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security scares spark browser fix microsoft is working on a new version of its internet explorer web browser. the revamp has been prompted by microsoft s growing concern with security as well as increased competition from rival browsers. microsoft said the new version will be far less vulnerable to the bugs that make its current browser a favourite of tech-savvy criminals. test versions of the new program called ie 7 are due to be released by the summer. the announcement about internet explorer was made by bill gates microsoft chairman and chief software architect during a keynote speech at the rsa security conference currently being held in san francisco. although details were scant mr gates said ie7 would include new protections against viruses spyware and phishing scams. this last category of threats involves criminals setting up spoof websites that look identical to those of banks and try to trick people into handing over login and account information. in a bid to shore up the poor security in ie 6 microsoft has regularly issued updates to patch loopholes exploited by criminals and the makers of nuisance programs such as spyware. earlier this month it released a security bulletin that patched eight critical security holes - some of which were found in the ie browser. microsoft has also made a series of acquisitions of small firms that specialise in computer security. one of the first fruits of these acquisitions appeared last month with the release of a microsoft anti-spyware program. an own-brand anti-virus program is due to follow by the end of 2005. the decision to make internet explorer 7 is widely seen as a u-turn because before now microsoft said it had no need to update the browser. typically new versions of its browser appear with successive versions of the windows operating system. a new version of ie was widely expected to debut with the next version of windows codenamed longhorn which is due to appear in 2006. the current version of internet explorer is four years old and is widely seen as falling behind rivals such as firefox and opera. there are also persistent rumours that search engine google is poised to produce its own brand browser based on firefox. in particular the firefox browser has been winning fans and users since its first full version was released in november 2004. estimates of how many users firefox has won over vary widely. according to market statistics gathered by websidestory firefox s market share is now about 5% of all users. however other browser stat gatherers say the figure is closer to 15%. some technical websites report that a majority of their visitors use the firefox browser. internet explorer still dominates with a share of about 90% but this is down from a peak of almost 96% in mid-2004. | 0 | tech |
dunne keen to commit to man city richard dunne is ready to commit his long-term future to manchester city after turning his career around. he was once threatened with the sack by city boss kevin keegan but has since responded with impressive performances prompting interest from other clubs. early talks have taken place and the defender said: hopefully something will be sorted out as soon as possible. i definitely want to stay at city because i have really improved as a player here. newcastle boss graeme souness is said to have been impressed enough by dunne s turnaround in form to be ready to make a bid for the big stopper in the january transfer window. but the 25-year-old dubliner underlined his intention to stay at eastlands. he added: it s nice to be linked with top clubs but the important thing is this one and what we do. i really enjoy it at city and i want to keep that going. keegan is expected to be told there will be no funds to bring in fresh faces in january. dunne s professionalism was famously questioned by keegan who ordered the defender home after he allegedly turned up for training in a dishevelled state. but dunne is keen to put that period of his life behind him and said: i ve grown up a lot and the manager sees me as one of the most experienced players in the squad. i ve played more games than any other outfield players this season so i can t be regarded as being a kid any more. i have to use that as added pressure to perform and apart from the games at newcastle and middlesbrough defensively we ve done quite well. keegan is set for another boost when goalkeeper nicky weaver makes his long-awaited return in a reserve game at blackburn on tuesday. former england under-21 keeper weaver has missed nearly three full seasons with a succession of knee injuries which eventually needed pioneering transplant surgery earlier this year. | 2 | sport |
snicket tops us box office chart the film adaptation of lemony snicket novels has topped the north america box office chart displacing ocean s 12. a series of unfortunate events starring jim carrey took $30.2m (£15.5m) in its debut weekend. ocean s 12 fell to number two while new entry spanglish entered the chart at number three taking $9m (£4.6m). a series of unfortunate events also stars scottish comedian billy connelly while carrey takes on a number of different roles in the surreal film. the only other new entry in the top 10 was re-make flight of the phoenix at number eight starring dennis quaid. carrey entertained crowds at the uk premiere of lemony snicket in london on friday. the actor grabbed co-star meryl streep and whisked her around leicester square. based on the cult children s books by author daniel handler the film follows three children who are orphaned when their parents die in a fire. they are taken in by their wicked uncle count olaf played by carrey who schemes to get his hands on their fortune. | 3 | entertainment |
us trade deficit widens sharply the gap between us exports and imports has widened to more than $60bn (£31.7bn) an all-time record. figures from the commerce department for november showed exports down 2.3% to $95.6bn while imports grew 1.3% to $155.8bn on rising consumer demand. part of the expanding deficit came from high prices for oil imports. but the numbers suggested the sliding dollar - which makes exports less expensive - has had little impact and could indicate slowing economic growth. the trade deficit - far bigger than the $54bn widely expected on wall street - prompted a rapid response from the currency markets. by 1650 gmt the dollar was trading against the euro at $1.3280 almost a cent and a half weaker than before the announcement. against the pound the dollar was down about 0.7% at $1 8923. the dollar s fall has been sudden violent and appropriate given this number said brian taylor of wells fargo in minneapolis. recent exchange rate movements certainly haven t had any impact yet. treasury secretary john snow put a brave face on the news saying it was a sign of strong economic expansion. the economy is growing at such a fast rate that it is generating lots of disposable income... some of which is used to buy goods from our trading partners. although the white house officially still backs the us s traditional strong dollar policy it has tacitly indicated that it would be happy if the slide continued. the dollar has fallen by 50% against the euro - as well as by 30% against the yen - in the past three years. the main catalyst most economists accept is the large budget deficit on the one hand and the current account deficit - the difference between the flow of money in and out of the us - on the other. the trade deficit is a large part of the latter. in november the fall in exports was largely due to a decline in sales of industrial supplies and materials such as chemicals as well as of cars consumer goods and food. one small bright spot for us policy-makers was a slight decline in the deficit with china often blamed for job losses and other economic woes. although china s overall trade surplus is expanding according to chinese government figures the commerce department revealed the us s deficit with china was $19.6bn in november down from $19.7bn the month before. but the deficit with japan was at its worst in more than four years. | 1 | business |
us top of supercomputing charts the us has pushed japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with ibm s prototype blue gene/l machine. it is being assembled for the lawrence livermore national laboratory under the us department of energy. ibm test results show that blue gene/l has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops. the previous top machine japan s nec earth simulator clocked up 35.86. the top 500 list was announced on monday and officially charts the fastest computers in the world. it is announced every six months and is worked out using an officially recognised mathematical speed test called linpack which measures calculations per second. once completed in 2005 blue gene/l will be more powerful than its current prototype. next year with the final blue gene four times what it is this year it is going to be a real step up and will be hard to beat said erich strohmaier one of the co-founders of the top500 list. it will help scientists work out the safety security and reliability requirements for the us s nuclear weapons stockpile without the need for underground nuclear testing. it will also cut down on the amount of heat generated by the massive power a big problem for supercomputers. in second place was silicon graphics columbia supercomputer based at the us space agency s (nasa) ames research center in california. the linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 trillion calculations per second (teraflops) in october. it will be used to model flight missions climate research and aerospace engineering. the defeated japanese contender the earth simulator which was listed in third place losing the top spot it had held since june 2002. it is dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity. since the first supercomputer the cray-1 was installed at los alamos national laboratory us in 1976 computational speed has leaped 500 000 times. the cray-1 was capable of 80 megaflops (80 million operations a second). the blue gene/l machine that will be completed next year will be five million times faster. started in 1993 the top 500 list is decided by a group of computer science academics from around the world. it is presented at the international supercomputer conference in pittsburgh. | 0 | tech |
mac mini heralds mini revolution the mac mini was launched amid much fanfare by apple and great excitement by apple watchers last month. but does the latest macintosh justify the hype let us get a few things dealt with at the outset - yes the mac mini is really really small and yes it is another piece of inspired apple design. there is more to be said on the computer s size and design but it is worth highlighting that the mac mini is a just a computer. inside that small box there is a g4 processor a cd/dvd player a hard drive some other technical bits and bobs and an operating system. a dvd burner wireless and bluetooth technologies can be bought at extra cost. and if you do not have a monitor keyboard or mouse then you will need to purchase those also. it is not the fastest computer for the money but for under £400 you are getting something more interesting than mere technical specifications - apple software. the mac mini comes bundled with mac os x the operating system as well as ilife 05 a suite of software which includes itunes web browser safari iphoto garage band and idvd. i doubt many pc lovers would seriously argue that windows xp comes with a better suite of programs than mac os x. of course users of open source operating system linux draw up their own menu of programs. for people who want to do interesting things with their music photos and home movies then a mac mini is an ideal first computer or companion to a main computer. it s a good little machine with a reasonable amount of power and just perfect for the average computer user who wants to leave the tyranny of window and viruses said mark sparrow technical and reviews editor at mac format magazine. he added: in essence it s a laptop in a biscuit tin minus the screen and the keyboard. the software bundle that comes with the mini makes your average budget pc look a bit sick. the relatively low price of the machine has also encouraged the more technically-savvy to experiment with their macs. one user has already created a dock to enable him to plug in and out his mac mini in his car. the small size of the machine makes it a practical solution for in-car entertainment - playing movies and music - as well as navigation. another user has mounted his mac mini to the back of his large plasma screen and then controls the computer via a wireless keyboard and mouse. when it was first announced some pundits thought the mini was designed as a sort of stealth media centre - ie the machine would be used to serve tv programmes music films and photos - partly due to its small living room friendly design. but there are obvious reasons why this is not the case - at least not in the here and now the hard drive - at 80gb for the larger model - is too small to be realistically used as media centre. while commercial personal video recorders are on the market with smaller than 80gb hard drives it is worth remembering that they only store tv content. a media centre computer has to store music files and photos and as such 80gb just seems too small. most pcs running windows media center have at least 120gb hard disks. coupled with the lack of a tv tuner card a digital audio out and any kind of media centre software bundled with the machine then the mac mini should be judged on what it is not what it is not. but that has not stopped more enterprising users from adapting the mac mini to media centre uses. so - is the mac mini just another computer or a revolution in computing graham barlow editor of mac format understandably has a rather partisan viewpoint. it s just a mac but we should be very excited - it s revolutionary in its size (smaller than pcs) looks (looks better than pcs) and the fact that it s the first mac designed to really go for the low-cost pc market. the design of the mac mini is further evidence of a future when pcs are more than just bland bulky boxes. there are a number of companies who already produce miniature pcs based on mini-itx motherboards. but at the moment these pcs tend to be either for the home-build enthusiast or expensive pre-built options based around microsoft s media center software. but for the value the mac mini offers bringing some of the best software packages within reach of more consumers than ever before apple is to be congratulated. let us say then that if the mac mini is not a fully fledged revolution - it is a mini revolution. | 0 | tech |
holmes starts 2005 with gb events kelly holmes will start 2005 with a series of races in britain. holmes will make her first track appearance on home soil since winning double olympic gold in january s norwich union international in glasgow. she will also run in the grand prix in birmingham in february and may defend her indoor aaa 800m title in sheffield earlier that month. i am still competitive and still want to win she said. i m an athlete and i can t wait to get back on the track. she added: these events are also a great opportunity to thank the british public for the enormous levels of support they have given me from the moment i stepped off that plane from greece. the glasgow meeting will see holmes compete over 1500m in a five-way match against sweden france russia and italy. | 2 | sport |
wood - ireland can win grand slam former captain keith wood believes ireland can win only their second grand slam - and first since 1948 - in this year s rbs six nations championship. after claiming their first triple crown for 19 years last season wood tips his former team-mates to go one better. things have been building up over the past few years and i think this is the year for ireland he told bbc sport. there is a great chance to win a grand slam. a lot of things are in our favour with england and france at home. ireland have finished runners-up three times including last year since the old five nations became six in 2000 and not finished outside the top three in the past five years. despite being without flanker keith gleeson coach eddie o sullivan has not had to contend with the sort of casualty lists that have hit england and scotland in particular prior to the tournament. for ireland to win it we need to stay relatively injury free and fortunately we are one of the few teams that have done that so far wood added. it is going to be tough and we need to take all the luck and opportunities that come our way. ireland s last game of the tournament is against wales in cardiff - a fixture they have not lost since 1983. but despite their traditional hospitality when the irish are visiting wood believes wales might end their four-match losing run against england in cardiff. so many of the major england players have either retired in the last year or are injured that i think it will be very hard for them down in cardiff wood added. wales have had four brilliant games in the last year or so and lost all four so the time is right for them now to beat one of the major teams. | 2 | sport |
novartis hits acquisition trail swiss drugmaker novartis has announced 5.65bn euros ($7.4bn; £3.9bn) of purchases to make its sandoz unit the world s biggest generic drug producer. novartis which last month forecast record sales for 2005 said it had bought all of germany s hexal. it also acquired 67.7% of hexal s us affiliate eon labs and offered to buy the remaining shares for $31 each. novartis said that it would be able to make cost savings of about $200m a year following the acquisitions. novartis shares rose 1% to 57.85 swiss francs in early trading. the deal will see novartis sandoz business overtake israel s teva pharmaceuticals as the world s biggest maker of generics. based on 2004 figures the newly merged producer would have sales of more than $5bn the company estimated. novartis said that it would merge a number of departments adding that there may be job cuts. the strong growth outlook for sandoz which will create jobs is expected to partially compensate for necessary reductions in the work force the firm said in a statement. generic drugs are chemically identical to their more expensive branded rivals. producers such as sandoz can copy the branded products usually after their patent protection expires and can sell them more cheaply as they do not have to pay research and development cost. there are more than 150 generic drugmakers worldwide and analysts have predicted consolidation in a market that they call fragmented. however not all analysts were initially convinced about the deal. this is a very expensive acquisition birgit kuhlhoff from sal oppenheim investment bank told reuters. i find it strange that they are making acquisitions in exactly those markets where they suffered price pressure. | 1 | business |
stalemate in pension strike talks talks aimed at averting national strikes over pension reforms have ended without agreement after 90 minutes. five public sector unions met deputy prime minister john prescott at the labour spring conference in gateshead. they want the government to withdraw regulations - due to be introduced in weeks - which would raise the pension age for council workers from 60 to 65. up to 1.4 million workers could take part in strikes earmarked for 23 march. discussions will resume next week. a spokesman for unison britain s biggest union said after saturday s meeting: at least we are still talking. all sides are anxious to avoid a major confrontation in the run up to the general election said bbc labour affairs correspondent stephen cape. in four days unison will start balloting 800 000 local government workers on strikes. other public sector unions have pledged to follow. the five unions which met mr prescott want the government to withdraw these regulations. this would allow months of tough negotiations to follow said our correspondent. but a spokesman for mr prescott warned that the changes to the local government pension scheme would have to go ahead in april. privately ministers believe this will be the less painful option our correspondent added. the public and commercial services union (pcs) will co-ordinate any industrial action with up to six other public sector unions. pcs leader mark serwotka warned last week that there could be further walkouts unless there was a government rethink. for a government that lectures everyone on choice - choice on public service choice on this and choice on that - isn t it ironic that they re saying to public sector workers there is no choice he said. if you want the pension you were promised when you started you must work for an extra five years - that is working until people drop. in the 20th century it s completely unacceptable. unison s 800 000 workers the transport and general workers union s 70 000 and amicus 20 000 are among those being balloted about a 23 march walkout. mr prescott held a private meeting with senior union figures last week. it is understood no deal was offered in that meeting but there was room for further negotiations. | 4 | politics |
hague given up his pm ambition former conservative leader william hague says he will not stand for the leadership again having given up his ambition to be prime minister. mr hague 43 told the daily telegraph he would now find a life dominated by politics too boring and unfulfilling. mr hague who stepped down after his party s 2001 election defeat does not rule out a return to the front bench. he also told the paper he hopes to remain mp for richmond north yorks and start a family with wife ffion. mr hague who recently had published the biography of william pitt the younger also said he wanted to continue writing books and speech-writing. he told the newspaper: i don t know whether i will ever go back on to the front but don t rush me. asked if he would stand for the leadership again mr hague replied: no. definitely not. his determination to stay away from a central role will disappoint some senior conservative members who say the party needs him. tim collins the shadow education secretary said last week it would be a huge boost to the party if mr hague returned to the front bench. mr hague became an mp at 27 and leader of the opposition at 36. he said: i feel fortunate that by the age of 40 i had crammed in an entire political career. i had been in the cabinet and been leader of the party so now i can branch out into other things...it is a very liberating feeling. mr hague added that he may have misjudged his own ambition to be prime minister. maybe i wasn t as driven by politics as i thought i was he said. | 4 | politics |
bristol city 2-1 milton keynes leroy lita took his goal tally to 13 for the season as his double earned city an ldv vans trophy win. the striker finished off scott murray cross from close range just seconds before half-time. lita then made it 2-0 on 52 minutes but dons substitute serge makofo then netted a great volley to make it 2-1. the visitors almost took the tie to extra time with a late 30-yard bullet from richard johnson which was well held by steve phillips. phillips amankwaah coles hill fortune murray (anyinsah 59) doherty (harley 45) dinning bell lita (cotterill 72) gillespie. subs not used: orr brown. hill. lita 45 52. bevan oyedele ntimban-zeh crooks puncheon kamara (makofo 64) chorley herve (mckoy 45) tapp (johnson 45) mackie pacquette. subs not used: martin palmer. pacquette chorley johnson mckoy. makofo 66. 3 367 j ross (essex). | 2 | sport |
straw backs ending china embargo uk foreign secretary jack straw has defended plans to end the european union s arms embargo on china despite opposition from the us and japan. mr straw visiting beijing noted arms embargoes applied to china burma and zimbabwe but not to north korea which he said had a terrible rights record. the eu imposed its arms ban on china in 1989 after troops opened fire on protestors in tiananmen square. mr straw also signed a deal on china-uk tourism. it is expected this would increase the number of chinese tourists by 40 000 per year providing $120m in revenue. china has in the past said it sees the weapons ban as politically driven and does not want it lifted in order to buy more weapons. mr straw speaking at a joint news conference with chinese foreign minister li zhaoxing stressed this point. the result of any decision [to lift the arms embargo] should not be an increase in arms exports from european union member states to china either in quantitative or qualitative terms mr straw said. earlier this week he said he expected the embargo to be lifted within six months. but mr straw faces tough opposition to the move. tory foreign affairs spokesman michael ancram said lifting the arms embargo would be irresponsible and would damage britain s relations with the us. he said mr straw was naive beyond belief if he accepted china s claim it does not want the ban lifted in order to buy weapons. the french want the embargo lifted because they want to sell arms to china; the chinese want it lifted because they want to buy arms and battlefield technology from europe. when he was in tokyo earlier this week japanese foreign minister nobutaka machimura told the british minister that his plan to remove the embargo was a worrying issue that concerns the security and environment of not only japan but also east asia overall . washington argues that if the embargo is lifted it could lead to a buying spree for arms that china could use to threaten its diplomatic rival taiwan. beijing says taiwan is part of chinese territory and wants to unite it with the mainland by force if necessary. the us is bound by law to help taiwan defend itself. washington has also voiced concern that the human rights conditions in china have not improved enough to merit an end to the embargo. it is an issue raised by human rights groups too. brad adams from the uk s human rights watch said: this is a huge political signal from europe that they are willing to forget about tiananmen square. but mr straw insisted the eu s code of conduct on arms exports meant tough criteria on human rights still had to be met if the embargo was lifted. | 4 | politics |
