Smoke free areas will save lives and improve Scotland's health, First Minister Jack McConnell has insisted. He told the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday that a "comprehensive ban" on smoking in public places would be introduced by the spring of 2006. Mr McConnell said the country's health rates were "lamentable" not least because of smoking. He said fines of up to 2,500 would be levied on employers and licences would be removed for non compliance. Earlier, the Scottish Executive considered a range of options but agreed unanimously to introduce an all out ban on smoking in public places. In a statement to parliament, Mr McConnell said that the licensed trade would be asked to join an expert committee prior to the ban coming into force. The health arguments far outweighed lingering public disquiet about a complete ban and claims by the licensed trade that jobs would be lost, he told MSPs. He said there would be an international marketing campaign whereby "tourists can enjoy smoke free environment and the sick man of Europe image becomes a thing of the past". "There are still national habits which hold us back the time has come for this parliament to accelerate improvements in health," he declared. "Health rates are lamentable because of a lack of exercise, drugs abuse, excessive drinking and over eating. "They all make us one of the most unhealthy countries in Europe, and too many smoke. "It is clear that Scotland must not be held back by poor public health the single biggest contribution devolved government can make is to reduce the toll of preventable death caused by smoking." The legislation will be introduced as part of the Health Service (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which will be considered by parliament before Christmas. Main points of the plan: A comprehensive ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in Scotland The legislation will be enforced by environmental health and local licensing officers Licensees or employers who fail to enforce the law will face fines up to a maximum of 2,500 Licensees who persistently refuse to comply with the law will face the ultimate sanction of losing their liquor licence A system of issuing fixed penalty notices for those individuals who break the law will be examined Individuals who persistently break the law will face a maximum fine of 1,000. Mr McConnell claimed there was evidence that smoking bans had helped smokers to either give up quicker or smoke less. He said there had been falling cigarette sales of 13% in New York and 16% in Ireland. Mr McConnell added that there had been a near nine per cent rise in tax revenues from New York bars and restaurants and, in Ireland, only a one point three per cent volume sales fall, where they were declining before the ban. The afternoon announcement, following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, won broad support from opposition parties. The Scottish National Party's Holyrood leader, Nicola Sturgeon, welcomed the move but added that the public should be consulted as the clock ticked towards the ban date. She said: "The time has come for a ban on smoking in public places. "There is evidence a ban can cut deaths from passive smoking and makes it easier for the 70% of smokers who desperately want to give up the habit. "But we must also recognise that some people have concerns and reservations there are people who are yet to be persuaded." The Scottish Conservative Party leader, David McLetchie, questioned what would be exempted from the ban. He was keen to know if inmates in Scottish prisons would continue to be allowed to smoke. Mr McLetchie asked: "Would it not be ironic and perhaps entirely typical of the first minister's brave new Scotland that the criminals can be smokers but the smokers will become criminals?" The Scottish Green Party's health spokeswoman, Eleanor Scott, said she was pleased Scotland would be following the "success stories of New York and Ireland". She believed the majority of people in Scotland wanted to go out without having to breathe in harmful tobacco smoke.


England captain Jason Robinson will miss the rest of the Six Nations because of injury. Robinson, stand in captain in the absence of Jonny Wilkinson, had been due to lead England in their final two games against Italy and Scotland. But the Sale full back pulled out of the squad on Wednesday because of a torn ligament in his right thumb. The 30 year old will undergo an operation on Friday but England have yet to name a replacement skipper. Robinson said: "This is very disappointing for me as this means I miss England's last two games in the Six Nations at Twickenham and two games for my club, Sale Sharks. "But I'm looking to be back playing very early in April." Robinson picked up the injury in the 19 13 defeat to Ireland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. And coach Andy Robinson said: "I am hugely disappointed for Jason. "As England captain he has been an immense figure during the autumn internationals and the Six Nations, leading by example at all times. I look forward to having him back in the England squad." The announcement is the latest setback for Robinson's injury depleted squad. Among the key figures already missing are Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall, Will Greenwood, Julian White and Phil Vickery a list which leaves Robinson short on candidates for the now vacant captaincy role. Former England skipper Jeremy Guscott told BBC Radio Five Live his choice would be Matt Dawson, even though he is does not hold a regular starting place. "The obvious choice is Dawson" said Guscott. "Especially given that Harry Ellis did not have his best game at scrum half on Saturday. "Dawson has the credentials and the experience, even though his winning record at captain is not great. "The other option in Martin Corry, who is the standout forward at the moment. "Unfortunately England cannot rely on leaders on the field at the moment." England will announce their squad for the 12 March game against Italy on Saturday.


Sania Mirza continued her remarkable rise with victory over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Dubai Championships on Tuesday. The 18 year old Indian, who is already a huge star in her home country, won 6 4 6 2 in front of a delirious crowd. It was Mirza's sixth straight victory following her first WTA tournament win in Hyderabad last month. Earlier, Daniela Hantuchova built on her improving form with a 7 6 6 2 win over sixth seed Alicia Molik. Mirza needed attention to an ankle injury after the second game against Kuznetsova. She quickly slipped 4 0 down but staged a dramatic comeback that thrilled the large Indian contingent in the crowd. "I really didn't expect that after my ankle turn," said Mirza. "I played a great match and I think (the crowd) did it again. I knew that I had to play an all round game and that's what happened. "I did everything well but I wasn't missing the ball I don't know how that happened." Mirza plays Silvia Farina Elia or Jelena Jankovic next. Hantuchova has risen from 31 in the world at the turn of the year to number 22, having reached the quarter finals and semi finals at her last two events. "It was such a tough first round match and I am glad to come through," said Hantuchova. "She was serving so well. I just decided to hang in there and keep fighting." The Slovakian will meet Elena Likhovtseva in the second round after the Russian struggled past Tunisian wild card Selima Sfar 2 6 6 2 7 6. Likhovtseva needed nine match points before seeing off Sfar, who got a point penalty for swearing in the third set. Seventh seed Nathalie Dechy and Elena Bovina were among other first round winners on Tuesday.


Software giant Microsoft is taking the plunge into the world of blogging. It is launching a test service to allow people to publish blogs, or online journals, called MSN Spaces. Microsoft is trailing behind competitors like Google and AOL, which already offer services which make it easy for people to set up web journals. Blogs, short for web logs, have become a popular way for people to talk about their lives and express opinions online. MSN Spaces is free to anyone with a Hotmail or MSN Messenger account. People will be able to choose a layout for the page, upload images and share photo albums and music playlists. The service will be supported by banner ads. "This is a simple tool for people to express themselves," said MSN's Blake Irving. This is Microsoft's first foray into blogging, which has taken off as a web phenomenon in the past year. Competitors like Google already offer free services through its Blogger site, while AOL provides its members with journals. Accurate figures for the number of blogs in existence are hard to come by. According to blog analysis firm Technorati, the so called blogosphere, has doubled every five and a half months for the last 18 months. It now estimates that the number of blogs in existence has exceeded 4.8 million, although some speculate that less than a quarter are regularly maintained.


Steve Finnan believes the Republic of Ireland can qualify directly for the World Cup finals. After Saturday's superb display in the draw in Paris, Ireland face minnows the Faroe Islands in Dublin on Wednesday. The versatile Finnan, who starred against the French, is confident the group is Ireland's for the taking. "There is a chance for us now to go on, win our home games and why not win the group, even though it's a tough one," said the Liverpool player. Switzerland, Ireland, France and Israel are all now tied on five points from three matches although the Republic look to have a slight edge after claiming away draws in Basel and Paris. "In Basel we did not play great football, but when you to go to these places the other teams are going to have the majority of the game. "In Paris, we looked good throughout the team and a point was the least we deserved because we had a number of chances. "Looking back, we had an opportunity to get the three points, but we are happy with a point and that will give us confidence going into Wednesday's game. "On paper, we have got the toughest matches out of the way and we have set standards for ourselves. "Automatic qualification is there. It would certainly be good to avoid a play off, but on the back of a couple of good results I don't see why we can't win the group." Manager Brian Kerr was keen to mention the contribution of Stephen Carr and Finnan on Ireland's right flank at the Stade de France. Finnan's normal position is right back but he looked assured in a more advanced position against the French. "As I play on the right for my club and being a natural right back, it was something he (Kerr) looked at because France play strongly down the left hand side. "So I was happy to play and Stephen Carr and I enjoyed the game, particularly as the defence and midfield held together well and nullified their attacks."


