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benitez issues warning to gerrard liverpool manager rafael benitez has ordered captain steven gerrard not to play down their champions league ambitions and be more positive. gerrard told the bbc liverpool were unlikely to win the trophy this year. benitez responded: i spoke to steven and said to him that in future it s better to think we can win the champions league. why not he said: we need winners here and everyone thinking only of winning. i always want to win. benitez added: when we lose i only think of solutions. if you only think about winning the next game you don t know what the draw will be. if we can win the next game maybe we will draw a side that isn t so strong or a side with injuries or suspensions. benitez is hoping to win his first trophy since arriving at liverpool from valencia when they play chelsea in the carling cup on sunday in cardiff. | 1 | Sports |
dvd copy protection strengthened dvds will be harder to copy thanks to new anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm macrovision. the pirated dvd market is enormous because current copy protection was hacked more than five years ago. macrovision says its new ripguard technology will thwart most but not all of the current dvd ripping (copying) programs used to pirate dvds. ripguard is designed to... reduce dvd ripping and the resulting supply of illegal peer to peer said the firm. macrovision said the new technology will work in nearly all current dvd players when applied to the discs but it did not specify how many machines could have a problem with ripguard. the new technology will be welcomed by hollywood film studios which are increasingly relying on revenue from dvd sales. the film industry has stepped up efforts to fight dvd piracy in the last 12 months taking legal action against websites which offer pirated copies of dvd movies for download. ultimately we see ripguard dvd... evolving beyond anti-piracy and towards enablement of legitimate online transactions interoperability in tomorrow s digital home and the upcoming high-definition formats said steve weinstein executive vice president and general manager of macrovision s entertainment technologies group. macrovision said ripguard was designed to plug the digital hole that was created by so-called decss ripper software. it circumvents content scrambling system measures placed on dvds and let people make perfect digital copies of copyrighted dvds in minutes. those copies could then be burned onto a blank dvd or uploaded for exchange to a peer-to-peer network. macrovision said ripguard would also prevent against rent rip and return - where people would rent a dvd copy it and then return the original. ripguard is expected to be rolled out on dvds from the middle of 2005 the company said. the new system works specifically to block most ripping programs - if used those programs will now most likely crash the company said. macrovision has said that rip guard can be updated if hackers find a way around the new anti-copying measures. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
us cyber security chief resigns the man making sure us computer networks are safe and secure has resigned after only a year in his post. amit yoran was director of the national cyber security division within the us department of homeland security created following the 9/11 attacks. the division was tasked with improving us defences against malicious hackers viruses and other net-based threats. reports suggest he left because his division was not given enough clout within the larger organisation. mr yoran took up his post in september 2003 and his first task was to get the cyber security division up and running. the organisation had a staff of about 60 people and a budget of about $80m (£44.54m). the division was charged with thinking up and carrying out action to make us networks more impervious to attack and disruption by the viruses worms and hack attacks that have become commonplace. in the last 12 months mr yoran oversaw the creation of a cyber alert system that sends out warnings about big hitting viruses and net attacks as they occur. the warnings also contained information about how firms and organisations could protect themselves against these attacks. the cyber security division also audited us government networks to discover exactly what was sitting on which network. the next step was to be the creation of a scanning system to identify vulnerabilities that made federal networks and machines susceptible to attack by malicious hackers and virus writers. mr yoran s division was also doing work to identify the networks and machines that had been broken into by cyber criminals. despite this success mr yoran left his post abruptly at the end of last week reportedly only giving one day s notice to bosses at the department of homeland security. amit yoran has been a valuable contributor on cyber security issues over the past year and we appreciate his efforts in starting the department s cybersecurity program said a department of homeland security spokeswoman. some reports have suggested that mr yoran felt frustrated by the lack of prominence given to work to protect against net-based threats in the wider homeland organisation. an attempt by us politicians to pass a law to promote mr yoran and raise the profile of his department s work is now mired in congress. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
england s defensive crisis grows england s defensive worries have deepened following the withdrawal of tottenham s ledley king from the squad to face holland. chelsea s john terry and wayne bridge are also out leaving coach sven-goran eriksson with a real problem for wednesday s match at villa park. injured rio ferdinand and sol campbell were both left out of the squad and matthew upson has already pulled out. wes brown and jamie carragher are likely to be the makeshift partnership. terry the captain of chelsea as they push for the premiership title would have been a certain starter in the absence of campbell and ferdinand. but now he has pulled out with a bruised knee and is likely to be replaced by carragher alongside brown. manchester united s brown last played for england in the defeat by australia at upton park in february 2003. the 25-year-old was only called into the squad on sunday night as cover following the enforced withdrawal of upson who has a hamstring injury. and brown now looks certain to add to his tally of seven senior appearances for england. king was forced to pull out after his groin injury was assessed by england s medical staff. eriksson has still not decided whether to call up any further back-up having already summoned phil neville after bridge pulled out with a foot injury. | 1 | Sports |
farrell saga to drag on - lindsay wigan chairman maurice lindsay says he does not expect a quick solution to the on-going saga of captain andy farrell s possible switch to rugby union. leicester and saracens are leading the chase for the player but lindsay told the bbc it was not yet a done deal. as well as the rugby football union the league the individual club and the england coaching team have a say so it s not a quick decision he said. he s given us 12 years service so if he wants to go we d support him. the prospect of farrell switching codes has been the main talking point of the super league season so far. it came as a bolt out of the blue to us admitted lindsay. but he s a very loyal friend to the club so there s no question that he s deserting us. he just fancies a challenge. although the move would be a lucrative one for both farrell and wigan lindsay said money was not a motivating factor for the club. the money side of things hasn t been concluded but it s not the point for wigan he told radio five live. a shortage of money has never been a problem for us. even if we did have it under the salary cap we can t spend a penny of it anyway - we d rather have the player. lindsay also said he understood why rugby union was so interested in signing up farrell. it d be a great loss for us but a great boost for them said the warriors chief. this guy is an absolute sporting icon. he s been at the top for so long and has demonstrated so many attributes that you need to make it in a tough contact sport. athletes like him - ellery hanley and martin johnson - don t come along very often. you re very lucky to have them whilst you ve got them. | 1 | Sports |
ibm puts cash behind linux push ibm is spending $100m (£52m) over the next three years beefing up its commitment to linux software. the cash injection will be used to help its customers use linux on every type of device from handheld computers and phones right up to powerful servers. ibm said the money will fund a variety of technical research and marketing initiatives to boost linux use. ibm said it had taken the step in response to greater customer demand for the open source software. in 2004 ibm said it had seen double digit growth in the number of customers using linux to help staff work together more closely. the money will be used to help this push towards greater collaboration and will add linux-based elements to ibm s workplace software. workplace is a suite of programs and tools that allow workers to get at core business applications no matter what device they use to connect to corporate networks. one of the main focuses of the initiative will be to make it easier to use linux-based desktop computers and mobile devices with workplace. even before ibm announced this latest spending boost it was one of the biggest advocates of the open source way of working. in 2001 it put $300m into a three-year linux program and has produced linux versions of many of its programs. linux and the open source software movement are based on the premise that developers should be free to tinker with the core components of software programs. they reason that more open scrutiny of software produces better programs and fuels innovation. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
renault boss hails great year strong sales outside western europe helped renault boost its profits by more than 40% in 2004 although the firm warned of lower margins this year. france s second largest carmaker enjoyed a healthy 43% rise in net profits to 2.4bn euros ($3.1bn; £2.9bn) as sales rose 8% to 40.7bn euros. the firm said strong demand outside western europe and the good performance of its megane range lifted its results. chairman louis schweitzer said 2004 had been a great year for the firm. renault sold more than 2.4 million vehicles in 2004 an increase of 4% on the previous year. growth came mainly from outside western europe with particularly strong sales in turkey russia and north africa. in total sales outside western europe - renault s core market - rose 16.5%. japanese carmaker nissan - in which renault owns a 44% stake - contributed 1.7bn euros in net income over the year. nissan chairman carlos ghosn is to succeed mr schweitzer at the head of renault later this year. renault said the outlook for the industry in europe this year was stable with small growth forecast in other regions. the firm will benefit from the launch of a new clio model in the coming year and the roll-out of the logan in many markets. however the firm said it expected operating margins to be lower in 2005 at 4% of sales as opposed to 5%. in a sluggish market and an environment impacted by the rise in raw material prices renault intends to continue to grow its global sales the company said in a statement. | 2 | Business |
hearts 2-1 livingston hearts wrapped up their scottish cup quarter-final tie against livingston with two goals in the first 10 minutes. lee miller scored inside the opening 60 seconds heading over colin meldrum and into the net from a jamie mcallister free kick. mcallister himself scored the second when he met saul mikoliunas cross at the back post to put the game beyond the visitors. craig easton headed in a controversial goal after an hour but hearts held on. the opening goal came after gus bahoken had clumsily fouled miller 35 yards from goal. mcallister floated the free kick into the livi box and miller outjumped the static visiting defence to loop his header from 10 yards over meldrum. with just 10 minutes on the clock the home side doubled their lead. mikoliunas sprinted down the right crossed to the back post where mcallister raced in to head past meldrum. moments later miller came close to grabbing his second with a first-time drive from 16 yards which skimmed the bar. then mcallister picked up a pass from stephen simmons and drove an angled shot from 20 yards narrowly past meldrum s far post. the impressive mikoliunas twice went close before half time - a low drive was comfortably gathered by meldrum and then he curled a left-footed shot past the keeper s right-hand post. livi manager richard gough made three changes at the interval bringing on defender goran stanic midfielder gabor vincze and striker ferenc horvath for bahoken derek lilley and mark wilson. but in the opening stages of the second period little changed. however the west lothian side gave themselves a lifeline with a controversial goal. eric deloumeaux sent jason dair away on the right and he tried to give the ball to mcpake who looked to be in an offside position. the livi striker ignored the pass however and dair ran on to it and played easton in at the back post and he headed home from close range. the home side called for offside against mcpake but referee alan freeland ignored their claims and pointed to the centre-circle. livi went all out for the equaliser. in the 87th minute burton o brien was hauled back at the edge of the box by neil macfarlane but dair sent his shot just inches wide. gordon webster miller hartley neilson mcallister simmons (macfarlane 64) berra burchill (wyness 82) mikoliunas (cesnauskis 77) wallace. moilanen kizys. berra webster. miller 1 mcallister 10. meldrum mcnamee bahoken (stanic 45) deloumeaux strong dair easton mark wilson (vincze 45) lilley (horvath 45) o brien mcpake. mckenzie hand. : vincze horvath. easton 60. 9 796 a freeland | 1 | Sports |
reds sink 10-man magpies titus bramble s own goal put liverpool on the comeback trail as injury-hit newcastle were well beaten at anfield. patrick kluivert s close-range finish put newcastle ahead after 31 minutes but they were pegged back as bramble headed in steven gerrard s corner. neil mellor gave liverpool the lead before half-time from milan baros pass before the czech added a third after rounding shay given on the hour. newcastle then had lee bowyer sent off for two bookable offences. liverpool brought back luis garcia after a hamstring injury while newcastle were forced to draft in kluivert after craig bellamy was a late withdrawal with a back injury sustained in the warm-up. and garcia should have crowned his return with a goal inside the opening minute when he took a pass from baros but shot wildly over the top from eight yards. olivier bernard was only inches away from giving newcastle the lead after 20 minutes when he fired just wide from a free-kick 25 yards out. but souness s side did go ahead 11 minutes later in highly controversial circumstances. kluivert looked suspiciously offside when kieron dyer set bowyer free but the dutchman was then perfectly placed to score from six yards. the lead lasted three minutes with liverpool back on terms as bramble headed gerrard s corner into his own net under pressure from sami hyypia. and liverpool were ahead after 37 minutes when baros slid a perfect pass into mellor s path for the youngster to slip a slide-rule finish into given s bottom corner. garcia s finishing was wayward and he was wasteful again in first-half injury time shooting tamely at given after good work by xabi alonso. any hopes of a newcastle recovery looked to be snuffed out on the hour when a brilliant turn and pass by harry kewell set baros free and he rounded given to score. jermaine jenas then missed a glorious chance to throw newcastle a lifeline shooting over from just eight yards out from shola ameobi s cross. then bowyer who had already been booked for a foul on alonso was deservedly shown the red card by referee graham poll for a wild challenge on liverpool substitute florent sinama-pongolle. dudek finnan hyypia carragher riise luis garcia (nunez 73) gerrard alonso kewell (traore 85) baros mellor (sinama pongolle 75). subs not used: hamann harrison. bramble 35 og mellor 38 baros 61. given andrew o brien elliott bramble bernard bowyer dyer (ambrose 80) jenas milner (n zogbia 72) kluivert (robert 58) ameobi. subs not used: harper. bowyer (77). bowyer elliott bernard. kluivert 32. 43 856. g poll (hertfordshire). | 1 | Sports |
bond game fails to shake or stir for gaming fans the word goldeneye evokes excited memories not only of the james bond revival flick of 1995 but also the classic shoot-em-up that accompanied it and left n64 owners glued to their consoles for many an hour. adopting that hallowed title somewhat backfires on this new game for it fails to deliver on the promise of its name and struggles to generate the original s massive sense of fun. this however is not a sequel nor does it relate to the goldeneye film. you are the eponymous renegade spy an agent who deserts to the bond world s extensive ranks of criminal masterminds after being deemed too brutal for mi6. your new commander-in-chief is the portly auric goldfinger last seen in 1964 but happily running around bent on world domination. with a determination to justify its name which is even less convincing than that of tina turner s similarly-titled theme song the game literally gives the player a golden eye following an injury which enables a degree of x-ray vision. rogue agent signals its intentions by featuring james bond initially and proceeding to kill him off within moments squashed by a plummeting helicopter. the notion is of course to add a novel dark edge to a 007 game but the premise simply does not get the juices flowing like it needs to. recent bond games like nightfire and everything or nothing were very competent and did a fine job of capturing the sense of flair invention and glamour of the film franchise. this title lacks that aura and when the bond magic shines through it feels like a lucky accident. the central problem is that the gameplay just is not good enough. quite aside from the bizarre inability to jump the even more bizarre glaring graphical bugs and dubious enemy ai the levels simply are not put together with much style or imagination. admittedly the competition has been tough even in recent weeks with the likes of halo 2 and half life 2 triumphing in virtually every department. what the game is good at is enveloping you in noisy dynamic scenes of violent chaos. as is the trend of late you are made to feel like you are in the midst of a really messy and fraught encounter. sadly that sense of action is outweighed by the difficulty of navigating and battling within the chaos meaning that frustration is often the outcome. and irregular save points mean you have to backtrack each time you are killed. a minute red dot passes for a crosshair although the collision-detection is so suspect that the difficulties of aiming weapons are compensated for. shooting enemies from a distance can be tricky and you will not always know you have picked them off since dead enemies vanish literally before they have fully hit the floor and they do so in some woefully uninspiring death animations. it is perhaps indicative of a lack of confidence that the game maker s allow you several different weapons almost immediately and throw you quickly into raging firefights - no time is risked with a measured build-up. by far the most satisfying element of the game is seeing old favourites like dr no goldfinger hat-fiend oddjob and crazed russian sex beast xenia onatopp resurrected after all these years and with their faces rendered in an impressively recognisable fashion. there is a real thrill from doing battle with these legendary villains and it is a testament to the power of the bond universe that they can cut such a dash. but the in-game niggles combined with a story and presentation that just do not feel sufficiently well thought-through will make this a disappointment for most. diehard fans of bond will probably find enough here to make it a worthwhile purchase and try to ignore the failings. the game is weak not completely unplayable. then again 007 fanatics may also take umbrage at the cavalier blending of characters from different eras. given james bond s healthy pedigree in past games there is every reason to hope that this is just a blip a commendable idea that just has not worked that will be rectified when the character inevitably makes his return. goldeneye: rogue agent is out now | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
china keeps tight rein on credit china s efforts to stop the economy from overheating by clamping down on credit will continue into 2005 state media report. the curbs were introduced earlier this year to ward off the risk that rapid expansion might lead to soaring prices. there were also fears that too much stress might be placed on the fragile banking system. growth in china remains at a breakneck 9.1% and corporate investment is growing at more than 25% a year. the breakneck pace of economic expansion has kept growth above 9% for more than a year. rapid tooling-up of china s manufacturing sector means a massive demand for energy - one of the factors which has kept world oil prices sky-high for most of this year. in theory the government has a 7% growth target but continues to insist that the overshoot does not mean a hard landing in the shape of an overbalancing economy. a low exchange rate - china s yuan is pegged to a rate of 8.28 to the dollar which seems to be in relentless decline - means chinese exports are cheap on world markets. china has thus far resisted international pressure to break the link or at least to shift the level of its peg. to some extent the credit controls do seem to be taking effect. industrial output grew 15.7% in the year to october down from 23% in february and inflation slowed to 4.3% - although retail sales are still booming. | 2 | Business |
nasdaq planning $100m share sale the owner of the technology-dominated nasdaq stock index plans to sell shares to the public and list itself on the market it operates. according to a registration document filed with the securities and exchange commission nasdaq stock market plans to raise $100m (£52m) from the sale. some observers see this as another step closer to a full public listing. however nasdaq an icon of the 1990s technology boom recently poured cold water on those suggestions. the company first sold shares in private placements during 2000 and 2001. it technically went public in 2002 when the stock started trading on the otc bulletin board which lists equities that trade only occasionally. nasdaq will not make money from the sale only investors who bought shares in the private placings the filing documents said. the nasdaq is made up shares in technology firms and other companies with high growth potential. it was the most potent symbol of the 1990s internet and telecoms boom nose-diving after the bubble burst. a recovery in the fortunes of tech giants such as intel and dot.com survivors such as amazon has helped revive its fortunes. | 2 | Business |
scrum-half williams rejoins bath bath have signed their former scrum-half andy williams on a short-term deal from the neath-swansea ospreys. wales international williams whose contract with the welsh region was due to expire in june has agreed a contract until the end of the season. with martyn wood s injury likely to keep him out until february bath need experienced back-up to nick walshe. said williams: when this opportunity presented itself i did not really have to think twice about it. williams capped by wales against romania in 2003 should figure in the match squad for monday s zurich premiership match at sale sharks. he lost his ospreys starting place to new zealander jason spice and has fallen further behind in the pecking order. the welsh region has two outstanding young no 9 prospects in richie rees and rhodri wells. bath director of rugby jack rowell though believes williams fits the bill perfectly. he has been playing regular heineken cup and celtic league rugby and he has a great affection for bath rowell told bath s official website. we are delighted to be able to welcome him back to the club. | 1 | Sports |
aids and climate top davos agenda climate change and the fight against aids are leading the list of concerns for the first day of the world economic forum in the swiss resort of davos. some 2 000 business and political leaders from around the globe will listen to uk prime minister tony blair s opening speech on wednesday. mr blair will focus on africa s development plans and global warming. earlier in the day came an update on efforts to have 3 million people on anti-aids drugs by the end of 2005. the world health organisation (who) said 700 000 people in poor countries were on life-extending drugs - up from 440 000 six months earlier but amounting to only 12% of the 5.8 million who needed them. a $2bn funding gap still stood in the way of hitting the 2005 target the who said. the themes to be stressed by mr blair - whose attendance was announced at the last minute - are those he wants to dominate the uk s chairmanship of the g8 group of industrialised states. other issues to be discussed at the five-day conference range from china s economic power to iraq s future after this sunday s elections. aside from mr blair more than 20 other world leaders are expected to attend including french president jacques chirac - due to speak by video link after bad weather delayed his helicopter - and south african president thabo mbeki whose arrival has been delayed by ivory coast peace talks. the ukraine s new president viktor yushchenko will also be there - as will newly elected palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. showbiz figures will also put in an appearance from u2 frontman bono - a well-known campaigner on trade and development issues - to angelina jolie a goodwill campaigner for the un on refugees. unlike previous years protests against the wef are expected to be muted. anti-globalisation campaigners have called off a demonstration planned for the weekend. at the same time about 100 000 people are expected to converge on the brazilian resort of porto alegre for the world social forum - the so-called anti-davos for campaigners against globalisation for fair trade and many other causes. in contrast the davos forum is dominated by business issues - from outsourcing to corporate leadership - with bosses of more than a fifth of the world s 500 largest companies scheduled to attend. a survey published on the eve of the conference by pricewaterhousecoopers said four in ten business leaders were very confident that their companies would see sales rise in 2005. asian and american executives however were much more confident than their european counterparts. but the political discussions focusing on iran iraq and china are likely to dominate media attention. | 2 | Business |
stam spices up man utd encounter ac milan defender jaap stam says manchester united know they made a mistake by selling him in 2001. the sides meet at old trafford in the champions league game on wednesday and the 32-year-old s dutchman s presence is sure to add spice to the fixture. united made a mistake in selling me stam told uefa s champions magazine. i was settled at manchester united but they wanted to sell me. if a club want to sell you there is nothing you can do. you can be sold like cattle. sir alex ferguson surprised the football world - and stam - by selling the dutchman to lazio for £16.5m in august 2001. the decision came shortly after stam claimed in his autobiography that ferguson had tapped him up when he was at psv eindhoven. but ferguson insisted he sold the defender because the transfer fee was too good to refuse for a player past his prime. the affair still rankles with the dutchman. i was settled at manchester united i had even just ordered a new kitchen but they wanted to sell me he said. in what other industry can a good employee be ushered out the door against their wishes of course you can refuse to go but then the club have the power to put you on the bench. i don t agree that players control the game. there have been opportunities to confront them in the newspapers but i have turned them down. what s the point wednesday s game at old trafford will provide an intriguing confrontation between united s young attackers wayne rooney and cristiano ronaldo and milan s veteran defence of stam paolo maldini cafu and alessandro costacurta. stam says rooney s teenage stardom is in stark contract to his own start in the game. we can t all be wayne rooneys - at his age i was training to be an electrician and thought my chance of becoming a professional footballer had gone he said. starting late can be a good thing. some kids who start early get bored. i had my youth - having fun drinking beers blowing up milk cannisters. it sounds strange but it s a tradition where i grew up in kampen - and i had done all the things i wanted to do. | 1 | Sports |
anelka eyes man city departure striker nicolas anelka reportedly wants to leave manchester city in search of champions league football. anelka 25 is in talks over a contract extension beyond 2007 with city but is believed to fear his career will go stale if he stays at the club. the news of the world reports that anelka told a french magazine: i either decide to win titles or to have an easy life. i think i will always choose football if a great club makes me an offer. he added: to win titles you need players who have the capability of doing so. if we stagnate between eighth and 15th place it s impossible to progress. if i am going to score goals and not win there is a risk it is going to create a feeling of being fed up. anelka has earned a reputation for being a difficult character to handle after spells at arsenal real madrid and paris st germain and he feels that is now coming back to haunt him. i am in talks to sign an extension to my contract he said. i am well here but the sporting aspect also comes into account. playing for eighth place is good but i miss the champions league. i won it with real madrid in 2000 and i need to be playing in it - and i should be playing in it. i m not in it because of things that have happened in the past and had nothing to do with football. but i don t blame anyone. it s a bit my fault. | 1 | Sports |
lions blow to world cup winners british and irish lions coach clive woodward says he is unlikely to select any players not involved in next year s rbs six nations championship. world cup winners lawrence dallaglio neil back and martin johnson had all been thought to be in the frame for next summer s tour to new zealand. i don t think you can ever say never said woodward. but i would have to have a compulsive reason to pick any player who is not available to international rugby. dallaglio back and johnson have all retired from international rugby over the last 12 months but continue to star for their club sides. but woodward added: the key thing that i want to stress is that i intend to use the six nations and the players who are available to international rugby as the key benchmark. my job along with all the other senior representatives is to make sure that we pick the strongest possible team. if you are not playing international rugby then it s still a step up to test rugby. it s definitely a disadvantage. i think it s absolutely critical and with the history of the lions we have got to take players playing for the four countries. woodward also revealed that the race for the captaincy was still wide open. it is an open book he said. there are some outstanding candidates from all four countries. and following the all blacks impressive displays in europe in recent weeks including a 45-6 humiliation of france woodward believes the three-test series in new zealand will provide the ultimate rugby challenge. their performance in particular against france was simply awesome said the lions coach. certain things have been suggested about the potency of their front five but they re a very powerful unit. with his customary thoroughness woodward revealed he had taken soundings from australia coach eddie jones and jake white of south africa following their tour matches in britain and ireland. as a result woodward stressed his lions group might not be dominated by players from england and ireland and held out hope for the struggling scots. scotland s recent results have not been that impressive but there have been some excellent individual performances. eddie in particular told me how tough they had made it for australia and i will take on board their opinions. and scotland forward simon taylor looks certain to get the call provided he recovers from knee and tendon problems. i took lessons from 2001 in that they did make a mistake in taking lawrence dallaglio when he wasn t fit and went on the trip. every player has to be looked at on their own merits and simon taylor is an outstanding player and i have no doubts that if he gets back to full fitness he will be on the trip. i am told he should be back playing by march and he has plenty of time to prove his fitness for the lions - and there are other players like richard hill in the same boat. | 1 | Sports |
uk broadband gets speed injection broadband s rapid rise continues apace as speeds gear up a notch. an eight megabit service has been launched by internet service provider uk online. it is 16 times faster than the average broadband package on the market and will pave the way for services such as video-on-demand and broadband tv. the service is possible due to a new regime which allows other operators to use bt s exchanges and will initially only be available in towns. it represents a big leap forward for broadband said chris stening uk online general manager. the service comes with a hefty £39.99 monthly price tag but will mean users can download mp3s in seconds and offers tv-quality video streaming. the service includes wifi as standard meaning users can connect multiple pcs laptops and game consoles from any room in the house. not everybody will be able to take advantage of the service as it will be restricted to metropolitan areas. the service will initially be available to users within 2km radius of 230 telephone exchanges in areas such as london birmingham glasgow and cambridge. that represents about 4.4 million households. the service is possible due to a decision to loosen bt s strangle-hold on telephone exchanges. the process known as local loop unbundling was put in motion by the now defunct telecoms watchdog oftel but has only proved popular in recent months due to falling costs. uk online is looking at the possibility of bundling services such as cheap net telephone calls video-on-demand and tv by 2005 if the service proves popular. the service is twice as fast as any other service on offer in the uk and 16 times faster than most broadband services said mr stening. it takes a big leap for broadband and we are very excited about it he said. countries such as south korea and france have found the advantage of upping the speeds of broadband. in south korea video-on-demand over the net is cheaper than renting a dvd and online gaming is huge. mr stening believes the service will appeal to people in multi-occupancy buildings as well as easing family arguments. a typical family with two adults and two children is currently sharing a 512 kilobit service. this will basically give them 2 megabits each he said. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
us regulator to rule on pain drug us food and drug regulators will decide on friday whether to recommend the sale of painkillers that have been linked to a high risk of heart attack and stroke. the food and drug administration (fda) advisory panel will give its verdict after hearing evidence for three days. the painkillers - called cox-2 inhibitors - are sold under brand names such as celebrex and vioxx. vioxx was withdrawn from shops last year but merck said it would consider selling it if it gets fda approval. the fda has been asked to decide if the benefits to patients justify the increased risks. putting vioxx back on the shelves is likely to boost profits at merck and make easier any legal battles with people who claim to have been injured by the drug analysts said. merck voluntarily stopped sales of vioxx on 30 september a move which caused the firm s fourth-quarter earnings to slide to $1.1bn (£581m) from $1.4bn a year earlier. merck s shares tumbled more than 10% on the news and the company has had to set aside millions of dollars to cover the cost of vioxx-related litigation. alarm bells were rung by a research note called approve which showed that the risk of heart attack and stroke doubled in patients who had been taking the drug for at least 18 months. the cox-2 inhibitors were developed by drug companies including merck and pfizer because they cause users fewer stomach problems than other painkillers. pfizer is still selling its celebrex and bextra products though investigations have suggested that they may also be harmful to the heart. merck s announcement of a possible reintroduction of vioxx caught analysts by surprise. merck s head of research peter kim said that it withdrew vioxx based on the information that was available to us at the time knowing there were alternative therapies . he went on to say that things have since changed in the light of new reports. given this new information its is not clear that the cardiovascular risk observed in approve makes vioxx unique in the class of similar drugs marketed in the us mr kim explained. on thursday david graham from the fda s office of drug safety told the advisory panel that there really doesn t appear to be a need for cox-2 inhibitors. according to calculations presented to the us senate by dr graham in november vioxx may be linked to as many as to 56 000 american deaths. facing stem criticism for its handling of the vioxx case the fda said on tuesday that it will create an independent body to oversee the safety of drugs already in the market place. european regulators meanwhile ruled on thursday that patients who have had heart disease or a stroke should not take cox-2 inhibitors. the european medicines agency also said doctors should be cautious about giving the drugs to patients who have risk factors for heart disease. | 2 | Business |
hodgson shoulders england blame fly-half charlie hodgson admitted his wayward kicking played a big part in england s 18-17 defeat to france. hodgson failed to convert three penalties and also missed a relatively easy drop goal attempt which would have given england a late win. i m very disappointed with the result and with my myself hodgson said. it is very hard to take but it s something i will have to get through and come back stronger. my training s been good but it just didn t happen. hodgson revealed that olly barkley had taken three penalties because they were out of my range but the centre could not convert his opportunities either particularly the drop goal late on. it wasn t a good strike he added. i felt as soon as it hit my boot it had missed. it s very disappointing but i must recover. andy robinson said he would keep working on the kicking with his squad. however the england coach added that he would take some positives from the defeat. we went out to play and played some very good rugby and what have france done he said. they won the game from kicking penalties from our 10m line. it s very frustrating. the lads showed a lot of ambition in the first half they went out to sustain it in the second but couldn t build on it. we took the ball into contact and you know when you do that it is a lottery whether the referee is going to give the penalty to your side or the other side. we have lost a game we should have won. there is a fine line between winning and losing and for the second week we ve been on the wrong side of that line and it hurts. england went in at half-time with a 17-6 lead but they failed to score in the second half and dimitri yachvili slotted over four penalties as france overhauled the deficit. england skipper jason robinson admitted his side failed to cope with france s improved second-half display. we controlled the game in the first half but we knew that they would come out and try everything after half-time he said. we made a lot of mistakes in the second half and they punished us. they took their chances when they came. it s very disappointing. last week we lost by two points now one point. | 1 | Sports |
rangers seal old firm win goals from gregory vignal and nacho novo gave rangers a scrappy victory at celtic park that moves them three points clear of the champions. rangers had rarely threatened until celtic goalkeeper rab douglas let defender vignal s 25-yard drive slip through his grasp and into the net. opposite number ronald waterreus had been rangers hero saving superbly from craig bellamy and john hartson. striker novo secured victory lobbing douglas with eight minutes remaining. it ended celtic s 11-game unbeaten run at home in old firm derbies and gave rangers manager alex mcleish his first victory at the home of his glasgow rivals. celtic had won their last six meetings on their home pitch including twice already this season. they started confidently with new signing bellamy on loan from newcastle united given his celtic debut up front with wales international colleague john hartson and chris sutton dropping into midfield. it took bellamy just four minutes to threaten taking on marvin andrews before delivering a low drive that was held by waterreus at the second attempt. he had an even better chance after hartson dispossesed sotiris kyrgiakos and sent his strike partner clear with only the goalkeeper to beat. but waterreus did well to beat away bellamy s disappointing low drive from 16 yards. waterreus came to the rescue again when the ball fell to hartson just inside the box and the dutch goalkeeper made a brave block. it was an old firm return for barry ferguson as mcleish stuck by the side that thumped four goals past hibernian. but rangers found celtic harder to break down and douglas was not threatened until 10 minutes after the break. dado prso turned inside neil lennon only for the celtic goalkeeper to beat away his powerful 18-yard drive. a great defensive header by andrews prevented hartson pouncing from five yards out. hartson foxed vignal at the edge of the rangers box but the striker s shot on the turn was again beaten away by waterreus. rangers were beginning to dominate the midfield and vignal collecting a knock back from fernando ricksen broke the deadlock douglas somehow letting the frenchman s dipping drive slip through his grasp. novo pounced on a moments hesitation in the celtic defence to latch on to a long ball from ricksen and lob the ball over the advancing douglas. ricksen appeared to be hit by a coin but it could not prevent rangers celebrations at the final whistle. : douglas mcnamara balde varga laursen petrov lennon sutton thompson bellamy hartson. subs: marshall henchoz juninho paulista lambert maloney wallace mcgeady. : waterreus hutton kyrgiakos andrews ball buffel ferguson ricksen vignal prso novo. subs: mcgregor namouchi burke alex rae malcolm thompson lovenkrands. : m mccurry | 1 | Sports |
mcilroy continues winning streak james mcilroy stormed to his second international victory in less than a week claiming the men s 800m at the teag indoor meeting in erfurt. the northern ireland runner set a new personal best of one minute 46.68 seconds - a time good enough to qualify for the european indoor championships. i m qualified now and that s what matters most said the 28-year-old. mcilroy is now hoping to gain a late entry into sunday s international indoor meeting in leipzig. the northern irishman is hoping manager ricky simms can swing it for him to compete after he initially withdrew after contracting a cold. after three successive wins over the past fortnight mcilroy is brimming with confidence. i ve been waiting over six years for this to happen and now i m certain my career has turned the corner. on friday mcilroy delivered an impressive run despite suffering from his bad cold. the aaa indoor and outdoor champion accelerated away from the field in the final 300m beating german wolfram mulle by 0.90 seconds. mcilroy set a world-leading mark for 1 000m at the sparkassen cup in stuttgart last weekend. and his time in erfurt makes him third fastest over 800m in the world this year. | 1 | Sports |
house prices suffer festive fall uk house prices fell 0.7% in december according to figures from the office of the deputy prime minister. nationally house prices rose at an annual rate of 10.7% in december less than the 13.7% rise the previous month. the average uk house price fell from £180 126 in november to £178 906 reflecting recent land registry figures confirming a slowdown in late 2004. all major uk regions apart from northern ireland experienced a fall in annual growth during december. december is traditionally a quiet month for the housing market because of christmas celebrations. however recent figures from the land registry - showing a big drop in sales between the last quarter of 2004 and the previous year - suggested the slowdown could be more than a seasonal blip. the volume of sales between october and december dropped by nearly a quarter from the same period in 2003 the land registry said. although both the office of the deputy prime minister (odpm) and the land registry figures point to a slowdown in the market the most recent surveys from nationwide and halifax have indicated the market may be undergoing a revival. after registering falls at the back-end of 2004 halifax said house prices rose by 0.8% in january and nationwide reported a rise of 0.4% in the first month of the year. | 2 | Business |
mg rover china tie-up delayed mg rover s proposed tie-up with china s top carmaker has been delayed due to concerns by chinese regulators according to the financial times. the paper said chinese officials had been irritated by rover s disclosure of its talks with shanghai automotive industry corp in october. the proposed deal was seen as crucial to safeguarding the future of rover s longbridge plant in the west midlands. however there are growing fears that the deal could result in job losses. the observer reported on sunday that nearly half the workforce at longbridge could be under threat if the deal goes ahead. shanghai automotive s proposed £1bn investment in rover is awaiting approval by its owner the shanghai city government and by the national development and reform commission which oversees foreign investment by chinese firms. according to the ft the regulator has been annoyed by rover s decision to talk publicly about the deal and the intense speculation which has ensued about what it will mean for rover s future. as a result hopes that approval of the deal may be fast-tracked have disappeared the paper said. there has been continued speculation about the viability of rover s longbridge plant because of falling sales and unfashionable models. according to the observer 3 000 jobs - out of a total workforce of 6 500 - could be lost if the deal goes ahead. the paper said that chinese officials believe cutbacks will be required to keep the mg rover s costs in line with revenues. it also said that the production of new models through the joint venture would take at least eighteen months. neither rover nor shanghai automotive commented on the reports. | 2 | Business |
us to probe airline travel chaos the us government is to investigate two airlines- us airways and delta air lines comair subsidiary - after travel chaos over the christmas weekend. staff calling in sick at us airways and computer failures at comair left 30 000 passengers stranded and 10 000 pieces of baggage undelivered. us airways is in chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years and battling to cut costs. it is currently trying to negotiate pay cuts with flight and baggage staff. transportation secretary norman mineta said he was deeply concerned at the disruption to passengers and ordered a thorough investigation. comair s computer breakdown plunged its flight-crew scheduling system into disarray. altogether some 1 100 flights were cancelled over the holiday long weekend. mr mineta said it was important to understand what happened why it happened and whether the carriers properly planned for the holiday travel period and responded appropriately to consumer needs in the aftermath . adding to the atmosphere of chaos were mountains of luggage left to pile up when a third of us airways baggage handling staff called in sick. there was also a shortage of us airways flight attendants with nearly a fifth saying they were too sick to work leading to many flight cancellations. however union officials denied there had been a deliberate sickout . they said that many people have flu at this time of year and that the airline is chronically understaffed. us airways ended up cancelling over 100 flights on christmas day stranding passengers in as many as 119 airports. ground crews at us airways the seventh-largest us airline which is now in chapter 11 bankruptcy protection face a court-imposed pay cut next month. the airline needs to negotiate other paycuts if it is to find a route out of bankruptcy. it is looking for paycuts totalling $800m. us airways has a full-scale employee mutiny on its hands commented michael boyd an industry consultant. disruptions to flight schedules could discourage customers from flying with us airways reducing revenues. us airways had to cancel approximately 65 flights on thursday 180 on friday 140 on saturday 43 on sunday and 15 on monday said industry officials. the airline said it was embarrassed by the situation and deeply regrets any inconvenience caused to customers the probe will focus on the industry s compliance with a 1999 agreement aimed at improving the quality of passenger service that has so far allowed airlines to avoid congressionally-mandated standards. analysts said the christmas chaos cast doubt on us airway s ability to emerge from bankruptcy - and was likely to worsen the finances of troubled delta parent of comair. comair deeply regrets the inconvenience to all of our customers caused by the severe winter storm in the ohio river valley during the busy holiday season exacerbated by problems with the airline s crew scheduling system causing additional flight delays and cancellations the delta subsidiary said in a statement. | 2 | Business |
ireland call up uncapped campbell ulster scrum-half kieran campbell is one of five uncapped players included in ireland s rbs six nations squad. campbell is joined by ulster colleagues roger wilson and ronan mccormack along with connacht s bernard jackman and munster s shaun payne. gordon d arcy is back after injury while munster flanker alan quinlan also returns to international consideration. the squad is selected purely on form. a lot of players put their hands up coach eddie o sullivan told bbc sport. kieran campbell was just one of those players. he has been playing very well in the heineken cup and deserves his call-up. there is big competition in some departments and not so much in others. there were one or two players who were unfortunate just to miss out. back-row forwards david wallace and victor costello are omitted with o sullivan having quinlan wilson simon easterby anthony foley denis leamy and johnny o connor vying for the three positions. with david humphreys kevin maggs simon best and tommy bowe again included it is ulster s biggest representation in a training panel for quite some time. munster and leinster have 12 and 11 players in the squad respectively while jackman is the sole connacht representative. four british-based players are also included. ulster forward ronan mccormack said he was totally shocked to be included. i m really looking forward to it said mccormack. i played with guys like brian o driscoll and denis hickie back in my school days in leinster so i do know a few of them although not that well. it will be great to work with them. s best (ulster) s byrne (leinster) r corrigan (leinster) l cullen (leinster) s easterby (llanelli) a foley (munster) j hayes (munster) m horan (munster) b jackman (connacht) d leamy (munster) e miller (leinster) r mccormack (ulster) d o callaghan (munster) p o connell (munster) j o connor (wasps) m o kelly (leinster) f sheahan (munster) r wilson (ulster) a quinlan (munster). t bowe (ulster) k campbell (ulster) g d arcy (ulster) g dempsey (leinster) g duffy (harlequins) g easterby (leinster) d hickie (leinster) a horgan (munster) s horgan (leinster) d humphreys (ulster) k maggs (ulster) g murphy (leicester) b o driscoll (leinster) r o gara (munster) s payne (munster) p stringer (munster). k gleeson (leinster) t howe (ulster) j kelly (munster) n mcmillan (ulster). | 1 | Sports |