hobbit picture four years away lord of the rings director peter jackson has said that it will be up to four years before he starts work on a film version of the hobbit. the oscar winner said on a visit to sydney there was a desire to make it but not before lengthy negotiations. i think it s gonna be a lot of lawyers sitting in a room trying to thrash out a deal before it will ever happen said the new zealander. the rights to jrr tolkien s book are split between two major film studios. jackson who is currently filming a remake of hollywood classic king kong said he thought that the sale of mgm studios to the sony corporation would cast further uncertainty on the project. the 43-year-old was in the australian city to visit a lord of the rings exhibition which has attracted 140 000 visitors since it opened in december. the film-maker recently sued film company new line cinema for undisclosed damages over alleged withheld profits and lost revenue from the first part of the middle earth trilogy. the fellowship of the ring from 2001 went on to make worldwide profits of $291 million (£152 million). jackson is thought to have secured the most lucrative film directing deal in history to remake king kong which is currently in production in wellington. the picture which stars naomi watts and oscar winner adrien brody is due to be released in december. jackson has also committed to making a film version of lovely bones based on the best-selling book by alice sebold. | 3 | entertainment |
what now for british tennis tim henman s decision to quit davis cup tennis has left the british team with a gargantuan void to fill. the world number seven is tied for fourth among his countrymen for wins in the history of the tournament (he has 36 from his 50 rubbers). and great britain s last davis cup win without henman came against slovenia as far back as 1996. worse could follow according to former british team member chris bailey. bailey told bbc sport: after tim s announcement i doubt greg rusedski will be that far behind him. but without their top two where does that leave british ambitions in the sport s premier team event captain jeremy bates has singled out alex bogdanovic and andrew murray as potential replacements. the yugoslavian-born bogdanovic though is 184 places below henman in the world rankings and has played just two cup ties - winning one and losing the other. murray on the other hand is 407th in the current atp entry list and yet to make his cup debut. but bailey does see some hope for the future. he said: now we ve dropped down to the euro-africa zone the time was right for him to step down and let the young guys come to the fore. britain s next opponents israel are hardly likely to be quaking in their boots ahead of the 4-6 march match against a likely trio of bogdanovic murray and the 187th-ranked arvind parmar. bailey said: it will be tough for gb to move up but there comes a time when our young players have to step up. this was always going to be inevitable with tim and greg s growing years. i m confident about the future. i wouldn t lay money on us getting back into the world group next year but i d imagine in five years time we ll be competing for the major honours. of those lining up to replace henman the 17-year-old murray with four futures titles under his belt last year looks the best long-term bet. murray is the one that looks likeliest to take over tim s mantle said bailey. he has an enormous amount of self-confidence judging by what he s said in the past. bogdanovic three years murray s senior has had a more troubled time under britain s davis cup umbrella. while murray has been marked out as britain s golden boy bogdanovic was warned by the lawn tennis association for a lack of drive at the end of 2003. and bailey said: despite that alex is clearly talented as well while arvind is another contender. they re among the guys who have experienced the intensity of davis cup tennis - whether as players or on the sidelines. the lta has always done an exceptional job of ensuring that. now they ll finally get to play regularly in the cauldron of the cup. and i m confident that will springboard team gb to greater success. | 2 | sport |
souness delight at euro progress boss graeme souness felt newcastle were never really in danger of going out of the uefa cup against heerenveen. an early own goal followed by an alan shearer strike earned them a 2-1 win and a place in the uefa cup last 16. obviously with winning in the first leg it gave us a great advantage he said after the 4-2 aggregate victory. we got our goals early and in the minds of some players the job was done but then they got a goal and perhaps made us a bit nervous. shearer s goal moved him within 12 of jackie milburn s club scoring record of 200 for the magpies. but souness said he did not think beating the record would have any bearing on his decision to retire at the end of the season. i think if he got it this year he would want to stay next year anyway he added. he struck the ball very well - he always has done - and i think it was the power and pace that beat the goalkeeper. souness also paid tribute to laurent robert who was at the heart of much of united s attacking play. in the first half he did really well and did everything you want from a wide player. more of the same in future please he said. | 2 | sport |
uk pioneers digital film network the world s first digital cinema network will be established in the uk over the next 18 months. the uk film council has awarded a contract worth £11.5m to arts alliance digital cinema (aadc) who will set up the network of up to 250 screens. aadc will oversee the selection of cinemas across the uk which will use the digital equipment. high definition projectors and computer servers will be installed to show mainly british and specialist films. most cinemas currently have mechanical projectors but the new network will see up to 250 screens in up to 150 cinemas fitted with digital projectors capable of displaying high definition images. the new network will double the world s total of digital screens. cinemas will be given the film on a portable hard drive and they will then copy the content to a computer server. each film is about 100 gigabytes and has been compressed from an original one terabyte-size file. fiona deans associate director of aadc said the compression was visually lossless so no picture degradation will occur. the film will all be encrypted to prevent piracy and each cinema will have an individual key which will unlock the movie. people will see the picture quality is a bit clearer with no scratches. the picture will look exactly the same as when the print was first made - there is no degradation in quality over time. the key benefit of the digital network will be an increase in the distribution and screening of british films documentaries and foreign language films. access to specialised film is currently restricted across the uk said pete buckingham head of distribution and exhibition at the uk film council. although a genuine variety of films is available in central london and a few other metropolitan areas the choice for many outside these areas remains limited and the digital screen network will improve access for audiences across the uk digital prints costs less than a traditional 35mm print - giving distributors more flexibility in how they screen films said ms deans. it can cost up to £1 500 to make a copy of a print for specialist films. in the digital world you can make prints for considerably less than that. distributors can then send out prints to more cinemas and prints can stay in cinemas for much longer. the uk digital network will be the first to employ 2k projectors - which are capable of showing films at resolutions of 2048 * 1080 pixels. a separate competitive process to determine which cinemas will receive the digital screening technology will conclude in may. the sheer cost of traditional prints means that some cinemas need to show them twice a day in order to recoup costs. some films need word of mouth and time to build momentum - they don t need to be shown twice a day explained ms deans. a cinema will often book a 35mm print in for two weeks - even if the film is a roaring success they cannot hold on to the print because it will have to go to another cinema. with digital prints every cinema will have its own copy. | 0 | tech |
rocker doherty in on-stage fight rock singer pete doherty has been involved in a fight with his band s guitarist at their biggest gig to date. babyshambles played for 5 000 fans at london s brixton academy on tuesday. the former libertines singer traded blows with guitarist patrick walden. they were separated and bundled off stage before returning to end the set. the show was earlier held up due to audience overcrowding. on monday doherty faced blackmail and robbery charges in court which he denies. he is out on £50 000 bail and the judge agreed to extend his 2200 gmt curfew deadline by two hours so he could play the brixton gig. babyshambles which he formed after his acrimonious departure from the libertines played a warm-up show at the garage north london on monday. on tuesday doherty and his three bandmates were introduced to the crowd by mick jones the former clash guitarist who produced the libertines second album. babyshambles took the stage to a frenzied reception at 2200 gmt launching into their last single killamangiro which reached number eight in december. but the group had to stop during the next song to persuade fans not to push forward and allow security guards to pull people out of the crush. doherty appealed to fans to calm down saying: there s a few people getting hurt down the front you ve got to move back. the music resumed minutes later but after several more songs the singer appeared to accidentally disconnect walden s guitar leading the pair to trade kicks and punches. bouncers stepped in and the band left the stage but returned after five minutes and finished their 50-minute performance with no further trouble. doherty 25 had to be home by midnight to observe the curfew which is one of the conditions of his bail. on monday the judge agreed to allow him to perform on condition that requests for changes to his bail terms were not too regular an occurrence . the singer was arrested with fellow musician alan wass on 2 february after an alleged dispute with documentary-maker max carlish at a london hotel. they are next due in court on 18 april. | 3 | entertainment |
howard attacks cost of asylum michael howard has launched an attack on the cost of britain s chaotic asylum system under tony blair. the tory leader said english local authorities have spent more than £3bn - or £140 per household - on asylum since labour won power in 1997. mr howard is expected to tell activists in kent that voters tolerance and desire to help others are being abused. other parties and refugee agencies have already attacked tory plans for annual limits on numbers. mr howard said britain should take its fair share of the world s genuine refugees . the anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz - where my grandmother was murdered along with over a million others - has reminded all of us that we have a moral responsibility to those fleeing persecution he was due to say. but if we are to fulfil responsibility we have to get a grip of the system. fair play matters. people want a government that upholds the rules - not one that turns a blind eye when they are bent and abused he said. and let s be clear. our asylum system is being abused - and with it britain s generosity. earlier this week mr howard said his party s plans to cut immigration were not racist arguing they would make the asylum system fairer for genuine refugees. if elected his party would institute an annual limit on asylum and all claims would be processed overseas. that prompted some charities to say the plans would put refugees lives at risk if they were turned away once quotas were filled. if we have a moral responsibility towards people fleeing persecution then these policies will not provide a safe haven said hannah ward of the refugee council. if people turn up in the uk asking for help they will be turned away. michael howard s policy effectively means there is no safe haven in the uk. when it comes to costs then perhaps we should start with how decisions are made on asylum seekers. so many of them are shown to be wrong - one in five decisions that are appealed are successfully overturned rising to half for some nationalities. we need good quality decision-making on asylum applications because it is delays in the system which cost so much. tony blair said labour would set out workable plans for tackling immigration abuse in the next few weeks and attacked the tory plans. by cutting the number of front-line immigration staff at our borders they will actually make the problem worse said mr blair. liberal democrat chairman matthew taylor said there needed to be a quick fair and firm asylum system. but he said it was absolutely disgusting to propose a system which could turn away genuine refugees. the conservatives say there is little risk of this happening as demand for asylum will be considered when quotas are set. on monday mr howard said: it s not racist as some people to claim to talk about controlling immigration far from it. | 4 | politics |
campaign cold calls questioned labour and the conservatives are still telephoning the millions of people who have signed up to make sure they do not get marketing cold calls . the parties say they can stick to the rules by ensuring that their calls are not marketing - for instance by asking about people s voting intentions. the lib dems are asking the watchdog overseeing the rules to stop the calls. the information commissioner s office says surveys are allowed but people had to be told if personal data was kept. telephone call centres are expected to be used as never before by all the three major parties in the run-up to the general election. but seven million telephone numbers are on the telephone preference service (tps) lists which ban unsolicited sales and marketing calls. both schemes are run by the direct marketing association and backed by eu directives on privacy and electronic communications. the rules on marketing calls apply as much to politicians as to private sector companies. but that does not mean labour and the tories are not calling people signed up to the tps. a labour party spokesman told the bbc news website the party avoided those on tps lists when telephoning people about membership or fundraising. but that did not happen for voter identification calls. when we ask which party they will vote for that is not marketing and we have very clear legal advice that it is not he said. so it is not covered by the telephone preference service. he said the party always asked people if they would be happy to be contacted again and if they said no they were not rung again. a conservative spokeswoman said the party stuck to the rules when it rang tps subscribers. she said: we do apply tps but in line with the law. we would not do things that are not allowed in the law. assistant information commissioner phil jones said it was classed as marketing if political parties telephoned people to encourage them to vote for them. but classic market research such as a poll of voter intentions did not constitute direct marketing he said. if a party is calling someone who is registered on tps and records their voting intention with a view to using this information in the future this should be clear to the voter concerned said mr jones. if a party rings a person who is registered on tps to ask about their voting intention and goes on to encourage that voter to support them the party may well be in breach of the regulations. in summary whether a party calling tps registered voters to check their voting intentions will breach regulations will depend on the script used and whether the script is followed. mr jones said the watchdog received very few complaints on the issue. earlier lib dem chairman matthew taylor wrote to the watchdog saying: the advice we have received on several previous occasions is that such phone calls are illegal. he says evidence from local lib dem parties around the country suggests there are significant numbers of such calls. i hope you can therefore take swift and efficient action to ensure that this ceases he tells the commissioner. mr taylor argues there should be new guidelines so all parties can act in the same way if the watchdog believes the rules allow parties to ring tps numbers about voting intentions and later urge those people to vote for them. | 4 | politics |
children vote shrek 2 best film young uk film fans voted animated hollywood hit shrek 2 best film at the children s bafta awards on sunday. more than 6 000 children voted in the only category chosen by fans. harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban runner-up in the poll was the choice of the bafta experts who named it best feature film. bbc one saturday morning show dick and dom in da bungalow won two awards - best entertainment and best presenters for richard mccourt and dominic wood. former playschool presenter floella benjamin was awarded the special award for outstanding creative contribution to children s film and television. she first appeared on playschool 25 years ago and was made an obe in 2001 for services to broadcasting. south american-themed cartoon joko! jakamoko! toto! won the honour for pre-school animation and its writer tony collingwood for original writer. debbie isitt won the award for best adapted writer for her work with jacqueline wilson s the illustrated mum which won the award for best schools drama. schools factual (primary) - thinking skills: think about it - hiding places schools factual (secondary) - in search of the tartan turban pre-school live action - balamory animation - brush head drama - featherboy factual - serious desert interactive bafta - king arthur international category - 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter | 3 | entertainment |
tory leader unveils spending plan tory leader michael howard says his party can save £35bn in government spending by tackling waste. the money would be ploughed back into frontline services like the nhs and schools with the rest used to cut government borrowing and reduce taxes. the tory leader has also shrugged off the defection of one of his mps robert jackson a former minister to labour. mr howard said that these things happened in politics and it would not affect the outcome of the election. let s be realistic - the election is not going to be decided on the basis of what mr jackson did he told bbc 1 s breakfast with frost programme. however the defection on saturday has cast a shadow over the launch of the conservatives spending plans. fuller details are due to be unveiled on monday. the bulk of the £35bn saved by tackling bureaucracy and inefficient systems will go back into frontline services mr howard said. the £12bn left over would then be spent on reducing government borrowing he added. however the remainder would deal with some of the unfair taxes . almost every independent expert says if you get another labour government you are going to have to pay higher taxes mr howard insisted. because borrowing is going up it is out of control that is bound to lead to higher taxes or higher interest rates or both. so part of the £12bn we are going to apply to filling the government s black hole reducing the borrowing. the rest will be used to reduce these unfair taxes which are bearing so heavily on the people of our country today. mr howard is expected to say that around £6bn will be available for tax cuts when he makes his announcement on monday. the cuts will be paid for out of the savings identified by business trouble-shooter david james. home office spending could be cut by £1.6bn according to the final instalment of his year-long review. savings of £153m at the foreign office and £336m at the department for culture media and sport have also been identified. in all almost a quarter of a million jobs and 168 public bodies would go under mr james proposals. mr howard said: all this adds up to a bottom line and the bottom line is at this election people will have a clear choice between mr blair who will waste more and tax more and a conservative government that will give them value for money and tax less. however chief treasury secretary paul boateng said: none of the tories figures add up so they can t make these savings and can t pay for any tax cuts which means the only guaranteed cut from the tories is £35bn of cuts hitting frontline public services hard. liberal democrat leader charles kennedy added: people will not be taken in by michael howard s claims of £35bn worth of savings. this can t be achieved without drastic cuts in local services in their own communities. a poll for the news of the world newspaper suggests the conservatives are on course for their worst election defeat in a century. labour will hold key marginal constituencies winning a majority of 160 the populus survey suggests. and the liberal democrats will take three key seats from the conservatives leaving the tories with just 163 mps two less than they returned atlabour s 1997 landslide and their worst showing since 1906. | 4 | politics |
chinese wine tempts italy s illva italy s illva saronno has agreed to buy 33% of changyu the largest wine maker in china. changyu said in a statement to the shenzhen stock exchange that illva will pay 481.42m yuan ($58.16m; £30.7m) once the government approves the deal. the italian liqueur maker will acquire the shares from the yantai state asset management bureau. chinese wine sales are growing the us agriculture department said with wine sales in 2003 up 25% at 61.1bn yuan. china is encouraging state-owned companies to sell shares to foreign investors. anheuser-busch heineken and scottish & newcastle have all invested in the chinese beer industry in the last two years and now illva saronno is betting on the chinese wine market. yantai state asset management bureau - a government agency in the north-eastern city of yantai - owns 55% of changyu. the state agency will also sell 10% of its stake in changyu to another overseas company although it didn t say who. the remaining 12% will be retained by the yantai city government. the consumption of wine in china is still low at just 0.22 litres per capita said the us agriculture department. this compares with 59 litres in france 12 litres in the us and three litres in japan. | 1 | business |
edgy agassi struggles past dent andre agassi put in an erratic display before edging into the fourth round of the australian open with victory over taylor dent. the 34-year-old american seeded eighth made a poor start dropping serve early on and later needing two chances to serve out the set. having secured the lead agassi still failed to take control as both players forced a succession of breaks. but agassi won the tie-break before wrapping up a 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 win. fourth seed survived an injury scare as he battled past mario ancic 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4. the russian turned his right ankle in the third game of the fourth set and called for treatment immediately. but he showed no sign of the problem when he returned to the court to wrap up victory in two hours 45 minutes. ancic wimbledon semi-finalist in 2004 looked set to push safin all the way when he took the second set but safin raised his game to sink the croatian. safin said he was trying to keep his temper under control at this year s tournament. the russian hit himself on the head repeatedly in one second-set outburst but was otherwise largely calm in his victory. i try to stay calm because if you go crazy against players like ancic you might never come back because he s a tough opponent he said. i m a little bit calmer than i was before because i d had enough. the russian added that he was not worried by his ankle injury. i have had a lot of problems with that ankle before - it will be ok he said. s route to the fourth round was made easy when opponent jarkko nieminen was forced to retire from their match. the top seed and defending champion was leading 6-3 5-2 when nieminen pulled out with an abdominal injury. federer had been in patchy form until then - mixing 19 unforced errors with 19 winners. the world number one will play cypriot next after the former world junior champion beat tommy robredo 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-1. federer admitted he was under extra pressure after extending his winning streak to a career-best 24. they are so used to me winning but it s not that simple he said. i had a feeling this could be a tough match. i had a bad start but i bounced back. i always want to play better than i am but i thought i was pretty ok. french open champion is out of the tournament after a five-set defeat by dominik hrbaty. hrbaty defeated the 10th seed 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (8-10) 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 in a match lasting four hours and 21 minutes. the pair traded 16 service breaks during an exhausting baseline battle with hrbaty taking a decisive advantage in the eighth game of the final set. hrbaty will now play 2002 champion who outlasted american kevin kim 3-6 6-2 6-7 6-2 6-2. | 2 | sport |
ukip outspent labour on eu poll the uk independence party outspent both labour and the liberal democrats in the european elections new figures show. ukip which campaigned on a slogan of say no to europe spent £2.36m on the campaign - second only to the conservatives £3.13m. the campaign took ukip into third place with an extra 10 meps. labour s campaign cost £1.7m the lib dems £1.19m and the greens £404 000 according to figures revealed by the electoral commission on wednesday. much of the ukip funding came from yorkshire millionaire sir paul sykes who helped bankroll the party s billboard campaign. critics have accused the party of effectively buying votes. but a ukip spokesman said labour and the conservatives had spent £10m between them on the last general election. with the advantages of public money the others have the only way the smaller parties can get their message across is by buying the advertising space he added. | 4 | politics |
us prepares for hybrid onslaught sales of hybrid cars in the us are set to double in 2005 research suggests. research group jd power estimates sales will hit 200 000 in 2005 despite higher prices and customer scepticism. carmakers are starting to build hybrid sports utility vehicles (suvs) the four-wheel-drive vehicles which now dominate the us car market. hybrids cut both petrol consumption and emissions by combining a petrol engine with an electric motor constantly kept charged by extra engine power. several jurisdictions notably the state of california mandate low emissions for new cars. equally the rise in oil prices over the past year has sparked hopes that consumers may be tempted by potential savings of a few hundred dollars a year on fuel. at the detroit motor show a range of manufacturers are prominently displaying their hybrid credentials. toyota has led the market to date with the prius popularised by a number of celebrities keen to burnish their green credentials. in april it will launch a hybrid version of its highlander suv with an suv from its luxury lexus marque due later in the year. honda has three hybrids on the market and between them the two japanese carmakers sold more than 80 000 units last year. ford which has sold 4 000 of its first hybrid since its launch in august is bringing a hybrid suv - the mariner - to market a year ahead of schedule with plans for three more models by 2008. gm has a hybrid pickup on the market and is showing two concept suvs in detroit. even sports car maker porsche may join the race although it insists it is still considering whether to hybridise its cayenne suv. others remain more sceptical. nissan has bought toyota s hybrid technology but plans to bring out its first model only in 2006. we want to make sure we are not concentrating on one technology nissan chief executive carlos ghosn said. we will not be surprised by any acceleration or deceleration in the hybrid market. volkswagen meanwhile says it will focus on clean-burning diesel engines instead. and some watchers point out that the price tag on a hybrid - upwards of $3 000 above that of an equivalent normal-engined car and suspicion of the technology - may still cool its attraction. the average consumers aren t willing to pay that premium for a car they won t drive more than six years said anthony pratt from jd power. | 1 | business |
eminem secret gig venue revealed rapper eminem is to play an intimate gig in london on saturday following a show on the river thames on friday. the us star will play just two songs at a night showcasing his label shady records at the islington academy. eminem performed on hms belfast on friday which is docked on the river thames where he filmed two songs for bbc one s top of the pops. he arrived in the uk on friday following his appearance at the mtv europe music awards in rome. other rap acts who may appear at the islington gig include stat quo proof dj green lantern swift and obie trice. eminem s latest album soared to the top of the us chart after just three days on sale in record shops. encore is now a chart-topper on both sides of the atlantic following its debut at number one in the uk. the fourth album from the rap star was on sale for two days before it outsold all of its rivals. the album was released early in an effort to combat both physical and online piracy. eminem s album includes the track mosh which is a tirade against us president bush and the presence of us troops in iraq. the rapper was criticised earlier this year after a performance on bbc one s top of the pops in april led 12 viewers to complain he was lewd and offensive . the complaints about the star grabbing his crotch were upheld by the bbc. the performer had been asked to tone his act down after rehearsal but ignored this request during the live broadcast a bbc statement read. although his gestures were part of the rap culture they had gone beyond what is expected. | 3 | entertainment |
businesses fail to plan for hiv companies fail to draw up plans to cope with hiv/aids until it affects 20% of people in a country new research says. the finding comes in a report published on thursday by the world economic forum harvard and the un aids agency. too few companies are responding proactively to the social and business threats said dr kate taylor head of the wef s global health initiative. nearly 9 000 business leaders in 104 countries were surveyed for business and hiv/aids: commitment and action dr taylor described the level of action taken by businesses as revealed by the report as too little too late . the issue will be highlighted to business and world leaders at the world economic forum which meets in davos switzerland next week. the wef report shows that despite the fact that 14 000 people contract hiv/aids every day concern among businesses has dropped by 23% in the last 12 months. most (71%) have no policies in place to address the disease. nor could over 65% of the business leaders surveyed say or estimate the prevalence of hiv among their staff. the un programme tackling aids unaids pointed out that having a clear strategy for dealing with hiv/aids was a good investment as well as being socially responsible. one company that does have a plan is anglo-american the international mining company which estimates an hiv prevalence of 24% among its 130 000-strong southern african workforce. over the last two years the company has implemented extensive voluntary counselling and testing for hiv infection coupled with anti-retroviral therapy for employees progressing to aids. over 90% of the 2 200 employees who have accessed and remained on treatment are well and have returned to normal work. effective action on hiv/aids is synonymous with good business management and leads to more profitable and sustainable operations said brian brink senior vice-president health at anglo-american. companies should encourage all workers to know their hiv status making it as routine as monitoring blood pressure or cholesterol he said. providing access to treatment is a critical part of this. across sub-saharan africa even in countries with an hiv prevalence of 10-19% only around 7% of companies have formal hiv/aids policies in place according to the report. the gap is even wider in china ethiopia india nigeria and russia the so-called next wave countries which are predicted to experience the highest numbers of new hiv/aids cases worldwide by 2010. the report adds an important building block to our understanding of how the business community is experiencing the hiv/aids epidemic and to whether and how it is reacting said david bloom professor of economics and demography at the harvard school of public health. the wef report concludes that businesses need to understand their exposure to hiv/aids risks and come up with good local practices to manage them. a key priority in both high and low-prevalence settings said the wef is to establish a policy based on non-discrimination and confidentiality. | 1 | 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. | 1 | business |
blair said he would stand down tony blair promised gordon brown he would stand down before the next election a new book about the chancellor claims. but the prime minister changed his mind following intervention from allies in the cabinet according to the book. the book by sunday telegraph journalist robert peston said the pair had mutual animosity and contempt for each other. the book brown s britain said tony blair felt by november 2003 he had lost voters trust. the author s sources all unnamed allies of mr blair and mr brown said the prime minister felt the iraq war had undermined him and that he was no longer an asset to the labour party. the book serialised in the sunday telegraph alleges that mr blair told the chancellor at a dinner hosted by deputy pm john prescott in november 2003 of his intention to stand down. at that stage he saw gordon brown and said look you are the next most influential member of the government i need your help to get through the next year mr peston said. i myself recognise that i m going to have to stand down before the election but help me to get through the year and i will then stand down. but he changed his mind in june 2004 following intervention from allies in the cabinet and the suspicion that the chancellor was deliberately manoeuvring against him the book claims. mr peston told bbc news: my understanding is that they are not nearly as close or as friendly as they once were. what the book says is there now a pretty profound mutual mistrust mutual animosity. i think in public you see this double act pretending everything is alright but in private i don t think the relationship is good because brown understandably feels deeply betrayed - particularly over this issue of the leadership. there has been fresh speculation of a rift recently following their separate responses to the asian tsunami. rumours of a rift were fuelled by the sudden decision to hold mr blair s monthly media conference at the same time as a long-planned speech by mr brown on uk plans to tackle global poverty with a new marshall plan for africa. there was speculation the pair were trying to outdo each other s response to the disaster. former welfare minister frank field mp criticised the reported rivalry between the pair on gmtv s sunday programme. what sort of model does it give to the nation when the two most important political leaders do nothing but fight it out together or use their aides to fight it out the labour mp for birkenhead asked. he said the prime minister should sack mr brown but did not believe mr blair was strong enough to do so. conservative policy co-ordinator david cameron mp for witney added: if it wasn t so serious it would be funny. but it is serious - you ve got the two most senior people in the government not concentrating on fighting crime poverty or dirty hospitals - they are fighting each other. carol walker bbc news 24 political correspondent added: there is a real concern that this could undermine the general election campaign. and clearly it is very bad news for the government at a time when it is trying to explain what it is doing to respond to the terrible problems thrown up by the tsunami disaster. | 4 | politics |
u2 to play at grammy awards show irish rock band u2 are to play live at the grammy awards presentation in the us next month organisers have said. other acts to play include soul singer alicia keys country singer tim mcgraw and punk band green day at the event on 13 february in los angeles. u2 are nominated twice for their recent single vertigo including a nomination for best rock song. this year the grammys have been dominated by rap star kanye west who is in contention for 10 awards. us comedian ellen degeneres and singer christine milian will present awards at the event. last week grammy producers announced the show will be hosted by rap star and chicago actress queen latifah. it will be held at the staples center. u2 had number one success in the album charts on both sides of the atlantic in november when their latest studio album how to dismantle an atomic bomb topped the us and uk charts. the band who are also dominated for best international album at this year s brit awards are to undertake a major world tour this year their first for four years. | 3 | entertainment |
stern dropped from radio stations controversial dj howard stern has been dropped from four us radio stations because he keeps promoting his move to a network broadcasting on satellite. cidatel broadcasting said stern had transformed his show into a continuous infomercial promoting sirius his new satellite radio employer . stern will join the sirius subscription service which is not governed by us regulators next year. citadel pulled stern s show from stations in new york and pennsylvania. stern had been holiday for two weeks but his show did not return to the four stations as expected on 3 january. citadel said it did not yet know whether it would return to its network. stern announced in october that he was leaving conventional radio where his syndicated show goes out across the us for the relatively restriction-free satellite service. the dj s broadcasts are well known for landing in trouble with regulators for obscene and sexually explicit rantings. stern was dropped by six stations owned by media giant clear channel in 2004 after it had to pay the federal communications commission $1.75m (£950 000) over breaches indecency laws. media giant viacom has also reportedly agreed to the fcc s demands that if stern is issued with another indecency violation then his show must be pulled from all of its stations. viacom has also been hit with record fines of $3.5m (£1.8m) over stern and two other new york djs. but stern continues to be one of the most popular talk show hosts particularly in the 25-54 age category. | 3 | entertainment |
cyber criminals step up the pace so-called phishing attacks that try to trick people into handing over confidential details have boomed in 2004 say security experts. the number of phishing e-mail messages stopped by security firm messagelabs has risen more than tenfold in less than 12 months. in 2004 it detected more than 18 million phishing e-mail messages. other statistics show that in 2004 73% of all e-mail was spam and one in 16 messages were infected with a virus. in its end-of-year report messagelabs said that phishing had become the top security threat and most popular form of attack among cyber criminals. in september 2003 messagelabs caught only 273 phishing e-mails that tried to make people visit fake versions of the websites run by real banks and financial organisations. but by september 2004 it was stopping more than two million phishing related e-mail messages per month. worryingly said the firm phishing gangs were using increasingly sophisticated techniques to harvest useful information such as login details or personal data. older attacks relied on users not spotting the fact that the site they were visiting was fake but more recent phishing e-mails simply try to steal details as soon as a message is opened. other phishing scams try to recruit innocent people into acting as middlemen for laundering money or goods bought with stolen credit cards. e-mail security attacks remain unabated in their persistence and ferocity said mark sunner chief technology officer at messagelabs. in just 12 months phishing has firmly established itself as a threat to any organisation or individual conducting business online he said. mr sunner said messagelabs was starting to see some phishing attacks become very focused on one company or organisation. already particular businesses are threatened and blackmailed indicating a shift from the random scattergun approach to customised attacks designed to take advantage of the perceived weaknesses of some businesses he said. although phishing attacks grew substantially throughout 2004 viruses and spam remain popular with cyber-criminals and vandals. one of the biggest outbreaks took place in january when the mydoom virus started circulating. to date the company has caught more than 60 million copies of the virus. also up this year was the amount of spam in circulation. in 2003 only 40% of messages were spam. but by the end of 2004 almost three-quarters of messages were junk. | 0 | tech |
spark heads world booker list dame muriel spark is among three british authors who have made the shortlist for the inaugural international booker prize. doris lessing and ian mcewan have also been nominated. mcewan and margaret atwood are the only nominees to have previously won the main booker prize. the new £60 000 award is open to writers of all nationalities who write in english or are widely translated. the prize commends an author for their body of work instead of one book. gabriel garcia marquez saul bellow milan kundera and john updike also feature on the 18-strong list of world literary figures. but other past winners of the regular booker prize such as salman rushdie jm coetzee and kazuo ishiguro have failed to make the shortlist. the prize which will be awarded in london in june will be given once every two years. it will reward an author - who must be living - for continued creativity development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage . an author can only win once. the international award was started in response to criticisms that the booker prize is only open to british and commonwealth authors. margaret atwood (canada) saul bellow (canada) gabriel garcia marquez (colombia) gunter grass (germany) ismail kadare (albania) milan kundera (czech republic) stanislaw lem (poland) doris lessing (uk) ian mcewan (uk) naguib mahfouz (egypt) tomas eloy martinez (argentina) kenzaburo oe (japan) cynthia ozick (us) philip roth (us) muriel spark (uk) antonio tabucchi (italy) john updike (us) abraham b yehoshua (israel) | 3 | entertainment |
ferguson hails man utd s resolve manchester united s alex ferguson has praised his players gutsy performance in the 1-0 win at aston villa. that was our hardest away game of the season and it was a fantastic game of football end-to-end with lots of good passing said the old trafford boss. we showed lots of character and guts and we weren t going to lose. i look at that fixture and think we ve been there and won while arsenal and chelsea have yet to come and villa may have some players back when they do. ferguson also hailed senior stars ryan giggs and roy keane who came off the bench for the injured john o shea. roy came on and brought a bit of composure to the midfield which we needed and which no other player has got. giggs was a tremendous threat and he brings tremendous penetration. all we can do is maintain our form play as we are and we ll get our rewards. | 2 | sport |
youssou n dour wins music prize senegalese musician youssou n dour has been named a winner of a bbc radio 3 world music award. his album egypt won the critics award for album of the year while the best newcomer accolade went to argentine chango spasiuk. winners were chosen from ten categories to reflect different continents. a special poll winners concert hosted by eliza carthy and benjamin zephaniah will take place at the sage in gateshead on 5 march. the concert will be broadcast on radio 3 s world music day the following evening and will feature performances by many of the award winners. it will also include the announcement of the audience award chosen by radio 3 and bbc world service listeners alongside bbc four viewers. winner in the africa category was malian desert blues band tinariwen formed from the nomadic people of the southern sahara. cuban pianist bebo valdes and flamenco singer diego el cigala responsible for critically acclaimed album lagrimas negrasmusic won an award in the boundary crossing category. each winner will receive a specially commissioned sculpture entitled planet by anita sulimanovic who won a competition to design the award. highlights of the poll winners concert to be held at the sage gateshead will be televised on bbc four on 11 march. | 3 | entertainment |
super union merger plan touted two of britain s big trade unions could merge to form a super union of two million members. the move by amicus and the transport and general workers union (tgwu) would be a seen as a bid to carry more weight with ministers and employers. amicus has 1.2 million members and the tgwu has 800 000. any merger would have to be approved by the unions executives and their membership. it is understood meetings will be held on wednesday about the proposal. along with the gmb and unison the tgwu and amicus worked closely together in the last year to hammer out a 56-point deal with labour s leadership over equality at work holidays and pensions - the warwick agreement. both unions are remaining tight-lipped about the merger rumours but one insider pointed out to the bbc news website that nobody is denying suggestions a merger could be on the agenda when the two unions executives hold their meetings on wednesday. amicus s executive was due to meet in any case although the tgwu is holding specially scheduled talks. | 4 | politics |
home phones face unclear future the fixed line phone in your home could soon be an endangered species. research by handset maker nokia shows that more and more people are using their mobile phone for every call they make or take. according to the study more than 45 million people in the uk germany us and south korea now only use a mobile. it showed that people keep their fixed line phone because call charges are lower but most of those questioned said the future was definitely mobile. the nokia-sponsored research showed that mobiles and fixed phones were used for different purposes. home phones were used for longer calls but conversations on mobiles tended to be shorter between mobiles and to friends. in the uk 69% of those questioned said they turned to their fixed phone because it was still cheaper to use than a mobile. however when pressed few could say with accuracy how tariffs on fixed and mobile phones compared. in the us and germany many of those interviewed said they used the fixed phone because it was more reliable than a mobile handset and let them get access to the net at relatively high speeds. in all the countries where interviews were carried out older people were more likely to use a fixed line phone more than a mobile. women aged 50 or above almost never use a mobile phone the research found. the move to mobile was most pronounced in south korea where 65% of those questioned said they already make most of their calls from a mobile. 18% said they would not get a landline if they moved house. many of those questioned said they had an emotional connection to their fixed phone that drew on its position in the home and the cosiness of making a call there. nokia said these findings had implications for mobile operators who must work hard to ensure that mobiles are seen as cheap reliable and providing good call quality. the survey also showed that it is not just voice calls that are going wireless. some of those questioned said they were looking to use a mobile or wireless service to get net access within the next couple of years. polling firm mori interviewed more than 6 000 people in the uk us germany and south korea for the survey. | 0 | tech |
paraguay novel wins us book prize a novel set in 19th century paraguay has won the $10 000 (£5 390) fiction prize at the us national book awards. lily tuck s the news from paraguay is a fictionalised tale about paraguayan leader francisco solano lopez and his irish mistress. but the annual awards which were presented in new york on wednesday were not without controversy. children s author judy blume who was given an honourary medal used the ceremony to speak out over censorship. sales of blume s books have exceeded 75 million but her work - which features frank narratives about families religion and sexuality - is closely watched by the censors. blume said: the urge to ban is contagious. it spreads like wildfire from community to community. please speak out. censors hate publicity. her medal marks the second year in a row the honourary prize went to someone as notable for popular success as literary greatness. last year s honorary winner stephen king accused the industry during the 2003 ceremony of snobbery against popular writers. but his argument that the award should help sell books instead of honouring excellence is not shared by everyone. this year s fiction panel overlooked high-profile works such as philip roth s the plot against america and instead chose five little-known books all by new york-based women. one fiction judge stewart o nan carried around a note written on a napkin that said: i would hope that our caring more for the quality of a work than its sales figures make us a friend of books not an enemy. the national book awards non-fiction prize was awarded to kevin boyle s for arc of justice which focuses on a black family s fight to live in a white detroit neighbourhood in the 1920s. the award had created a lot of interest this year after the surprise inclusion of the of the 9-11 commission report looking into the events of the 11 september terrorist attacks on the us. pete hautman won the young people s literature prize for his novel godless. the winner in the poetry category was jean valentine for door in the mountain: new and collected poems 1965-2003. | 3 | entertainment |
gadget show heralds mp3 season partners of those who love their hi-tech gear may want to get their presents in early as experts predict a gadget shortage this christmas. with apple s ipod topping wish lists again there may not be enough ipod minis to go round predicts oliver irish editor of gadget magazine stuff. the ipod mini is likely to be this year s tracey island said mr irish. stuff has compiled a list of the top 10 gadgets for 2004 and the ipod is at number one. for anyone bewildered by the choice of gadgets on the market stuff and what hi-fi are hosting a best-of gadget show in london this weekend. star of the show will be sony s qrio robot an all-singing all-dancing football-playing man-machine who can even hold intelligent conversations. but he is not for sale and sony has no commercial plans for the robot. he will greet visitors and is flying in from japan. he probably has his own airplane seat that is how highly sony prize him said mr irish. also on display will be a virtual keyboard which projects itself onto any flat surface. the event will play host to a large collection of digital music players from companies such as creative sony and philips as well as the ubiquitously fashionable ipod from apple. suggestions that it could be a gaming or wireless christmas are unlikely to come true as mp3 players remain the most popular stocking filler said mr irish. demand is huge and apple has promised that it can supply enough but people might struggle to get their hands on ipod minis said mr irish. for those who like their gadgets to be multi-talented the gizmondo a powerful gaming console with gps and gprs that also doubles up as an mp3 player movie player and camera could be a must-have. what is impressive is how much it can do and how well it can do them said mr irish. this christmas gadgets will not be an all-male preserve. women will be getting gadgets from husbands and boyfriends as well as buying them for themselves said mr irish. gadgets nowadays are lifestyle products rather than just for geeks. | 0 | tech |
beijingers fume over parking fees choking traffic jams in beijing are prompting officials to look at reorganising car parking charges. car ownership has risen fast in recent years and there are now two and a half million cars on the city s roads. the trouble is that the high status of car ownership is matched by expensive fees at indoor car parks making motorists reluctant to use them. instead roads are being clogged by drivers circling in search of a cheaper outdoor option. the price differences between indoor and outdoor lots are unreasonable said wang yan an official from the beijing municipal commission for development and reform quoted in the state-run china daily newspaper. mr wang who is in charge of collecting car parking fees said his team would be looking at adjusting parking prices to close the gap. indoor parking bays can cost up to 250% more than outdoor ones. sports fans who drive to matches may also find themselves the target of the commission s road rage. it wants them to use public transport and is considering jacking up the prices of car parks near sports grounds. mr wang said his review team may scrap the relatively cheap hourly fee near such places and impose a higher flat rate during matches. indoor parking may be costly but it is not always secure. mr wang s team are also going to look into complaints from residents about poor service received in exchange for compulsory monthly fees of up to 400 yuan ($48; £26). the beijing authorities decided two years ago that visiting foreign dignitaries motorcades should not longer get motorcycle outriders as they blocked the traffic. unclogging beijing s increasingly impassable streets is a major concern for the chinese authorities who are building dozens of new roads to create a showcase modern city ahead of the 2008 olympic games. | 1 | business |
