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digital guru floats sub-$100 pc nicholas negroponte chairman and founder of mit s media labs says he is developing a laptop pc that will go on sale for less than $100 (£53). he told the bbc world service programme go digital he hoped it would become an education tool in developing countries. he said one laptop per child could be very important to the development of not just that child but now the whole family village and neighbourhood . he said the child could use the laptop like a text book. he described the device as a stripped down laptop which would run a linux-based operating system we have to get the display down to below $20 to do this we need to rear project the image rather than using an ordinary flat panel. the second trick is to get rid of the fat if you can skinny it down you can gain speed and the ability to use smaller processors and slower memory. the device will probably be exported as a kit of parts to be assembled locally to keep costs down. mr negroponte said this was a not for profit venture though he recognised that the manufacturers of the components would be making money. in 1995 mr negroponte published the bestselling being digital now widely seen as predicting the digital age. the concept is based on experiments in the us state of maine where children were given laptop computers to take home and do their work on. while the idea was popular amongst the children it initially received some resistance from the teachers and there were problems with laptops getting broken. however mr negroponte has adapted the idea to his own work in cambodia where he set up two schools together with his wife and gave the children laptops. we put in 25 laptops three years ago only one has been broken the kids cherish these things it s also a tv a telephone and a games machine not just a textbook. mr negroponte wants the laptops to become more common than mobile phones but conceded this was ambitious. nokia make 200 million cell phones a year so for us to claim we re going to make 200 million laptops is a big number but we re not talking about doing it in three or five years we re talking about months. he plans to be distributing them by the end of 2006 and is already in discussion with the chinese education ministry who are expected to make a large order. in china they spend $17 per child per year on textbooks. that s for five or six years so if we can distribute and sell laptops in quantities of one million or more to ministries of education that s cheaper and the marketing overheads go away.

tech

jungle tv show ratings drop by 4m the finale of itv1 s i m a celebrity... get me out of here drew an average of 10.9m viewers - about four million fewer than the previous series. the fourth series of the show peaked on monday at 11.9m and 49.2% of the audience just before joe pasquale won. this compared with a peak of 15.3m at and a record 62.2% of the tv audience when kerry mcfadden won in february. comic pasquale beat former royal butler paul burrell who came second nightclub owner fran cosgrave who was third. pasquale follows kerry mcfadden phil tufnell and tony blackburn as winners of the show. singer and tv presenter mcfadden was the show s first female winner. when cricketer phil tufnell won in may 2003 12.3 million people - 50% of the viewing public - tuned in to watch. and when tony blackburn won the first show in 2002 10.9 million people saw the show. pasquale had been the show s hottest ever favourite to win and its hosts anthony mcpartlin and declan donnelly known as ant and dec said monday s deciding vote was the closest in the programme s history. pascuale has been flooded with offers of tv work according to his management company but one of his first jobs on his return is pantomime. before joining i m a celebrity he had signed up to play jack in jack and the beanstalk in birmingham and tickets for the show have become increasingly popular since he joined the tv show. his manager robert voice said: we ve had interest from different tv producers. some are for comedy shows some are new-type projects. there are a number of things joe wants to do. he is very ambitious. he wants to play the west end and do different things other than straightforward comedy. we are talking to a couple of west end producers about a musical.

entertainment

super union merger plan touted two of britain s big trade unions could merge to form a super union of two million members. the move by amicus and the transport and general workers union (tgwu) would be a seen as a bid to carry more weight with ministers and employers. amicus has 1.2 million members and the tgwu has 800 000. any merger would have to be approved by the unions executives and their membership. it is understood meetings will be held on wednesday about the proposal. along with the gmb and unison the tgwu and amicus worked closely together in the last year to hammer out a 56-point deal with labour s leadership over equality at work holidays and pensions - the warwick agreement. both unions are remaining tight-lipped about the merger rumours but one insider pointed out to the bbc news website that nobody is denying suggestions a merger could be on the agenda when the two unions executives hold their meetings on wednesday. amicus s executive was due to meet in any case although the tgwu is holding specially scheduled talks.

politics

peace demo appeal rejected peace protestors have lost a landmark appeal over police actions in stopping an anti-war demonstration days after the start of the iraq war. they had appealed against a high court decision that it was not unlawful for police to forcibly turn protestors away near raf fairford glos in 2003. the police had also sought to overturn a breach of human rights ruling arising from the same case. sitting on wednesday three appeal court judges dismissed both appeals. they were challenging decisions by two judges in the high court in february this year. it followed action by police when three coachloads of people were searched and detained on the way to raf fairford and forced to return to london under police escort. the demonstrators appealed against a finding by lord justice may and mr justice harrison that it was not unlawful for the police to turn the passengers away. the police were urging lord chief justice and lord justices clarke and rix to overturn the ruling that they had breached the protestors human rights by detaining them in the coaches. craig mackey assistant chief constable of gloucestershire police said: we have always considered that our responses were proportionate and all our decisions on the day were based on intelligence. he said no one on the coaches accepted responsibility for items found on the coaches including body armour a smoke bomb and five shields. given these circumstances and the fact that raf fairford and other military installations in the uk had been the scene of increasingly destructive disorder in the weeks preceding this incident the police commander on the ground made the decision to turn back the coaches. from day one we have vigorously defended this decision which was made out of a genuine concern that if the coaches were allowed to proceed it would have resulted in disorder and criminal damage at raf fairford. fairford coach action representing more than 80 people who appealed against the police actions say they are prepared to take their case to the european court of human rights. their action is supported by amnesty international and liberty.

politics

liverpool revel in night of glory liverpool manager rafael benitez said their qualification for the next stage of the champions league was one of the proudest nights of my career. the reds beat olympiakos 3-1 with a late steven gerrard strike and benitez said: it was a really great night. the players ran hard all the time and you see how much it means to the fans. we knew before the game that it was very important for the club to gain these extra finances. for liverpool this result is very very important. benitez hailed gerrard for his match-winning strike four minutes from time and also the anfield crowd for sticking by their side after they had fallen a goal behind at the interval. the reds scored three second-half goals in a sensational comeback capped by gerrard s 20-yard drive. he added: steven can play all over the pitch and he influences every part of the game. i have said to him many times that he has the freedom because he has talent and is very important to us. i felt that the difference between the sides was really our supporters i cannot thank them enough. i want to say thank-you to the supporters they were magnificent to help us achieve this result. gerrard admitted he thought they were going out of the champions league after trailing 1-0 at half-time. he said: i d be lying if i thought we were going through when we were losing at half-time. we had a mountain to climb but we have climbed it and credit to everyone. that was one of the best goals i have scored i caught it sweet i haven t caught one like that for ages. it was a massive night for me and the team. liverpool s win means all four of england s champions league representatives have reached the knockout stages for the first time.

sport

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

making your office work for you our mission to brighten up your working lives continues - and this time we re taking a long hard look at your offices. over the next few months our panel of experts will be listening to your gripes about where you work and suggesting ways to make your workspace more efficient more congenial or simply prettier. this week we re hearing from marianne petersen who is planning to convert a barn in sweden into a base for her freelance writing work. click on the link under her photograph to read her story and then scroll down to see what the panel have to say. and if you want to take part in the series go to the bottom of the story to find out how to get in touch. working from home presents a multitude of challenges. understanding your work personality allows you to work in terms of your own style. do you feel confident about your work output without conferring with others are you able to retain discipline and self motivate to get the job done do you build on the ideas of others - or are you a more introspective problem solver . in order for a virtual office to succeed keeping the boundary between work and home life is essential. it may be useful to be quite rigid about who is allowed to visit and to keep strict office hours. referring to the space as work will give those around you a clear message that this is professional space. it is imperative to consider how to bring the outside world into yours keeping up to date with developments and maintaining a network. isolated work environments mean this has to be carefully thought out and a strategy has to be developed that suits both your personality and your industry. joining professional groups or forming a loose association of like-minded people may assist. it is useful to structure these meetings in advance as often they get relegated to less important status when times are busy - with the danger that when the workload eases they have to be resurrected. prior to any interior work being undertaken it is essential to ensure that the roof and walls are made water-and-weather-tight and the structure is checked for stability. it appears that the roof trusses may need repairs and additional bracing. ideally the roof should be replaced with an outer material in keeping with the character and location of the barn. this would also allow for a well-insulated inner skin to be provided which should be light coloured. it is likely that the most efficient way of heating the building is with electricity. in order to provide this the owner will need to have an electrical engineer calculate the potential heating power and lighting load to make sure the mains supply and distribution capacity are adequate. ideally it would be good to have a mains water supply and some means of drainage for toilet and washing facilities. the walls should be dry lined with a single skin of plasterboard laid over rockwool slab which will allow good wall insulation and the power and lighting circuits to be concealed and the walls should be painted in a light colour. the owner mentions she might lay a new floor over the existing planks; this will improve the insulation and offer a level surface. i would suggest laying new oak veneer planks which can work in with the character of the barn. as for lighting consider a combination of floor mounted uplights wall lights (wall washers) and selected downlights. use a combination of mains voltage fluorescent fittings and dimmable units which can vary the light levels and the feel of the interior. please click on the link to the right here to see my ideas for marianne s barn. the layout of this office reflects the need to have a working area and a more relaxed meeting space. large desk space and extensive storage would combine with tub chairs to maximise the space available. the finishes chosen for the furniture will need to reflect the unusual setting while the lighting and temperature control mechanisms used will further influence the workplace. regarding accessing the internet via the connection in the main house your plan of going wireless is sensible. a wireless router/access point in the house with a wireless lan card in the pc in the renovated area may be sufficient. however important points to consider are the distance between the two buildings and the nature of the materials through which the signals have to pass which could result in a weak signal strength. you may require an additional wireless access point in the renovated area. your local it supplier will be able to advise on this. if you haven t already invested in robust firewall and anti-virus software it is essential to do so to protect your investment. to really take advantage of wireless technology you might consider a laptop computer and a docking station with external mouse and monitor. or you could use one of the new tablet computers which allow you to write directly on the screen and convert into text with built-in hand recognition software. and finally you will save money and space by considering a multi-function product for print scan copy and fax.

business

tsunami won t divert africa aid uk aid to help the victims of the asian tsunami disaster will not take much needed relief from africa prime minister tony blair has promised. mr blair told the bbc s breakfast with frost show the money spent on the tsunami would not invade the money britain wanted to spend on africa. questioned about the disaster he said his faith in god had not been shaken. he added he would give new figures on the number of tsunami-related british deaths to the commons on monday. foreign secretary jack straw said on friday that about 440 britons were either dead or missing in the disaster. mr blair told sunday s programme: since jack straw gave those figures a couple of days ago they haven t moved a great deal which should give us some hope that we are beginning to reach the peak of the numbers. but we just can t be sure. it is just an immensely difficult job to get absolutely accurate figures all countries are struggling with this. he said the £50 million originally allocated from the department for international development was now well on the way to being spent. but the exact allocation could not be clarified until the world bank had completed its assessment of the needs of the countries affected. within the next few weeks a clearer picture would emerge of the long-term costs of reconstruction he added. but he pledged that africa - which sees a preventable tsunami-size death toll every month from conflict disease and poverty - would not be neglected. as britain takes up its presidency of the g8 group of leading nations mr blair said ministers had a big agenda for africa. for the first time we have a plan that won t just deal with aid and debt but will also deal on issues of governance within african countries and conflict resolution he said. a lot of the problems in africa come from conflict that again are preventable but only with the right systems in place.

politics

labour attacked on howard poster labour has been accused of using anti-semitic images in posters which critics claim depict tory leader michael howard as fagin. the poster shows mr howard hypnotising people with a pocket watch saying: i can spend the same money twice. the image prompted concern from the editor of the jewish chronicle but labour insists it is simply anti-tory. labour later took the image off its website saying an alternative idea had proved more popular with party members. the party will now use focus groups to test a poster showing mr howard and shadow chancellor oliver letwin with a blackboard reading: 2+2=5 . the hypnotism poster has been compared to the portrayal of the dickens character fagin in the stage version of the musical oliver! there was controversy over another poster choice offered to labour members. it showed mr howard and mr letwin - who are both jewish - as flying pigs. mr howard did not comment on the anti-semitism claims when asked about the poster on monday. instead he pointed to how tony blair had in 1997 complained about personalised abusive campaigning . mr howard told greater manchester radio: it is such a pity that mr blair doesn t practise what he preaches. jewish chronicle editor ned temko said there had been a mixed reaction to the first poster but e-mails from jewish chronicle readers showed deeper concern about the hypnotism image. shylock and fagin are inextricably linked to notions of centuries-old prejudice he told bbc radio 4 s world at one. whatever the idea is i think it s a difficult exercise to use images like that and to argue that you can divorce them from their historical context or meaning. mr temko said he blamed cock-up not conspiracy saying he did not detect inherent anti-semitism in any of the parties election campaigns. the poster is among one of a series of ideas shown to labour members who have been asked to choose which one should be used ahead of the election. labour mp louise ellman said the hypnotism image was insensitive but urged people not to rush to call things anti-semitic when they only challenged tory economic policies. labour campaign spokesman fraser kemp said the poster had been misunderstood. the image simply portrayed mr howard as a hypnotist he argued. concern has been expressed and clearly we have to take those views on board but i would emphasise that if you see the posters the common theme... is that the tories are trying to con you. a labour spokesman later said the timing of removing the controversial image from the party s website was not affected by the row. this has been up on the website for two weeks and there has only been a fuss in the last four days so a substantial number of people voted before there was any fuss he said. but a conservative spokeswoman said: this poster campaign - which was offensive to many people - was a big misjudgement by labour s campaign team.

politics

hitachi unveils fastest robot japanese electronics firm hitachi has unveiled its first humanoid robot called emiew to challenge honda s asimo and sony s qrio robots. hitachi said the 1.3m (4.2ft) emiew was the world s quickest-moving robot yet. two wheel-based emiews pal and chum introduced themselves to reporters at a press conference in japan. the robots will be guests at the world expo later this month. sony and honda have both built sophisticated robots to show off developments in electronics. explaining why hitachi s emiew used wheels instead of feet toshihiko horiuchi from hitachi s mechanical engineering research laboratory said: we aimed to create a robot that could live and co-exist with people. we want to make the robots useful for people ... if the robots moved slower than people users would be frustrated. emiew - excellent mobility and interactive existence as workmate - can move at 3.7m/h. its wheel feet resemble the bottom half of a segway scooter. with sensors on the head waist and near the wheels pal and chum demonstrated how they could react to commands. i want to be able to walk about in places like shinjuku and shibuya [shopping districts] in the future without bumping into people and cars pal told reporters. hitachi said pal and chum which have a vocabulary of about 100 words could be trained for practical office and factory use in as little as five to six years. robotics researchers have long been challenged by developing robots that walk in the gait of a human. at the recent aaas (american association for the advancement of science) annual meeting in washington dc researchers showed off bipedal designs. the three designs each built by a different research group use the same principle to achieve a human-like gait. sony and honda have both used humanoid robots which are not commercially available as a way of showing off computing power and engineering expertise. honda s asimo was born five years ago. since then honda and sony s qrio have tried to trump each other with what the robots can do at various technology events. asimo has visited the uk germany the czech republic france and ireland as part of a world tour. sony s qrio has been singing jogging and dancing in formation around the world too and was until last year the fastest robot on two legs. but its record was beaten by asimo. it is capable of 3km/h which its makers claim is almost four times as fast as qrio. last year car maker toyota also stepped into the ring and unveiled its trumpet-playing humanoid robot. by 2007 it is predicted that there will be almost 2.5 million entertainment and leisure robots in homes compared to about 137 000 currently according to the united nations (un). by the end of that year 4.1 million robots will be doing jobs in homes said the report by the un economic commission for europe and the international federation of robotics. hitachi is one of the companies with home cleaning robot machines on the market.

tech

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

tech

could yukos be a blessing in disguise other things being equal the notion of entrepreneurs languishing in jail while their companies are sold off for a song ought to be bad for business. but in the looking-glass world of modern russia the opposite might just be true a new report* has argued. the study from the centre for economic policy research does not praise the rough handling of oil company yukos. but it argues that more rigorous tax policing has benefited all russian firms even targets of the tax police. an increase in tax enforcement can increase the amount [of dividends and other income] outside shareholders will receive even accounting for increased levels of taxation the authors say. the paper s reasoning is complex and is based on a sophisticated model of the relationship between tax regimes and corporate governance - in particular the propensity of management to steal from the company. the calculations demonstrated what many russian analysts already knew: that increasing the tax rate increases the amount that managers steal since undeclared income becomes relatively more valuable. in the west meanwhile higher tax rates translate far more smoothly into higher government revenues. on the other hand increasing the rigour with which taxes are collected encourages companies to become more transparent forcing them to be able to demonstrate their financial position far more accurately. the net result the authors say is that the extra amount companies pay in tax is more than compensated for by greater efficiency and financial soundness. after vladimir putin became president in 2000 he did not raise taxes but put a lot of effort - too much critics argue - into enforcement. since then the russian stock market has more than trebled in value a rise the authors attribute at least in part to the newly tough approach. the report highlights the case of sibneft a russian oil company that came close to merging with yukos last year. after mr putin came to power the company s overall effective tax rate rose from 2.6% to 10.4% and sibneft was the target of a series of aggressive raids by fiscal police. but shareholders benefited hugely: sibneft started to pay dividends - $53m in 2000 and almost $1bn in 2001 - and closed down the network of opaque subsidiaries it had previously used for siphoning off unofficial funds. according to the authors although a variety of changes were sweeping through russian industry at the time the increase in tax enforcement is the only likely explanation for the change of fortunes at sibneft and many of its peers. does this analysis make sense in part certainly. for all its faults corporate russia has become far more orderly and law-abiding since 2000. companies have rushed to list their shares on international stock exchanges - something unthinkable in the wilder days of the 1990s - and most large firms now produce their accounts to international standards. foreign direct investment long negligible is starting to flow in serious amounts - $7bn in 2003 - and stock market returns have been among the healthiest in europe. but the authors model does not quite cover all the complexities. for a start the model assumes that the various parties have clearly-defined motivation: companies want to maximise profit governments want to maximise tax revenue. in fact the alarmingly close connections between big business and government in russia - connections often greased by bribery - blur the apparently antagonistic relationship. companies can for example persuade officials to overlook non-payment of taxes. and the authors definition of tax enforcement seems unrealistically western. genuine disinterested tax collection might well work wonders in russia; the problem with recent examples has been the erratic and unpredictable way laws are enforced. the case against yukos for example has moved in fits and starts with little clarity from the government about its intentions and little faith from investors that the letter of the law would be followed. as far as most commentators are concerned the state is pursuing yukos out of a political vendetta rather than simply to enforce fiscal rectitude. since yukos founder mikhail khodorkovsky was arrested a year ago the russian market has dropped by 10% - an indication that few investors feel optimistic about the salutary effect on corporate performance.

business

optimism remains over uk housing the uk property market remains robust despite the recent slowdown according to mortgage lender bradford & bingley and housebuilder george wimpey. b&b said the buy-to-let market - in which the bank is a major player - would continue to grow much faster than the wider mortgage market. the comments came as it reported a 6% rise in profits to £280.2m ($532m). wimpey reported a 19% rise in profits to £450.7m and said recent new home reservations were better than expected. recent housing market surveys have indicated that the uk property market has cooled in recent months after several years of rapid growth. last week figures from the council of mortgage lenders (cml) indicated that the popularity of buy-to-let mortgages - a key phenomenon of the housing boom - could be waning. but b&b - which has a 22% share of the uk buy-to-let mortgage market - said that while rates of growth were moderating the sector continues to grow at a rate considerably above that of the whole mortgage market . overall b&b said that housing market fundamentals remain strong . interest rates and unemployment are both likely to remain at historically low levels real household incomes should continue to grow and housing demand is likely to outstrip supply into the medium-term. despite the upbeat tone shares in b&b were down more than 4% at 325.5p in morning trade as analysts worried over future earnings growth. wimpey s profit figures came in at the top of expectations with the numbers helped by buoyant sales in the us offsetting a slight slowdown in the uk. wimpey said the uk housing market had proved challenging last year. by late summer the market in general had slowed sharply across the country and showed no real improvement during the autumn it added. however the first seven weeks of this year had produced promising signs wimpey said. visitor levels and interest in this period have been encouraging and reservations have been at the stronger end of our expectations. shares in wimpey were up 6% at 458.5p in morning trade.

