisted fan pressure to start frederic michalak at fly-half. the dependable yann delaigue keeps the number 10 jersey despite clamours for the flair of michalak. the 26-year-old laharrague gets his chance despite playing on the wing for his club brive. we are launching him into the great international level said team manager jo maso. he is young and this is a great opportunity for us and above all for him. there are 25 matches left before the world cup so we must see as many players as possible. the competition is very high and open. jauzion france s player of the year in 2004 would probably have played in the first two matches instead of the south african-born liebeneberg had he been fit. the stade toulousain star wins his 23rd cap and is reunited with damien traille with whom he forged an effective midfield in 2004. the return of jauzion is going to be a plus for us said laporte. we are going to test him at an international level. julien laharrague (brive) aurelien rougerie (clermont) yannick jauzion (stade toulousain) damien traille (biarritz) christophe dominici (stade francais) yann delaigue (castres) dimitri yachvili (biarritz) julien bonnaire (bourgoin) yannick nyanga (beziers) serge betsen (biarritz) jerome thion (biarritz) fabien pelous (stade toulousain capt) nicolas mas (perpignan) sebastien bruno (sale) sylvain marconnet (stade francais) replacements: william servat (stade toulousain) olivier milloud (bourgoin) gregory lamboley (stade toulousain) imanol harinordoquy (biarritz) pierre mignoni (clermont) frederic michalak (stade toulousain) jean-philippe grandclaude (perpignan)

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Business

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

Business

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

Business

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

Business

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Business

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

Business

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Science_and_Techology

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Sports

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

Business

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

Business

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

Business

eu to probe alitalia state aid the european commission has officially launched an in-depth investigation into whether italian airline alitalia is receiving illegal state aid. commission officials are to look at rome s provision of a 400m euro ($495m; £275m) loan to the carrier. both the italian government and alitalia have repeatedly denied that the money - part of a vital restructuring plan - is state aid. the investigation could take up to 18 months. however transport commissioner jacques barrot said he wanted it to be carried out as swiftly as possible. the italian authorities have presented a serious industrial plan said mr barot. we now have to verify certain aspects to confirm that this plan contains no state aid. i would like our analysis to be completed swiftly. the matter of possible state aid was brought to the commission s attention by eight of alitalia s rivals including germany s lufthansa british airways and spain s iberia. while alitalia needs to restructure to bring itself back to profitability the rival carriers say it has both violated state aid rules and threatened competition. alitalia lost 330m euros in 2003 as it struggled to get to grips with high costs spiralling oil prices competition from budget carriers and reduced demand. it plans to split into az fly and az services which will handle air and ground services respectively. alitalia already enjoyed state aid in 1997. eu rules prevent that from happening again in what is known as the one time last time rule for airlines. otherwise eu regulations on state aid stipulate that governments may help companies financially but only on the same terms as a commercial investor. the airline declined to comment on the commission decision.

Business

online commons to spark debate online communities set up by the uk government could encourage public debate and build trust says the institute of public policy research (ippr). existing services such as ebay could provide a good blueprint for such services says the think-tank. although the net is becoming part of local and central government its potential has not yet been fully exploited to create an online commons for public debate. in its report is online community a policy tool the ippr also asks if id cards could help create safer online communities. adopting an ebay-type model would let communities create their own markets for skills and services and help foster a sense of local identity and connection. what we are proposing is a civic commons will davies senior research fellow at the ippr told the bbc news website. a single publicly funded and run online community in which citizens can have a single place to go where you can go to engage in diversity and in a way that might have a policy implication - like a pre-legislation discussion. the idea of a civic commons was originally proposed by stephen coleman professor of e-democracy at the oxford internet institute. the ippr report points to informal small scale examples of such commons that already exist. it mentions good-practice public initiatives like the bbc s ican project which connects people locally and nationally who want to take action around important issues. but he adds government could play a bigger role in setting up systems of trust for online communities too. proposals for id cards for instance could also be widened to see if they could be used online. they could provide the basis for a secure authentication system which could have value for peer-to-peer interaction online. at the moment they have been presented as a way for government to keep tabs on people and ensuring access to public services said mr davies. but what has not been explored is how authentication technology may potentially play a role in decentralised online communities. the key idea to take from systems such as ebay and other online communities is letting members rate each other s reputation by how they treat other members. using a similar mechanism trust and cooperation between members of virtual and physical communities could be built. this could mean a civic commons would work within a non-market system which lets people who may disagree with one another interact within publicly-recognised rules. e-government initiatives over the last decade have very much been about putting basic information and service guides online as well as letting people interact with government via the web. many online communities such as chatrooms mailing lists community portals message boards and weblogs often form around common interests or issues. with 53% of uk households now with access to the net the government suggests mr davies could act as an intermediary or middleman to set up public online places of debate and exchange to encourage more cosmopolitan politics and public trust in policy. government already plays a critical role in helping citizens trade with each other online. but it should also play a role in helping citizens connect to one another in civic non-market interactions said mr davies. there is a role for public bodies like the bbc libraries and government to bring people back into public debate again instead of millions of cliques talking to each other he added. the paper is part of the ippr s digital society initiative which is producing a number of conferences and research papers leading up to the publication of a manifesto for a digital britain.

Science_and_Techology

napster offers rented music to go music downloading for those that have rejected the free peer to peer services can be a costly business. the cost of paying even as little as 70p per track can add up particularly for those people who own one of the new generation of players that can store thousands of songs. paying per track for music is becoming as outmoded as paying per minute for internet access and alternative monthly or yearly subscription models are springing up as a more convenient and ultimately cheaper way of owning music. music fans are moving away from buying the traditional bundled package of a dozen or more songs that we used to call an album to newer ways that fit their lifestyle; either single tracks or subscriptions services said paul myers chief executive of wippit a uk-based music download service. while itunes is doing good business with its sales of individual tracks to ipod owners others are questioning whether the concept of owning music is even valid in the digital age. napster is due to launch a new rental subscription service - dubbed napster to go in the uk in the next few months. the service can be used on players that support microsoft windows latest digital rights management technology known as janus. this includes players made by samsung rio and creative. currently on offer in beta-version in the us the service costs $15 per month for unlimited downloads. the technology ensures that music downloaded to the player only remains playable while the user subscribes to the service. users need to update their license on a monthly basis or the tunes will no longer play. this has outraged some digital music lovers especially as napster already offers a cheaper service for downloading music to the pc. napster claims the higher price is a result of record labels charging more for the to-go service and says it also offers greater value for customers. mr myers is not convinced a rental model will work for consumers. we ve been offering our unlimited music subscription service for more than three years now and our customers know what they want. format interoperability excellent value and the reassurance that music purchased from wippit is theirs to keep and enjoy on whatever device they choose he said. who wants to download a track that won t play next month if you decide to unsubscribe to the service or change portable player for an ipod or the latest mobile phone wippit offers a download subscription service for £4.99 per month or £50 per year. it has a catalogue of around 60 000 songs.

Science_and_Techology

multi-purpose tv aids india two-thirds of the world s population 4 billion people live on $2 000 a year or less. you might think that the last thing on their minds would be getting a television set or a computer. but that s not the case. many people in the developing world give up one of their daily meals so they can afford to buy a tv. and now an indian-born computer engineer thinks he s come up with a way to give them cheap access to the internet. carnegie mellon professor raj reddy has spent the bulk of his professional career trying to find ways to make technology accessible to poor people. the first step is to figure out why poor people would want a personal computer and professor reddy thinks he has a pretty good idea of why they might. i come from a village says prof reddy i know what the population is like many of them are illiterate and many of them have other concerns. there nobody will use it for the conventional uses of a pc word processing and powerpoint he said. so it s clear to me that if people wanted to use pcs in a village - it has to usable by illiterate people and it must be primarily for entertainment education telemedicine and access to expert advice. prof reddy also thinks that tying it into some kind of aid package was the wrong approach. after all he asked -- what aid group could possibly give expensive computers to 250 million less fortunate indians let alone the billions of poor people around the world instead prof reddy decided to think of those 250 million indians as a potential market. the problem then becomes one of making the product compelling enough. it must be so compelling that you would give up your third meal in order to have this prof reddy says. people do this today with television sets. if you go to india and many other countries they will first go get a television set before they worry about one more meal. why because personalized entertainment has become very important. this hatched a completely new idea. he calls it a pctvt - a personal computer television and telephone all in one that runs on a normal desktop machine. literate users can surf through the applications with a keyboard and mouse but illiterate users can use what looks like a television remote control. on the screen pictures - not words - designate applications like tv voice mail and video e-mail. this dependence on graphics video and audio means that a computer for an illiterate person needs 100 times more power and more memory than one for a phd. prassana rambathla one of prof reddy s graduate students says that when you re talking illiterate you re talking audio and video and that demands exponentially high bandwidth. it can t choke at any point in time and it has to withstand anything no matter what you re pressing. the major part is making it foolproof very tough so that it never breaks he says. the carnegie mellon team says this project is only possible because pcs are now so much cheaper and have built-in audio and video hardware and software. limited trials of the pctvt are due to start this month in the indian state of andhra pradesh. although andhra pradesh has a fairly good infrastructure but work has to be done to ensure reliable connections to the net. prof reddy has teamed up with eric brewer at the university of california at berkeley. the answer says prof brewer is wi-fi. we re looking at the thing you ll see in starbuck s or many other hotspots he says. we re doing a lot of work on long-distance wireless and how to make the network work better in the presence of intermittency when the power goes up and down and the links go up and down and the computers you re connected to just get turned off for no reason. prof reddy says he hopes to lease the pctvts for about $10 a month and thinks indians will rent the units for the television and dvd capabilities. reddy says he can then introduce the pctvt s other technologies - such as video mail. for example a farmer could use the pctvt s webcam to send a picture of a harmful insect to a local official who could send back a proposed course of action to the farmer. prof reddy thinks this kind of communication is the real pay-off. the underlying problem he says is how you can increase their wealth and reduce their poverty and reduce their illiteracy and improve their health care. and what i m postulating is that this is the technology that will enable them. if i didn t have it it would be an uphill battle. even with the technology it s an uphill battle. but i have a tool. there is hope. i can reach them in ways that have not been possible before. clark boyd is technology correspondent for the world a bbc world service and wgbh-boston co-production

Science_and_Techology