gsk aims to stop aids profiteers one of the world s largest manufacturers of hiv/aids drugs has launched an initiative to combat the smuggling of cheaper pills - supplied to poorer african countries - back into europe for resale at far higher price. the company glaxosmithkline is to alter the packaging and change the colour of the pills currently provided to developing nations under a humanitarian agreement. it is estimated that drugs companies are losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year as a result of the diversion of their products in this way. this is a very sensitive area for the big drugs companies. they want to maintain their profits but have been put under tremendous pressure to provide cheap anti-aids drugs to the world s poorest nations. the result is that drugs supplied to africa are now more than thirty times cheaper than those sold in europe; bringing these medicines within the reach of millions of hiv-positive africans through their government s health care systems. but the wide difference in price also means that there are big gains to be made from illegally diverting these cheaper drugs back into wealthier countries and re-selling them at a higher price. glaxosmithkline believes that by coating the pills destined for africa in a red dye and adding new identification codes both onto the pills and on the packaging then this trade can be substantially reduced. the company says that it will then be possible to identify specific distributors in africa who have re-sold humanitarian drugs for profit as well as those suppliers in europe that have also been involved in the trade. glaxo says distribution of the new-look drugs has already begun and that their chemical content is identical to those currently being sold in europe. | 1 | business |
football manager scores big time for the past decade or so the virtual football fans among us will have become used to the annual helping of championship manager (cm). indeed it seems like there has been a cm game for as many years as there have been pcs. however last year was the final time that developers sports interactive (si) and publishers eidos would work together. they decided to go their separate ways and each kept a piece of the franchise. si kept the game s code and database and eidos retained rights to the cm brand and the look and feel of the game. so at the beginning of this year fans faced a new situation. eidos announced the next cm game with a new team to develop it from scratch whilst si developed the existing code further to be released with new publishers sega under the name football manager. so what does this mean well football manager is the spiritual successor to the cm series and it has been released earlier than expected. at this point cm5 looks like it will ship early next year. but given that football manager 2005 is by and large the game that everybody knows and loves how does this new version shape up a game like fm2005 could blind you with statistics. it has an obscene number of playable leagues an obscene number of manageable teams and a really obscene number of players and staff from around the world in the database with stats faithfully researched and compiled by a loyal army of fans. but that does not do justice to the game really. what we are talking about is the most realistic and satisfying football management game to ever grace the earth. you begin by picking the nations and leagues you want to manage teams from for instance england and scotland. that will give you a choice not just of the four main scottish leagues but the english premiership all the way down to the conference north and south. of course you might be looking for european glory or to get hold of abramovich s millions in which case you can take control at chelsea or even barcelona real madrid ac milan ... the list goes on a very long way. once in a team you will be told by the board what they expect of you. sometimes it is promotion or a place in europe sometimes it is consolidation or a brave relegation battle. it might even be a case of champions or else. obviously the expectations are linked to the team you choose so choose wisely. then it is time to look at your squad work out your tactics seeing how much cash if any you have got to splash having a look at the transfer market sorting out the training schedule and making sure your backroom staff are up to it. then bring on the matches which are once more available in the ever-improving top down 2d view. with the exception of the improved user interface on the surface not much else seems to have changed. however there have been a lot of changes under the bonnet as well - things like the manager mind-games which let you talk to the media about the opposition bosses. the match engine is also much improved and it is more of a joy than ever to watch. in fact just about every area of the game has been tweaked and it leads to an ever more immersive experience. with a game that is so complex and so open-ended there are of course a few glitches but nowhere near the sorts of problems that have blighted previous releases. with so many calculations to perform the game can take some time to process in between matches though there have been improvements in this area. and a sport like football which is so high profile and unpredictable itself can never be modelled quite to everybody s satisfaction. but this time around a great deal of hard work has been put in to ensure that any oddities that do crop up are cosmetic only and do not affect gameplay. and if there are problems further down the line sports interactive have indicated their usual willingness to support and develop the game as far as possible. in all there are many more tweaks and improvements. if you were a fan of the previous cm games then fm2005 might make you forget there was anything else before it. if you are new to the genre but like the idea of trying to take margate into the premiership spurs into europe or even putting rangers back on the top of the tree fm2005 could be the best purchase you ever made. just be warned that the family might not see you much at christmas. football manager 2005 out now for the pc and the mac | 0 | tech |
file-swappers ready new network legal attacks on websites that help people swap pirated films have forced the development of a system that could be harder to shut down. one site behind the success of the bittorrent file-swapping system is producing its own software that avoids the pitfalls of the earlier program. a test version of the new exeem program will be released in late january. but doubts remain about the new networks ability to ensure files being swapped are quality copies . in late december movie studios launched a legal campaign against websites that helped people swap pirated movies using the bittorrent network. the legal campaign worked because of the way that bittorrent is organised. that file-sharing system relies on links called trackers that point users to others happy to share the file they are looking for. shutting down sites that listed trackers crippled the bittorrent network. one of the sites shut down by the legal campaign was suprnova.org which helped boost the popularity of the bittorrent system by checking that trackers led to the movies or tv programmes they claimed to. now the man behind suprnova.org who goes by the nickname sloncek is preparing to release software for a new file-swapping network dubbed exeem. in an interview with novastream web radio sloncek said exeem would combine ideas from the bittorrent and kazaa file-sharing systems. like bittorrent exeem will have trackers that help point people toward the file they want. like kazaa these trackers will be held by everyone. there will be no centrally maintained list. this said sloncek should make the system less vulnerable to legal action aimed at stopping people swapping pirated movies and music. the exeem software has been under development for a few months and is currently being tested by a closed group of users. an early public version of the software should be available before february. sloncek said that currently only a windows version of the software was in development. there were no plans for a linux or mac version. he said that costs of writing the software will be paid for by adverts appearing in the finished version of the program. despite suprnova administrator sloncek s involvement with exeem the basic technology appears to have been developed by a firm called swarm systems that is based on caribbean island saint kitts and nevis. users of the exeem system will be able to rate files being swapped to help stop the spread of fake files sloncek told novastream. dr johan pouwelse a researcher at the delft university of technology who studies peer-to-peer networks said exeem was the next evolution in file-sharing systems. but he said it would struggle to be as popular as bittorrent and suprnova because early versions were not taking enough care to make sure good copies of files were being shared. exeem cannot prevent pollution he said. the rating system in exeem seems flawed because it is easy to insert both fake files and fake ratings he said. studies have shown that organisations working for record labels and movie studios have worked to undermine kazaa by putting in fakes. by contrast moderators on suprnova made sure files being shared were high quality. the moderators are the difference between having a system that works and one that s full of crap like kazaa he said. there is a fundamental tension between distribution and integrity he said. mr pouwelse said that future versions of file-sharing systems are likely to incorporate some kind of distributed reputation system that lets moderators prove who they are to the network and rate which files are worth downloading. when big files were being shared moderation systems were key said mr pouwelse. he added that the legal attacks on bittorrent had driven people away from sites such as suprnova but many users had simply migrated to other tracker listing sites many of which have seen huge increases in traffic. it s hard to compete with free he said. no-one from the motion picture association of america was immediately available for comment on the file-sharing development. | 0 | tech |
no jail for singer courtney love singer courtney love has been spared jail for assault and drug offences but must serve three years probation. she had back-to-back court appearances in two separate cases in los angeles first pleading no contest to attacking a woman with a whisky bottle. in the second ms love 40 pleaded guilty to possessing a forged prescription and painkiller oxycodone. she must also do 100 hours community service have drug treatment attend narcotics anonymous and pay a fine. the ex-hole singer s lawyer howard weitzman said ms love had turned her life around and she was clean and sober . the assault charge stemmed from april 2004 when ms love found musician kristin king in her boyfriend s home. ms king said the singer threw the bottle at the left side of my face in an angry vicious and erratic attack. ms love was originally charged with the more serious offence of assault with a deadly weapon but that was reduced to assault. judge rand rubin said she must: - spend three years on probation - have one year s anger management counselling - have one year s drug rehabilitation - do 100 hours community service - pay $1 000 (£535) fine - have random drug tests - go to three narcotics anonymous meetings per week in the drugs case she was sentenced to 18 months probation to run concurrently with the probation for the assault. that offence stemmed from october 2003 when she suffered an overdose after breaking a window at her boyfriend s home. in a separate case relating to the same incident ms love was sentenced to 18 months in drug rehabilitation for being under the influence of cocaine and opiates. in another case last october she pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for hitting a man on the head with a microphone stand at a new york city nightclub. last month her lawyers said she had won back custody of frances bean her 12-year-old daughter with former nirvana frontman kurt cobain. the girl was removed from her care following her double arrest in october 2003. cobain committed suicide in 1994. | 3 | entertainment |
kennedy begins pre-election tour liberal democrat leader charles kennedy has begun a week-long tour to persuade voters they are the real opposition . mr kennedy is visiting constituencies in somerset and hampshire on monday - rural seats where his party is hoping to make gains from the conservatives. later he will visit places such as liverpool where labour is targeted. labour say a lib dem vote could let the tories in while the tories say the lib dems would mean higher taxes soft crime laws more power to europe . mr kennedy s tour comes as he labour leader tony blair and conservative leader michael howard all step up campaigning ahead of the next general election widely expected to be held on 5 may. on tuesday mr kennedy will visit leicester south where lib dem mp parmjit singh gill overturned a big labour majority to win the seat in last year s by-election. stops in shrewsbury north dorset liverpool manchester basingstoke and west london are planned for later in the week. the liberal democrats say in the northern cities the race is between them and labour while in southern seats - particularly the south west - it is between them and the tories. speaking to the bbc s westminster hour on sunday mr kennedy said the upcoming general election - widely tipped for 5 may - would be much more unpredictable than any others in recent experience . asked whether it was realistic to assume the liberal democrats could win the general election he said: there s no limit to the ambitions we have as a party. but we have got to be responsible we have got to be credible we have got to demonstrate to people that we are up to that task. mr kennedy said the british public felt let down by labour on issues from iraq to top-up fees and the conservatives were not asking the critical questions . and he said people were highly sceptical about labour and conservative promises on tax. but he brushed off labour suggestions a vote for his party would mean letting the tories in by the back door . if you look at the four previous parliamentary by-elections the liberal democrats have demonstrated that not only can we leapfrog the conservatives where we start in a third place position but we can go on to defeat the government. that s going to be the story i think of this coming general election. | 4 | politics |
macy s owner buys rival for $11bn us retail giant federated department stores is to buy rival may department stores for $11bn (£5.7bn). the deal will bring together famous stores like macy s bloomingdale s and marshall field s creating the largest department store chain in the us. the combined firm will operate about 1 000 stores across the us with combined annual sales of $30bn. the two companies facing competition from the likes of wal-mart tried to merge two years ago but talks failed. sources familiar with the deal said that negotiations between the two companies sped up after may s chairman and chief executive gene kahn resigned in january. as part of the deal federated - owner of macy s and bloomingdale s - will assume $6bn of may s debt bringing the deal s total value to $17bn. directors at both companies have approved the deal and it is expected to conclude by the third quarter of this year. may has struggled to compete against larger department store groups such as federated and other retailers such as wal-mart. federated expects the merger to boost earnings from 2007 but the deal will cost it $1bn in one-off charges. we have taken the first step toward combining two of the best department store companies in america creating a new retail company with truly national scope and presence said terry lundgren federated s chairman. some analysts see the merger as a rescue deal for may. without this deal may would have been to put it bluntly washed up said kurt barnard president of barnard s retail consulting group. federated has annual sales of $15.6bn while may s yearly sales are $14.4bn. | 1 | business |
howard unveils election platform the conservatives would stand up for the forgotten majority michael howard pledged as he unveiled the first part of the tory election manifesto. the tory leader argued there was a mass of people whom he says feel let down by tony blair and who share tory values. in the foreword to the manifesto he promises to focus on restoring order trying to lower taxes and giving power back to the people. labour says the document offers only a return to a failed tory past . the liberal democrats say the conservatives cannot win what they predict will be a three-party contest. campaigning activity is accelerating ahead of the general election which is widely tipped for may but could be any time before june 2006. labour on monday postponed a launch of election posters because of the asian tsunami disaster. mr howard published the introduction to the tory manifesto. other chapters will follow in coming weeks. in a speech in northamptonshire he said the forgotten majority made up the backbone of britain. they were people who were saving for their first home or their retirement working hard and accepting their responsibilities. he says in the manifesto foreword: they have been forgotten neglected and taken for granted by mr blair. saying britain must change direction mr howard argues government is too big and cannot continue down the path of ever rising taxes . he promises to ensure frontline professionals parents and patients make the key decisions rather than whitehall bureaucrats . and he says the tories would get a grip on crime immigration and disorder. the decline of responsibility and the proliferation of so-called human rights have left us in a moral quagmire unable to get a grip on rising crime and disorder he says. mr howard says he will produce a timetable for action so people can hold him to account but on issues like taxation he has so far only published options not specific plans. mr howard told bbc news: i m determined to lower taxes but i m also determined not to make any promises i can t keep. the tories were unveiling material months ahead of the expected election because they needed time to make voters aware of their policies he said. he was asked if tory support for the government on iraq and identity cards had given the lib dems the chance to portray themselves as the opposition to labour. mr howard argued the only test for his policies was whether they were best for britain. it had nothing to do with putting clear blue water between himself and his opponents. labour s election slogan will be: britain s working don t let the tories wreck it again . campaign coordinator alan milburn accused the tories of launching thatcherism in instalments while labour helped the hard working majority of families. lib dem president simon hughes said his party had set out its election stance in september. the liberal democrats will ask the british people for support this year as the party with the policies best able to deliver freedom and fairness and to restore trust he said. | 4 | politics |
uk gets official virus alert site a rapid alerting service that tells home computer users about serious internet security problems is being launched by the uk government. the service it safe will issue warnings about damaging viruses software vulnerabilities and weaknesses on devices such as mobile phones. alerts tell people how the threats affect them and what they can do to avoid trouble and protect themselves. the service will be free and those who sign up can get e-mail or text alerts. the scheme is aimed at home users and small businesses. the government estimates it will issue security alerts about six to 10 times a year based on previous experience of virus outbreaks. there is a clear need for easy-to-understand and simple independent advice for non-technically minded people who use computers either at home or at work said home office minister hazel blears. the purpose of this new government service is to ensure computer users are aware of the risks involved and how to deal with them easily and effectively without causing alarm. those signing up will only be told about the most serious security threats that have the potential to affect millions of people. full-time staff are being employed to comb through the many hundreds of alerts issued each year by computer security firms to spot which ones have the potential to catch out a large number of people between alerts the service will occasionally send messages giving people advice about safe ways to use their computers and phones. it safe will take our technical expertise and use it to help home users understand the risks and keep their computer systems mobile phones and a range of related consumer electronic items safe said roger cumming director of the national infrastructure security coordination centre (niscc). the niscc which is running the service also stressed that those signing up would still need to use anti-virus software firewalls and software updates to stay secure. warnings about security problems will tell people what the problem is how it affects them and what they can do to avoid trouble. alerts will not be issued unless users can do something to protect themselves against the threat. this might include downloading an update from an anti-virus vendor or updating software to close loopholes and fix vulnerabilities. however no software patches or programs will actually be dispensed through the site. the alerts will tell people how to go about getting hold of patches from security firms. the niscc spokesman said the site and alerting service would stay in existence for as long as there were security bugs on home computers and other gadgets. government statistics show that more than half of all uk households own a home computer. it was estimated that almost 13 million of these were able to access the internet in 2004. the launch comes as the number of viruses and other malicious programs in existence is reaching unprecedented numbers. in september 2004 the number of malicious programs circulating topped the 100 000 mark. some fear that this figure could hit 150 000 by september 2005. the creation of the national alert service follows similar efforts in the netherlands and us. the national alerting service for the netherlands (aka de waarschuwingsdienst) and the us national cyber alerting service also tell citizens of serious security threats. | 0 | tech |
apple unveils low-cost mac mini apple has unveiled a new low-cost macintosh computer for the masses billed as the mac mini. chief executive steve jobs showed off the new machine at his annual macworld speech in san francisco. the $499 macintosh sold for £339 in the uk was described by jobs as the most important mac made by apple. mr jobs also unveiled the ipod shuffle a new music player using cheaper flash memory rather than hard drives which are used in more expensive ipods. the new computer shifts the company into new territory - traditionally the firm is known as a design and innovation-led firm rather than as a mass-market manufacturer. the mac mini comes without a monitor keyboard and mouse and a second version with a larger hard drive will also be sold for $599. the machine - which will be available from 22 january - was described by jobs as byodkm... bring your own display keyboard and mouse . in an attempt to win over windows pc customers mr jobs said it would appeal to people thinking of changing operating systems. people who are thinking of switching will have no more excuses he said. it s the newest and most affordable mac ever. the new computer has been the subject of speculation for several weeks and while few people will be surprised by the announcement many analysts had already said it was a sensible move. in january apple sued a website after it published what it said were specifications for the new computer. ian harris deputy editor of uk magazine mac format said the machine would appeal to pc-owning consumers who had purchased an ipod. they want a further taste of mac because they like what they have seen with ipod. harris added: everybody thought that apple was happy to remain a niche maker of luxury computers and moving into a market dominated by low margin manufacturers like dell is a bold move. but it shows that apple is keen to capitalise on the mass market success it s had with the ipod. the mac mini will appeal to pc users looking for an attractive no fuss computer. the new ipod shuffle comes in two versions - one offering 512mb of storage for $99 (£69 in the uk) and a second with one gigabyte of storage for $149 (£99) - and went on sale tuesday. the music player has no display and will play songs either consecutively or shuffled. the smaller ipod will hold about 120 songs said mr jobs. mr jobs told the delegates at macworld that ipod already had a 65% market share of all digital music players. | 0 | tech |
internet boom for gift shopping cyberspace is becoming a very popular destination for christmas shoppers. forecasts predict that british people will spend £4bn buying gifts online during the festive season an increase of 64% on 2003. surveys also show that the average amount that people are spending is rising as is the range of goods that they are happy to buy online. savvy shoppers are also using the net to find the hot presents that are all but sold out in high street stores. almost half of the uk population now shop online according to figures collected by the interactive media in retail group which represents web retailers. about 85% of this group 18m people expect to do a lot of their christmas gift buying online this year reports the industry group. on average each shopper will spend £220 and britons lead europe in their affection for online shopping. almost a third of all the money spent online this christmas will come out of british wallets and purses compared to 29% from german shoppers and only 4% from italian gift buyers. james roper director of the imrg said shoppers were now much happier to buy so-called big ticket items such as lcd television sets and digital cameras. mr roper added that many retailers were working hard to reassure consumers that online shopping was safe and that goods ordered as presents would arrive in time for christmas. he advised consumers to give shops a little more time than usual to fulfil orders given that online buying is proving so popular. a survey by hostway suggests that many men prefer to shop online to avoid the embarrassment of buying some types of presents such as lingerie for wives and girlfriends. much of this online shopping is likely to be done during work time according to research carried out by security firm saint bernard software. the research reveals that up to two working days will be lost by staff who do their shopping via their work computer. worst offenders will be those in the 18-35 age bracket suggests the research who will spend up to five hours per week in december browsing and buying at online shops. iggy fanlo chief revenue officer at shopping.com said that the growing numbers of people using broadband was driving interest in online shopping. when you consider narrowband and broadband the conversion to sale is two times higher he said. higher speeds meant that everything happened much faster he said which let people spend time browsing and finding out about products before they buy. the behaviour of online shoppers was also changing he said. the single biggest reason people went online before this year was price he said. the number one reason now is convenience. very few consumers click on the lowest price he said. they are looking for good prices and merchant reliability. consumer comments and reviews were also proving popular with shoppers keen to find out who had the most reliable customer service. data collected by ebay suggests that some smart shoppers are getting round the shortages of hot presents by buying them direct through the auction site. according to ebay uk there are now more than 150 robosapiens remote control robots for sale via the site. the robosapiens toy is almost impossible to find in online and offline stores. similarly many shoppers are turning to ebay to help them get hold of the hard-to-find slimline playstation 2 which many retailers are only selling as part of an expensive bundle. the high demand for the playstation 2 has meant that prices for it are being driven up. in shops the ps2 is supposed to sell for £104.99. in some ebay uk auctions the price has risen to more than double this figure. many people are also using ebay to get hold of gadgets not even released in this country. the portable version of the playstation has only just gone on sale in japan yet some enterprising ebay users are selling the device to uk gadget fans. | 0 | tech |
us economy still growing says fed most areas of the us saw their economy continue to expand in december and early january the us federal reserve said in its latest beige book report. of the 12 us regions it identifies for the study 11 showed stronger economic growth with only the cleveland area falling behind with a mixed rating. consumer spending was higher in december than november and festive sales were also up on 2003. the employment picture also improved the fed said. labour markets firmed in a number of districts but wage pressures generally remained modest the beige book said. several districts reported higher prices for building materials and manufacturing inputs but most reported steady or only slightly higher overall price levels. the report added that residential real estate activity remained strong and that commercial real estate activity strengthened in most districts. office leasing was especially brisk in washington dc and new york city two of the nation s strongest commercial markets the fed said. | 1 | business |
home loan approvals rising again the number of mortgages approved in the uk has risen for the first time since may last year according to lending figures from the bank of england. new loans in december rose to 83 000 slightly higher than november s nine-year low of 77 000. mortgage lending rose by £7.1bn in december up from a £6.4bn rise in november. the figures contradict a survey from the british bankers association which said approvals were at a five-year low. analysts say the figures show the market may be stabilising but still point to further house price softness. the modest rise in mortgage approvals and lending in december reinforces the impression that the housing market is currently slowing steadily rather than sharply said global insight analyst howard archer commenting on the boe s figures. the bba believes that the property market is continuing to cool down. changes to mortgage regulation may have artificially depressed figures in november thus flattering the december figures analysts said. in october last year new rules came into force which meant some lenders were forced to withdraw mortgage products temporarily in november and defer some lending until they had made sure they had complied with the rules properly. separately the bank of england said that consumer credit rose by £1.5bn in december more than the £1.4bn expected and above the £1.4bn reported in the previous month. | 1 | business |
film production falls 40% in uk the number of british films produced in the uk fell 40% in 2004 with movies starring johnny depp and jude law among those affected screen daily has said. twenty-seven british films were made in the uk last year following a drop in funding compared with 45 in 2003 according to the trade weekly. it attributed the drop to tighter tax laws and reduced funding from sources such as the national lottery. uk and us co-productions in britain fell from 102 in 2003 to 81 last year. last year the government closed tax loopholes that many film investors had taken advantage of to fund films in the uk. several projects were shelved as they faced the implications of this clampdown coupled with the reduction in movie funding from traditional sources including the lottery and miramax films. shooting on period drama tulip fever which was to star jude law and keira knightley was postponed indefinitely while shooting of the libertine starring johnny depp was moved to the isle of man. there isn t anything coming in to replace (the funds) said the libertine s executive producer marc samuelson. we are in a hiatus. films with medium budgets of up to £9m a similar level to box office hits vera drake calendar girls and enduring love are expected to be worst hit by the tax clampdown. the strength of the pound against the dollar is expected to have resulted in a fall in the number of us films shot in the uk during 2004 screen international added. big budget co-productions such as the harry potter series continued to be shot in the uk however. the uk film council said the drop was partly due to 2003 being an especially good year for british film production when bridget jones: the edge of reason wimbledon and thunderbirds were all filmed in the uk. the drop was expected as there was no way 2003 s record level of production could be bettered the council s spokesperson said. the reduction in indigenous film production in 2004 was due to a variety of factors including the continuing long-term trend towards co-production of films in more than one country and changes to financing arrangements. it was too early to predict whether the downward trend in uk production would continue throughout 2005 the uk film council said. in september the government introduced subsidies worth up to £4m per film for medium budget films under new treasury measures. it is also due to announce a replacement for uk film tax relief scheme section 48 in july. | 3 | entertainment |
umaga ready for fearsome lions all blacks captain tama umaga has warned the british and irish lions will be his most fearsome opponents yet ahead of their summer tour. but umaga in england for saturday s irb rugby aid match also backed new zealand to win the three-test series against the lions. he told bbc sport: it s potentially the most fearsome line-up i ve ever come up against. they re awesome. but i d back us all the way to beat them when they come over. lions boss sir clive woodward is set to announce his squad for the june-july tour next month. when woodward was appointed last year it was widely believed he would rely heavily on his former england players. but umaga said: he d be hard pushed to do that now considering the shape of the six nations. don t get me wrong england have got a lot of talented guys and i m sure there are some of them who ll make the lions test xv. but you can t disguise wales and ireland in particular. some of the tries they ve scored have been great. i ll admit it ll be fairly awesome lining up against the likes of brian o driscoll. umaga will meet o driscoll in saturday s rugby aid match at twickenham with the irish captain leading the northern hemisphere side. o driscoll is among a host of players in the northern hemisphere squad coached by woodward that are tipped for lions call-ups. it ll be good for us to get an early idea of some of these guys although a lot can change between now and june umaga said. the 31-year-old admitted interest in the lions tour was immense calling it the biggest thing to hit new zealand since lord of the rings . he added: as players it s enough for us to be driven by the rarity of playing the lions. in fact it s not just us all blacks - it s the talk of the country. umaga admitted the fear of injury weighed on his mind ahead of saturday s charity game which features a host of big names including george gregan andrew mehrtens and chris latham. but he admitted the value of the cause - proceeds of the match will go to aiding victims of the tsunami - easily won him over. the second [southern hemisphere coach] rod macqueen made the approach i didn t hesitate. it was great when new zealand rugby then gave me the all clear. thankfully i didn t know anyone that was involved in the tragedy of the tsunami but you couldn t miss all the horrific reports on the news. there are so many people that were affected are still affected and will be affected for a long time. it s just good to know we can do something minor to help out. - the match will be televised on bbc one at 1400 gmt on saturday. | 2 | sport |
france v wales (sat) stade de france paris saturday 26 february 1600 gmt bbc1 radio 4 lw and this website france may have beaten scotland and england but they were tedious and uninspired throughout both matches. wales on the other hand have played some fine rugby and have made their best start since they last won the title in 1994. they also have a good record at the stade de france having won their first two games there in 1999 and 2001. wales have made two changes from the team that thrashed italy 38-8 in rome. kevin morgan takes over from his injured newport-gwent dragons colleague hal luscombe on the right wing. in the pack neath-swansea ospreys forward ryan jones bas been brought on the blind-side flank to beef up the wales back row in place of jonathan thomas. wales coach mike ruddock is determined that his team will not go into their shells after their promising start to the championship. graham henry (former wales coach) said a couple of years ago that we should be bold when going to france and he was proved right said ruddock. that is a great way to approach the game and something we will further endorse with the players this week. despite their stuttering displays in their first two games defending champions france are also unbeaten. under-pressure coach bernard laporte has made four changes with yannick nyanga the debutant julien laharrague aurelien rougerie and yannick jauzion coming into the side. france have been criticised for the absence of traditional french flair as they have ground their way to victory so far this year but captain fabien pelous sees hope on the horizon. i get the impression we are getting better he said. against wales which is different from the teams we have beaten i hope we can show our proper game. j laharrague; a rougerie y jauzion d traille c dominici; y delaigue d yachvili; s marconnet s bruno n mas; f pelous (capt) j thion; s betsen y nyanga j bonnaire (bourgoin). w servat o milloud g lamboley i harinordoquy p mignoni f michalak j-p grandclaude. g thomas (capt); k morgan t shanklin g henson s williams; s jones d peel; g jenkins m davies a jones; b cockbain r sidoli; r jones m williams m owen. r mcbryde j yapp j thomas r sowden-taylor g cooper c sweeney r williams. | 2 | sport |
brown visits slum on africa trip chancellor gordon brown has visited kenya s biggest shantytown as he opened a week-long visit to africa. mr brown s trip is designed to highlight how the uk wants to make africa s problems a priority of its chairmanship of the g8 this year. he will see an hiv/aids orphanage in tanzania and a women s credit union in mozambique before chairing a meeting of the commission for africa in cape town. at slums in narobi on wednesday he said education needs had to be tackled. speaking outside the olympic primary school mr brown said: it is simply not acceptable in the modern age for the rest of the world to stand by and have hundreds of millions of children not getting the chance at education. he pointed to international plans to invest $10bn for education in africa over the next decade. the school is on the edge of kibera where 800 000 live often in huts made of mud scrap metal and cardboard. mr brown s aides say he wants to find out more about the kenyan government s education policies which included introducing free primary education in early 2003. the chancellor has already unveiled proposals for a g8 aid package which he has likened to the marshall plan used by the united states to rebuild europe after world war two. the trip follows claims of infighting between mr brown and tony blair detailed in a new book. conservative leader michael howard is expected to seize on those reports at prime minister s questions at 1200 gmt on wednesday. | 4 | politics |
williams stays on despite dispute matt williams insists he has no thoughts of quitting as national coach as a result of the power struggle currently gripping scottish rugby. the chairman chief executive and three non-executive directors all departed in a row over the game s future direction. but williams said: i want to make it clear that i m committed totally to scottish rugby. i ve brought my family here and we ve immersed ourselves in scottish life. there s no way that i m walking away. however he attempted to steer clear of taking sides in the dispute. i d like to stress that the national team is separate to the political situation he said. when you come to an undertaking like this and you are trying to make a difference then there are always people who will begrudge you who are jealous and want to try to drag you down. when you have that situation you have to have the courage of your convictions to see it through. there was some very unhelpful and uninformed comment that the national team had received a massive increase in budget at the expense of other parts of scottish rugby and that is simply not the case. like all good coaches you go and ask for an increase. but we were told in no uncertain terms that the financial situation did not allow that. the idea that we are lighting cigars with £20 notes while the rest of scottish rugby flounders is absolutely untrue. we also attracted criticism because of the number of days players spent with the national team. but let me give you the truth. our irish counterparts whom we have to compete with in a few days time had 70 days together at the summer. they are currently in camp now and they will have another 21 days in camp before the six nations. that means they will have 91 days away from their club from july until the six nations. we on the other hand will have 16. there must be a win-win philosophy and attitude within scottish rugby and that is what we are after - both groups winning not competing. | 2 | sport |
gazprom in $36m back-tax claim the nuclear unit of russian energy giant gazprom is reportedly facing a 1bn rouble ($35.7m; £19.1m) back-tax claim for the 2001-2003 period. vedomosti newspaper reported that russian authorities made the demand at the end of last year. the paper added that most of the taxes claimed are linked to the company s export activity. gazprom the biggest gas company in the world took over nuclear fuel giant atomstroieksport in october 2004. the main project of atomstroieksport is the building of a nuclear plant in iran which has been a source of tension between russia and the us. gazprom is one of the key players in the complex russian energy market where the government of vladimir putin has made moves to regain state influence over the sector. gazprom is set to merge with state oil firm rosneft the company that eventually acquired yuganskneftegas the main unit of embattled oil giant yukos. claims for back-taxes was a tool used against yukos and led to the enforced sale yuganskneftegas. some analysts fear the kremlin will continue to use these sort of moves to boost the efforts of the state to regain control over strategically important sectors such as oil. | 1 | business |
gadget market to grow in 2005 the explosion in consumer technology is to continue into 2005 delegates at the world s largest gadget show in las vegas have been told. the number of gadgets in the shops is predicted to grow by 11% while devices which talk to each other will become increasingly important. everything is going digital kirsten pfeifer from the consumer electronics association told the bbc news website. the consumer electronics show (ces) featured the pick of 2005 s products. consumers are controlling what they want and technologies like hdtvs [high-definition tvs] digital radio and digital cameras will remain strong in 2005. all the products on show really showed the breadth and depth of the industry. despite showing diversity some delegates attending complained that the showcase lacked as much wow factor as in previous years. the portable technologies on show also reflected one of the buzzwords of ces which was the time and place shifting of multimedia content - being able to watch and listen to video and music anywhere at any time. at the start of last year s ces the cea predicted there would be an average growth of 4% in 2004. that figure was surpassed with the rise in popularity of portable digital music players personal video recorders and digital cameras. it was clear also that gadgets are becoming a lot more about lifestyle choice with fashion and personalisation becoming increasingly key to the way gadgets are designed. part of this has been the rise in spending power of the generation x-ers who have grown up with technology and who now have the spending power and desire for more devices that suit them. more than 57% of the consumer electronics market is made up of female buyers according to cea research. hybrid devices which combine a number of multimedia functions were also in evidence on the show floor. a lot of this is driven by just the ability to do it said stephen baker a consumer electronics analyst with retail research firm npd group. some of these functions cost next to nothing to add. as well as the show floor showcasing everything from tiny wearable mp3 players to giant high-definition tvs several keynote speeches were made by industry leaders such as microsoft chief bill gates. despite several embarrassing technical glitches during mr gate s pre-show speech he announced several new partnerships - mainly for the us market. he unveiled new ways of letting people take tv shows recorded on personal video recorders and watch them back on portable devices. he disappointed some however by failing to announce any details of the next generation of the xbox games console. another disappointment was the lack of exposure sony s new portable games device the psp had at the show. sony said the much-anticipated gadget would most likely start shipping in march for the us and europe. it went on sale in japan before christmas. there were only two psps embedded in glass cabinets at the show though and no representatives to discuss further details. a sony representative told the bbc news website this was because sony did not consider it to be part of their consumer technology offering. elsewhere at the show there was a plethora of colour and plasma screens including samsung s 102-inch (2.6 metre) plasma - the largest in the world. industry experts were also excited about high-definition technologies coming to the fore in 2005 with new formats for dvds coming out which will hold six times as much data as conventional dvds. with so many devices on the move there were a lot of products on show offering external storage like seagate s 5gb pocket sized external hard drive which won an innovation for engineering and design prize. more than 120 000 trade professionals attended ces in las vegas which officially ran from 6 to 9 january. | 0 | tech |
mobiles get set for visual radio the growth in the mobile phone market in the past decade has been nothing less than astonishing but the ability to communicate on the go is not the only reason we are hooked. games cameras and music players have all been added to our handsets in the last few years but 2005 could see another big innovation that won t just see a change in our mobile phone habits - it might alter the way we listen to the radio. finnish handset giant nokia has been working on a technology called visual radio which takes an existing fm signal from a radio station and enables that station to add enhancements such as information and pictures. it is not the first time that such an idea has been suggested - the early days of dab digital radio had similar intentions that never really saw the light of day. one problem is that the name visual radio leads people to think of television but reidar wasenius a senior project manager at nokia was adamant that visual radio should not be confused with the more traditional medium. he said: i m very happy to say it s not television what we re talking about is an enhancement of radio as we know it today. if you have a visual radio enabled handset when you hear an artist you don t know or there s a competition or vote that you d like to participate in you pull out your handset and with one click you turn on a visual channel parallel to the on-air broadcast you ve just been listening to. that visual channel is run from a computer within the radio station and sends out different kinds of information to the handset depending on what you are listening to. as well as details on the track or artist of a particular song there is also the ability to interact immediately with the radio station itself in a similar way to digital television s red button content. possible interactive content includes competitions votes and even the chance to rate the song that is playing. but the interactive aspect will make the service especially attractive to radio stations who will be able to track the number of people taking part in such activities on a real-time basis. this in turn should lead to an additional source of revenue as it is very likely that advertisers will be keen to exploit new opportunities to reach listeners. as the visual radio content is transmitted by existing gprs technology you would need to have that service enabled by your network. and there will be a cost for the service as well although it may depend on your usage. if you enjoy the visual channel occasionally and interact it ll be two or three pounds per month said mr wasenius. but typically what we see happening is the operator offering a package deal for an all you can eat arrangement per month. the payment system could therefore be similar to the way that broadband internet works versus dial-up connections. one thing that is for sure - assuming that nokia retains its market share in handsets it is estimating that there will be 100 million visual radio-enabled mobile phones in circulation by the end of 2006. basically visual radio is not really revolutionary but rather an evolution where we are providing tools with which people can participate in radio much more easily than ever before. the first visual radio service in the uk will begin in a few months time with virgin radio who are positive about the impact it could have on their listeners. station manager steve taylor commented: listeners can interact with the radio station in a new way. not only does this give listeners more information on the music we play but means they can instantly purchase things they like; mp3 music downloads and the latest gig tickets. initially visual radio functionality will be limited to two nokia handsets due out soon - the 3230 and 7710 - but if successful it is very likely that other manufacturers will want to join them. listen again to the interview on the radio five live website. | 0 | tech |
double win for sea inside spanish movie the sea inside has been named best picture and star javier bardem best actor at the bangkok international film festival. based on the true story of a paralysed man s battle to end his life the sea inside was best foreign language film at the 2005 golden globe awards. annette bening and ana geislerova shared the best actress award at the bangkok festival. this year s event was scaled down following the asian tsunami disaster. falling down and the phantom of the opera director joel schumacher won a lifetime achievement award while hong kong director wong kar-wai was honoured for promoting asian cinema. it s a great honour i want to share this honour with my thai colleagues wong said. french writer christophe barratie and korean writer park chan-chook shared the best screenplay award for les choristes and old boy respectively. now in its third year the bangkok international film festival is donating profits from ticket sales to the tsunami relief fund. | 3 | entertainment |
jamelia s return to the top r&b star jamelia had three brit nominations to go with her triple triumph at last year s mobo awards. the birmingham-born singer full name jamelia davis was signed to a record label at the age of 15 and released her first single so high at 18. she released four number ones from her 2000 album drama including the top five hit money featuring the vocals of reggae artist beenie man. she racked up five mobo nominations in 2000 winning one for best video. but in the same year she also fell pregnant and decided to take a break from music to bring up her daughter teja who was born in march 2001. while she originally planned to get back to work pretty swiftly after giving birth it was actually two years before she released another single. during her absence r&b music exploded and a whole host of female artists were on the scene meaning jamelia had to once again prove herself. her comeback song bout featuring rah digga only just scrapped into the top 40. it was her next single superstar that really put her back on the map as one of britain s most popular female r&b singers holding her own in a music scene dominated by us artists such as beyonce and ashanti. superstar was followed by thank you winner of best single at the 2004 mobos which reached number two in the uk charts. the autobiographical song which deals with domestic abuse hit number one in new zealand and australia. next came the song see it in a boy s eyes which was especially written for her by coldplay s chris martin. his involvement with the song meant not only was it given massive publicity but it was also greeted favourably by a new audience who would not usually listen to r&b. she now combines singing with modelling and supporting charities including the nspcc and make trade fair. despite her huge success in recent years jamelia remains down-to-earth about her fame and her chances of lasting in the fickle music business partly due to motherhood. when i first got into the industry i d be away from home for months at a time. but now i have other things in my life. i still want to make it but it s not the end of the world if i don t commented jamelia. | 3 | entertainment |
blunkett unveils policing plans people could be given the mobile phone number of their local bobby under an overhaul of policing in england and wales unveiled by david blunkett. the plans include a dedicated policing team for each neighbourhood and a 10 point compulsory customer charter. the home secretary said targets would be put in place to ensure that the public got a good response from police. local people would also be able to trigger action on specific problems if they felt nothing was being done. local councillors would have to show certain conditions had been met before invoking the power. and police could refuse the request if the complaints were frivolous would only cause annoyance or would pose too heavy a burden on resources. mr blunkett said a new three digit number would be created for non-emergency phone calls to police. the best performing police services would get more cash and extra freedoms he said but he would not shirk from stepping in where the public was being failed. the home secretary s powers to suspend or sack chief constables are being reviewed after mr blunkett s battle with humberside chief david westwood over intelligence failures on soham murderer ian huntley. opposition parties also want more local policing to tackle nuisance behaviour and other crime but they accuse ministers of tying the police up with paperwork. tory spokesman david davis said the proposals were little more than a taxpayer-funded pr exercise ahead of a general election predicted for next may. police forces were already buried under existing government initiatives and there was little in the latest plans to reassure them said mr davis. earlier lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten said the government was right to want to increase the links between local people and the police. but these measures will only work if they re matched with a cut in the amount of paperwork - and investment in modern equipment to keep the police out on the streets. before delivering a statement to mps mr blunkett was joined by tony blair at welling school in south east london which is at the heart of a community policing initiative. mr blunkett said he wanted to go back to a time when i was very young when you expected the police to be part of the community and the community to be part of policing and where people were joined together in partnership making it work . the prime minister said the law-abiding citizen should be in charge of the community and not the minority who want to cause trouble . mr blunkett already boasts about producing record police numbers. he has also started to recruit 25 000 community support officers (csos) and the new plans would allow all police forces to give them the power to detain suspects. an extra £50m was promised on tuesday so 2 000 new csos can be recruited now rather than next year. within two years every force will be expected to keep to a coppers contract on what kind of service the public can expect. a mori poll this summer suggested policing unlike health and education was the one major public service where people were less satisfied the more contact they had with it. the plans also include the idea of allowing people join police forces at different levels rather than the traditional way of making everybody spend specific amounts of time as a constable before being promoted. there will also be specific exercises to encourage black and asian people to join the police at senior ranks. | 4 | politics |
christmas song formula unveiled a formula for the ultimate christmas single has been revealed by chart bible british hit singles and albums. the recipe includes a reference to father christmas sleigh bells a children s choir and a charity element. the song should also include christmas in the title wishes for peace on earth and lots of airplay at office parties. there are common musical elements linking nearly all the big christmas number ones of recent times said editor david roberts. the book s analysts commissioned chart prank group moped to create the first christmas single using the whole formula - the song is called gonna have a no 1 this christmas by moped vs santa. everybody says that christmas number ones are formulaic but gonna have a number one this christmas is the first song to crack the formula and combine all these elements into one ultimate christmas track said mr roberts. surprisingly there s no santa listed among the 8 000 top 75 chart performers in the book so this is our chance to help santa to his rightful place in british recording history. big festive hits over the years include band aid s do they know it s christmas slade s merry christmas everybody wham s last christmas and sir cliff richards mistletoe and wine. band aid 20 s remake of do they know it s christmas is set to be confirmed as number one in the charts on sunday. | 3 | entertainment |
arnold congratulated on oscar win oscar-winner andrea arnold has been congratulated by the uk film council the organisation which partly funded her project. arnold s film wasp won the best live action short film award on sunday. the uk film council spends millions of pounds of lottery investment on short filmmaking in britain every year said chief executive officer john woodward. it certainly pays off when you see new film-makers winning such prestigious awards he added. wasp which was commissioned by the film council and channel 4 beat films by fellow uk nominees gary mckendry and ashvin kumar to the prize. it stars actress nathalie press who appeared in the bafta-winning drama my summer of love as a single mother who is forced to take drastic action when she is invited on a date and is unable to find a babysitter to look after her four daughters. the film has already won over 30 other international awards including the sundance short film prize. arnold from dartford in kent described her victory as truly overwhelming. i m really not used to this kind of thing she said after receiving her oscar from actor jeremy irons. thanks to everyone who worked on this - the beers are on me when we get home. the director was one of only two british winners on the night the other being sandy powell who won the costume design oscar for her work on the aviator. | 3 | entertainment |
british stars denied major oscars british hopes of winning major oscars were dashed as uk stars failed to win acting and directing prizes. despite three nominations mike leigh s vera drake failed to take the director or screenplay awards and there was no prize for star imelda staunton. kate winslet also lost to best actress hilary swank while clive owen and sophie okonedo failed to win best supporting actor awards. the uk s andrea arnold won the short film award for her gritty drama wasp. arnold who presented children s television shows number 73 and motormouth in the 1980s said it was totally overwhelming to win. wasp tells the story of a single mother living on the breadline beating films by fellow uk nominees gary mckendry and ashvin kumar. everyone worked extremely hard - they know who they are arnold said as she accepted the prize. the beers are on me when we get home. earlier british costume designer sandy powell won the oscar for the aviator beating finding neverland s uk designer alexandra byrne in the process. i m very thrilled for the film and all the people who worked with me said ms powell. hopefully i ll be staying up to celebrate - i ve been sick for three days and want to make it through the night. the british visual effects team behind harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban were less fortunate however losing the oscar in that category to spider-man 2. before sunday s ceremony owen was bookmakers favourite for his role in romantic drama closer that had already clinched him a golden globe award. it was the first time actress okonedo had been shortlisted chosen for her performance in hotel rwanda about the 1994 rwandan genocide. it was also a debut nomination for staunton 49 who played abortionist vera drake in mike leigh s film. leigh had previously received three oscar nominations for secrets and lies and topsy turvy. winslet said she was ecstatic about the fourth oscar nomination of her career this time for her lead role in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. among other british talent nominated for oscars composer andrew lloyd webber and lyricist charles hart were nominated for best original song for learn to be lonely from the phantom of the opera movie. that award was won by al otro lado del rio from the motorcycle diaries. cinematographer john mathieson who was nominated for gladiator in 2001 was also up for the phantom of the opera but lost to the aviator. finding neverland garnered another nomination for british talent with gemma jackson shortlisted for the art direction prize. she lost in that category to the aviator. a spokesman for the uk film council said: it is disappointing not to have more british winners. he added: it was extraordinary to have 24 british nominees in the initial list of nominees. | 3 | entertainment |
lib dems target first-time buyers the liberal democrats have unveiled plans to build 100 000 new affordable homes on publicly owned land. the party s scheme would allow people to buy a share in a home through a mutual home ownership trust as a way of getting onto the housing ladder. the lib dems would also encourage the conversion of existing buildings in an effort to protect greenfield sites. labour has already announced plans to help first-time buyers and the tories would extend right-to-buy schemes. all the major parties are focusing on the issue in the run-up to the election after a survey suggested first-time buyers could not afford a home in 92% of uk towns. the lib dems say their mutual homes would let people buy a share of a property usually worth about 5% of the building costs. party leader charles kennedy said the homes would be affordable because they would be built on surplus public sector land donated by central or local government. people would also only have to pay for the cost of the building and not the land he added. they would spend about 30% of their monthly salary on rent and buying extra shares in the property. when they moved house they would be able to cash in on any rise in property prices by selling their share. it would also allow councils to vary discounts to tenants given the right to buy their council homes so local needs were taken into account. mr kennedy said: mutual homes will offer people the opportunity to build up an equity stake in a home gradually investing only as much as they can afford. there are also plans to prevent high house prices forcing people out of their local communities. the kind of golden share used by the lib dems in south shropshire could be rolled out more widely. under the plan councils secure deals with developers where they keep a 1% share in a property scheme so properties cannot be sold on the open market. instead they are sold at build cost to people who the local council decides have local needs. the party says its help for first-time buyers can be funded at no extra cost to the taxpayer. but the plans involve changing the vat system which the party says often makes it too expensive to renovate existing buildings. the conservatives claimed the plans would amount to an extra tax of up to £11 000 on every new house. this is typical of lib dem hypocrisy said tory shadow local government secretary caroline spelman. they claim that they want to help people on to the property ladder but the small print of their policies reveal how they intend to price even more people out of the housing market. the flagship tory proposal on housing policy is to give a million more housing association tenants the right to buy their homes. labour has said it will allow 300 000 council and housing association tenants to buy a share in their homes. housing minister keith hill said much of the lib dem plans mimicked the government s strategy. however as usual the lib dems proposals are completely uncosted he said. mr hill said he also asked whether the lib dems would match labour s promise to spend £42bn on making refurbishing and repair council homes by 2010. | 4 | politics |
falconer rebuts charade claims concessions on a bill which critics claim would allow euthanasia through the back door were not a political ploy the lord chancellor has said. ministers have been accused of panic in offering last minute changes to the mental capacity bill amid chaotic scenes in the commons on tuesday. lord falconer said it was fair to criticise the late timing of the offer. he said the changes provided a solution to a very difficult issue but some mps argue the situation is still unclear. the bill allows people to give somebody the power of attorney to make decisions on their behalf if they become too ill to decide for themselves. ministers insist the plans would not change laws on euthanasia and would improve safeguards. critics fear it could allow killing by omission through withdrawing treatment including food and fluids. tony blair said he would do everything he could to meet concerns about the bill. but changes to the bill must not overturn the law set when a court ruled that doctors could withdraw artificial feeding and hydration from hillsborough coma victim tony bland. it is important we don t end up in the situation where doctors and consultants are confused about the law and may lay themselves open to prosecution in circumstances where no sensible person would want that to happen he said. on tuesday the government saw off a backbench attempt to force changes to the bill by 297 votes to 203 despite rebellion by 34 labour mps. the revolt was also reduced by news that lord falconer had promised the catholic archbishop of cardiff to strengthen safeguards in the bill. but that only came after mps bombarded constitutional affairs minister david lammy with a barrage of requests for him to read the letter as they complained they had been left in the dark. eventually he was hurriedly handed the letter to read out five minutes before the crunch votes prompting claims of a shambles. the deputy speaker later said the debate had not been handled as it should have been. lord falconer says there will be amendments when the bill goes to the house of lords. he told bbc news: we have given a commitment to put into the bill a clause that says that nothing in the bill authorises any act where the motive of the person authorising the decision is to end life. the motive has got to be to end suffering. he denied the concessions were a political manoeuvre forced by panic about the rebellion. it was inevitable that minds became more focused as the bill went through parliament but the result was a sensible solution he said. i don t think it is something to be embarrassed about. these issues are not easy to deal with he went on. bbc political editor andrew marr said mr lammy was waste deep in quicksand and sinking fast after his performance. but lord falconer praised his minister for an excellent job . former conservative leader iain duncan smith one of the chief critics of the plans condemned the debate as a charade and complained the promises of changes to the bill were vague. | 4 | politics |
steady job growth continues in us the us created fewer jobs than expected in december but analysts said that the dip in hiring was not enough to derail the world s biggest economy. according to labor department figures 157 000 new jobs were added last month. that took 2004 s total to 2.2 million the best showing in five years. job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy. while worries still remain the conditions are set for steady growth in 2005 analysts said. the unemployment rate stayed at 5.4% in december and about 200 000 jobs will need to be created each month if that figure is to drop. it was a respectable report said michael moran analyst at daiwa securities. payroll growth in december was a little lighter than the consensus forecast but we had upward revisions to the prior two months and an increase in manufacturing employment. manufacturing is a cyclical area of the economy and if it s showing job growth it s a good indication that the economy is on a solid growth track. that means that the federal reserve is likely to continue its policy of raising interest rates. the fed lifted borrowing costs five times last year to 2.25% citing evidence the us economic recovery was becoming more robust. job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy and proved to be a main topic of debate in the us presidential election. while demand for workers is far from booming the conditions are set for steady growth. overall compared to the previous year it looks great it just keeps going stronger and stronger and i expect that to be the case in 2005 said kurt karl economist at swiss re in new york. meanwhile economists cautioned against reading too much into data from the federal reserve showing an unexpected $8.7bn drop in consumer debt in november. a fall in consumer spending which makes up about two-thirds of all us economic activity could help limit the extent of any future interest rate rises. but economists said there could be a number of reasons for a fall in the borrowing which include credit cards and personal loans while noting that such figures can vary on a month-to-month basis. | 1 | business |
brit awards for devon music acts devon singer joss stone and rock band muse won coveted brit awards during the event s 25th anniversary. seventeen-year-old stone from near cullumpton won two awards: best british female act and best urban act out of three award nominations. muse whose members met in south devon beat franz ferdinand jamie cullum kasabian and the libertines for best british live act. the band has sold about two million records worldwide. after beating amy winehouse jamelia natasha bedingfield and pj harvey to the best british female prize joss stone said: i don t know what to say. i don t like doing this at all. i d like to thank my family for being really supportive and everybody that made my record with me. i don t even know what to do right now. thank you all you guys for voting for me i feel sick right now. viewers of digital music tv channel mtv base voted stone the winner in the best urban act category. ms stone also performed her song right to be wrong backed by a gospel choir at the 25th award ceremony at london s earls court. her second album mind body & soul reached number one in the uk charts last october and went straight into the us charts at number 11. the teenager also has grammy nominations in the us normally dominated by home-grown acts. born jocelyn stoker the devon diva started her career in a bbc talent programme and was then discovered at a new york audition by a us record executive steve greenberg. indie rock group muse consists of matthew bellamy chris wolstenholme and dominic howard who met in their early teens in teignmouth south devon. dominic howard said of winning: we love playing live it s very important for our band. so to win something like this really feels great. the trio met aged 13 and formed the band gothic plague changing its name to fixed penalty rocket baby dolls and finally muse. the band released its first self-titled ep in 1998. the third studio album absolution was released in 2003 providing the hit singles time is running out hysteria and butterflies and hurricanes. | 3 | entertainment |
parliament s record of scandal in a locked room at the heart of parliament there is a hive of scandal. sex betrayal and custody of children are all there in this affair but this time it has nothing to do with the recent troubles of david blunkett or boris johnson. few realise that westminster in effect has its own divorce den. for sprinkled among 12 floors of archives are blow-by-blow accounts of marital break-ups - and now you can search what s there online. until 1857 the only way in england to get a full divorce which allowed re-marriage was to obtain an act of parliament by proving adultery or life-threatening cruelty. the legacy is pages of testimonies used in the hearings dating back to 1670 all recorded among the 325 000 items which fill the 12 floors of the parliamentary archives in parliament s victoria tower. most people researching their family history want to discover some tale of illicit love. this gives them the chance. divorce by parliament was an expensive process open really only to the rich but the records also include the testimony of maids butlers and coachmen about their masters and mistresses. among the records is the story of jane campbell the first woman ever to divorce her husband. that happened in 1801 after she had discovered her husband edward addison had committed adultery with her sister jessy. a transcript of evidence from jessy s maid amelia laugher shows her telling how addison frequently passed by her on the way to the room where she had just put her mistress naked to bed. it must have been a killer blow to addison s case - he had already fled abroad rather than pay the £5 000 damages ordered by a civil court. as well as making divorce history jane campbell won custody of her children - unusual for a woman at the time. but divorces are by no means the only documents in the archives which hold personal details of people often far removed from politics and parliament. there are the protestation returns from 1642 - lists of the protestants who pledged to maintain the true reformed protestant religion . there are details of foreign nationals made british citizens by act of parliament including composer george frideric handel in 1727. and the mass of private bills which for example authorise the building of railways and roads contain both the names and addresses of those involved and testimonies giving people a unique perspective on how their ancestors opposed them. tax bills may be an extra source for pedigree hunters - the longest stretches for about 300m and is longer than the palace of westminster itself listing the names of appointed tax collectors. this wealth of material has long been open to the public at the house of lords record office with visitors able to phone ahead when they want to view particular items in the search room. but now five years of work has produced an online catalogue. david prior assistant clerk of the archives says the catalogue opens up new possibilities for research. before you just could not do it you faced trawling through pages and pages of printed material he says. mr prior sees the changes as part of a wider revolution in archives generally. the archive profession may look fairly staid but is in an enormous period of change mainly motivated by the potential of it which is opening up all sorts of vistas for us he says. the archives do of course hold records of high (and low) politics too for both houses of parliament including copies of all acts passed since 1497 - the oldest dealing with the employment of workers in the woollen industry in norfolk. records for the commons only date back to 1834 - anything earlier was wiped out by the fire which destroyed most of the parliament buildings in 1834. but that still leaves some of the most important documents of uk political history - parts of the bill of rights from 1689 the death warrant for charles i the private papers and diaries of major politicians such as david lloyd george and andrew bonar law. there is also the 1606 act establishing 5 november as a thanksgiving day - the year after the gunpowder plot. that document is likely to feature in the exhibition the archives will put on next year as part of a series of events across london to mark the 400th anniversary of guy fawkes conspiracy. as mr prior remarks as we walk by shelf after shelf of vellum (parchment made from goat s skin): all human life is here. | 4 | politics |
wall street cool to ebay s profit shares in online auction house ebay fell 9.8% in after-hours trade on wednesday after its quarterly profits failed to meet market expectations. despite seeing net profits rise by 44% to $205.4m (£110m) during october to december from $142m a year earlier wall street had expected more. ebay stock fell to $92.9 in after-hours trade from a $103.05 end on nasdaq. ebay s net revenue for the quarter rose to $935.8m from $648.4m boosted by growth at its paypal payment service. excluding special items ebay s profit was 33 cents a share but analysts had expected 34 cents. i think wall street has gotten a bit ahead of ebay this quarter and for the 2005 year. said janco partners analyst martin pyykkonen. for 2004 as a whole ebay earned $778.2m on sales of $3.27bn. ebay president and chief executive meg whitman called 2004 an outstanding success that generated tremendous momentum for 2005. i m more confident than ever that the decisions and investments we re making today will ensure a bright future for the company and our community of users around the world she said. ebay now forecasts 2005 revenue of $4.2bn to $4.35bn and earnings excluding items of $1.48 to $1.52 per share. analysts had previously estimated that ebay would achieve 2005 revenues of $4.37bn and earnings of $1.62 per share excluding items. | 1 | business |
us consumer confidence up consumers confidence in the state of the us economy is at its highest for five months and they are optimistic about 2005 an influential survey says. the feel-good factor among us consumers rose in december for the first time since july according to new data. the conference board survey of 5 000 households pointed to renewed optimism about job creation and economic growth. us retailers have reported strong sales over the past 10 days after a slow start to the crucial festive season. according to figures also released on tuesday sales in shopping malls in the week to 25 december were 4.3% higher than in 2003 following a last minute rush. wal-mart the largest us retailer has said its december sales are expected to be better than previously forecast because of strong post-christmas sales. it is expecting annual sales growth of between 1% and 3% for the month. consumer confidence figures are considered a key economic indicator because consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of all economic activity in the united states. the continuing economic expansion combined with job growth has consumers ending this year on a high note said lynn franco director of the conference board s consumer research centre. and consumers outlook suggests that the economy will continue to expand in the first half of next year. the overall us economy has performed strongly in recent months prompting the federal reserve to increase interest rates five times since june. | 1 | business |
artists secret postcards on sale postcards by artists including damien hirst and tracey emin have sold just hours after the opening of the royal academy of arts annual secrets sale. the identity of the artist remains unknown until each work is bought and the signature is revealed on the back. there are still some big names left such as mario testino said rca spokeswoman sue bradburn. all postcards are priced at £35. the sale opened at 8am on friday and will close at 6pm on saturday. ms bradburn said there was a big queue at the start of the sale but it had now gone down. she said the people that had bought the famous name postcards had arrived early and had spent time studying each work. they would have known what to look for. the exhibition has been open for viewing since 19 november. film director ken loach fashion designer hussein chalayan and former blur guitarist graham coxon have all designed postcards for the sale. some of the contributing artists are students or recent graduates of the royal college of art and other leading art colleges. money raised from the sale will go towards the rca s fine art student award fund which supports students with grants and bursaries. the famous sale is now in its 11th year. | 3 | entertainment |
hollywood hunts hits at sundance the sundance film festival the movie industry s top destination for uncovering the next independent hits and new talent opens on thursday. the event will see screen executives decamp from hollywood to park city utah for 11 days to search for low-key movies that could make it big in 2005. open water napoleon dynamite garden state and super-size me were all snapped up at last year s festival. but stars like keanu reeves and pierce brosnan also have films showing there. the festival is being opened by a screening of quirky comedy happy endings starring former friends actress lisa kudrow and maggie gyllenhaal on thursday. kudrow s friends co-star david schwimmer plays a divorced drunkard in duane hopwood while brosnan stars as a hit man in comedy the matador. keanu reeves appears in coming-of-age tale thumbsucker while kevin costner and michael keaton are among the other big names whose films are involved. robert redford founded sundance in 1981 and it has gone on to showcase future successes such as reservoir dogs the blair witch project and the full monty. but it has received criticism that it has become more commercial and mainstream over the years. as much as the press argues that sundance has completely changed it hasn t changed that much festival director geoffrey gilmore said. it s still a place for discovery. it s a place for common ground among film-makers and audiences more than it is the celebrity stuff. other films generating interest before this year s festival include hustle & flow about an aspiring rapper the squid and the whale an autobiographical film by writer-director noah baumbach and comedy/drama pretty persuasion. it also has two new international cinema competitions. | 3 | entertainment |
consumers drive french economy france s economic growth accelerated in the last three months of 2004 driven by consumer spending a report shows. gross domestic product (gdp) rose by 0.8% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three month period the statistical office insee said. that expansion pushed annual growth to 2.3% the fastest rate in two years. consumer spending was up by 1.2% in the fourth quarter and there also was a rebound in business investment that gave the recovery an extra shove. analysts warned that france still was facing challenges and was unlikely to keep expanding at its current pace. france still has a strong economic growth said marc toutai an economist at natexis banques populaires. but if we check the figures in detail there s a problem. consumer spending is still high. but french households have spent their savings to consume. france can t sustain a high growth rate without an improvement in the job market. there s too much of a gap between growth and employment. unemployment levels are currently stuck at about 10% and is proving difficult to bring down despite government efforts. another worry is that demand in germany and italy two of france s main trading partners is sluggish. despite the concerns analysts pointed out that france was outperforming the majority of its european counterparts and that its economy was looking more robust than in previous years. as well as strong domestic demand exports climbed by 1.3% in the fourth quarter - the biggest increase in foreign sales for a year. it s an economic growth that seems well balanced said nicolas claquin an analyst at ccf. in the beginning of 2004 growth was mainly driven by consumer spending. here it gets contributions from investment and exports though household consumption is still strong. but we expect overall economic growth to fall to 2.0 percent in 2005. | 1 | business |
rich pickings for hi-tech thieves viruses trojans and other malicious programs sent on to the net to catch you out are undergoing a subtle change. the shift is happening as tech savvy criminals turn to technology to help them con people out of cash steal valuable data or take over home pcs. viruses written to make headlines by infecting millions are getting rarer. instead programs are now crafted for directly criminal ends and firms are tightening up networks with defences to combat the new wave of malicious code. the growing criminal use of malware has meant the end of the neat categorisation of different sorts of viruses and malicious programs. before now it has been broadly possible to name and categorise viruses by the method they use to spread and how they infect machines. but many of the viruses written by criminals roll lots of technical tricks together into one nasty package. you cannot put them in to the neat little box that you used to said pete simpson head of the threat laboratory at security firm clearswift. now viruses are just as likely to spread by themselves like worms or to exploit loopholes in browsers or hide in e-mail message attachments. it s about outright criminality now said mr simpson explaining why this change has come about. he said many of the criminal programs came from eastern europe where cash-rich organised gangs can find a ready supply of technical experts that will crank out code to order. former virus writer marek strihavka aka benny from the 29a virus writing group recently quit the malware scene partly because it was being taken over by spyware writers phishing gangs and spammers who are more interested in money rather than the technology. no longer do virus writers produce programs to show off their technical prowess to rivals in the underground world of malware authors. not least said paul king principal security consultant at cisco because the defences against such attacks are so common. in many ways the least likely way to do it is e-mail because most of us have got anti-virus and firewalls now he said. few of the malicious programs written by hi-tech thieves are cleverly written many are much more pragmatic and use tried and tested techniques to infect machines or to trick users into installing a program or handing over important data. if you think of criminals they do not do clever said mr king they just do what works. as the tactics used by malicious programs change said mr king so many firms were changing the way they defend themselves. now many scan machines that connect to the corporate networks to ensure they have not been compromised while off the core network. many will not let a machine connect and a worker get on with their job before the latest patches and settings have been uploaded. as well as using different tactics criminals also use technology for reasons that are much more transparent. the main motivation now is money said gary stowell spokesman for st bernard software. mr stowell said organised crime gangs were turning to computer crime because the risks of being caught were low and the rates of return were very high. with almost any phishing or spyware attack criminals are guaranteed to catch some people out and have the contacts to exploit what they recover. so-called spyware was proving very popular with criminals because it allowed them to take over machines for their own ends to steal key data from users or to hijack web browsing sessions to point people at particular sites. in some cases spyware was being written that searched for rival malicious programs on pcs it infects and then trying to erase them so it has sole ownership of that machine. | 0 | tech |
mutant book wins guardian prize a book about the evolution of mutants and the science of abnormality has won the guardian first book award 2004. armand marie leroi a lecturer at london s imperial college scooped the £10 000 prize for mutants: on the form varieties and errors of the human body. it is profoundly cultured and beautifully written in the very best tradition of popular science writing today said judge claire armistead. the award recognises and rewards new writing across fiction and non-fiction. a panel of literary experts including novelists hari kunzru and ali smith director sir richard eyre and comedian alexei sayle chose the winner from a five-strong shortlist. the shortlist included susanna clarke s jonathan strange and mr norrell a novel about the magic arts at the turn of the 19th century and the places in between rory stewart s account of his trek on foot across afghanistan. what we found so impressive about armand marie leroi s book was the scope of its reference its elegance and its inquisitiveness said ms armistead chair of the judges and the guardian literary editor. while the subject matter of mutants unsettled some involved in the judging process the overwhelming majority found it fascinating she added. her words were echoed by iris director sir richard eyre who called marie leroi s work extraordinarily thought provoking . the award for first time authors is open to books from genres including fiction poetry biography memoir history politics science and current affairs. previous winners include white teeth by zadie smith in 2000 which went on to become a bestseller. | 3 | entertainment |
veteran martinez wins thai title conchita martinez won her first title in almost five years with victory over anna-lena groenefeld at the volvo women s open in pattaya thailand. the 32-year-old spaniard came through 6-3 3-6 6-3 for her first title since berlin in 2000. it feels really good said martinez who is playing her last season on the tour. to come through like that in an important match feels good. it s been nearly five years and i didn t think i could do it. groenefeld was the more powerful player but could not match her opponent s relentless accuracy. it was my first final a new experience said the german. i think she played a good match a tough match but i tried to stay in there. i think the whole week was good for me. | 2 | sport |
anti-tremor mouse stops pc shakes a special adaptor that helps people with hand tremors control a computer mouse more easily has been developed. the device uses similar steady cam technology found in camcorders to filter out shaking hand movements. people with hand tremors find it hard to use conventional mice for simple computer tasks because of the erratic movements of the cursor on the screen. about three million britons have some sort of hand tremor condition said the uk national tremor foundation. using a computer mouse is well known for being extremely hard for people with tremors so we re delighted to hear that a technology has been developed to address this problem said karen walsh from the uk national tremor foundation. most commonly associated with tremors is parkinson s disease but they can also be caused by other conditions like essential tremor (et). tremors more often affect older people but can hit all ages. et for example is genetic and can afflict people throughout their lives. the assistive mouse adapter (ama) is the brainchild of ibm researcher jim levine who developed the prototype after seeing his uncle who has parkinson s disease struggle with mouse control. i knew that there must be way to improve the situation for him and the millions of other tremor sufferers around the world including the elderly. the number of elderly computer users will increase as the population ages and at the same time the need for computer access grows he said. computer users plug the device into a pc and it can be adjusted depending on how severe the tremor is. it is also able to recognise multiple clicking on a mouse button caused by shaky digits. ibm said it would partner up with a small uk-based electronics firm montrose secam to produce the devices which will cost about £70. james cosgrave one of the company s directors said it would make a big difference to those with tremors. i m a pilot and my tremor condition has not limited my ability to fly a plane he said. but using a pc has proven almost impossible simply because everything revolves around using the mouse to accurately manipulate the tiny cursor on the screen. he said a prototype of the gadget had transformed his life. the device could help open up computing to millions more people who have found shaking to be a barrier. last year the office for national statistics reported that for the first time more than half of all households in britain had a home computer. with prices getting cheaper to get online too computer ownership is increasing. but although 62% of british people have tried the internet only 15% of britons aged 65 or over have been online. more than six million uk households now have a broadband net. by the middle of 2005 it is estimated that 50% of all uk net users will be on broadband. there are still millions using the net through dial-up connections too. | 0 | tech |
lse sets date for takeover deal the london stock exchange (lse) is planning to announce a preferred takeover by the end of the month newspaper reports claim. the sunday telegraph said the lse s plan was further evidence it wants to retain tight control over its destiny. both deutsche boerse and rival euronext held talks with the london market last week over a possible offer. a £1.3bn offer from deutsche boerse has already been rejected while euronext has said it will make an all cash bid. speculation suggests that paris-based euronext has the facilities in place to make a bid of £1.4bn while its german rival may up its bid to the £1.5bn mark. neither has yet tabled a formal bid but the lse is expected to hold further talks with the two parties later this week. however the sunday telegraph report added that there are signs that deutsche boerse chief executive werner seifert is becoming increasingly impatient with the lse s managed bid process. despite insisting he wants to agree a recommended deal with the lse s board the newspaper suggested he may pull out of the process and put an offer directly to shareholders instead. the newspaper also claimed mr seifert was becoming increasingly frustrated with the pace of negotiations since deutsche boerse s £1.3bn offer was rejected in mid-december in particular the lse s decision to suspend talks over the christmas period. meanwhile the german exchange s offer has come under fire recently. unions for deutsche boerse staff in frankfurt have reportedly expressed fears that up to 300 jobs would be moved to london if the takeover is successful. others claim it will weaken the city s status as europe s financial centre while german politicians are also said to be angry over the market operator s promise to move its headquarters to london if a bid is successful. a further stumbling block is deutsche boerse s control over its clearstream unit the clearing house that processes securities transactions. lse shareholders fear it would create a monopoly situation weakening the position of shareholders when negotiating lower transaction fees for share dealings. lse and euronext do not have control over their clearing and settlement operations a situation which critics say is more transparent and competitive. | 1 | business |
tories would cut number of mps the conservative party would cut the number of mps by about one-fifth if they were elected tory leader michael howard has said. the plan forms part of the party s smaller government bill to be unveiled later this week. mr howard told the sunday times the party would also reduce the number of government special advisers. and he said a referendum would be held in wales to decide whether or not to scrap the welsh assembly. the changes would all take place within five years of the conservatives winning a general election mr howard told the paper. the precise number of mps to go would depend on the result of the welsh referendum but it would probably mean a reduction of around 120 from the current total of 659. if wales decided to keep its assembly it would stand to lose more mps. mr howard said as both parties planned to cut the number of civil servants at whitehall - labour by more than 80 000 and the tories by almost 100 000 - they should accept a similar drop in their own numbers. it is all very well saying government departments should be reduced but what about ministers parliament and special advisers he said. shadow leader of the commons oliver heald said: this will be part of our aim to reduce unnecessary and costly interference in people s lives by reducing the size and role of the state . mr howard said the plan would also even out the great unfairness of there being proportionately more scottish and welsh mps at westminster than those from england. the average size of an english constituency was 70 000 people mr howard said. in northern ireland it was just over 66 000 in wales just over 59 000 and in scotland 53 000. the number of welsh mps would be set at an amount that was consistent and fair in terms of representation with the rest of the united kingdom if the assembly was scrapped. mr howard said the changes should be carried out quickly and could even be implemented by the election after next. you have got to have a big bang. we don t want this like the house of lords reform getting to one stage and then not having the next stage. | 4 | politics |
tv calls after carroll error spurs boss martin jol said his team were robbed at manchester united after pedro mendes shot clearly crossed the line but was not given. the referee is already wearing an earpiece so why can t we just stop the game and get the decision right said jol after the 0-0 draw. but at the end of the day it s so obvious that pedro s shot was over the line it s incredible. we feel robbed but it s difficult for the linesman and referee to see it. mendes shot from 50 yards and united goalkeeper roy carroll spilled the ball into his own net before hooking it clear. jol added: we are not talking about the ball being a couple of centimetres or an inch or two over the line it was a metre inside the goal. what really annoys me is that we are here in 2005 watching something on a tv monitor within two seconds of the incident occurring and the referee isn t told about it. we didn t play particularly well but i am pleased - even now - with a point although we should have had three. mendes could not believe the goal was not given after seeing a replay. he said: my reaction on the pitch was to celebrate. it was a very nice goal it was clearly over the line - i ve never seen one so over the line and not given in my career. it s really really over. what can you do but laugh about it it s a nice goal and one to keep in my memory even though it didn t count. it s not every game you score from the halfway line. manchester united manager sir alex ferguson sympathised with tottenham and said the incident highlighted the need for video technology. i think it hammers home what a lot of people have been asking for and that s that technology should play a part in the game ferguson told mutv. what i was against originally was the time factor in video replays. but i read an article the other day which suggested that if a referee can t make up his mind after 30 seconds of watching a video replay then the game should carry on. thirty seconds is about the same amount of time it takes to organise a free-kick or take a corner or a goal-kick. so you wouldn t be wasting a lot of time. i think you could start off by using it for goal-line decisions. i think that would be an opening into a new area of football. arsenal boss arsene wenger also used the incident to highlight the need for video technology. when the whole world apart from the referee has seen there should be a goal at old trafford that just reinforces what i feel - there should be video evidence said wenger. it s a great example of where the referee could have asked to see a replay and would have seen in five seconds that it was a goal. | 2 | sport |
bank opts to leave rates on hold the bank of england has left interest rates on hold at 4.75% for a sixth month in a row. the bank s monetary policy committee (mpc) decided to take no action amid mixed signals from the economy. but some economists predict a further rise in the cost of borrowing will come later this year. interest rates rose five times between november 2003 and august 2004 as soaring house prices and buoyant consumer data sparked inflation fears. bank of england governor mervyn king has recently warned against placing too much weight on one month s economic data suggesting the mpc is waiting for a clearer picture to emerge. economists see next week s inflation report from the mpc as key in assessing whether a further interest rate rise is necessary to keep the economy in check. slower consumer spending and a quieter housing market are likely to have convinced the mpc that rates should be left unchanged in recent months. inflation however has been rising faster than expected hitting an annual rate of 1.6% in december - its highest level in six months. data on wednesday also showed manufacturing output rose at its fastest rate since may last month reinforcing a view that economic growth was stronger than forecasts. and recent house surveys from the halifax and nationwide have indicated prices are still rising albeit at a slower pace than in recent years. philip shaw chief economist at investec securities said he believed rates would remain at 4.75% for the rest of the year although strong economic data could lead to a further hike. the economic landscape has changed quite considerably over the last couple of months he said. growth appears stronger and the mpc may become more concerned about inflation trends. howard archer economist at global insight said the mpc may well consider that the balance of risks to the growth and inflation outlook have moved from the downside to the upside . business groups welcomed the mpc s widely-expected move to leave rates on hold and cautioned against further rises. the british chambers of commerce (bcc) said it was concerned by the clamour in some quarters for early interest rate increases. we believe that these demands should be firmly resisted said david frost bcc director general. manufacturing still faces extremely serious problems and is performing poorly in spite of the recent revised figures. ian mccafferty chief economist at the cbi said the mpc faced an interesting challenge. consumers appear to have pulled in their horns over the holiday period and exporters are struggling with the strength of sterling he said. however the broader economy continues to show healthy growth and the tight labour market and buoyant commodity prices are nudging inflation higher. | 1 | business |
latest opera browser gets vocal net browser opera 8.0 due for official release at the end of next month will be the most accessible browser on the market according to its authors. the latest version of the net browser can be controlled by voice command and will read pages aloud. the voice features based on ibm technology are currently only available in the windows version. opera can also magnify text by up to 10 times and users can create style sheets its developers say. this will enable them to view pages with colours and fonts that they prefer. but the browser does not yet work well with screen reader software often used by blind people so its accessibility features are more likely to appeal to those with some residual vision. our mission was always to provide the best internet experience for everyone said opera spokeswoman berit hanson. so we would obviously not want to exclude disabled computer users. another feature likely to appeal to people with low vision is the ability to make pages fit to the screen width which eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling. the company points out that this will also appeal to anyone using opera with a handheld device. the company says that features like voice activation are not solely aimed at visually impaired people. our idea was to take a first step in making human-computer interaction more natural said ms hanson. people are not always in a situation where they can access a keyboard so this makes the web a more hands-free experience. unlike commercially available voice recognition software opera does not have to be trained to recognise an individual voice. around 50 voice commands are available and users will have to wear a headset which incorporates a microphone. the voice recognition function is currently only available in english. opera is free to download but a paid-for version comes without an ad banner in the top right hand corner and with extra support. opera began life as a research project - a spin-off from norwegian telecoms company telenor. its browser is used by an estimated 10 million people on a variety of operating systems and a number of different platforms. | 0 | tech |
big guns ease through in san jose top-seeded americans andy roddick and andre agassi survived minor scares to reach the last eight of the sap open. agassi endured early problems against left-handed dane kenneth carlsen before sealing a 7-5 6-1 victory. and world number three roddick dropped a set to korean player hyung-taik lee before pulling out a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win in san jose california. seventh seed jurgen melzer came through 6-3 6-3 against xavier malisse - winner in delray beach last week. frenchman cyril saulnier meanwhile fired 19 aces to secure a 6-1 7-6 win over czech qualifier tomas zib. roddick broke a racket in frustration in the third game of the second set. and afterwards was unimpressed with his form. i m not playing great he said. but i m through and i m going to keep battling. a lot of people are under the assumption that it s easy to play well every week and it s not. it is the 12th time in 13 appearances at the event that agassi now 34 has progressed to the quarter-final stage. he came from 0-40 down in the opening game to hold serve and gradually wore carlsen down after attacking his backhand. agassi also employed several lobs and charged to the net to unsettle the 31-year-old dane ranked 88th in the world. as the match went on i got real patient and waited for my opportunities and felt pretty good said agassi. | 2 | sport |
woolf murder sentence rethink plans to give murderers lighter sentences if they plead guilty have been watered down. there was an outcry three months ago when the sentencing guidelines council - led by lord woolf - published its proposals for england and wales. it had suggested judges should reduce sentences by a third for murderers who confessed at the earliest opportunity. but that has now been changed to one-sixth with no reduction for those killers given a whole life tariff . at the time lord woolf the lord chief justice had said the one third reduction would only be in extraordinary circumstances - for example if people gave themselves up before their crime had even been detected. the guidelines were to recognise the need to spare victims and witnesses the trauma of going to court where possible by allowing lighter sentences for guilty pleas and co-operation he said. but director of the victims of crime trust norman brennan accused lord woolf of having an arrogant contempt for victims of crime and the law-abiding public . the national association of probation officers said the move would be political suicide . in revised proposals from the sentencing guidelines council (sgc) the section on murder said possible reductions would have to be weighed carefully by a judge so they did not lead to an inappropriately short sentence . where it was appropriate to reduce the minimum term having regard to a plea of guilty the maximum reduction would be one sixth and should never exceed five years it said. in a statement issued on wednesday lord woolf said: i have no doubt that being able to call on the diverse backgrounds and experiences of all those that serve on the sgc has vastly improved the final guidelines. i am confident as a result that judges will be better placed to deliver sentences which are effective both as punishments and deterrents to offending and reoffending. director of public prosecutions ken macdonald qc who sits on the sgc said the principle of discounting sentences to offenders for early guilty pleas is set down by parliament. what the new guideline on reduced sentences for guilty pleas does is increase the chances of convicting the guilty by bringing clarity to this process. it represents a tougher regime than existed previously because the discount is automatically reduced if a guilty plea is not made at the first available opportunity he said. | 4 | politics |
gb quartet get cross country call four british athletes have been pre-selected to compete at the world cross country championships in march after impressive starts to the season. hayley yelling jo pavey karl keska and adam hickey will represent team gb at the event in france. yelling clinched the women s european cross country title last month and pavey followed up with bronze. keska helped the men s team to overall third place while hickey finished in 10th place on his junior debut. winning the european cross country title meant so much to me said yelling. and being pre-selected for the worlds means that i can focus on preparing in the best way possible. the 32-year-old will race alongside olympic 5 000m finalist pavey in the women s 8km race on 19 march. keska who has made a successful return from a long-term injury lay-off contests the men s 12km race on 20 march while 16-year-old hickey goes in the junior men s 8km on the same day. the rest of the team will be named after the trials at wollaton park in nottingham which take place on 5 march. | 2 | sport |
off-colour gardener storms to win britain s jason gardener shook off an upset stomach to win the 60m at sunday s leipzig international meeting. gardener clocked 6.56 seconds to equal the meeting record and finished well ahead of germany s marc blume who crossed the line in 6.67 secs. the world indoor champion said: i got to the airport and my stomach was upset and i was vomiting. i almost went home. i felt a little better sunday morning but decided i d only run in the main race. then everything went perfectly. gardener part of the great britain 4x100m quartet that won gold at the athens olympics will now turn his attention to next weekend s norwich union european indoor trials in sheffield. given i am still off-colour i know there is plenty more in the tank and i expect to get faster in the next few weeks he said. it s just a case of chipping away as i have done in previous years and the results will come. scotland s ian mackie was also in action in leipzig. he stepped down from his favoured 400m to 200m to finish third in 21.72 secs. germany s alexander kosenkow won the race in 21.07 secs with dutchman patrick van balkom second in 21.58 secs. there were plenty of other senior british athletes showing their indoor form over the weekend. promising 60m hurdler clocked a new uk record of 7.98 seconds at a meeting in norway. the 24-year-old reached the mark in her heat but had to settle for joint first place with former aaa champion diane allahgreen in the final. who broke onto the international scene at the olympic games last season set an indoor personal best of 16.50m in the triple jump at a meeting in ghent. that leap - 37cm short of brazilian winner jadel gregorio s effort - was good enough to qualify for the european indoor championships. at the same meeting finished third in 7.27 seconds in a high-class women s 60m. the event was won by european medal favourite christine arron of france while belgium rival kim gevaert was second. britain s joice maduaka finished fifth in 7.35. olympic bronze heptathlon medallist made a low-key return to action at an indoor meeting in birmingham. the 28-year-old cleared 1.76m to win the high jump and threw 13.86m in the women s shot put. | 2 | sport |
media gadgets get moving pocket-sized devices that let people carry around video and images are set to have a big year in 2005 according to industry experts. last year saw the emergence of portable media players such as the windows-based creative zen portable media player the samsung yepp the iriver pmc-100 and the archos av400 series among others. but this year they are set to get smarter and more connected to allow people to find more video to watch on them. archos launched its latest range of its linux-based portable media devices at the consumer electronics show in las vegas on friday. dubbed the pocket media assistant pma430 it crucially has wi-fi capability built-in for the first time. consumers are showing a great thirst for devices that store all their media in one place for anywhere access said henri crohas chief of archos. and now those consumers can stay connected and productive at the same time. archos said the focus for the device is to be the second gadget in people s pockets after the mobile. unlike windows-based players the archos av400 series devices have always been able to record from any video source such as tvs as well as playback. the content put onto the devices is copy protected so cannot then be swapped to another device. recording is perhaps a crucial functionality for those who have not seen the point of portable video if there is not a lot of video to watch on it. and wi-fi connectivity opens up the possibility of content delivery via a high-speed wireless link. archos also announced that it would open up the software development kit to linux developers so that more applications could be created for the device. microsoft also made some announcements in the portable media arena at ces primarily for us consumers though. it has agreed a content deal with personal video recorder company tivo which bill gates also showcased in his keynote speech at ces. the tivo to go service means that us consumers will be able to take any programmes they record on their tivos and transfer it for free to watch on any of the windows-based portable media players or smartphones. it also said it had launched a service with mtv to let people watch comedy central vh1 and country music tv on its devices. and a service is launching with msn to provide people with shortened versions of news entertainment and other video on a subscription basis for download via the pc onto the portable devices. but the ability to record directly from tv vcr and digital cable and satellite boxes which windows-based devices do not offer certainly gives people more content to watch on the go too. the increased capability of these devices and the content deals that are being done may go some way to persuading people to use them. recent research by jupiter suggested that people would prefer a device that was dedicated to music. only 13% of europeans wanted to watch video while on the move. more seemed interested in spending their cash on music-only devices. this year we are ready for an explosion of portable media microsoft s mike coleman told the bbc news website. we are very bullish about it. the fact that i can put photos on here too and share them is super-cool to the consumer he added. the fact that europeans are far larger public transport users than americans is one reason why portable media will take off in the coming year too. there is a burgeoning market there for commuters to watch news and other programmes on their way to work. although microsoft s content distribution deals are for the us market at the moment talks were always on-going with european content suppliers to offer similar services. various rights management issues have to be ironed out first however. but that does not prevent people from finding ways to create their own content to share online and swap on portable devices particularly via those which are wi-fi enabled. the possibility is open for non-professional makers of video and audio to take advantage of the growing portable media market to distribute their work. ces which runs from 6 to 9 january showcases more than 50 000 new gadgets that will be hitting the shelves in 2005. | 0 | tech |
bekele sets sights on world mark olympic 10 000m champion kenenisa bekele is determined to add the world indoor two mile record at february s norwich union grand prix in birmingham. the 22-year-old will again be chasing a record held by his compatriot and mentor haile gebrselassie who set the mark at the same meeting in 2003. i am still as hungry to do as much as i can in this sport said bekele. and aiming for the two mile world record in birmingham is the next of those targets. gebrselassie s current record stands at eight minutes 04.69 seconds. and bekele is no stranger to overhauling world marks at the national indoor arena. the ethiopian broke the world indoor 5 000m record on his debut at the meeting last year. compatriots mulugeta wondimu abiyote abate and markos geneti the world indoor bronze medallist over 3000m will race against bekele on 18 february. the meet has already attracted a crop of olympic talent. britain s 800m and 1500m champion kelly holmes is taking part in the 1000m. swedish heptathlon gold medallist carolina kluft will contest the 60m hurdles. while men s 4x100m relay gold medallists jason gardener and mark lewis-francis will go head-to-head in the 60m. | 2 | sport |
tsunami to hit sri lanka banks sri lanka s banks face hard times following december s tsunami disaster officials have warned. the sri lanka banks association said the waves which killed more than 30 000 people also washed away huge amounts of property which was securing loans. according to its estimate as much as 13.6% of the loans made by private banks to clients in the disaster zone has been written off or damaged. state-owned lenders may be even worse hit it said. the association estimates that the private banking sector has 25bn rupees ($250m; £135m) of loans outstanding in the disaster zone. on one hand banks are dealing with the death of their customers along with damaged or destroyed collateral. on the other most are extending cheap loans for rebuilding and recovery as well as giving their clients more time to repay existing borrowing. the combination means a revenue shortfall during 2005 slba chairman - and commercial bank managing director - al gooneratne told a news conference. most banks have given moratoriums and will not be collecting interest at least in this quarter he said. in the public sector more than one in ten of the state-owned people s bank s customers in the south of sri lanka were affected a bank spokesman told reuters. he estimated the bank s loss at 3bn rupees. | 1 | business |
reboot ordered for eu patent law a european parliament committee has ordered a rewrite of the proposals for controversial new european union rules which govern computer-based inventions. the legal affairs committee (juri) said the commission should re-submit the computer implemented inventions directive after meps failed to back it. it has had vocal critics who say it could favour large over small firms and impact open-source software innovation. supporters say it would let firms protect their inventions. the directive is intended to offer patent protection to inventions that use software to achieve their effect in other words computer implemented invention . the draft law suffered setbacks when poland one of the largest eu member states rejected its adoption twice in two months. intense lobbying on the issue has started to gain momentum in some national parliaments putting them under immense pressure. only two meps backed the draft law at the juri meeting with one voting to abstain. opponents of the draft directive welcomed the decision and said a new first reading of the proposals would give the eu a chance to have fuller debates about its implications in all member states. in the us the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. this means that the us-based amazon.com holds a patent for its one-click shopping service for example. critics are concerned that the directive could lead to a similar model happening in europe. this they fear could hurt small software developers because they do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies if they had to fight patent legal action in court. supporters say current laws are inefficient and it would serve to even up a playing field without bringing eu laws in line with the us. | 0 | tech |
mcdonald s boss bell dies aged 44 charlie bell the straight-talking former head of fast-food giant mcdonald s has died of cancer aged 44. mr bell was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in may last year a month after taking over the top job. he resigned in november to fight the illness. joining the company as a 15-year-old part-time worker mr bell quickly moved through its ranks becoming australia s youngest store manager at 19. a popular go-getter he is credited with helping revive mcdonald s sales. mr bell leaves a wife and daughter. as we mourn his passing i ask you to keep charlie s family in your hearts and prayers chief executive james skinner said in a statement. and remember that in his abbreviated time on this earth charlie lived life to the fullest. no matter what cards life dealt charlie stayed centred on his love for his family and for mcdonald s. after running the company s australian business in the 1990s mr bell moved to the us in 1999 to run operations in asia africa and the middle east. in 2001 he took over the reins in europe mcdonald s second most important market. he became chief operating officer and president in 2002. mr bell took over as chief executive after his predecessor as ceo jim cantalupo died suddenly of a heart attack in april. having worked closely with mr cantalupo who came out of retirement to turn mcdonald s around mr bell focused on boosting demand at existing restaurants rather than follow a policy of rapid expansion. he had promised not to let the company get fat dumb and happy and according to reuters once told analysts that he would shove a fire hose down the throat of competitors if he saw them drowning. mr bell oversaw mcdonald s i m lovin it advertising campaign and introduced successes such as mccafe now the biggest coffee shop brand in australia and new zealand. colleagues said that mr bell was proud of his humble beginnings helping out behind cash tills and clearing tables when visiting restaurants. | 1 | business |
mirza makes indian tennis history teenager sania mirza completed a superb week at the hyderabad open by becoming the first indian in history to win a wta singles title. in front of a delirious home crowd the 18-year-old battled past alyona bondarenko of the ukraine 6-4 5-7 6-3. mirza ranked 134 in the world sunk to her knees in celebration after serving out the match against bondarenko. it is a big moment in my career and i would like to thank everyone who has been a part of my effort she said. this win has made me believe more in myself and i can now hope to do better in the coming days. i wanted to win this tournament very badly since it was in my hometown. at the australian open in january mirza became the first indian woman to reach the third round of a grand slam before losing to eventual champion serena williams. and a year ago she became the youngest indian to win a professional title by claiming the doubles at the hyderabad open. mirza playing in her first wta final began nervously in front of a raucous home crowd - committing three double faults in her opening service game. but from 0-2 down mirza broke serve twice in a row and held on to her advantage to take the first set. in a see-saw second set bondarenko raced into a 5-2 lead and though mirza hauled herself level the ukrainian broke again before finally levelling the match. mirza rediscovered the aggressive strokes that took her to the first set in the decider established a 5-2 lead. at 5-3 the stadium erupted in celebration when mirza thought she had delivered an ace to secure victory but the serve was ruled to have clipped the net. mirza eventually lost the point but to the relief of the crowd she broke bondarenko again in the next game to clinch the title. | 2 | sport |
singer christina aguilera to wed pop star christina aguilera is to marry music executive jordan bratman the singer s agent has confirmed. bratman 26 proposed to grammy-winning singer aguilera 23 on holiday at an undisclosed location. the pair have been together for more than two years. no wedding plans have been set yet said aguilera s agent meghan prophet. aguilera burst onto the pop scene in 1999 winning a best new artist grammy in 2000. her hits include what a girl wants dirrty and beautiful. bratman presented his fiancee with a diamond ring designed by jeweller stephen webster on friday said ms prophet. new york-born aguilera reached number one in the uk with her debut hit genie in a bottle in october 1999. her early success was cemented by two further grammys in subsequent years. in 2002 aguilera won best pop collaboration for the hit track lady marmalade with lil kim maya and pink and last year she picked up the award for best female pop vocal performance for beautiful. her most recent single car wash featuring missy elliott reached number four in the uk charts last november. | 3 | entertainment |
uk youth interested in politics the majority of young people are interested in politics holding strong opinions on policies and have a keen appetite for direct action. research undertaken for voting watchdog the electoral commission suggests 81% of 16 to 20-year-olds feel strongly about issues like crime and education. the survey findings are being released to coincide with the launch of the y vote mock elections 2005 initiative. mock elections are planned to take place in schools across the uk. electoral commission boss sam younger said: we know that young people often feel disengaged from democratic life and we believe in working creatively to encourage their interest and participation. mock elections can play an extremely valuable role in helping young people understand how the democratic process works and why it matters he said. the survey of a sample of 500 british 16 to 20-year-olds and 500 21 to 25-year olds showed britain s young people are far from apathetic about issues that matter to most of their lives . the y vote initiative is being run jointly by the electoral commission the hansard society and the department for education and skills in the run-up to local elections and the general election possibly on 5 may. michael rafferty who is mock elections project manager at the hansard society said he looked forward to seeing schools and colleges across the uk participating in the mock votes. | 4 | politics |
end bush denial blair tells eu tony blair is urging european leaders to wake up from their state of denial over president bush s re-election. america has spoken. the rest of the world should listen the prime minister said in an interview with the times newspaper published on friday. mr blair is at a summit in brussels where iraq and european justice and immigration plans are on the agenda. french president jacques chirac reacted to his warning by saying europe instead needed to reinforce its own unity. mr blair has probably been closer to president bush than any other european leader. he said some people were in a sort of state of denial about the us election result but predicted a more receptive mood would emerge soon. america needed to listen to the world too he said. the fact is that president bush is there for four years. he is there because the american people have chosen him he argued. he also made clear he intended to take seriously what he perceives as his role in bringing the two continents together. britain was uniquely placed to make out the common ground because of its strong alliance with the us he suggested. he admitted he had gone to bed at 2230gmt well before the american polls closed thinking mr kerry might have won. he woke up at 0530gmt to discover mr bush had won but declined to say if he was pleased with the eventual result. his words about president bush met a cool reception from jacques chirac. the french president told reporters: europe today has more than ever the need the necessity to reinforce itself and its dynamism and unity. that is the goal of the constitution in a world that is more multi-polar than ever. mr chirac will miss an address to the summit from iraqi interim leader iyad allawi who this week criticised nations which took a spectator role to iraq s reconstruction. mr chirac denied there was any snub - he is going to a memorial service for the united arab emirates late leader and says he would be happy to meet mr allawi. he also signed a communiqué stressing the eu s commitment to securing a stable and unified iraq. the eu also confirmed a new $21m aid package. the communiqué congratulated president bush on his victory and stressed the importance of good transatlantic relations. the summit is also expected to agree changes to streamline european asylum and immigration decisions. mr blair recently said the uk would only participate in eu-wide measures where it was in uk interests but the tories say he is surrendering a key veto. the meeting will also assess progress on the economic reform plans agreed in lisbon in 2000 to make europe more competitive. | 4 | politics |
euro firms miss out on optimism more than 90% of large companies around the world are highly optimistic about their economic prospects a survey of 1 300 bosses suggests. their biggest worries are not terror threats but over-regulation low-cost competition and the wild ups and downs of oil prices. there is one exception: firms in western europe - but not the uk - are lacking confidence after years of slow growth. when business advisers pricewaterhousecoopers (pwc) conducted the same survey two years ago nearly 30% of bosses were gloomy about their prospects. global business leaders say that they are facing a two-pronged regulatory assault. after a string of corporate scandals in the united states - from enron to worldcom - the sarbanes-oxley act forces companies to be much more transparent but doing all the paperwork costs a lot of time and money. across europe meanwhile all stock exchange-listed companies are currently in the process of moving to new and complex accounting standards called ifrs. hacking through the red tape can hardly be avoided but many chief executives around the world appear to have decided on how to deal with low-cost competitors. already about 28% of the bosses polled for the survey say that they have moved parts of their business into low-wage countries and another 11% plan to do so in the future. possibly as a result the worry about low-cost competition has slightly fallen from last year with just 54% of companies calling it a significant threat or one of the biggest threats . but pwc s global chief executive samuel dipiazza said a growing number of companies were also concerned that moves to outsource work to cheaper countries could both hurt their reputation in their home markets and harm the quality of service they provide to their customers. according to frank brown global advisory leader at pwc the trend of large companies to have global operations has one clear upside: one risk in one region - for example the middle east - won t kill your business anymore. surprisingly the survey suggests that the rapid decline of the us dollar is not seen as a huge threat anymore unlike even a year ago when it was cited as the third-largest problem. mr dipiazza said the interviews with chief executives suggested that companies had adjusted to the new reality of a euro that buys $1.30 and more while others had successfully hedged their positions and locked in more favourable exchange rates. - for the survey pricewaterhousecoopers interviewed 1 324 chief executives throughout the world during the last three months of 2004. | 1 | business |