business

crucial decision on super-casinos a decision on whether to allow westminster to legislate on super-casinos is set to be made by the scottish parliament. the government has plans for up to eight las vegas style resorts in the uk one of which is likely to be in glasgow. scottish ministers insist they will still have the final say on whether a super-casino will be built in scotland. but opposition parties say that will not happen in practice. the vote is due to be taken on wednesday and is expected to be close. the scottish executive believes that the legislation should be handled by westminster. the new law will control internet gambling for the first time and is aimed at preventing children from becoming involved. a super-casino in glasgow could be located at ibrox or the scottish exhibition and conference centre. the new gambling bill going through westminster will allow casino complexes to open to the public have live entertainment and large numbers of fruit machines with unlimited prizes. but the scottish national party and the tories say the issue of super-casinos should be decided in scotland and believe the executive is shirking its responsibility.

politics

woodward eyes brennan for lions toulouse s former irish international trevor brennan could be one of clive woodward s many surprises when the 44-man lions tour squad is announced. brennan who last played for ireland against samoa in 2001 is held in high esteem by the former england coach. if you speak to the players there s a huge amount of respect for the guy woodward told the sunday independent. players tend to know better than most coaches. it s not just the irish but welsh and english players as well. the 31-year-old former dublin milkman moved from leinster to toulouse in 2003 and immediately picked up a heineken cup winner s medal in an all-french final against perpignan at lansdowne road. brennan is highly-rated at stade toulousain where he is used anywhere in the back five. woodward is ensuring his preparations for the trip to new zealand in june are as thorough as possible. i ve spoken to quite a few players and they probably don t know what they re actually saying when we re having these conversations he told the newspaper. but you talk about certain players and they ll say if they think they re up to scratch or that they don t want them in their team. i haven t heard a bad word said against trevor which considering he has a pretty tough guy reputation is to me impressive.

sport

david blunkett in quotes david blunkett - who has resigned as home secretary - built his reputation as a plain-speaking yorkshire man. i fell in love with someone and they wouldn t go public and things started to go very badly wrong in the summer and then the news of the world picked up the story. i tried for three years to make something work. trust plain-speaking and straight talking is something which matters so much to me as a politician and as a man that i have decided of my own volition to request an independent review of the allegations that i misused my position. i don t think anyone can say i have said one thing in public and done another in private. it would be dangerous territory if i wasn t practising what i preach which is to always accept responsibility always accept the consequences of your actions. none of us believe countering terrorism is about party politics. i accepted by necessity we have to have prevention under a new category which is to intervene before the act is committed rather than do so by due process after the act is committed when it s too late he said in reference to new anti-terrorism measures. our work with the french government...has been hugely successful said mr blunkett. the number of illegal immigrants detected in dover has dropped dramatically. strengthening our identity is one way or reinforcing people s confidence and sense of citizenship and well-being. i foolishly thought as this was a celebrity edition it would be more relaxed than normal. you wake up and you receive a phone call - shipman s topped himself. you have just got to think for a minute: is it too early to open a bottle

politics

games help you learn and play god games in which players must control virtual people and societies could be educational says research. a us researcher has suggested that games such as the sims could be a good way to teach languages. ravi purushotma believes that the world of the sims can do a better job of teaching vocabulary and grammar than traditional methods. the inherent fun of game playing could help to make learning languages much less of a chore said mr purushotma. there must be few parents or teachers that do not worry that the lure of a video game on a computer or console is hard to resist by children that really should be doing their homework. but instead of fearing computer games ravi purushotma believes that educationalists particularly language teachers should embrace games. one goal would be to break what i believe to be the false assumption that learning and play are inherently oppositional he said. he believes that the phenomenal ability of games such as the sims and others to capture the interest of adolescent audiences is ripe for exploitation. the hard part of learning any language said mr purushotma were the basic parts of learning what different words refer to and how they are used to build up sentences. boring lessons drumming vocabulary into pupils couched in terms they do not understand has made many languages far harder to learn than they should be. the way we often teach foreign languages right now is somewhat akin to learning to ride a bike by formally studying gravity he said. by contrast said mr purushotma learning via something like the sims may mean students do not feel like they are studying at all. this was because the sims does not rely solely on words to get information across to players. instead the actions of its computer controlled people and how they interact with their world often makes clear what is going on. the incidental information about what a sim was doing could reinforce what a player or student was supposed to be learning said mr purushotma. by contrast many language lessons try to impart information about a tongue with little context. for instance he said in a version of the sims adapted to teach german if a player misunderstood what was meant by the word energie the actions of a tired sim stumbling then falling asleep would illustrate the meaning. if necessary detailed textual information could be called upon to aid players or students understanding. one of the drawbacks of the sims said mr purushotma was the lack of spoken language to help people brush up on pronunciation. however online versions of the sims in which people have to move in meet the neighbours and get to know the local town could be adapted to help this. although not wishing to claim that he is the first to suggest using a game can help people learn mr purushotma believes that educationalists have missed the potential they have to help. getting a simulated person to perform everyday activities in a make-believe world and having them described in a foreign language could be a powerful learning aid he believes. before now he said educational software titles suffer by comparison with the slick graphics and rich worlds found in games. but he said using pre-prepared game worlds such as the sims has never been easier because tools have been made by its creators and fans that make it easy to modify almost any part of the game. this could make it easy for teachers to adapt parts of the game for their own lessons. i m hoping now to re-create a well-polished german learning mod for the sequel by this summer he told the bbc news website. i m encouraged to hear that others are thinking of experimenting with japanese and spanish. earlier work with a colleague on using civilisation iii to teach students about history showed that it could be a powerful way to get them to realise that solving a society s problems can not always come from making a single change. a report on the experiment said: students began asking historical and geographical questions in the context of game play using geography and history as tools for their game and drawing inferences about social phenomena based on their play. mr purushotma s ideas were aired in an article for the journal language learning and technology.

tech

parmar ruled out of davis cup tie a knee injury has forced arvind parmar out of great britain s davis cup tie in israel and left alex bogdanovic in line to take the second singles place. parmar picked up the injury last week and has failed to recover in time for the europe/africa zone i tie which begins in tel aviv on friday. bogdanovic looks set to take the second singles place alongside greg rusedski. gb captain jeremy bates could use 17-year-old andrew murray and david sherwood in the doubles rubber. bogdanovic and murray both pulled out of tournaments last week through injury but are expected to be fit. jamie delgado and lee childs have been called into the squad in tel aviv as designated hitters for team practice but bates has no plans to call either of them into his squad at present. the unheralded sherwood was the surprise inclusion when the squad was announced last week and bates said: david has earned his place in this squad on the merit of his form and results over the last 12 months. the 6ft 4in sherwood is ranked 264th in the world and the lta have high hopes for him after futures tournament wins in wrexham and edinburgh. the sheffield-born right-hander aged 24 also reached another final in plaisir france a week after making the semi-final in mulhouse. bates is glad to have rusedski available after tim henman s retirement from davis cup tennis. his wealth of experience is invaluable particularly to the younger players and i know he will lead by example bates said. we are looking forward to the tie. the squad are all in excellent form.

sport

russian ex-spy on hunger strike an ex-russian intelligence officer who risked his life spying for mi6 is entering the seventh week of a hunger strike near 10 downing street. viktor makarov 50 claims he has been betrayed by the british authorities who promised he would live like an average british citizen . but despite a £65 000 settlement four years ago he says he has been denied defector status and a decent pension. other ex-russian spies have been given civil service pensions. hunger strike is a weapon of last resort. it can work only with determination and of course the realisation of the righteousness of your case - without that it will not work mr makarov told the bbc s newsnight programme. since i came to this country two batches of promises have been made and broken one after the other. oleg gordievsky a senior kgb officer who became a secret agent for the british said he was very happy with the way the government have treated him since him since he defected in 1985. commenting on mr makarov s case he said: the british state is not a fat cow - it is impossible to come here and demand give me more money every week. but mr makarov s case has been backed by david kahn - a former yale historian and a leading expert on code-breaking who has confirmed his information was valuable to the western allies. i believe the government of the united kingdom which in that respect was probably the same as most other power authorities - took the information that victor makarov had wrung him dry and left him to hang out in the cold mr kahn said. mr makarov joined the kgb in 1970s russia as an idealistic 20 year-old. one of his fellow pupils at intelligence school was vladimir putin. at kgb headquarters in moscow he was posted to the secret 16th directorate - which decoded intercepted diplomatic traffic from the west. by the 1980s he had risen to the rank of senior lieutenant - and was privy to the thoughts of western powers. but he had became deeply disenchanted with the soviet regime - fuelled by its repression both at home and in poland. through his english teacher he made an approach to m16 - and then began passing secrets to the british intelligence service. he spied for mi6 for two years before being betrayed by a friend and sent to perm 35 - a soviet hard labour camp in the artic circle. within a week of his release in 1992 he made contact with the british authorities he d been spying for who arranged a meeting between him and an mi6 agent in latvia. he was given a false passport and he says promised that he would be given the chance to live like an average uk citizen. but after arriving in london 13 years ago he feels this promise has not been fulfilled. after long periods of living in bedsits with deteriorating health four years ago he took legal action against the government - and settled for £65 000 to buy a small house. but he says he will remain on hunger strike until he receives a decent pension and the right to work something he feels he has been denied because the authorities do not trust him. government sources told the bbc they had reached a final settlement with the former spy which he has been able to appeal to security and intelligence tribunals.

politics

bush budget seeks deep cutbacks president bush has presented his 2006 budget cutting domestic spending in a bid to lower a record deficit projected to peak at $427bn (£230bn) this year. the $2.58 trillion (£1.38 trillion) budget submitted to congress affects 150 domestic programmes from farming to the environment education and health. but foreign aid is due to rise by 10% with more money to treat hiv/aids and reward economic and political reform. military spending is also set to rise by 4.8% to reach $419.3bn. the budget does not include the cost of running military operations in iraq and afghanistan for which the administration is expected to seek an extra $80bn from congress later this year. congress will spend several months debating george w bush s proposal. the state department s planned budget would rise to just under $23bn - a fraction of the defence department s request - including almost $6bn to assist us allies in the war on terror . however the administration is keen to highlight its global effort to tackle hiv/aids the bbc s jonathan beale reports and planned spending would almost double to $3bn with much of that money going to african nations. mr bush also wants to increase the amount given to poorer countries through his millennium challenge corporation. the scheme has been set up to reward developing countries that embrace what the us considers to be good governance and sound policies. yet mr bush s proposed spending of $3bn on that project is well below his initial promise of $5bn. a key spending line missing from proposals is the cost of funding the administration s proposed radical overhaul of social security the pensions programme on which many americans rely for their retirement income. some experts believe this could require borrowing of up to $4.5 trillion over a 20-year period. neither does the budget include any cash to purchase crude oil for the us emergency petroleum stockpile. concern over the level of the reserve created in 1970s has led to rises in oil prices over the past year. the bush administration will instead continue to fill the reserve by taking oil - rather than cash - from energy companies that drill under federal leases. the outline proposes reductions in budgets at 12 out of 23 government agencies including cuts of 9.6% at agriculture and 5.6% at the environmental protection agency. the spending plan for the year beginning 1 october is banking on a healthy us economy to boost government income by 6.1% to $2.18 trillion. spending is forecast to grow by 3.5% to $2.57 trillion. but the budget is still the tightest yet under mr bush s presidency. in order to sustain our economic expansion we must continue pro-growth policies and enforce even greater spending restraint across federal government mr bush said in his budget message to congress. mr bush has promised to halve the us s massive budget deficit within five years. the deficit partly the result of massive tax cuts early in mr bush s presidency has been a key factor in pushing the us dollar lower. the independent congressional budget office estimates that the shortfall could shrink to little more than $200bn by 2009 returning to the surpluses seen in the late 1990s by 2012. but its estimates depend on the tax cuts not being made permanent in line with the promise when they were passed that they would sunset or disappear in 2010. most republicans however want them to stay in place. and the figures also rely on the social security trust fund - the money set aside to cover the swelling costs of retirement pensions - being offset against the main budget deficit.

business

clyde 0-5 celtic celtic brushed aside clyde to secure their place in the scottish cup semi-final but only after a nervy and testing first half. the home side s craig bryson had a goal chopped off before stan varga headed celtic into the lead. alan thompson scored from the penalty spot at the start of the second half after shaun maloney had been fouled. stilian petrov slid in a third varga tapped in his second and craig bellamy completed the rout with a fine drive. bryn halliwell was the busier keeper early on saving from bellamy chris sutton and juninho. clyde had the ball in the net after half-an-hour through a tremendous strike from bryson but the referee had already blown for a foul by petrov. from the resulting free kick darren sheridan curled the ball round the celtic wall only for the post to deny him. back at the other end halliwell did well to come off his line and block bellamy s effort to lift the ball over him. the keeper misjudged a corner that stephane henchoz headed wide but a similar scenario five minutes before the break led to the opening goal. the ball was delivered from the left and halliwell was left floundering as varga glanced the ball into the net. maloney replaced the injured sutton at half time and he marked his first competitive appearance after a year out injured by helping his side take a two-goal lead just after the break. the young striker fired a free kick straight into the clyde wall but as he collected the rebound he was tripped by bryson and thompson converted the penalty. sheridan and bellamy were involved in something of a flare-up that led to both being booked after the intervention of the assistant referee. juninho brought out another good save from halliwell and then petrov saw a tremendous effort come off the top of the bar. but petrov and juninho combined brilliantly to allow the bulgarian to make it 3-0 on the hour mark - a quick one-two giving him the time and space to steer the ball past halliwell from 12 yards. varga got his second goal of the game as celtic drove home their advantage - thompson whipped in a corner from the right and the unmarked defender simply tapped the ball over the line from a couple of yards out. celtic were utterly dominant by this stage and bellamy opened his scoring account for the club after a fine move involving aiden mcgeady jackie mcnamara and maloney culminated in the welshman hammering the ball into the net. halliwell kept the deficit at five by pushing a mcgeady shot wide as the game petered out. halliwell mensing bollan balmer potter sheridan (burns 61) arbuckle (gilhaney 61) gibson bryson (jones 78) malone harty. morrison wilson. mensing sheridan. douglas henchoz mcnamara balde varga juninho paulista thompson lennon (lambert 70) sutton (maloney 45) petrov (mcgeady 70) bellamy. marshall laursen. thompson bellamy. : varga 40 thompson 48 pen petrov 60 varga 68 bellamy 72. 8 200 c thomson

sport

freeze on anti-spam campaign a campaign by lycos europe to target spam-related websites appears to have been put on hold. earlier this week the company released a screensaver that bombarded the sites with data to try to bump up the running costs of the websites. but the site hosting the screensaver now displays a pink graphic and the words stay tuned . no one at lycos was available for comment on latest developments in its controversial anti-spam campaign. lycos europe s make love not spam campaign was intended as a way for users to fight back against the mountain of junk mail flooding inboxes. people were encouraged to download the screensaver which when their pc was idle would then send lots of data to sites that peddle the goods and services mentioned in spam messages. lycos said the idea was to get the spam sites running at 95% capacity and generate big bandwidth bills for the spammers behind the sites. but the plan has proved controversial. monitoring firm netcraft analysed response times for some of the sites targeted by the screensaver and found that a number were completely knocked offline. the downing of the sites could dent lycos claims that what it is doing does not amount to a distributed denial of service attack. in such attacks thousands of computers bombard sites with data in an attempt to overwhelm them. laws in many countries do not explicitly outlaw such attacks but many nations are re-drafting computer use laws to make them specific offences. lycos europe now appears to have put the plan on hold. the site hosting the screensaver currently shows a holding page with the words stay tuned . the numerical internet address of the site has also changed. this is likely to be in response to spammers who have reportedly redirected traffic from their sites back to the lycos screensaver site. the campaign has come under fire from some corners of the web. many discussion groups have said that it set a dangerous precedent and could incite vigilantism. attacking a spammer s website is like poking a grizzly bear sleeping in your back garden with a pointy stick said graham cluley senior technology consultant for sophos. not only is this screensaver similar in its approach to a potentially illegal distributed denial of service attack but it also is in danger of turning innocent computer users into vigilantes who may not be prepared for whatever retaliation the spammers care to dream up.

tech

bening makes awards breakthrough film actress annette bening is up for an oscar for her starring role in the award-winning film being julia. bening who was born in texas in 1958 has gained prominence for a string of key roles. although an oscar has so far eluded her her status as one of hollywood s favourite actresses remains solid. one of the biggest oscars buzzes in recent years was for bening s role as troubled carolyn burnham in 1999 s american beauty. but her deliciously neurotic portrayal of surburban life turning sour was overlooked in favour of hilary swank s leading role in boys don t cry. after opening her career in the theatre - and gaining a tony award nomination in 1986 - bening had a low-key spell in television. she then made her film debut as a sex-starved wife in 1988 s the great outdoors opposite comics dan akroyd and john candy. following a cameo in postcards from the edge bening s breakthrough role came in 1990 playing seductive con artist myra langtry in the grifters - a role that won her an oscar nomination. despite some rave reviews bening did not win the best supporting actress academy award. however the high-profile performance enabled bening to capture roles in a number of big budget hollywood productions co-starring with some of hollywood s greatest players including robert de niro and harrison ford. but it was her role opposite warren beatty in 1991 gangster flick bugsy which had the greatest impact. bening played virginia hill another role which won her high critical acclaim but the film only picked up two of a staggering 12 oscar nominations. bugsy was the start of a very significant liaison for bening - she married beatty with whom she had a child as the couple promoted the film in europe. the couple now have four children together. a pair of contrasting yet successful performances peppered bening s career in the mid-1990s. she played michael douglas opposite number in romantic comedy the american president and as a fiery queen elizabeth i in a contemporary adaptation of shakespeare s richard iii. bening was the first choice to play the female lead in american beauty director sam mendes film debut which was a critical and commercial success - but the actress had to be content with a bafta award for her strong performance. but current film being julia has made bening an award-winning actress rather than the perennial nominee with success at the golden globes. the witty tale of revenge and love set in 1930s london sees the eponymous theatrical diva - played by bening - grow tired of her success and fall for a young american - and could be the role which finally wins her the coveted academy award.

entertainment

barkley fit for match in ireland england centre olly barkley has been passed fit for sunday s six nations clash with ireland at lansdowne road. barkley withdrew from bath s team for friday s clash with gloucester after suffering a calf injury in training. gloucester centre henry paul has also been cleared to play after overcoming an ankle injury. england coach andy robinson who names his team on wednesday has called up bath prop duncan bell following phil vickery s broken arm. with vickery sidelined for at least six weeks and julian white out with a neck injury bell could make his england debut. bell 30 had set his sights on an international career with wales. but last december the international rugby board confirmed that he could only be eligible for england as he had travelled on tour with them in 1998. i thought i d burned all my bridges with england when i expressed an interest in wanting to play for wales so it s fantastic to get this opportunity he said. bell who featured in the england a side which beat france 30-20 10 days ago added: i recognise that i got into the england a squad because of injuries. and it s the same again in getting into the senior squad. but now that i have this opportunity i intend to take it fully if selected and play my heart out for my country. england coach andy robinson could take a gamble and call inexperienced sale sharks prop andrew sheridan into his front row. but sheridan favours the loosehead side of the scrum and a more likely scenario is for uncapped bell - who was among the try-scorers when england a beat france a 30-20 nine days ago - to be drafted in.

sport

connors rallying cry for british tennis do you have it in your heart how much guts do you have how much do you hate to lose these are the questions jimmy connors will be asking of britain s brightest tennis hopes in the months and possibly years to come. the american legend swept into london on thursday to announce a long-term relationship with the lawn tennis association after spending three days at the elite performance winter camp in la manga. and the man who epitomised the phrase will to win before lleyton hewitt was even born is clear about the qualities he hopes to convey. you know everybody hits the ball well and there s a very fine line between number one and number 100 said connors. i was that fine line for a long time. but if i can help i want to be part of teaching kids how to win. connors is not the first great name to offer his services to the lta - his long-time rival john mcenroe has repeatedly done the same. but connors is at pains to point out that his interest goes well beyond any publicity stunt and he gave a glowing recommendation to the work of lta performance director david felgate and his team. britain has a different attitude the right attitude in taking the game forward and finding the next wimbledon champion said connors. that s something you don t find every day. everybody talks a good game but not everybody puts that into effect. the impression i came away with after just seeing david and the other coaches for three days was one like i ve never seen before especially over here. this is not going to happen overnight there are no miracle workers but you re going in the right direction. the 52-year-old s enthusiasm for the work going on in this country is in marked contrast to his relationship with tennis officials back in america. i ve had discussions with the usta (united states tennis association) over a number of years he said. that s where it (my input) ended. connors is a straight-talker and will be equally blunt and honest in his dealings with the lta and the cream of britain s young players. if they re chosen they ve got to produce he said. if not someone will come and take their place. there s only one number one spot and it s lonely up there but it s got the best view. in the year that has seen andrew murray emerge as britain s great new hope connors rejected suggestions that the scot might be put under too much pressure too soon. tim henman has a whole country on his shoulder said connors. i don t know that pressure but if you like that it can be a certain push to get on to the next level. someone s going to have to come and take over from him (henman). if i was andrew murray i d embrace that. that s what we play for. despite the emphasis on hard work training and preparation connors does admit that the desire required of a champion has to come from within. the passion i had i don t know if you can find that he admitted. i was also nuts. i say that because there was nothing better for me than to compete on the tennis court. it was the most important thing in the world for me and to do that something s got to be not right with you. there was nothing better for me ever than to play tennis in front of 25 000 people. what i had when i played tennis is what i am. you have to have that you can t be moulded.

sport

blunkett sorry over murder plan david blunkett has apologised to mps after the home office announced prematurely via press release a review of murder laws. the home secretary confirmed the review was to get under way in the wake of a law commission report which branded the current murder law as a mess . he said the review would look at partial defences to murder including provocation and at mandatory sentences. the home office has already said the review will begin next year. on wednesday a home office spokeswoman said the terms of reference for the review had not been established but it was likely to include only england and wales. news of the review was released because it was thought mr blunkett would make the official announcement in a commons debate on wednesday. but the announcement never came with the home secretary saying the debate had never reached that stage. amid opposition anger mr blunkett had to answer an emergency question in parliament on thursday. he said he had taken steps to ensure the incident was not repeated. shadow home secretary david davis welcomed his gracious apology and the review itself. but he argued the minister should have volunteered a formal statement instead of having to be dragged to face mps. in its report the law commission said it had found wide support among criminal justice professionals for an end to the mandatory life sentence for murder. the panel suggested different kinds of murders could be graded to recognise the seriousness of the offence. but the home office said mandatory life sentences would not be abolished and argued courts already had flexibility. the commission an independent body including two judges a senior barrister and sentencing experts had been asked to consider reforms to the defence of provocation in murder cases. but it said its proposals were unlikely to work without a far wider review of the law. results of a consultation exercise showed 64 respondents out of 146 - among them 21 judges - believed a mandatory life sentence for every murder was indefensible and should cease . a key question was whether one category should continue to cover all types of murder from mercy killings to serial or contract killings. the commission found support for the idea of grading murders so that the sentence reflected the seriousness of the offence. but speaking after the report was published home office minister baroness scotland said: murder is the most serious of crimes and we have no intention of abolishing the mandatory life sentence. where an offender is convicted of murder the court must pass a life sentence. the commission also recommended tightening the law so that the provocation defence cannot be used in cases where someone has killed for revenge such as a jealous husband who murders an unfaithful wife.

politics

consumer spending lifts us growth us economic growth accelerated in the third quarter helped by strong consumer spending official figures have shown. the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.7% in the july to september period the commerce department said. the figure marked an increase on the 3.3% growth recorded in the second quarter but fell short of the 4.2% rate pencilled in by forecasters. the increase reflected the biggest jump in consumer spending in a year. it was a little softer than the consensus but not a real surprise said gary thayer an economist at ag edwards & sons. friday s growth estimate is one of the last significant pieces of economic data before the 2 november presidential election. democrat challenger john kerry has criticised president george w bush s handling of the economy pointing to a net loss of over 800 000 jobs since mr bush took office. analysts said the economy was still not growing fast enough to stimulate large-scale job creation. it s a pretty good growth rate but it may not be good enough to create enough jobs said robert brusca chief economist at fact and opinion economics in new york. however president bush is expected to point to commerce department figures showing that consumer spending grew at 4.6% in the third quarter up from just 1.6% in the second as evidence that his policies are generating solid growth. consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of all economic activity in the us. the weaker than expected growth figure makes it less likely that the us federal reserve will raise interest rates next month economists said. the economy regained some traction in the third quarter but the growth is not robust ag edwards thayer. i think that means the fed can take its time raising rates. we ll probably see one more rate hike before the end of the year. in an effort to pre-empt rising inflation the federal reserve has pushed through three quarter-point rate rises since june this year taking borrowing costs to 1.75%. on the financial markets the dollar fell slightly against the euro and the yen while the dow jones index of leading us shares was little changed.

business

britons fed up with net service a survey conducted by pc pro magazine has revealed that many britons are unhappy with their internet service. they are fed up with slow speeds high prices and the level of customer service they receive. 17% of readers have switched suppliers and a further 16% are considering changing in the near future. it is particularly bad news for bt the uk s biggest internet supplier with almost three times as many people trying to leave as joining. a third of the 2 000 broadband users interviewed were fed up with their current providers but this could be just the tip of the iceberg thinks tim danton editor of pc pro magazine. we expect these figures to leap in 2005. every month the prices drop and more and more people are trying to switch he said. the survey found that bt and tiscali have been actively dissuading customers from leaving by offering them a lower price when they phone up to cancel their subscription. some readers were offered a price drop just 25p more expensive than that offered by an alternative operator making it hardly worth while swapping. other found themselves tied into 12-month contracts. broadband has become hugely competitive and providers are desperate to hold on to customers. 12% of those surveyed found themselves unable to swap at all. we discovered a huge variety of problems but one of the biggest issues is the current supplier withholding the information that people need to give to their new supplier said tim danton editor of pc pro. this breaks the code of practice but because that code is voluntary there s nothing we or ofcom can do to help he said. there is a vast choice of internet service providers in the uk now and an often bewildering array of broadband packages. with prices set to drop even further in coming months mr danton advises everyone to shop around carefully. if you just stick with your current connection then there s every chance you re being ripped off he warned.

tech

o gara revels in ireland victory ireland fly-half ronan o gara hailed his side s 19-13 victory over england as a special win. the munster number 10 kicked a total of 14 points including two drop goals to help keep alive their grand slam hopes. he told bbc sport: we made hard work of it but it s still special to beat england. i had three chances to win the game but didn t. we have work to do after this but we never take a victory over england lightly. ireland hooker shane byrne echoed o gara s comments but admitted the game had been england s best outing in the six nations. byrne said: it was a really really hard game but from one to 15 in our team we worked really really hard. we just had to stick to our defensive pattern trust ourselves and trust those around us. all round it was fantastic. ireland captain brian o driscoll who scored his side s only try said: we are delighted we felt if we performed well then we would win but with england also having played very well it makes it all the sweeter. we did get the bounce of the ball and some days that happens and you ve just got to jump on the back of it. ireland coach eddie o sullivan was surprised that england coach andy robinson said he was certain mark cueto was onside for a disallowed try just before the break. andy was sitting two yards from me and i couldn t see whether he was offside or not so i don t know how andy could have known said o sullivan. what i do know is that england played well and when that happens it makes a very good victory for us. we had to defend for long periods and that is all good for the confidence of the team. i think our try was very well worked it was a gem as good a try as we have scored for a while. o sullivan also rejected robinson s contention england dominated the forward play. i think we lost one lineout and they lost four or five so i don t know how that adds up to domination he said. o driscoll also insisted ireland were happy to handle the pressure of being considered favourites to win the six nations title. this season for the first time we have been able to play with the favourites tag he said. hopefully we have proved that today and can continue to keep doing so. as for my try it was a move we had worked on all week. there was a bit of magic from geordan murphy and it was a great break from denis hickie.

sport

software watching while you work software that can not only monitor every keystroke and action performed at a pc but also be used as legally binding evidence of wrong-doing has been unveiled. worries about cyber-crime and sabotage have prompted many employers to consider monitoring employees. the developers behind the system claim it is a break-through in the way data is monitored and stored. but privacy advocates are concerned by the invasive nature of such software. the system is a joint venture between security firm 3ami and storage specialists bridgehead software. they have joined forces to create a system which can monitor computer activity store it and retrieve disputed files within minutes. more and more firms are finding themselves in deep water as a result of data misuse. sabotage and data theft are most commonly committed from within an organisation according to the national hi-tech crime unit (nhtcu) a survey conducted on its behalf by nop found evidence that more than 80% of medium and large companies have been victims of some form of cyber-crime. bridgehead software has come up with techniques to prove to a legal standard that any stored file on a pc has not been tampered with. ironically the impetus for developing the system came as a result of the freedom of information act which requires companies to store all data for a certain amount of time. the storage system has been incorporated into an application developed by security firm 3ami which allows every action on a computer to be logged. potentially it could help employers to follow the trail of stolen files and pinpoint whether they had been emailed to a third party copied printed deleted or saved to cd floppy disk memory stick or flash card. other activities the system can monitor include the downloading of pornography the use of racist or bullying language or the copying of applications for personal use. increasingly organisations that handle sensitive data such as governments are using biometric log-ins such as fingerprinting to provide conclusive proof of who was using a particular machine at any given time. privacy advocates are concerned that monitoring at work is not only damaging to employee s privacy but also to the relationship between employers and their staff. that is not the case said tim ellsmore managing director of 3ami. it is not about replacing dialogue but there are issues that you can talk through but you still need proof he said. people need to recognise that you are using a pc as a representative of a company and that employers have a legal requirement to store data he added.

tech

bookmakers back aviator for oscar the aviator has been tipped by uk bookmakers as the favourite to win the best film award at this year s oscars. ray star jamie foxx is clear favourite in the best actor category while million dollar baby s hilary swank is tipped to win the best actress prize. bookmakers predict cate blanchett will be named best supporting actress. william hill and ladbrokes have given the aviator 4/9 and 8/13 odds of winning best film with million dollar baby in second place at 9/4. bet direct and bet 365 also tip the aviator with the majority of bookmakers regarding finding neverland as the outsider. the aviator is also widely tipped to win the best director prize for martin scorsese. british star clive owen is second favourite at william hill to take the best supporting actor award for his performance in closer. the favourite in that category is sideways star thomas hayden church. vera drake star imelda staunton has 5/1 odds of winning the best actress oscar at bet 365 and william hill ahead of fellow uk star kate winslet who has odds of 25/1 at william hill. mike leigh is the outsider in the best director category for vera drake a position he holds jointly with ray s taylor hackford at bookmakers vc bet. this year s academy awards will be handed out in hollywood on 27 february. x factor judge sharon osbourne will present sky television s live coverage of the event. meanwhile clive owen s best supporting actor nomination has led a bookmaker to shorten his odds of becoming the next james bond. he has moved from 4/1 to 5/2 favourite to play 007 with hugh jackman and ewan mcgregor joint second favourite. clive owen s nomination has sparked a betting frenzy from james bond fans who feel that his heightened global recognition will have done his chances of becoming the next bond a world of good said william hill spokesman rupert adams.

entertainment

rap feud in 50 cent s g-unit crew us rap star 50 cent has said he has thrown protege the game out of his g-unit gang in a feud that has apparently involved two shootings. in a radio interview on monday 50 cent said the newcomer was disloyal in conflicts with other rappers. a man was shot in the thigh outside new york s hot 97 studios while 50 cent was on air. more shots were fired outside his management offices two hours later. 50 cent appeared on the game s debut album which was number one in the us. 50 cent whose second album is about to be released after his debut made him one of hip-hop s biggest stars has been involved in recent rivalries with fellow artists including fat joe nas and jadakiss. he has claimed credit for the success of the game who has become the hottest new star on the rap scene. both were drug dealers and were shot before turning to music. in an interview with hot 97 on saturday the game described some of 50 cent s rivals as my friends and said he would not turn on them. nas is one of my friends and jada s really a homie he said. 50 s beef is 50 s beef and i really don t know where all this stems from. when 50 cent appeared on the same station two days later he said the game was no longer a member of g-unit. every record he s selling is based on me being on his record with him he said. when the shooting took place outside the studio the interview was ended and the rapper was escorted out of the building by security personnel. an unidentified 24-year-old los angeles man is stable with a gunshot wound to the upper thigh. police say the game s associates may have heard the interview and gone to the studio where they confronted 50 cent s entourage. officers are also investigating a later shooting in which eight bullets were fired into the door of 50 cent s management company violator. no arrests have been made in relation to either incident. 50 cent s second album the massacre is released on thursday five weeks after the game s debut documentary went to number one. elliott wilson editor-in-chief of hip-hop magazine xxl said the feud would boost publicity for 50 cent s release. it helps him obviously in terms of exposure. you can t ask for better promotion he said. but he added: i think he s making more and more enemies. you definitely feel like is he doing too much of a tupac spiral like me against the world. you bring more people wanting to see you fail. tupac shakur was shot dead in 1996.

entertainment

industrial output falls in japan japanese industrial output fell in october while unemployment rose casting further doubt on the strength of the country s economic recovery. production dropped 1.6% in october reflecting a decline in exports while unemployment levels edged up 0.1% to 4.7% slightly higher than forecast. the economy has grown for six quarters but growth slowed dramatically in the last quarter amid weaker global demand. japan s government remains optimistic due to strong domestic demand. analysts had been forecasting a 0.1% rise in month on month industrial output. according to figures from the ministry of economy trade and industry (meti) the decline was led by a fall in demand for electronic parts for mobile phones and digital televisions. although inventories fell 0.7% month on month they were 36% higher than a year ago. it s a sign that the economy s adjustment phase is stronger than expected said takashi yamanaka an economist with ufj bank. japan downgraded its overall economic assessment earlier this month for the first time in a year. growth slowed to 0.3% in the quarter ending september 30 down from 6.3% in the first quarter of 2004. experts believe the economy -which stagnated for most of the 1990s -may be entering a softer patch on the back of rising oil prices and the falling dollar. japanese government officials played down the latest data arguing that domestic consumer demand was still resilient. the outlook for november is positive so i don t think one can say that conditions have worsened just because of the fall in october said a meti official. despite the rise in unemployment jobless figures are still some way below historical highs of recent years. the comparatively weak economic date preyed on shares with the nikkei down 1% in afternoon trade.

business

cebit opens to mobile music tune cebit the world s largest hi-tech fair has opened its doors in hanover for a look at the latest technologies for homes and businesses. there are more than 6 000 exhibitors registered and about 500 000 visitors are expected to pass through the doors. third generation mobiles the digital home and broadband are key themes at the show. camera phones will get better resolutions as vendors set out to prove that bigger is definitely better. samsung is set to steal some initial limelight with the launch of a 7-megapixel phone on the opening day. the sch-v770 has some of the features of high-end digital single lens reflex cameras such as manual focus and the ability to attach a telephoto or wide-angle lens. camera phones are likely to prove an interesting battle ground at the show said ben wood principal analyst at research firm gartner. it is firmly established that cameras are an integral part of phones and now the technology arms race is on in terms of megapixels. there will be a certain amount of look how big mine is he said. there will also be increasing focus on music-enabled mobiles. at 3gsm in cannes everyone went music mad and music is going to be a big theme for all the vendors at cebit said mr wood. sony ericsson will use the fair to show off the w800 - its recently unveiled walkman branded phone - and there is speculation that motorola may unveil its rokr handset widely tipped as the first to carry apple s itunes music software. apple and motorola announced they were getting together at the end of last year as a result of a long-standing friendship between motorola s chief executive ed zander and steve jobs. some analysts think motorola may save the launch for ctia a wireless show in america the following week which could be a telling sign about how operators are coming to view the german tech fair. one of the interesting things is that cebit is clearly a show in decline said mr wood. a lot of the big players such as nokia are pulling back saying it is hard to justify a big presence at all of the shows. it could be the last big year for cebit he said. other themes include tv-enabled mobiles which are bound to create a buzz in the halls as vodafone unveils a prototype handset that can show live digital television. there has been a glut of recent headlines about mobile tv - french operators are teaming up o2 is trialling a system in oxford uk and nokia begins trialling a system in finland with the finnish broadcasting company yle tv and commercial tv channels. cebit could become the battleground for the two competing methods for getting tv on to mobiles and is also likely to provide a stage for a technology slated to compete with 3g. hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) has been described as 3g on steroids and could offer consumers much faster download times. for instance a song which currently takes one and a half minutes to download to a phone could be done in 10 seconds. korean giants lg electronics and samsung will show off hsdpa handsets at the show and the technology is set to be rolled out in the us europe and korea next year. broadband will continue to be a key theme at the show with internet telephony proving this year s killer application. germany s largest online service provider t-online is tipped to reveal software for low-cost net telephony which would see it competing with its parent company deutsche telekom. cebit is used by many to unveil cutting edge products and in the mobile sphere this is likely to mean a lot of bright colourful handsets as fashion continues to compete with technology when it comes to the device everyone has in their pockets. rainbow-coloured phones influenced by handsets from japan are just one example of how asian companies will stamp their mark on this year s show at which they will have their biggest ever presence. cebit organisers have created a digital home in hall 25 of the 27 hangar-like buildings that will house the show. the digital home will be a hyped theme at the show. the house will be totally wired and full of things that can be used for home entertainment said cebit organiser gabriele dorries.

tech

tokyo says deflation controlled the japanese government has forecast that the country s economic growth will slow to 1.6% in the next fiscal year starting in april 2005. while it predicts this fall from the current 2.1% level it said it was making progress on ending deflation. the figures were given by economics minister heizo takenaka who said the economy would grow by 2% in 2006/07. he said the consumer price index (cpi) would rise 0.1% in the next fiscal year the first gain since 2000/01. we are attempting to make real economic conditions better and to overcome deflation. i think we are on track said mr takenaka. deflation - or falling consumer prices - has plagued japan for more than five years. to ease the problem the bank of japan has regularly flooded the money market with excess cash to keep short term interest rates at 0% in an attempt to spur economic activity.

business

ba to suspend two saudi services british airways is to halt its flights from london heathrow to jeddah and riyadh in saudi arabia from 27 march. the airline said the decision was a commercial one due to reduced passenger demand for the services. ba currently operates four flights per week from heathrow to jeddah and three weekly journeys to riyadh. it suspended flights to saudi arabia for three weeks in autumn 2003 after a government warning about a threat to uk aviation interests in saudi arabia . ba will now suspend the saudi flights - which it says will remain under constant review - from 27 march. the decision to suspend flights between the uk and saudi arabia is a difficult one to make as we have enjoyed a long history of flying between the two countries said ba director of commercial planning robert boyle. however the routes don t currently make a profitable contribution to our business and we are unable to sustain them while this remains the case. passengers with flights booked after the suspension date will be contacted by ba for alternative arrangements to be made.

business

nintendo adds media playing to ds nintendo is releasing an adapter for its ds handheld console so it can play music and video. the add-on for the ds means people can download tv programmes film clips or mp3 files to the adaptor and then play them back while on the move. the release of the media add-on is an attempt by the japanese games giant to protect its dominance of the handheld gaming market. nintendo said the media adapter will be available from february in japan. the nintendo ds is the successor to the hugely successful gameboy handheld game console and went on sale in japan on 2 december. the ds has two screens one of which is touch sensitive and also has on-board a short-range wireless link that lets people play against each other. the launch of the media adapter and the attempt to broaden the appeal of the device is widely seen as a response to the unveiling of the sony psp which was built as a multi-purpose media player and game gadget from the start. sony is thought to be preparing pre-packaged movies and music for the psp. the add-on will also work with the gameboy advance sp. nintendo dominates the handheld gaming console world thanks to successive versions of the gameboy. more than 28 million gameboy advance handhelds have been sold around the world. the dual-screen ds is also thought to be selling well with more than 2.5 million expected to be sold by the end of 2004. nintendo said it had no plans to sell the media adapter outside japan. when it goes on sale the adapter is expected to cost about 5000 yen (£25) roughly the difference in price between the ds and the higher-priced sony psp.

tech

deadline nears for fiat-gm deal fiat and general motors (gm) have until midnight on 1 february to settle a disagreement over a potential takeover. the deadline marks the point at which fiat will gain the right to sell its car division to gm part of an alliance agreed in 2000. gm whose own european operations are losing money no longer wants to own the unprofitable fiat unit. reports of deadlocked talks sent fiat shares down 1.2% on tuesday after monday s 4% gain on hopes of a payoff. the us firm is thought to be offering about $2bn (£1.06bn) to extricate itself from the arrangement. it has argued the deal was voided by fiat s decision to sell off fiat s finance arm and halve gm s stake via a capital-raising effort. the 2000 deal resulted from a race between gm and daimlerchrysler to ally with fiat. the german firm wanted to buy fiat outright. but gianni agnelli the godfather of the group wanted to keep control and preferred gm s offer to buy a 20% stake and give fiat the right to sell in the future known as a put option . since then however fiat cars have lost market share and the firm has piled up losses while a plan to raise new money in 2003 cut gm s stake in half to 10%. for its part gm s european units opel and saab have both had trouble with opel management threatening to cut 12 000 jobs. the last thing they need is additional production capacity in europe said patrick juchemich auto analyst at sal oppenheim bank.

business

wilkinson return unlikely jonny wilkinson looks set to miss the whole of the 2005 rbs six nations. england s world cup-winning fly-half said last week he was hoping to recover from his latest injury in time to play some role in the championship. but rob andrew coach of wilkinson s club side newcastle said that with only two games left to play wilkinson was unlikely to be fit in time. it would be irresponsible to put him straight into a test match andrew told the times. wilkinson is recovering from a knee injury which followed long-term neck and arm injuries. he has not played for england since the world cup final in november 2003 since when the stuttering world champions have lost nine of their 14 matches. wilkinson is aiming to make his third start to the season in the zurich premiership match against harlequins on 13 march. that game is the day after england play italy in the six nations and six days before their final match of the championship against scotland. we are hoping jonny will be ready in a fortnight but it is touch and go said andrew. his recovery is going very well and the key now is how he is reintroduced to playing and with it goal-kicking. he will probably have to come off the bench to start and it would be ridiculous and irresponsible to put him straight back into a test match. we can t afford to get it wrong with a knee injury. we are in touch with england and they are relaxed about it. despite not playing for england wilkinson is still hoping to make the lions tour to new zealand this summer. lions coach sir clive woodward has not set a deadline for when wilkinson has to start playing again in order to be considered for selection.

sport

german music in a zombie state the german music business - the third largest in the world - is in the state of a zombie because it has failed to respond to the challenge posed by downloading and piracy a leading industry figure has said. tim renner the head of universal music germany until last year told bbc world service s the music biz programme that the country s music industry was now struggling to survive. renner warned that unless the industry accepted new realties - such as downloading - its decline could become irreversible. the problem the music industry has got is that they aren t willing to accept that the classic way of doing business is over and out he stated. so the music industry in its current form over here is pretty much in the state of a zombie. the music market in germany peaked in 1997 with sales of 2.6bn euros (£1.8bn). since 2000 sales have plummeted to just 1.6bn euros (£1.1bn) in 2003. in the space of one year - between 2002 and 2003 - cd album sales fell by 13.8%. but a study by the society for consumer research found that at the same time more than twice as many recordable cds had music recorded on them than cd albums were sold. mr renner pointed out that because profit comes mainly from the longevity of a good-selling record this was particularly damaging. you need time he added. however peter zombic the managing director of the international federation of phonographic industry in germany said he did not feel the situation was as dramatic as mr renner believed. it s quite true that we have severe problems in germany - but that s true in other parts of the world and in most developed markets too he argued. we have a severe problem with piracy especially internet piracy and we also have a severe problem of private copying. i don t agree that the music industry lost control over the music market - in fact especially in regard to germany talent the market is quite successful. he did however admit that copyright owners have partly lost control of their copyright due to piracy and copying. but he refuted suggestions that the industry had been too slow to respond to digital downloading. we were the first to implement a download service - back in 1997 he argued. at that time it was not successful because of the advent of piracy - it was the napster time when p2p services became popular. it still is quite difficult for the music industry to compete with a price that is zero as far as the illegal product is concerned. mr zombic also called for a change to the perception in germany that private copying of music is not a problem. german law does allow people to make copies of cds for their family and close friends without fear of breaking copyright. mr zombic said that this legal framework was a huge problem . there is a widespread attitude that private copying is a hobby it s nice it s fun he added. we try to make clear it s not nice and it s not fun - it s endangering the creativity in our country.

entertainment

uefa approves fake grass uefa says it will allow european matches to be played on artificial pitches from the start of next season. european football s governing body made the decision at a meeting of its executive committee on wednesday. uefa explained that the move follows comprehensive studies into the sporting and medical aspects of using artificial playing surfaces. they can be used subject to complying with uefa quality criteria but there use will not be made obligatory. luton preston queens park rangers and other clubs used to have plastic pitches during the the 1980s but after a two-year study uefa insists the surfaces have moved on. international matches can also be played on such pitches although games at major tournaments have to be contested on grass. uefa spokesman rob faulkner said: people in england have bad memories of the artificial pitches of luton and qpr in the 1980s but the latest generation are completely different and are much more like grass. we have sanctioned its use from the start of next season but only as long as it is the latest generation of artificial turf and meets a whole series of standards. several leading clubs from scandinavia russia and eastern europe - especially those who only play champions league or uefa cup matches in winter - are now expected to instal artificial pitches.

sport

the producers scoops stage awards the producers has beaten mary poppins in the battle of the blockbuster west end musicals at the olivier awards. the producers won three prizes at the uk s most prestigious annual theatre awards while mary poppins won two. mel brooks hit show triumphed in the battle for best new musical where it was up against mary poppins and andrew lloyd webber s the woman in white. alan bennett s the history boys was the big winner in the straight theatre categories picking up three trophies. but all eyes were on the musical prizes after the producers mary poppins and the woman in white all had high-profile openings in the last six months. the producers nathan lane a last-minute replacement for richard dreyfuss beat his former co-star lee evans to win best musical actor. lane has already left the production. a smash hit on broadway before moving to london the show also won best musical performance in a supporting role for conleth hill who plays director roger debris. mary poppins awards came for best choreography and best musical actress for its star laura michelle kelly. it led the nominations going into sunday s ceremony at london s hilton hotel up for nine awards. both shows are stage adaptations of 1960s films. the history boys set in a grammar school in the early 1980s and partly based on bennett s experiences as a teacher was named best new play. it also won best actor for richard griffiths who beat his harry potter film co-star michael gambon nominated for endgame as well as jonathan pryce and ben whishaw. the play also won national theatre artistic director nicholas hytner best director and bennett got a special award for outstanding contribution to british theatre. dame judi dench who starred in all s well that ends well at the gielgud lost out in the best supporting role category to amanda harris who played emilia in othello for the royal shakespeare company. the olivier awards have been handed out by the society of london since 1976. - best lighting design - his dark materials designed by paule constable at the olivier - best sound design - the woman in white designed by mick potter at the palace - best new opera - lady macbeth of mtsensk at the royal opera house - outstanding achievement in opera - thomas ades and the royal opera house for the world premiere of the tempest - best costume design - all s well that ends well designed by deirdre clancy at the gielgud - best revival - hamlet by william shakespeare at the old vic - best set design - his dark materials designed by giles cadle at the olivier - outstanding musical production - grand hotel at the donmar warehouse - best supporting role in a musical - conleth hill for the producers at theatre royal drury lane - best theatre choreographer - matthew bourne and stephen mear for mary poppins at the prince edward - best actor - richard griffiths for the history boys at the lyttelton - outstanding achievement or performance in an affiliate theatre - andrew scott for a girl in a car with a man at the jerwood theatre upstairs at the royal court - best new dance production - rambert dance company s swamp at sadler s wells - outstanding achievement in dance - san francisco ballet for their season at sadler s wells - best performance in a supporting role - amanda harris for othello at trafalgar studios - best actress - clare higgins for hecuba at the donmar warehouse - best musical actor - nathan lane for the producers at theatre royal drury lane - best musical actress - laura michelle kelly for mary poppins at the prince edward - best director - nicholas hytner for the history boys at the lyttelton - best new play - the history boys by alan bennett at the lyttelton - best new musical - the producers at theatre royal drury lane - special award - alan bennett for his outstanding contribution to british theatre

entertainment

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

sport

howard hits back at mongrel jibe michael howard has said a claim by peter hain that the tory leader is acting like an attack mongrel shows labour is rattled by the opposition. in an upbeat speech to his party s spring conference in brighton he said labour s campaigning tactics proved the tories were hitting home. mr hain made the claim about tory tactics in the anti-terror bill debate. something tells me that someone somewhere out there is just a little bit rattled mr howard said. mr hain leader of the commons told bbc radio four s today programme that mr howard s stance on the government s anti-terrorism legislation was putting the country at risk. he then accused the tory leader of behaving like an attack mongrel and playing opposition for opposition sake . mr howard told his party that labour would do anything say anything claim anything to cling on to office at all costs . so far this year they have compared me to fagin to shylock and to a flying pig. this morning peter hain even called me a mongrel. i don t know about you but something tells me that someone somewhere out there is just a little bit rattled. environment secretary margaret beckett rejected mr howard s comment telling radio 4 s pm programme that labour was not rattled . we have a very real duty to try to get people to focus on michael howard s record what the proposals are that he is trying to put forward to the country and also the many examples we are seeing now of what we believe is really poor judgement on his behalf. mr howard said tory policies on schools taxes immigration and crime were striking a chord with voters. since the beginning of this year - election year - we ve been making the political weather he told the party conference. mr howard denied he had been playing politics by raising the case of margaret dixon whose operation had been cancelled seven times which grabbed headlines for the party two weeks ago. and he hit back at labour claims he had used mrs dixon as a human shield . she s not a human shield mr blair she s a human being. mr howard said his party plans for immigration quotas which have also been the focus of much media coverage were not racist - just common sense . he pledged cleaner hospitals and better school discipline with a promise to get rid of political correctness in the national curriculum and give everyone to the same chance of a decent state education as he had. i come from an ordinary family. if the teenage michael howard were applying to cambridge today gordon brown would love me. and he stressed his party s commitment to cut taxes and red tape and increase the basic state pension in line with earnings. he finished with a personal appeal to party activists to go out and win the next election. one day you will be able to tell your children and grandchildren as i will tell mine i was there. i did my bit. i played my part. i helped to win that famous election - the election that transformed our country for the better . labour election co-ordinator alan milburn said: michael howard s speech today confirms what we have always said - that his only strategy is opportunism but he has no forward vision for the country. in reference to the appearance of mr howard s family on the conference stage with him mr milburn said: michael howard is perfectly entitled to pose with his family today. but it is the hard working families across britain that will be damaged by his plan to cut £35bn from public spending.

politics

madagascar completes currency switch madagascar has completed the replacement of its malagasy franc with a new currency the ariary. from monday all prices and contracts will have to be quoted in the ariary which was trading at 1 893 to the us dollar. the malagasy franc which lost almost half its value in 2004 is no longer legal tender but will remain exchangeable at banks until 2009. the phasing out of the franc begun in july 2003 was intended to distance the country from its past under french colonial rule and address the problem of the large amount of counterfeit francs in circulation. it s above all a question of sovereignty reuters quoted a central bank official as saying. it is symbolic of our independence from the old colonial ways. since we left the french monetary zone in 1973 we should have our own currency with its own name. the ariary was the name of a pre-colonial currency in the indian ocean island state.

business

german business confidence slides german business confidence fell in february knocking hopes of a speedy recovery in europe s largest economy. munich-based research institute ifo said that its confidence index fell to 95.5 in february from 97.5 in january its first decline in three months. the study found that the outlook in both the manufacturing and retail sectors had worsened. observers had been hoping that a more confident business sector would signal that economic activity was picking up. we re surprised that the ifo index has taken such a knock said dz bank economist bernd weidensteiner. the main reason is probably that the domestic economy is still weak particularly in the retail trade. economy and labour minister wolfgang clement called the dip in february s ifo confidence figure a very mild decline . he said that despite the retreat the index remained at a relatively high level and that he expected a modest economic upswing to continue. germany s economy grew 1.6% last year after shrinking in 2003. however the economy contracted by 0.2% during the last three months of 2004 mainly due to the reluctance of consumers to spend. latest indications are that growth is still proving elusive and ifo president hans-werner sinn said any improvement in german domestic demand was sluggish. exports had kept things going during the first half of 2004 but demand for exports was then hit as the value of the euro hit record levels making german products less competitive overseas. on top of that the unemployment rate has been stuck at close to 10% and manufacturing firms including daimlerchrysler siemens and volkswagen have been negotiating with unions over cost cutting measures. analysts said that the ifo figures and germany s continuing problems may delay an interest rate rise by the european central bank. eurozone interest rates are at 2% but comments from senior officials have recently focused on the threat of inflation prompting fears that interest rates may rise.

business

what price for trusted pc security you can now buy trusted computers but can we really trust the pc vendors asks technology analyst bill thompson. if you have recently bought an ibm thinkvantage computer a dell optiplex or one of a whole range of laptops from toshiba hp/compaq or samsung then you may have got more for your money than you realised. inside your shiny new pc is an extra chip called the trusted platform module (tpm) that can be used for a range of hardware-based security features. eventually the tpm will be built into the main processor itself and if the trusted computing group has its way then you will find one in every piece of hardware you own from mobile phones to tv set top boxes to children s toys. but for the moment it is a separate piece of hardware providing enhanced security features to programs that know how to use them. and as part of a well-designed network system it can provide a lot more security than we enjoy today. a big advantage of the tpm is that it is hardware-based. at the moment most of us rely on software to keep our information safe and secure. it might be password-protected user accounts data encryption programs or a firewall but it all relies on program code running on an inherently insecure processor. hardware security is less common even if it is a lot safer. this is partly because it is more expensive to give someone a smartcard than a password but also because its more work for users systems administrators and managers. as a result we settle for second best. so when it comes to computer security trusted systems could be a major step forward. after all if you have a laptop that will only run programs that have been digitally signed then it will be a lot harder for virus writers to get their malicious code to run. and if all your files are locked automatically then even if you get your computer stolen your personal data will be safeguarded. at the moment support for trusted hardware is not built into major operating systems. instead you have to use special software like hp s protecttools or wave systems embassy. this provides file encryption password management and identity protection usually for business users who connect to company networks. full support for the trusted computing specification will not be available from microsoft until the next release of windows longhorn . this will include what microsoft in a typical act of obscurantism calls the next generation secure computing base and it will give user-level programs access to the trusted computing hardware. when that happens we can expect to see a lot of publicity around the new capabilities and no doubt the windows security centre will encourage users to turn on their trusted computing capability just as they turn on their firewall. however there is a downside to the increased security from viruses spyware and data theft that this will provide. because the trusted computing base is also used to make digital rights management (drm) systems more secure this will give content providers a lot more control over what we can do with music movies and books that we have bought from them. we have seen recently how allowing digital rights management services into our lives can lead to unwelcome consequences. users of apple s itunes used to be able to stream the music they had brought to up to five other itunes users a great way of letting your mates discover your music collection. but the latest version of itunes limits this capability just as an earlier upgrade reduced the number of times you could burn a selected playlist of purchased songs to a cd. another took away the ability to play songs downloaded from real s harmony service on your ipod. apple can do this because they wrote the software and they control the rights management. once it is embedded in trusted hardware it will be even harder for dedicated programmers to find their way around these restrictions and give us back the fair use rights that should be guaranteed under copyright law. similarly users of tivo digital video recorders have found that they cannot record some shows and other programmes that they have recorded are automatically deleted after a day. this happens because of changes that tivo have made to their software and the users cannot control it. one wonders whether hardware-based drm will work for those who believe that locking-down digital content is a bad idea and that the flexibility of copyright law is something that should be embraced and not taken away. it will not work because of the fundamental flaw at the heart of the system: in order for the purchaser to view the content it has to be unlocked. once it is unlocked then someone somewhere will figure out a way to make a copy of the unlocked version. and once an unlocked version leaks onto the network it will be uncontrollable. the efforts going into drm would be much better spent building efficient distribution services finding business models that are based on trusting your customers and offering high quality downloads at fair prices. what we want is not so much a trusted computing platform as a trusted customer platform. the record companies and the film industry need to recognise that most of us most of the time will pay a reasonable amount for good quality material. they will benefit more by building a market in which i can share songs with my friends record shows i want to watch later and burn cds for my kids; a market which respects the spirit of copyright law and does not seek to replace it by restrictive contracts or end user agreements. we need to ensure that trusted computing remains under the control of the users and is not used to take away the freedoms we enjoy today. bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.

tech

eu too slow on economic reforms most eu countries have failed to put in place policies aimed at making europe the world s most competitive economy by the end of the decade a report says. the study undertaken by the european commission sought to assess how far the eu has moved towards meeting its economic targets. in 2000 eu leaders at a summit in lisbon pledged the european economy would outstrip that of the us by 2010. their economic targets became known as the lisbon agenda. but the commission report says that in most eu countries the pace of economic reform has been too slow and fulfilling the lisbon ambitions will be difficult - if not impossible. only the uk finland belgium denmark ireland and the netherlands have actually followed up policy recommendations. among the biggest laggards according to the report are greece and italy. the lisbon agenda set out to increase the number of people employed in europe by encouraging more older people and women to stay in the workforce. it also set out to raise the amount the private sector spends on research and development while bringing about greater discipline over public spending and debt levels. combined with high environmental standards and efforts to level the playing field for businesses throughout the eu the plan was for europe to become the world s most dynamic economy by 2010. next week the commission will present revised proposals to meet the lisbon goals. many people expect the 2010 target to be quietly dropped.

business

new york rockers top talent poll new york electro-rock group the bravery have come top of the bbc news website s sound of 2005 poll to find the music scene s most promising new act. the bravery who have been compared to the cure and new order were the most heavily-tipped act in the survey of 110 impartial critics and broadcasters. rock band keane won sound of 2004 while us rapper 50 cent topped sound of 2003. other new artists in this year s list include london indie group bloc party at second and uk rapper kano third. the bravery played their first gig in 2003 and have since supported bands including the libertines interpol and echo and the bunnymen. they were the subject of a record company bidding war in 2004 and their debut single unconditional caused a huge buzz when it was released in the uk in november. singer sam endicott said he felt great about coming top of the sound of 2005 list. anyone that says they don t want a zillion screaming fans is a jackass a liar he said. one of the experts to tip the bravery was the times music critic paul connolly who said they were spiky but in love with pop . chris hawkins host of bbc 6 music s chart show said the band had great guitars and a mastery of the electro-clash sound . the bravery are proof alone that new york city is still home to hot new talent he said. nigel harding head of music at london rock radio station xfm said every track from their live set sounded like a potential single . unconditional reached the summit of the station s listeners chart within a fortnight of its first play which mr harding described as an unheard of achievement for a debut single . q magazine reviews editor ted kessler said they were pretty-boy new york clothes horses with an unusually nimble ear for concise yearning pop in the mould of duran duran or the strokes . other pundits to take part in the survey included bbc radio 1 dj trevor nelson nme editor conor mcnicholas top of the pops presenter fearne cotton glastonbury organiser emily eavis and bbc radio 2 music editor colin martin. elsewhere on the top 10 second-placed rock band bloc party began their rise after supporting franz ferdinand and uk garage mc kano in third is signed to the streets record label. us rapper the game is hip-hop great dr dre s latest protege while leeds group kaiser chiefs came fifth with a promise to lead a britpop revival. in last year s survey keane were followed by franz ferdinand razorlight and joss stone in the top five - all of whom were virtually unknown outside the music industry at that point. boy band mcfly were sixth while scissor sisters who had the uk s best-selling album of 2004 were seventh. in the survey the pundits were asked for tips for three acts they thought were capable of reaching the top in their chosen genre either in terms of sales or critical acclaim. the artists could be from any country and any musical genre but must not have had a uk top 20 single been a contestant on a tv talent show or already be famous for doing something else such as a soap actor. those tips were then counted and compiled to make the top 10.

entertainment

blair says mayor should apologise tony blair has urged london mayor ken livingstone to apologise for his nazi comment to a jewish reporter. labour s mr livingstone who says he is standing by his remarks had accused an evening standard journalist of being like a concentration camp guard . mr blair told five s wright stuff show: let s just apologise and move on. mr livingstone has said the remarks may have been offensive but were not racist and said he would not apologise even if the prime minister asked. mr blair who was instrumental in returning mr livingstone to the labour party insisted on wednesday it was time for the london mayor to say sorry. a lot of us in politics get angry with journalists from time to time but in the circumstances and to the journalist because he was a jewish journalist yes he should apologise he said. let s just apologise and move on - that s the sensible thing. tory leader michael howard asked about mr livingstone s remark by reporters said it was important for politicians to be mindful about the language they use. it s particularly important that as we get close to the election that politicians talk with civility and courtesy about issues that we all face he said. i think it s a matter of sadness that we are not seeing that from the labour party. we had what ken livingstone said we had what alastair campbell has said and we have what others have said. i think that s a matter of great regret. the row blew up after mr livingstone was approached by evening standard reporter oliver finegold following a party marking the 20th anniversary of former culture secretary chris smith coming out as britain s first gay mp. on tape mr livingstone who once worked as a freelance restaurant critic on the paper is heard asking mr finegold if he is a german war criminal . mr finegold replies: no i m jewish i wasn t a german war criminal. i m quite offended by that. the mayor then says: ah right well you might be but actually you are like a concentration camp guard you are just doing it because you are paid to aren t you at his weekly press conference on tuesday mr livingstone said his comments were not racist and refused to apologise. if you think they are racist i think you are wrong he told reporters. the dispute comes as an inspection team from the international olympic committee began a four-day tour to assess london s bid for the 2012 games. an official complaint has been made to local government watchdogs by the british jews demanding an investigation by the standards board of england. it has the power to suspend or bar mr livingstone from public office.

politics

springer criticises opera musical talk show host jerry springer whose programme inspired the controversial opera shown by the bbc has said he would not have written it himself. the bbc received 47 000 complaints before the musical was broadcast and protesters demonstrated outside bbc buildings across the uk. springer helped launch the west end show and attended the opening night. i wouldn t have written it. i don t believe in making fun of other religions he said. the tv host said he understood how people could have thought the musical had gone too far. you know on our tv show if people use inappropriate language we bleep it out if there s nudity we cover it up so that viewers at home don t get to see any of this he said. asked whether he thought the bbc should have screened the controversial musical he said: i don t know if they should have had it on television but good lord if you don t like what s on television that s why god gave us remote controls. my show is about dysfunctional people and i defy anyone to watch the show and suggest to me the people on it aren t to some degree dysfunctional. if i did a show about the war in iraq it wouldn t make me a warmonger i would just be doing my job to report on the war. in the case of my show it s my job to report on the dysfunctions that take place in society. the british-born presenter is in london to speak at a fundraising dinner for the united jewish israel appeal. the dinner on tuesday is expected to be attended by more than 800 guests.

entertainment

capriati out of australian open jennifer capriati has become the third leading lady to withdraw from the australian open because of injury. the organisers of the first grand slam of 2005 which begins on 17 january said the american has a problem with her right shoulder. it comes as a blow to the women s draw as last year s champion justin henin-hardenne and runner-up kim clijsters will also be absent. capriati is a two-time champion in melbourne with wins in 2001 and 2002. she is believed to have picked up the injury at the advanta championships at philadelphia in november and had to pull out of an exhibition match with wimbledon champion maria sharapova on 17 december. capriati also decided against competing in the australian open warm-up event the sydney international.

sport

england 17-18 france england suffered an eighth defeat in 11 tests as scrum-half dimitri yachvili booted france to victory at twickenham. two converted tries from olly barkley and josh lewsey helped the world champions to a 17-6 half-time lead. but charlie hodgson and barkley missed six penalties between them while yachvili landed six for france to put the visitors in front. england could have won the game with three minutes left but hodgson pushed an easy drop goal opportunity wide. it was a dismal defeat for england coming hard on the heels of an opening six nations loss in wales. they should have put the game well beyond france s reach but remarkably remained scoreless for the entire second half. a scrappy opening quarter saw both sides betray the lack of confidence engendered by poor opening displays against wales and scotland respectively. hodgson had an early opportunity to settle english nerves but pushed a straightforward penalty attempt wide. but a probing kick from france centre damien traille saw mark cueto penalised for holding on to the ball in the tackle yachvili giving france the lead with a kick from wide out. france twice turned over england ball at the breakdown early on as the home side struggled to generate forward momentum one ben kay charge apart. a spell of tit-for-tat kicking emphasised the caution on both sides until england refused a possible three points to kick a penalty to the corner only to botch the subsequent line-out. but england made the breakthrough after 19 minutes when a faltering move off the back of a scrum led to the opening try. jamie noon took a short pass from barkley and ran a good angle to plough through yann delaigue s flimsy tackle before sending his centre partner through to score at the posts. hodgson converted and added a penalty after one of several french infringements on the floor for a 10-3 lead. the fly-half failed to dispense punishment though with a scuffed attempt after france full-back pepito elhorga scragged by lewsey threw the ball into touch. barkley also missed two longer-range efforts as the first half drew to a close but by then england had scored a second converted try. after a series of phases lock danny grewcock ran hard at the french defence and off-loaded out of sylvain marconnet s tackle to lewsey. the industrious wing cut back in on an angle and handed off hooker sebastien bruno to sprint over. after a dire opening to the second half france threw on three forward replacements in an attempt to rectify the situation wing jimmy marlu having already departed injured. yachvili nibbled away at the lead with a third penalty after 51 minutes. and when lewis moody was twice penalised - for handling in a ruck and then straying offside - the scrum-half s unerring left boot cut the deficit to two points. barkley then missed his third long-range effort to increase the tension. and after seeing another attempt drop just short yachvili put france ahead with his sixth penalty with 11 minutes left. england sent on ben cohen and matt dawson and after barkley s kick saw christophe dominici take the ball over his own line the stage was set for a victory platform. but even after a poor scrummage hodgson had the chance to seal victory but pushed his drop-goal attempt wide. england threw everything at the french in the final frantic moments but the visitors held on for their first win at twickenham since 1997. j robinson (capt); m cueto j noon o barkley j lewsey; c hodgson h ellis; g rowntree s thompson p vickery; d grewcock b kay; j worsley l moody m corry. a titterrell a sheridan s borthwick a hazell m dawson h paul b cohen. p elhorga; c dominici b liebenberg d traille j marlu; y delaigue d yachvili; s marconnet s bruno n mas; f pelous (capt) j thion s betsen j bonnaire s chabal. w servat j milloud g lamboley y nyanga p mignoni f michalak j-p grandclaude. paddy o brien (new zealand)

sport

england coach faces rap after row england coach andy robinson is facing disciplinary action after criticising referee jonathan kaplan in his side s six nations defeat to ireland. the rugby football union (rfu) will investigate robinson after deciding not to lodge a complaint against kaplan. robinson may even have to apologise for his comments in order to avoid sanction from the international rugby board. robinson had said he was livid about kaplan s decisions on saturday to disallow two england tries. the england coach went on to claim that only one side was refereed . after reviewing tapes of the match the rfu decided not to formally complain to the irb over the standard of kaplan s refereeing. instead the rfu said in a statement they would set out any concerns the england team management may have in a confidential manner . an irb spokesman said on the matter: we take all breaches of the code very seriously. should the rfu resolve the issue to our satisfaction as happened last month when the scotland coach matt williams apologised for remarks made it would be the end of the matter. kaplan has vigorously defended his performance in england s 19-13 defeat at landsdowne road and admitted he was very disappointed with robinson s remarks. and the south african has been appointed to take charge of scotland s match against wales on 13 march. the rfu recently fined northampton coach budge pountney £2 000 and imposed a six-week ban for his criticism of referee steve lander after a premiership match.

sport

how to make a gigapixel picture the largest digital panoramic photo in the world has been created by researchers in the netherlands. the finished image is 2.5 billion pixels in size - making it about 500 times the resolution of images produced by good consumer digital cameras. the huge image of delft was created by stitching together 600 single snaps of the dutch city taken at a fixed spot. if printed out in standard 300 dots per inch resolution the picture would be 2.5m high and 6m long. the researchers have put the image on a website which lets viewers explore the wealth of detail that it captures. tools on the page let viewers zoom in on the city and its surroundings in great detail. the website is already proving popular and currently has more than 200 000 visitors every day. the image was created by imaging experts from the dutch research and technology laboratory tno which created the 2.5 gigapixel photo as a summer time challenge. the goal of the project was to be one of the first groups to make gigapixel images. the first image of such a size was manually constructed by us photographer max lyons in november 2003. that image portrayed bryce canyon national park in utah and was made up of 196 separate photographs. the panorama of delft is a little staid in contrast to the dramatic rockscape captured in mr lyons image. he did it all by hand which was an enormous effort and we got the idea that if you use automatic techniques it would be feasible to build a larger image said jurgen den hartog one of the tno researchers behind the project. we were not competing with mr lyons but it started as a lunchtime bet. the dutch team used already available technologies although it had to upgrade them to be able to handle the high-resolution image. we had to rewrite almost all the tools me den hartog told the bbc news website. all standard windows viewers available would not be able to load such a large image so we had to develop one ourselves. the 600 component pictures were taken on july 2004 by a computer-controlled camera with a 400 mm lens. each image was made to slightly overlap so they could be accurately arranged into a composite. the stitching process was also done automatically using five powerful pcs over three days. following the success of this project and with promises of help from others the tno team is considering creating a full 360-degree panoramic view of another dutch city with even higher resolution.

tech

o sullivan quick to hail italians ireland coach eddie o sullivan heaped praise on italy after seeing his side stutter to a 28-17 victory in rome. it was a hell of a tough game said o sullivan. we struggled in the first half because we hadn t the football. italy played really well. they handled the ball well in terms of kicking it if that s not an oxymoron. we said before the game that it might take until 10 minutes from the end for this game to be won and that s how it turned out. ireland struggled to cope with italy s fierce start and were indebted to skipper brian o driscoll who set up tries for geordan murphy and peter stringer. we had our first attack in the italian half after 22 minutes said o sullivan. we had a good return with three first-half possessions in their half and we scored twice. the second half was about spending more time in their half. scrum-half peter stringer was also glad that ireland escaped wtih a victory. all credit to them he told bbc sport. we knew it would be tough coming to rome. they always give us a tough game here and they showed a lot of spirit. they had a lot of ball in the first half but we got a few scores when we got into their 22.

sport

screensaver tackles spam websites net users are getting the chance to fight back against spam websites internet portal lycos has made a screensaver that endlessly requests data from sites that sell the goods and services mentioned in spam e-mail. lycos hopes it will make the monthly bandwidth bills of spammers soar by keeping their servers running flat out. the net firm estimates that if enough people sign up and download the tool spammers could end up paying to send out terabytes of data. we ve never really solved the big problem of spam which is that its so damn cheap and easy to do said malte pollmann spokesman for lycos europe. in the past we have built up the spam filtering systems for our users he said but now we are going to go one step further. we ve found a way to make it much higher cost for spammers by putting a load on their servers. by getting thousands of people to download and use the screensaver lycos hopes to get spamming websites constantly running at almost full capacity. mr pollmann said there was no intention to stop the spam websites working by subjecting them with too much data to cope with. he said the screensaver had been carefully written to ensure that the amount of traffic it generated from each user did not overload the web. every single user will contribute three to four megabytes per day he said about one mp3 file. but he said if enough people sign up spamming websites could be force to pay for gigabytes of traffic every single day. lycos did not want to use e-mail to fight back said mr pollmann. that would be fighting one bad thing with another bad thing he said. the sites being targeted are those mentioned in spam e-mail messages and which sell the goods and services on offer. typically these sites are different to those that used to send out spam e-mail and they typically only get a few thousand visitors per day. the list of sites that the screensaver will target is taken from real-time blacklists generated by organisations such as spamcop. to limit the chance of mistakes being made lycos is using people to ensure that the sites are selling spam goods. as these sites rarely use advertising to offset hosting costs the burden of high-bandwidth bills could make spam too expensive said mr pollmann. sites will also slow down under the weight of data requests. early results show that response times of some sites have deteriorated by up to 85%. users do not have to be registered users of lycos to download and use the screensaver. while working the screensaver shows the websites that are being bothered with requests for data. the screensaver is due to be launched across europe on 1 december and before now has only been trialled in sweden. despite the soft launch mr pollmann said that the screensaver had been downloaded more than 20 000 times in the last four days. there s a huge user demand to not only filter spam day-by-day but to do something more he said before now users have never had the chance to be a bit more offensive.

tech

cactus diet deal for phytopharm a slimming aid made from a southern african cactus is set to be developed by uk firm phytopharm and unilever. anglo-dutch food giant unilever will help the pharmaceutical firm develop the snacks containing hoodia extract. phytopharm shares jumped 10.7% on the news with analysts saying sales of $600m (£309m) a year were possible. the plant licensed to phytopharm in 1997 has been used for thousands of years by the sans bushmen of the kalahari desert to stave off hunger. studies have reportedly shown the plant curbs appetite instead of reducing calorific intake like many existing products. phytopharm will receive an initial fee of £6.5m from unilever - out of a potential total of £21m - as well as future royalties on product sales. under the deal production of the hoodia cactus at phytopharm s nursery in south africa will also rise from eight million plants to potentially hundreds of millions said phytopharm chief executive richard dixey. the firm had initially hoped to market a slimming drug from hoodia with pfizer. but the research collaboration came to an end in 2003. analysts said unilever could launch the new products in 2007. this deal goes a long way to restoring the market faith in phytopharm s pipeline after the pfizer exit said analyst erling refsum at nomura.

business

abba reunite for musical premiere the original stars of swedish pop quartet abba have reunited for the home premiere of hit musical mamma mia! which is based on the band s songs. it is the first time in almost 20 years that the four bjorn ulvaeus benny andersson agnetha faltskog and anni-frid lyngstad have met publicly. faltskog has been a virtual recluse since the band split up in 1982. the musical which has become a global phenomenon will be performed in swedish for the first time. fans camped outside stockholm s cirkus theatre in the snow for a glimpse of the stars. the premiere marks abba s first public reunion since the legendary band s acrimonious break-up in the early 1980s. it was thought that faltskog would appear in london for the musical s fifth anniversary celebrations in april 2004 but she stayed away due to her fear of flying. original abba member bjorn ulvaeus set about translating the musical into the band s mother tongue for the celebrated homecoming alongside swedish artist niklas stromstedt. almost all of abba s original songs which have sold more than 350 million records worldwide were written and recorded in english. the musical set on a small greek island tells of the story of a young woman and her fiercely independent single mother. the show will include such classics as super trouper sos and dancing queen. there are currently 14 productions being staged worldwide including new york and london with road shows in toronto south korea and madrid. more than 20 million people around the world have seen the show.

entertainment

slow start to speedy net services faster broadband in the uk is becoming a reality as more internet providers offer super-fast services. some lucky britons can already take advantage of uk online s 8 megabits per second service which was launched in november 2004. bt retail has announced that it will trial the same speed service with a national rollout by year end. other service providers are expected to follow suit and a glut of new voice and video services will follow. if the bandwidth is there then isps will buy it said jill finger a research director at analyst firm idc. others will be watching bt retail s trials which is initially for employees and later in the summer for customers with interest. for bt retail she said the super-fast service could be a way of differentiating it from other players. it has been losing market share and this could be one way of gaining some of that back said ms finger. wanadoo is set to trial an 8mbps service in the summer and also plans to roll out unbundled services - which means it takes over the network from bt - which will provide speeds of up to 15mbps. there is no timetable for this at the moment. cable firms ntl and telewest are also bound to increase bandwidth at some time in the future and according to an ntl spokesman are in a better position than bt in the long term. bt s network is limited compared to that of cable. with all the other services coming on stream such as video on demand the question is will 8mbps be enough he asked.

tech

housing plans criticised by mps irreversible environmental damage will be caused by government plans to build more than one million homes in south-east england mps have warned. sustainable communities were being promoted without a real understanding of what sustainable means the environmental audit committee said. it said issues like energy needs and transport were not properly addressed. deputy prime minister john prescott said the report was completed before new initiatives were announced. he said: we are working across government especially with our colleagues at defra to create cleaner safer and greener communities while protecting and enhancing the environment. the report said there was far too little attention paid to many environmental issues including water even though supplies in parts of the south east are already too low. regulations designed to ensure energy-efficient buildings are too lax and builders routinely flout them anyway it said. financing for improving transport was around one-twentieth of what would be required. the report was a stinging rebuke for the government and especially john prescott s department bbc environment correspondent richard black said. chairman of the environmental audit committee peter ainsworth mp said: the government s housing policy is an alarming example of disjointed thinking in an areas where joined-up policy is crucial. i accept the need to improve housing supply but as things stand the principal beneficiary of housing growth will be property developers with the environment we all depend on being the principal loser. points raised in the report included: - no proposals to further increase housing supply should be taken forward without strong supporting evidence. - the government should recognise shortcomings of the treasury s barker review which said 140 000 new homes a year were needed in britain. - the government should consider a national spatial framework for england such as those already in place in scotland and wales. - the office of the deputy prime minister should maximise brown field development and housing densities. - measures to encourage improved energy efficiency for existing homes should be considered - including reduced stamp duty for homes that achieve set standards and a clear timetable for achieving zero-emissions homes. - the government should make clear how it intends to measure its success at creating sustainable communities. conservative local government spokeswoman caroline spelman said: there is now growing evidence that john prescott s buildings programme is environmentally unsustainable leaving a concrete scar across the face of rural england.

politics

probe launched on ken nazi jibe an investigation by the standards board is under way following allegations that ken livingstone has brought his office into disrepute. the probe follows the london mayor s comments to a jewish journalist comparing him to a concentration camp guard after a party about a week ago. the local government watchdog also said the allegation related to a failure to respect others. it has the power to suspend or bar labour s mr livingstone from office. a complaint was made to the body by the board of deputies of british jews and the commission for racial equality. speaking after the investigation was announced bob neill leader of the london assembly conservatives said: he has behaved in a manner unbecoming of his office and in so doing has shown extraordinarily poor civic leadership. his administration is now in crisis. on sunday deputy mayor nicky gavron told the bbc s politics show she believed the mayor of london would say sorry on tuesday for offending the wider jewish community. the prime minister tony blair is among those who have called for an apology but so far the mayor has refused. the mayor accused oliver finegold of the evening standard newspaper of doorstepping him at a predominately gay event held for mp chris smith. ms gavron said she thought mr livingstone s comments were inappropriate but she did not believe the mayor was anti-semitic. she said: i work very closely with ken so i can speak of what he s like in his guarded and unguarded moments and... he is in no way anti-jewish i wouldn t for a moment work with him if he were. on the other hand i think his remarks were inappropriate and i believe it is important and i believe he will come to the point where he says i regret that i have caused offence to the wider jewish community . i hope he will do it soon and it is mooted that he is going to make some sort of statement on tuesday.

politics

bookmakers back aviator for oscar the aviator has been tipped by uk bookmakers as the favourite to win the best film award at this year s oscars. ray star jamie foxx is clear favourite in the best actor category while million dollar baby s hilary swank is tipped to win the best actress prize. bookmakers predict cate blanchett will be named best supporting actress. william hill and ladbrokes have given the aviator 4/9 and 8/13 odds of winning best film with million dollar baby in second place at 9/4. bet direct and bet 365 also tip the aviator with the majority of bookmakers regarding finding neverland as the outsider. the aviator is also widely tipped to win the best director prize for martin scorsese. british star clive owen is second favourite at william hill to take the best supporting actor award for his performance in closer. the favourite in that category is sideways star thomas hayden church. vera drake star imelda staunton has 5/1 odds of winning the best actress oscar at bet 365 and william hill ahead of fellow uk star kate winslet who has odds of 25/1 at william hill. mike leigh is the outsider in the best director category for vera drake a position he holds jointly with ray s taylor hackford at bookmakers vc bet. this year s academy awards will be handed out in hollywood on 27 february. x factor judge sharon osbourne will present sky television s live coverage of the event. meanwhile clive owen s best supporting actor nomination has led a bookmaker to shorten his odds of becoming the next james bond. he has moved from 4/1 to 5/2 favourite to play 007 with hugh jackman and ewan mcgregor joint second favourite. clive owen s nomination has sparked a betting frenzy from james bond fans who feel that his heightened global recognition will have done his chances of becoming the next bond a world of good said william hill spokesman rupert adams.

entertainment

budget aston takes on porsche british car maker aston martin has gone head-to-head with porsche s 911 sports cars with the launch of its cheapest model yet. with a price tag under £80 000 the v8 vantage is tens of thousands of pounds cheaper than existing aston models. the vantage is the most important car in the history of our company said aston s chief executive ulrich bez. aston - whose cars were famously used by james bond - will unveil the vantage at the geneva motor show on thursday. mr bez - himself a former executive at rival porsche - said the new car was the company s most affordable car ever and makes the brand accessible . this in turn would make aston martin globally visible but still very very exclusive he added. first shown as a concept car at the 2003 north american international auto show in detroit the v8 vantage will be available in the uk in late summer. development costs for the vantage have been kept low by sharing a platform with aston s db9 which mr bez described as the previous most important car for our company . there is currently an 18 months waiting list for the db9 mr bez said. the vantage will be built at the new aston factory in gaydon near warwick and should more than double aston s total output from about 2 000 presently.

business

uk will stand firm on eu rebate britain s £3bn eu rebate is not up for renegotiation at next week s european council summit jack straw said. the foreign secretary told mps the rebate secured by margaret thatcher in 1984 was entirely justified . new european commission president jose manuel barroso has suggested the cash could be shared out among net contributors to the eu budget. mr straw acknowledged some countries in the newly enlarged 25 nation eu still had to see the light on the rebate. but the foreign secretary told the commons foreign affairs committee: our position is very clear: it is entirely justified and it is not for negotiation. he added that he did not think there would be a political price to pay for the uk s stance - britain contributed more and received less than other eu states. the two-day european council summit in brussels begins on 16 december and is widely expected to mark the beginning of a lengthy negotiating period over the eu s budget for 2007-13. the wrangling could stretch into 2005 even 2006. the uk france germany austria the netherlands and sweden want the eu budget to be capped at 1% of member states combined national incomes - the commission wants it to be 1.26%. mr straw said the eu commission s proposal would mean a 35% hike in the budget. i don t know of any national government thinking of increasing its budget by that amount he added. the foreign secretary said he hoped the talks next week could produce a date in 2005 for the beginning of negotiations with turkey about possible eu membership although that there would be no prospect of a date for joining for some time.

politics

women mps reveal sexist taunts women mps endure shocking levels of sexist abuse at the hands of their male counterparts a new study shows. male mps pretended to juggle imaginary breasts and jeered melons as women made commons speeches researchers from birkbeck college were told. labour s yvette cooper said she found it hard to persuade commons officials she was a minister and not a secretary. some 83 mps gave their answers in 100 hours of taped interviews for the study whose secretary are you minister . the research team under professor joni lovenduski had set out to look at the achievements and experiences of women at westminster. but what emerged was complaints from mps of all parties of sexist barracking in the chamber sexist insults and patronising assumptions about their abilities. barbara follet one of the so-called blair babes elected in 1997 told researchers: i remember some conservatives - whenever a labour woman got up to speak they would take their breasts - imaginary breasts - in their hands and wiggle them and say melons as we spoke. former liberal democrat mp jackie ballard recalled a stream of remarks from a leading mp on topics such as women s legs or their sexual persuasion. and ex-tory education secretary gillian shepherd remembered how one of her male colleagues called all women betty . when i said look you know my name isn t betty he said ah but you re all the same so i call you all betty . harriet harman told researchers of the sheer hostility prompted by her advancement to the cabinet: well you ve only succeeded because you re a woman. another current member of the cabinet says she was told: oh you ve had a very fast rise who have you been sleeping with even after the great influx of women mps at the 1997 general election and greater numbers of women in the cabinet female mps often say they feel stuck on the edge of a male world. liberal democrat sarah teather the most recent female mp to be elected told researchers: lots of people say it s like an old boys club. i ve always said to me it feels more like a teenage public school - you know a public school full of teenagers. prof joni lovenduski who conducted the study with the help of margaret moran mp and a team of journalists said she was shocked at the findings. we expected a bit of this but nothing like this extent. we expected to find a couple of shocking episodes. but she said there was a difference between the experiences of women before the 1997 intake and afterwards. this was mainly because there were more women present in parliament who were not prepared to put up with the sexist attitudes they came across prof lovenduski said. but she added: some women including the women who came in 1997 received extraordinary treatment and i am not convinced that if the number of women changed back to what it was before 1997 that things would not change back. what i think is shocking to the general public is that these things go on in the house of commons. the interviews are to be placed in the british library as a historical record.

politics

musical future for phones analyst bill thompson has seen the future and it is in his son s hands. i bought my son max a 3g phone partly because they are so cheap and he needed a phone and partly because i am supposed to know about the latest technology and thought i should see how they work in real life. after using it for a while i am not at all tempted to get rid of my sonyericsson p800 smart phone. that has a relatively large screen even if it does only have slower gprs access to the network. i can read my e-mail surf the web using a proper browser and write stuff using the stylus on its touch screen. last week someone e-mailed me a document that had been compressed into a zip file and i was pleasantly surprised to discover that my phone even knew how to decompress it for me. by contrast the confusing menus complicated keyboard and truly irritating user interface of max s 3g phone simply get in the way and i did not see much value in the paid-for services especially the limited web access. the videos of entertainment news horoscopes and the latest celebrity gossip did not appeal and i did not see how the small screen could be useful for any sort of image never mind micro-tv. but then max started playing and i realised i was missing the point entirely. it is certainly not a great overall experience but that is largely due to the poor menu system and the phone layout: the video content itself is compelling. the quality was at least as good as the video streaming from the bbc website and the image is about the same size. max was completely captivated and i was intrigued to discover that i had nearly missed the next stage of the network revolution. it is easy to be dismissive of small screens and indeed anyone of my generation with failing eyesight and the view that there s never anything worth watching on tv is hardly going to embrace these phones. but just as the world wide web was the killer application that drove internet adoption music videos are going to drive 3g adoption. with vodafone now pushing its own 3g service and 3 already established in the uk video on the phone is clearly going to become a must-have for kids sitting on the school bus adults waiting outside clubs and anyone who has time to kill and a group of friends to impress. this will please the network operators who are looking for some revenue from their expensively acquired 3g licences. but it goes deeper than that: playing music videos on a phone marks the beginning of a move away from the download and play model we have all accepted for our ipods and mp3 players. after all why should i want to carry 60gb of music and pictures around with me in my pocket when i can simply listen to anything i want whenever i want streamed to my phone oh - and of course you can always use the phone to make voice calls and send texts something which ensures that it is always in someone s pocket or handbag available for other uses too. i have never really approved of using the internet protocol (ip) to do either audio or video streaming and i think that technically it is a disaster to make phone calls over the net using voice over ip . but i have to acknowledge that the net at least here in the developed western countries is fast and reliable enough to do both. i stream radio to my computer while i work and enjoy hearing the bizarre stations from around the world that i can find online but nowhere else. i am even playing with internet telephony despite my reservations and i appear on go digital on the world service streamed over the web each week. but 3g networks have been designed to do this sort of streaming both for voice and video which gives them an edge over net-based ip services. the 3g services aren t quite there yet and there is a lot to be sorted out when it comes to web access and data charges. vodafone will let you access its services on vodafone live! as part of your subscription cost but it makes you pay by the megabyte to download from other sites - this one for example. this will not matter to business users but will distort the consumer market and keep people within the phone company s collection of partner sites something that should perhaps be worrying telecoms regulator ofcom. but we should not see these new phones simply as cut-down network terminals. if i want fast access to my e-mail i can get a 3g card for my laptop or hook up to a wireless network. the phone is a lot more and it is as a combination of mini-tv personal communications device and music/video player that it really works. there is certainly room in the technology ecosystem for many different sorts of devices accessing a wide range of services over different networks. 3g phones and ipods can co-exist at least for a while but if i had to bet on the long term i would go for content on demand over carrying gigabytes in my pocket. or perhaps some enterprising manufacturer will offer me both. an mp3g player anyone bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.

tech

blunkett row should end - blair prime minister tony blair said it was time to draw a line under the controversy surrounding david blunkett. the tories and the lib dems have called for a second inquiry into the fast-tracking of a visa application for mr blunkett s ex-lover s nanny. sir alan budd found a chain of events linked mr blunkett to leoncia casalme s indefinite leave to remain application. at the end of his middle east trip mr blair said he still admired mr blunkett and thought his integrity was intact. on tuesday sir alan said the application for leave to remain in the uk made by kimberly quinn s nanny was processed in 52 days 120 days faster than the average. but he could not find evidence to show whether mr blunkett s intervention was intended to give special help for his then lover s nanny - or if he was raising the case as an example of poor departmental performance. in his first comments since sir alan s announcement mr blair told bbc news he had not yet read the report in detail. but told bbc news: as far as i m concerned we have drawn a line under that. asked if mr blunkett could return to frontline politics at some point he replied: i have made my admiration for david very clear and it remains. he s been a tremendous colleague he s done a great job for us first as home secretary then as education secretary. the future is something we will have to approach in the future. the prime minister shrugged off claims from conservative leader michael howard that he led a grubby government . he said mr blunkett s integrity remained intact: he was the person first of all who asked for this inquiry to be set up. he accepted that what he originally thought had happened had not happened he said. but i think sir alan budd also accepted there wasn t some conspiracy or cover-up and i just think a line should be drawn under now and we should move on. earlier mr howard said: there does need to be another inquiry a judge-led inquiry. there were so many questions that weren t answered. there was deceit at the heart of government which was not limited to the visa affair he argued. lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten also said there was a strong case for a judge-led judicial review . he said: next time it happens it may not be about a nanny and their visa. it may be about something even more important than that. mr blunkett quit as home secretary last week after being told in advance of sir alan s findings. in a statement the ex-home secretary said he accepted the inquiry s findings. he said he had told the truth throughout and had raised the nanny case as an example of unacceptable backlogs in the system.

politics

broadband in the uk growing fast high-speed net connections in the uk are proving more popular than ever. bt reports that more people signed up for broadband in the last three months than in any other quarter. the 600 000 connections take the total number of people in the uk signing up for broadband from bt to almost 3.3 million. nationally more than 5 million browse the net via broadband. britain now has among the highest number of broadband connections throughout the whole of europe. according to figures gathered by industry watchdog ofcom the growth means that the uk has now surpassed germany in terms of broadband users per 100 people. the uk total of 5.3 million translates into 7.5 connections per 100 people compared to 6.7 in germany and 15.8 in the netherlands. the numbers of people signing up to broadband include those that get their service direct from bt or via the many companies that re-sell bt lines under their own name. part of the surge in people signing up was due to bt stretching the reach of adsl - the uk s most widely used way of getting broadband - beyond 6km. asymmetric digital subscriber line technology lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. the standard speed is 512kbps though faster connections are available. this breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas said paul reynolds chief executive of bt wholesale which provides phone lines that other firms re-sell. bt retail which sells net services under its own name also had a good quarter and provided about 30% of the new broadband customers. this was a slight increase on the previous three months. despite the good news about growth in broadband figures from telecommunications regulator ofcom show that bt faces increasing competition and dwindling influence in other sectors. local loop unbundling (llu) in which bt rivals install their hardware in exchanges and take over the line to a customer s home or office is growing steadily. cable & wireless and ntl have announced that they are investing millions to start offering llu services. by the end of september more than 4.2 million phone lines were using so-called carrier pre-section (cps) services such as talktalk and one.tel which route phone calls across non-bt networks from a local exchange. there are now more than 300 different firms offering cps services and the percentage of people using bt lines for voice calls has shrunk to 55.4%.

tech

roddick to face saulnier in final andy roddick will play cyril saulnier in the final of the sap open in san jose on sunday. the american top seed and defending champion overcame germany s tommy haas the third seed 7-6 (7-3) 6-3. i was feeling horrible earlier in the week roddick said. i thought tonight was a step in the right direction. saulnier battled to a 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-3 win over seventh seed jurgen melzer who twisted his ankle early in the second set. roddick won the last four points of the first-set tie-break before being broken at the start of the second set. but he broke straight back and then broke haas again to lead 4-2. it s extremely frustrating when you have chances against a top-five player and don t do anything with them admitted haas. i rushed a few backhands and he took advantage. saulnier will move into the world s top 50 for the first time after his passage through to the final. it s taken a lot of work and a lot of fighting in my mind he revealed. sometimes i didn t believe i could get to a final and now i am here. i ve stayed mentally strong. i m on the way. i ll keep fighting and work a lot and i ll be up there.

sport

prince crowned top music earner prince earned more than any other pop star in 2004 beating artists such madonna and elton john in us magazine rolling stone s annual list. the singer banked $56.5m (£30.4m) from concerts album and publishing sales with his musicology tour and album. he kept madonna in second place as she earned $54.9m (£29.5m) while embarking on her global re-invention tour. veterans simon and garfunkel were in 10th place their comeback tour helping them earn $24.9m (£13.4m) last year. prince returned to centre stage after a decade in the commercial wilderness the magazine reported. the singer s 2004 tour took $90.3m (£48.5m) in ticket sales and he sold 1.9 million copies of his latest album musicology. although she grossed more than prince last year madonna remained in second place because of the monumental production costs of her tour. heavy metal band metallica s madly in anger with the world tour helped push their 2004 earnings up to $43.1m (£23.1m). they were ahead of sir elton john who took fourth place and almost $42.7m (£23m) from performances including a debut on the las vegas strip. other seasoned performers in the list included rod stewart whose sold-out shows and third volume of the great american songbook covers album helped net him £35m (£19m). the highest-ranking rap act in the list was 50 cent who at number 19 took $24m (£13m) to the bank.

entertainment

ebbers denies worldcom fraud former worldcom chief bernie ebbers has denied claims that he knew accountants were doctoring the books at the firm. speaking in court mr ebbers rejected allegations he pressured ex-chief financial officer scott sullivan to falsify company financial statements. mr sullivan made accounting decisions he told the federal court saying his finance chief had a keen command of the numbers . mr ebbers has denied charges of fraud and conspiracy. during his second day of questioning in the new york trial mr ebbers played down his working relationship with mr sullivan and denied he frequently met him to discuss company business when questioned by the prosecution. in a lot of weeks we would speak ... three or four times mr ebbers said adding that conversations about finances were rarely one-on-one and were usually discussed by a group of people instead. mr ebbers relationship to mr sullivan is key to the case surrounding financial corruption that led to the collapse of the firm in 2002 following the discovery of an $11bn accounting fraud. the prosecution s star witness is mr sullivan one of six worldcom executives indicted in the case he has pleaded guilty to fraud and appeared as a prosecution witness as part of an agreement with prosecutors. during his time on the witness stand mr sullivan repeatedly told jurors he met frequently with mr ebbers told him about changes made to worldcom s accounts to hide costs and had warned him such practises were improper. however during the case on tuesday mr ebbers denied the allegations. i wasn t advised by scott sullivan of anything ever being wrong he told the court. he s never told me he made an entry that wasn t right. if he had we wouldn t be here today. mr ebbers could face a jail sentence of up to 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing. shareholders lost about $180bn in worldcom s collapse 20 000 workers lost their jobs and the company went bankrupt. the company emerged from bankruptcy last year and is now known as mci.

business

china now top trader with japan china overtook the us to become japan s biggest trading partner in 2004 according to numbers released by japan s finance ministry on wednesday. china accounted for 20.1% of japan s trade in 2004 compared with 18.6% for the us. in 2003 the us was ahead with 20.5% and china came second with 19.2%. the change highlights china s growing importance as an economic powerhouse. in 2004 japan s imports from and exports to china (and hong kong) added up to 22 201bn yen ($214.6bn;£114.5bn). this is the highest figure for japanese trade with china since records began in 1947. it compares with 20 479.5bn yen in trade with the us. trade with the us during 2004 was hurt by one-off factors including a 13-month ban on us beef imports following the discovery of a cow infected with mad cow disease (bse) in the us. however economists predict china will become an even more important japanese trading partner in the coming years. on tuesday figures showed china s economy grew by 9.5% in 2004 and experts say the overall growth picture remains strong. analysts see two spurs to future growth as being china s membership of the world trade organisation and lower trade tariffs. during 2004 japan s trade surplus grew 17.9% to 12.011 trillion yen with more than half the surplus 6.962 trillion yen accounted for by its trade with the us. in december the surplus grew 1.8% on a year ago to 1.14 trillion yen thanks to stronger-than-expected exports.

business

downing injury mars uefa victory middlesbrough boss steve mcclaren hopes that stewart downing did not seriously damage his hamstring during the 2-1 uefa cup win over graz ak. the winger was carried off on a stretcher in the closing stages as boro booked their place in the last 16. mcclaren said: stewart has tweaked a hamstring which is a blow for us. we will assess it in the morning. but i m delighted with the match result. they say in sport you can win ugly - and we certainly did. mcclaren was relieved to make it through after a tough encounter at the riverside. to be fair to graz they had a gameplan - they knocked the ball forward especially in the first half and we struggled to deal with it. in the second half we were better but it was frustrating because we got the goal - but one slip and they were back in it. boro face sporting lisbon for a place in the quarter-finals after the portuguese side saw off feyenoord on thursday. and mcclaren added: sporting are technically very good - portuguese sides always are. but the journey goes on for us and we will now go to their magnificent stadium - after the first game here - we ll look forward to it. goalscorer jimmy floyd hasselbaink added: it wasn t a particularly beautiful match to watch - but they made it difficult for us. we didn t play well at all. but you need a little bit of luck and i think we got that when my shot went through the legs of their goalkeeper. i would have liked to play in holland - that would have been a little bit special to me. but so is going back to portugal - i ll be playing against some lads i played with at boavista.

sport

mps to debate euthanasia laws mps are preparing to debate a bill which critics claim would legalise euthanasia by the back door . the bill would give legal force to living wills where people say they want medical treatment withheld if they become severely incapacitated. the mental capacity bill has broad support from charities who say it would give better safeguards over treatment. but christian groups say it could mean doctors withholding food and fluids even if they think it inappropriate. ministers insist the mental capacity bill - for england and wales - would not change laws on assisted suicide and contains a presumption in favour of preserving life. the bill would establish a legal presumption that everybody can make decisions about their own treatment unless proved otherwise. it would allow people to give somebody the power of attorney to make decisions on their behalf which could be challenged by doctors. critics fear it could allow killing by omission through withdrawing treatment. an amendment to the bill - specifically preventing decisions that would bring about death - has been tabled by former conservative leader iain duncan smith. ninety one mps have signed a petition backing the amendment. mps could vote on it later on tuesday during the bill s report stage debate. the bill will then go to a third reading and be debated in the lords before becoming law. the christian medical fellowship (cmf) and lawyers christian fellowship (lcf) said the mental capacity bill would allow euthanasia by the back door . peter saunders of the cmf said it believed advance refusals should be only advisory not legally binding. cmf is concerned that patients will make unwise and hasty advance decisions to refuse food and fluids without being properly informed about the diagnosis and the expected course their illness will take he said. the lcf s andrea williams said there were too many loopholes that could be abused by unscrupulous doctors . ex-labour minister frank field told bbc two s newsnight programme there was a danger people would feel under pressure to do away with themselves so relatives could inherit their assets. constitutional affairs minister david lammy said laws affecting 750 000 people with dementia needed updating. mr lammy told bbc news labour mps would not get a free vote as the law was being strengthened not changed. we are against euthanasia we are against assisted suicide but we are in a situation now where people can make living wills and that has the force of the common law he said. doctors are saying they want more clarity. patients are saying they want more clarity. the making decisions alliance which includes the alzheimer s society age concern mencap and the national autistic society said misunderstandings over the bill had to be cleared up. it will not change the current law on euthanasia and will actually provide a series of better safeguards when decisions are made for people who lack capacity the alliance said in a statement. the british medical association also backs the bill saying it just gives incapacitated people the same rights as others. debate on legalising euthanasia has intensified in the uk because of cases like that of motor neurone patient diane pretty. she died two years ago after losing a legal battle to allow her husband to help her commit suicide.

politics

drink remark acts as diversion the first minister s statement that it was okay to get drunk once in a while has diverted attention from the real issues it has been claimed. jack law chief executive of alcohol focus scotland said jack mcconnell s comment was ill-advised . the media attention had helped to move the focus from scotland s binge drinking problems mr law said. scotsman journalist hamish macdonell said he believed the bigger picture had been obscured by the remark. mr mcconnell was speaking on monday to more than 100 secondary pupils from schools in the highlands about the problems of binge drinking and drink promotions. the one-sentence comment was immediately criticised by the scottish national party which accused him of encouraging young people to get drunk. but the scottish executive has insisted mr mcconnell was speaking about adults and his comments were a recognition that people will get drunk . mr macdonell political editor of the scotsman said: i think we have to say right at the outset that this was a very stupid and ill-advised remark by the first minister. if you come out with something like this saying that by all means get drunk then you will be pilloried for it. however he added that perhaps mr mcconnell could feel rightly aggrieved about the coverage . mr macdonell said: i think the problem here is that he did say a lot more things about binge drinking and under age drinking. but that whole side of things has been lost in the furore over one sentence. i understand why but i think there is a much bigger message here that has been obscured. mr law from voluntary body alcohol focus scotland believed damage had been done to scotland s fight against binge drinking. he said he accepted that young people drank and they did have problems with drink. mr law added: i think the remark was ill-advised - but these remarks are blown out of all proportion and they so easily misrepresent what we are trying to do in scotland. we don t want to preach to young people but we need to acknowledge that they do drink problematically. this diverts us from the real issues which are about promoting responsibility and reducing harm and indeed tackling our drinking culture which is a culture about binge drinking and drunkenness. he said it was vital that young people were properly informed about the risks incurred to themselves and others when they got drunk. mr macdonell said that the first minister should know by now that if he said things which were off the mark they were bound to come back and bite him . he added: here mr mcconnell was talking in the highlands to 100 teenagers and every word he said was put out on a webcast by the scottish executive and then looked at by other politicians and reporters. i think in this instance he has done a lot of really good things and he will be regretting this remark. the scottish national party s holyrood leader nicola sturgeon wrote to mr mcconnell on tuesday accusing him of an error of judgement and calling for him to apologise for his ill-judged comment and withdraw it immediately. in a furious response the first minister said his comments had been distorted and taken out of context. he told ms sturgeon: it is disappointing that you have contributed to this distortion by saying it is staggering that i should encourage young people to get drunk . that is completely untrue. perhaps it would have been wiser for you to find out what was actually said before you rushed to represent my position undermine the convener of education at highland council and insult the intelligence of the young people i spoke with - all for the sake of a simple soundbite.

politics

housewives lift channel 4 ratings the debut of us television hit desperate housewives has helped lift channel 4 s january audience share by 12% compared to last year. other successes such as celebrity big brother and the simpsons have enabled the broadcaster to surpass bbc2 for the first month since last july. however the channel s share of the audience fell from 11.2% to 9.6% last month in comparison with january 2004. celebrity big brother attracted less viewers than its 2002 series. comedy drama desperate housewives managed to pull in five million viewers at one point during its run to date attracting a quarter of the television audience. the two main television channels bbc1 and itv1 have both seen their monthly audience share decline in a year on year comparison for january while five s proportion remained the same at a slender 6.3%. digital multi-channel tv is continuing to be the strongest area of growth with the bbc reporting freeview box ownership of five million including one million sales in the last portion of 2004. its share of the audience soared by 20% in january 2005 compared with last year and currently stands at an average of 28.6%.

entertainment

disputed nirvana box set on sale a box set featuring 68 unreleased nirvana tracks has gone on sale in the us after years of legal wrangles. with the lights out was intended to be released in 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the album nevermind. it was blocked by courtney love the widow of nirvana frontman kurt cobain who did not want unreleased song you know you re right on the box set. the dispute between love and surviving band members krist novoselic and drummer dave grohl was settled in 2002. work began on the box set in 1998 but legal battles put the project on hold. the legal fight centred on a studio recording of the unreleased track you know you re right regarded by fans as one of the unreleased gems of nirvana. the set released on tuesday features three cds and a dvd of rare performance and rehearsal footage. the dvd also includes the first performance of smells like teen spirit the track that launched nirvana on to the international stage in 1991. the band wasn t always pretty or always in tune. this is not nirvana unplugged. it s nirvana unedited said cobain biographer charles cross. the band s development ended tragically when songwriter kurt cobain committed suicide in april 1994.

entertainment

mps issued with blackberry threat mps will be thrown out of the commons if they use blackberries in the chamber speaker michael martin has ruled. the £200 handheld computers can be used as a phone pager or to send e-mails. the devices gained new prominence this week after alastair campbell used his to accidentally send an expletive-laden message to a newsnight journalist. mr martin revealed some mps had been using their blackberries during debates and he also cautioned members against using hidden earpieces. the use of electronic devices in the commons chamber has long been frowned on. the sound of a mobile phone or a pager can result in a strong rebuke from either the speaker or his deputies. the speaker chairs debates in the commons and is charged with ensuring order in the chamber and enforcing rules and conventions of the house. he or she is always an mp chosen by colleagues who once nominated gives up all party political allegiances.

politics

web radio takes spanish rap global spin the radio dial in the us and you are likely to find plenty of spanish-language music. but what you will not find is much spanish-language hip-hop. hip-hop and rap are actually quite popular in the spanish-speaking world but local artists are having trouble marketing their work abroad. but now a us company is bringing rap and hip-hop en espanol to computer users everywhere. los caballeros de plan g are one of mexico s hottest hip-hop acts. they have a devoted fan base in their native monterrey. but most mexican hip-hop fans not to mention fans in most of the spanish-speaking world rarely get a chance to hear the group s tracks on the radio. you can t really just go on the radio and listen to hip-hop in spanish... it s just not accessible says manuel millan a native of san diego california. it s really hard for the spanish hip-hop scene to get into mainstream radio. you usually have a very commercialised sound and the groups are not really known around the country or around the world. millan and two friends set out to change that - they wanted to make groups like los caballeros de plan g accessible to fans globally. mainstream radio stations were not going to play this kind of music and starting their own broadcast station was economically impossible. so millan and his friends launched a website called latinohiphopradio.com. the name says it all: it is web-based radio devoted to the hottest spanish language rap and hip-hop tracks. the site which is in both in english and spanish is meant to be easy to navigate. all the user has to do is download a media player. there are no djs. it is just music streamed over the net for free. suddenly with the help of the website los caballeros de plan g are producing export quality rap. the web might be just the right medium for spanish language hip-hop right now. the genre is in what millan calls its infant stage . but the production values are improving and artists such as argentina s mustafa yoda are pushing to make it better and better. mustafa yoda is currently one of the hottest tracks on latinohiphopradio.com. he s considered the eminem of argentina and the latin american hip-hop scene millan says. he really hasn t had that much exposure as far as anywhere in the world but he s definitely the one to look out for as far as becoming the next big thing in the spanish-speaking world. currently the chilean group makisa is also in latinohiphopradio.com s top 10 as is cuban artist papo record. every country s got it s own cultural differences and they try to put those into their own songs millan says. latinohiphopradio.com has been up and running for a couple of months now. the site has listeners from across the spanish speaking world. right now mexico leads the way accounting for about 50% of listeners. but web surfers in spain are logging in as well - about 25% of the web station s traffic comes from there. that is not surprising as many consider spain to be the leader in spanish-language rap and hip-hop. millan says that spain is actually just behind the united states and france in terms of overall rap and hip-hop production. that might be changing though as more and more latin american artists are finding audiences. but one spaniard is still firmly in latinohiphopradio.com s top 10. his name is tote king and manuel millan says that he is the hip-hop leader in spain. on his track uno contra veinte emcees or one against 20 emcees tote king shows he is well aware of that fact. it s basically him bragging that he s one of the best emcees in spain right now millan says. and it s pretty much true. he has the tightest productions and his rap flow is impeccable it s amazing. latinohiphopradio.com is hoping to expand in the coming year. millan says they want to include more music and more news from the world of spanish language hip-hop and rap. clark boyd is technology correspondent for the world a bbc world service and wgbh-boston co-production.

tech

apple unveils low-cost mac mini apple has unveiled a new low-cost macintosh computer for the masses billed as the mac mini. chief executive steve jobs showed off the new machine at his annual macworld speech in san francisco. the $499 macintosh sold for £339 in the uk was described by jobs as the most important mac made by apple. mr jobs also unveiled the ipod shuffle a new music player using cheaper flash memory rather than hard drives which are used in more expensive ipods. the new computer shifts the company into new territory - traditionally the firm is known as a design and innovation-led firm rather than as a mass-market manufacturer. the mac mini comes without a monitor keyboard and mouse and a second version with a larger hard drive will also be sold for $599. the machine - which will be available from 22 january - was described by jobs as byodkm... bring your own display keyboard and mouse . in an attempt to win over windows pc customers mr jobs said it would appeal to people thinking of changing operating systems. people who are thinking of switching will have no more excuses he said. it s the newest and most affordable mac ever. the new computer has been the subject of speculation for several weeks and while few people will be surprised by the announcement many analysts had already said it was a sensible move. in january apple sued a website after it published what it said were specifications for the new computer. ian harris deputy editor of uk magazine mac format said the machine would appeal to pc-owning consumers who had purchased an ipod. they want a further taste of mac because they like what they have seen with ipod. harris added: everybody thought that apple was happy to remain a niche maker of luxury computers and moving into a market dominated by low margin manufacturers like dell is a bold move. but it shows that apple is keen to capitalise on the mass market success it s had with the ipod. the mac mini will appeal to pc users looking for an attractive no fuss computer. the new ipod shuffle comes in two versions - one offering 512mb of storage for $99 (£69 in the uk) and a second with one gigabyte of storage for $149 (£99) - and went on sale tuesday. the music player has no display and will play songs either consecutively or shuffled. the smaller ipod will hold about 120 songs said mr jobs. mr jobs told the delegates at macworld that ipod already had a 65% market share of all digital music players.

tech

slim playstation triples sales sony playstation 2 s slimmer shape has proved popular with uk gamers with 50 000 sold in its first week on sale. sales have tripled since launch outstripping microsoft s xbox said market analysts chart-track. the numbers were also boosted by the release of the ps2-only game grand theft auto: san andreas. the title broke the uk sales record for video games in its first weekend of release. latest figures suggest it has sold more than 677 000 copies. it is obviously very very encouraging for sony because microsoft briefly outsold them last week john houlihan editor of computerandvideogames.com told bbc news. and with halo 2 [for xbox] out next week it really is a head-to-head contest between them and xbox. although xbox sales over the last week also climbed ps2 sales were more than double that. the figures mean sony is reaching the seven million barrier for uk sales of the console. edinburgh-based developer rockstar which is behind the gta titles has seen san andreas pull in an estimated £24m in gross revenues over the weekend. in comparison blockbuster films like harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban took £11.5m in its first three days at the uk box office. the lord of the rings: the return of the king took nearly £10m over its opening weekend although games titles are four to five times more expensive than cinema tickets. gangster-themed gta san andreas is the sequel to grand theft auto vice city which previously held the record for the fastest-selling video game ever. the xbox game halo 2 released on 11 november in the uk is also widely tipped to be one of the best-selling games of the year. the original title won universal acclaim in 2001 and sold more than four million copies. mr houlihan added that sony had done well with the ps2 but it definitely helped that the release of san andreas coincided with the slimline ps2 hitting the shelves. the run-up to christmas is a huge battlefield for games consoles and titles. microsoft s xbox had been winning the race up until last week in sales. the sales figures also suggest that it may be a largely adult audience driving demand since gta san andreas has an 18 certificate. sony and microsoft have both reduced console prices recently and are preparing the way for the launches of their next generation consoles in 2005. both have hit crucial price points at around £100 and that really does open up new consoles to new audience plus the release of two really important games in terms of development are also driving those sales said mr houlihan.

tech

child access law shake-up planned parents who refuse to allow former partners contact with their children could be electronically tagged under plans being considered by ministers. curfews and community service orders were other options which could be used if court orders to allow parental access were defied lord falconer said. the constitutional affairs secretary outlined some of the plans on tuesday. he denied fathers activists had forced the changes telling the bbc there is a recognition that something is wrong . between 15 000 and 20 000 couples go to court to resolve access disputes each year although in nine out of 10 separations there is no court intervention. lord falconer told bbc radio 4 s today programme he hoped voluntary mediation could help solve disputes before they reached court. but he opposed compulsory mediation saying that it would lead to many people taking part with the wrong attitude. other plans include: - parenting plans to give advice on access arrangements based on real-life examples that have worked in the past - extending in-court conciliation - more informal hearings before contested court cases - better access to legal emotional and practical advice by telephone and internet - legal aid changes to give incentives for early resolution of disputes. judges can already jail parents who breach contact orders but that was a nuclear option which was rarely used as it was not seen as being in the child s interests a spokesman said. the aim of the new legislation was to provide a medium range of penalties such as fines community service orders compulsory anger management or parenting classes or curfews. failure to comply with these measures could result in offenders being electronically tagged. on the possibility of tagging uncooperative parents lord falconer said: tagging may be going too far but let s have a debate about that. full details of the new powers will not be revealed until a bill is published in the next two weeks a spokesman said. the government s proposals have met with disapproval from fathers rights groups. john ison from the controversial group fathers 4 justice said: it is very disappointing. what we have got is a cynical case of recycling existing legislation. jim parton from families need fathers said the new proposals lacked compulsion . we would like to see couples develop a plan and then have it as a source of a court order - then you know where you stand you know what the minimum access is. otherwise you see people make agreements which then fall apart. mr parton said he had been told by children s minister margaret hodge there was not enough time to pass the bill through parliament before the general election which is likely to take place in may. the conservatives have called for an equal split between parents on access to be made law. theresa may shadow secretary for the family told bbc radio 4 s today programme that the government s plans were inadequate and were papering over the cracks of the current system . she said a conservative government would bring a radical reform of the family courts as well as enforcing a legal presumption of co-parenting and compulsory mediation . we want to make courts the last resort rather than the first resort she added. the government says children cannot simply be divided up like property when a marriage collapses. the liberal democrats have argued for flexibility in deciding access rules rather than having rigid targets .

politics

hantuchova in dubai last eight daniela hantuchova moved into the quarter-finals of the dubai open after beating elene likhotseva of russia 7-5 6-4 and now faces serena williams. australian open champion williams survived an early scare to beat russia s elena bovina 1-6 6-1 6-4. world number one lindsay davenport and anastasia myskina also progressed. davenport defeated china s jie zheng 6-2 7-5 while french open champion myskina sailed through after her opponent marion bartoli retired hurt. american davenport will now face fellow former wimbledon champion conchita martinez of spain who ousted seventh-seeded nathalie dechy of france 6-1 6-2. myskina will face eighth-seed patty schnyder from switzerland who defeated china s li na 6-3 7-6 (10-8). the other quarter final pits wild card sania mirza of india against jelena jankovic of serbia and montenegro who both won on tuesday. before her meeting with martinez davenport believes there is some room for improvement in her game. i started well and finished well but played some so-so games in the middle she said. williams was also far from content. i don t know what i was doing there she said. it was really windy and i hadn t played in the wind. all my shots were going out of here. but hantuchova is in upbeat mood ahead of her clash with the younger williams sister who was handed a first-round bye. i feel i have an advantage (over serena) because i have already played two matches on these courts she said. it is a difficult court to play on. very fast and sometimes you feel you have no control over the ball.

sport

france telecom gets orange boost strong growth in subscriptions to mobile phone network orange has helped boost profits at owner france telecom. orange added more than five million new customers in 2004 leading to a 10% increase in its revenues. increased take-up of broadband telecoms services also boosted france telecom s profits which showed a 5.5% rise to 18.3bn euros ($23.4bn; £12.5bn). france telecom is to spend 578m euros on buying out minority shareholders in data services provider equant. france telecom one of the world s largest telecoms and internet service providers saw its full-year sales rise 2.2% to 47.2bn euros in 2004. orange enjoyed strong growth outside france and the united kingdom - its core markets - swelling its subscriber base to 5.4 million. france telecom s broadband customers also increased rising to 5.1 million across europe by the end of the year. the firm said it had met its main strategic objectives of growing its individual businesses and further reducing its large debt. an ill-fated expansion drive in the late 1990s saw france telecom s debt soar to 72bn euros by 2002. however this has now been reduced to 43.9bn euros. our results for 2004 allow us to improve our financial structure while focusing on the innovation that drives our strategy said chief executive thierry breton. looking ahead the company forecast like-for-like sales growth of between 3% and 5% over the next three years. france telecom is consolidating its interest in equant which provides telecoms and data services to businesses. subject to approval by shareholders of the two firms it will buy the shares in equant it does not already own. france telecom said it would fund the deal by selling an 8% stake in telephone directory company pagesjaunes.

business

comic morris returns with sitcom comedian chris morris who created controversial tv show brass eye is to return to screens with a new sitcom about a spoof london media worker. morris will direct and co-write nathan barley - a character from cult website tv go home - for channel 4. it is a send-up of the stereotypical cool metropolitan media scene with nicholas burns in the title role. a brass eye satire of the media handling of paedophilia sparked 2 500 complaints in 2001. nathan barley will be a character-driven comedy according to charlie brooker who created tv go home in 1999 and has co-written the series. barley is described as a webmaster guerrilla film-maker screenwriter dj and in his own words a self-facilitating media node . the story will also feature dan ashcroft a style magazine columnist and his sister claire a film-maker who hates the cool scene. as well as brass eye morris was behind another news show satire the day today and dark sketch comedy jam. the new show is expected to begin in february.

entertainment

february poll claim speculation reports that tony blair is planning a snap general election for february 2005 have been described as idle speculation by downing street. a spokesman said he had no idea where the reports in the sunday times and sunday telegraph had come from. the papers suggest ministers believe the government could benefit from a baghdad bounce following successful iraq elections in january. a british general election was last held in february in 1974. in that election edward heath lost and failed to build a coalition with the liberals. harold wilson took over and increased his majority later in the year in a second election the latest speculation suggests the prime minister favours a february poll in order to exploit his current opinion poll lead over conservative leader michael howard. but that strategy could prompt criticism he was seeking to cut and run after less then four years of a parliamentary term. the papers report that alan milburn labour s head of elections strategy has played a key role in the plan for a february election which would include a new year advertising blitz. new labour s campaign both newspapers said would be centred around the slogan britain is working . a labour party spokesman said the election date was ultimately a matter for mr blair but he was unaware of anything to suggest it would be in february. most commentators have been expecting an election on 5 may. the last election was in june 2001.

politics

ireland 17-12 south africa ronan o gara scored all ireland s points as the home side claimed only their second ever win over south africa on an emotional day at lansdowne road. o gara s first-half try poached after a quick tap-penalty helped the irish to a 8-3 lead at half-time. three further o gara penalties extended ireland s lead to 17-6 as the game entered the final quarter. two percy montgomery penalties set up a frantic finish but ireland held out to claim a famous victory. ireland began strongly and were never led but the match was tense and closely fought throughout. aware of the threat posed by the south africans ireland pressed hard from the outset and played some impressive rugby while searching for a breakthrough. early on denis hickie thought he was in for a try after a delightful backline move but shane horgan s pass was adjudged to have gone forward by referee paul honiss. ireland continued to press and they showed their intent by opting for a line-out in the 19th minute when three straight-forward points were on offer. another south african infringement a minute later led to ireland s first points - o gara took a quick tap-penalty and charged over the opposition line for an irish try. the springboks could feel hard done by as captain john smit had his back to the play when o gara pounced after referee honiss had told the skipper to warn his own players after consistent infringements. stung by the score the south africans almost replied with a try of their own within 60 seconds with geordan murphy s ankle-tap tackle denying a certain try for percy montgomery. however the springboks did win a penalty a minute later which montgomery easily slotted to cut ireland s lead to 5-3. ireland got out of jail when the south africans had a three-to-one overlap near the irish line only to waste the chance. after the sustained springboks pressure the irish produced an attack of their own in the 34th minute which culminated with o gara s clever drop-goal to restore his side s lead to five points which remained the margin at half-time. sustained irish pressure immediately after half-time was rewarded by another o gara penalty. however montgomery responded quickly by slotting over a superb penalty from near the right touchline to cut ireland s lead to five points again. montgomery then burst through the irish defence in the 48th minute and it took a superb girvan dempsey tackle to prevent a try. the south africans suffered a double-blow in the 52nd minute when schalk burger was sin-binned for the second week in a row after killing the ball and o gara punished the transgression by notching another penalty. in the 61st minute hickie was left frustrated by a poor pass from girvan dempsey as a chance to seal the match was wasted. however a late tackle on brian o driscoll enabled o gara to notch another penalty in the 63rd minute which extended ireland s lead to 17-6. however two montgomery penalties had ireland s lead in peril again as the springboks closed to within five points with seven minutes remaining. south africa produced a huge effort in the closing minutes but ireland held on to claim a deserved victory. g dempsey; g murphy b o driscoll (capt) s horgan d hickie; r o gara p stringer; r corrigan s byrne j hayes m o kelly p o connell s easterby j o connor a foley. f sheahan m horan d o callaghan e miller g easterby d humphreys k maggs. : p montgomery; b paulse m joubert de wet barry a willemse j van der westhuyzen; f du preez; o du randt j smit (captain) e andrews b botha v matfield s burger aj venter j van niekerk. : h shimange cj van der linde g britz d rossouw m claassens j de villiers g du toit/j fourie. paul honiss (new zealand)

sport

loyalty cards idea for tv addicts viewers could soon be rewarded for watching tv as loyalty cards come to a screen near you. any household hooked up to sky could soon be using smartcards in conjunction with their set-top boxes. broadcasters such as sky and itv could offer viewers loyalty points in return for watching a particular channel or programme. sky will activate a spare slot on set-top boxes in january marketing magazine new media age reported. sky set-top boxes have two slots. one is for the viewer s decryption card while the other has been dormant until now. loyalty cards have become a common addition to most wallets as high street brands rush to keep customers with a series of incentives offered by store cards. now similar schemes look set to enter the highly competitive world of multi-channel tv. viewers who stay loyal to a particular tv channel could be rewarded by free tv content or freebies from retail partners. broadcasters aiming content at children could offer smartcards which gives membership to exclusive content and clubs. parents could pre-pay for some content as a kind of tv pocket money card said nigel whalley managing director of media consultancy decipher. viewers could even be rewarded for watching ad breaks with ideas such as ad bingo being touted by firms keen to make money out of the new market said mr whalley. credit cards that have been chipped could be used in set-top boxes to pay for movies gambling and gaming. the idea of an intelligent card in boxes offers a lot of possibilities. it will be down to the ingenuity of the content players said mr whalley. for the bbc revenue-generating activity will be of little interest but the new development may prompt changes to freeview set-top boxes said mr whalley. currently most freeview boxes do not have a slot which would allow viewers to use a smartcard. some 7.4 million households have sky boxes and sky is hoping to increase this to 10 million by 2010. loyalty cards could play a role in this particularly in reducing the number of people who cancel their sky subscriptions said ian fogg an analyst with jupiter research.

tech

top tories on lib dem hit list the liberal democrats are aiming to unseat a string of top tories - including leader michael howard - at the next general election. mr howard s seat is at the top of the liberal democrats list. others targeted include oliver letwin david davis and theresa may lib dem s elections chief lord rennard said. he said it was nothing personal but that very many of the prominent conservatives had slender leads in seats where the lib dems were second. in 2001 michael howard won the folkestone & hythe seat with 20 645 votes compared to 14 738 for the liberal democrat candidate peter carroll giving the tory leader a majority of 5 907. asked if this amounted to the party s much vaunted decapitation strategy lord rennard said it was not a term he had ever used. but he urged labour supporters to vote tactically to remove prominent conservatives. i just don t think labour voters in these sort of seats could resist the temptation to use their votes effectively to remove a conservative. he denied this strategy was opportunism insisting the lib dem s policies on issues such as tuition fees the council tax and free care for the elderly appealed to all sides of the political spectrum . we are in favour of tactical voting as long as the tactic is to vote liberal democrat he added. a conservative spokesperson said: the liberal democrats can talk all they like about strategy. the problem the liberal democrats face is that a large number of lib dem voters do not agree with their policies. we will be pointing out how they are soft on crime how they support higher taxes their opposition to controlled immigration and support for giving europe more control over our lives .

politics

errors doomed first dome sale the initial attempt to sell the millennium dome failed due to a catalogue of errors a report by the government s finance watchdog says. the report said too many parties were involved in decision-making when the attraction first went on sale after the millennium exhibition ended. the national audit office said the dome cost taxpayers £28.7m to maintain and sell in the four years after it closed. finally a deal to turn it into a sport and entertainment venue was struck. more than £550m could now be returned to the public sector in the wake of the deal to regenerate the site in greenwich london. the nao report said that this sale went through because it avoided many of the problems of the previous attempt to sell the dome. deputy prime minister john prescott said a good deal had been secured. delivery of the many benefits secured through this deal will continue the substantial progress already made at the millennium village and elsewhere on the peninsula he said. but edward leigh who is chairman of the commons public accounts committee warned the government would have to work hard to ensure taxpayers would get full benefit from the dome deal. he said: this report also shows that the first attempt to sell the dome proved a complete fiasco. every arm of government seems to have had a finger in the pie. the process was confused and muddled. he added: four years after the millennium exhibition closed the government finally has a deal to find a use for what has been a white elephant since it closed in a deal that incredible as it may seem should bring in some money and provide a benefit for the local area and the country as whole. however it was more a question of luck that a strong bid turned up after thefirst abortive attempt. nao head sir john bourn said: in difficult circumstances following the failure of the first competition english partnerships and the office of the deputy prime minister have worked hard to get a deal.

politics

george michael to perform for bbc george michael is to perform live at london s abbey road studios as part of a bbc radio 2 special next month. the session which will broadcast on 18 december will also see him talk about how his biggest hits came about. michael s appearance is part of the station s sold on song initiative which explores the art of songwriting. the station also confirmed that chris tarrant will be hosting a one-off new year s eve programme. he left london s capital fm this year after 17 years. the former breakfast show host - who attracted some of the highest ratings in britain despite only broadcasting to london - will offer his own individual take on the year in the two-hour show. this should be great fun tarrant said. i ve had a fantastic year and i know that lots of other people have as well. i m definitely looking forward to being on radio 2. other christmas specials from radio 2 include singer jamelia hosting a christmas day concert from the london community gospel choir while actor christopher lee will read fireside tales from the likes of edgar allan poe e nesbit and ambrose bierce. comedian harry hill will host a spoof nostalgia show on christmas day while singer jamie cullum will perform a live concert for the station.

entertainment

collins named uk athletics chief uk athletics has ended its search for a new performance director by appointing psychologist dave collins. collins who worked with the british teams at the 2000 and 2004 olympics takes over from max jones. six candidates were interviewed for the job including denise lewis coach charles van commenee and former british triple jumper keith connor. we ve searched long and hard to ensure we have found the right person said uka chief executive david moorcroft. we have thoroughly tested the candidates. i believe david will make a great leader and i have great faith in what he will achieve. collins said: it s a great challenge. over the next few months i will spend time listening to those who already make a significant contribution to athletics and other elite sports in the uk. collins who has worked with javelin thrower steve backley in the past started his career as a royal marine before becoming a pe teacher. he is currently professor of physical education and sport performance at edinburgh university where he helps competitors across many sports including rugby athletics judo and football. he has specialised in helping competitors fulfil their potential through psychology and has worked with the great britain women s curling team who won gold at the 2002 winter olympics. mark lewis-francis sought collins advice in athens when he was looking for inspiration before he ran the final leg of britain s surprise triumph in the 4x100m relay. collins has played rugby at regional level was captain of the great britain american football team and competed at national level in judo and karate. he arrives with british athletics at a crossroads. despite kelly holmes golden double and the success of the sprint relay squad the gb team failed to live up to expectations in athens. many older competitors have retired or are coming to the end of their careers and britain failed to win a single medal at the world junior championships in italy this year. collins will not have day-to-day coaching contact with the athletes but will be expected to make changes to the system and coaching set-up in order to secure medals at the beijing olympics in 2008. the appointment of a new performance director was one of the main recommendations in sir andrew foster s review of the sport which was published in may. it was commissioned by uk sport and sport england which wanted uk athletics to justify funding of more than £40m from the government following the failure to hang on to the 2005 world championships which are now being held in helsinki. van commenee dropped out of the selection process to take on the same role with the dutch olympic committee while connor s application was rejected after an arduous interview process. foster however declared himself satisfied with how the appointment was made. the appointment of david collins with his strong mix of leadership skills and managerial experience is testament to the professional and detailed recruitment process he said.

sport

stars shine on bafta red carpet hollywood stars brought a touch of glamour to london on saturday for the biggest night in the british film calendar. cate blanchett leonardo dicaprio and richard gere were just some of the actors who attended the 2005 bafta film awards. they emerged from limos at leicester square to an uncertain british climate that threatened rain one moment and promised late winter sunshine the next. but the gods were certainly shining on the thousands of film fans who lined the red carpet to meet their idols. screaming built up into a crescendo as more and more big name stars appeared. the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the aviator star leonardo dicaprio who paused in the chilly february air to sign autographs for the throngs. he said the ear-piercing welcome was unlike anything i ve ever encountered. it s very intense and very loud. best actress winner imelda staunton who wore a green chiffon dress that sparkled with sequins and beads told the bbc news website that vera drake was the highlight of her career. her role as a backstreet abortionist in the gritty low-budget film has already led to a clutch of awards and an oscar nomination. she said: never in a million years did i think this was going to happen. being here and just being nominated is great but i hope it means more people will go and see the film as well. rooting for staunton in the best actress category was cate blanchett herself nominated for her supporting role as hollywood icon katherine hepburn in the aviator. shivering in a floor-length shimmering armani dress the australian-born actress stopped to sign autographs and joked: it s tight but i love it. glamour was also brought to the evening by actress sienna miller supermodel claudia schiffer - who was supporting her director husband matthew vaughn - troy actress diane kruger and star of the tv programme the oc micha barton. wearing a caramel-coloured floaty frock by the designer alexander mcqueen miller told reporters the red carpet experience was intense nerve-wracking and cold . the younger stars of british film were also represented in the shape of emma watson who plays hermione in the harry potter films. the 14-year-old said she was hoping to meet dicaprio and keanu reeves but joked that they are probably a little too old for me . actor christian slater who is currently starring in one flew over the cuckoo s nest in london s west end was greeted by cries of christian christian by the ever vocal crowd. keanu reeves who presented the best actress award said being on the red carpet was an exciting part of his job. it is always surreal and when it is nice it is nice he said. martin scorsese whose movie the aviator went on to win best film said being honoured in the uk meant a lot to him. he said: i am a great admirer of british cinema since the 1930s and 40s up until now. they give me a new energy when i see the best coming out of england and every two or three years is a whole new cycle of tough and young film-makers and even the older ones are making good films. to recognise me in this way is a great honour. british actor clive owen who has won a golden globe and a bafta for his supporting role in closer said it meant a lot to be at the ceremony. he said: just to be here really at the baftas. the bottom line is it is a celebration of british films.

entertainment

ray dvd beats box office takings oscar-nominated film biopic ray has surpassed its us box office takings with a combined tally of $80m (£43m) from dvd and video sales and rentals. ray s success on dvd outstripped its $74m (£40m) us box office total earning more than $40m (£22m) on the first day of the dvd s release alone. ray has been nominated in six oscar categories including best film and best actor for jamie foxx. the film recounts the life of blues singer ray charles who died in 2004. in its first week on home entertainment release the film was the number one selling dvd with the limited edition version coming in at number 11. sony horror film the grudge starring michelle gellar was the us second best-selling dvd with jennifer lopez and richard gere s romantic comedy shall we dance at number three. foxx s critically acclaimed performance as ray has already earned him a screen actors guild award for best actor as well as a prestigious golden globe. ray director taylor hackford responsible for the classic 1982 film an officer and a gentleman has also received an oscar nomination in the best director category. the film s three other oscar nominations are for costume film editing and sound mixing.

entertainment

director nair s vanity project indian film director mira nair has said she was thrilled to be given the chance to make william makepeace thackeray s novel vanity fair - as the book has been a favourite through her life. the book is one of the classics of english literature - the story of scheming 19th century social climber becky sharp played in the film by reese witherspoon. nair said that she jumped at the chance to work on the film which she has - controversially - made in a bollywood style including two song-and-dance routines in the film s second half. it was serendipity really - i was offered vanity fair by the studio focus features who had distributed monsoon wedding nair told bbc world service s masterpiece programme. they offered me their next-best thing not realising that vanity fair had actually been one of my favourite novels since i was 16 years old in an irish catholic boarding school in india. since her 1988 debut feature salaam bombay! - nominated for the best foreign language oscar and winner of best first feature at cannes - nair has become one of india s most famous and respected directors. she is not restricted to bollywood however - she followed salaam bombay! with mississippi masala starring denzel washington and the perez family her first hollywood film. her career peaked with monsoon wedding in 2001 which won the golden lion award at venice. nair s indian-style adaptation of vanity fair however has been attacked by critics in the us - where it only reached number eight at the box office in its opening week - who described the bollywood elements as jarring. the film has a new ending with becky sharp running off for a new life in india. but nair said that her film had picked up on the way thackeray - who was born in india but moved to england as a young man - had seen the world. first when i was 16 it was becky sharp who is a completely memorable character because i recognised myself in her - i recognised all the ladies who did not want to be ladies who wanted to buck the system that they were in she said. but it was the sort of novel i somehow kept at the side of my bed for many years and i would dip into every now and then and suddenly get completely mesmerised again. as i got older and read it i think it was thackeray s clarity - his clear-sightedness about his own society the fact that he was born in india but came to england as a young man - that gave him the eyes of an outsider and yet he was an insider. that perspective was something i really loved. nair also defended her decision to cast an american actress - reese witherspoon - as becky sharp despite the fact that all the rest of the cast are british or irish. i cast intuitively - in my films i cast as many non-actors as i cast actors she said. for me it is intuition - i have to fall in love with an actor. it is a visceral response. thackeray describes becky sharp as a minx. also she s described as someone who s tiny red-headed and thin. reese had that completely minx-like irresistibility about her. having won the role because she seemed physically perfectly suited to the part however witherspoon then became pregnant. but nair said that though this had created the need for some filming tricks it had in fact also helped the film. it was a self-fulfilling prophesy - when i first met her husband [actor ryan philippe] i said knock her up won t you i need some flesh on the girl she joked. i m not a fan of the underfed los angeles actor at all. this was for me about becky sharp being eventually a full-blown woman through the course of the film. i love the luminosity that pregnancy brings i love the fleshiness i love the ample bosom - it gave me much more to play with. nair explained how camera tricks had been used to disguise witherspoon s bump in various scenes - including hiring a number of young boys in costumes to stand in front of her. she runs she gets off coal carts she jumps off horses - she does everything nair said. but there s also a certain carriage with horses that is going to wipe the screen at a certain moment because of the bump.

entertainment

tsunami debt deal to be announced chancellor gordon brown has said he hopes to announce a deal to suspend debt interest repayments by tsunami-hit nations later on friday. the agreement by the g8 group of wealthy nations would save affected countries £3bn pounds a year he said. the deal is thought to have been hammered out on thursday night after japan one of the biggest creditor nations finally signed up to it. mr brown first proposed the idea earlier this week. g8 ministers are also believed to have agreed to instruct the world bank and the international monetary fund to complete a country by country analysis of the reconstruction problems faced by all states hit by the disaster. mr brown has been locked in talks with finance ministers of the g8 which britain now chairs. germany also proposed a freeze and canada has begun its own moratorium. the expected deal comes as foreign secretary jack straw said the number of britons dead or missing in the disaster have reached 440.

politics

de niro film leads us box office film star robert de niro has returned to the top of the north american box office with his film hide and seek. the thriller shot straight to the number one spot after taking $22m (£11.7m) at the box office. de niro recently spent three weeks at the top with comedy meet the fockers which was at number five this week. oscar hopefuls the aviator million dollar baby and sideways all cashed in on their multiple nominations with stronger ticket sales. in hide and seek de niro plays a widower whose daughter has a creepy imaginary friend. despite lukewarm reviews from critics the film took more than the expected $18m (£9.5m). the element of a real actor in a psychological thriller certainly elevated it said bruce snyder president of domestic distribution at 20th century fox. clint eastwood s million dollar baby led the oscar hopefuls with $11.8m (£6.3m) coming in at number three during its first weekend of wide release. the aviator a film biography of howard hughes that leads the oscar field with 11 nominations was at number six for the weekend with $7.5m (£4m). oscar best-picture nominee sideways entered the top ten for the first time in its 15th week of release. it came in seventh $6.3 (£3.35m). last week s top film ice cube s road-trip comedy are we there yet slipped to second place with $17m (£9m) while coach carter fell two places to number four taking $8m (£4.25m) in its third week. rounding out the top ten were in good company - starring dennis quaid and scarlett johansson - racing stripes and assault on precinct 13.

entertainment

india and russia in energy talks india and russia are to work together in a series of energy deals part of a pact which could see india invest up to $20bn in oil and gas projects. on the agenda are oil and gas extraction as well as transportation deals to be led by russian energy giant gazprom and india s ongc. the indian firm is also expected to hold talks on tuesday about buying a stake in assets once owned by yukos. it is reported to be keen on buying a 15% stake in oil unit yuganskneftegas. the former yukos subsidiary was controversially sold off last year and eventually acquired by state-owned energy giant rosneft. russian media reported that india and russia signed a memorandum of understanding on energy co-operation on tuesday during a meeting between oil and natural gas corporation chairman subir raha gazprom chairman aleksey miller and india s petroleum minister mani shankar aiyar. the agreement is likely to see the two companies develop refining facilities in russia india and elsewhere and organise delivery of oil gas and petrochemicals from russia to india and other countries across asia. ongc could invest in gas and oil fields in sakhalin in the far east of russia and may also take part in joint tender bids for projects in eastern siberia and the caspian sea. india is urgently searching for fresh energy supplies - particularly liquefied natural gas - as domestic demand is growing at more than 5% a year. ongc s mr raha said the two could work together on joint bids from next year. at current oil and gas prices our cash flow situation is good he told reuters. what we are saying is - gazprom has a huge amount of gas and we have the money. the investment may go up to $20bn or more for a period of five years or so. russian news agencies reported that india s petroleum minister mr aiyar and russian energy minister viktor khristenko would discuss the future of yugansk at a meeting on tuesday. ongc s mr raha declined to be drawn on his firm s reported interest in the company. however he stressed that ongc was not interested in a loan-for-oil deal in connection to yugansk similar to that concluded recently between rosneft and china s national petroleum corporation. china s problem is it has immediate demand and they needed the oil for their coastal refineries. we do not. we would like long-term security through equity participation. it is thought that any decision over yugansk will be delayed until a us court has decided whether to grant yukos bankruptcy protection. yukos is suing a host of companies involved in the sale of yugansk auctioned off to pay a huge back-tax bill. it has also threatened legal action against any business which has future commercial dealings with its former subsidiary.

business

no re-draft for eu patent law a proposed european law on software patents will not be re-drafted by the european commission (ec) despite requests by meps. the law is proving controversial and has been in limbo for a year. some major tech firms say it is needed to protect inventions while others fear it will hurt smaller tech firms. the ec says the council of ministers will adopt a draft version that was agreed upon last may but said it would review all aspects of the directive . the directive is intended to offer patent protection to inventions that use software to achieve their effect in other words computer implemented invention . in a letter ec president josé manuel barroso told the president of the european parliament josep borrell that the commission did not intend to refer a new proposal to the parliament and the council (of ministers) as it had supported the agreement reached by ministers in may 2004. if the european council agrees on the draft directive it will then return for a second reading at the european parliament. but that will not guarantee that the directive will become law - instead it will probably mean further delays and controversy over the directive. most eu legislation now needs the approval of both parliament and the council of ministers before it becomes law. french green mep alain lipietz warned two weeks ago that if the commission ignored the parliament s request it would be an insult to the assembly. he said that the parliament would then reject the council s version of the legislation as part of the final or conciliation stage of the decision procedure. in the us the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. this means that the us-based amazon.com holds a patent for its one-click shopping service for example. critics are concerned that the directive could lead to a similar model happening in europe. this they fear could hurt small software developers because they do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies if they had to fight patent legal action in court. supporters say current laws are inefficient and it would serve to even up a playing field without bringing eu laws in line with the us.

tech