call to overhaul uk state pension the uk pension system has been branded inadequate and too complex by a leading retirement think-tank. the pensions policy institute (ppi) said replacing the state pension with a citizen s pension would help tackle inequality and complexity. the change would see pensions being calculated on length of residency in the uk rather than national insurance (ni) contributions. reform could reduce poverty by aiding people with broken employment records. the ppi added that once the state system was reformed the government should look at options to overhaul private and workplace pensions. the think tank s proposals were made in response to the recent publication of the pensions commission s initial report into uk retirement savings. according to the pensions commission s report 12 million working people are not saving enough for their retirement. as a result living standards could fall for the next generation of uk pensioners. the report added that a combination of higher taxes higher savings and/or a higher average retirement age was needed to solve the uk pension crisis. | 2 | Business |
bosvelt optimistic over new deal manchester city s paul bosvelt will find out within a month whether he is to be offered a new one-year deal. the 34-year-old dutch midfielder is out of contract in the summer and although his age may count against him he feels he can play on for another season. i told the club i would like to stay for one more year. they promised me an answer within the next month so i am waiting to see he said. the main concern is my age but i think i have proved i am fit enough. bosvelt joined city from feyenoord in 2003 and at first he struggled to adapt to life in england. but his professionalism and dedication impressed manager kevin keegan. he realised the pace of the game was faster than anything he was used to but he drove himself back into the team. he is an unsung hero said keegan. | 1 | Sports |
hansen delays return until 2006 british triple jumper ashia hansen has ruled out a comeback this year after a setback in her recovery from a bad knee injury according to reports. hansen the commonwealth and european champion has been sidelined since the european cup in poland in june 2004. it was hoped she would be able to return this summer but the wound from the injury has been very slow to heal. her coach aston moore told the times: we re not looking at any sooner than 2006 not as a triple jumper. moore said hansen may be able to return to sprinting and long jumping sooner but there is no short-term prospect of her being involved again in her specialist event. there was a problem with the wound healing and it set back her rehabilitation by about two months but that has been solved and we can push ahead now he said. the aim is for her to get fit as an athlete - then we will start looking at sprinting and the long jump as an introduction back to the competitive arena. moore said he is confident hansen can make it back to top-level competition though it is unclear if that will be in time for the commonwealth games in melbourne next march when she will be 34. it s been a frustrating time for her but it has not fazed her determination he added. | 1 | Sports |
crude oil prices back above $50 cold weather across parts of the united states and much of europe has pushed us crude oil prices above $50 a barrel for the first time in almost three months. freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have increased demand for heating fuel in the us where stocks are low. fresh falls in the value of the dollar helped carry prices above the $50 mark for the first time since november. a barrel of us crude oil closed up $2.80 to $51.15 in new york on tuesday. opec members said on tuesday that it saw no reason to cut its output. although below last year s peak of $55.67 a barrel which was reached in october prices are now well above 2004 s average of $41.48. brent crude also rose in london trading adding $1.89 to $48.62 at the close. much of western europe and the north east of america has been shivering under unseasonably low temperatures in recent days. the decline in the us dollar to a five-week low against the euro has also served to inflate prices. the dollar moved sharply overnight and oil is following it said chris furness senior market strategist at 4cast. if the dollar continues to weaken oil will be obviously higher. several opec members said a cut in production was unlikely citing rising prices and strong demand for oil from asia. i agree that we do not need to cut supply if the prices are as much as this fathi bin shatwan libya s oil minister told reuters. i do not think we need to cut unless the prices are falling below $35 a barrel he added. opec closely watches global stocks to ensure that there is not an excessive supply in the market. the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere will focus attention on stockpiles of us crude and gasoline which are up to 9% higher than at this time last year. heavy stockpiles could help force prices lower when demand eases. | 2 | Business |
huge rush for jet airways shares indian airline jet airways initial public offering was oversubscribed 16.2 times bankers said on friday. over 85% of the bids were at the higher end of the price range of 1 050-1 125 rupees ($24-$26). jet airways a low-fare airline was founded by london-based ex-travel agent naresh goya and controls 45% of the indian domestic airline market. it sold 20% of its equity or 17.2 million shares in a bid to raise up to $443m (£230.8m). the price at which its shares will begin trading will be agreed over the weekend bankers said. the demand for the ipo was impressive. we believe that over the next two years the domestic aviation sector promises strong growth even though fuel prices could be high said hiten mehta manager of merchant banking firm fortune financial services. india began to open up its domestic airline market - previously dominated by state-run carrier indian airlines - in the 1990s. jet began flying in 1993 and now has competitors including air deccan and air sahara. budget carriers kingfisher airlines and spicejet are planning to launch operations in may this year. jet has 42 aircraft and runs 271 scheduled flights daily within india. it recently won government permission to fly to london singapore and kuala lumpur. | 2 | Business |
cuba winds back economic clock fidel castro s decision to ban all cash transactions in us dollars in cuba has once more turned the spotlight on cuba s ailing economy. all conversions between the us dollar and cuba s convertible peso will from 8 november be subject to a 10% tax. cuban citizens who receive money from overseas and foreign visitors who change dollars in cuba will be affected. critics of the measure argue that it is a step backwards reflecting the cuban president s desire to increase his control of the economy and to clamp down on private enterprise. in a live television broadcast announcing the measure president castro s chief aide said it was necessary because of the united states increasing economic aggression . the ten percent obligation applies exclusively to the dollar by virtue of the situation created by the new measures of the us government to suffocate our country he said. the bush administration has taken an increasingly harsh line on cuba in recent months. president bush s government which has been a strong supporter of the 40-year-old trade embargo on cuba introduced even tighter restrictions on cuba in may. cubans living in the us are now limited to one visit to cuba every three years and they can only send money to their immediate relatives. a leading expert on the cuban economy says that castro s tax plan smacks more of a desperate economic measure than a political gesture. i think it is primarily an effort to raise some cash says jose barrionuevo head of strategy for latin american emerging markets for barclays capital. it underscores the fact that the economy is in very bad shape and the government is looking for sources of revenue. the tax will hit the families of cuban exiles hardest as they benefit from the money their displaced relatives send home. this money known as remittances can amount to as much as $1bn a year. those remaining in cuba will have to pay the tax. their relatives abroad may choose to send money in other currencies which are not subject to the tax such as euros or increase their dollar payments to compensate. however many of cuban s poorest citizens could be worse off as a result. the tax will also affect the two million tourists who visit cuba every year particularly those americans who continue to defy a ban on travel there. cuba s tourist industry has been one of its few economic success stories over the last ten years and according to the un economic commission for latin america is now worth $3bn to the country. the tax is designed to provide much-needed revenue for cuba s cash-strapped economy. cuba badly needs dollars to pay for essential items such as food fuel and medicine. much of cuba s basic infrastructure is in a state of disrepair. in recent weeks cuba has suffered its most serious power cuts in a decade and there have also been water shortages in parts of the island. cuba s economy had staged a modest recovery during the mid 1990s as the collapse of the soviet union forced it to embrace foreign capital decentralise trade and permit limited private enterprise. however a decline in foreign tourism since 2002 periodic hurricanes and the increasing costs of importing oil have put a strain on the economy. it has however yet to be seen if the tax will provide a solution to the government s economic problems. the tax could fuel an active black market in currency trading mr barrionuevo said. the main impact could be that it will create a black market which you typically see in countries like venezuela which have restrictions on capital he says. mr barrioneuvo says the measure could be dropped if it has a damaging effect on economic activity. it is intended to be a permanent measure but i am not sure it can last too long. | 2 | Business |
wal-mart to pay $14m in gun suit the world s largest retailer wal-mart has agreed to pay a total of $14.5m (£7.74m) to settle a lawsuit over gun sales violations in california. the lawsuit alleged wal-mart committed thousands of gun sales violations in california between 2000 and 2003. the total payment includes $5m in fines and more than $4m to fund state compliance checks with gun laws and prevent ammunition sales to minors. wal-mart agreed to suspend firearms sales in its california stores in 2003 the alleged violations included the sale of guns to 23 people who were not allowed to possess them and delivering 36 guns to customers who acquired them for people not allowed to own firearms. although wal-mart has suspended firearms sales in the state california attorney general bill lockyer said he wanted to be sure the giant supermarket chain would follow state rules in future. wal-mart s failure to comply with gun safety laws put the lives of all californians at risk by placing guns in the hands of criminals and other prohibited persons said mr lockyer. although wal-mart has suspended gun sales in california this settlement will ensure that it follows state law if it renews sales and will also provide valuable public education about the importance of gun safety. the world s largest retailer has not yet decided whether to resume firearms sales in california company spokesman gus whitcomb said. | 2 | Business |
can smith work scottish wonders the worst kept secret in scottish football was revealed on thursday when walter smith was named as the new national manager. from the moment berti vogts miserable tenure in charge of scotland ended the former rangers and everton boss has been the overwhelming favourite for the post. but is smith the man for what must be one of the hardest jobs in football the 56-year-old takes over at a time when the national side is in the doldrums. scotland have not reached a major finals since the world cup in 1998 and reaching germany 2006 looks near impossible having picked up just two points from the opening three games in the qualifying race. and the fifa rankings see scotland listed at an all time low of 77th below the likes of estonia ghana angola and thailand. scotland are not blessed with quality players with experience at the top level so smith will have to get the best out of meagre resources. smith s track record make impressive reading and he is widely respected within the game. the man who was alex ferguson s assistant when scotland played at the 1986 world cup won seven league titles with rangers. and his appointment has been widely endorsed by many of the games top names including ferguson and graeme souness who took him to ibrox as his assistant in 1986. characters like souness ferguson and current ibrox manager alex mcleish all cite smith s experience and his expansive knowledge of the scottish game. much was made of vogts inability to express himself to the players and media. that will certainly not be the case with smith. the former dundee united and dumbarton full-back is from the managerial old school - straight talking and never slow to let players know when he expects better (often with the use of some colourful invective). but it should be remembered vogts came to scotland with an impressive curriculum vitae - a world cup winner as a player and a european championships winner as a manager. smith will inherit the same problems vogts had - a callow squad of players with no exceptional talents. and it remains to be seen if smith will experience the rash of call-offs that blighted so much of vogts preparation work. a fresh start for the scottish national team was imperative and smith is widely regarded as a safe pair of hands. but will a safe pair of hands be enough when the adroit hands of a magician might be required... | 1 | Sports |
pompeii gets digital make-over the old-fashioned audio tour of historical places could soon be replaced with computer-generated images that bring the site to life. a european union-funded project is looking at providing tourists with computer-augmented versions of archaeological attractions. it would allow visitors a glimpse of life as it was originally lived in places such as pompeii. it could pave the way for a new form of cultural tourism. the technology would allow digital people and other computer-generated elements to be combined with the actual view seen by tourists as they walk around an historical site. the lifeplus project is part of the eu s information society technologies initiative aimed at promoting user-friendly technology and enhancing european cultural heritage. engineers and researchers working in the europe-wide consortium have come up with a prototype augmented-reality system. it would require the visitor to wear a head-mounted display with a miniature camera and a backpack computer. the camera captures the view and feeds it to software on the computer where the visitor s viewpoint is combined with animated virtual elements. at pompeii for example the visitor would not just see the frescos taverns and villas that have been excavated but also people going about their daily life. augmented reality has been used to create special effects in films such as troy and lord of the rings and in computer gaming. this technology can now be used for much more than just computer games said professor nadia magnenat-thalman of the swiss research group miralab. we are for the first time able to run this combination of software processes to create walking talking people with believable clothing skin and hair in real-time she said. unlike virtual reality which delivers an entirely computer-generated scene to the viewer the lifeplus project is about combining digital and real views. crucial to the technique is the software that interprets the visitor s view and provides an accurate match between the real and virtual elements. the software capable of doing this has been developed by a uk company 2d3. andrew stoddart chief scientist at 2d3 said that the eu project has been driven by a new desire to bring the past to life. the popularity of television documentaries and dramatisations using computer-generated imagery to recreate scenes from ancient history demonstrates the widespread appeal of bringing ancient cultures to life he said. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
kenyan school turns to handhelds at the mbita point primary school in western kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. they are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. it is a pilot project run by eduvision which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. matthew herren from eduvision told the bbc programme go digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called e-slates. the e-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. this in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. the data is transmitted alongside audio signals. the base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld e-slates. it downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. it also stores this on its hard disc. the system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. but mr herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. it s very simple to set up just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school but it s also a one-way connection so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult. the project is still at the pilot stage and eduvision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the linux-based system. the content is divided into visual information textual information and questions. users can scroll through these sections independently of each other. eduvision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. mr herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. he is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site google to digitise some of the world s largest university libraries. all books in the public domain something like 15 million could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. then every rural school in africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in oxford and harvard currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. but mr herren says eduvision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. we plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station have the e-slates charge during the day when the children are in school then they can take them home at night and continue working. maciej sundra who designed the user interface for the e-slates says the project s ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks the fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
new year s texting breaks record a mobile phone was as essential to the recent new year s festivities as a party mood and auld lang syne if the number of text messages sent is anything to go by. between midnight on 31 december and midnight on 1 january 133m text messages were sent in the uk. it is the highest ever daily total recorded by the mobile data association (mda). it represents an increase of 20% on last year s figures. wishing a happy new year to friends and family via text message has become a staple ingredient of the year s largest party. while texting has not quite overtaken the old-fashioned phone call it is heading that way said mike short chairman of the mda. in the case of a new years eve party texting is useful if you are unable to speak or hear because of a noisy background he said. there were also lots of messages sent internationally where different time zones made traditional calls unfeasible he said. the british love affair with texting shows no signs of abating and the annual total for 2004 is set to exceed 25bn according to mda. the mda predicts that 2005 could see more than 30bn text messages sent in the uk. we thought texting might slow down as mms took off but we have seen no sign of that said mr short. more and more firms are seeing the value in mobile marketing. restaurants are using text messages to tell customers about special offers and promotions. anyone in need of a bit of january cheer now the party season is over can use a service set up by jongleurs comedy club which will text them a joke a day. for those still wanting to drink and be merry as the long days of winter draw in the good pub guide offers a service giving the location and address of their nearest recommended pub. users need to text the word goodpub to 85130. if they want to turn the evening into a pub crawl they simply text the word next. and for those still standing at the end of the night a taxi service in london is available via text which will locate the nearest available black cab. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
benitez deflects blame from dudek liverpool manager rafael benitez has refused to point the finger of blame at goalkeeper jerzy dudek after portsmouth claimed a draw at anfield. dudek fumbled a cross before lomana lualua headed home an injury-time equaliser levelling after steven gerrard put liverpool ahead. benitez said: it was difficult for jerzy. it was an unlucky moment. he was expecting a cross from matthew taylor and it ended up like a shot so i don t blame him for what happened. benitez admitted it was a costly loss of two points by liverpool who followed up their derby defeat against everton with a disappointing draw. he said: we had many opportunities but didn t score and in the end a 1-0 lead was not enough. if you don t have any chances you have to think of other things but when you are creating so many chances as we are there is nothing you can say to the players. it was a pity. we lost two points but we have one more point in the table. now we have another difficult game against newcastle and we have to recover quickly from that. | 1 | Sports |
japan s ageing workforce: built to last in his twenties he battled tuberculosis for eight years then went on to run his own clothing business before marrying in his late thirties. and the 101-year-old torao toshitsune has eaten raw fish pretty much every day throughout his life. mr toshitsune is one of japan s 23 000 centenarians - a club that is growing by 13% annually and where the oldest member is 114. at his neat osaka detached house where he lives with one of his sexagenarian daughters mr toshitsune keeps a regular routine of copying out buddhist sutras and preparing the traditional japanese tea ceremony. between tasks this remarkably active senior citizen reveals what his next goal is: well what s most important for me is to be japan s number one. mr toshitsune wants to outlive everyone. and when it comes to longevity japan as a country appears to be doing just that. women can expect to live until 85 men until 78 four years longer than americans and europeans. on the outskirts of kyoto 83-year-old yuji shimizu contemplates this phenomenon during a round of golf with his younger friends who are in their seventies. i think this is because the food industry and the environment have improved he remarks. on average we can live longer. whether it s the diet or the traditional family structure where roles were clearly defined or just something in the genes japan s elderly are remarkable. but while life may be a game of golf for mr shimizu his grandchildren have huge problems ahead. japan is the world s least fertile nation with childbirth rates of just two thirds of that in the us. by 2007 japan s population is expected to peak at 127 million then shrink to under 100 million by the middle of the century. this means 30 million fewer workers at a time when the number of elderly will have almost doubled. in the year 2050 if the birth rate remains the same people over 60 will make up over 30% of the population explains shigeo morioka of the international longevity centre in tokyo. so how will japan s finances stay on track after a decade of economic stagnation and huge deficit spending the public sector debt is already about 140% of the country s gross domestic product (gdp) the highest rate among industrialised countries. the international monetary fund predicts that as the falling birth rate takes grip from 2010 the cost of running japan s welfare state will double to more than 5% of gdp while current account balances will deteriorate by over 2%. but unfortunately japan appears poorly prepared both financially and politically. glen wood vice president of deutsche securities japan asks; who s going to fund the pension fund for the next generation and indeed who are going to be the new japanese worker who is going to build the economy who are going to be the leaders who are going to be the producers of the gdp going forward one option is further welfare reform. another is immigration possibly from the philippines and indonesia. but so far any emerging policy appears restricted to a limited number of nursing staff. standing next to tokyo harbour is a version of new york s statue of liberty. but as yet japan is not ready for an ellis island. japan has never really liked that option in its history and i think it s an option that s becoming more and more plausible and necessary insists mr wood. in japan as in europe which also faces a workforce decline immigration is a very sensitive subject. but for the japanese economy facing 8% fewer consumers by 2050 means slumping domestic sales of cars hi-tech kit and home appliances perhaps even another property crash. of course the japanese could always have more children. the government is currently considering financial rewards for procreative couples similar to those in operation in australia. but there would be no pay back until 2030 when today s babies are taxpayers and the demographic crisis like in europe starts to unfold in 2010. in contrast to japan - and of course the european union - the us population is expected to increase by 46% to 420 million by the middle of the century. although president bush must re-devise social security to take account of a 130% rise in america s over 65s the imf foresees a positive contribution to the us current account balance from the combined forces of fertility and immigration. some voices in japanese industry are calling for radical changes to the nature of the japanese labour market. they want a shift towards financial services though doubts persist over the country s ability let alone willingness to move away from manufacturing. japan still has problems getting a viable banking system let alone shifting their auto business or their semi-conductor business or the broad based tech manufacturing business overseas says mr wood. japan can either drive some radical reforms or else run the risk of a vicious ageing recession. falling demand and a lower tax take could result in soaring budget pressures and a basket case currency. come 2020 japan could be more dependent on a shrinking workforce than any other industrialised power. there are fears that the world s number two economy is doomed to a permanent recession. but none of this is mr toshitsune s concern anymore. at 101 he chuckles that he feels fine. | 2 | Business |
wasps 31-37 leicester leicester withstood a stunning wasps comeback to win a pulsating heineken cup encounter at the causeway stadium. the tigers stormed 22-6 ahead within 18 minutes through tries from lewis moody geordan murphy and martin corry. european champions wasps fought back through a josh lewsey try and mark van gisbergen s boot and they were level at 31-31 with five minutes remaining. but it was the visitors who kept their cool as andy goode kicked the tigers to victory with a penalty and a drop goal. the closing moments saw desperate defence from leicester as wasps turned down several penalties to go for the try they needed. wasps pounded the line and a penalty try looked likely before referee nigel williams controversially blew for full-time. fly-half goode was the tigers hero kicking 22 points in total while leicester s overwhelming domination in the scrums ultimately told. even their lack of discipline in defence - which presented the admirable van ginsberg with 26 points - could not undo them as they held out for a famous win. lawrence dallaglio s team have now got it all to do in the quest for a quarter-final place given that two of their last three games are away - against leicester and biarritz. however wasps rugby director warren gatland warned his side will will not relinquish their european title without a fight. if we lose next week then we are struggling said gatland. but we don t want to give this trophy away. we worked so hard to win it last season we will go down fighting. we have got to get our scrum right next week it is the biggest cause for concern. leicester coach john wells saluted the outstanding work of graham rowntree and julian white who were magnificent up front. they were the backbone of our performance today said wells. and to score three tries against the european champions at home was also something i am pleased about. van gisbergen; lewsey erinle abbott voyce; king dawson; dowd greening green; shaw birkett; worsley o connor dallaglio (capt). replacements: gotting mckenzie lock hart biljon brooks hoadley. murphy; rabeni smith gibson healey; goode ellis; rowntree chuter white m johnson (capt) l deacon; moody back corry. replacements (from): buckland/cockerill morris kay w johnson/b deacon h tuilagi bemand a tuiliagi lloyd vesty. | 1 | Sports |
set your television to wow television started off as a magical blurry image. then came the sharpness the colour and the widescreen format. now the tv set is taking another leap forward into a crystal clear future although those in europe will have to be patient. after years of buzz about high-definition tv (hdtv) it is finally taking off in a handful of countries around the world mainly the us and japan. if you believe the hype then hdtv will so wow you that you will never want to go back to your old telly. hdtv is just the latest must-have technology in viewers homes says jo flaherty a senior broadcaster with the cbs network in the us. all television images are made up of pixels going across the screen and scan lines going down. british tv pictures are made up of 625 lines and about 700 pixels. by contrast hdtv offers up to 1 080 active lines with each line made up of 1 920 pixels. the result is a picture which can be up to six times as sharp as standard tv. but to get the full impact programmes need to be broadcast in this format and you need a hdtv set to receive them. most new computer displays are already capable of handling high-resolution pictures. viewers in japan the us australia canada and south korea are already embracing the new tv technology with a selection of primetime programmes being broadcast in the new format which includes 5.1 digital surround sound. but tv viewers in europe will have to wait to enjoy the eye-blasting high-definition images. many high-end european tv programmes such as the recent athens olympics are already being produced in high-definition. but they still reach your screen in the old 625 lines. the prospects for getting sharper images soon do not seem very encouraging. according to consultants strategy analytics only 12% of homes in europe will have tvs capable of showing programmes in high-definition by 2008. but the hdtv hype spilling out of the us and japan has spurred european broadcasters and consumer electronic companies to push for change. big sports and entertainment events are set to help trigger the general public s attention. the 2006 world cup in germany will be broadcast in high-definition. in the uk satellite broadcaster bskyb is planning hdtv services in 2006. there is already a hdtv service in europe called euro1080. other european broadcasters especially in france and germany also aiming to launch similar services. in britain digital satellite and cable are largely seen as the natural home for hdtv at least while a decision is taken regarding terrestrial broadcast options. the communications watchdog ofcom could hand over some terrestrial frequencies freed up when the uk switches off its analogue tv signal. for now broadcasters like the bbc are working on their own hdtv plans although with no launch date in sight. the bbc will start broadcasting in hdtv when the time is right and it would not be just a showcase but a whole set of programming says andy quested from the bbc s high-definition support group. we have made the commitment to produce all our output in high-definition by 2010 which would put us on the leading edge. one of the options under consideration is to offer high-definition pictures on the web. the bbc has already dipped its toe into this including some hdtv content in recent trials of its interactive media player - a video player for pcs. it is planning to offer special releases of selected flagship programmes online in the near future. according to mr quested this could help put europe back into the running in the race to switch to hdtv. this is backed by recent research which suggests that the number of europeans with broadband has exploded over the past 12 months with the web eating into tv viewing habits. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
sa return to mauritius top seeds south africa return to the scene of one of their most embarrassing failures when they face the seychelles in the cosafa cup next month. last year bafana bafana were humbled in the first by minnows mauritius who beat them 2-0 in curepipe. coach stuart baxter and his squad will return to curepipe face the seychelles in their first game of the new-look regional competition. the format of the event has been changed this year after the entry of the seychelles who have taken the number of participants to 13. the teams are now divided into three group of four and play knock-out matches on successive days to determine the group champions. mauritius host the first group and their opponents are madagascar the seychelles and south africa. bafana bafana play the seychelles before mauritius take on madagascar in a double-header on 26 february. the two winners return to the new george v stadium the next day and the victor of the group decider advances to august s final mini-tournament. the second group will be hosted in namibia in april. it comprises zimbabwe botswana mozambique and the hosts. in june former champions zambia will host lesotho malawi and swaziland in the third group in lusaka. the three group winners will then join title holders angola for the last of the mini-tournaments in august where the winners will be crowned. seychelles v south africa mauritius v madagascar winners meet in final match mozambique v zimbabwe namibia v botswana winners meet in final match lesotho v malawi zambia v swaziland winners meet in final match | 1 | Sports |
mobile picture power in your pocket how many times have you wanted to have a camera to hand to catch an unexpected event that would make headlines with a modern mobile phone that has a camera built in you no longer need to curse you can capture the action as it happens. already on-the-spot snappers are helping newspapers add immediacy to their breaking news stories headlines where professional photographers only arrive in time for the aftermath. celebrities might not welcome such a change because they may never be free of a new breed of mobile phone paparazzi making their lives a bit more difficult. already one tabloid newspaper in la is issuing photographers with camera phones to help them catch celebrities at play. it could be the start of a trend that only increases as higher resolution phone cameras become more widespread; as video phones catch on and millions of people start carrying the gadgets around. only last week the world media highlighted the killing of the dutch film maker theo van gogh notorious after making a controversial film about islamic culture. one day later de telegraaf a daily amsterdam newspaper became news on its own when it published a picture taken with a mobile phone of mr van gogh s body moments after he was killed. this picture was the story said de telegraaf s image editor peter schoonen. other accounts of such picture phone users witnessing news events include: - a flight from switzerland to the dominican republic which turned around after someone took a picture of a piece of metal falling from the plane as it took off from zurich (reported by the swiss daily le matin). - two crooks who robbed a bank in denmark were snapped before they carried out the crime waiting for the doors of the building to be opened (reported by the danish regional paper aarhus stiftstidende). but this is not just about traditional media lending immediacy to their stories with content from ordinary people it is also about first-hand journalism in the form of online diaries or weblogs. it has been called open source news or even moblog journalism and it has flourished in the recent us election campaign. not many people walk around with their cameras but they always have their mobile phones with them. if something happens suddenly all these mobiles sort of appear from nowhere and start taking pictures said digital artist henry reichhold. he himself uses mobile phone pictures to create huge panoramic images of events and places. you see it in bars you see it everywhere. it s a massive thing mr reichhold told the bbc news website. with some picture agencies already paying for exclusive phone pictures especially of celebrities there are also fears about the possible downside of this phenomenon. it could become a nuisance for public figures as higher resolution picture phones hit the market with five megapixel models already being launched in asia. already on us photojournal site buzznet there is a public album full of snaps of celebrities many of which were taken with camera phones. tabloid newspapers in the uk and many monthly magazines invite readers to send in images of famous people they have seen and snapped. but there are other positive uses of picture mobile phones that may balance these uses. for instance in alabama in the us camera phones will be used to take snaps at crime scenes involving children and help the authorities to arrest and prosecute paedophiles. and in china s capital beijing courts have adopted mobile phone photos as formal evidence. for henry reichhold this is progress: that s the whole thing about the immediacy of the thing. i can see that happening a lot more. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
roddick splits from coach gilbert andy roddick has ended an 18-month association with coach brad gilbert which yielded the us open title and saw the american become world number one. roddick released a statement through the sfx sports group with the news but did not give a reason for the split. the decision to not re-hire brad gilbert for the 2005 season is based on what i think is best for my game at this time said roddick. any more on this situation s a private matter between coach and player. roddick won 121 of his 147 matches while working with gilbert and said he had enjoyed their time together. he won his first grand slam event at flushing meadows last year and finished 2003 on top of the atp tour rankings. but roddick slipped to second this year behind roger federer who became the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a season. federer who has not had a coach since he split from peter lundgren at the end of last year beat roddick to win the wimbledon title and in two other tournament finals. roddick hired gilbert after deciding to part from coach tarik benhabiles in the wake of his first-round exit at the 2003 french open. he went on to win the us open and four other titles for the year. he has won four events this season. i have enjoyed all of my time with andy gilbert said on his personal website. he has been a great student of the game during the time that we worked together and i am very proud of the results that were achieved. while i believe that there is still a great deal of work to be done andy clearly does not feel that way. | 1 | Sports |
broadband steams ahead in the us more and more americans are joining the internet s fast lane according to official figures. the number of people and business connected to broadband jumped by 38% in a year said the us federal communications commission (fcc). in a report it said there were more than 32 million broadband connections by the end of june 2004. but the us is still behind compared to other nations ranked 13th in the world by a un telecoms body. during his 2004 re-election campaign president george w bush pledge to ensure that affordable high-speed net access would be available to all americans by 2007. according to the report by the fcc broadband is becoming increasingly popular with people using it for research and shopping as well as downloading music and watching video. the total number of people and businesses on broadband rose by to 32.5 million in the year ending june 2004 compared to 23.5 million in june 2003. whereas in the uk most people hook up to broadband via asymmetric digital subscriber line (adsl) technology which lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. but in the us cable leads the way accounting for 18.6 million lines. broadband over the phone line makes up 11.4 million connections according to the fcc figures. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
ruddock backs yapp s credentials wales coach mike ruddock says john yapp has what it takes as an international. the 21-year-old blues prop is the only uncapped player in wales six nations squad gaining a chance in the absence of ospreys loose-head duncan jones. john is a young man with a big future. he has been playing with the blues for two years and has racked up mileage on his playing clock said ruddock. he has international size is a big physical lad and a good ball-carrier with a high tackle-count. ruddock s assessment was backed up by yapp s coach at the blues former wales and lions prop dai young. john s been on an upward curve all season and is going from strength to strength young told bbc sport wales. his ball carrying gives us good go-forward he impresses in defence and his work-rate is excellent. he s working hard on his scrummaging technique which he is keen to improve to become a destroyer on the loose-head. to be fair to him he s not quite there with the scrummaging yet but nobody can fault his effort commitment and attitude. john s a very strong man and is eager for the challenge if he s pitched in he won t let anyone down. he s developing quickly but i hope he isn t pushed too quickly in a way that would hurt his development. ruddock hopes that the selection of yapp and dragons lock ian gough - out of the international reckoning since falling out with former coach steve hansen - will send a message to other players in wales. john and ian have been rewarded for impressing during the heineken cup competition said ruddock. both of them have played well and we want to send a message out that consistently playing well gets you in the squad. we believe this is an exciting squad representing traditional values of welsh rugby and based on the performances in the november internationals. we have strength and experience up front and well-recognised talent pace and skill behind. the management team just want to get hold of the players and get out on the training pitch at the moment. they are all due in on sunday and that s when the hard work starts. | 1 | Sports |
mobile games come of age the bbc news website takes a look at how games on mobile phones are maturing. a brief round-up follows but you can skip straight to the reviews by clicking on the links below. if you think of snake when some mentions mobile games then you could be in for a bit of a surprise. this is because mobile games have come a long way in a very short time. even before nokia s n-gage game phone launched in late 2003 many mobile operators were realising that there was an audience looking for something to play on their handset. and given that many more people own handsets than own portable game playing gadgets such as the gameboy it could be a very lucrative market. that audience includes commuters wanting something to fill their time on the way home game fans looking for a bit of variety and hard core gamers who like to play every moment they can. life for all these types of player has got immeasurably better in the last year as the numbers of titles you can download to your phone has snowballed. now sites such as wireless gaming review list more than 200 different titles for some uk networks and the ranges suit every possible taste. there are ports of pc and arcade classics such as space invaders lunar lander and bejewelled. there are also versions of titles such as colin mcrae rally that you typically find on pcs and consoles. there are shoot-em-ups adventure games strategy titles and many novel games only found on handsets. rarely now does an action movie launch without a mobile game tie-in. increasingly such launches are all part of the promotional campaign for a film understandable when you realise that a good game can rack up millions of downloads. the returns can be pretty good when you consider that some games cost £5. what has also helped games on mobiles thrive is the fact that it is easier than ever to get hold of them thanks to technology known as wap push. by sending a text message to a game maker you can have the title downloaded to your handset. far better than having to navigate through the menus of most mobile operator portals. the number of handsets that can play games has grown hugely too. almost half of all phones now have java onboard meaning that they can play the increasingly sophisticated games that are available - even the ones that use 3d graphics. the minimum technology specifications that phones should adhere to are getting more sophisticated which means that games are too. now double key presses are possible making familiar tactics such as moving and strafing a real option. the processing power on handsets means that physics on mobile games is getting more convincing and the graphics are improving too. some game makers are also starting to take advantage of the extra capabilities in a mobile. many titles particularly racing games let you upload your best time to see how you compare to others. usually you can get hold of their best time and race against a ghost or shadow to see if you can beat them. a few games also let you take on people in real time via the network or if you are sitting close to them via bluetooth short-range radio technology. with so much going on it is hard to do justice to the sheer diversity of what is happening. but these two features should help point you in the direction of the game makers and give you an idea of where to look and how to get playing. too fast too furious (digital bridges) as soon as i start playing this i remember why i never play driving games - because i m rubbish at them. no matter if i drive the car via joystick or keypad i just cannot get the hang of braking for corners or timing a rush to pass other drivers. the game rewards replay because to advance you have to complete every section within a time limit. winning gives you cash for upgrades. graphically the rolling road is a convincing enough evocation of speed as the palm trees and cactus whip by and the city scrolls past in the background. the cars handle pretty well despite my uselessness but it was not clear if the different models of cars were appreciably different on the track. the only niggle was that the interface was a bit confusing especially when using a joystick rather than the keypad to play. fatal force (macrospace) a futuristic shooter that lets you either play various deathmatch modes against your phone or run through a series of scenarios that involves killing aliens invading earth. graphics are a bit cartoon-like but only helps to make clear what is going on and levels are well laid out and encourage you to leap about exploring. both background music and sounds effects work well. the scenarios are well scripted and you regularly get hints from the fatal force commanders. weapons include flamethrowers rocket launchers grenades and at a couple of points you even get chance to use a mech for a short while. with the right power-up you can go into a matrix-style bullet time to cope with the onslaught of aliens. the game lets you play via bluetooth if others are in range. online the game has quite a following with clans player rankings and even new downloadable maps. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
economy strong in election year uk businesses are set to prosper during the next few months - but this could trigger more interest rate rises according to a report. optimism is at its highest since 1997 and business will reap the benefits of a continuing rise in public spending say researchers at bdo stoy hayward. the bank of england is expected to keep rates on hold this week - but they could go up later in the year. rates are likely to rise after the anticipated general election in may. the bdo optimism index - a leading indicator of gdp growth two quarters ahead edged up in january to 102.5 from 102.2 in october. the rise is due in part to an increase in public spending and increased merger and acquisition activity. the only thing blighting business optimism this year will be uncertainties associated with the general election bdo said. its bdo s output index - which predicts gdp movements a quarter in advance - remained at 100.8 for january implying gdp growth at 2.9% in the second quarter of 2005. however the output index is being held back by recent interest rate rises sterling s strength against the dollar and high oil prices the group noted. its inflation index which has risen continuously over the last 8 months climbed to 110.0 in january from 108.0 in october last year. the uk is looking strong going into the general election but businesses need to prepare themselves for a jolt ahead as the bank of england reacts to growth and inflationary pressures said peter hemington partner at bdo stoy hayward. growth will probably slow by the end of 2005 and it is likely that we will see higher interest rates or a sharp drop in demand for products and services. | 2 | Business |
barbarians 19-47 new zealand new zealand proved too strong for an australian-dominated barbarians to round off their unbeaten northern hemisphere tour with an easy win. rico gear ran in two of the all blacks seven tries in what was a predominantly second-string line-up. the baa-baas did threaten scoring tries through albert van den bergh xavier rush and andrea lo cicero but never looked like winning. all black aaron mauger was in good form with the boot adding 10 points. the all blacks featured only two of the side which started last weekend s emphatic test victory over france in paris while the baa-baas had nine wallabies in their starting line-up. and new zealand coach graham henry said: it was a quality performance against a very experienced side and a number of young guys came through very well. they learnt from the older players and this was a way of thanking the guys who had been mentoring them on the tour. but the running rugby the crowd had been hoping for rarely materialised. marty holah got the all blacks onslaught under way with his fifth-minute try before rush hit back moments later. but new zealand went ahead once more as gear made use of the space vacated by a temporarily injured chris latham to slide in. ma a nonu then found his way through the barbarians defence to give his side a 19-7 half-time lead. the hosts failed to ignite in the second half and the moment gear scored his second just after the interval there was only ever going to be one winner. lo cicero the sole european for the barbarians bundled over for a try to briefly curtail the deficit. but the match was blighted by controversy moments later when justin marshall was felled with a high tackle by jimmy cowan. referee andy turner waved play on and casey laulala coasted in for his side s fifth try. jermoe keino and piri weepu both added tries to the all blacks tally before the final whistle while van den bergh gained some consolation for the baa-baas. after the match barbarians coach bob dwyer warned that south african flanker schalk burger needed a proper off-season break to maintain his standards. burger 21 was recently crowned player of the year by both his peers and the international rugby board but has struggled for form in recent weeks. it s his first year at that level and he was phenomenal up until the end of the southern hemisphere season. i don t think he s played anywhere near that level on tour he said. | 1 | Sports |
edwards tips idowu for euro gold world outdoor triple jump record holder and bbc pundit jonathan edwards believes phillips idowu can take gold at the european indoor championships. idowu landed 17.30m at the british trials in sheffield last month to lead the world triple jump rankings. it s all down to him but if he jumps as well as he did in sheffield he could win the gold medal said edwards. his ability is undoubted but all his best performances seem to happen in domestic meetings. idowu made his breakthrough five years ago but so far has only a commonwealth silver medal to his name. edwards himself kept idowu off top spot at the manchester games. but he believes the european indoors in madrid represent a chance for the 26-year-old to prove his credentials as britain s top triple jumper. he has to start producing at international level and here is the beginning said edwards. phillips still needs to be much more consistent. i m sure a victory in madrid will build up his confidence and self-belief that he can be best in the world. the qualifying round of the men s triple jump in madrid takes place on friday with the final scheduled for saturday. olympic champion christian olsson will not be taking part as he is out for the entire indoor season with an ankle injury. | 1 | Sports |
rush future at chester uncertain ian rush s future as chester manager is uncertain after he and assistant mark aizlewood refused a severance package. chester have won only two of their last 10 league games but chairman steve vaughan claims he cannot afford to sack the 43-year-old liverpool legend. vaughan said: i offered a financial settlement so they could resign with dignity but an obvious action is to dismiss them. i haven t because of the finances so technically they re still employees. vaughan claimed that aizlewood had verbally agreed to the offer. but the chester chairman added: after they discussed the offer with their solicitor who also acts as their agent they decided to withdraw the verbal agreement which was disappointing. rush was appointed at the end of august following the departure of former liverpool team-mate mark wright who guided chester to the conference title last season. chester were bottom of league two when rush took over but the former liverpool striker enjoyed an impressive start to managerial life taking the club into the third round of the fa cup and winning the manager-of-the-month award for october. chester s downturn in form culminated in a 5-0 defeat at shrewsbury that leaves them hovering just above the league two relegation zone. | 1 | Sports |
kenteris denies faking road crash greek sprinter kostas kenteris has denied claims that he faked a motorbike crash to avoid a doping test days before the start of the olympics. kenteris and fellow sprinter katerina thanou are set to learn if they will face criminal charges this week. part of the investigation has centred on whether they staged the crash. kenteris insisted: the accident happened. i went crazy when i found out i had supposedly missed a test and i wanted to rush to the olympic village. kenteris speaking on greece s alter television station also claimed that he asked to be tested for banned substances in hospital after the crash. i told the hospital which was an olympics-accredited hospital to call the ioc and have me tested on the spot but no-one came. after a drama which dominated newspaper headlines in greece as athens prepared for the start of the athens games kenteris and thanou eventually withdrew. but kenteris has continually protested his innocence - and on sunday blamed greek olympic committee officials and his former coach christos tzekos for failing to inform him of the test. the 31-year-old insisted he will be happy if he is charged so he can clear his name. if a decision is taken to have charges filed against me i will accept it gladly. a prosecution means that the case will be cleared... i want to go to the end and then we ll see who s right and who isn t. kenteris a greek hero after winning gold in the 200m at the 2000 olympics in sydney also confirmed that he was due to light the flame at the athens opening ceremony. i had even rehearsed lighting the cauldron he said. | 1 | Sports |
cable offers video-on-demand cable firms ntl and telewest have both launched video-on-demand services as the battle between satellite and cable tv heats up. movies from sony pictures walt disney touchstone miramax columbia and buena vista will be among those on offer. the service is similar to sky plus as users can pause fast forward and rewind content but they cannot store programmes on their set top box - yet. it could sound the death knell for some tv channels telewest predicts. it allows us to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage over sky for the first time in many years said telewest chief executive eric tveter. video-on-demand will offer a deeper range of content than currently exists on tv. there will be less compromising around the tv schedule and some of the less popular channels may go by the wayside said philip snalune director of products at telewest. telewest customers in bristol and ntl viewers in glasgow will be the first to test the new service which sees a raft of movies on offer for 24 hour rental. during the year the service will be extended to all cable regions. films will range in price from £1 or £2 for archived movies to £3.50 for current releases. new releases initially on offer will include 50 first dates kill bill: volume 2 gothika and the station agent. in addition ntl is offering children s programmes adult content music video and concerts. telewest will launch similar services later in the year. ntl is also offering viewers the chance to catch up with programmes they have missed. its pick of the week service will offer a selection of bbc programmes from the previous seven days such as eastenders casualty top gear and antiques roadshow. the bbc is trialling a similar service offering broadband users the chance to watch programmes already broadcast on their pc. for telewest it is the beginning of a £20m investment in tv-on-demand which will also see the launch of a personal video recorder (pvr). pvr has been a big success for sky because it gives customers control over programmes. satellite customers without pvr cannot pause rewind or fast forward their programmes. with both services on offer from telewest mr tveter is confident the cable firm can dent not just the viewing figures for terrestrial tv but also gain a huge competitive advantage over sky. we offer the best of both worlds and most households have an interest in having both video-on-demand and pvr he said. video rental stores may also have to watch their back. video-on-demand is better than having a video-store in your living room and is more convenient he said. ntl said it had not ruled out the possibility of offering a pvr but for the moment is concentrating on video-on-demand. pvr is a recording mechanism whereas what we are offering is truly on demand said a spokesman for the company. video-on-demand has the added advantage of not requiring a separate set-top box or extra remote controls he added. adam thomas an analyst at research firm informa media believes the time is ripe for video-on-demand to flourish. while sky will remain the dominant force in uk pay tv for some time to come ntl and telewest seem well placed to successfully ride this second wave of vod enthusiasm and if marketed correctly this could help them eat into sky s lead he said. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
cairn shares slump on oil setback shares in cairn energy a uk oil firm have closed down 18% after a disappointing drilling update and a warning over possible tax demands. the company said tests had shown no significant finds in one of its indian oil fields but was upbeat about the potential of other areas. it also said the indian government had told it to pay a production tax for which cairn argues it is not liable. cairn s shares have jumped by almost 400% this year. investors had piled into cairn after the company announced significant oil finds in india this year. chief executive bill gammell said on friday he was disappointed with exploration in the so-called n-c extension area in rajasthan. investors had held high hopes of major oil finds in this area. but cairn said estimates had been revised in what was a significant downgrade of the initial expectation . cairn also said that the government believed the company was liable to pay taxes under its production-sharing contract. the company said the rate would be about 900 rupees ($20.40; £10.50) per tonne or seven barrels of oil. a spokesman for the firm said that the tax would wipe 5% of the field s current value. cairn refutes the government s position mr gammell said. he insisted that the contract made it clear that the tax should be shouldered by the licensee - india s state-run oil & natural gas corp (ongc) - and not the contractor. we have a pretty strong legal case here he added saying it would only become an issue once the firm started production. investors took a dim view of the statements though. the shares closed down 247p or 18% at 1115 pence. i think people were slightly over-ambitious for how quickly cairn would be able to develop and potentially offload these reserves said analyst jason kenney at ing. the disappointments overshadowed increased production targets for cairn s existing oilfields. the company raised targets for its mangala and aishwariya fields in india from 60 000 barrels a day to between 80 000 and 100 000 barrels a day. its mangala field thought to contain a billion barrels is its biggest find to date. these two fields will provide the core of the future developments in rajasthan mr gammell said. cairn added that it would be appraising another field early next year. mr gammell set up the company in the 1980s and has successfully switched its focus to south asia from interests in the us and europe. cairn which also operates in nepal and bangladesh was catapulted into the ftse 100 index of leading uk shares earlier this year after the sharp rise in its share price. | 2 | Business |
wales critical of clumsy grewcock wales coach mike ruddock says england lock danny grewcock needs to review his actions after he kicked dwayne peel. trouble flared at a ruck in the first half of wales 11-9 win in cardiff as grewcock came recklessly over the top with his boot leaving peel bloodied. grewcock was sin-binned with wales captain gareth thomas for retaliation. it s up to the citing commissioner said ruddock. i m not saying it s deliberate but grewcock did a similar thing for bath against leinster. last june grewcock was banned from rugby for two months for reckless use of a boot in a match against new zealand. six years earlier also in new zealand grewcock became only the second england player to be sent off in tests. the player himself and his captain jason robinson have both said that the clash with peel was accidental. if the ball is at the back of the ruck and i feel i can step over and disrupt it then i will do that said grewcock. but ruddock feels that the england man should be more careful. the boy himself should look at his actions it was a clumsy piece of footwork he said. he s a great player and i don t want to knock him we won t be calling for the match commissioner to review the incident. i m not going to go too far with the lad. it could just be a clumsy action and dwayne had just a minor cut. the referee s interpretation was that grewcock was attempting to step over the ruck. ruddock also warned his rbs 6 nations championship rivals that his team can make massive improvements. we created more opportunities and also squandered them by taking more contact and playing more individually said the coach. we ve looked through things on the video debrief and there were definitely a lot of chances that we wasted. in the forthcoming games ruddock may use penalty hero gavin henson as his first-choice kicker in place of stephen jones. our first aim was to get gavin settled into the team but it s something we ll talk about in selection this week said ruddock. | 1 | Sports |
concern over rfid tags consumers are very concerned about the use of radio frequency id (rfid) tags in shops a survey says. more than half of 2 000 people surveyed said they had privacy worries about the tags which can be used to monitor stock on shelves or in warehouses. some consumer groups have expressed concern that the tags could be used to monitor shoppers once they had left shops with their purchases. the survey showed that awareness of tags among consumers in europe was low. the survey of consumers in the uk france germany and the netherlands was carried out by consultancy group capgemini. the firm works on behalf of more than 30 firms who are seeking to promote the growth of rfid technology. the tags are a combination of computer chip and antenna which can be read by a scanner - each item contains a unique identification number. more than half (55%) of the respondents said they were either concerned or very concerned that rfid tags would allow businesses to track consumers via product purchases. fifty nine percent of people said they were worried that rfid tags would allow data to be used more freely by third parties. ard jan vetham capgemini s principal consultant on rfid said the survey showed that retailers needed to inform and educate people about rfid before it would become accepted technology. acceptance of new technologies always has a tipping point at which consumers believe that benefits outweigh concerns. with the right rfid approach and ongoing communication with consumers the industry can reach this point. he said that the survey also showed people would accept rfid if they felt that the technology could mean a reduction in car theft or faster recovery of stolen items. the tags are currently being used at one tesco distribution centre in the uk - the tags allow the rapid inventory of bulk items. they are also in use as a passcard for the m6 toll in the midlands in the uk. mr vetham said the majority of people surveyed (52%) believed that rfid tags could be read from a distance. he said that was a misconception based on a lack of awareness of the technology. at least once consumer group - consumers against supermarket privacy invasion and numbering (caspian) - has claimed that rfid chips could be used to secretly identify people and the things they are carrying or wearing. all kinds of personal belongings including clothes could constantly broadcast messages about their whereabouts and their owners it warned. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
ethiopia s crop production up 24% ethiopia produced 14.27 million tonnes of crops in 2004 24% higher than in 2003 and 21% more than the average of the past five years a report says. in 2003 crop production totalled 11.49 million tonnes the joint report from the food and agriculture organisation and the world food programme said. good rains increased use of fertilizers and improved seeds contributed to the rise in production. nevertheless 2.2 million ethiopians will still need emergency assistance. the report calculated emergency food requirements for 2005 to be 387 500 tonnes. on top of that 89 000 tonnes of fortified blended food and vegetable oil for targeted supplementary food distributions for a survival programme for children under five and pregnant and lactating women will be needed. in eastern and southern ethiopia a prolonged drought has killed crops and drained wells. last year a total of 965 000 tonnes of food assistance was needed to help seven million ethiopians. the food and agriculture organisation (fao) recommend that the food assistance is bought locally. local purchase of cereals for food assistance programmes is recommended as far as possible so as to assist domestic markets and farmers said henri josserand chief of fao s global information and early warning system. agriculture is the main economic activity in ethiopia representing 45% of gross domestic product. about 80% of ethiopians depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. | 2 | Business |
parry relishes anfield challenge bbc sport reflects on the future for liverpool after our exclusive interview with chief executive rick parry. chief executive parry is the man at the helm as liverpool reach the most crucial point in their recent history. parry has to deliver a new 60 000-seat stadium in stanley park by 2007 amid claims of costs spiralling above £120m. he is also searching for an investment package of a size and stature that will restore liverpool to their place at european football s top table. but it is a challenge that appears to sit easily with parry who has forged a reputation as one of football s most respected administrators since his days at the fledgling premier league. liverpool have not won the championship since 1990 a fact that causes deep discomfort inside anfield as they attempt to muscle in on the top three of chelsea manchester united and arsenal. throw in the small matter of warding off every top club in world football as they eye captain steven gerrard and you can see parry is a man with a lot on his plate. but in the comfort of a conference room deep inside liverpool s heartbeat - the kop end - parry spoke to us with brutal honesty about the crucial months ahead. he only dodged one question - when asked to reveal the name of the mystery investor currently courting liverpool a polite smile deflected the inquiry. but to his credit he met everything else head on in measured tones that underscore the belief that liverpool still mean business. by business he means becoming title challengers again and locking the pieces together that will help return the trophy to liverpool is parry s mission. parry has already successfully put one of those planks in place in the form of new manager rafael benitez. and his enthusiasm for the spaniard s personality and methods is an indication of his clear feeling that he has struck gold. benitez s early work has given parry renewed optimism about the years ahead. but it remains a massive task at a club with a unique history and expectations. this will not come as news to parry a lifelong liverpool supporter but his quiet determination suggests he is no mood to be found wanting... captain gerrard is central to liverpool s plans and parry s insistence that all offers will be refused is a firm statement of intent. as ever the player will have the final say and parry acknowledges that but he is determined to provide the framework and environment for liverpool and gerrard to flourish. in terms of the search for new investment hawkpoint were appointed as advisors to flush out interest in march 2004. thailand prime minister thaksin shiniwatra came and went while the most serious statement of intent came from tycoon and lifelong fan steve morgan. morgan had a succession of bids rejected having come close in the summer only for talks to break down over potential costs for the new stadium. bbc sport understands morgan is still ready and willing to invest in liverpool and parry has kept the door ajar despite currently seeking investment elsewhere. morgan however has had no formal contact with liverpool or their advisors since last december blaming indecision at board level as he publicly withdrew his £70m offer. he was also convinced his interest was being used to lure in others so any new approach would now have to come from liverpool. morgan will certainly not be making another call. so speculation continues about the new benefactor with trails leading to the middle east and america but all met with an understandable veil of secrecy from anfield. parry meanwhile sees the new ground as crucial to liverpool s future but is refusing to become emotionally attached to the idea. he is determined the ground will only be built on an affordable basis and will not make future liverpool management hostages to the new stadium. parry will pull back the moment the figures do not stack up but there has been a vital new development in north london that has re-shaped liverpool s thinking. liverpool have publicly refused to entertain the idea of stadium sponsorship and potential naming rights - but the realism of arsenal s stunning £100m deal for their new emirates stadium at ashburton has changed the landscape. parry labelled the deal an eye-opener and admits liverpool would be missing a trick not to explore the possibilities. he knows some traditionalist liverpool fans will reel at any attempt to call the new stadium anything other than just anfield but the maths of modern-day football decree that multi-millions for stadium and team could ease the pain. i would take £50m if we had no investment but if we did keep him. as for the stadium if it gets us cash what difference does it make really £50m for gerrard i don t care who you are the directors would take the money and it is the way it should be. we cannot let that sum of money go despite gerrard s quality. through a cleverly worded statement the club has effectively forced gerrard to publicly make the decision for himself which i think is the right thing to do. critical time for liverpool with regards to gerrard. ideally we would want to secure his future to the club for the long term. i am hoping he doesn t walk out of the club like michael owen did for very little cash. £50m realistically would allow rafa to completely rebuild the squad however if we can afford to do this and keep gerrard we will be better for it. i would however be happy with gerrard s transfer for any fee over £35m. parry s statements are clever in that any future gerrard transfer cannot be construed as a lack of ambition by the club to not try and keep their best players. upping the ante is another smart move by parry. i would keep gerrard. no amount of money could replace his obvious love of the club and determination to succeed. the key is if gerrard comes out and says that he is happy. clearly if he isn t then we would be foolish not to sell. the worrying thing is who would you buy (or who would come) pending possible non-champions league football. | 1 | Sports |
chelsea clinch cup in extra-time (after extra-time - score at 90 mins 1-1) john arne riise volleyed liverpool ahead after 45 seconds but steven gerrard scored a 79th-minute own goal. blues boss jose mourinho was sent off for taunting liverpool fans after the goal and he watched on television as his side went on to win the game. drogba and kezman scored from close range before antonio nunez s header made for a tense finale. it was an amazing climax which gave mourinho his first silverware as chelsea manager. yet it was controversial too after mourinho s sending off apparently for putting his finger to his lips to hush the liverpool fans. there was no hushing them after the extraordinary opening in which the reds took a stunning lead inside the first minute. riise could not have connected any better with morientes cross as he smashed a left-foot volley past petr cech. the goal the quickest-ever in a league cup final stunned a blues side whose previously rock-solid confidence had been shaken by consecutive losses to newcastle and barcelona in the previous week. the blues attacking chances were limited and jerzy dudek was equal to frank lampard s powerfully-struck drive and drogba s low shot. despite their frustration chelsea began to dominate midfield without seriously threatening to break liverpool s well-organised defence. joe cole had a shot blocked and a promising damien duff break was halted by a good tackle from djimi traore but the reds reached half-time without any major scares. the blues began the second half with more urgency and pegged liverpool back. nevertheless liverpool were living dangerously and they needed a fantastic double save from dudek on 54 minutes first at full stretch from gudjohnsen s header then to smother william gallas follow-up. and despite chelsea s possession it was liverpool who fashioned the next clear opportunity as luis garcia fed dietmar hamann whose shot forced a superb save from cech. and the blues increasingly adventurous approach saw liverpool earn another chance on the break on 75 minutes as paulo ferreira denied gerrard with a last-ditch tackle. but gerrard was on the scoresheet minutes later - in the most unfortunate fashion - as he inadvertently deflected ferrerira s free-kick past his own keeper and in off the post to bring chelsea level. that prompted mourinho s reaction which saw him sent off but chelsea still pressed and duff had a chance to win the game with seven minutes remaining. dudek saved bravely at the irishman s feet while milan baros shot wildly at the other end to ensure extra time. drogba almost headed chelsea in front two minutes into extra-time but the striker saw the ball rebound off the post. but seconds after the half-time interval drogba made no mistake picking the ball up from glen johnson s long throw inside the six-yard box and sidefooting home. and kezman appeared to have made the game safe as he netted from close range after gudjohnsen s cross in the 110th minute. there was still drama as nunez beat cech to a high ball with six minutes remaining to head his side level but despite liverpool s desperate attacks chelsea clung on to win. dudek finnan carragher hyypia traore (biscan 67) luis garcia gerrard hamann riise kewell (nunez 56) morientes (baros 74). subs not used: pellegrino carson. hyypia traore hamann carragher. riise 1 nunez 113. cech paulo ferreira ricardo carvalho terry gallas (kezman 74) jarosik (gudjohnsen 45) lampard makelele cole (johnson 81) drogba duff. subs not used: pidgeley tiago. lampard kezman drogba duff. gerrard 79 og drogba 107 kezman 112. 78 000 s bennett (kent). | 1 | Sports |
mcilroy aiming for madrid title northern ireland man james mcilroy is confident he can win his first major title at this weekend s spar european indoor championships in madrid. the 28-year-old has been in great form in recent weeks and will go in as one of the 800 metres favourites. i believe after my wins abroad and in our trial race in sheffield i can run my race from the front back or middle said mcilroy. new coach tony lester has helped get mcilroy s career back on track. the 28-year-old 800 metres runner has not always matched his promise with performances but believes his decision to change coaches and move base will bring the rewards. mcilroy now lives in windsor and feels his career has been transformed by the no-nonsense leadership style of former army sergeant lester. lester is better known for his work with 400m runners roger black and mark richardson in the past but under his guidance mcilroy has secured five wins this indoor season. mcilroy now claims he is in his best shape since finishing fourth for ireland at the outdoor european championships in 1998. that was my last decent year said mcilroy who temporarily retired last august before returning to the sport under lester s shrewd guidance. before every race was like trying to climb mount everest and i now know you can t do it on your own. trying to succeed saw me sometimes standing half-dead and terrified on the starting line which became a bit too much. mcilroy who was compared to the likes of sebastian coe steve cram and steve ovett in his younger days is now competing without the benefit of national lottery funding. that situation could change if he maintains his current form and repeats the world-class times he produced in the 800m and 1000m at major races in erfurt and stuttgart earlier this season. russian dmitriy bogdanov won at the same madrid venue last week and then claimed the european championship race would be between himself dutchman arnoud okken and antonio reina of spain but mcilroy is unfazed. he admitted: he looked quite good in his win and fair enough everyone has the right to their own opinion. i never write myself off and let s face it i haven t or looked like being beaten this season. and mcilroy whose time of one minute 46.68seconds in erfurt elevated him to sixth place on the uk all-time list is also already looking beyond madrid. he said: i ve been much more focused this year about my career and having such a good team around me has been very important. ultimately of course this weekend is a means to an end and that is getting prepared for the summer s world championships. that ambition has meant that i ve had only two nights out since last august. the rest of my time has seen me just concentrating on rebuilding my career. | 1 | Sports |
french boss to leave eads the french co-head of european defence and aerospace group eads philippe camus is to leave his post. mr camus said in a statement that he has accepted the invitation to return full-time to the lagardere group which owns 30% of eads. i will give up my role as soon as the board of directors asks me to do so he said. airbus head noel forgeard is now set to replace mr camus bringing the company s power struggle to an end. fighting between mr camus and mr forgeard has hit the headlines in france and analysts feared that this fighting could destabilise the defence and aerospace group. french finance minister herve gaymard is on record as saying that he deplored the infighting at the company. the company should now be able put this dispute behind it with the departure of mr camus and with the clear support given to mr forgeard by the lagardere group the main french shareholder of eads. the other main shareholders of eads are the french government (15%) who also support mr forgeard and germany s daimlerchrysler (30%). rainer hertrich the german co-head of eads will also step down when his contract expires next year. mr camus recently came under pressure as it became clear that the a380 superjumbo was running over budget. eads - airbus majority owner - admitted earlier this week that the project was running 1.45bn euros (£1bn; $1.9bn) over budget. but mr forgeard has denied this telling french media that there is no current overrun in the budget. but for the sake of transparency we told our shareholders last week that if we look at the forecast for total costs of the project up to 2010 there is a risk that we will go over by around 10% which is about 1bn euros (£686m; $1.32bn) he told france s lci television. due to enter service in 2006 the a380 will replace the boeing 747 jumbo as the world s biggest passenger aircraft. | 2 | Business |
seamen sail into biometric future the luxury cruise liner crystal harmony currently in the gulf of mexico is the unlikely setting for tests of biometric technology. as holidaymakers enjoy balmy breezes their ship s crew is testing prototype versions of the world s first internationally issued biometric id cards the seafarer s equivalent of a passport. along with the owner s picture name and personal details the new seafarers identity document incorporates a barcode representing unique features of its holder s fingerprints. the cards are due to be issued in february next year in line with the revised un convention on seafarers identity documents of june 2003. tests currently under way in the caribbean are designed to ensure that new cards and their machine readers produced by different companies in different countries are working to interoperable standards. results of the current tests which involve seafarers from a wide range of occupations and nationalities will be published by the international labour organisation (ilo) by the end of november. crystal cruises which operates the crystal harmony is exploring the use of biometrics but has not yet committed to the technology. authenti-corp the us technology consultancy has been working with the ilo on its technical specifications for the cards. if you re issued a seafarer s id in your country you want to be sure that when the ship lands in a port in say my country you can validate yourself using whatever equipment we have installed authenti-corp s ceo cynthia musselman told the bbc s go digital programme. she said french jordanian and nigerian nationals would be the first seafarers to get the new id cards since their countries have already ratified the convention. it aims to combat international terrorism whilst guaranteeing the welfare the one million seafarers estimated to be at sea. the convention highlights the importance of access to shore facilities and shore leave as vital elements to a sailor s wellbeing and therefore it says to safer shipping and cleaner oceans. by increasing security on the seas as well as border control and protection the cards will hopefully reduce the number of piracy problems around the world said ms musselman. it should be a safer environment for seafarers to work in and will allow people protecting their borders to have confidence that the people getting off the ship are in fact seafarers. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
fa charges liverpool and millwall liverpool and millwall have been charged by the football association over crowd trouble during their carling cup match on 26 october. millwall who lost the match 3-0 have also been charged over alleged racist behaviour by their supporters. during the match at millwall s new den stadium seats were ripped up and four people were ejected from the ground. a disabled fan was injured at the perimeter of the pitch and riot police were needed to control the situation. liverpool fans claimed the trouble was sparked by chants about the hillsborough disaster where 96 supporters were crushed to death in april 1989. but lions chairman theo paphitis has denied the claims. he has said cctv footage showed the catalyst for the trouble was a liverpool fan attacking a millwall fan in the west stand. however millwall have been charged with two breaches of fa rules. they have been charged with failing to ensure that fans refrained from racist and/or abusive behaviour and for failing to prevent spectators throwing missiles onto the pitch. liverpool have been charged with one breach for failing to prevent their fans conducting themselves in threatening and/or violent and/or provocative behaviour. both clubs have until 23 december to respond. | 1 | Sports |
police detain chinese milk bosses chinese police have detained three top executives at milk firm yili with reports suggesting that they are being investigated for embezzlement. yili - full name inner mongolia yili industrial - confirmed its chairman chief financial officer and securities representative were all in custody. the company china s third-largest milk producer is to hold an emergency meeting to debate the issue. a yili spokesman said it may now move to oust chairman zheng junhuai. the spokesman did not say why the three had been detained by the police. the official xinhua news agency said the arrest was linked to alleged embezzlement. yili has recently been the subject of intense media speculation over its financial operations. executives are suspected of wrongly using 417m yuan ($50.4m; £26m) of company funds to support a management buyout back in july 2003. yili s shares were suspended on tuesday having fallen by 10% on monday. the company and its two main rivals - market leader mengniu dairy and second place bright dairy - dominate a chinese milk market that has grown by almost 30% over the past five years. analysts wondered if the scandal at yili - the latest to befall chinese companies this year - could be followed by further revelations of corporate wrongdoing. investors wonder if yili s scandal one of a slew to be uncovered this year isn t just the tip of the iceberg said chen huiqin an analyst at huatai securities. | 2 | Business |
robben sidelined with broken foot chelsea winger arjen robben has broken two metatarsal bones in his foot and will be out for at least six weeks. robben had an mri scan on the injury sustained during the premiership win at blackburn on monday. six weeks is the average time to heal this injury and then i need a few more weeks to be completely fit again he told dutch newspaper algemeen dagblad. i had a feeling it was serious but because of the swelling it was impossible to make a final diagnosis. the 21-year-old missed the first three months of the season with a similar injury after a challenge with roma s olivier dacourt. and he added: it felt different then last summer when i had the same injury on my other foot. then i could walk already after three days but i stayed sidelined for a long period. i hope that it will now take me six to eight weeks. chelsea physio mike banks was hopeful that robben could return at some point in march. the fractures are tiny and he could be playing next month banks told the club s website. one is a chip on the side of his foot the other is a small break on the third metatarsal. but this is not the traditional metatarsal that has become so famous since the last world cup and which has kept scott parker out for two months. david beckham suffered a broken metatarsal in the build up to the 2002 world cup in korea and japan. robben who has been a key part of the blues push for four trophies claims he knew instantly something was wrong when he was felled by blackburn midfielder aaron mokoena. i felt my leg go he said. i felt it straight away after mokoena hit me with a wild kick on my left foot. | 1 | Sports |
california sets fines for spyware the makers of computer programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home pcs could face hefty fines in california. from 1 january a new law is being introduced to protect computer users from software known as spyware. the legislation which was approved by governor arnold schwarzenegger is designed to safeguard people from hackers and help protect their personal information. spyware is considered by computer experts to be one of the biggest nuisance and security threats facing pc users in the coming year. the software buries itself in computers and can collect a wide range of information. at its worst it has the ability to hijack personal data like passwords login details and credit card numbers. the programs are so sophisticated they change frequently and become impossible to eradicate. one form of spyware called adware has the ability to collect information on a computer user s web-surfing. it can result in people being bombarded with pop-up ads that are hard to close. in washington congress has been debating four anti-spyware bills but california is a step ahead. the state s consumer protection against spyware act bans the installation of software that takes control of another computer. it also requires companies and websites to disclose whether their systems will install spyware. consumers are able to seek up to $1 000 in damages if they think they have fallen victim to the intrusive software. the new law marks a continuing trend in california towards tougher privacy rights. a recent survey by earthlink and webroot found that 90% of pcs are infested with the surreptitious software and that on average each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs. currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as spybot and ad-aware. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
israeli economy picking up pace israel s economy is forecast to grow by 4.2% in 2004 as it continues to emerge from a three-year recession. the main driver of the faster-than-expected expansion has been exports with tourism seeing a strong rebound the statistical office said. the economy is benefiting from a quieter period in palestinian-israeli violence and a pick-up in global demand for technology products. the outlook is better than it has been for a number of years analysts said. many companies have focused on cost cutting and greater efficiency while the government has been trying to trim public spending and push through reforms. the growth figures come about despite a strike earlier this year by about 400 000 public sector worker which closed banks hospitals postal services and transport facilities. growth did slow in the second half but only slightly. exports for the year rose by 14% while tourist revenues were up by 30%. imports gained by 13% signalling that domestic demand has picked up again. in 2003 imports declined by 1.8%. in 2003 the economy expanded by 1.3% | 2 | Business |
republic to face china and italy the republic of ireland have arranged friendlies against china and italy which will take place at lansdowne road in march and august. brian kerr s side will face the 54th ranked chinese on 29 march - just three days after the world cup qualifier against israel in tel aviv. italy will visit on 17 august in what will be a warm-up game ahead of the autumn world cup qualifiers. in their last meeting the irish beat italy in the 1994 world cup finals. however that is the republic s only victory in eight attempts against the italians who have won all the other seven games. the 29 march game will be the second time the republic have played china - the previous encounter back in june 1984 with the irish winning 1-0 in sapporo japan. brian kerr said: china have made great progress over the last few years and will provide difficult opposition. we all witnessed the performances of the asian teams in the last world cup and china play a similar type of football. as for italy they make a welcome return to dublin and will be a massive attraction because they are one of the great traditional powers in the world. the game will be ideal preparation for the three important world cup qualifiers in the autumn. ireland round off their world cup campaign with games against france on 7 september cyprus on 8 october and switzerland on 12 october. | 1 | Sports |
hewitt overcomes wobble in sydney lleyton hewitt gave himself the perfect preparation for next week s australian open with victory over ivo minar in the final of the sydney international. the defending champion brushed aside the czech qualifier 7-5 6-0. the australian world number three strolled to the first five games of the match but was shocked as minar won the next five. the top seed was rattled but recovered to close out the set and raced to victory in exactly an hour. it was a strange match . . . momentum swings said hewitt. i felt like i came out of the blocks extremely well but then he loosened up a bit. when he got back to 5-5 i had to try to settle down and take it up a notch and i was able to do that. hewitt has now lifted the sydney title four times in the last six years. it just keeps getting better and better every year hewitt said. i ve only played this tournament four times and i ve won it four times. hewitt went into the final as a short-priced favourite to clinch his 24th career title after dropping only one set all week. he is set to meet frenchman arnaud clement in the first round of the australian open. minar ranked 158th in the world was forced to pull out of the australian open qualifying draw to play in his first atp final. for me this was a big success said the 20-year-old. i was so nervous last night i couldn t sleep. i ve never played a top-10 player before. i wanted to play qualifying in melbourne but it s saturday and i m still here. but this is a main draw and i need the points and the money. alicia molik takes on samantha stosur in an all-australian women s final later on saturday. | 1 | Sports |
mobile networks seek turbo boost third-generation mobile (3g) networks need to get faster if they are to deliver fast internet surfing on the move and exciting new services. that was one of the messages from the mobile industry at the 3gsm world congress in cannes last week. fast 3g networks are here but the focus has shifted to their evolution into a higher bandwidth service says the global mobile suppliers association. at 3gsm siemens showed off a system that transmits faster mobile data. the german company said data could be transmitted at one gigabit a second - up to 20 times faster than current 3g networks. the system is not available commercially yet but motorola the us mobile handset and infrastructure maker held a clinic for mobile operators on hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) a high-speed high bandwidth technology available now. early hsdpa systems typically offer around two megabits per second (mbps) compared with less than 384 kilobits per second (kbps) on standard 3g networks. high-speed downlink packet access (hsdpa) - sometimes called super 3g - will be vital for profitable services like mobile internet browsing and mobile video clips according to a report published by uk-based research consultancy analysys. a number of companies are developing the technology. nokia and canada-based wireless communication products company sierra wireless recently agreed to work together on high speed downlink packet access. the two companies aim to jointly market the hsdpa solution to global network operator customers. while hsdpa theoretically enables data rates up to a maximum of 14mbps practical throughputs will be lower than this in wide-area networks said dr alastair brydon author of the analysys report: pushing beyond the limits of 3g with hsdpa and other enhancements. the typical average user rate in a real implementation is likely to be in the region of one megabit per second which even at this lower rate will more than double the capacity... when compared to basic wcdma [3g] he added. motorola has conducted five trials of its technology and says speeds of 2.9mbps have been recorded at the edge of an outdoor 3g cell using a single hsdpa device. but some mobile operators are opting for a technology called evolution data optimised (ev-do). us operator sprint ordered a broadband data upgrade to its 3g network at the end of last year. we are expanding our network and deploying ev-do technology to meet customer demand for faster wireless speeds said oliver valente sprint s vice president for technology development when the contract was announced. as part of $3bn in multi-year contracts announced late last year sprint will spend around $1bn on ev-do technology from lucent technologies nortel networks and motorola that provides average data speeds of 0.3-0.5 megabits a second and peak download rates of 2.4mbps. mmo2 the uk-based operator with services in the uk ireland and germany has opted for technology based on the high speed downlink packet access (hsdpa) standard. using technology from lucent it will offer data speeds of 3.6mbps from next summer on its isle of man 3g network and will eventually support speeds of up to 14.4mbps. us operator cingular wireless is also adopting hsdpa using technology from lucent alongside equipment from siemens and ericsson. siemens plans for a one gigabit network may be more than a user needs today but christoph caselitz president of the mobile networks division at the firm says that: by the time the next generation of mobile communication debuts in 2015 the need for transmission capacities for voice data image and multimedia is conservatively anticipated to rise by a factor of 10. siemens - in collaboration with the fraunhofer german-sino lab for mobile communications and the institute for applied radio system technology - has souped up mobile communications by using three transmitting and four receiving antennae instead of the usual one. this enables a data transmission such as sending a big file or video to be broken up into different flows of data that can be sent simultaneously over one radio frequency band. the speeds offered by3g mobile seemed fast at the time mobile operators were paying huge sums for 3g licences. but today instead of connecting to the internet by slow dial-up phone connection many people are used to broadband networks that offer speeds of 0.5 megabits a second - must faster than 3g. this means users are likely to find 3g disappointing unless the networks are souped up. if they aren t those lucrative power users such as computer geeks and busy business people will avoid them for all but the most urgent tasks reducing the potential revenues available to mobile operators. but one gigabit a second systems will not be available immediately. siemens says that though the system works in the laboratory it still has to assess the mobility of multiple-antennae devices and conduct field trials. a commercial system could be as far away as 2012 though siemens did not rule out an earlier date. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
ryanair in $4bn boeing plane deal budget airline ryanair has placed an order for 70 boeing 737-800 planes in a deal valued at $4bn (£2.1bn) which should lead to 2 500 new ryanair jobs. it also has an option for a further 70 aircraft a move which brings the ryanair/boeing order book up to 225 firm orders and options on 193 more. ryanair said the new planes would help it to cut operating costs further. the carrier reported a drop in quarterly profit earlier this year after it was hit by higher fuel costs. however when it reported the results the airline was upbeat about prospects for 2005 despite tough competition in the budget airline market. ryanair chairman david bonderman said that the 737-800 had significantly reduced our unit operating costs and allowed us to reduce air fares each year for the last five years . with this new order and new pricing in place ryanair expects that unit operating costs (excluding fuel) will continue to fall each year for the next five years he added. at the end of this year ryanair will have taken delivery of about 100 new planes while the 70 new orders are due for delivery between 2008 and 2012. the airline said that when all these planes have been delivered it will be able to carry more than 70 million passengers a year making it europe s largest airline. about 2 500 new jobs should be created in the next seven years it added. the order can be seen as good news for boeing which in recent years has been overtaken by european plane maker airbus as the world s biggest-selling plane maker. | 2 | Business |
mcdonald s to sponsor mtv show mcdonald s the world s largest restaurant chain is to sponsor a programme on music channel mtv as part of its latest youth market promotion. the show advance warning highlights new talent and mtv reckons it will give mcdonald s access to nearly 400 million homes in 162 countries. mcdonald s golden arches name and i m loving it catchphrase will be used throughout the half-hour programme. the move comes amid growing concerns about obesity in europe and the us. the european union has called on the food industry to reduce the number of adverts aimed at young children warning that legislation would be introduced. unless voluntary steps were taken. in the us food group kraft is among firms that already have cut back on promoting sugar and fattening products to the young. mcdonalds has also been taking steps to improve its junk food reputation revamping its menu and providing clients with health-related products such as pedometers. as well as burgers like the big mac and quarter pounder with cheese the company now sells healthier options such as salads and fresh fruit. chief executive jim skinner attributed an 8.3% increase in january worldwide sales to the vitality of our menu among other things. hooking up with mtv is expected to add extra momentum to mcdonald s recent revival. mtv which played a key role in the emergence of the music video is to show advance warning on all 25 of its channels across the world. the programme can at present only been seen in the us where it has featured artists like british stars joss stone and franz ferdinand. mcdonald s has targeted the youth market in the past with its advertisements signing up stars like jelly-legged dancer justin timberlake and all-woman singing group destiny s child. | 2 | Business |
brazil approves bankruptcy reform a major reform of brazil s bankruptcy laws has been approved by the country s congress in a move which it is hoped will cut the cost of borrowing. the bill proposed in 1993 has finally been approved by the leadership of president luiz inacio lula da silva. the old law dating from 1945 gave priority first to workers second to tax revenue and finally to creditors. the new legislation changes this giving priority to creditors and limiting payments to workers. the new regulations will limit payments to workers to 150 times the minimum monthly salary which is currently $94. the law also makes it more difficult for a company to declare bankruptcy. however when a firm is declared bankrupt it will gain protection from creditors for 180 days while a recovery plan is worked out. the proposals were opposed in the past by leftist parties including mr lula s worker party. they considered that they undermined workers rights. but president lula became a defender of the reforms arguing that the country s bank lending margins were among the highest in the world and were damaging the economy. according to andreas adriano of latin trade magazine the new bankruptcy law will help in reducing the spread - difference between the interest rates of the banks and federal bonds. nevertheless mr adriano said to reduce the basic interest rate the central bank needs to change its policy focusing not only on inflation but also on economic growth. | 2 | Business |
ferrero eyes return to top form former world number one juan carlos ferrero insists he can get back to his best despite a tough start to 2005. the 2003 french open champion has slipped to 64 in the world after a year of illness and injuries in 2004 but is confident that his form will return. i don t know when it is going to happen ferrero told bbc sport. but i have a lot of confidence in me that i will be the same juan carlos as i was before and very soon. i feel 100% again mentally. the 25-year-old spaniard joins a top field for the abn amro world tennis tournament in rotterdam this week as he looks to add to just two wins in 2005. he opens against rainer schuettler and potentially faces fourth seed david nalbandian in the second round. because i m no longer seeded it s tougher ferrero admitted. i had to play against joachim johansson in the first round last week in marseille. in the past when i was a top seed i would have played a match like that in the quarters or semi-finals. this is the big difference but i have to do it to get higher in the rankings. despite this ferrero insists he is feeling positive after chicken pox and a rib injury destroyed last season. physically i am 100% since december of last year said ferrero. i was working very hard before the davis cup final to prepare and i ve felt 100% from then until now. the difficult moments were when i knew that i had the chicken pox and that it would take two or three months to recover. i had to start from zero again physically because the virus left me at zero per cent. when i started to come back i had my rib broken when i fell on court and that was another two months out. those five months were pretty difficult for me. among the low points of a difficult year for ferrero was the decision of spain captain jordi arrese to drop him for the davis cup final against the usa. it was difficult because i had been playing well for the whole year and the coaches told me that i would play said ferrero. but then i had some problems with my hand two days before the friday matches so they decided to choose nadal instead. it was difficult for me not to be in the friday matches but i had to understand. inside me i wanted to play but this was the decision of the captain and they had to make it. | 1 | Sports |
savvy searchers fail to spot ads internet search engine users are an odd mix of naive and sophisticated suggests a report into search habits. the report by the us pew research center reveals that 87% of searchers usually find what they were looking for when using a search engine. it also shows that few can spot the difference between paid-for results and organic ones. the report reveals that 84% of net users say they regularly use google ask jeeves msn and yahoo when online. almost 50% of those questioned said they would trust search engines much less if they knew information about who paid for results was being hidden. according to figures gathered by the pew researchers the average users spends about 43 minutes per month carrying out 34 separate searches and looks at 1.9 webpages for each hunt. a significant chunk of net users 36% carry out a search at least weekly and 29% of those asked only look every few weeks. for 44% of those questioned the information they are looking for is critical to what they are doing and is information they simply have to find. search engine users also tend to be very loyal and once they have found a site they feel they can trust tend to stick with it. according to pew research 44% of searchers use just a single search engine 48% use two or three and a small number 7% consult more than three sites. tony macklin spokesman for ask jeeves said the results reflected its own research which showed that people use different search engines because the way the sites gather information means they can provide different results for the same query. despite this liking for search sites half of those questioned said they could get the same information via other routes. a small number 17% said they wouldn t really miss search engines if they did not exist. the remaining 33% said they could not live without search sites. more than two-thirds of those questioned 68% said they thought that the results they were presented with were a fair and unbiased selection of the information on a topic that can be found on the net. alongside the growing sophistication of net users is a lack of awareness about paid-for results that many search engines provide alongside lists of websites found by indexing the web. of those asked 62% were unaware that someone has paid for some of the results they see when they carry out a search. only 18% of all searchers say they can tell which results are paid for and which are not. said the pew report: this finding is ironic since nearly half of all users say they would stop using search engines if they thought engines were not being clear about how they presented paid results. commenting mr macklin said sponsored results must be clearly marked and though they might help with some queries user testing showed that people need to be able to spot the difference. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
boeing unveils new 777 aircraft us aircraft firm boeing has unveiled its new long-distance 777 plane as it tries to regain its position as the industry s leading manufacturer. the 777-200lr will be capable of flying almost 11 000 miles non-stop linking cities such as london and sydney. boeing in contrast to european rival airbus hopes airlines will want to fly smaller aircraft over longer distances. airbus which overtook boeing as the number one civilian planemaker in 2003 is focusing on so-called super jumbos. analysts are divided over which approach is best and say that this latest tussle between boeing and airbus may prove to be a defining moment for the airline industry. boeing plans to offer twin-engine planes that are able to fly direct to many of the world s airports getting rid of the need for connecting flights. it is banking on smaller slimmer planes such as the 777-200lr and its much-anticipated 787 dreamliner plane which is set to take to the skies in 2008. the 777-200lr which had its launch delayed by the 11 september attacks in the us is the fifth variation of boeing s twin-aisle 777 plane. the company offically rolled-out the new 777 in seattle at 2200 gmt. better fuel efficiency from engines made by ge and lighter materials mean that the plane can connect almost any two cities worldwide. boeing has the latest variant in a very successful line of airplanes and there is no doubt it will continue to be very successful said david learmount operations and safety editor at industry magazine flight international. but the 777-200lr is a niche player mr learmount continued adding that reach was not the only criteria airlines used when picking their aircraft. mr learmount pointed out that the 777-200lr has been on the market for a couple of years and only had limited success at attracting orders. he also said that while the plane may be able to fly to sydney from london in one hit prevailing winds meant that it would have to stop somewhere on the return journey. for airbus the future is big - it is pinning its hopes on planes that can carry as many as 840 people between large hub airports. from there passengers would be ferried to their final destinations by smaller planes. airbus is also keeping its options open and plans to compete in all the main categories of aircraft. it has been producing a rival to boeing s 777 line for more than a year. airbus is now where boeing was a few years ago with its product range said flight international s mr learmount. both boeing and airbus have been taking orders for their new planes. boeing said it expected to sell about 500 of its 777-200lr planes over the next 20 years. it already has orders from pakistan international airlines and eva of taiwan. these orders should help underpin the company s profits. boeing said earnings during the last three months of 2004 dropped by 84% because of costs relating to stopping production of its smallest airliner the 717 and the cancellation of a us air force 767 tanker contract. net profit was $186m (£98m; 143m euros) in the quarter compared with $1.13bn in the same period in 2003. | 2 | Business |
davenport hits out at wimbledon world number one lindsay davenport has criticised wimbledon over the issue of equal prize money for women. reacting to a disputed comment by all england club chairman tim phillips the american said: i think it is highly insulting if prize money is taken away. somebody i think it was mr phillips said they won t have money for flowers at wimbledon. that s insulting. an all england club spokesperson denied phillips made the remark insisting: he definitely didn t say it. the statement added: it was said by someone else and was a humorous aside at the end of a radio interview when the conversation had moved to talking about the wimbledon grounds. davenport was speaking following the announcement that this week s dubai duty free event will join the us and australian opens in offering equal prize money for women. you hear about women playing only three sets while men play five said daveport. and the best women are never going to beat the best men. but it s a different game you go to watch with the women - it doesn t make it better or worse. hopefully we will be able to change people s minds. serena williams who is also in dubai added: i m obviously for equal prize money. women s tennis is exciting. men s tennis is exciting as well but the women have it right now. if you are bringing in the spectators you should be able to reap what everyone else is able to reap. | 1 | Sports |
christmas sales worst since 1981 uk retail sales fell in december failing to meet expectations and making it by some counts the worst christmas since 1981. retail sales dropped by 1% on the month in december after a 0.6% rise in november the office for national statistics (ons) said. the ons revised the annual 2004 rate of growth down from the 5.9% estimated in november to 3.2%. a number of retailers have already reported poor figures for december. clothing retailers and non-specialist stores were the worst hit with only internet retailers showing any significant growth according to the ons. the last time retailers endured a tougher christmas was 23 years previously when sales plunged 1.7%. the ons echoed an earlier caution from bank of england governor mervyn king not to read too much into the poor december figures. some analysts put a positive gloss on the figures pointing out that the non-seasonally-adjusted figures showed a performance comparable with 2003. the november-december jump last year was roughly comparable with recent averages although some way below the serious booms seen in the 1990s. and figures for retail volume outperformed measures of actual spending an indication that consumers are looking for bargains and retailers are cutting their prices. however reports from some high street retailers highlight the weakness of the sector. morrisons woolworths house of fraser marks & spencer and big food all said that the festive period was disappointing. and a british retail consortium survey found that christmas 2004 was the worst for 10 years. yet other retailers - including hmv monsoon jessops body shop and tesco - reported that festive sales were well up on last year. investec chief economist philip shaw said he did not expect the poor retail figures to have any immediate effect on interest rates. the retail sales figures are very weak but as bank of england governor mervyn king indicated last night you don t really get an accurate impression of christmas trading until about easter said mr shaw. our view is the bank of england will keep its powder dry and wait to see the big picture. | 2 | Business |
apple ipod family expands market apple has expanded its ipod family with the release of its next generation of the digital music players. its latest challenges to the growing digital music gadget market include an ipod mini model which can hold 6gb compared to a previous 4gb. the company which hopes to keep its dominant place in the digital music market also said the gold coloured version of the mini would be dropped. a 30gb version has also been added to the ipod photo family. the latest models have a longer battery life and their prices have been cut by an average of £40. the original ipod took an early lead in the digital music player market thanks to its large storage capacity and simple design. during 2004 about 25 million portable players were sold 10 million of which were apple ipods. but analysts agree that the success is also down to its integration with the itunes online store which has given the company a 70% share of the legal download music market. mike mcguire a research director at analyst gartner told the bbc news website that apple had done a good job in sealing off the market from competition so far. they have created a very seamless package which i think is the idea of the product - the design function and the software are very impressive he said. he added that the threat from others was always present however. creative other microsoft-partnered devices real sony and so on are ratcheting up the marketing message and advertising he said. creative was very upbeat about how many of its creative zen players it had shipped by the end of last year he said. its second-generation models like the creative zen micro photo is due out in the summer. it will have 5gb of memory on board. digital music players are now the gadget of choice among young americans according to recent research by the pew internet and american life project. one in 10 us adults - 22 million people - now owns a digital music player of some sort. sales of legally downloaded songs also rose more than tenfold in 2004 according to the record industry with 200 million tracks bought online in the us and europe in 12 months. the ifpi industry body said that the popularity of portable music players was behind the growth. analysts say that the ease of use and growth of music services available on the net will continue to drive the trend towards portable music players. people are also starting to use them in novel ways. some are combining automatic syncing functions many of them have with other net functions to automatically distribute diy radio shows called podcasts. but 2005 will also see more competition from mobile phone operators who are keen to offer streaming services on much more powerful and sophisticated handsets. according to mr mcguire research suggests that people like the idea of building up huge libraries of music which they can do with high-capacity storage devices like ipods and creative zens. mobiles do not yet have this capacity though and there are issues about the ease of portability of mobile music. mr mcguire said apple was ensuring it kept a foot in the mobile music door with its recent deal with motorola to produce a version of itunes for motorola phones. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
iaaf launches fight against drugs the iaaf - athletics world governing body - has met anti-doping officials coaches and athletes to co-ordinate the fight against drugs in sport. two task forces have been set up to examine doping and nutrition issues. it was also agreed that a programme to de-mystify the issue to athletes the public and the media was a priority. nothing was decided to change things - it was more to have a forum of the stakeholders allowing them to express themselves said an iaaf spokesman. getting everyone together gave us a lot of food for thought. about 60 people attended sunday s meeting in monaco including iaaf chief lamine diack and namibian athlete frankie fredericks now a member of the athletes commission. i am very happy to see you all members of the athletics family respond positively to the iaaf call to sit together and discuss what more we can do in the fight against doping said diack. we are the leading federation in this field and it is our duty to keep our sport clean. the two task forces will report back to the iaaf council at its april meeting in qatar. | 1 | Sports |
henman & murray claim lta awards tim henman was named player of the year for 2004 by the lawn tennis association at wimbledon on monday. the briton was recognised for the best year of his career which saw him reach the semis at the french and us opens. scotland s andrew murray was named young player of the year after winning the us open juniors as well as a futures event in italy. and world number one peter norfolk won disabled player of the year after claiming his third us open crown. great britain s under 14 boys won the team of the year prize for their victory at the world junior tennis event in august. henman will start his 2005 campaign at the kooyong event on 12 january in a field that includes roger federer andy roddick and andre agassi. and the briton is optimistic of surpassing his best effort of a fourth-round place at the australian open which begins the following week. i ve often felt that the conditions suit my game in melbourne so i d love to be able to start next year by doing well at the australian open henman told his website. that s why i ve changed my schedule slightly by committing to play in the kooyong classic. i ll be able to acclimatise while practising before the event and then will be guaranteed matches against the best players in the world. i think that will give me the best possible chance of doing well at the australian open. | 1 | Sports |
collins calls for chambers return world 100m champion kim collins says suspended sprinter dwain chambers should be allowed to compete in the olympics again. chambers was banned for two years after testing positive for the anabolic steroid thg and his suspension runs out in november this year. but collins says the british olympic association should reverse the decision to ban him from the olympics for life. it was too harsh collins told radio five live. they should reconsider. chambers has been in america learning american football but has not ruled out a return to the track. collins added: he is a great guy and i have never had any problems with him. we are friends. i would like to see dwain come back and compete again. he is a good person. even though he made a mistake he understands what he did and should be given a chance once more. | 1 | Sports |
gatlin and hayes win owen awards american olympic stars justin gatlin and joanna hayes have been named the winners of the 2004 jesse owens awards usa track & field s (usatf) top honour. gatlin 22 won the closest 100m final in games history with a career-best time of 9.85 seconds in athens. he also won bronze in the 200m and silver in the 4x100m relay becoming the only male athlete to win three athletics medals this summer. hayes 27 set an olympic record of 12.37 in winning the 100m hurdles. established in 1981 the jesse owens awards - named in honour of the late olympic great who won four gold medals at the 1936 berlin games - are presented annually to the outstanding us male and female track and field performers. the 2004 awards will be presented on 3 december in conjunction with the usatf annual meeting in portland. it is such a great honour to win the jesse owens award said gatlin. it is one of the biggest honours in track and field and it is a great end to a great year. hayes said: knowing some of the great people who have won this award before me and knowing what it represents i feel a sense accomplishment and pride which lets me know that everything that i have worked for is and always will be worth it. | 1 | Sports |
classy henman makes winning start tim henman opened his 2005 campaign with a 6-1 7-5 victory over argentine david nalbandian at the kooyong classic exhibition tournament on wednesday. the british number one will next play roger federer at the australian open warm-up event on friday. the world number one beat gaston gaudio 5-7 6-1 6-4 before andre agassi saw off chilean olympic gold medalist nicolas massu 6-1 7-6 (7-4). andy roddick beat ivan ljubicic who replaced paradorn srichaphan 6-1 6-4. henman made an impressive start to the year only faltering against nalbandian when serving for the match at 5-4. but the briton regained his composure to win the next two games for only his second win in six matches against the argentine. it s a great start to the year - just what i was looking for henman told his website. over the years i ve found david very difficult to play against. he returns serve very well and he s deceptively effective from the baseline so sometimes it can be difficult to execute my gameplan well enough against him to get the right result. beating somebody of his stature is always good for the confidence and it bodes well at the beginning of the year. henman also revealed the extent of the back problems he suffered in the off-season. i m not the most flexible and at the end of the year i was pretty exhausted and wanted to have a couple of weeks where i didn t do anything said henman. when i started training again it really really seized up. as much as i enjoyed the two weeks off i don t think it s so productive. federer dropped a tight first set against 2004 french open champion gaudio but was content with his game. it was about getting used to the surface he said. the conditions are much quicker than doha my timing was ok but i could have served better. all in all i m happy with the match and i won it - that s a good sign. now i have a day off and hopefully play better the next match. agassi was delighted with victory over massu in his first match for over two months. i felt pretty good said the american. i liked the way the match played out and maybe excluding a few second serve returns i felt like i was doing most things pretty darn well for the first match. | 1 | Sports |
virgin blue shares plummet 20% shares in australian budget airline virgin blue plunged 20% after it warned of a steep fall in full year profits. virgin blue said profits after tax for the year to march would be between 10% to 15% lower than the previous year. sluggish demand reported previously for november and now december 2004 continues said virgin blue chief executive brett godfrey. virgin blue which is 25% owned by richard branson has been struggling to fend off pressure from rival jetstar. it cut its full year passenger number forecast by approximately 2.5% . virgin blue reported a 22% fall in first quarter profits in august 2004 due to tough competition. in november first half profits were down due to slack demand and rising fuel costs. virgin blue was launched four years ago and now has roughly one third of australia s domestic airline market. but the national carrier qantas has fought back with its own budget airline jetstar which took to the skies in may 2004. sydney-listed virgin blue s shares recovered slightly to close 12% down on wednesday. shares in its major shareholder patrick corporation - which owns 46% of virgin blue - had dropped 31% by the close. | 2 | Business |
newry to fight cup exit in courts newry city are expected to discuss legal avenues on friday regarding overturning their ejection from the nationwide irish cup. the ifa upheld its original decision to throw newry out of the cup following the andy crawford registration row. a law firm will put a case forward for newry fc and see what the legal implications of all this is are said newry boss roy mccreadie. this is a big issue now that we have an appeal pending on wednesday a fresh ifa hearing into crawford registration saga ruled that last week s original verdict had been correct. it meant that bangor beaten 5-1 by newry on the field will take on portadown in the sixth round. newry had claimed they had uncovered fresh evidence in respect of the dates relating to the registration. but mccreadie is not further annoyed that full details of wednesday s meeting was not relayed to the club. even to this day we have as much information about what happened during the meeting on wednesday as that told to the media. we are being kept in the dark mccreadie told the news letter . we want an explanation. there is no good sending us the same fax message the press people received. it s a real sad case. if we are not back in the irish cup after our appeal and guided by our legal advise we will seek to lodge an injunction in the courts to stop bangor playing portadown. | 1 | Sports |
melzer shocks agassi in san jose second seed andre agassi suffered a comprehensive defeat by jurgen melzer in the quarter-finals of the sap open. agassi was often bamboozled by the austrian s drop shots in san jose losing 6-3 6-1. defending champion and top seed andy roddick rallied to beat sweden s thomas enqvist 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5. but unseeded cyril saulnier beat the fourth seed vincent spadea 6-2 6-4 and tommy haas overcame eighth seed max mirnyi 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2. melzer has now beaten agassi in two of their three meetings. i had a good game plan and i executed it perfectly he said. it s always tough to come out to play andre. i didn t want him to play his game. he makes you run like a dog all over the court. and agassi who was more than matched for power by his opponent s two-handed backhand said melzer was an example of several players on the tour willing to take their chances against him. a lot more guys are capable of it now said the american. he played much better than me. that s what he did both times. i had opportunities to loosen myself up agassi added. but i didn t convert on the big points. | 1 | Sports |
quiksilver moves for rossignol shares of skis rossignol the world s largest ski-maker have jumped as much as 15% on speculation that it will be bought by us surfwear firm quiksilver. the owners of rossignol the boix-vives family are said to be considering an offer from quiksilver. analysts believe other sporting goods companies may now take a closer look at rossignol prompting an auction and pushing the sale price higher. nike and k2 have previously been mentioned as possible suitors. rossignol shares touched 17.70 euros before falling back to trade 7.8% higher at 16.60 euros. european sporting goods companies have seen foreign revenues squeezed by a slump in the value of the us dollar making a takeover more attractive analysts said. companies such as quiksilver would be able to cut costs by selling rossignol skis through their shops they added. the boix-vives family is thought to have spent the past couple of years sounding out possible suitors for rossignol which also makes golf equipment snowboards and sports clothing. | 2 | Business |
argentina closes $102.6bn debt swap argentina is set to close its $102.6bn (£53.51bn) debt restructuring offer for bondholders later on friday with the government hopeful that most creditors will accept the deal. the estimated loss to bondholders is up to 70% of the original value of the bonds yet the majority are expected to accept the government s offer. argentina defaulted on its debt three years ago the biggest sovereign default in modern history. yesterday argentina s economy minister roberto lavagna said that he estimated that the results of the restructuring would be ready around next thursday (3 march). argentina s president nestor kirchner said on friday: a year ago when we started the swap (negotiations) they told us we were crazy that we were irrational. but he added that his government was close to achieving: the best debt renegotiation in history. the country has been in default on the $102.6bn - based on an original debt of $81.8bn plus interest - for the past three years. if the offer does not go ahead international lawsuits on behalf of aggrieved investors could follow but analysts are optimistic that it will go through despite the tough terms for bondholders. about 70% to 80% of bondholders are expected to accept the terms of the offer. by 18 february creditors holding $41bn - or 40% of the total debt - had accepted the offer. sorting out its debt would enhance the country s credibility on international markets and enable it to attract more foreign investment. of argentina s bondholders 38.4% reside in argentina 15.6% in italy 10.3% in switzerland 9.1% in the united states 5.1% in germany and 3.1% in japan. investors in the uk holland and luxembourg have about 1% each and the remainder were not broken down by country. the deal is likely to be taken up most enthusiastically by domestic investors who will benefit if argentina s economy becomes more stable. | 2 | Business |
german jobless rate at new record more than 5.2 million germans were out of work in february new figures show. the figure of 5.216 million people or 12.6% of the working-age population is the highest jobless rate in europe s biggest economy since the 1930s. the news comes as the head of germany s panel of government economic advisers predicted growth would again stagnate. speaking on german tv bert ruerup said the panel s earlier forecast of 1.4% was too optimistic and warned growth would be just 1% in 2005. the german government is trying to tackle the stubbornly-high levels of joblessness with a range of labour market reforms. at their centre is the hartz-iv programme introduced in january to shake up welfare benefits and push people back into work - even if some of the jobs are heavily subsidised. the latest unemployment figures look set to increase the pressure on the government. widely leaked to the german newspapers a day in advance they produced screaming headlines criticising chancellor gerhard schroeder s social democrat-green party administration. mr schroeder had originally come into office promising to halve unemployment. still some measures suggest the picture is not quite so bleak. the soaring official unemployment figure follows a change in the methodology which pushed up the jobless rate by more than 500 000 in january. adjusted for seasonal changes the overall unemployment rate is 4.875 million people or 11.7% up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month. using the most internationally-accepted methodology of the international labour organisation (ilo) germany had 3.97 million people out of work in january. and ilo-based figures also suggest that 14 000 new net jobs were created that month taking the number of people employed to 38.9 million. the ilo defines an unemployed person as someone who in the previous four weeks had actively looked for work they could take up immediately. | 2 | Business |
thanou desperate to make return greek sprinter katerina thanou says she is eager to compete again after being cleared of missing a drugs test by an independent greek tribunal. thanou 30 was provisionally suspended for missing a test before the olympics but the decision was overturned. the iaaf will decide if we can compete again in greece and abroad thanou told to vima newspaper in her first interview since the athens olympics. if given the green light i will run again - that s the only thing i want. thanou 30 and her compatriot kostas kenteris were provisionally suspended by the iaaf in december for missing three drugs tests. the third was alleged to have been on the eve of the opening ceremony of the athens olympics. but an independent tribunal of the greek athletics federation overturned the provisional ban on 18 march. the iaaf - which said it was very surprised by the decision of the greek tribunal - is deciding whether to appeal against the decision at the court of arbitration for sport. however dick pound the chairman of the world anti-doping authority has said he will appeal against the decision if the iaaf does not. and thanou and kenteris face a criminal trial later this year for allegedly avoiding the test and then faking a motorcycle accident. thanou said: i can see how people can think the accident seemed like a childish excuse. i cannot deny that we made a lot of mistakes during that time. i always said we needed a pr person. an athlete would have to be very stupid to take illegal substances when he or she knows that they will undergo tests at any given moment. i am a champion. i cannot risk everything i ve achieved in such a silly way. | 1 | Sports |
bomb threat at bernabeu stadium spectators were evacuated from real madrid s bernabeu stadium on sunday following a bomb scare during the game between the hosts and real sociedad. more than 70 000 people abandoned the ground with the score at 1-1 and only three minutes left to play. the basque newspaper gara apparently received a telephone call saying a bomb was due to explode at 2100 local time. but after searching the stadium with sniffer dogs the police said that no explosive device had been found. the police have said they have completed their search and have not found anything said real madrid president florentino perez. the best thing we can all do now is to put this nightmare behind us. madrid midfielder guti told private spanish radio station cadena ser: i have never seen this before and sport should be above it all. real took the lead just before the break when brazilian striker ronaldo cracked home with his left foot. sociedad levelled the match midway through the second half when turkish striker nihat kahveci smashed home with an acrobatic finish. it is not yet clear if the remaining three minutes of the game will be played at a later date or if the result will be allowed to stand. if the result remains at 1-1 real will drop to third place in the standings 11 points behind leaders barcelona who snatched a late 2-1 win at albacete on saturday. initial reports suggested the basque separatist group eta may be responsible for the bomb threat after issuing similar warnings before a series of small explosions in recent days. the bernabeu was targeted by eta on 1 may 2002 when madrid were about to play fc barcelona in a champions league semi-final. a car bomb exploded in a street outside the stadium and 17 people were slightly injured. | 1 | Sports |
bbc web search aids odd queries the bbc s online search engine was used a record amount in 2004 helping with enquires both simple and strange. more than 277 million enquiries were made asking for informaton of a wide range of subjects. the most requested search terms of 2004 included games eastenders cbbc john peel harry potter and olympics. but there were many strange enquiries including: what is a dog how do you say basketball and what is the biggest collection of naval fluff the search engine works by matching key words typed in to different web pages but many people still type in natural language questions. here are some of the strangest queries of 2004 - spelling and grammar errors left untouched - and their possible solutions: - how to fold a serviette like an elf s boot - how do i structure a french letter - what is better one long vacation each year or several short vacations throughout the year - what is so special about the swiss - what are the contemporary issue in nurses - what is the number 4 in this number 40052308090 - what is up - what is the name of james martin s dog search engines are key to the way people use the internet. companies such as google have become of paramount importance as they dictate how people travel through websites while online. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
poles play with gameboy blip-pop a group of artists in poland has taken the cacophony of blips boops and beeps created as players bash buttons on nintendo s handheld gameboy console to a new level. the gameboyzz orchestra project has taken the game sounds to put together music tunes they have dubbed blip-pop. think of it as donkey kong meets norman cook or maybe tetris takes on kraftwerk. any way you slice it the sound is distinct. all the sounds are made by six nintendo gameboys with a mixture of older models and newer advance sp handhelds. the gameboyzz orchestra project tweaks the software a bit and then connects the units through a mixing board. jarek kujda one of the project s founding members has been into electronic music and video games for a while now. i was playing some experimental music and three four years ago when i first used a gameboy in my band as a drum machine said kujda. he realised that the console could be used as a rudimentary synthesizer. he wondered if one gameboy can make music what would happen if he put six of them together kujda found five other people who were interested and the gameboyzz orchestra project was born. gameboyzz orchestra project is more of an improvisational project said kudja. we prepare some patterns before a concert and then improvise during the concert. the group plays maybe four or five shows a year. malgorzata kujda jarek s younger sister and a fellow band member describes a gameboyzz orchestra project concert as a lot of noise. for example i make music with more hard beats and noises she said. but each of us makes another music a different sound. and then in the concert we just improvise and that i think is more fun for us. the gameboyzz orchestra project admits they get mixed reactions from audiences. some love the group s music and others are not quite sure what to make of it. in the world of electronic music these purveyors of blip-pop are not unique. but jarek kujda says they try to be unique. we have lots of people making music on old school stuff electronic old school stuff like commodore atari spectrum he said. we want to play only experimental music not cover songs. we re something like an electronic jam session. the gameboyzz orchestra project s tracks are available online and the group hopes to make a cd next year. and they have sponsorship courtesy of the polish distributor of nintendo products. the members of the gameboyzz orchestra project do not expect serious competition anytime soon. a gameboy advance costs about us $200 in poland these days which is still way beyond the reach of most polish gamers or musicians. clark boyd is technology correspondent for the world a bbc world service and wgbh-boston co-production | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
slimmer playstation triple 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. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
strong quarterly growth for nike nike has reported its best second-quarter earnings helped by strong demand for its athletic shoes and converse sneakers. the global sports giant said it posted a profit of $261.9m (£135.6m) for the three months to 30 november up from $179.1m in the same period last year. revenues increased 11% to $3.1bn from $2.8bn for the same period in 2003. nike whose products are endorsed by tiger woods among other sports stars said demand continues to grow . the results came after a strong first quarter of the year for the firm based in beaverton oregon. philip knight chairman and chief executive said: nike s second-quarter revenues and earnings per share reached all-time high levels as a result of solid performance across our global portfolio. our businesses in the united states and emerging markets such as china russia and turkey combined with favourable european exchange rates helped drive much of this growth. he added: with the first half of our fiscal year in the books we remain confident that our business strategy and consistent execution will allow us to deliver on our goals of healthy profitable growth. the firm reported worldwide futures orders for athletic footwear and gear scheduled for delivery from december 2004 to april 2005 of $4.9bn. that is 9.1% higher than such orders reported for the same period last year. | 2 | Business |
the future in your pocket if you are a geek or gadget fan the next 12 months look like they are going to be a lot of fun. the relentless pace of development in the hi-tech world and rampant competition in many of its sectors particularly among mobile phone firms all suggests that 2005 is going to be a very good year. to begin with 2005 will be the year that third-generation (3g) mobile phones become inescapable. the 3 network launched in 2003 vodafone launched its consumer service in november orange followed in early december and t-mobile and o2 are due to launch in 2005. the main result of these launches will likely be a slew of good deals for consumers as operators try to poach new customers from rivals and convince existing users to trade up. already the extra capacity in 3g networks lets 3 offer good deals on voice calls at rates that will probably have to be matched by the other operators. but the shift in technology and low cost of voice calls means that operators lose a significant chunk of their revenue. show me an operator that believes their voice business can sustain them and i ll write their obituary said niel ransom chief technology officer at alcatel. instead operators are likely to push all other things that 3g phones can do such as video messaging and other multimedia capabilities. already camera phones look set to challenge digital cameras and are likely to win more fans as multi-megapixel devices go on sale. but 3g will not have everything its own way. it will face competition from emerging technologies such as wimax. this wireless technology can boost data transmission speeds up to 75 megabits per second and works over distances of up to 30 miles. kent is likely to be the site of the uk s first wimax network which is due to go live in 2005 and it could be the way that rural areas get high-speed net access. analyst firm telecom view predicts that wimax will steal a lot of market share from 3g and will be a clear winner. bob larribeau principal analyst at telecom view said the better return on investment offered by technologies such as wimax could dent the possible returns of 3g networks. and the growing ubiquity of wi-fi must not be forgotten either. the technology is popping up in more places than ever and its wider use is only held back by the price differences across countries and suppliers. moves to unite mobile and fixed phones look set to get more emphasis in 2005 too. for a start bt looks set to roll out its bluephone project during the next 12 months. the service revolves around a hybrid device that uses the mobile networks when you are out and about but switches back to the fixed line when you are at home. fixed line phones will also start to get much more serious competition from a technology that has the formidable name of voice over ip (voip). voip routes calls via the net instead of the fixed line phone network. anyone with a broadband connection which is now more than 50% of the uk s net using population can use voip and could slash their monthly phone bills if they used it. telecommunications regulator ofcom has declared 056 to be the area code for voip calls and 2005 is likely to see a lot more consumer-focused voip call services starting up. home broadband services will also start to increase in speed as dwindling numbers of new users signing force the pace of competition. if 2004 has been the year of the portable music player they 2005 looks like it will be the year of the portable media player. motorola has just announced a deal with apple to produce a phone that works with the itunes service and other hybrid gadgets that sport a big memory and lots of other functions will become commonplace. the pace of advancement in storage media will continue mean that the cost per megabyte of memory will plummet. some of those devices will sport huge hard drives letting you store more data than you ever wanted or knew you had. convergence could mean that single-function devices start to dwindle in number. instead every gadget will be able to do almost anything and communicate almost any way you want. the only downside is that consumers will face a series of tough choices as they are confronted by a bewildering array of gadgets each with an enormous numbers of features and vast data holding capacities. but that is the kind of problem most gadget fans can live with. | 3 | Science_and_Techology |
karachi stocks hit historic high the karachi stock exchange (kse) has recorded its largest single day gain surging 3.5% to a new high. the index rose 225.79 points in four hours of furious trading with many investors optimistic that political stability could bring an economic boom. the kse index closed at 6709.93 - an overall gain of nearly 400 points in the first two trading days of the week. energy and telecommunication stocks performed particularly well recording an 8%-10% rise since monday morning. in 2002 the kse was the world s best performing stock market with the index rising 112%. pakistani investors are expecting the kse to repeat if not improve on its 2002 performance. jubilant investors danced on the streets as the market closed for the day on tuesday confident that the boom will continue at least until the public holiday on 22 january. others however who had stayed out fearing an imminent collapse because of prices overheating continued to warn that the bubble may burst any time . that s rubbish kse chairman yaseen lakhani told the bbc news website. whenever the market reflects pakistan s true economic reality it is described as a bubble. mr lakhani feels that the market has risen on the basis of solid economic growth and its current level rests on sound foundations. market analysts are inclined to agree with mr lakhani arguing that there are a number of major factors behind the kse s performance. analysts argue that a steady improvement in pakistan s credit ratings by international credit rating agencies has finally begun to register in the market. standard & poor s upgraded pakistan a few weeks ago. there are indications of yet another upgrade by the end of february. then say analysts there is corporate profitability in the current fiscal year which has gone up by 27% from last year. coupled with the 7% gdp growth expected by june this year i am least surprised at the market s performance says mr lakhani. one leading karachi broker said the real reasons may be political. if you file a $1.3 trillion case against saudi money after 9/11 arab money will not go to the us any more. a lot of arab money he says has already gone to malaysia and indonesia. pakistanis are now hoping that energy and telecoms two of the strongest sectors in pakistan draw some of the arab money to the kse. locally too say analysts recent political developments have worked to the market s advantage. an anti-musharraf campaign threatened by the mma a countrywide alliance of religious parties has fizzled out. the release of asif zardari former prime minister benazir bhutto s husband has eased political tensions between the military-backed government and the opposition pakistan people s party. most importantly say analysts the failure of talks between india and pakistan on the baglihar dam in indian-administered kashmir has not automatically led to heightened tensions. this they say indicates that neither country is interested in raising the temperature at this stage irrespective of the state of their disagreements. the market is abuzz with speculation that substantial investment may now start to flow in from the us a country seen locally as deeply interested in defusing tensions between the south asian neighbours. you can call it a peace dividend smiles one broker. let us see how long one can reap its benefits. | 2 | Business |
china bans new tobacco factories the world s biggest tobacco consumer china has said it will not allow any new tobacco factories to be built. china already has more than enough cigarette-making capacity according to a spokesman for the tobacco industry regulator quoted in china daily. the ban threatens to reignite tensions between the regulator and british american tobacco which plans to become china s first foreign cigarette maker. a spokeswoman for bat declined to comment on the report. china won t allow any new tobacco factories to be built including joint ventures said xing wangli a spokesman for the state tobacco administration monopoly quoted in china daily. he also said that the state would retain its monopoly on cigarette distribution. china has 350 million smokers who consumer 1.7 trillion cigarettes a year. smoking is fashionable in china where it is seen as an essential - and manly - sociable touch for some jobs such as salesmen. more young urban woman are taking up smoking too. in july 2004 bat announced it had won approval for to build a $1.5bn (£800m) joint venture factory in china which would make it the first foreign cigarette maker to manufacture there. the state tobacco monopoly administration said a week later that it had not approved the deal leading to an embarrassing public row. bat told the bbc at that time that it had not negotiated with the stmc and secured approval from the highest levels of government . since then the row has flared occasionally most recently at a forum in november. bat consistently declines to comment. xing s statement comes as especially bad news for british american tobacco the china daily newspaper said of the latest development. the bat spokeswoman said: there is nothing for us to add...since our announcement in july last year. the central government of china is the authority that approved our strategic investment. the decision to ban further tobacco factories does not apply to deals made before 2005 according to the french news agency afp. the joint venture factory was expected to take till 2006 to build. the bat spokeswoman would not comment on its progress. however if the stma continues to take a tough stance expansion opportunities could be limited. china s tobacco market is increasingly valuable as anti-smoking campaigners target public smoking in the west. china daily said the market was currently enjoying steady growth making more than 210bn yuan ($25.4bn) in pre-tax profits last year almost double the figure in 2000. the paper made no mention of health concerns. the stma is trying to restructure the domestic tobacco industry closing some factories though such moves can be unpopular with local governments. | 2 | Business |
barclays shares up on merger talk shares in uk banking group barclays have risen on monday following a weekend press report that it had held merger talks with us bank wells fargo. a tie-up between barclays and california-based wells fargo would create the world s fourth biggest bank valued at $180bn (£96bn). barclays has declined to comment on the report in the sunday express saying it does not respond to market speculation. the two banks reportedly held talks in october and november 2004. barclays shares were up 8 pence or 1.3% at 605 pence by late morning in london on monday making it the second biggest gainer in the ftse 100 index. uk banking icon barclays was founded more than 300 years ago; it has operations in over 60 countries and employs 76 200 staff worldwide. its north american divisions focus on business banking whereas wells fargo operates retail and business banking services from 6 000 branches. in 2003 barclays reported a 20% rise in pre-tax profits to £3.8bn and it has recently forecast similar gains in 2004 predicting that full year pre-tax profits would rise 18% to £4.5bn. wells fargo had net income of $6.2bn in its last financial year a 9% increase on the previous year and revenues of $28.4bn. barclays was the focus of takeover speculation in august when it was linked to citigroup though no bid has ever materialised. stock market traders were sceptical that the latest reports heralded a deal. the chief executive would be abandoning his duty if he didn t talk to rivals but a deal doesn t seem likely reuters quoted one trader as saying. | 2 | Business |