A cap on donations to political parties should not be introduced yet, the elections watchdog has said. Fears that big donors can buy political favours have sparked calls for a limit. In a new report, the Electoral Commission says it is worth debating a 10,000 cap for the future but now is not the right time to introduce it. It also says there should be more state funding for political parties and candidates should be able to spend more on election campaigning. There were almost 68m in reported donations to political parties in 2001, 2002 and 2003, with nearly 12m of them from individual gifts worth more than 1m. The rules have already been changed so the public can see who gives how much to the parties but the report says there are still public suspicions. The commission says capping donations would mean taxpayers giving parties more cash something which would first have to be acceptable to the public and shown to work. "While we are not in principle opposed to the introduction of a donation cap, we do not believe that such a major departure from the existing system now would be sensible," says its report. If there was to be a cap, it should be 10,000 a small enough amount to make a difference but which would have banned 56m in donations between 2001 and 2003. Even without changes the commission does urge political parties to seek out more small scale donations and suggests there should be income tax relief for gifts under 200. It also suggests increasing state funding for parties to 3m so help can be extended to all parties with at least two members in the House of Commons, European Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly. And it suggests new ways of boosting election campaigning, seen as a way of improving voter turnout. All local election candidates should be entitled to a free mailshot for campaign leaflets, says the watchdog. And there should be a shift in the amount of money allowed to be spent at elections from a national level to a local level to help politicians engage better with voters. The report suggests doubling the money which can be spent by candidates, while cutting national spending limits from 20m to 15m. The commission also says the spending limits for general elections should cover the four months before the poll as happens with other elections. Electoral Commission chairman Sam Younger said: "There is no doubt that political parties have a vital role to play in maintaining the health of our democracy and for this they need to be adequately resourced. "Our research has shown that people want to be more informed about party politics and that they want politicians to be more visible and accessible. "The public are reluctant for the state to fund parties but at the same time are unhappy with large private donations." He called for a wider public debate on party funding to find the consensus needed for radical changes to the current system.


Shares in steel firms have dropped worldwide amid concerns that higher iron ore costs will hit profit growth. Shares in Germany's ThyssenKrupp, the UK's Corus and France's Arcleor fell while Japan's Nippon Steel slid after it agreed to pay 72% more for iron ore. China's Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. said it was delaying a share sale because of weak market conditions, adding it would raise steel prices to offset ore costs. The threat of higher raw material costs also hit industries such as carmakers. France's Peugeot warned that its profits may decline this year as a result of the higher steel, plastic and commodity prices. Steelmakers have been enjoying record profits as demand for steel has risen, driven by the booming economies of countries such as China and India. Steel prices rose by 8% globally in January alone and by 24% in China. The boom times are far from over, but analysts say that earnings growth may slow. The share price fall was initially triggered by news that two of the world's biggest iron ore suppliers had negotiated contracts at much higher prices. Miners Rio Tinto and Cia. Vale Do Rio Dolce (CVRD) this week managed to boost by 72% the price of their iron ore, a key component of steel. Analysts had expected Japan's Nippon to agree to a price rise of between 40% and 50%. Steel analyst Peter Fish, director of Sheffield based consulting group MEPS, said the extent of CVRD's price rise was "uncharted territory", adding that the steel industry "hasn't seen an increase of this magnitude probably in 50 years". Analysts now expect other iron ore producers, such as Australia's BHP Billiton, to seek annual price rises of up to 70%. The news triggered the share price weakness. "It sparked worries that steel makers might not be able to increase product prices further to cover rising ore costs " explained Kazuhiro Takahashi of Daiwa Securities SMBC. In Europe, Arcelor shed 2.1% to 17.58 euros in Paris, with ThyssenKrupp dropping 1.7% to 16.87 euros. In London, Corus fell 2.2% to 55.57 pence. Japan's biggest steel company Nippon Steel lost 2.5% to 270 yen, with closest rival JFE Holdings down 3.4%. China's Baoshan, the country's largest steel producer, said that the uncertainty surrounding the industry has prompted it to pull its planned share sale. The firm had been expected to offer 22.5bn yuan ( 2.7bn) worth of shares to investors. No date has been given for when the 5 billion shares will come to the market. Baoshan stock climbed on news of the delay and its decision to increase the price of its steel by 10%.


A user of Apple's iTunes music service is suing the firm saying it is unfair he can only use an iPod to play songs. He says Apple is breaking anti competition laws in refusing to let other music players work with the site. Apple, which opened its online store in 2003 after launching the iPod in 2001, uses technology to ensure each song bought only plays on the iPod. Californian Thomas Slattery filed the suit in the US District Court in San Jose and is seeking damages. "Apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard drive digital music player of their choice," the lawsuit states. The key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a single brand like iTunes is a market in itself separate from the rest of the online music market, according to Ernest Gellhorn, an anti trust law professor at George Mason University. "As a practical matter, the lower courts have been highly sceptical of such claims," Prof Gellhorn said. Apple has sold more than six million iPods since the gadget was launched and has an 87% share of the market for portable digital music players, market research firm NPD Group has reported. More than 200 million songs have been sold by the iTunes music store since it was launched. "Apple has unlawfully bundled, tied, and/or leveraged its monopoly in the market for the sale of legal online digital music recordings to thwart competition in the separate market for portable hard drive digital music players, and vice versa," the lawsuit said. Mr Slattery called himself an iTunes customer who "was also forced to purchase an Apple iPod" if he wanted to take his music with him to listen to. A spokesman for Apple declined to comment. Apple's online music store uses a different format for songs than Napster, Musicmatch, RealPlayer and others. The rivals use the MP3 format or Microsoft's WMA format while Apple uses AAC, which it says helps thwart piracy. The WMA format also includes so called Digital Rights Management which is used to block piracy.


Pro hunt supporters are set to protest at Labour's spring conference. The Countryside Alliance says it expects up to 4,000 supporters to demonstrate against the hunting ban. They have agreed to keep to a demonstration site on the other side of the River Tyne from the conference venue in Gateshead. A bid to overturn the law banning hunting with dogs in England and Wales has begun in the Court of Appeal. The ban comes into force on 18 February. The Court of Appeal is expected to rule early next week on whether the alliance's challenge has succeeded. Richard Dodd, regional director of the Countryside Alliance, said he expected between 2,000 and 4,000 supporters in Tyneside to make their protest, with hunt horns and placards. Campaigners have been asked not to bring any animals or alcohol. Mr Dodd said he did not believe there would be any repeat of the trouble which marred the pro hunt demonstration outside Parliament in September. "We are holding a static demonstration, just to remind Labour that we are not going away," he said. Northumbria Police said the pedestrian Millennium Bridge, by the demonstration site, will be shut if necessary. But Assistant Chief Constable David Warcup has liaised with several protest groups and said all negotiations had gone well. Fathers 4 Justice, pensioners' rights activists and Stop the War campaigners were also expected to demonstrate during the three day conference which starts on Friday. Pro hunt campaigners claims the 1949 Parliament Act which extends the right of the House of Commons to overrule the House of Lords was itself invalid because it was never passed by peers. The High Court last month ruled the act was valid and the proposed hunting ban was lawful. Pro hunt supporters formally launched their second legal challenge to the ban in London's High Court on Thursday. The Countryside Alliance has lodged papers seeking a judicial review on human rights grounds. Animal welfare groups have welcomed the ban, many of whom have campaigned for a ban for decades saying hunting is cruel and unnecessary.


The January sales have failed to help the UK High Street recover from a poor Christmas season, a survey has found. Stores received a boost from bargain hunters but trading then reverted to December levels, the British Retail Consortium and accountants KPMG said. Sales in what is traditionally a strong month rose by 0.5% on a like for like basis, compared with a year earlier. Consumers remain cautious over buying big ticket items like furniture, said BRC director general Kevin Hawkins. Higher interest rates and uncertainty over the housing market continue to take their toll on the retail sector, the BRC said. But clothing and footwear sales were said to be generally better than December, while department stores also had a good month. In the three months to January, like for like sales showed a growth rate of 0.1%, the same as in the three months to December, the BRC said. "Following a relatively strong New Year's bank holiday, trading then took a downward turn," said Mr Hawkins. "Even extending some promotions and discounts and the pay day boost later in the month could not tempt customers." The previous BRC survey found Christmas 2004 was the worst for 10 years for retailers. And according to Office for National Statistics data, sales in December failed to meet expectations and by some counts were the worst since 1981.


Detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial breaks human rights laws, the UK's highest court has ruled. In a blow to the government's anti terror measures, the House of Lords law lords ruled by an eight to one majority in favour of appeals by nine detainees. Most of the men are being indefinitely held in Belmarsh prison, south London. The law lords said the measures were incompatible with European human rights laws. The men will stay behind bars while ministers decide how to react. The ruling creates a major problem for Charles Clarke on his first day as home secretary following David Blunkett's resignation. The Liberal Democrats say Mr Clarke should use the fact he is new to the job to take issue with a law established by his predecessor, David Blunkett. Belmarsh prison has been dubbed Britain's Guantanamo Bay by civil rights campaigners opposed to the use of emergency anti terror laws. The detainees took their case to the House of Lords after the Court of Appeal backed the Home Office's powers to hold them without limit or charge. The government opted out of part of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti terrorism legislation in response to the 11 September attacks in the US. Any foreign national suspected of links with terrorism can be detained or can opt to be deported. However those detained cannot be deported if this would mean persecution in their homeland. On Thursday, senior law lord Lord Bingham said the rules were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights as they allowed detentions "in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status". Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, in his ruling, said: "Indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law. "It deprives the detained person of the protection a criminal trial is intended to afford." He said the weakness for the government's case was that it was trying to justify detention without trial for foreign suspects but not for British suspects. Lord Hoffmann said: "The real threat to the life of the nation, in the sense of a people living in accordance with its traditional laws and political values, comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these." But Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, the one law lord to oppose the appeal, said the anti terror laws contained important safeguards against oppression. In a statement, detainee 'A' in Woodhill Prison said: "I hope now that the government will act upon this decision, scrap this illegal 'law' and release me and the other internees to return to our families and loved ones." The case was heard by a panel of nine law lords rather than the usual five because of the constitutional importance of the case. Ben Emmerson QC, representing seven of the detainees, said the men had already been in custody for nearly three years. He said they had been given no idea when, if ever, they would be released, had never been formally interviewed and there was no prospect they would ever be put on trial. When the men were first held, they took their cases to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). The commission ruled on 30 July, 2002 that the anti terror act unjustifiably discriminated against foreign nationals as British people could not be held in the same way. But that ruling was later overturned by the Court of Appeal who said there was a state of emergency threatening the life of the nation.


Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo said he is close to agreeing to a new contract at Old Trafford. The Portugal star, who joined in August 2003 on a five year deal, is a regular in the United first team. "The United board have already made an offer to renew the contract but I'm trying not to think about it," he told the News of the World. "My agent has spoken with the club and it will be resolved soon. I think we'll reach a good agreement for both sides." Ronaldo refused to commit his long term future to the club. "Nobody knows what will come tomorrow. I like being here, but who knows," he added. "There aren't many bigger and better clubs than this one. It's my ambition to be at a big club. I'm happy but nobody knows the future."


Shares in UK banking group Barclays have risen on Monday following a weekend press report that it had held merger talks with US bank Wells Fargo. A tie up between Barclays and California based Wells Fargo would create the world's fourth biggest bank, valued at 180bn ( 96bn). Barclays has declined to comment on the report in the Sunday Express, saying it does not respond to market speculation. The two banks reportedly held talks in October and November 2004. Barclays shares were up 8 pence, or 1.3%, at 605 pence by late morning in London on Monday, making it the second biggest gainer in the FTSE 100 index. UK banking icon Barclays was founded more than 300 years ago; it has operations in over 60 countries and employs 76,200 staff worldwide. Its North American divisions focus on business banking, whereas Wells Fargo operates retail and business banking services from 6,000 branches. In 2003, Barclays reported a 20% rise in pre tax profits to 3.8bn, and it has recently forecast similar gains in 2004, predicting that full year pre tax profits would rise 18% to 4.5bn. Wells Fargo had net income of 6.2bn in its last financial year, a 9% increase on the previous year, and revenues of 28.4bn. Barclays was the focus of takeover speculation in August, when it was linked to Citigroup, though no bid has ever materialised. Stock market traders were sceptical that the latest reports heralded a deal. "The chief executive would be abandoning his duty if he didn't talk to rivals, but a deal doesn't seem likely," Reuters quoted one trader as saying.


US president George W Bush has pledged to introduce a "tough" federal budget next February in a bid to halve the country's deficit in five years. The US budget and its trade deficit are both deep in the red, helping to push the dollar to lows against the euro and fuelling fears about the economy. Mr Bush indicated there would be "strict discipline" on non defence spending in the budget. The vow to cut the deficit had been one of his re election declarations. The federal budget deficit hit a record 412bn ( 211.6bn) in the 12 months to 30 September and 377bn in the previous year. "We will submit a budget that fits the times," Mr Bush said. "It will provide every tool and resource to the military, will protect the homeland, and meet other priorities of the government." The US has said it is committed to a strong dollar. But the dollar's weakness has hit European and Asian exporters and lead to calls for US intervention to boost the currency. Mr Bush, however, has said the best way to halt the dollar's slide is to deal with the US deficit. "It's a budget that I think will send the right signal to the financial markets and to those concerned about our short term deficits," Mr Bush added. "As well, we've got to deal with the long term deficit issues."


2004 won't be remembered as one of Irish athletics' great years. The year began with that optimism which invariably and unaccountably, seems to herald an upcoming Olympiad. But come late August, a few hot days in the magnificent stadium in Athens told us of the true strength of Irish athletics or to be more accurate, the lack of it. Sonia O'Sullivan's Olympic farewell apart, there was little to stir the emotions of Irish athletics watchers. But after the disastrous build up to the games, we shouldn't have been surprised. At the start of the year, an O'Sullivan had been earmarked as Ireland's best medal prospect but as it turned out, walker Gillian never even made it to the start line because of injury. Less than a week before the Olympics, the sport was rocked by news that 10,000m hope Cathal Lombard had tested for the banned substance EPO. Lombard's shattering of Mark Carroll's national 10,000m record in April had already set tongues wagging but even the most cynical of observers, were surprised when he was rumbled after an Irish Sports Council sting operation. The Corkman quickly held his hands up in admission and was promptly handed a two year ban from the sport. Back at pre Olympic ranch in Greece, it must have seemed that things couldn't have got any worse but they very nearly did with walker Jamie Costin lucky to escape with his life after being involved in a car crash near Athens. Once the track and field action began in Athens, a familiar pattern of underachievement emerged although Alistair Cragg's performance in being the only athlete from a European nation to qualify for the 5,000m final did offer hope for the future. Our beloved Sonia scraped into the women's 5K final as a fastest loser and for a couple of days, the country attempted to delude itself into believing that she might be in the medal shake up. As it happened, she went out the back door early in the final although there was nothing undignified about the way that she insisted on finishing the race over a minute behind winner Meseret Defar. It later transpired that Sonia had been suffering from a stomach bug in the 48 hours before the final although typically, the Cobhwoman played down the effects of the illness. Amazingly, she was back in action a couple of weeks later when beating a world class field at the Flora Lite 5K road race in London and while her major championship days may be over, it's unlikely that we have seen the last of her in competition. At least Sonia managed to make it to Athens. At the start of the year, several Northern Ireland athletes had genuine hopes of qualifying for the Games but come August, an out of form and injured Paul Brizzel was the lone standard bearer for the province. The Ballymena man gave it a lash but his achilles problem, and a bad lane draw, meant a time of 21.00 and an early exit. James McIlroy, Gareth Turnbull, Zoe Brown and Paul McKee all had to be content with watching the Athens action on their television screens. 800m hope McIlroy never got near his best during the summer and a fourth place in the British trials effectively ended his hopes of making the plane. The injury plagued Turnbull gamely travelled round Europe in search of the 1500m qualifying mark but 3:39 was the best he could achieve, after missing several months training during the previous winter. A lingering hamstring probem and a virus wrecked McKee's Athens ambitions and both he and Turnbull deserve a slice of better fortune in 2005. Pole vaulter Brown had hoped for a vote of confidence from the British selectors after she had achieved the Athens B standard but the call never came. As the summer ended, stalwarts Catherina McKiernan and Dermot Donnelly hung up their competitive spikes. McKiernan had to candidly acknowledge that time had crept up on her after several injury ravaged years. Donnelly and his Annadale Striders team mates later suffered tragedy when their friend and clubman Andy Campbell was found dead at his home on 18 December. A large turnout of athletics loving folk turned out in west Belfast to offer their respects to the Campbell family and Andy's many friends. As only death can, it put the year's athletics happenings in a sharp perspective.


A slimming aid made from a southern African cactus is set to be developed by UK firm Phytopharm and Unilever. Anglo Dutch food giant Unilever will help the pharmaceutical firm develop the snacks containing Hoodia extract. Phytopharm shares jumped 10.7% on the news, with analysts saying sales of 600m ( 309m) a year were possible. The plant, licensed to Phytopharm in 1997, has been used for thousands of years by the Sans bushmen of the Kalahari desert to stave off hunger. Studies have reportedly shown the plant curbs appetite instead of reducing calorific intake like many existing products. Phytopharm will receive an initial fee of 6.5m from Unilever out of a potential total of 21m as well as future royalties on product sales. Under the deal, production of the Hoodia cactus at Phytopharm's nursery in South Africa will also rise from eight million plants to potentially hundreds of millions, said Phytopharm chief executive Richard Dixey. The firm had initially hoped to market a slimming drug from Hoodia with Pfizer. But the research collaboration came to an end in 2003. Analysts said Unilever could launch the new products in 2007. "This deal goes a long way to restoring the market faith in Phytopharm's pipeline after the Pfizer exit," said analyst Erling Refsum at Nomura.


Jesper Gronkjaer has agreed a move to Atletico Madrid from Birmingham City. The 27 year old winger spent just five months at St Andrews following a 2.2m move from Chelsea in July after playing for Denmark at Euro 2004. He is set to move during the January transfer window in a deal rumoured to be about 1.4m, subject to a medical. "We will meet with the player's representative to finalise the contract and decide when he will sign," said Atletico sporting director Toni Munoz. Gronkjaer has been targeted by Blues fans and was sarcastically applauded when taken off against Everton last month. Boss Steve Bruce had said that he would be happy to let the Danish international go if the price was right. He added: "I'm not going to say the decision to let him go is down to the fans' reaction towards him. "He has had a tough time since the summer with the loss of his mother and finding it difficult to adjust to a new club and a different area. "He has been terrific and not missed a day's training and is someone if your daughter brought them home you would be delighted. "It just hasn't quite worked out here for him. But we'd like to get back most of what we spent."


Jo Pavey will miss January's View From Great Edinburgh International Cross Country to focus on preparing for the European Indoor Championships in March. The 31 year old was third behind Hayley Yelling and Justyna Bak in last week's European Cross Country Championships but she prefers to race on the track. "It was great winning bronze but I'm wary of injuries and must concentrate on the indoor season," she said. "Because of previous injuries I don't even run up hills in training." Pavey, who came fifth in the 5,000m at the Athens Olympics, helped the British cross country team win the team silver medal in Heringsdorf last week. She is likely to start her 3,000m season with a race in either Boston or Stuttgart at the end of January.


Former Blackburn boss Roy Hodgson says the Premiership should follow the rest of Europe and have a winter break but insists that a gruelling domestic schedule will not damage the English elite's bid for Champions League glory. Hodgson now in charge at Viking Stavanger was at Liverpool's clash with Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield on Tuesday as a member of Uefa's technical committee. Hodgson is a fierce advocate of the winter break employed throughout Europe, although not in England where the Champions League contenders have ploughed through a heavy fixture list. But Hodgson told BBC Sport that while he believes the Premiership should embrace the idea, he does not expect it to cost the English representatives in the last 16 of the Champions League. "I just feel it is very difficult to say with certainty that teams who have had the break will have a definite edge. "I am a fervent supporter of the break. It gives players the chance to recharge their batteries midway through the season, which some suggest will give teams an advantage in the Champions League. "The other school of thought suggests having a break then coming back to it puts you at a disadvantage. "The bigger discussions around the winter break should be to do with the nature of football today, the needs of football players and the way the Premiership has developed, rather than one or two matches in the Champions League in February." Hodgson believes a winter break carries many advantages, explaining: "As I said, it is the perfect chance to recharge batteries. "And certainly if I was still a manager in England I would be supporting any calls for its introduction. "In pre season you get a lot of enthusiasm and energy but by the time you get towards Christmas many players, having also played plenty of international matches for club and country and travelled a lot, find themselves getting very jaded. "The break gives them a chance to recover that energy and enthusiasm and, perhaps more importantly, recover their mental strength during the break and get ready for the games ahead. "The mental side is by far the most important thing." Hodgson added: "The length of breaks can vary. In Italy the break was very short. You just took Christmas and New Year. "It was so short you didn't do anything. You gave the players a week or 10 days off, then you were training for a week or 10 days and then went into a game. "If it is longer, it is important those responsible for physical fitness give the players a programme to follow to ensure the physical strength they have accumulated stays with them." And Hodgson believes a winter break would be a positive step in the Premiership. He said: "If we talk about football at elite level, which the Premiership is, then I would support a winter break. "If you examine the demands of the Premier League and, in particular on players who play international football for their club and country, then a break would do them the world of good physically and mentally."


The digital revolution is focused on letting people tell and share their own stories, according to Carly Fiorina, chief of technology giant Hewlett Packard. The job of firms such as HP now, she said in a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), was to ensure digital and physical worlds fully converged. She said the goal for 2005 was to make people the centre of technology. CES showcases 50,000 new gadgets that will be hitting the shelves in 2005. The tech fest, the largest of its kind in the world, runs from 6 to 9 January. "The digital revolution is about the democratisation of technology and the experiences it makes possible," she told delegates. "Revolution has always been about giving power to the people." She added: "The real story of the digital revolution is not just new products, but the millions of experiences made possible and stories that millions can tell." Part of giving people more control has been about the freeing up of content, such as images, video and music. Crucial to this has been the effort to make devices that speak to each other better so that content can be more easily transferred from one device, such as a digital camera, to others, such as portable media players. A lot of work still needs to be done, however, to sort out compatibility issues and standards within the technology industry so that gadgets just work seamlessly, she said. Ms Fiorina's talk also touted the way technology is being designed to focus on lifestyle, fashion and personalisation, something she sees as key to what people want. Special guest, singer Gwen Stefani, joined her on stage to promote her own range of HP digital cameras which Ms Stefani has helped design and which are heavily influenced by Japanese youth culture. The digital cameras, which are due to go on sale in the US by the summer, are based on the HP 607 model. The emphasis on personalisation and lifestyle is a big theme at this year's CES, with tiny, wearable MP3 players at every turn and rainbow hues giving colour to everything. Ms Fiorina also announced that HP was working with Nokia to launch a visual radio service for mobiles, which would launch in Europe early this year. The service will let people listen to radio on their mobiles and download relevant content, like a track's ringtone, simultaneously. The service is designed to make mobile radio more interactive. Among the other new products she showcased was the Digital Media Hub, a big upgrade to HP's Digital Entertainment Centre. Coming out in the autumn in the US, the box is a networked, high definition TV, cable set top box, digital video recorder and DVD recorder. It has a removable hard drive cartridge, memory card slots, and Light Scribe labelling software which lets people design and print customised DVD labels and covers. It is designed to contain all a household's digital media, such as pre recorded TV shows, pictures, videos and music so it can all be managed in one place. The hub reflects the increasing move to re box the PC so that it can work as part of other key centres of entertainment. Research suggests that about 258 million images are saved and shared every day, equating to 94 billion a year. Eighty per cent of those remain on cameras. Media hubs are designed to encourage people to organise them on one box. Ms Fiorina was one of several keynote speakers, who also included Microsoft chief Bill Gates, to set out what major technology companies think people will be doing with technologies and gadgets in the next 12 months. In a separate announcement during the keynote speech, Ms Fiorina said that HP would be partnering MTV to replace this year's MTV Asia music award. MTV's Asia Aid will be held in Bangkok on 3 February, and is aimed at helping to raise money for the Asian tsunami disaster.


New rules on marriage for foreign nationals living in the UK are coming into force. From Tuesday, most non EU citizens will need Home Office approval to marry. The Home Office says the new rules are aimed at reducing the number of sham marriages, of which there are estimated to be up to 15,000 a year. But immigrants' group the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) says the rules breach human rights law and it may mount a legal challenge. When the changes were unveiled last year, immigration minister Des Browne said: "Our aim is to avoid unnecessary disruption of genuine marriages, while providing firm controls to prevent abuse." Under the previous regulations anybody wishing to get married in the UK only had to produce evidence they had been resident in the country for a week and give 15 days notice of the wedding at the local register office. But from Tuesday all non EU nationals, apart from citizens of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland or Norway, intending to wed in the UK must either obtain a visa allowing them to get married before they enter the country or apply for a Home Office 'certificate of marriage approval'. To get a certificate, costing 135, applicants will have to send proof that they have a legal right to be in the UK. Those without a settled status, such as asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application, will have no right to marry in the UK. Once they have the necessary documentation, those subject to immigration controls wishing to get married in England or Wales must register their intention to marry at one of 76 specially designated register offices. They can, however, marry at the register office or church of their choice. Rhian Beynon of the JCWI said the new rules were "not proportionate" and "discriminatory". "These rules means in some cases the Home Secretary is going to be a marriage registrar of last resort. "We're currently taking a legal opinion on this. We'll be looking for people whose right to marry is breached and we'll be looking at taking a case on this to the Human Rights Court," Ms Beynon said. The new rules have also been called into question by the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. In a report published last July the cross party committee stated there was a "significant risk" the new procedures were incompatible with the right to marry because they introduced restrictions which were "disproportionate". The committee believed the new laws might be incompatible with the Human Rights Act on the grounds of religion, belief and nationality, the report added. Over the last year immigration service operations against marriages of convenience have been stepped up resulting in a growing number of convictions. In January 25 people who took part in a sham marriage network based in Leicester were jailed for a total of 35 years. And last November Samuel Amoah, a Belgian national who set up two sham weddings for couples who wanted to remain in the UK, was jailed for three years. Several other cases are currently going through the courts. The role of registrars who under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1999 were obliged to report suspected sham marriages to the Home Office, has been key in many prosecutions. Registrars' spokesman, Mark Rimmer, said they welcomed the new marriage regulations and believed they would be an significant deterrent. "They will effectively remove most of the blatant cases. Certainly those who are illegals in this country, of which we had quite a few, will no longer be getting married," Mr Rimmer said. Mr Rimmer, the service director for registrations of marriages at Brent Council in north west London, said he did not consider the new law to be an infringement of civil liberties. "It may be seen to be far more draconian than it has been but certainly it's still not as difficult to marry in the UK than it is to marry, for example, in Holland, Germany or France. "I think it's a proportionate response by government to what was a very large problem," Mr Rimmer said.


UK mortgage lending showed a "post Christmas lull" in January, indicating a slowing housing market, lenders have said. Both the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and Building Society Association (BSA) said lending was down sharply. The CML said gross mortgage lending stood at 17.9bn, compared with 21.8bn in January last year. The BSA said mortgage approvals loans approved but not yet made were 2bn, down from 2.6bn in January 2004. At the same time, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said lending was "weaker". Overall, the BBA said mortgage lending rose by 4bn in January, a far smaller increase than the 5.1bn seen in December. This was a return to the "weaker pattern" of lending seen in the last months of 2004, the BBA added. However, it is the year on year lending comparisons which are the most striking. The CML said lending for house purchases and gross mortgage lending were 29% and 18% lower year on year respectively. "These figures show beyond doubt the recent slowdown in the housing market," Peter Williams, CML deputy director, said.


Two big US names have launched advertising campaigns to "set the record straight" about their products and corporate behaviour. The world's biggest retailer Wal Mart took out more than 100 full page adverts in national newspapers. The group is trying to see off criticism over it pay deals, benefits package and promotion strategy. Meanwhile, drugs group Eli Lilly is planning a campaign against "false" claims about its product Prozac. Wal Mart kicked off the battle with adverts in newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, using an open letter from company president Lee Scott saying it was time for the public to hear the "unfiltered truth". "There are lots of 'urban legends' going around these days about Wal Mart, but facts are facts. Wal Mart is good for consumers, good for communities and good for the US economy," Mr Scott said in a separate statement. Its adverts and a new website outlined the group's plans to create more than 10,000 US jobs in 2005. Wal Mart's average pay is almost twice the national minimum wage of 5.15 ( 3.90) an hour, while employees are offered health and life insurance, company stock and a retirement plan, the adverts say. Unions accuse Wal Mart of paying staff less than its rivals do, with fewer benefits. In California, the company is fighting opposition to new stores amid allegations it forces local competitors out of business. Lawmakers in the state are also examining allegations that the firm burdens the state with an unfair proportion of employee health care costs. "I think they are going to have a tough time suddenly overcoming the perceptions of some people," said Larry Bevington, chairman of Save Our Community a group fighting to prevent Wal Mart opening a store in Rosemead, California. Wal Mart is also fighting two lawsuits one accusing it of discriminating against women and another alleging it discriminates against black employees. Meanwhile Eli Lilly is launching a series of adverts in a dozen major newspapers, to present what is says are the true facts about its anti depressant drug Prozac. The move is in response to a British Medical Journal article that claimed "missing" Lilly documents linked Prozac to suicide and violent behaviour. In the averts, entitled An Open Letter from chief executive Sidney Taurel, the company says the article continues to "needlessly spread fear among patients who take Prozac". "It was simply wrong to suggest that information on Prozac was missing, or that important research data on the benefits and possible side effects of the drug were not available to doctors and regulators," the letter added. Eli Lilly's chief medical officer Alan Breier said that the article was "false and misleading" as the documents it referred to were actually created by officials at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and presented to an FDA meeting in 1991. Later, FDA medical advisors agreed the claims were based on faulty data and there was no increased risk of suicide.


The leader of the British National Party has been arrested as part of a police inquiry following the screening of a BBC documentary. A party spokesman said Nick Griffin was arrested on Tuesday morning on suspicion of incitement to commit racial hatred. West Yorkshire police confirmed they had arrested a 45 year old man from outside their area. BNP founding chairman John Tyndall was arrested on Sunday on the same charge. In July, the BBC documentary Secret Agent featured covertly filmed footage of BNP activists. Mr Griffin is the twelfth man to be arrested following the documentary. Nine men from West Yorkshire and another man from Leicester have been arrested and freed on bail. Seven of the men had been held variously in connection with suspected racially aggravated public order offences, conspiracy to commit criminal damage and possession of a firearm. Two men, both from Keighley, were arrested in September on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage. A 24 year old man from Leicester was detained on Monday on suspicion of incitement to commit racial hatred. A BNP spokesperson said Mr Tyndall, from Brighton, was arrested following a speech he made in Burnley, Lancashire, and was released on police bail.


The Labour Party will hold its 2006 autumn conference in Manchester and not Blackpool, it has been confirmed. The much trailed decision was ratified by Labour's ruling National Executive Committee in a break with the traditional choice of a seaside venue. It will be the first time since 1917 that the party has chosen Manchester to host the annual event. Blackpool will get the much smaller February spring conference instead in what will be seen as a placatory move. For years the main political parties have rotated between Blackpool, Bournemouth and Brighton. And the news the much larger annual conference is not to gather in Blackpool will be seen as a blow in the coastal resort. In 1998 the party said it would not return to Blackpool but did so in 2002. The following year Bournemouth hosted the event before the party signed a two year deal for Brighton to host the autumn conference. Colin Asplin, Blackpool Hotel Association said: "We have tried very hard to make sure they come back to Blackpool. "Obviously we have failed in that. I just hope Manchester can handle the crowds. "It amazes me that the Labour Party, which is a working class party, doesn't want to come to the main working class resort in the country." The exact cost to Blackpool in terms of lost revenue for hotel accommodation is not yet known but it is thought that block bookings will be taken at the major Manchester hotels after the official announcement.


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."


Robots are learning lessons on "robotiquette" how to behave socially so they can mix better with humans. By playing games, like pass the parcel, a University of Hertfordshire team is finding out how future robot companions should react in social situations. The study's findings will eventually help humans develop a code of social behaviour in human robot interaction. The work is part of the European Cogniron robotics project, and was on show at London's Science Museum. "We are assuming a situation in which a useful human companion robot already exists," said Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn, project leader at Hertfordshire. "Our mission is to look at how such a robot should be programmed to respect personal spaces of humans." The research also focuses on human perception of robots, including how they should look, and how a robot can learn new skills by imitating a human demonstrator. "Without such studies, you will build robots which might not respect the fact that humans are individuals, have preferences and come from different cultural backgrounds," Professor Dautenhahn told BBC News Online. "And I want robots to treat humans as human beings, and not like other robots," she added. In most situations, a companion robot will eventually have to deal not only with one person, but also with groups of people. To find out how they would react, the Hertfordshire Cogniron team taught one robot to play pass the parcel with children. Showing off its skills at the Science Museum, the unnamed robot had to select, approach, and ask different children to pick up a parcel with a gift, moving it arm as a pointer and its camera as an eye. It even used speech to give instructions and play music. However, according to researchers, it will still take many years to build a robot which would make full use of the "robotiquette" for human interaction. "If you think of a robot as a companion for the human being, you can think of 20 years into the future," concluded Professor Dautenhahn. "It might take even longer because it is very, very hard to develop such a robot." You can hear more on this story on the BBC World Service's Go Digital programme.


The next generation DVD format Blu ray is winning more supporters than its rival, according to its backers. Blu ray, backed by 100 firms including Sony, is competing against Toshiba and NEC backed HD DVD to be the format of choice for future films and games. The Blu Ray Association said on Thursday that games giants Electronic Arts and Vivendi would both support its DVD format. The next generation of DVDs will hold high definition video and sound. This offers incredible 3D like quality of pictures which major Hollywood studios and games publishers are extremely keen to exploit in the coming year. In a separate press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Toshiba announced that DVD players for its technology would be on the market by the end of 2005. "As we move from standard definition video images to high definition images, we have a much greater need for storage," Richard Doherty, from Panasonic's Hollywood Laboratories, one of the pioneers of Blu ray, told the BBC news website. "So by utilising blue laser based technology we can make an optical laser disc that can hold six times as much as today's DVD." A Blu ray disc will be able to store 50GB of high quality data, while Toshiba's HD DVD will hold 30GB. Mr Doherty added that it was making sure the discs could satisfy all high definition needs, including the ability to record onto the DVDs and smaller discs to fit into camcorders. Both Toshiba and Blu ray are hopeful that the emerging DVD format war, akin to the Betamax and VHS fight in the 1980s, can be resolved over the next year when next generation DVD players start to come out. When players do come out, they will be able to play standard DVDs too, which is good news for those who have huge libraries of current DVDs. But the support from Vivendi and Electronics Arts is a big boost to Blu ray in the battle for supremacy. Gaming is a 20 billion industry worldwide, so is as crucial as the film industry in terms of money to be made. "The technical requirement for game development today demands more advanced optical disc technologies," said Michael Heilmann, chief technology officer for Vivendi Universal. "Blu ray offers the capacity, performance and high speed internet connectivity to take us into the future of gaming." EA, a leading games developer and publisher, added that the delivery of high definition games of the future was vital and Blu ray had the capacity, functionality and interactivity needed for the kinds of projects it was planning. Sony recently announced it would be using the technology in its next generation of PlayStations. Mr Doherty said gamers were "ravenous" for high quality graphics and technology for the next generation of titles. "Gamers, especially those working on PCs, are always focused on more capacity to deliver textures, deeper levels, for delivering higher resolution playback." He added: "The focus for games moving forward on increased immersion. "Gaming companies really like to focus on creating a world which involves creating complicated 3D models and textures and increasing the resolution, increasing the frame rate all of these are part of getting a more immersive experience." Fitting these models on current DVD technologies means compressing the graphics so much that much of this quality is lost. As games move to more photo real capability, the current technology is limiting. "They are thrilled at the advanced capacity to start to build these immersive environments," said Mr Doherty. Currently, graphics intensive PC games also require multiple discs for installation. High definition DVDs will cut down on that need. Likewise, consoles rely on single discs, so DVDs that can hold six times more data mean much better, high resolution games. Blu ray has already won backing from major Hollywood studios, such as MGM Studios, Disney, and Buena Vista, as well as top technology firms like Dell, LG, Samsung and Phillips amongst others. While Toshiba's HD DVD technology has won backing from Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros. "The real world benefits (of HD DVD) are apparent and obvious," said Jim Cardwell, president of Warner Home Video. Mr Cardwell added that rapid time to market and dependability were significant factors in choosing to go with HD DVD. Both formats are courting Microsoft to be the format of choice for the next generation Xbox, but discussions are still on going. Next generation DVDs will also be able to store images and other data. CES is the largest consumer electronics show in the world, and runs from 6 to 9 January.


British Airways has blamed high fuel prices for a 40% drop in profits. Reporting its results for the three months to 31 December 2004, the airline made a pre tax profit of 75m ( 141m) compared with 125m a year earlier. Rod Eddington, BA's chief executive, said the results were "respectable" in a third quarter when fuel costs rose by 106m or 47.3%. BA's profits were still better than market expectation of 59m, and it expects a rise in full year revenues. To help offset the increased price of aviation fuel, BA last year introduced a fuel surcharge for passengers. In October, it increased this from 6 to 10 one way for all long haul flights, while the short haul surcharge was raised from 2.50 to 4 a leg. Yet aviation analyst Mike Powell of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein says BA's estimated annual surcharge revenues 160m will still be way short of its additional fuel costs a predicted extra 250m. Turnover for the quarter was up 4.3% to 1.97bn, further benefiting from a rise in cargo revenue. Looking ahead to its full year results to March 2005, BA warned that yields average revenues per passenger were expected to decline as it continues to lower prices in the face of competition from low cost carriers. However, it said sales would be better than previously forecast. "For the year to March 2005, the total revenue outlook is slightly better than previous guidance with a 3% to 3.5% improvement anticipated," BA chairman Martin Broughton said. BA had previously forecast a 2% to 3% rise in full year revenue. It also reported on Friday that passenger numbers rose 8.1% in January. Aviation analyst Nick Van den Brul of BNP Paribas described BA's latest quarterly results as "pretty modest". "It is quite good on the revenue side and it shows the impact of fuel surcharges and a positive cargo development, however, operating margins down and cost impact of fuel are very strong," he said. Since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, BA has cut 13,000 jobs as part of a major cost cutting drive. "Our focus remains on reducing controllable costs and debt whilst continuing to invest in our products," Mr Eddington said. "For example, we have taken delivery of six Airbus A321 aircraft and next month we will start further improvements to our Club World flat beds." BA's shares closed up four pence at 274.5 pence.


Roger Federer nice bloke, fantastic tennis player the ultimate sportsman. When Lleyton Hewitt shook his hand after getting another thrashing, a third in as many months, the Australian said; "You're the best." How right he is. The stats speak for themselves: 11 titles from 11 finals during 2004 three of them Grand Slams and 13 final victories in a row going back to Vienna 2003. That's an open era record. Hewitt, at times in Houston, showed form which easily matched his Grand Slam winning efforts of 2001 and 2002. But he was outplayed. Twice. Hewitt, along with Andy Roddick and Marat Safin, is sure to be prominent during 2005. But realistically, all three will be fighting for the world number two ranking. According to all those players and even Federer himself, the Swiss star is in a different league. "Right now I feel that a little bit," he told BBC Sport. "I've dominated all the top ten players. They say nice things about me because I have beaten them all. I am dominating the game right now and I hope it continues!" The number one player in the world is also the main man for promoting the sport off court. He has just been voted, by the International Tennis Writers, as the best "Ambassador for Tennis" on the ATP Tour. He has time for everyone. Every match, from first round to final, is followed by a series of press interviews in three languages; English, French and Swiss German. After a major win, there are extra requests, obligations and interviews, all seen through to the end with courtesy and, most importantly, good humour. "You guys are funny, I have a good time with you guys," he said, genuinely happy to talk into yet another tape recorder. "I see you pretty much every day on the tour so to give away an hour for interviews is really no problem for me. "If I can promote tennis and the sport then that is good for me. People say thanks back and that is nice." What a refreshing attitude from someone who could easily dominate the sports pages for a decade. It sums up his modest personality. Shortly after collecting a Waterford Crystal trophy, a Mercedes convertible and a tasty cheque for 1.5m, Federer addressed the Houston crowd and concluded by saying "thanks for having me". Now he just needs to find a way of winning the French Open, the one Grand Slam to so far elude him.


Sir Bobby Robson has offered Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho some advice on coping under pressure. The pair worked together at Barcelona and Porto and Robson had a word of warning for his protege. "It has all gone for him just lately and that is marvellous, but sometimes you have to have a bit of humility and learn how to lose," said Robson. "It is when it goes against you and you get a bit of bad luck that you learn, and he'll get it straight." Robson was speaking after being formally granted the freedom of the city of Newcastle. "Jose is doing very well at the moment," Robson added of the man who worked for him for six years. "He has got one pot possibly two to follow a big game against Barcelona to come and I cannot see them losing their lead in the Premiership. "They are in a good position and I would expect them to go on and win it, which is a wonderful achievement. "What has occurred over the last couple of weeks will stand him in very good stead for the future. If he is intelligent, he will take it on board and he is very intelligent. "He will have learned more in the last fortnight than the last eight months. Before that, it was all about winning." Robson also admitted he would relish the chance to get back into management and test his skills against Mourinho. "I am not in a hurry to take the wrong job, but I am ready to take the right job and I feel there is another job in me," he added. "I know the area I am capable of working in and of course I would like a job in the Premiership if one was available. "It would not worry me if I had to pit my wits against Jose. "But it is not just a case of him and me against one another. It would be his team against my team but I would not be afraid of that."


Shares in Saudi Arabia's National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI) soared on their first day of trading in Riyadh. They were trading 84% above the offer price on Monday, changing hands at 372 riyals ( 99; 53) after topping 400 early in the day. Demand for the insurer's debut shares was strong 12 times what was on sale. The listing was part of the country's plans to open up its insurance market and boost demand in the sector. Deregulation is expected to boost demand for accident and damage cover. Previously, only NCCI has been legally allowed to offer insurance products within Saudi Arabia. However, the authorities have turned a blind eye to the many other firms selling insurance. Saudi Arabia now wants a fully functioning insurance industry and is introducing legislation that will clamp down on unauthorised companies. Policy makers also want to make having insurance more of a requirement, but first have to take steps to boost public confidence in the system, analysts said. As a result, NCCI is being developed as the industry's flagship firm publicly listed, with audited accounts. Saudi Arabia sold 7 million NCCI shares, or about 70% of the company's total capital last month. More than 800,000 applicants got 9 shares each for 205 riyals apiece.


Yukos will return to a US court on Wednesday to seek sanctions against Baikal Finance Group, the little known firm which has bought its main asset. Yukos has said it will sue Baikal and others involved in the sale of Yuganskneftegas for 20bn in damages. Yukos' US lawyers will attempt to have Baikal assets frozen after the Russian government ignored a US court order last week blocking the sale. Baikal's background and its motives for buying the unit are still unclear. Russian newspapers have claimed that Baikal which bought the Yuganskneftegas production unit for 9.4bn (261bn roubles, 4.8bn) on Sunday at a state provoked auction has strong links with Surgutneftegas, Russia's fourth biggest oil producer. Many observers believe that the unit, which produces 60% of Yukos' oil output, could ultimately fall into the hands of Surgutneftegas or even Gazprom, the state gas firm which opted out of the auction. The Russian government forced the sale of Yukos' most lucrative asset as part of its action to enforce a 27bn back tax bill it says the company owes. Yukos' US lawyers claim the auction was illegal because the firm had filed for bankruptcy and therefore its assets were now under the protection of US bankruptcy law which has worldwide jurisdiction. On Wednesday, Yukos will also seek further legal remedies to prevent the break up of the group. "We believe the auction was illegal and we intend to pursue all legal recourses available to us," Yukos spokesman Mike Lake told Agence France Press. "If it exports that oil, it will be marketing a stolen product," he added. The future ownership of Yuganksneftegas remains unclear amid widespread suggestions that Baikal was established as a front for other interests. Speaking on Tuesday, President Putin said Baikal was owned by individual investors who planned to build relationships with other Russian energy firms interested in the development of Yuganskneftegas. President Putin also suggested that China's National Petroleum Corporation could play a role in the unit's future after signing a commercial agreement with Gazprom to work on joint energy projects. Yukos has claimed that the sale of its main asset will lead to the collapse of the company. Commentators and Yukos itself claim the firm is the target of a government campaign to destroy it because of the political ambitions of its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.


Japan's economy teetered on the brink of a technical recession in the three months to September, figures show. Revised figures indicated growth of just 0.1% and a similar sized contraction in the previous quarter. On an annual basis, the data suggests annual growth of just 0.2%, suggesting a much more hesitant recovery than had previously been thought. A common technical definition of a recession is two successive quarters of negative growth. The government was keen to play down the worrying implications of the data. "I maintain the view that Japan's economy remains in a minor adjustment phase in an upward climb, and we will monitor developments carefully," said economy minister Heizo Takenaka. But in the face of the strengthening yen making exports less competitive and indications of weakening economic conditions ahead, observers were less sanguine. "It's painting a picture of a recovery... much patchier than previously thought," said Paul Sheard, economist at Lehman Brothers in Tokyo. Improvements in the job market apparently have yet to feed through to domestic demand, with private consumption up just 0.2% in the third quarter.


Six UK greyhound tracks have been put up for sale by gaming group Wembley as part of a move which will lead to the break up of the group. Wembley announced the planned sale as it revealed it was to offload its US gaming division to BLB Investors. US gaming consortium BLB will pay 339m ( 182.5m) for the US unit, although the deal is subject to certain conditions. BLB holds a 22% stake in Wembley and last year came close to buying the whole firm in a 308m takeover deal. Shares in Wembley were up 56 pence, or 7.6%, at 797p by mid morning. The sale of the US gaming unit will leave Wembley with its UK business. This includes greyhound tracks at Wimbledon in London, Belle Vue in Manchester, Perry Barr and Hall Green in Birmingham, Oxford and Portsmouth. Analysts have valued the six tracks at between 40m 50m. The US business accounts for about 90% of Wembley's operating profit and consists of operations in Rhode Island and Colorado. BLB's purchase of the US unit is subject to the agreement of a revenue sharing deal being struck with Rhode Island authorities. Wembley said that, once the deal was completed, it anticipated returning surplus cash to shareholders. "Whilst the completion of the sale of the US Gaming Division remains subject to a number of conditions, we believe this development is a positive step towards the maximisation of value for shareholders," said Wembley chairman Claes Hultman. Wembley sold the English national football stadium in 1999 to concentrate on its gaming operations.


Anglers and fishermen could find themselves prosecuted under plans to crack down on animal cruelty, a committee of MPs has warned. Sloppy wording of the draft animal welfare bill could leave anglers facing court even though it was not intended, the environment select committee said. The MPs said they were "concerned" the government had not consulted directly on its plans to improve animal welfare. They raised complex and emotive issues which needed to be resolved, MPs said. They called for a "cast iron guarantee" that the government consults on any plans to regulate animal industries like pet fairs and game bird rearing. The draft bill seeks to modernise and improve animal welfare legislation, and intends to protect "kept animals" and "companion" animals by setting up a "duty of care". In addition to maintaining existing cruelty offences, it creates an offence of neglect by keepers who fail to protect the animals for whom they are responsible. The bill would allow animal welfare officers to intervene to prevent harm to an animal as well as outlawing "mutilation" of animals unless it can be demonstrated to be in the animal's best interest. The environment select committee made 101 recommendations after hearing evidence from 51 organisations and individuals. One was a call to amend the bill so that prosecutions against those engaged in fishing were not inadvertently encouraged even if they were to later fail. "We accept that neither commercial fishing nor recreational angling should fall within the remit of the of the draft bill and we therefore support the government's intention to exempt fishing as an activity." But the committee said an amendment was needed to ensure cases were not brought. "However, in exempting fishing, the government should be careful to ensure that those persons who catch fish are not given 'carte blanche' to inflict unnecessary suffering in the course of pursuing this activity," the committee added. The committee also said some legal protections for animals were downgraded by the bill, such as the law on abandonment of animals which "would be significantly weakened". MPs urged the government to redraft clauses relating to the prosecution of cruelty offences. This was because as it stood the draft bill would allow certain acts that should be prosecuted such as unnecessary suffering caused to an animal through neglect, or unnecessary mental suffering to go unpunished. Committee chairman Michael Jack said: "Any change in the law as it affects animals always arouses powerful emotions and great public interest. "This draft bill is no exception. My committee welcomes the development of an approach to animal welfare which doesn't just wait for a problem to occur but enables action to be taken to protect animals before irreversible suffering takes place." But Mr Jack said the bill "very much had the feel of a 'work in progress', and urged the government to guarantee that "an obligation to consult will be enshrined in law" before it extended legislative plans to areas such as pet fairs, circuses and game bird farms. "The government must work hard to take the rough edges of its initial proposals before the bill is introduced to Parliament," he added.


Mark Lewis Francis has stepped up his preparations for the new season by taking advice from British sprint icon Linford Christie. The 22 year old is set to compete at Sheffield this weekend and will then take on Maurice Greene and Kim Collins in Birmingham on 18 February. "Training in Wales and getting advice from Linford Christie is broadening my mind," said Lewis Francis. The sprinter has also shed weight since winning relay gold at the Athens Games. "Last year I was 91kg, now I am 86.9kg hopefully my times will come down," he said. "This has been brought about by eating the right foods and cutting out the snacks. It is just discipline and being more focused about what I am doing. "I am still keeping up my weights work and I can see the improvement in my running." Despite playing his part in Britain's successful 4x100m relay team, Lewis Francis still feels the frustration of missing out on the individual 100m final at the 2004 Olympics. "That was heartbreaking, but I had made it to the semi final and for me, on a personal level, that was an achievement. "I just have to be patient and build up for the next Olympics. That is my goal and whatever I do between now and then will be geared to making the final."


UK sportswear firm Umbro has posted a 222% rise in annual profit after sales of replica England football kits were boosted by the Euro 2004 tournament. Pre tax profit for 2004 was 15.4m ( 29.4m). Umbro, which recently lost sponsorship deals with Chelsea and Celtic, said on Thursday it had signed a new four year agreement with Scottish club Rangers. It hopes 2005 sales will benefit from the launch of a new England replica shirt ahead of the 2006 World Cup. In January, Umbro announced its sponsorship agreement with Chelsea, which gave Umbro the lucrative right to make replica shirts, would end in 2006, five years earlier than expected. The firm, which is to receive a payment from Chelsea of 24.5m, said it is "appraising a number of additional investment opportunities as a result of this compensation" . Chief executive Peter McGuigan said the firm plans to grow sales both in the UK and internationally. The firm, reporting its first annual results since listing on the London Stock Exchange in June, said the UK market had seen sales growth of 8% last year. It said the launch of its Evolution X fashion range had boosted sales. Umbro supplies more than 150 teams across the world including the national sides of Ireland, Sweden and Norway. Shares in Umbro were up 1.76% at 115.5 pence in morning trade.


Political parties cannot afford to take older UK voters for granted in the coming election, says Age Concern. A survey for the charity suggests 69% of over 55s say they always vote in a general election compared with just 17% of 18 to 24 year olds. Charity boss Gordon Lishman said if a "decisive blow" was struck at the election it would be by older voters who could be relied on to turn out. A total of 3,028 adults aged 18 or over were interviewed for the study. Mr Lishman urged the next government to boost state pension. He also called for measures to combat ageism and build effective public services to "support us all in an ageing society". "Older people want to see manifesto commitments that will make a difference to their lives," Mr Lishman said. "Political parties must wake up to the fact that unless they address the demands and concerns of older people they will not keep or attract their vote." In the survey carried out by ICM Research, 14% of people aged between 18 and 34 said they never voted in general elections. Among the over 65s, 70% said they would be certain to vote in an immediate election, compared with 39% of people under 55. Age Concern says the over 55s are "united around" key areas of policy they want the government to focus on. For 57%, pensions and the NHS were key issues, while the economy was important for a third, and tax was a crucial area for 25%.


As the Aurora limped back to its dock on 20 January, a blizzard of photos and interviews seemed to add up to an unambiguous tale of woe. The ship had another slice of bad luck to add to its history of health scares and technical trouble. And its owner, P O Cruises now part of the huge US Carnival Corporation was looking at a significant slice chopped off this year's profits and a potential PR fiasco. No one, however, seems to have told the stock markets. The warning of a five cent hit to 2005 earnings came just 24 hours after one of the world's biggest investment banks had upped its target for Carnival's share price, from 35 to 36.20. Other investors barely blinked, and by 1300 GMT Carnival's shares in London were down a single penny, or 0.03%, at 32.26. Why the mismatch between the public perception and the market's response? "The Aurora issue had been an ongoing one for some time," says Deutsche Bank's Simon Champion. "It was clearly a source of uncertainty for the company it was a long cruise, after all. But the stock market is very good at treating these issues as one off events." Despite its string of bad luck, he pointed out, Aurora is just one vessel in a large Carnival fleet, the UK's P O Princess group having been merged into the much larger US firm in 2003. And generally speaking, Carnival has a reputation for keeping its ships pretty much on schedule. "Carnival has an incredibly strong track record," Mr Champion. Similarly, analysts expect the impact on the rest of the cruise business to be limited. The hundreds of disappointed passengers who have now had to give up the opportunity to spend the next three months on the Aurora have got both a refund and a credit for another cruise. That should mitigate some of the PR risk, both for Carnival and its main competitor, Royal Caribbean. "While not common, cancellations for technical reasons are not entirely unusual in the industry," wrote analysts from Citigroup Smith Barney in a note to clients on Friday. "Moreover, such events typically have a limited impact on bookings and pricing for future cruises." After all, the Aurora incident may be big news in the UK but for Carnival customers elsewhere it's unlikely to make too much of a splash. Assuming that Citigroup is right, and demand stays solid, the structure of the industry also works in Carnival's favour. In the wake of P O Princess's takeover by Carnival, the business is now to a great extent a duopoly. Given the expense of building, outfitting and running a cruise ship, "slowing supply growth" is a certainty, said David Anders at Merrill Lynch on Thursday. In other words, if you do want a cruise, your options are limited. And with Carnival remaining the market leader, it looks set to keep selling the tickets no matter what happens to the ill fated Aurora in the future.


The number of personal computers worldwide is expected to double by 2010 to 1.3 billion machines, according to a report by analysts Forrester Research. The growth will be driven by emerging markets such as China, Russia and India, the report predicted. More than a third of all new PCs will be in these markets, with China adding 178 million new PCs by 2010, it said. Low priced computers made by local companies are expected to dominate in such territories, Forrester said. The report comes less than a week after IBM, a pioneer of the PC business, sold its PC hardware division to China's number one computer maker Lenovo. The 1.75bn ( 900m) deal will make the combined operation the third biggest PC vendor in the world. "Today's products from Western PC vendors won't dominate in those markets in the long term," Simon Yates, a senior analyst for Forrester, said. "Instead local PC makers like Lenovo Group in China and Aquarius in Russia that can better tailor the PC form factor, price point and applications to their local markets will ultimately win the market share battle," he said. There are currently 575 million PCs in use globally. The United States, Europe and Asia Pacific are expected to add 150 million new PCs by 2010, according to the study. The report forecast that there will be 80 million new PC users in India by 2010 and 40 million new users in Indonesia.


UK interest rates are set to remain on hold at 4.75% following the latest meeting of the Bank of England. The Bank's rate setting committee has put up rates five times in the past year but rates have been on hold since September amid signs of a slowdown. