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game firm holds cast auditions video game firm bioware is to hold open auditions for people to become cast members for future games. the company which makes role playing games such as knights of the old republic and neverwinter nights is seeking people aged 18 to 99. the canada-based company says it was looking for a wide variety of people to use as face models for characters . everyone chosen to appear in a video game will receive a performer s fee for the use of their image. the company is inviting people to come along to a shopping mall in west edmonton alberta on friday and saturday bringing along a piece of photo identification. there are hundreds and hundreds of characters in a typical bioware game said shauna perry bioware s audio and external resources producer. those people live in any city and village and so we need ordinary people people with interesting faces. she added: not everyone is a model in the world so we don t want just models in our games. people chosen to appear in a game will have their head scanned in three dimensions. hundreds of photos of the person s head are taken so that a model of the head can be generated in 3d. the 3d model will look exactly like the person - it s really quite incredible how detailed they are said ms perry. she said chosen participants will have no control over how the image is used in a computer game. we cannot give people any control over how the images are used. but their face could be used in multiple games - so they could be the hero in one the villain in another and just a merchant in a third.

Science_and_Techology

rover deal may cost 2 000 jobs some 2 000 jobs at mg rover s midlands plant may be cut if investment in the firm by a chinese car maker goes ahead the financial times has reported. shanghai automotive industry corp plans to shift production of the rover 25 to china and export it to the uk sources close to the negotiations tell the ft. but rover told bbc news that reports of job cuts were speculation . a tie-up seen as rover s last chance to save its longbridge plant has been pushed by uk chancellor gordon brown. rover confirmed the tie-up would take place not very far away from this time . rover bosses have said they are confident the £1bn ($1.9bn) investment deal would be signed in march or early april. transport & general worker s union general secretary tony woodley repeated his view on friday that all mergers led to some job cuts. he said investment in new models was needed to ensure the future of the birmingham plant. this is a very crucial and delicate time and our efforts are targeted to securing new models for the company which will mean jobs for our people he said. saic says none of its money will be paid to the four owners of rover who have been accused by unions of awarding themselves exorbitant salaries the ft reports. saic is extremely concerned to ensure that its money is used to invest in the business rather than be distributed to the shareholders the newspaper quotes a source close to the chinese firm. meanwhile according to chinese state press reports small state-owned carmaker nanjing auto is in negotiations with rover and saic to take a 20% stake in the joint venture. saic was unavailable for comment on the job cuts when contacted by bbc news. rover and saic signed a technology-sharing agreement in august.

Business

bmw reveals new models pipeline bmw is preparing to enter the market for car-style people carriers the firm s chief has told bbc news. speaking at a bmw event ahead of the geneva motor show helmut panke predicted demand for such crossover vehicles would soar in europe. in contrast he said the popularity of van-style seven-seat vehicles and traditional saloon cars would fade. customers are moving out of the mini-van (and) traditional concepts are not as attractive anymore he said. we have decided that bmw will enter the [crossover] segment he said in the clearest indication yet about the car maker s intentions. mr panke praised the honda accura as the best execution yet of a crossover vehicle. we have decided that the bmw brand will enter the segment he said. a decision on just how bmw will manage its entry into the new market is due in the first half of 2005. typically it takes about three years from when a decision is taken before a new model hits the streets mr panke said implying that a bmw crossover could be on the market by 2008. the coming switch is driven in part by the need for successful carmakers to stay aware of trans-atlantic differences in the car market mr panke insisted. while in the us drivers tend to prefer sports utility vehicles (suvs) such as the bmw x5 and its sibling x3 in europe demand for crossover vehicles is likely to be considerable mr panke said. there s a growing market here he said. we are going to go that way.

Business

teenager tait picked for england newcastle s teenage centre mathew tait has been named as a centre in england s team to face wales in the six nations opener in cardiff on saturday. the 18-year-old will play alongside falcons team-mate jamie noon in england s midfield. scrum-half matt dawson is also recalled despite been left out of the initial squad after a row over clashing tv and training commitments. bath lock danny grewcock will also start pending a possible citing. england coach andy robinson has also awarded gloucester flanker andy hazell his first six nations start. in another change to the side that lost to australia in november leicester lock ben kay replaces bath second row steve borthwick. robinson was already without jonny wilkinson mike tindall stuart abbott richard hill and will greenwood while mike catt had been left out of england s squad. j robinson (sale sharks capt); m cueto (sale sharks) m tait (newcastle) j noon (newcastle) j lewsey (wasps); c hodgson (sale sharks) m dawson (wasps); g rowntree (leicester) s thompson (northampton) j white (leicester) d grewcock (bath) b kay (leicester) l moody (leicester) a hazell (gloucester) j worsley (wasps). replacements: a titterrell (sale sharks) p vickery (gloucester) s borthwick (bath) j forrester (gloucester) h ellis (leicester) o barkley (bath) b cohen (northampton).

Sports

france starts digital terrestrial france has become the last big european country to launch a digital terrestrial tv (dtt) service. initially more than a third of the population will be able to receive 14 free-to-air channels. despite the long wait for a french dtt roll-out the new platform s backers hope to emulate the success of its uk free-to-air counterpart freeview. recent figures from the uk s regulator ofcom showed freeview was more popular than the sky digital satellite service. in the three months to september 2004 almost five times as many people signed up to the uk s free-to-air dtt service compared with sky. almost 60% of uk households have gone digital on at least one television set through cable satellite or freeview. the french dtt platform is known as tnt which stands for tv numerique terrestre or digital terrestrial television. but it is being branded as television numerique pour tous or digital television for all . tnt is a joint venture between public broadcaster france televisions and a handful of cable and satellite operators. digital terrestrial tv will launch as a free-to-air platform to start with adding pay-tv channels later. thirty-five contenders have bid for an additional eight frequencies on top of the 14 already allocated. a couple of years ago dtt had a bad image said olivier gerolami chief operating officer of tnt. but everyone s impressed with dtt in the uk italy and germany and they realise it is a very good idea. france is the poorest market in europe in terms of free-to-air national channels so it has the potential to be one of the biggest dtt markets mr gerolami added in remarks quoted by the us entertainment industry paper variety. tnt aims to reach 35% of france s population at launch from 17 transmission sites. the transmission area will initially include paris lille lyon and toulouse. eventually there will be 115 sites reaching over 80% of homes. digital terrestrial set-top boxes are available from as little as 70 euros (£50). a recent survey by mediametrie found that 70% of people interviewed were aware of dtt and 25% were planning to buy a digital receiver. consumer electronics companies such as nokia sagem sony and thomson are gearing up for production. the conseil superieur de l audiovisuel (csa) the french broadcasting regulator said: following the recent success of freeview in the uk some manufacturers are optimistic about sales prospects . media analysts believe that initially the majority of viewers will buy inexpensive set-top boxes that are unable to support interactive services. the csa said the current aim of reaching 85% of the population by 2007 was achievable but the future of the remaining tv viewers required action by the public sector. for the most part they are people living in mountainous or border areas which will remain beyond the reach of digital terrestrial tv for years. up to 15 pay-tv channels will launch on dtt between september 2005 and march 2006. leading pay-tv operators canal plus and tps have submitted bids to market bouquets of channels. free-to-air services will be broadcast in mpeg-2 format. but pay-tv operators will be allowed to broadcast in mpeg-4 - a much better compression technology - which will potentially allow for high-definition (hd) subscription services in the future. tnt expects between 700 000 and one million dtt set-top boxes to be sold in 2005. it is difficult to tell how quickly it will take off said mr gerolami but we re optimistic that it will revolutionise television in france. other analysts were less optimistic predicting consumers would now be less likely to sign up for pay-tv subscriptions. we think free dtt could put brakes on the underlying growth of pay-tv in france said henri de bodinat vice-president of the arthur d. little consultancy.

Science_and_Techology

buyers snap up jet airways shares investors have snapped up shares in jet airways india s biggest airline following the launch of its much anticipated initial public offer (ipo). the ipo for 17.3 million shares was fully sold within 10 minutes of opening on friday. analysts expect jet to raise at least 16.4bn rupees ($375m; £198m) from the offering. interest in jet s ipo has been fuelled by hopes for robust growth in india s air travel market. the share offer representing about 20% of jet s equity was oversubscribed news agency reuters reported. jet which was founded by london-based travel agent naresh goyal plans to use the cash to buy new planes and cut its debt. the company has grown rapidly since it launched operations in 1993 overtaking state-owned flag carrier indian airlines. however it faces stiff competition from rivals and low-cost carriers. jet s ipo is the first in a series of expected share offers from indian companies this year as they move to raise funds to help them do business in a rapidly-growing economy.

Business

safin slumps to shock dubai loss marat safin suffered a shock loss to unseeded nicolas kiefer in round one of the dubai tennis championships. playing his first match since winning the australian open safin showed some good touches but was beaten 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 by the in-form kiefer. the german got on top in the first-set tie-break striking a sweet forehand to win the first point against serve. and he maintained the momentum early in the second set breaking the russian with the help of an inspired volley. spain s feliciano lopez lined up a second round clash with andre agassi by beating thailand s paradorn srichaphan. lopez who lost in three sets to roger federer in last year s final won 6-2 3-6 6-3. former champion fabrice santoro of france was beaten 6-3 6-0 by sixth seeded russian nikolay davydenko. there were also wins for two other russians igor andreev and seventh seed mikhail youzhny.

Sports

lewsey puzzle over disallowed try england s josh lewsey has claimed he was denied a late try in his side s six nations loss to ireland. the wasps wing insisted he grounded the ball when he was bundled over the line and said referee jonathan kaplan had made a wrong decision. i m positive i touched the ball down over the line lewsey told bbc sport. it certainly wasn t a turnover. i was driven over and i put the ball on the ground. the whistle went and i let go of the ball. lewsey added: one of the irish players scooped it back after the whistle and to our surprise the referee then gave a turnover. as far as i m concerned that incident and mark cueto s effort from charlie hodgson s cross-field kick that led to what looked like a good try were the two key elements in the game. cueto was also puzzled as to why his try had been disallowed by kaplan. i don t think i could have been offside for without a doubt i was behind the ball said the sale player. the move was a planned technique it was not off the cuff. we rehearse it time and time again. i wouldn t say we were robbed some decisions go with you and some go against you. today they went against us and that s tough at international level.

Sports

why cell will get the hard sell the world is casting its gaze on the cell processor for the first time but what is so important about it and why is it so different the backers of the processor are big names in the computer industry. ibm is one of the largest and most respected chip-makers in the world providing cutting edge technology to large businesses. sony will be using the chip inside its playstation 3 console and its dominance of the games market means that it now has a lot of power to dictate the future of computer and gaming platforms. the technology inside the cell is being heralded as revolutionary from a technical standpoint. traditional computers - whether they are household pcs or playstation 2s - use a single processor to carry out the calculations that run the computer. the cell technology on the other hand uses multiple cell processors linked together to run lots of calculations simultaneously. this gives it processing power an order of magnitude above its competitors. whilst its rivals are working on similar technology it is sony s which is the most advanced. the speed of computer memory has been slowly increasing over the last few years but the memory technology that accompanies the cell is a huge leap in performance. using a technology called xdr created by american firm rambus memory can run up to eight times faster than the current standard being promoted by intel. perhaps more important than any of the technology is the cell s role in the imminent war on living rooms . the big trend predicted for this year is the convergence of computers with home entertainment devices such as dvd players and hi-fis. companies like microsoft and sony believe that there is a lot of money to be made by putting a computer underneath the tv of every household and then offering services such as music and video downloads as well as giving an individual access to all the media they already own in one place. microsoft has already made its first tactical move into this area with its windows media center software which has been adopted by many pc makers. sony had a stab at something similar with the psx - a variation on the playstation - last year in japan although this attempt was generally seen as a failure. both companies believe that increasing the capabilities of games consoles to make them as powerful as pcs will make the technology accessible enough to persuade buyers to give them pride of place on the video rack. sony and ibm want to make sure that the dominance of the pc market enjoyed by microsoft and intel is not allowed to extend to this market. by creating a radically new architecture and using that architecture in a games console that is sure to be a huge seller they hope that the cell processor can become the dominant technology in the living room shutting out their rivals. once they have established themselves under the tv there is no doubt that they hope to use this as a base camp to extend their might into our traditional pcs and instigate a regime change on the desktop. cell is in fact specifically designed to be deployed throughout the house. the links between the multiple processors can also be extended to reach cell processors in entirely different systems. sony hopes to put cells in televisions kitchen appliances and anywhere that could use any sort of computer chip. each cell will be linked to the others creating a vast home network of computing power. resources of the cells across the house can be pooled to provide more power and the links can also be used to enable devices to talk to each other so that you can programme your microwave from your tv for example. this digital home of the future depends on the widespread adoption of the cell processor and there are as with all things a number of reasons it could fail. because the processor is so different it requires programmers to learn a different way of writing software and it may be that the changeover is simply too difficult for them to master. you can also guarantee that microsoft and intel are not going to sit around and let cell take over home computing without a fight. microsoft is going to be pushing its xbox 2 as hard as possible to make sure that its technology not sony s will be under your tree next christmas. intel will be furiously working on new designs that address the problems of its current chips to create a rival technology to cell so that it doesn t lose its desktop pc dominance. if cell succeeds in becoming the living room technology of choice however it could provide the jump-start to the fully digital home of the future. the revolution might not be televised but it could well be played with a videogame controller.

Science_and_Techology

japanese growth grinds to a halt growth in japan evaporated in the three months to september sparking renewed concern about an economy not long out of a decade-long trough. output in the period grew just 0.1% an annual rate of 0.3%. exports - the usual engine of recovery - faltered while domestic demand stayed subdued and corporate investment also fell short. the growth falls well short of expectations but does mark a sixth straight quarter of expansion. the economy had stagnated throughout the 1990s experiencing only brief spurts of expansion amid long periods in the doldrums. one result was deflation - prices falling rather than rising - which made japanese shoppers cautious and kept them from spending. the effect was to leave the economy more dependent than ever on exports for its recent recovery. but high oil prices have knocked 0.2% off the growth rate while the falling dollar means products shipped to the us are becoming relatively more expensive. the performance for the third quarter marks a sharp downturn from earlier in the year. the first quarter showed annual growth of 6.3% with the second showing 1.1% and economists had been predicting as much as 2% this time around. exports slowed while capital spending became weaker said hiromichi shirakawa chief economist at ubs securities in tokyo. personal consumption looks good but it was mainly due to temporary factors such as the olympics. the amber light is flashing. the government may now find it more difficult to raise taxes a policy it will have to implement when the economy picks up to help deal with japan s massive public debt.

Business

a november to remember last saturday one newspaper proclaimed that england were still the number one side in the world. that statement was made to look a little foolish by events later that afternoon at twickenham. but it illustrated the wonderful unpredictability of test rugby at the highest level at the end of a richly entertaining autumn series. the final weekend threw the world pecking order into renewed confusion with australia s triumph in london followed by france s capitulation to new zealand. clearly there is no number one side in the world at the moment declared wallabies coach eddie jones on arrival back in sydney. there are four five or probably six sides all competing at the same level and on any given day the difference between one side and another is only about 1%. while that bodes well for rugby as a whole it also sharpens the sense of excitement ahead of what could be the most open six nations championship for a decade. while the wallabies all blacks and springboks hit the beach before turning their attention to super 12 matters in the new year europe s finest have less than 10 weeks before they return to the international fray. and for the first time in more than a decade it will not simply be a straightforward choice between england and france for the six nations title. that owes much to ireland s continued progress and the belief that wales are on the verge of delivering a major scalp to cement the promise of their autumn displays. who secured a first triple crown in 19 years last season could go one better and win their first five/six nations title since 1985. they start with away games against italy and scotland before england and france come to lansdowne road. their momentous victory over the springboks can only bolster ireland s self-belief while ronan o gara s late drop goal to deliver victory over argentina was further proof that eddie o sullivan s side can now close out tight games. not that england or france who have won nine of the last 10 six nations titles between them will lay down quietly. dismantling of the springboks suggested that even after the loss of such influential figures as martin johnson and lawrence dallaglio they still have the personnel to prosper. the narrow defeat to australia was a timely reminder that not everything is blooming in the red rose garden but the fresh shoots of post-world cup recovery have been sown by new head coach andy robinson. a fresh desire to regain former heights is evident and if england emerge triumphant from an opening six nations engagement in cardiff a fourth title in six years is within reach. are in familiar revival territory but this time it appears there is substance behind the rediscovered style. while south africa s over-confidence in cardiff made for a closer scoreline than expected wales could legitimately claim to have had victory within their grasp against the all blacks in one of the best tests in recent memory. if mike ruddock can coax a reliable set-piece platform from his pack there is no reason why victories should not ensue come february. the last fortnight has left in a state of bewilderment after an autumn series that began with a superb victory over australia. a stunning defeat to argentina their first loss since the world cup could have been attributed to trademark french inconsistency. but the manner of new zealand s 45-6 demolition job in paris has coach bernard laporte bemoaning a lack of young talent coming through to replace the old guard. fortunately for the french the opening match of the six nations sees them entertaining in paris. after two reasonable performances against australia the scots humbling by the springboks forced coach matt williams to reassess his belief that a win over one of the major nations was imminent. while individuals such as chris cusiter and ali hogg enhanced their reputations a lack of top-class players will continue to undermine their best efforts. who start with home games against ireland and wales before travelling to scotland are also hopeful of registering more than one victory for the first time in the championship. as autumn gives way to winter and the heineken cup prepares to resume centre stage meantime the joy of six will keep the home fires burning until february.

Sports

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

Science_and_Techology

takeover offer for sunderland fc bob murray chairman of sunderland fc has launched a £1.5m ($2.8m) bid for the club after buying broadcaster bskyb s stake in the business. mr murray is already sunderland s leading shareholder holding a 37.6% stake and now hopes to take full control of the championship side. mr murray said the club would find it easier to attract more investment by having a single majority owner. sunderland delisted its shares from the stock market in august. a lifetime sunderland supporter and board director since 1984 mr murray agreed to buy bskyb s 4.76% holding in the wearside club on tuesday - taking his stake to 42.3%. under stock market rules mr murray is required to make an offer for the remaining shares that he does not already own at the same price paid for the bskyb holding of 31p a share. should the offer be fully accepted mr murray said he expected to pay a maximum of £1.53m for the remaining shares. he also stressed that fans who wanted to keep in touch with the club s financial affairs could retain a small number of shares enabling them to attend annual meetings. the football sector is experiencing significant changes and uncertainty mr murray said in a statement. the recent speculation surrounding malcolm glazer and manchester united has shown the unsettling effect possible where there are a number of disparate interests he added. i believe that this offer will strengthen the company and remove the potential for that type of uncertainty. sunderland were relegated from the premiership in 2003 but are currently pushing for promotion. the club managed to reduce its losses last year from £20.6m to £1.2m after selling a host of leading players. however the club s turnover dropped sharply from £42.5m to £28.5m over the same period because of a fall in broadcast revenues. bskyb bought its stake in sunderland in 1999 as part of a five year media partnership deal. the deal expired last month.

Business

germany nears 1990 jobless level german unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month in december - making the year s average jobless total the highest since reunification. the seasonally adjusted jobless total rose a higher than expected 17 000 to 4.483 million the bundesbank said. allowing for changes in calculating statistics the average number of people out of work was the highest since 1990 - or a rate of 10.8%. bad weather and a sluggish economy were blamed for the rise. the increase was due primarily to the onstart of winter labour office chief frank-juergen weise said. unadjusted the figures showed unemployment rose 206 900 to 4.64 million - with many sectors such as construction laying off workers amid bad weather. the three years of stagnation in the german economy came to an end in 2004. but the upturn is still not strong enough to boost the labour market mr weise added. news of the rise came as government welfare reforms came into force a move that is expected to see unemployment swell still further in coming months. under the hartz iv changes the previous two tier system of benefits and support for the long term unemployed has been replaced with one flat-rate payout. in turn that means more people will be classified as looking for work driving official figures higher. be prepared for a nasty figure for january 2005 about five million unemployed on a non-seasonally adjusted basis warned hvb group economist andreas rees. but he did add that the numbers should subside throughout the year to remain near 2004 s level of 4.4 million jobless. i don t expect a strong and lasting turnaround until 2006 german economy minister wolfgang clement said. by 2010 however the hartz iv reforms should help cut the average jobless rate to between 3% and 5% he added. europe s biggest economy has been too weak to create work as it struggles to shake off three years of economic stagnation. in recent months companies such as adam opel - the german arm of us carmaker general motors - and retailer karstadtquelle have slashed jobs.

Business

beer giant swallows russian firm brewing giant inbev has agreed to buy alfa-eco s stake in sun interbrew russia s second-largest brewer for up to 259.7m euros ($353.3m; £183.75m). alfa-eco the venture capital arm of russian conglomerate alfa group has a one-fifth stake in sun interbrew. the deal gives inbev the world s biggest beermaker near-total control over the russian brewer. inbev bought out another partner in august 2004. inbev brands include bass stella artois hoegaarden and staropramen. it employs 77 000 people running operations in over 30 countries across the americas europe and asia pacific. the leuven-based brewery said it would own 97.3% of the voting shares and 98.8% of the non-voting shares of sun interbrew. the deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2005. inbev was formed in august 2004 when belgium s interbrew bought brazilian brewer ambev. sun interbrew which employs 8 000 staff owns breweries in eight russian cities - klin ivanovo saransk kursk volzhsky omsk perm and novocheboksarsk. there are also three breweries in ukraine in the cities of chernigov nikolaev and kharkov.

Business

bbc leads interactive bafta wins the bbc and the national theatre have led the field at this year s interactive bafta awards. the national theatre s stagework website picked up the prize for best learning as well as top factual site. the bbc collected three awards including best online entertainment for the hitchhiker s guide to the galaxy adventure game. spooks interactive took the best interactive tv prize. the annual awards recognise the best in digital media. bbc sport interactive fought off competition from cbbc newsround and the guardian to take home the best news and sport trophy for its coverage of england s exit from euro 2004. it was recognised for its groundbreaking use of animation. bafta s grant dean chair of bafta s interactive entertainment committee said all the entrants had been of outstanding quality and that judging had been enormously difficult . without a doubt 2005 has been a landmark year for the bafta interactive awards he added. many of the top awards this year have gone to the companies we most commonly associate with traditional entertainment showing how the gap between new media film and television is closing. awards were given out in 12 different categories including interactive tv film music design as well as technical and social innovation at a london ceremony. the top music award was given to sseyo minimixa a mobile music sequencer designed to let people write edit and share compositions. warner bros was given two prizes for its inspiring efforts in film and dvd interactivity. the chaplin collection beat oasis really bend it like beckham shaun of the dead and the day today in the dvd category and trauma won best film. elsewhere fashionista and clothes designer alexander mcqueen took the accolade for the best-designed website. the awards have been running since 1997 but in 2002 the british academy of film and television decided to split them into separate games and interactive ceremonies. on tuesday half-life 2 dominated the games prizes. it collected six baftas including best game and best online game.

Science_and_Techology

survey confirms property slowdown government figures have confirmed a widely reported slowdown of the uk s housing market in late 2004. house prices were 11.8% higher on the year in the last quarter of 2004 down from 16.3% in the july-to-september quarter the land registry said. the average house price in england and wales was £182 920 down from £187 971 in july-september. the volume of sales between october and december dropped by nearly a quarter from the same period in 2003. the government figures are the first official confirmation of falls in the market at the end of 2004. land registry figures are less up to date than those of banks and building societies since they record completions not mortgage approvals. however the figures are viewed as the most accurate measure of house prices as they include all property transactions including cash sales. the cost of buying a home fell in seven out of 10 regions between the third and fourth quarters of 2004. the biggest annual gains were made in wales where house prices were up by 23% in the fourth quarter. house prices rose the slowest in greater london being up by 6%. in the capital the volume of sales fell by 23% from 36 185 in 2003 to 28 041 for the same period in 2004. there was also a decline in the number of million-pound properties sold in the capital with 436 properties over £1m sold compared to 469 for the same period in 2003. although the figures point to a slowdown in the market the most recent surveys from nationwide and halifax have indicated the market may be undergoing a revival. after registering falls at the back end of 2004 halifax said house prices rose by 0.8% in january and nationwide reported a rise of 0.4% in the first month of the year. members of the bank of england s rate-setting committee will make their latest decision on interest rates on thursday.

Business

j&j agrees $25bn guidant deal pharmaceutical giant johnson & johnson has agreed to buy medical technology firm guidant for $25.4bn (£13bn). guidant is a key producer of equipment that combats heart problems such as implant defibrillators and pacemakers. analysts said that the deal is aimed at offsetting johnson & johnson s reliance on a slowing drug business. they also pointed out that more mergers are likely because the drug and healthcare industries are fragmented and are under pressure to cut costs. a number of johnson & johnson s products are facing patent expirations while the company is also battling fierce competition from generic products. meanwhile demand for defibrillators which give the heart a small electric shock when an irregular heartbeat or rhythm is detected is expected to increase analysts said. the move by johnson & johnson has been widely expected and the firm will pay $76 for each guidant share 6% more than wednesday s closing price. analysts say that us antitrust regulators could force the firms to shed some overlapping stent operations. stents are tubes that are used to keep an artery open after it has been unblocked.

Business

bellamy fined after row newcastle have fined their welsh striker craig bellamy two weeks wages - about £80 000 - following his row with manager graeme souness. but bellamy 25 has not been put on the transfer list although he did not train with the first team on tuesday. magpies chairman freddy shepherd told the newcastle evening chronicle: it is not about money. it is about a player thinking he is bigger than this club. no individual is be it the chairman the manager or a player. souness dropped bellamy for sunday s game against arsenal claiming the welshman had feigned injury after being asked to play out of position. when i heard what the manager was saying i was in shock bellamy said. i thought not only has he gone behind my back he s lying he said in response to souness remarks. and the wales international refused to apologise. i won t apologise because i have done nothing wrong he told the evening chronicle. there s no doubt about it i am out of here. the difficult relationship between souness and bellamy boiled over at the weekend and has led to a war of words in the media. bellamy s claim that souness had lied about the background to the bust-up was strongly denied by shepherd who accused the striker of cheating the club. i wish to put the record straight regarding the bellamy situation said shepherd. craig walked off the training ground saying his hamstring was tight (on friday) but what he failed to reveal was that he had told other members of the squad before training that he intended to feign injury. when graeme discovered this he immediately ordered bellamy to attend a meeting in my office. at that meeting bellamy admitted to graeme and i that he had told the players that he was going to fake an injury in training and walk off. he also agreed at that meeting to apologise to his team-mates for his behaviour. he didn t do this which resulted in the action taken by the manager at the weekend which i fully support. in my book this is cheating on the club the supporters the manager and his own team-mates. he is paid extremely well and i consider his behaviour to be totally unacceptable and totally unprofessional. bellamy s latest outburst would appear to make his chances of a first-team recall remote. but even before newcastle said the player would not be sold bellamy insisted he had no intention of handing in a transfer request. i don t want the fans to think for one minute that i wouldn t play for this club he said. i d play anywhere for this club even in goal. it s a very difficult situation for me at the moment but i d never ask to leave this club. this club means so much to me. i couldn t do it because i know i couldn t come back here and play against newcastle. it would hurt too much.

Sports

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

Business

gb select holmes for double bid kelly holmes has been chosen for both the 800m and 1500m at next month s european indoor championships - despite not yet confirming her availability. the double-olympic champion is still undecided about whether to compete in her first european indoors in madrid. but uk athletics chief max jones believes it is likely holmes will race. he said: it s worth a punt isn t it she s gone back to training. if she s confident she will pick one (distance). the programme does not permit both. if holmes does take her place in the gb side she has already indicated that 1500m will be her favoured distance. under championship rules she does not have to decide until 24 hours before the event begins in madrid on 4 march. jones added: she was pleased with her run in birmingham (at last weekend s grand prix). i am inclined to think she will (compete). it could depend on how training goes and she will have to be close to top form. and he admitted holmes presence would be a great boost to the rest of the norwich union gb team. she is a very good team member and is very good to have there he added. meanwhile there is no surprises in the rest of the great britain team announced on tuesday. defending 60m champion jason gardener is included and will be chasing his third successive gold medal. he will be joined in the event by mark lewis-francis - runner-up behind him three years ago in vienna - and new boy darren chin. kelly sotherton has been invited by championship organisers to compete against carolina kluft in the pentathlon. sotherton finished third in the olympic heptathlon in athens where the swede took gold. there are 16 newcomers at this level of competition in gb s 46-strong team. the championships will be the last to be attended by jones before he retires to be succeeded by dave collins. jones said: the olympic games is the overwhelming target for uka and therefore it is beneficial to start the next four-year cycle with a not-so-pressurised major games. the european indoor championships always provide a chance for the young and inexperienced to make a name for themselves and the current indoor season has produced some exciting new talent. madrid is the first small step on a long journey to beijing and the 2008 olympics but for some of the emerging athletes this will be a very important step. 60m: d chin (belgrave harriers) j gardener (wessex and bath) m lewis-francis (birchfield harriers). t abeyie (woodford green with essex ladies) c lambert (belgrave harriers). d garland (channel islands ac). j mcilroy (windsor slough eton and hounslow ac) jimmy watkins (cardiff aac). ed jackson (aldershot farnham and district) n speaight (belgrave harriers) j thie (cardiff aac). a baddeley (harrow ac) m farah (windsor slough eton and hounslow ac) j mayock (barnsley ac). d greaves (newham and essex beagles) a scott (shaftesbury barnet harriers) a turner (notts ac). b challenger (belgrave harriers). pole vault: n buckfield (crawley ac). n morgan (birchfield harriers) c tomlinson (newham and essex beagles). l achike (shaftesbury barnet harriers) n douglas (oxford city ac) p idowu (belgrave harriers). d cossins (birchfield harriers) r davenport (gloucester ac) d garland (channel islands ac) r preddy (gloucester ac) g warburton (cardiff aac). k endacott (city of plymouth ac) j kwakye (woodford green with essex ladies) j maduaka (woodford green with essex ladies). k wall (basildon ac). k holmes (ealing southall and middlesex ac). h clitheroe (preston harriers) k holmes (ealing southall and middlesex ac). j pavey (exeter harriers). d allahgreen (trafford ac) s claxton (belgrave harriers). j crane (sale harriers manchester) s jones (trafford ac). j whitlock (trafford ac). j johnson (herne hill harriers). k sotherton (birchfield harriers). d fraser (croydon harriers) l mcconnell (shaftesbury barnet harriers) c murphy (woodford green with essex ladies) m purkiss (southampton ac).

Sports

air china in $1bn london listing china s national airline is to make its overseas stock market debut with a dual listing in london and hong kong the london stock exchange (lse) has said. air china plans to raise $1bn (£514m) from the flotation. share trading will begin on 15 december the lse said. for china s aviation authorities the listing is part of the modernisation of its airline sector to cope with soaring demand for air travel. no further details of the share price or number of shares were given. the lse has been working hard to woo chinese companies to choose london rather than new york for their listings. it opened an asia-pacific office in hong kong last month. we are delighted that air china has chosen london for its listing outside china said lse chief executive clara furse. the london stock exchange offers ambitious chinese companies access to the world s most international equity market combined with high regulatory and corporate governance standards she said. a spokesman for the lse said: we ve been engaged with them (air china) for about 18 months two years now. as part of its pitch to bring listings to london the lse is thought to be highlighting the extra costs and red-tape imposed by new us laws passed since the enron scandal whilst stressing london s strong regulatory environment. germany s chancellor gerhard schroeder began a three-day visit to beijing on monday by signing a deal worth 1bn euros ($1.3bn; £690m) for airbus to sell 23 new planes to air china the deutsche welle radio station reported. china s booming economy has created huge demand for air travel among middle-class chinese turning the country into a sales battleground between rival plane makers airbus and boeing. air china s long-awaited flotation is part of a strategy to modernise a dozen state-owned carriers which have been reorganised into three groups under air china china southern and china eastern. merrill lynch are sole bookrunners for air china s flotation which will take the form of a share placing with institutional investors in london though retail investors may be able to buy air china shares in hong kong. air china s primary listing will be in hong kong with a secondary listing in london. the shares will be denominated in hong kong dollars. however investors may be wary of chinese stocks. the collapse last week of china aviation oil the singapore-listed arm of a chinese jet fuel trader has cast the spotlight on corporate governance shortcomings at chinese firms.

Business

dollar gains on greenspan speech the dollar has hit its highest level against the euro in almost three months after the federal reserve head said the us trade deficit is set to stabilise. and alan greenspan highlighted the us government s willingness to curb spending and rising household savings as factors which may help to reduce it. in late trading in new york the dollar reached $1.2871 against the euro from $1.2974 on thursday. market concerns about the deficit has hit the greenback in recent months. on friday federal reserve chairman mr greenspan s speech in london ahead of the meeting of g7 finance ministers sent the dollar higher after it had earlier tumbled on the back of worse-than-expected us jobs data. i think the chairman s taking a much more sanguine view on the current account deficit than he s taken for some time said robert sinche head of currency strategy at bank of america in new york. he s taking a longer-term view laying out a set of conditions under which the current account deficit can improve this year and next. worries about the deficit concerns about china do however remain. china s currency remains pegged to the dollar and the us currency s sharp falls in recent months have therefore made chinese export prices highly competitive. but calls for a shift in beijing s policy have fallen on deaf ears despite recent comments in a major chinese newspaper that the time is ripe for a loosening of the peg. the g7 meeting is thought unlikely to produce any meaningful movement in chinese policy. in the meantime the us federal reserve s decision on 2 february to boost interest rates by a quarter of a point - the sixth such move in as many months - has opened up a differential with european rates. the half-point window some believe could be enough to keep us assets looking more attractive and could help prop up the dollar. the recent falls have partly been the result of big budget deficits as well as the us s yawning current account gap both of which need to be funded by the buying of us bonds and assets by foreign firms and governments. the white house will announce its budget on monday and many commentators believe the deficit will remain at close to half a trillion dollars.

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burren awarded egyptian contracts british energy firm burren energy has been awarded two potentially lucrative oil exploration contracts in egypt. the company successfully bid for the two contracts granted by government owned oil firms covering onshore and offshore areas in the gulf of suez. burren energy already has a presence in egypt having been awarded an exploration contract last year. the firm which floated in 2003 recently announced a deal to buy 26% of indian firm hindustan oil exploration. the £13.8m deal gives burren energy access to the indian oil and gas industry. this latest contract expands burren energy s global exploration and production portfolio - it also holds contracts in turkmenistan and the republic of congo. these assets significantly increase our exploration portfolio in egypt and we continue to investigate further opportunities in this region said chief executive finian o sullivan.

Business

dallaglio eyeing lions tour place former england captain lawrence dallaglio still harbours hopes of a place on the british and irish lions tour to new zealand. lions coach sir clive woodward has made it clear he will pick his squad to tour next summer based on form shown in the six nations championship. but dallaglio who called time on england earlier this year said: i assure you i wouldn t let anyone down. i know what it takes and what i have to offer he told the daily telegraph. dallaglio toured south africa with the lions in 1997 but was forced home early with a knee injury from the trip to australia three years ago. the 32-year-old also felt concentrating on club rugby could have prolonged his international shelf-life. he said: i ll be in good shape and fresh without another 10 tests on the clock. from what i witnessed at close quarters on sunday in our heineken cup match against leicester i certainly didn t feel out of place alongside those players many of whom will be on the trip. if i m fit and playing well then i m most certainly available. if clive feels he has no need to look outside the international crop then fine. if he does then he won t need to look too far will he

Sports

aviation firms eye booming india india s defence minister has opened the country s aero india 2005 air show with an invitation for global aerospace firms to outsource jobs to the nation. pranab mukherjee said such companies could take advantage of india s highly skilled workers and low wages. more than 240 civil and military aerospace firms from 31 countries are attending the show. analysts said india could spend up to $35bn (£18.8bn) in the aviation market over the next 20 years. giants such boeing and airbus - on the civil aviation front - as well as lockheed martin and france s snecma - on the military side - are some of the firms attending the show. there is tremendous scope for outsourcing from india in areas where the companies are competitive said mr mukerjee. we are keen to welcome international collaborations that are in conformity with our national goals. lockheed said it had signed an agreement with state-owned hindustan aeronautics (hal) to share information on the p-3 orion maritime surveillance aircraft. in fact the indian armed force is considering the buying of used p-3 orion as well as f-16 fighter jets from lockheed. the us military industry has show a strong interest to open a link with india now that relations between the two countries have improved a lot. in fact it is the first time the us air force will attend the air show since sanctions imposed in 1998 after india s nuclear tests were lifted. but the indian air force is also considering proposals from other foreign firms such as france s dassault aviation sweden s saab and russia s mikoyan-gurevich. meanwhile france s snecma has also said it plans a joint venture with hal to make engine parts with an initial investment of $6.5m. on the civilian front boeing announced a deal with india s hcl technologies to develop a platform for the flight test system of its 787 dreamliner aircraft. the us company also said it had agreed with a new indian budget airline the sale of 10 737-800 planes for $630m. the airline spicejet will also have the option to acquire 10 more aircraft. airbus has also recently signed fresh deals with two indian airlines - air deccan and kingfisher. in addition the european company has plans to open a training centre in india. meanwhile flag carrier air india is considering to buy 50 new aircraft from either boeing or airbus. no other market is going to see the growth that will be seen here in the coming years said dinesh keskar senior vice president boeing.

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funding cut hits wales students the wales students rugby side has become a casualty of the welsh rugby union s reorganisation at youth level. an amalgamated under-18 side formed from separate schools and national youth teams plays its first match on thursday against italy at the gnoll. but that move has seen the wru decide to end its funding of representative sides such as wales students. as a result traditional international fixtures against england and france in the new year have been cancelled. the welsh students rugby football union feels that it is unable to properly prepare for or stage the matches. the secretary of the welsh students rugby football union reverend eldon phillips said: it is a shame that fixtures cannot be maintained this year. the competition provided by the strong english and french teams has enabled the welsh students to test themselves in high quality matches. the increasing number of young rugby players entering higher education look for the biggest challenge that is representative rugby but this year that opportunity will be denied them. players who have played for wales students before going on to win full senior representative honours include robert jones rob howley jon humphreys darren morris martyn williams and ceri sweeney.

Sports

tsunami slows sri lanka s growth sri lanka s president has launched a reconstruction drive worth $3.5bn (£1.8bn) by appealing for peace and national unity. president kumaratunga said it was now important to find a peaceful solution to years of internal conflict. meanwhile the international monetary fund (imf) said damage from the tsunami would cut one percentage point from sri lanka s economic growth this year. it estimated the wave left physical damage equal to 6.5% of the economy. separately the international labour organisation (ilo) said that at least one million people have lost their livelihoods in sri lanka and indonesia alone. it called for action to create jobs. president kumaratunga attended a ceremony in the southern town of hambantota. she was joined by government and opposition politicians together with buddhist hindu muslim and christian clergy. prime minister mahinda rajapakse laid the foundation stone on a new housing project intended to provide 6 000 homes for survivors of the tsunami. mrs kumaratunga called for the tragedy to be the start of a new beginning to rebuild our nation . we are a country blessed with so many natural resources and we have not made use of them fully. instead we have been squabbling fighting she added. norway s peace negotiator erik solheim is due to arrive on wednesday to try to revive peace talks in the decades-long conflict between government forces and the tamil tigers who want a separate state in the north east of the country. reconstruction efforts in eastern sri lanka have been hampered by tensions between the two sides. the imf said that the sri lankan authorities initial estimates have put the physical damage at $1.3 to $1.5bn but added that the implications for the economy were much wider than this. the broader macroeconomic impact will clearly be substantial but the details are difficult to assess at this early stage the imf said. growth inflation the balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves are all expected to show the effects of lost businesses and reconstruction costs. the fishing industry has been devastated agricultural production may be affected and tourism will suffer especially in the short term the report said. the ilo estimated that 400 000 sri lankans have lost their jobs mostly in these three industries. earnings from tourism this year are expected to be 15% lower than last year. economic growth this year is expected to be 4% which is about 1% less than previously forecast. inflation could climb to 14% compared to a previous estimate of 12%. although major exports have not suffered the imf expects the reconstruction effort will require higher imports which could damage the balance of payments. foreign exchange reserves may become strained as sri lanka will be hard pressed to keep international reserves at the pre-tsunami level which totalled more than two months worth of imports. last week the imf approved sri lanka s request for a freeze on loan repayments.

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faultless federer has no equal roger federer - nice bloke fantastic tennis player - the ultimate sportsman. when lleyton hewitt shook his hand after getting another thrashing a third in as many months the australian said; you re the best. how right he is. the stats speak for themselves: 11 titles from 11 finals during 2004 - three of them grand slams - and 13 final victories in a row going back to vienna 2003. that s an open-era record. hewitt at times in houston showed form which easily matched his grand slam-winning efforts of 2001 and 2002. but he was outplayed. twice. hewitt along with andy roddick and marat safin is sure to be prominent during 2005. but realistically all three will be fighting for the world number two ranking. according to all those players and even federer himself the swiss star is in a different league. right now i feel that a little bit he told bbc sport. i ve dominated all the top ten players. they say nice things about me because i have beaten them all. i am dominating the game right now and i hope it continues! the number one player in the world is also the main man for promoting the sport off court. he has just been voted by the international tennis writers as the best ambassador for tennis on the atp tour. he has time for everyone. every match from first round to final is followed by a series of press interviews in three languages; english french and swiss-german. after a major win there are extra requests obligations and interviews all seen through to the end with courtesy and most importantly good humour. you guys are funny i have a good time with you guys he said genuinely happy to talk into yet another tape recorder. i see you pretty much every day on the tour so to give away an hour for interviews is really no problem for me. if i can promote tennis and the sport then that is good for me. people say thanks back and that is nice. what a refreshing attitude from someone who could easily dominate the sports pages for a decade. it sums up his modest personality. shortly after collecting a waterford crystal trophy a mercedes convertible and a tasty cheque for $1.5m federer addressed the houston crowd and concluded by saying thanks for having me . now he just needs to find a way of winning the french open the one grand slam to so far elude him.

Sports

row brewing over peer-to-peer ads music download networks are proving popular not just with an audience of youngsters keen to take advantage of free music but with advertisers equally keen to reach out to a captive audience. the debate over the legitimacy of file-sharing networks rages on as the music industry continues its threats to close the services down for good. meanwhile the millions of downloaders are proving both an advertiser s dream come true and a branding nightmare. paul myers chief executive of wippit - a peer to peer service which provides paid-for music downloads - believes it is time advertisers stopped providing oxygen for companies that support illegal downloading. you may be surprised to know that current advertisers on the most popular peer to peer service edonkey who now steadfastly support copyright theft with real cash money include nat west vodafone o2 first direct ntl and renault he said in an open letter to the british phonographic industry last month. he urged people to follow his lead and dump brands associated with companies such as edonkey. the bpi is equally quick to condemn established brands becoming bedfellows with peer to peer networks. networks like edonkey kazaa and grokster facilitate illegal filesharing. the bpi strongly believes that any reputable company should look carefully at the support they are giving these networks through their advertising revenue it said in a statement. illegal file-sharers steal millions of pounds worth of music through these services. we are sure that the companies advertising on them would not put up with theft on such a scale from their own businesses it said. but the issue is often more complicated for advertisers said mark mulligan a music analyst with jupiter research. this has been a problem for a long time ever since the days of napster he told the bbc news website. the reality is that the millions of downloaders represent a very attractive audience. advertisers probably pay a lot less for putting ads here than on more respected sites and they are reaching the perfect target audience he said. if you put the legality issues aside not to advertise here would mean missing out on a valuable audience he added. meanwhile companies contacted by the bbc news website insist that they were not directly aware of where their ads have been appearing. onetel adverts were spotted on edonkey this week and its response was typical. we have investigated this matter and believe that one of our affiliate partners has placed this advert without our knowledge. it is not our policy to advertise through peer-to-peer networks read a statement from the discount phone firm. it has requested the advert be removed immediately said a spokeswoman. similarly telecommunications firm ntl blames its media buying agency which places adverts with third party networks featuring thousands of sites. since the matter was brought to its attention last month the agency has strict instructions to make sure ads do not appear on such sites a spokesman told the bbc news website. however mr mulligan was not entirely convinced by these explanations. while smaller brands might not necessarily be aware of where the money they allocate to online advertising actually ends this is no excuse for well-known brands he said. i would be surprised if these brands didn t have the know-how to prevent this happening he said. at the moment edonkey is enjoying the benefits of having some very well-known faces advert on its network. many big brands have leveraged the opportunity including perhaps two of the biggest brands in the world - senator john kerry and president george w. bush said chief executive sam yagan. there are some distinct advantages of advertising on such a network he thinks. peer-to-peer clients offer big brands a unique opportunity to engage with their customers where they re most comfortable: at their desks interacting with their favourite digital media he said.

Science_and_Techology

dal maso in to replace bergamasco david dal maso has been handed the task of replacing the injured mauro bergamasco at flanker in italy s team to face scotland on saturday. alessandro troncon continues at scrum-half despite the return to fitness of paul griffen. the experienced cristian stoica is recalled at centre at the expense of walter pozzebon. we are going to scotland for the first away win and nothing else said manager marco bollesan. i really believe this is the team who will have all our faith for saturday s game. we lost a player like mauro bergamasco who has been important for us but (coach) john (kirwan) has put together the best team at present if not ever. r de marigny (parma); mirco bergamasco (stade francais) c stoica (montpellier) a masi (viadana) l nitoglia (calvisano); l orquera (padova) a troncon (treviso); a lo cicero (l aquilla) f ongaro (treviso) m castrogiovanni (calvisano) s dellape (agen) m bortolami (narbonne capt) a persico (agen) d dal maso (treviso) s parisse (treviso). g intoppa (calvisano) s perugini (calvisano) ca del fava (parma) s orlando (treviso) p griffen (calvisano) r pedrazzi (viadana) k robertson (viadana).

Sports

tindall aiming to earn lions spot bath and england centre mike tindall believes he can make this summer s lions tour despite missing most of the season through injury. the world cup winner has been out of action since december having damaged both his shoulder and his foot. but tindall who recently signed for bath s west-country rivals gloucester told rugby special he would be fit in time for the tour to new zealand. i m aiming to be fit by 18 april and hope i can play from then he said. i ve spoken to sir clive woodward and he understands the situation so i just hope that i can get on the tour. the 26-year-old will face stiff competition for those centre places from brian o driscoll gordon d arcy and gavin henson and is aware that competition is intense. but after missing out on the 2001 tour to australia with a knee injury tindall says he will be happy just to have an opportunity to wear the red shirt. i m quite laid back about it to be honest - it s quite hard for me to expect to be pushing for a test spot he said. but after what s happened this season at least clive knows i ll be 100% fresh! - for the full interview with mike tindall tune into this sunday s rugby special 2340 on bbc two

Sports

sun offers processing by the hour sun microsystems has launched a pay-as-you-go service which will allow customers requiring huge computing power to rent it by the hour. sun grid costs users $1 (53p) for an hour s worth of processing and storage power on systems maintained by sun. so-called grid computing is the latest buzz phrase in a company which believes that computing capacity is as important a commodity as hardware and software. sun likened grid computing to the development of electricity. the system could mature in the same way utilities such as electricity and water have developed said sun s chief operating officer jonathan schwartz. why build your own grid when you can use ours for a buck an hour he asked in a webcast launching sun s quarterly network computing event in california. the company will have to persuade data centre managers to adopt a new model but it said it already had interest from customers in the oil gas and financial services industries. some of them want to book computing capacity of more than 5 000 processors each sun said. mr schwartz ran a demonstration of the service showing how data could be processed in a protein folding experiment. hundreds of servers were used simultaneously working on the problem for a few seconds each. although it only took a few seconds the experiment cost $12 (£6.30) because it had used up 12 hour s worth of computing power. the sun grid relies on solaris the operating system owned by sun. initially it will house the grid in existing premises and will use idle servers to test software before shipping it to customers. it has not said how much the system will cost to develop but it already has a rival in ibm which argues that its capacity on-demand service is cheaper than that offered by sun.

Science_and_Techology

marsh executive in guilty plea an executive at us insurance firm marsh & mclennan has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with an ongoing fraud and bid-rigging probe. new york attorney general elliot spitzer said senior vice president robert stearns had pleaded guilty to scheming to defraud. the offence carries a sentence of 16 months to four years in state prison. mr spitzer s office added mr stearns had also agreed to testify in future cases during the industry inquiry. we are saddened by the development marsh said in a statement. the company added it would continue to co-operate in the case adding it was committed to resolving the company s legal issues and to serving our clients with the highest standards of transparency and ethics . according to a statement from mr spitzer s office the marsh executive admitted he instructed insurance companies to submit non-competitive bids for insurance business between 2002 and 2004. those bids were then conveyed to marsh clients under false and fraudulent pretences . through the practice marsh was allowed to determine which insurers won business from clients and so control the insurance market mr spitzer s office added. it also protected incumbent insurers when their business was up for renewal and helped marsh to maximise its fees a statement said. in one case an email showed mr stearns had instructed a colleague to solicit a non-competitive - or b - quote from aig that was higher in premium and more restrictive in coverage and so fixed the bids in a way that would support the present provider chubb. the company is also still being examined by us stock market regulator the securities and exchange commission (sec). late last month the sec asked for information about transactions involving holders of 5% or more of the firm s shares.

Business

jobs growth still slow in the us the us created fewer jobs than expected in january but a fall in jobseekers pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level in three years. according to labor department figures us firms added only 146 000 jobs in january. the gain in non-farm payrolls was below market expectations of 190 000 new jobs. nevertheless it was enough to push down the unemployment rate to 5.2% its lowest level since september 2001. the job gains mean that president bush can celebrate - albeit by a very fine margin - a net growth in jobs in the us economy in his first term in office. he presided over a net fall in jobs up to last november s presidential election - the first president to do so since herbert hoover. as a result job creation became a key issue in last year s election. however when adding december and january s figures the administration s first term jobs record ended in positive territory. the labor department also said it had revised down the jobs gains in december 2004 from 157 000 to 133 000. analysts said the growth in new jobs was not as strong as could be expected given the favourable economic conditions. it suggests that employment is continuing to expand at a moderate pace said rick egelton deputy chief economist at bmo financial group. we are not getting the boost to employment that we would have got given the low value of the dollar and the still relatively low interest rate environment. the economy is producing a moderate but not a satisfying amount of job growth said ken mayland president of clearview economics. that means there are a limited number of new opportunities for workers.

Business

yangtze electric s profits double yangtze electric power the operator of china s three gorges dam has said its profits more than doubled in 2004. the firm has benefited from increased demand for electricity at a time when power shortages have hit cities and provinces across the country. as a hydroelectric-power generator it has not been hurt by higher coal costs. net income jumped to 3bn yuan in 2004 ($365m; £190m) compared with 1.4bn yuan in 2003. sales surged to 6.2bn yuan from 3bn yuan a year earlier. the figures topped analysts expectations even though the rate of growth has slowed from 2003. analysts forecast that it is likely to decline further this year to a rate of expansion of closer to 20%. yangtze electric has been expanding its output to meet demand driven by china s booming economy. the government has delayed the building of a number of power plants in an effort to rein in growth amid concerns that the economy may overheat. that has led to an energy crunch with demand outstripping supply. earlier this month work was halted on an underground power station and a supply unit on the three gorges dam as well as a power station on its sister xiluodu dam because of environmental worries. a total of 30 large-scale projects have been halted across the country for similar reasons. the three gorges dam project has led to more than half a million people being relocated and drawn criticism from environmental groups and overseas human rights activists. its sister project the xiluodu dam is being built on the jinshajiang - or river of golden sand as the upper reaches of the yangtze are known.

Business

uk homes hit £3.3 trillion total the value of the uk s housing stock reached the £3.3 trillion mark in 2004 - triple the value 10 years earlier a report indicates. research from halifax the country s biggest mortgage lender suggests the value of private housing stock is continuing to rise steadily. all regions saw at least a doubling in their assets during the past decade. but northern ireland led the way with a 262% rise while scotland saw the smallest increase of just 112%. the core retail price index rose by just 28% in the same period underlining how effective an investment in housing has been for most people during the past decade. more than a third of the uk s private housing assets - representing more than a trillion pounds in value - are concentrated in london and the south east the halifax s figures indicate. tim crawford group economist at halifax said: the value of the private housing stock continues to grow and the family home remains by a large margin the most valuable asset of the majority of households in the uk. halifax s own monthly figures on house sales - issued on thursday - suggest the average price of a british property now stands at £163 748 after a 0.8% rise in january. housing experts are split on prospects for the market with some saying price growth will slow but not fall while others predict a sharp drop in values.

Business

cairn energy in indian gas find shares in cairn energy rose 3.8% to 1 088 pence on tuesday after the uk firm announced a fresh gas discovery in northern india. the firm which last year made a number of other new finds in the rajasthan area said the latest discovery could lead to large gas volumes. however chief executive bill gammell cautioned that additional evalution was first needed at the site. cairn has also been granted approval to extend its rajasthan exploration area. this approval has come from the indian government. a spokesman said the company s decision to carry out further investigations at the new find showed that it believed there was significant gas. but he added: it s still too early to say what the extent of it is. cairn s string of finds in rajasthan last year saw it elevated to the ftse 100 index of the uk s leading listed companies. the company had bought the rights to explore in the area from oil giant shell. mr gammell is a former scottish international rugby player.

Business

voters flock to blog awards site voting is under way for the annual bloggies which recognise the best web blogs - online spaces where people publish their thoughts - of the year. nominations were announced on sunday but traffic to the official site was so heavy that the website was temporarily closed because of too many visitors. weblogs have been nominated in 30 categories from the top regional blog to the best-kept-secret blog. blogs had a huge year with a top us dictionary naming blog word of 2004. technorati a blog search engine tracks about six million blogs and says that more than 12 000 are added daily. a blog is created every 5.8 seconds according to us research think-tank pew internet and american life but less than 40% of the total are updated at least once every two months. nikolai nolan who has run the bloggies for the past five years told the bbc news website he was not too surprised by the amount of voters who crowded the site. the awards always get a lot of traffic; this was just my first year on a server with a bandwidth limit so i had to guess how much i d need he said. there were many new finalists this year he added and a few that had won bloggies before. several entries reflected specific news events. there are four nominations for the south-east asia earthquake and tsunami blog which is a pretty timely one for 2005 said mr nolan. the big bloggies battle will be for the ultimate prize of blog of the year. the nominated blogs are wide-ranging covering what is in the news to quirky sites of interest. fighting it out for the coveted award are gawker this fish needs a bicycle wonkette boing boing and gothamist. in a sign that blogs are playing an increasingly key part in spreading news and current affairs the south-east asia earthquake and tsunami blog is also nominated in the best overall category. greenfairydotcom londonist hicksdesign plasticbag and london underground tube blog are the nominees in the best british or irish weblog. included in the other categories is best meme . this is for the top replicating idea that spread about weblogs . nominations include flickr a web photo album which lets people upload tag share and publish their images to blogs. podcasting has also made an appearance in the category. it is an increasingly popular idea that makes use of rss (really simple syndication) and audio technology to let people easily make their own radio shows and distribute them automatically onto portable devices. many are done by those who already have text-based blogs so they are almost like audio blogs. three new categories have been added to the list this year including best food best entertainment and best writing of a weblog. one of the categories that was scrapped though was best music blog. the winners of the fifth annual bloggies are chosen by the public. public voting closes on 3 february and the winners will be announced sometime between 13 and 15 march.

Science_and_Techology

henman hopes ended in dubai third seed tim henman slumped to a straight sets defeat in his rain-interrupted dubai open quarter-final against ivan ljubicic. the croatian eighth seed booked his place in the last four with a 7-5 6-4 victory over the british number one. henman had looked on course to level the match after going 2-0 up in the second set but his progress was halted as the rain intervened again. ljubicic hit back after the break to seal a fourth straight win over henman. earlier in the day spanish fifth seed tommy robredo secured his semi-final place when he beat nicolas kiefer of germany 6-4 6-4. afterwards henman was left cursing the weather and the umpire after seven breaks for rain during the match. it was incredibly frustrating henman said. it s raining and the umpire doesn t take control. he kept telling us to play till the end of the game. but if it s raining you come off - the score s irrelevant. it couldn t be more frustrating as i was very happy with my form until now. you don t expect this in the desert.

Sports

slovakia reach hopman cup final slovakia will play argentina in the final of the hopman cup after beating group b rivals the netherlands 3-0. daniela hantuchova defeated michaella krajicek 6-4 6-2 to give the slovaks the perfect start before dutchman peter wessels retired against dominik hrbaty. wessels was unable to compete in the mixed doubles but slovakia had already booked their place in the final for the second year running. argentina claimed top spot in group a with three wins from three matches. in the other group b match the united states defeated australia 2-1. meghann shaughnessy lost the opening match against alicia molik but james blake levelled the tie with a 6-3 6-4 win over paul baccanello who came in as a replacement for the injured mark philippoussis. blake and shaughnessy then beat molik and baccanello in a tense mixed doubles contest to take the win. hantuchova who did not win a hopman cup singles match in 2004 has been in good form during this year s event and has won two of her three matches. i feel like it s really deserved this time as i ve helped dominik to get through she said. i think if i keep going the way i have been in the past few matches then i will be okay. i was really pleased with my last two singles even the first one which was a really high standard. you can t ask for a better preparation than to play a few matches here for the australian open.

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ibm puts cash behind linux push ibm is spending $100m (£52m) over the next three years beefing up its commitment to linux software. the cash injection will be used to help its customers use linux on every type of device from handheld computers and phones right up to powerful servers. ibm said the money will fund a variety of technical research and marketing initiatives to boost linux use. ibm said it had taken the step in response to greater customer demand for the open source software. in 2004 ibm said it had seen double digit growth in the number of customers using linux to help staff work together more closely. the money will be used to help this push towards greater collaboration and will add linux-based elements to ibm s workplace software. workplace is a suite of programs and tools that allow workers to get at core business applications no matter what device they use to connect to corporate networks. one of the main focuses of the initiative will be to make it easier to use linux-based desktop computers and mobile devices with workplace. even before ibm announced this latest spending boost it was one of the biggest advocates of the open source way of working. in 2001 it put $300m into a three-year linux program and has produced linux versions of many of its programs. linux and the open source software movement are based on the premise that developers should be free to tinker with the core components of software programs. they reason that more open scrutiny of software produces better programs and fuels innovation.

Science_and_Techology

chip maker backs net phone calls rich templeton the head of giant chip maker texas instruments has given his backing to the growing sector of voice over internet telephony (voip) voip allows pc users and in some cases those with just a broadband connection to make telephone calls via the net. mr templeton said voip would be the next major application to drive broadband connections into homes. internet service provider wanadoo has announced it is launching its own broadband telephony service in the uk. subscribers to wanadoo s broadband service will be able to use the service to make free evening and weekend calls to any uk landline and free calls at any time to other wanadoo users. the service will cost an extra £4 a month and will come with a free livebox the broadband hub which wanadoo plans will be used in future to provide video-on-demand and home security services. the secondary phone line will mean customers can have an extra home phone number and will also provide wireless internet access around the home. eventually the service will replace existing landline services as wanadoo goes head to head with bt. voice-over broadband is a key trend across europe and is set to have a dramatic impact on the telecommunications industry eric abensur wanadoo s chief executive told the bbc news website. mr templeton said he agreed. voice-over-packet is going to be the second killer application after broadband internet access he said. the world s largest maker of chips for mobile phones believes the technology will grow rapidly from the relatively small user base it has currently. almost 83 million people have downloaded the software that powers the skype voip service according to the net telephony firm s website. skype lets people make free calls to other skype users and also make low-cost calls to ordinary phone numbers. us firm vonage also offers a voip service but one which lets people plug an ordinary phone into a broadband router to make calls. bill simmelink general manager of ti s voip business said the technology would only take off when people were making net calls with the ease of making a normal call. it s not about the pipe if you will or the silicon per se it s about the application he said. we want to communicate freely effortlessly and economically wherever we are. in a sign that voip is seeping into the mainstream giant isp aol announced on tuesday that it had plans to launch a net-based phone service for some of its members within the month. customers will continue to use their traditional phones but they will plug them into adapters connected to their broadband source rather than the jack provided by the telephone company. calls are received and placed just like on the old telephone network. we can help mass-market adoption of voip said aol chief executive jonathan miller. we can utilise our national footprint. we can help the entire industry become well known.

Science_and_Techology

us firm pulls out of iraq a us company has pulled out of a major contract to rebuild iraq s transport system after attacks on reconstruction efforts pentagon officials have said. contrack international of arlington virginia heads a coalition of firms working on a series of schemes. its withdrawal from the $325m (£170m) contract in november is thought to be the largest cancellation to date. contrack said the original scope of work that was envisioned could not be executed in a cost-effective manner . but the firm denied reports it was withdrawing completely from iraq. members of the joint venture including contrack are committed to the ongoing reconstruction efforts are actively working in iraq and continue to look for new construction opportunities in the country it said in a statement. the pentagon s project and contract office (pco) in baghdad said it had taken over contrack s management of the subcontractors working on the transportation projects. us firms and their workers have been targets of attacks and security concerns are said to be a major reason for the slow pace of reconstruction in iraq. of the $18.4bn in reconstruction funds approved by congress less than $2bn has been spent. lt col eric schnaible of the pco told the associated press news agency contrack s withdrawal from the transportation contract was a mutually agreed-to separation and did not indicate a movement by us companies to leave iraq. some parts of the country are a whole lot more permissive than others he added. where we can get the work done good things are happening.

Business

troubled marsh under sec scrutiny the us stock market regulator is investigating troubled insurance broker marsh & mclennan s shareholder transactions the firm has said. the securities and exchange commission has asked for information about transactions involving holders of 5% or more of the firm s shares. marsh has said it is co-operating fully with the sec investigation. marsh is also the focus of an inquiry the new york attorney-general into whether insurers rigged the market. since that inquiry was launched in october marsh has replaced its chief executive and held a boardroom shake-out to meet criticism by lessening the number of company executives on the board. prosecutors allege that marsh - the world s biggest insurance broker - and other us insurance firms may have fixed bids for corporate cover. this is the issue at the heart of the inquiry by new york s top law officer eliot spitzer and a separate prosecution of five insurers by the state of california. the sec s investigation into so-called related party transactions includes dealings in the trident funds managed by mmc capital the company s private equity firm. marsh s new chief executive michael cherkasky is trying to negotiate a settlement with mr spitzer. mr spitzer has built up a reputation as a fierce critic and campaigner against corporate america s misdeeds. the uncertainty unleashed by the scandal has prompted three credit rating agencies - standard & poor s moody s and fitch - to downgrade marsh in recent weeks. according to the financial times insurance analysts are now questioning whether marsh will be able to maintain its strong record of earning growth as they draw up forecasts for the first quarter of next year. doubts also exist over how much the company may have to pay regulators and lawyers to put the scandal behind.

Business

mobiles not media players yet mobiles are not yet ready to be all-singing all-dancing multimedia devices which will replace portable media players say two reports. despite moves to bring music download services to mobiles people do not want to trade multimedia services with size and battery life said jupiter. a separate study by gartner has also said real-time tv broadcasts to mobiles is unlikely in europe until 2007. technical issues and standards must be resolved first said the report. batteries already have to cope with other services that operators offer like video playback video messaging megapixel cameras and games amongst others. bringing music download services based on the success of computer-based download services will put more demands on battery life. fifty percent of europeans said the size of a mobile was the most important factor when it came to choosing their phone but more power demands tend to mean larger handsets. mobile phone music services must not be positioned to compete with the pc music experience as the handsets are not yet ready said thomas husson mobile analyst at jupiter research. mobile music services should be new and different and enable operators to differentiate their brands and support third generation network launches. other problems facing mobile music include limited storage on phones compared to portable players which can hold up to 40gb of music. the mobile industry is keen to get into music downloading after the success of apple s itunes napster and other net music download services. with phones getting smarter and more powerful there are also demands to be able to watch tv on the move. in the us services like tivo to go let people transfer pre-recorded tv content onto their phones. but the gartner report on mobile tv broadcasting in europe suggests direct broadcasting will have to wait. currently tv-like services where clips are downloaded are offered by several european operators like italy s tim and 3. mobile tv will have to overcome several barriers before it is widely taken up though said the report. various standards and ways of getting tv signals to mobiles are being worked on globally. in europe trials in berlin and helsinki are making use of terrestrial tv masts to broadcast compressed signals to handsets with extra receivers. a service from the norwegian broadcasting corporation lets people watch tv programmes on their mobiles 24 hours a day. the service uses 3gp technology one of the standards for mobile tv. but at the end of 2004 the european telecommunications institute (etsi) formally adopted digital video broadcasting handheld (dvb-h) as the mobile tv broadcasting standard for europe. operators will be working on the standard as a way to bring real-time broadcasts to mobiles as well as trying to overcome several other barriers. the cost and infrastructure needs to set up the services will need to be addressed. handsets also need to be able to work with the dvb-h standard. tv services will have to live up to the expectations of the digital tv generation too which expects good quality images at low prices according to analysts. people are also likely to be put off watching tv on such small screens said gartner. digital video recorders like europe s sky+ box and video-on-demand services mean people have much more control over what tv they watch. as a result people may see broadcasting straight to mobiles as taking away that control. more powerful smartphones like the xda ii nokia 6600 sonyericsson p900 and the orange e200 offering web access text and multimedia messaging e-mail calendar and gaming are becoming increasingly common. a report by analysts instat/mdr has predicted that smartphone shipments will grow by 44% over the next five years. it says that smartphones will make up 117 million out of 833 million handsets shipped globally by 2009.

Science_and_Techology

net regulation still possible the blurring of boundaries between tv and the internet raises questions of regulation watchdog ofcom has said. content on tv and the internet is set to move closer this year as tv-quality video online becomes a norm. at a debate in westminster the net industry considered the options. lord currie chairman of super-regulator ofcom told the panel that protecting audiences would always have to be a primary concern for the watchdog. despite having no remit for the regulation of net content disquiet has increased among internet service providers as speeches made by ofcom in recent months hinted that regulation might be an option. at the debate organised by the internet service providers association (ispa) lord currie did not rule out the possibility of regulation. the challenge will arise when boundaries between tv and the internet truly blur and then there is a balance to be struck between protecting consumers and allowing them to assess the risks themselves he said. adopting the rules that currently exist to regulate tv content or self-regulation which is currently the practice of the net industry will be up for discussion. some studies suggest that as many as eight million households in the uk could have adopted broadband by the end of 2005 and the technology opens the door to tv content delivered over the net. more and more internet service providers and media companies are streaming video content on the web. bt has already set up an entertainment division to create and distribute content that could come from sources such as bskyb itv and the bbc. head of the division andrew burke spoke about the possibility of creating content for all platforms. how risque can i be in this new age with celebrity chefs serving up more expletives than hot dinners surely i can push it to the limit he said. in fact he said if content has been requested by consumers and they have gone to lengths to download it then maybe it should be entirely regulation free. internet service providers have long claimed no responsibility for the content they carry on their servers since the law commission dubbed them mere conduits back in 2002. this defence does not apply if they have actual knowledge of illegal content and have failed to remove it. the level of responsibility they have has been tested in several high-profile legal cases. richard ayers portal director at tiscali said there was little point trying to regulate the internet because it would be impossible. huge changes are afoot in 2005 he predicted as companies such as the bbc offer tv content over the net. the bbc s planned interactive media player which will give surfers the chance to download programmes such as eastenders and top gear will make net tv mainstream and raise a whole new set of questions he said. one of these will be about the vast sums of money involved in maintaining the network to supply such a huge quantity of data and could herald a new digital licence fee said mr ayers. as inappropriate net content most obviously pornography viewed by children continues to dominate the headlines internet regulation remains a political issue said mp richard allan liberal democrat spokesman on it. mr allan thinks that the answer could lie somewhere between the cries of impossible to regulate and just apply offline laws online . in fact instead of seeing regulation brought online the future could bring an end to regulation as we know it for all tv content. after lord currie departed the panel agreed that this could be a reality and that for the internet people power is likely to reign. if content is on-demand consumers have pulled it up rather than had pushed to them then it is the consumers choice to watch it. there is no watershed on the net said mr burke.

Science_and_Techology

bank holds interest rate at 4.75% the bank of england has left interest rates on hold again at 4.75% in a widely-predicted move. rates went up five times from november 2003 - as the bank sought to cool the housing market and consumer debt - but have remained unchanged since august. recent data has indicated a slowdown in manufacturing and consumer spending as well as in mortgage approvals. and retail sales disappointed over christmas with analysts putting the drop down to less consumer confidence. rising interest rates and the accompanying slowdown in the housing market have knocked consumers optimism causing a sharp fall in demand for expensive goods according to a report earlier this week from the british retail consortium. the brc said britain s retailers had endured their worst christmas in a decade. today s no change decision is correct said david frost director general of the british chambers of commerce (bcc). but if there are clear signs that the economy slows the mpc should be ready to take quick corrective action and cut rates. dismal reports from the retail trade about christmas sales are worrying if they indicate a more general weakening in consumer spending. mr frost added: the housing market outlook remains highly uncertain. it is widely accepted that if house prices start falling more sharply the risks facing the economy will worsen considerably. cbi chief economist ian mccafferty said the economy had slowed in recent months in response to rate rises but that it was difficult to gauge from the christmas period the likely pace of activity through the summer. the bank is having to juggle the emergence of inflationary pressures driven by a tight labour market and buoyant commodity prices against the risk of an over-abrupt slowdown in consumer activity he said. interest rates are likely to remain on hold for some time. on thursday there was more gloomy news on the manufacturing front as the office for national (ons) statistics revealed british manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in november - for the fifth month in the past six. the ons said manufacturing output dropped 0.1% in november matching a similar unrevised fall in october and confounding economists expectations of a 0.3% rise. manufacturers organisation the eef said it expected the hold in interest rates to continue in the near future. it also said there was evidence that manufacturers confidence may be waning as the outlook for the world economy becomes more uncertain. so far the evidence suggests that last year s rate increases have helped to rebalance the economy without damaging the recovery in manufacturing said eef chief economist steve radley. however should the business outlook start to deteriorate the bank should stand ready to cut rates. some economists have predicted rates will drop later in the year although others feel the bank may still think there is a need for a rise to 5% before that happens. the bank remains concerned about the long-term risks posed by personal debt - which is rising at 15% a year - if economic conditions worsen.

Business

split-caps pay £194m compensation investors who lost money following the split-capital investment trust scandal are to receive £194m compensation the uk s financial watchdog has announced. eighteen investment firms involved in the sale of the investments agreed the compensation package with the financial services authority (fsa). splits were marketed as a low-risk way to benefit from rising share prices. but when the stock market collapsed in 2000 the products left thousands of investors out of pocket. an estimated 50 000 people took out split-capital funds some investing their life savings in the schemes. the paying of compensation will be overseen by an independent company the fsa said. further details of how investors will be able to claim their share of the compensation package will be announced in the new year. this should save investors from having to take their case to the financial ombudsman service something no doubt that will be very welcome rob mcivor fsa spokesman told bbc news. agreeing to pay compensation did not mean that the eighteen firms involved were admitting any guilt the fsa added. any investor accepting the compensation will have to waive the right to take their case to the financial ombudsman service. the fsa has been investigating whether investors were misled about the risks posed by split-capital investment trusts. the fsa s 60 strong investigation team looked into whether fund managers colluded in a so-called magic circle in the hope of propping up one another s share prices. firms involved were presented with 780 files of evidence detailing 27 000 taped conversations and over 70 interviews. in may the fsa was widely reported as having asked firms to pay up to £350m in compensation. mr mcivor told the bbc that the final settlement figure was smaller because two unnamed firms had pulled out of the compensation negotiations. investors in these two firms may now have to take any compensation claim to the financial ombudsman service or the courts.

Business

microsoft releases patches microsoft has warned pc users to update their systems with the latest security fixes for flaws in windows programs. in its monthly security bulletin it flagged up eight critical security holes which could leave pcs open to attack if left unpatched. the number of holes considered critical is more than usual. they affect windows programs including internet explorer (ie) media player and instant messaging. four other important fixes were also released. these were considered to be less critical however. if not updated either automatically or manually pc users running the programs could be vulnerable to viruses or other malicious attacks designed to exploit the holes. many of the flaws could be used by virus writers to take over computers remotely install programs change and delete or see data. one of the critical patches microsoft has made available is an important one that fixes some ie flaws. stephen toulouse a microsoft security manager said the flaws were known about and although the firm had not seen any attacks exploiting the flaw he did not rule them out. often when a critical flaw is announced spates of viruses follow because home users and businesses leave the flaw unpatched. a further patch fixes a hole in media player windows messenger and msn messenger which an attacker could use to take control of unprotected machines through .png files. microsoft announces any vulnerabilities in its software every month. the most important ones are those which are classed as critical . its latest releases came the week that the company announced it was to buy security software maker sybari software as part of microsoft s plans to make its own security programs.

Science_and_Techology

legendary dutch boss michels dies legendary dutch coach rinus michels the man credited with developing total football has died aged 77. referred to in the netherlands as the general michels led the dutch at the 1974 world cup - when they reached the final only to lose 2-1 to germany. however he guided his side to the 1988 european championship title with a 2-0 win over the soviet union in the final. michels played for ajax and coached the side to four national titles between 1965-71 and a european cup in 1971. his 1970s dutch team was built around johan cruyff and johan neeskens and introduced the concept of total football to the world. the strategy was to foster team coherence and individual imagination - with all players possessing the skills to play in any part of the pitch. cruyff was the on-field organiser of a team whose players rotated in and out of defence at will and was encouraged to play creative attacking football. michels had recently undergone heart surgery and dutch football federation (knvb) spokesman frank huizinga said: he was one of the best coaches we had in history. the no-nonsense coach also enjoyed spells at barcelona who he took to a spanish title in 1974 fc cologne and bayer leverkusen. michels named coach of the century by world football s governing body fifa in 1999 also won five caps for the netherlands as a bruising centre forward. dutch sports minister clemence ross-van dorp said: he was the man who together with cruyff made dutch football big.

Sports

hearts of oak 3-2 cotonsport hearts of oak set up an all ghanaian confederation cup final with a 3-2 win over cameroon s cotonsport garoua in accra on sunday. the win for hearts means they will play asante kotoko in the two-leg final after the kumasi team qualified from group a on saturday. in the other group b game cameroon s beat of south africa 3-2 in douala neither side could have qualified for the final. hearts of oak started the game needing a win to qualify for the final while cotonsport only needed to avoid defeat to go through. louis agyemang scored the first two goals for hearts either side of half time before ben don bortey scored the third. hearts looked set for a comfortable win but cotonsport staged a late fight back scoring twice late on. first of all boukar makaji scored in the 89th minute and then 3 minutes into injury time at the end of the game andre nzame iii was on target. but it was too little too late for the cameroonians and hearts held on to win the game and a place in the final. the first leg of the final will be played in accra on the weekend of 27-28 november and the second leg two weeks later on the 11 december in kumasi. in the other group b game cameroon s sable batie took the lead in the 35th minute through kemadjou before santos equalised on the hour mark thanks to thokozani xaba . bernard ngom put sable ahead just five minutes later and then ernest nfor settled the game on 68 minutes. ruben cloete scored the south african sides consolation with just three minutes left on the clock.

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us bank boss hails genius smith us federal reserve chairman alan greenspan has given a speech at a scottish church in honour of the pioneering economist adam smith. he delivered the 14th adam smith lecture in kirkcaldy fife. the adam smith lecture celebrates the author of 1776 s wealth of nations which became a bible of capitalism. dr greenspan was invited by chancellor gordon brown whose minister father john used to preach at the st bryce kirk church. mr brown introduced dr greenspan to the 400 invited guests as the the world s greatest economist . dr greenspan 79 who has been in the uk to attend the g7 meeting in london said the world could never repay the debt of gratitude it owed to smith whose genius he compared to that of mozart. he said the philosopher was a towering contributor to the modern world . kirkcaldy the birthplace in 1723 of adam smith and by extension of modern economics is also of course where your chancellor was reared. i am led to ponder to what extent the chancellor s renowned economic and financial skills are the result of exposure to the subliminal intellect-enhancing emanation in this area. he continued: smith reached far beyond the insights of his predecessors to frame a global view of how market economics just then emerging worked. in so doing he supported changes in societal organisation that were to measurably enhance standards of living. dr greenspan said smith s revolutionary philosophy on human self-interest laissez-faire economics and competition had been a force for good in the world. the incredible insights of a handful of intellectuals of the enlightenment - especially with smith toiling in the environs of kirkcaldy - created the modern vision of people free to choose and to act according to their individual self-interest he said. following his lecture dr greenspan - who received an honorary knighthood from the queen at balmoral in 2002 - was awarded an honorary fellowship of the royal society of edinburgh. he later opened an exhibition dedicated to smith in the atrium of fife college of further and higher education. joyce johnston principal of the college said: it is very fitting that the world s premier economist delivered this lecture in tribute to the world s first economist. dr greenspan - who became chairman of the federal reserve for an unprecedented fifth term in june 2004 - will step down in january next year. he has served under presidents george w bush bill clinton george bush and ronald reagan. he was also chairman of the council of economic advisors to gerald ford.

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uk bank seals south korean deal uk-based bank standard chartered said it would spend $3.3bn (£1.8bn) to buy one of south korea s main retail banks. standard chartered said acquiring korea first bank (kfb) fulfilled a strategic objective of building a bigger presence in asia s third largest economy. its shares fell nearly 3% in london as the bank raised funds for the deal by selling new stocks worth £1bn ($1.8bn) equal to 10% of its share capital. standard chartered expects about 16% of future group revenue to come from kfb. the south korean bank will also make up 22% of the group s total assets. the move a year after citigroup beat standard chartered to buy koram bank would be the south korean financial sector s biggest foreign takeover. this time around standard chartered is thought to have beaten hsbc to the deal. kfb is south korea s seventh largest bank with 3 million retail customers 6% of the country s banking market and an extensive branch network. the country s banking market is three times the size of hong kong s with annual revenues of $44bn. standard chartered has its headquarters in london but does two thirds of its business in asia and much of the rest in africa. we re comfortable with the price paid...the key here has been speed and decisiveness in making sure that we won said standard chartered chief executive mervyn davies at a london press conference. standard chartered said kfb was a well-managed conservatively run bank with a highly skilled workforce and represented a significant acquisition in a growth market . in london standard chartered s sale of 118 million new shares to institutional investors pushed its share price down and contributing to the ftse 100 s 0.3% decline. standard chartered s shares were 28 pence lower at 925p by midday. some analysts also queried whether standard chartered had overpaid for kfb. the deal which requires regulatory approval is expected to be completed by april 2005 and to be earnings accretive in 2006 standard chartered said. rival banking giant hsbc which is based in london and hong kong was also in the running. standard chartered is believed to have gained the initiative by putting together a bid during the christmas break. they were able to move so quickly it caught hsbc by surprise the financial times newspaper quoted an insider in the talks as saying. hsbc will now have to wait for the next south korean bank in line to be sold off - thought likely to be korea exchange bank also currently in the hands of a us group. standard chartered said it was buying 100% of kfb an agreement that would bring an end to the bank s complex dual ownership. the south korean government owns 51.4% of kfb while the remaining shareholding and operational control are in the hands of us private equity group newbridge capital. newbridge bought its stake during the government s nationalisation of several banks in the wake of the 1997 asia-wide currency crisis which crippled south korea s financial institutions. south korea s economy is expected to grow by 4.5% this year. although often thought of an export-driven economy south korea s service sector has overtaken manufacturing in the last decade or so. services now make up roughly 40% of the economy and consumer spending and retail banking have become increasingly important. in the aftermath of the asian financial crisis the government encouraged the growth of consumer credit. bad loan problems followed; lg card the country s biggest credit card provider has been struggling to avoid bankruptcy for months for instance. but analysts believe south korea s financial services industry is still in its infancy offering plenty of scope for new products. standard chartered sees the opportunity to create value by the introduction of more sophisticated banking products . since 1999 kfb has been restructured from a wholesale bank into a retail bank focused on mortgage lending which makes up 45% of its loans.

Business

economy stronger than forecast the uk economy probably grew at a faster rate in the third quarter than the 0.4% reported according to bank of england deputy governor rachel lomax. private sector business surveys suggest a stronger economy than official estimates ms lomax said. other surveys collectively show a rapid slowdown in uk house price growth she pointed out. this means that despite a strong economic growth base rates will probably stay on hold at 4.75%. official data comes from the office for national statistics (ons). though reliable ons data takes longer to publish so now the boe is calling for faster delivery of data so it can make more effective policy decisions. recent work by the bank has shown that private sector surveys add value even when preliminary ons estimates are available ms lomax said in a speech to the north wales business club. the ons is due to publish its second estimate of third quarter growth on friday. the mpc judges that overall growth was a little higher in the third quarter than the official data currently indicate ms lomax said. the bank said successful monetary policy depends on having good information. rachel lomax cited the late 1980s as an example of a time when weak economic figures were published but substantially revised upwards years later. the statistical fog surrounding the true state of the economy has proved a particularly potent breeding ground for policy errors in the past she said. improving the quality of national statistics is the single the best way of making sure the monetary policy committee (mpc) makes the right decisions she said. the bank of england is working in tandem with the ons to improve the quality and speed of delivery of data. her remarks follow criticism from the house of lords economic affairs committee which said the mpc had held interest rates too high given that inflation was way below the 2% target. a slowdown in the housing market and this year s surge in oil prices has made economic forecasting all the more tricky leading to a more uncertain outlook. this year rising oil prices and a significant slowdown in the housing market have awoken bad memories of the 1970s and 1980s ms lomax said. the mpc will be doing well if it can achieve the same stability over the next decade as we have enjoyed over the past 10 years. decisions on interest rates are made after the mpc gathers together the range of indicators available every month. the clearest signals come when all indicators are pointing the same direction ms lomax intimated. in economic assessment there is safety in numbers.

Business

umaga ready for lions all blacks captain tama umaga has warned the british and irish lions will be his most fearsome opponents yet ahead of their summer tour. but umaga in england for saturday s irb rugby aid match also backed new zealand to win the three-test series against the lions. he told bbc sport: it s potentially the most fearsome line-up i ve ever come up against. they re awesome. but i d back us all the way to beat them when they come over. lions boss sir clive woodward is set to announce his squad for the june-july tour next month. when woodward was appointed last year it was widely believed he would rely heavily on his former england players. but umaga said: he d be hard pushed to do that now considering the shape of the six nations. don t get me wrong england have got a lot of talented guys and i m sure there are some of them who ll make the lions test xv. but you can t disguise wales and ireland in particular. some of the tries they ve scored have been great. i ll admit it ll be fairly awesome lining up against the likes of brian o driscoll. umaga will meet o driscoll in saturday s rugby aid match at twickenham with the irish captain leading the northern hemisphere side. o driscoll is among a host of players in the northern hemisphere squad coached by woodward that are tipped for lions call-ups. it ll be good for us to get an early idea of some of these guys although a lot can change between now and june umaga said. the 31-year-old admitted interest in the lions tour was immense calling it the biggest thing to hit new zealand since lord of the rings . he added: as players it s enough for us to be driven by the rarity of playing the lions. in fact it s not just us all blacks - it s the talk of the country. umaga admitted the fear of injury weighed on his mind ahead of saturday s charity game which features a host of big names including george gregan andrew mehrtens and chris latham. but he admitted the value of the cause - proceeds of the match will go to aiding victims of the tsunami - easily won him over. the second [southern hemisphere coach] rod macqueen made the approach i didn t hesitate. it was great when new zealand rugby then gave me the all clear. thankfully i didn t know anyone that was involved in the tragedy of the tsunami but you couldn t miss all the horrific reports on the news. there are so many people that were affected are still affected and will be affected for a long time. it s just good to know we can do something minor to help out. - the match will be televised on bbc one at 1400 gmt on saturday.

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kenyan school turns to handhelds at the mbita point primary school in western kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. they are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. it is a pilot project run by eduvision which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. matthew herren from eduvision told the bbc programme go digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called e-slates. the e-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. this in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. the data is transmitted alongside audio signals. the base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld e-slates. it downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. it also stores this on its hard disc. the system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. but mr herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. it s very simple to set up just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school but it s also a one-way connection so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult. the project is still at the pilot stage and eduvision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the linux-based system. the content is divided into visual information textual information and questions. users can scroll through these sections independently of each other. eduvision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. mr herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. he is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site google to digitise some of the world s largest university libraries. all books in the public domain something like 15 million could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. then every rural school in africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in oxford and harvard currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. but mr herren says eduvision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. we plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station have the e-slates charge during the day when the children are in school then they can take them home at night and continue working. maciej sundra who designed the user interface for the e-slates says the project s ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks the fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most.

Science_and_Techology

hariri killing hits beirut shares shares in solidere the lebanese company founded by assassinated former prime minister rafik hariri fell 15% in renewed trading in beirut. the real estate firm which dominates lebanon s stock exchange ended the day down at $8.08. traders said there was some panic selling during friday s session the first since a three-day market closure to mourn the death of mr hariri. beirut s benchmark blom stock index closed down 7.9% at 642.80. solidere in which mr hariri was a major shareholder was the major drag on the index. the company owns much of the property in central beirut which it restored and redeveloped following the end of lebanon s bitter 15-year civil war. solidere should be above $10 but because of this disaster it is falling said one trader. if solidere drops much lower i would consider it a buying opportunity. this is a very big company held by many lebanese. critics had accused mr hariri of using lebanon s post-war reconstruction drive for his personal financial gain. but his assassination on monday sent shudders through lebanon s business community which saw the billionaire tycoon as the country s best hope for economic revival. solidere posted profits of $12.5m in the first half of 2004 and its shares had been gaining in recent months.

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chepkemei hit by big ban kenya s athletics body has suspended two-time london marathon runner-up susan chepkemei from all competition until the end of the year. athletics kenya (ak) issued the ban after chepkemei failed to turn up for a cross country training camp in embu. we have banned her from all local and international competitions said ak chief isaiah kiplagat. we shall communicate this decision to the iaaf and all meet directors all over the world. the 29-year-old finished second to paula radcliffe in the 2002 and 2003 london races and was also edged out in an epic new york marathon contest last year. but the ban will prevent the two-time world half-marathon silver medallist from challenging radcliffe at this year s london event in april. global sports communications chepkemei s management company said she had wanted to run in the world cross country championships in march. but ak maintained it was making an example of chepkemei as a warning to other kenyan athletes. we are taking this action in order to salvage our pride said kiplagat. we have been accused of having no teeth to bite with and that agents are ruling over us. ka has also threatened three-time women s short-course champion edith masai with a similar ban if reports that she feigned injury to avoid running at the cross country world championships are true. masai missed the national trials in early february but was included in the provisional team on the proviso that she ran in a regional competition. she failed to run in the event citing a leg injury.

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chepkemei joins edinburgh line-up susan chepkemei has decided she is fit enough to run in next month s great edinburgh international cross country. the kenyan was initially unsure if she would have recovered from her gruelling tussle with paula radcliffe in the new york marathon in time to compete. but she has declared herself up to the task and joins a field headed by world cross country champion benita johnson. race director matthew turnbull said: susan will add even more strength in depth to the world-class line up. chepkemei who won the six kilometre event three years ago when it was staged in newcastle endured an epic battle with radcliffe in the big apple until the briton outsprinted her in the final 400m. tirunesh dibaba of ethiopia will defend the title she won last year in tyneside - before the race was moved north of the border. recently-crowned european cross country champion briton hayley yelling also competes in edinburgh on 15 january as does in-form scot kathy butler.

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player burn-out worries robinson england coach andy robinson says english rugby has to act now to prevent injury destroying players careers. he will be without a host of big names for the six nations as the intensity of professional rugby union hits players. injuries are part of the sport but we have to have a look at the amount of injuries that occur in the english season robinson told bbc sport. i think players are probably going to have three or four years taken off their careers. robinson will be missing an entire midfield for the six nations with the likes of jonny wilkinson mike tindall and will greenwood injured. rugby union has become far more physically demanding since the game went professional nearly 10 years ago. as a result three of the major stakeholders in english rugby have launched an injury audit to find out how players are coping. the audit is jointly funded by the professional rugby players association the rugby football union and premier rugby. as far as robinson is concerned its findings must not be ignored. i think there s an injury audit coming out in march that s got some great information in there that i think everybody in the english game has got to look at he said. if we don t the situation is going to get worse and not better so i think rugby as a whole has got to look at this.

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mixed christmas for us retailers us retailers posted mixed results for december - with luxury retailers faring well while many others were forced to slash prices to lift sales. upscale department store nordstrom said same store sales were 9.3% higher than during the same period last year. trendy youth labels also sold well with sales jumping 28% at young women s clothing retailer bebe stores and 32.2% at american eagle outfitters. but wal-mart only saw its sales rise after it cut prices. the company saw a 3% rise in december sales less than the 4.3% rise seen a year earlier. customers at the world s biggest retailer are generally seen to be the most vulnerable to america s economic woes. commentators claim many have cut back on spending amid uncertainty over job security while low and middle-income americans have reined in spending in the face of higher gasoline prices. analysts said wal-mart faced a stand-off with shoppers stepping up its discounts as the festive season wore on as consumers waited longer to get the best bargains. however experts added that if prices had not been cut across the sector christmas sales - which account for nearly 23% of annual retail sales - would have been far worse. so far we are faring better than expected but the results are still split ken perkins an analyst at research firm retailmetrics llc told associated press. stores that have been struggling over the last couple of months appear to be continuing that trend. and for stores that have been doing well over the last several months december was a good month. overall december sales are forecast to rise by 4.5% to $220bn - less than the 5.1% increase seen a year earlier. one discount retailer to fare well in december was costco wholesale which continued a recent run of upbeat results with a better-than-expected 8% jump in same store sales. however the losers were many and varied. home furnishings store pier 1 imports saw its same store sales sink by a larger-than-forecast 8.8% as it battled fierce competition. leading electronics chain best buy meanwhile missed its sales target of a 3-5% rise in sales turning in a 2.5% increase over the christmas period. accessory vendor claire s stores also suffered as an expected last minute shopping rush never materialised leaving its same store sales 5% higher compared to a 6% rise last year. jeweller zale also felt little christmas cheer with december sales down 0.7% on the same month last year. this was not a good period for retailers or shoppers. we saw a dearth of exciting new items kurt barnard president of industry forecaster retail consulting group said. however one beneficiary of the desertion of the high street is expected to be online stores. according to a survey by goldman sachs & co harris interactive and neilsen/net ratings sales surged 25% over the holiday season to $23.2bn.

Business

mobile networks seek turbo boost third-generation mobile (3g) networks need to get faster if they are to deliver fast internet surfing on the move and exciting new services. that was one of the messages from the mobile industry at the 3gsm world congress in cannes last week. fast 3g networks are here but the focus has shifted to their evolution into a higher bandwidth service says the global mobile suppliers association. at 3gsm siemens showed off a system that transmits faster mobile data. the german company said data could be transmitted at one gigabit a second - up to 20 times faster than current 3g networks. the system is not available commercially yet but motorola the us mobile handset and infrastructure maker held a clinic for mobile operators on hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) a high-speed high bandwidth technology available now. early hsdpa systems typically offer around two megabits per second (mbps) compared with less than 384 kilobits per second (kbps) on standard 3g networks. high-speed downlink packet access (hsdpa) - sometimes called super 3g - will be vital for profitable services like mobile internet browsing and mobile video clips according to a report published by uk-based research consultancy analysys. a number of companies are developing the technology. nokia and canada-based wireless communication products company sierra wireless recently agreed to work together on high speed downlink packet access. the two companies aim to jointly market the hsdpa solution to global network operator customers. while hsdpa theoretically enables data rates up to a maximum of 14mbps practical throughputs will be lower than this in wide-area networks said dr alastair brydon author of the analysys report: pushing beyond the limits of 3g with hsdpa and other enhancements. the typical average user rate in a real implementation is likely to be in the region of one megabit per second which even at this lower rate will more than double the capacity... when compared to basic wcdma [3g] he added. motorola has conducted five trials of its technology and says speeds of 2.9mbps have been recorded at the edge of an outdoor 3g cell using a single hsdpa device. but some mobile operators are opting for a technology called evolution data optimised (ev-do). us operator sprint ordered a broadband data upgrade to its 3g network at the end of last year. we are expanding our network and deploying ev-do technology to meet customer demand for faster wireless speeds said oliver valente sprint s vice president for technology development when the contract was announced. as part of $3bn in multi-year contracts announced late last year sprint will spend around $1bn on ev-do technology from lucent technologies nortel networks and motorola that provides average data speeds of 0.3-0.5 megabits a second and peak download rates of 2.4mbps. mmo2 the uk-based operator with services in the uk ireland and germany has opted for technology based on hsdpa. using technology from lucent it will offer data speeds of 3.6mbps from next summer on its isle of man 3g network and will eventually support speeds of up to 14.4mbps. us operator cingular wireless is also adopting hsdpa using technology from lucent alongside equipment from siemens and ericsson. siemens plans for a one gigabit network may be more than a user needs today but christoph caselitz president of the mobile networks division at the firm says that: by the time the next generation of mobile communication debuts in 2015 the need for transmission capacities for voice data image and multimedia is conservatively anticipated to rise by a factor of 10. siemens - in collaboration with the fraunhofer german-sino lab for mobile communications and the institute for applied radio system technology - has souped up mobile communications by using three transmitting and four receiving antennae instead of the usual one. this enables a data transmission such as sending a big file or video to be broken up into different flows of data that can be sent simultaneously over one radio frequency band. the speeds offered by 3g mobile seemed fast at the time mobile operators were paying huge sums for 3g licences. but today instead of connecting to the internet by slow dial-up phone connection many people are used to broadband networks that offer speeds of 0.5 megabits a second - much faster than 3g. this means users are likely to find 3g disappointing unless the networks are souped up. if they aren t those lucrative power users such as computer geeks and busy business people will avoid them for all but the most urgent tasks reducing the potential revenues available to mobile operators. but one gigabit a second systems will not be available immediately. siemens says that though the system works in the laboratory it still has to assess the mobility of multiple-antennae devices and conduct field trials. a commercial system could be as far away as 2012 though siemens did not rule out an earlier date.

Science_and_Techology

latin america sees strong growth latin america s economy grew by 5.5% in 2004 its best performance since 1980 while exports registered their best performance in two decades. the united nations economic commission for latin america and the caribbean said the region grew by 5.5% this year. the inter-american development bank (iadb) said regional exports reached $445.1bn (£227bn;331bn euros) in 2004. doubts about the strength of the us recovery and overheating of the chinese economy do however pose risks for 2005. both organisations also warned that high oil prices raise the risk of either inflation or recession. nevertheless the economic commission for latin america and the caribbean (eclac) still forecasts growth of 4% for 2005. strong recovery in some countries such as venezuela and uruguay boosted the overall performance of the region. eclac also said that the six largest latin american economies (argentina brazil chile colombia mexico and venezuela) grew by more than 3% for only the second time in 20 years. chinese and us economic strength helped boost exports as did strong demand for agricultural and mining products. in fact latin american exports to china grew 34% to $14bn. higher oil prices also helped boost exports as mexico and venezuela are important oil exporters. regional blocs as well as free trade agreements with the us contributed to the region s strong performance the iadb said.

Business

blinx sequel purrs nicely the original blinx was intended to convert many platform game lovers to microsoft s then new xbox console. its sharp graphics and novel gameplay with the main character able to pause slow rewind and fast-forward time were meant to lure many fans to the new machine. but poor design meant the game became a very frustrating affair with players often stranded half-way through a level without the required tools to finish. thankfully the sequel has fixed many of the original faults. this time around you do not play as blinx but instead you are given the chance to create two unique cat characters and two pig characters. the character generator is very detailed and a few minutes of tweaking and adjusting will create a unique personality to unleash on the game. as the game progresses you swap between the two rival factions pig and feline assuming the role of your created characters. the thrust of the game sees the two factions competing to recover pieces of a missing time crystal. as in the original your feline persona can control time but this time the pigs get to control space. there are a number of puzzles which require control over time to solve while the pigs can create things such as warps space bubbles and void traps in order to progress. the control over space and time is achieved through a number of vcr-style icons and is quite intuitive. annoyingly the puzzles are a little too obviously flagged up and most gamers will find it more of a chore than a challenge to solve them. the game has also tried to emulate franchises such as jak and daxter and ratchet and clank on ps2 and so there are a number of combat elements. these are a little predictable and tend to drag the general polish of the game down to a more dulled affair. but the game s excellent graphics easily the best-looking platform game around sound and dollops of humour make it an attractive game for younger platform fans. blinx 2 is out on xbox now.

Science_and_Techology

virgin radio offers 3g broadcast uk broadcaster virgin radio says it will become the first station in the world to offer radio via 3g mobiles. the radio station in partnership with technology firm sydus will broadcast on selected 2g and high-speed 3g networks. later this year listeners will be able to download software from the virgin website which enables the service. james cridland head of new media at virgin radio said: it places radio at the heart of the 3g revolution. virgin radio will be the first station made available followed by two digital stations virgin radio classic rock and virgin radio groove. mr cridland said: this application will enable anyone anywhere to listen to virgin radio simply with the phone in their pocket. this allows us to tap into a huge new audience and keep radio relevant for a new generation of listeners. saumil nanavati president of sydus said this radio player is what the 3g network was built for giving consumers high-quality and high-data products through a handset in their pocket. virgin says an hour s listening to the station via mobile would involve about 7.2mb of data which could prove expensive for people using pay as you download gprs or 3g services. some networks such as orange charge up to £1 for every one megabyte of data downloaded. virgin says radio via 2g or 3g mobiles is therefore going to appeal to people with unlimited download deals. there are 30 compatible handsets available from major manufacturers including nokia and samsung while virgin said more than 14.9 million consumers across the globe can use the service currently.

Science_and_Techology

moya clinches cup for spain spain won the davis cup for the second time in their history when carlos moya beat the usa s andy roddick in the fourth rubber in seville. moya won 6-2 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead with only one singles rubber remaining. roddick battled hard and had chances in the second set but moya s clay-court expertise proved the difference. mardy fish beat tommy robredo 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 in the final dead rubber to cut spain s winning margin to 3-2. spain s only other davis cup title came in 2000 when they beat australia in barcelona. this time they chose to play the final in seville and the city s olympic stadium was revamped to allow for a record crowd for a competitve tennis event of 27 000 spectators. and the home fans gave vociferous support to their players with 18-year-old nadal and moya winning both friday s singles rubbers. american twins mike and bob bryan gave the visitors hope with victory over juan carlos ferrero and tommy robredo in saturday s doubles. but it remained an uphill task for a us team far happier on hard courts than clay and 1998 french open champion moya had too much for world number two roddick. this has been incredible - the moment i ve been waiting for for years said moya who missed out in 2000 through injury. i ve prepared myself for this day. i knew that playing on clay i would have my chances to win. the davis cup is my dream. i can t ask for more. there is nothing bigger than what i ve lived today. moya stormed into a 4-0 lead on his way to taking the first set against roddick and recovered immediately from dropping serve in the second. the match came down to two tie-breaks and moya dominated both clinching victory on his third match point. wild celebrations followed with an emotional moya congratulated by his team-mates including nadal who at 18 years and 187 days becomes the youngest ever victor in davis cup history. i think we put up a better fight here than in paris two years ago said roddick who was on the us team which lost to france in the 2002 semi-finals at roland garros. they were just better than us this weekend. i have nothing to be ashamed of i gave it my all. i am not going to walk out of here with my head down that s for sure. there s no miracle answer. we have to improve.

Sports

hotspot users gain free net calls people using wireless net hotspots will soon be able to make free phone calls as well as surf the net. wireless provider broadreach and net telephony firm skype are rolling out a service at 350 hotspots around the uk this week. users will need a skype account - downloadable for free - and they will then be able to make net calls via wi-fi without paying for net access. skype allows people to make free pc-based calls to other skype users. users of the system can also make calls to landlines and mobiles for a fee. the system is gaining in popularity and now has 28 million users around the world. its paid service - dubbed skype out - has so far attracted 940 000 users. it plans to add more paid services with forthcoming launches of video conferencing voice mail and skype in a service which would allow users to receive phone calls from landlines and mobiles. london-based software developer connectotel has unveiled software that will expand the sms functions of skype allowing users to send text messages to mobile phones from the service. broadreach networks has around two million users and hotspots in places such as virgin megastores the travelodge chain of hotels and all london s major rail terminals. the company is due to launch wi-fi on virgin trains later in the year. skype s success at spreading the world about internet telephony is well-known and we are delighted to be offering free access to skype users in our hotspots commented broadreach chief executive magnus mcewen-king.

Science_and_Techology

global digital divide narrowing the digital divide between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast according to a world bank report. the world bank questioned a united nation s campaign to increase usage and access to technology in poorer nations. people in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate - far faster than... in the past said the report. but a spokesman for the un s world summit on the information society said the digital divide remained very real. the digital divide is rapidly closing the world bank report said. half the world s population now has access to a fixed-line telephone the report said and 77% to a mobile network. the report s figures surpass a wsis campaign goal that calls for 50% access to telephones by 2015. the un hopes that widening access to technology such as mobile phones and the net will help eradicate poverty. developing countries are catching up with the rich world in terms of access [to mobile networks] the report said. africa is part of a worldwide trend of rapid rollout... this applies to countries rich and poor reformed or not african asian european and latin american. a spokesman for the world summit for the information society (wsis) which is meeting this week in geneva told the bbc news website: the digital divide is very much real and needs to be addressed. some financing has to be found to help narrow the divide. on tuesday a meeting of the wsis in geneva agreed to the creation of a digital solitary fund. the fund is voluntary and will help finance local community-based projects said the wsis spokesman. under the proposals agreed voluntary contribution of 1% on contracts obtained by private technology service providers could be made to the digital solidarity fund. the exact financing mechanism of the fund is to be ironed out in the coming days said the wsis. sixty percent of resources collected by the fund will be made available for projects in least developed countries 30% for projects in developing countries and 10% for projects in developed countries.

Science_and_Techology

microsoft makes anti-piracy move microsoft says it is clamping down on people running pirated versions of its windows operating system by restricting their access to security features. the windows genuine advantage scheme means people will have to prove their software is genuine from mid-2005. it will still allow those with unauthorised copies to get some crucial security fixes via automatic updates but their options would be limited . microsoft releases regular security updates to its software to protect pcs. either pcs detect updates automatically or users manually download fixes through microsoft s site. those running pirated windows programs would not have access to other downloads and add-ons that the software giant offers. people who try to manually download security patches will have to let microsoft run an automated checking procedure on their computer or give an identification number. microsoft s regular patches which it releases for newly-found security flaws are important because they stop worms viruses and other threats penetrating pcs. some security experts are concerned that restricting access to such patches could mean a rise in such attacks and threats with more pcs left unprotected. but graham cluley senior consultant at security firm sophos told the bbc news website that it was a positive decision. it sounds like their decision to allow critical security patches to remain available to both legitimate and illegitimate users of windows is good news for everyone who uses the net he said. windows genuine advantage was first introduced as a pilot scheme in september 2004 for english-language versions of windows. microsoft s windows operating system is heavily exploited by virus writers because it is so widespread and they are constantly seeking out new security loopholes to take advantage of. the company is trying to tackle security threats whilst cracking down on pirated software at the same time. software piracy has cost the company billions it says. the company announced earlier in january that it was releasing security tools to clean up pcs harbouring viruses and spyware which 90% of pcs are infected with. the virus-fighting program updated monthly is a precursor to microsoft s dedicated anti-virus software. last year it introduced the windows xp counterfeit project a uk-based pilot scheme which ran from november to december. the scheme meant that anyone with pre-installed copies of the operating system in pcs bought before november could replace counterfeit versions of windows xp with legal ones for free. it is also increasing efforts to squash software piracy in china norway and the czech republic where pirated software is a huge problem by offering discounts on legitimate software to users of pirated copies windows. china in particular is a problem with piracy estimated at 92% said mr cluley.

Science_and_Techology

dublin hi-tech labs to shut down dublin s hi-tech research laboratory media labs europe is to shut down. the research centre which was started by the irish government and the massachusetts institute of technology was a hotbed for technology concepts. since its opening in 2000 the centre has developed ideas such as implants for teeth and also aimed to be a digital hub for start-ups in the area. the centre was supposed to be self-funded but has failed to attract the private cash injection it needs. in a statement media labs europe said the decision to close was taken because neither the irish government nor the prestigious us-based massachusetts institute of technology (mit) was willing to fund it. prime minister bertie ahern had wanted to the centre to become a big draw for smaller hi-tech companies in an attempt to regenerate the area. about three dozen small firms were attracted to the area but it is thought the effects of the dot.com recession damaged the labs long-term survival. the labs needed about 10 million euros (us$13 million) a year from corporate sponsors to survive. in the end it was too deep and too long a recession said simon jones the labs managing director. ian pearson bt s futurologist told the bbc news website that the closure was a real shame . bt was just one of the companies that had worked with the labs looking at rfid tag developments and video conferencing. there were a lot of very talented creative people there and they came up with some great ideas that were helping to ensure greater benefits of technology for society. i have no doubt that the individuals will be quickly snapped up by other research labs but the synergies from them working as a team will be lost. noel dempsey the government s communications minister said mr ahern had been very committed to the project. he is i know very disappointed it has come to this. at the time it seemed to be the right thing to do he said. unfortunately the model is not a sustainable one in the current climate. during its five years innovative and some unusual ideas for technologies were developed. in recent months 14 patent applications had been filed by the labs. many concepts fed into science engineering and psychology as well as technology but it is thought too few of the ideas were commercially viable in the near-term. several research teams explored how which humans could react with technologies in ways which were entirely different. the human connectedness group for example developed the iband a bracelet which stored and exchanged information about you and your relationships. this information could be beamed to another wearer when two people shook hands. other projects looked at using other human senses like touch to interact with devoices which could be embedded in the environment or on the body itself. one project examined how brainwaves could directly control a computer game. the labs set up in an old guinness brewery housed around 100 people made up of staff researchers students collaborators and part-time undergraduate students. it is thought more than 50 people will lose their jobs when the labs close on 1 february. according to its latest accounts media lab europe said it spent 8.16 million euros (about us$10.6 million) in 2003 and raised just 2.56 million euros (us$3.3 million).

Science_and_Techology

amex shares up on spin-off news shares in american express surged more than 8% on tuesday after it said it was to spin off its less profitable financial advisory subsidiary. the us credit card to travel services giant said off-loading american express financial advisors (aefa) would boost its profitability. aefa has more than 12 000 advisers selling financial advice funds and insurance to 2.5 million customers. over the years it has delivered poor profits and even some losses. this is an excellent move by american express to focus on its core businesses and sell off a laggard division which has been a problem for quite some time said marquis investment research analyst phil kain. analysts estimate that a stand-alone aefa could have a market value of $10bn (£5.3bn). the unit was acquired by american express 20 years ago as investors diversified service of minneapolis at a time when firms were amassing one-stop financial empires. however the business of selling investments was never integrated with the rest of the group.

Business

wi-fi web reaches farmers in peru a network of community computer centres linked by wireless technology is providing a helping hand for poor farmers in peru. the pilot scheme in the huaral valley 80 kilometres north of the capital lima aims to offer the 6 000-strong community up-to-date information on agricultural market prices and trends. the agricultural information project for farmers of the chancay-huaral valley also provides vital links between local organisations in charge of water irrigation enabling them to coordinate their actions. more than 13 000 rural inhabitants as well as 18 000 students in the region will also benefit from the telecoms infrastructure. the 14 telecentres uses only free open source software and affordable computer equipment. the network has been three years in the making and was officially inaugurated in september. the non-government organisation cepes (peruvian centre for social studies) led the $200 000 project also backed by local institutions the education and agriculture ministries and european development organisations. the plan includes training on computers and internet skills for both operators and users of the system said carlos saldarriaga technical coordinator at cepes. farmers are also taking extra lessons on how to apply the new information to make the most of their plots of land. the board of irrigation users which runs the computer centres aims to make the network self-sustainable within three years through the cash generated by using the telecentres as internet cafes. one of the key elements of the project is the agricultural information system with its flagship huaral.org website. there farmers can find the prices for local produce as well as information on topics ranging from plague prevention to the latest farming techniques. the system also helps the inhabitants of the chancay-huaral valley to organise their vital irrigation systems. water is the main element that unites them all. it is a precious element in peru s coastal areas because it is so scarce and therefore it is necessary to have proper irrigation systems to make the most of it mr saldarriaga told the bbc news website. the information network also allows farmers to look beyond their own region and share experiences with other colleagues from the rest of peru and even around the world. cepes says the involvement of the farmers has been key in the project s success. throughout the last three years the people have provided a vital thrust to the project; they feel it belongs to them said mr saldarriaga. the community training sessions attended by an equal number of men and women have been the perfect showcase for their enthusiasm. we have had an excellent response mainly from young people. but we have also had a great feedback when we trained 40 or 50-year old women who were seeing a computer for the first time in their lives. so far the huaral programme promoters say the experience has been very positive and are already planning on spreading the model among other farmers organisations in peru. this is a pilot project and we have been very keen on its cloning potential in other places underlined mr saldarriaga. the cepes researcher recalls what happened in cuyo a 50-family community with no electricity during the construction of the local telecentre site. there it was necessary to build a mini-hydraulic dam in order to generate 2kw worth of power for the computers the communications equipment and the cabin lights. it was already dark when the technicians realised they didn t have any light bulbs to test the generator so they turned up to the local store to buy light bulbs recalls carlos saldarriaga. the logical answer was we don t sell any so they had to wait until the next morning to do the testing. now with the wireless network cuyo as well as the other communities is no longer isolated.

Science_and_Techology

slowdown hits us factory growth us industrial production increased for the 21st month in a row in february but at a slower pace than in january official figures show. the institute for supply management (ism) index fell to 55.3 in february from an adjusted 56.4 in january. although the index was lower than in january the fact that it held above 50 shows continued growth in the sector. february was another good month in the manufacturing sector said ism survey chairman norbert ore. while the overall rate of growth is slowing the overall picture is improving as price increases and shortages are becoming less of a problem. exports and imports remain strong he said. analysts had expected february s figure to be stronger than january s and come in at 57. of the 20 manufacturing sectors surveyed by ism 13 reported growth. they included the textiles apparel tobacco chemicals and transportation sectors. the ism s index of national manufacturing activity is compiled from the responses of purchasing executives at more than 400 industrial companies.

Business

greek sprinters suspended by iaaf greek sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou have been suspended after failing to take drugs tests before the athens olympics. athletics ruling body the iaaf said explanations from the pair and their former coach as to why they missed the tests were unacceptable . it added that kenteris and thanou had been provisionally suspended pending the resolution of their cases . they face two-year bans if found guilty by the greek athletics federation. the suspension also covers the athletes controversial coach christos tzekos. kenteris the 2000 olympic 200m champion and thanou the women s 100m silver medallist from the same games in sydney also face a criminal hearing in greece over the missed tests. they failed to appear to give samples in chicago and tel aviv shortly before the athens games and again in athens on 12 august the eve of the opening ceremony. greek prosecutors have also charged them with faking a midnight motorcycle crash which led to them spending four days in hospital. some medical staff have been charged with writing false medical reports. wednesday s statement said the greek federation (segas) would convene a disciplinary hearing for the trio to determine whether there had been doping violations. there will be a final right of appeal from the decision of the greek federation to the court of arbitration for sport the iaaf said. tzekos insisted he and the runners had nothing to hide. the iaaf s decision means nothing he said. we ll be presenting all our arguments to segas - we re innocent.

Sports

beattie return calms attack fears everton striker james beattie has been declared fit for training on tuesday despite suffering an alleged assault last saturday. beattie 27 is not believed to be as seriously hurt as some reports have suggested after being the victim of an unprovoked assault in birmingham. he was on a night out with his girlfriend and two friends following everton s 3-1 win over aston villa. he was shaken but not badly injured said everton spokesman ian ross. he added: he did speak to the police but will not be pressing charges. he has spoken to manager david moyes about what happened. beattie was suspended for the win at aston villa after his red card against chelsea and he will be available again for the merseyside derby at liverpool on 20 march.

Sports

green reports shun supply chain nearly 20% more uk top 250 firms produced non-financial reports on social and environment issues than last year. but of the 145 companies reporting 76% didn t examine their supply chains says the annual directions survey. green groups say putting pressure on supply chains is a major way companies can reduce their environmental impact. the survey is published by corporate social responsibility firm context and branding firm salterbaxter. blake lee-harwood campaigns director at greenpeace in the uk said: it s fairly meaningless to talk about your company s direction in terms of sustainability without having detailed knowledge of your supply chain. it s also important to get some kind of independent assessment of your reporting. less than a quarter of companies (24%) get their corporate social responsibility (csr) reports independently verified to provide assurances they are accurate and complete says the survey. to date there are no set standards for non-financial reporting although the global reporting initiative an independent pro-sustainability institution is planning to establish some. the reports surveyed by directions are published voluntarily. they are usually called corporate social responsibility (csr) reports sustainability reports or social and environmental reports. peter knight director of context says 24 uk top 250 companies reported for the first time this year and in general the quality of reports has improved. the corporate lexicon of homilies generalities and soft assurances - fluff - is on its way out. there are less pictures of smiling children and butterflies. the uk government will soon require all quoted companies to report their social and environmental risks in a chapter in their annual reports called the operating and financial review. the regulation is not expected until 2005 and the first reports under this scheme will not be published before 2006. the us seems to lag europe in producing corporate social responsibility reports. the majority of european top 50 companies (44) publish them and only 27 of the us top 50.

Business

games maker fights for survival one of britain s largest independent game makers argonaut games has been put up for sale. the london-based company behind the harry potter games has sacked about 100 employees due to a severe cash crisis. the administrators told bbc news online that selling argonaut was the only way to save it as it had run out of cash. argonaut warned that it was low on cash 10 days ago when its shares were suspended from trading on the london stock exchange. argonaut has been making games for some 18 years and is one the largest independent games developers in the uk. along with its headquarters in north london it operates studios in cambridge and sheffield. argonaut was behind the harry potter games which provided a healthy flow of cash into the company. but like all software developers argonaut needed a constant flow of deals with publishers. signs that it was in trouble emerged in august when it warned it was heading for losses of £6m in the financial year due to delays in signing new contracts for games. those new deals were further delayed leading argonaut to warn in mid-october that it was running out of cash and suspend trading of its shares on the london stock exchange. as part of cost-cutting measures some 100 employees were fired. when the news about the £6m loss came out we knew there were going to be redundancies said jason parkinson one of the game developers sacked by argonaut. a lot of people suspected that argonaut had been in trouble for some time he told bbc news online. mr parkinson said staff were told the job losses were necessary to save argonaut from going under. at the start of the year the company employed 268 people. after the latest round of cuts there are 80 staff at argonaut headquarters in edgware in north london with 17 at its morpheme offices in kentish town london and 22 at the just add monsters base in cambridge. argonaut called in administrators david rubin & partners on friday to find a way to rescue the company from collapse. it spent the weekend going over the company s finances and concluded that the only way to save the business was to put it up for sale. the administrator told bbc news online that the costs of restructuing would be too high partly because of the overheads from the company s four premises across the uk. it said it was hopeful that it could save some 110 jobs by selling the business saying it had had expressions of interest from several quarters and were looking for a quick sale. the administrator said it would ensure that staff made redundant would receive any wages redundancy or holiday pay due to them hopefully by christmas.

Science_and_Techology

moya emotional at davis cup win carlos moya described spain s davis cup victory as the highlight of his career after he beat andy roddick to end the usa s challenge in seville. moya made up for missing spain s 2000 victory through injury by beating roddick 6-2 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead. i have woken up so many nights dreaming of this day said moya. all my energy has been focused on today. what i have lived today i do not think i will live again. spain s only other davis cup title came two years ago in valencia when they beat australia. and moya nicknamed charly admitted: the davis cup is my dream and i was a bit nervous at the outset. some people have said that i am obsessed but i think that it is better this way. it helps me reach my goals if i am obsessed. it s really incredible - to get the winning point is really something. spanish captain jordi arrese said: charly played a great game. it was his opportunity and he hasn t let us down. he had lost three times to roddick and this was his day to beat him. he had been waiting years to be in this position. spain s victory was also remarkable for the performance of rafael nadal who beat roddick in the opening singles. aged 18 years and 185 days the mallorcan became the youngest player to win the davis cup. what a great way to finish the year said nadal afterwards. us coach patrick mcenroe wants roddick and the rest of his team to play more tennis on clay and hone their skills on the surface. i think it will help these guys even on slow hard courts to learn how to mix things up a little bit and to play a little bit smarter and tactically better. obviously it s unrealistic to say that we re going to just start playing constantly on clay with the schedule. but certainly i think we can put the work in at the appropriate time and play a couple more events and play against these guys who are the best on this stuff said mcenroe. roddick was left frustrated after losing both his singles on the slow clay of seville s olympic stadium. it s just tough because i felt like i was in it the whole time against one of the top three clay-courters in the world said the american. i had my chances and just didn t convert them. the bottom line is they were just better than us this weekend. they came out took care of business and they beat us. it s as simple as that.

Sports

charvis set to lose fitness bid flanker colin charvis is unlikely to play any part in wales final two games of the six nations. charvis has missed all three of wales victories with an ankle injury and his recovery has been slower than expected. he will not figure in the scotland game and is now thought unlikely to be ready for the final game said wales physio mark davies. sonny parker is continuing to struggle with a neck injury but hal luscombe should be fit for the murrayfield trip. centre parker has only a slim chance of being involved against the scots on 13 march so luscombe s return to fitness after missing the france match with hamstring trouble is a timely boost. said wales assistant coach scott johnson: we re positive about hal and hope he ll be raring to go. he comes back into the mix again adds to the depth and gives us other options. replacement hooker robin mcbryde remains a doubt after picking up knee ligament damage in paris last saturday. we re getting that reviewed and we should know more by the end of the week how robin s looking added johnson. we re hopeful but it s too early to say at this stage. steve jones from the dragons is likely to be drafted in if mcbryde fails to recover.

Sports

us retail sales surge in december us retail sales ended the year on a high note with solid gains in december boosted by strong car sales. seasonally adjusted sales rose 1.2% in the month compared to 0.1% a month earlier boosted by a surge in shopping just before and after christmas. sales climbed 8% for the year the best performance since an 8.5% rise in 1999 the commerce department added. the gains were led by a 4.3% jump in auto sales as dealers used enhanced offers to get cars out of showrooms. dealers were forced to cut prices in december to maintain sales growth in a tough quarter when the usual end-of-year holiday sales boom was slow to get started. the increase in sales during december pushed total spending for the month to $349.4bn (£265.9bn). sales for the year also broke through the $4 trillion mark for the first time - with annual sales coming in at $4.06 trillion however if automotives are excluded from december s data retail sales rose just 0.3% on the month. home furnishings and furniture stores also performed well rising 2.2%. but as well as hitting the shops more us consumers were going online or using mail order for their purchases - with non-store retailers seeing sales rise by 1.9%. however analysts said that the strong figures were unlikely to put the federal reserve bank off its current policy of measured interest rate rises. consumers for now remain willing to spend freely sustaining the us expansion. given that attitude the fed remains likely to continue boosting the fed funds rate at upcoming meetings ubs economist maury harris told reuters. retail sales are seen as a major part of consumer spending - which in turn makes up two-thirds of economic output in the us. consumer spending has been picking up in recent years after slumping during 2001 and 2002 as the country battled to recover from its first recession of the decade and the world trade centre attacks. during that time sales grew a lacklustre 2.9% in 2001 and 2.5% a year later. looking ahead analysts now expect improvement in jobs growth to feed through to the high street with consumer spending remaining strong. the belief comes despite the latest labor department report showing a surprise rise in unemployment. the number of americans filing initial jobless claims jumped to 367 000 the highest rate since september. however long-term claims slipped to their lowest level since 2001.

Business

liberian economy starts to grow the liberian economy started to grow in 2004 but sustained and deep reform efforts are needed to ensure long term growth the international monetary fund (imf) has said. an imf mission made the comments in a report published following 10 days of talks with the transition government. the imf said that according to data provided by the liberians the country s gdp rose by 2% in 2004 after a 31% decline in 2003. liberia is recovering from a 14-year civil war that came to an end in 2003. the power-sharing national transition government of liberia will remain in place until elections on 11 october the first presidential and parliamentary ballots since the conflict ended. the imf said liberia s economy started to grow last year thanks to a continued strong recovery in rubber production domestic manufacturing and local services including post-conflict reconstruction . the imf however remains cautious about what it sees as a lack of transparency in government actions. in particular it pointed to mystery surrounding the sale of iron ore stockpiles and the alleged disappearance of some import and export permits. these matters are now being investigated by the liberian authorities and the imf has called for their findings to be made public. the imf also said it was crucial that the central bank of liberia be strengthened the national budget be effectively managed and a sound economic basis built to allow the country s large external debt to be addressed. the imf team stands ready to assist the (liberian) authorities in strengthening the areas mentioned said the report. the team agreed with the (liberian) authorities that the period until elections and the inauguration of a new government will pose exceptional challenges to fiscal management and expresses its willingness to provide...continued support.

Business

ex-boeing director gets jail term an ex-chief financial officer at boeing has received a four-month jail sentence and a fine of $250 000 (£131 961) for illegally hiring a top air force aide. michael sears admitted his guilt in breaking conflict of interest laws by recruiting darleen druyun while she still handled military contracts. ms druyun is currently serving a nine month sentence for favouring boeing when awarding lucrative contracts. boeing lost a $23bn government contract after a pentagon inquiry into the case. the contract to provide refuelling tankers for the us air force was cancelled last year. the pentagon revealed earlier this week that it would examine eight other contracts worth $3bn which it believes may have been tainted by ms druyun s role in the procurement process. boeing sacked mr sears and ms druyun in november 2003 after allegations that they had violated company recruitment policy. ms druyun had talks with mr sears in october 2002 about working for boeing while she was still a top procurement official within the pentagon. she subsequently joined the company in january 2003. ms druyun admitted that she had steered multi-billion dollar contracts to boeing and other favoured companies. in documents filed in a virginia court ahead of mr sears sentencing prosecutors blamed boeing s senior management for failing to ask key questions about the legal and ethical issues surrounding ms druyun s appointment. mr sears told prosecutors that no other boeing officials were aware that ms druyun was still responsible for major procurement decisions at the time she was discussing a job with boeing. however analysts believe boeing may yet face civil charges arising from the scandal. the pentagon has investigated 400 contracts dating back to 1993 since the allegations against ms druyun came to light. boeing s corporate ethics have come under scrutiny on several occasions in recent years. boeing was sued by lockheed martin after its rival accused it of industrial espionage during a 1998 contract competition. boeing apologised publicly for the affair - although it claimed it did not gain any unfair advantage - and pledged to improve its procedures. the pentagon subsequently revoked $1bn worth of contracts assigned to boeing and prohibited the seattle-based company from future rocket work.

Business

ronaldo considering new contract manchester united winger cristiano ronaldo said he is close to agreeing to a new contract at old trafford. the portugal star who joined in august 2003 on a five-year-deal is a regular in the united first-team. the united board have already made an offer to renew the contract but i m trying not to think about it he told the news of the world. my agent has spoken with the club and it will be resolved soon. i think we ll reach a good agreement for both sides. ronaldo refused to commit his long-term future to the club. nobody knows what will come tomorrow. i like being here but who knows he added. there aren t many bigger and better clubs than this one. it s my ambition to be at a big club. i m happy but nobody knows the future.

Sports

venezuela reviews foreign deals venezuela is to review all foreign investment in its mining industries in an effort to strengthen its indigenous industrial output. president hugo chavez has ordered all existing contracts with foreign firms to be examined to see if they provide maximum benefits to the country. the review will cover production of gold aluminium and iron ore although it excludes the country s oil sector. chavez has sought to extend the state s role in all sectors of the economy. the left-wing president is conducting a controversial review of land ownership in the country while also seeking to create a state-run telecoms firm to compete with foreign-owned businesses. he has argued that major economic reforms are vital to improve the lives of venezuela s poorest citizens. announcing the review of raw material production minister victor alvarez said the government would seek to transfer technology training capability and content from projects with foreign partners. we are defending our national sovereignty over the use of our national resources which must serve the endogenous development of the nation mr alvarez said. for this reason we are reviewing all memorandums of understanding all letters of intent all agreements that have been signed all contracts to check which of these comply with these directives. everything absolutely everything has to be reviewed. venezuela has previously assured foreign companies with operations in the mineral rich country that it respects existing contracts. however the government insisted that it needed to develop its own industrial infrastructure in order to create new jobs and lessen its reliance on foreign partners. if we don t do this we are just going to carry on being slaves suppliers of raw materials all our lives and we will never develop our own productive capacity mr alvarez added. companies from the united states canada france and switzerland all have substantial investments in venezuela s mining sector.

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pavey focuses on indoor success jo pavey will miss january s view from great edinburgh international cross country to focus on preparing for the european indoor championships in march. the 31-year-old was third behind hayley yelling and justyna bak in last week s european cross country championships but she prefers to race on the track. it was great winning bronze but i m wary of injuries and must concentrate on the indoor season she said. because of previous injuries i don t even run up hills in training. pavey who came fifth in the 5 000m at the athens olympics helped the british cross country team win the team silver medal in heringsdorf last week. she is likely to start her 3 000m season with a race in either boston or stuttgart at the end of january.

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rusedski angry over supplements greg rusedski has criticised the governing body of men s tennis for not releasing contamination-free supplements in time for the new season. rusedski said: i tried to order some but didn t receive any and i haven t got any yet. you would think they would have been available in december as it can take two months for the body to respond. this event comes in the hottest period of the year so you would hope the stuff would be available for it. the british number two escaped a possible ban last year when he persuaded a tribunal that a positive doping test was the result of contaminated atp supplements. in response the atp struck a deal with pharmaceutical company glaxosmithkline to provide contamination-free drinks and nutritional bars for the men s tour. david higdon vice president of the atp admitted: i agree with greg. i would have loved to have had these things available as soon as possible but it s a lot of work to make sure they have gone through rigorous testing. the reality is though that the first two weeks of the tour are spread far and wide and part of the distribution agreement we had with gsk has an education component. we weren t going to just drop these products out there without having a talk with the players about understanding how to use them. the first chance we will get to do that is at the players meeting on the saturday before the australian open. and rusedski who takes on roger federer at the qatar open later on wednesday conceded that the imminent changes will be beneficial. the good thing is that there is now a 100% guarantee so hopefully all this will never happen again said rusedski. hopefully after the australian open we won t have to discuss this any more.

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owen delighted with real display michael owen revelled in his return to the to the real madrid starting line-up and inspired a 3-1 win over real betis on wednesday by scoring the first goal. he said: i am happy i could play a game from the start again. i felt good all though the game and it is obvious that i am happy to have scored another goal. people have talked a lot about my performances and i think i have had some months that were not so good and others that were very good. owen starting his third successive la liga match converted a low cross from santiago solari. robert carlos made it 2-0 at the break smashing home an indirect free-kick. midfielder edu reduced the deficit after half-time but ivan helguera headed past keeper antonio doblas to seal victory for his team. victory took real to within six points of leaders barcelona and owen is confident real can close the gap. he added: we had several chances against betis and i think we can get back in touch with barcelona. it is only six points between barcelona and us and that is nothing. if we can beat them at the bernabeu (on 10 april) then it will be just three. owen has scored nine league goals one behind real s top scorer ronaldo. real had lost their previous two league games.

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ailing eurodisney vows turnaround eurodisney the european home of mickey mouse and friends has said it will sell 253m euros (£175m; $328m) of new shares as it looks to avoid insolvency. the sale is the last part of a plan to restructure 2.4bn euros-worth of debts. despite struggling since it was opened in 1992 eurodisney has recently made progress in turning its business around and ticket sales have picked up. however analysts still question whether it attracts enough visitors to stay open even with the restructuring. eurodisney remains europe s largest single tourist attraction attracting some 12.4 million visitors annually. a new attraction - walt disney studios - has recently opened its site near paris. the company s currently traded stock tumbled in paris on the latest news shedding 15% to 22 euro cents. eurodisney will sell the new shares priced at 9 euros cents each. the us disney corporation and saudi arabian prince al-walid bin talal the firm s two main shareholders will buy the new stock. the restructuring deal is the second in the firm s troubled financial history; its finances were first reorganised in 1994.

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holmes secures comeback victory britain s kelly holmes marked her first appearance on home soil since winning double olympic gold with 1500m victory at the norwich union international. holmes hit the front just before the bell in front of a sell-out crowd in glasgow and cruised to victory in a time of four minutes 14.74 seconds. it was nice to get that out of the way. i was nervous about whether i would actually be able to get round. i felt good. i just had to relax and use my racing knowledge said holmes. it was all about winning in front of my home crowd. the time is irrelevant. i got round in one piece and didn t disgrace myself. now it s about going forward. the reception i ve had since the olympics has been amazing and that s why i wanted to keep running this year because i get a buzz from the crowd. holmes ran a tactically perfect race to finish clear of france s hind dehiba and russia s svetlana cherkasova. the olympic 800m and 1500m champion s time was inside the qualifying mark for the european indoor championships in madrid in march. but the 34-year-old would not reveal whether she intended to run or not having previously indicated she would leave a decision until after the birmingham grand prix on 18 february.

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duff ruled out of barcelona clash chelsea s damien duff has been ruled out of wednesday s champions league clash with barcelona at the nou camp. duff sustained a knee injury in the fa cup defeat at newcastle and manager jose mourinho said: he cannot run. his injury is very painful so he is out. but mourinho has revealed defender willian gallas and striker didier drogba will be in the starting line-up. the blues boss took the unusual step of naming his side a day before the match with jole cole named in midfield. mourinho said: we have one more session but i think drogba will play and gallas will play. drogba trained on monday with no problems and will do the same on tuesday. gallas feels he can play and wants to play. we are protecting him still but he will be okay to play. drogba chelsea s £24m striker has missed the last three weeks through injury. cech ferreira carvalho terry gallas tiago makelele lampard cole drogba gudjohnsen.

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remote control rifle range debuts soon you could go hunting via the net. a texas company is considering letting web users use a remote-controlled rifle to shoot down deer antelope and wild pigs. for a small fee users will take control of a camera and rifle that they can use to spot and shoot the game animals as they roam around a 133-hectare texas ranch. the live-shot website behind the scheme already lets people practise shooting at targets via the internet. john underwood the man behind the live-shot website said the idea for the remote-control hunting came to him a year ago when he was watching deer via a webcam on another net site. we were looking at a beautiful white-tail buck and my friend said if you just had a gun for that . a little light bulb went off in my head mr underwood told the reuters news agency. a year s work and $10 000 has resulted in a remote-controlled rig on which sits a camera and .22 calibre rifle. mr underwood is planning to put one of these rigs in a concealed location in a small reserve on his texas ranch and let people shoot at a variety of game animals. also needed is a fast net connection so remote hunters can quickly track and aim at passing game animals with the camera and rifle rig. each remote hunting session will cost $150 with additional fees for meat processing and taxidermy work. species that can be shot will include barbary corsican and mouflon sheep blackbuck antelope and wild pigs. already the live-shot site lets people shoot 10 rounds at paper and silhouette targets for $5.95 for each 20-minute shooting session. for further fees users can get the target they shot and a dvd recording of their session. handlers oversee each shooting session and can stop the gun being fired if it is being aimed off-range or at something it should not be. mr underwood said that internet hunting could be popular with disabled hunters unable to get out in the woods or distant hunters who cannot afford a trip to texas. in a statement the rspca said it had grave concerns about people being allowed to go online and remotely control a rifle. we assume it would be extremely difficult to accurately control a gun in this way and therefore it would be difficult to ensure a clean kill something the rspca accepts is the intention of those shooting for sport it said. animals hit but not killed would without doubt be caused to suffer unnecessarily said the statement. mike berger wildlife director of the texas parks and wildlife department said current hunting statutes did not cover net or remote hunting. he said state laws on hunting only covered regulated animals such as native deer and bird species. as such there was nothing to stop mr underwood letting people hunt unregulated imported animals and wild pigs. mr underwood also lets people come in person to the ranch to hunt and shoot game animals.

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coach ranieri sacked by valencia claudio ranieri has been sacked as valencia coach just eight months after taking charge at the primera liga club for the second time in his career. the decision was taken at a board meeting following the side s surprise elimination from the uefa cup. we understand and he understands that the results in the last few weeks have not been the most appropriate said club president juan bautista. former assistant antonio lopez will take over as the new coach. italian ranieri took over the valencia job in june 2004 having been replaced at chelsea by jose mourinho. things began well but the spanish champions extended their winless streak to six after losing to racing santander last weekend. that defeat was then followed by a uefa cup exit at the hands of steaua bucharest. ranieri first took charge of valencia in 1997 guiding them to the king s cup and helping them to qualify for the champions league. the 54-year-old then moved to atletico madrid in 1999 before joining chelsea the following year.

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bortolami predicts dour contest italy skipper marco bortolami believes saturday s six nations contest against scotland will be a scrappy encounter. with both sides looking for their first win of the championship the third-round game at murrayfield has been billed as a wooden-spoon decider. and bortolami feels the edinburgh contest could end up being a bruising battle of the packs. it will not be a pretty game because both teams are desperate to gain their first win said the lock forward. italy have only recorded three wins since they joined the six nations in 2000 but two of those have come against scotland. this year italy opened up with a stubborn display against ireland but ended up losing 28-17. however they were thoroughly outplayed by an impressive welsh side in rome last time out. now the italians travel to edinburgh hoping to claim their first away win in the six nations. scotland played extremely well against france in paris but not so well when ireland came to edinburgh said bortolami. we are still very disappointed with our last game against wales in rome and we are thoroughly determined to right the wrongs. as a nation our quest is to be respected as a team worthy of a place in this tournament and we can only do this by winning games.

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henman decides to quit davis cup tim henman has retired from great britain s davis cup team. the 30-year-old who made his davis cup debut in 1994 is now set to fully focus on the atp tour and on winning his first grand slam event. i ve made no secret of the fact that representing great britain has always been a top priority for me throughout my career henman told his website. captain jeremy bates has touted alex bogdanovic and andrew murray as possible replacements for the veteran. henman added that he was available to help britain in its bid for davis cup success with the next tie against israel in march . although i won t be playing i would still like to make myself available to both jeremy and the lta in the future so that i can draw upon my experience in the hope of trying to help the british players develop their full potential he added. i ve really enjoyed playing in front of the thousands of british fans both home and abroad and would like to thank every one of them for their unwavering support over the years. henman leaves davis cup tennis with an impressive record having won 36 of his 50 matches. great britain captain jeremy bates paid tribute to henman s efforts over the years. tim has quite simply had a phenomenal davis cup career and it has been an absolute privilege to have captained the team with him in it said bates. tim s magnificent record speaks for itself. while it s a great loss i completely understand and respect his decision to retire from davis cup and focus on the grand slams and tour. looking to the future this decision obviously marks a watershed in british davis cup tennis but it is also a huge opportunity for the next generation to make their mark. we have a host of talented players coming through and despite losing someone of tim s calibre i remain very optimistic about the future. henman made his davis cup debut in 1994 against romania in manchester. he and partner bates won their doubles rubber on the middle saturday of the tie. britain eventually lost the contest 3-2. henman and britain had little luck in davis cup matches until 1999 when they qualified for the world group. britain drew the usa and lost the tie when greg rusedski fell to jim courier in the deciding rubber. they made the final stages again in 2002 but this time lost out to the might of sweden.

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kerr frustrated at victory margin republic of ireland manager brian kerr admitted he was frustrated his side did not score more than one goal in their friendly win over croatia. robbie keane took his republic record to 24 with a first-half goal which proved enough for victory. we had more good chances. it is just a shame we did not take them against such a technically gifted team said kerr. but given the conditions and the standard of the croatian team we should be very happy with the win. the republic side kept a clean sheet for the eighth time in 11 matches and are unbeaten in 14 home games since kerr succeeded mick mccarthy. kerr applauded the decisive move which earned the victory. it was a brilliant goal fantastic skill by damien duff. robbie might have scuffed it a little but it was a good goal. matchwinner keane was another full of praise for duff s role in the goal. it was great play from damien said the tottenham striker. i always try to be sniffing around because you know nine times out of 10 duffer is going to get it in the box. playing three up was something different. brian kerr wanted to try it out and it was good to see young stephen elliott getting a run-out. the conditions were difficult but he did well and is definitely one for the future. it is nice to see young players coming through. man-of-the-match duff explained what went wrong when he fluffed a chance to make it 2-0 midway through the second half. he opted to bring steve finnan s cross down and shoot against the bar when a close-range header looked the best option. i would have headed that every time but i completely lost it in the lights said the chelsea star. i was desperate to get on the scoresheet myself but the result is the important thing. we have had a good year and are going nicely in the qualifiers. hopefully that can continue in 2005.

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qantas considers offshore option australian airline qantas could transfer as many as 7 000 jobs out of its home country as it seeks to save costs according to newspaper reports. chief executive geoff dixon was quoted by the australian newspaper as saying the carrier could no longer afford to remain all-australian . unions criticised the possible move - which may affect cabin and maintenance staff - saying qantas was profitable. more than 90% of the airline s staff are based in australia. qantas confirmed it was looking at whether it might recruit and source products overseas - potentially through joint ventures - but said it would continue to create jobs in australia. despite making a record australian dollars 648m ($492m) profit last year qantas has argued that it needs to make considerable savings if it is to remain competitive. we re going to have to get the lowest cost structure we can and that willmean sourcing things more and more from overseas the newspaper quoted qantas chief executive geoff dixon as saying. early this year qantas increased the number of flight attendants based in london from 370 to 870. if qantas were to follow the lead of other airlines moving staff offshore 7 000 jobs could shift overseas the newspaper reported. in a statement qantas said it was looking to build its operations overseas. however it stressed this would not result in large scale redundancies in its home market where most of its 35 000 staff are employed. we are totally committed to continuing to grow jobs in australia mr dixon said. we are however operating in a global market and there is no room for complacency simply because we are currently profitable and successful. unions reacted angrily to the reported disclosure arguing that qantas was profitable and did not need to take such action. we could understand if qantas was a struggling airline about to go under michael mijatov international division secretary of the flight attendants association told agence france presse. qantas announced a record profit last year and is on course this year for an even greater profit so it is totally unnecessary. in an effort to meet the challenge posed by low cost carriers qantas sought a tie-up with air new zealand last year however the deal was thrown out by the new zealand high court on competition grounds.

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ukraine strikes turkmen gas deal ukraine has agreed to pay 30% more for natural gas supplied by turkmenistan. the deal was sealed three days after turkmenistan cut off gas supplies in a price dispute that threatened the ukrainian economy. supplies from turkmenistan account for 45% of all natural gas imported by ukraine which has large coal deposits but no gas fields. turkmenistan is also trying to strike a similar deal with russia which is not so dependent on its gas. turkmen president saparmurat niyazov who signed the contract said the turkmen side agreed to lower the price demanded by $2 per 1 000 cubic metres bringing it down to $58. but the new price is still $14 higher than the price fixed in the contract for 2004. the head of the ukrainian state-owned naftohaz company yury boyko said he was fully happy with the deal. on friday turkmenistan acted on a threat and shut off gas supplies to ukraine in attempt to bring the price dispute to a head. mr niyazov said that his government would insist on the same price for supplies to russia. analysts say thay may not happen as russia the world s leading gas producer needs the cheap turkmen gas only to relieve is state-owned gazprom from costly investment in the exploration of oil fields in siberia. turkmenistan is the second-largest gas producer in the world.

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o connell rejects lions rumours ireland and munster lock paul o connell has dismissed media reports linking him to the captaincy of the lions tour to new zealand this summer. o connell is rumoured to be among the front-runners for the job but says he is totally focused on sunday s six nations crunch clash with england. i honestly don t think about these reports he told bbc sport. the lions thing is all speculation and newspaper talk nothing more. i just ignore it and get on with my job. he added: the only thing that annoys me after reading some reports is what the opposition locks think. i can just imagine them saying i m going to show this guy what s what about second row play . that s the one thing that makes me cringe. o connell who made a try-scoring international debut against wales two years ago is enjoying his meteoric rise into rugby s shop window - but refuses to be drawn on the lions. i have spoken to sir clive woodward a few times but not for very long certainly nothing about summer holidays he joked. he also said he remains wary of wounded england s abilities coming into sunday s game after two straight defeats dismissing predictions of a certain irish victory. it s very dangerous to think that. this england team has so much experience and skill. you do not become a bad team overnight. they have two world class game-breakers in josh lewsey and jason robinson while charlie hodgson is just ready to click into place. he insisted ireland will not make the mistake of being over-confident. that s not going to happen in our squad. no ireland team lining up to play england will ever fall into that trap he said. every time we play england we know what a big task it is. look at what they did to us two years ago. i remember that game all too well and it was not a good feeling. i came on as a replacement and we were losing 13-6 and ended up getting hammered 42-6 so i know what can happen when england come to dublin. they could so easily have been coming to dublin with two wins and staring a grand slam in the face as well.

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thomas out of six nations wales captain gareth thomas has been ruled out of the rest of the six nations with a broken thumb. the full-back will have surgery on monday after fracturing his thumb in the 24-18 win over france on saturday. but welsh legend phil bennett insisted wales can cope without thomas as they chase a first grand slam in 27 years. bennett told bbc sport: such is the spirit in the camp they ll put kevin morgan at 15 rhys williams at wing and just carry on. thomas will miss the match against scotland on 13 march and what promises to be a huge encounter against the irish six days later. bennett added: it s a setback. he s a great captain he leads from the front and the boys love him. thomas was replaced at half-time by williams as his side turned around a 15-6 deficit in paris. with gareth missing i would think michael owen will be our captain said wales coach mike ruddock. he did a great job in the second half in france. he has been vice-captain all along throughout the championship. wales travel to edinburgh to take on scotland in a fortnight and then host ireland in cardiff in the final round of matches in what could be the grand slam and championship decider. bennett an inspirational fly-half for llanelli and wales in the 1970s insisted the national team were entering a new golden period. it was a great game and a magnificent result for wales bennett told bbc radio five live s sportsweek programme. the way this young team are blending the glory days are on their way back. we couldn t get possession early on and france dominated and scored two tries. had they been ruthless wales could have gone into the interval 30 points down. but they didn t take their chances. wales defended fairly well but you cannot give that sort of quality ball to good sides. the all blacks would have been ruthless and buried us in the first half. but the character we showed in the second half was quite outstanding.

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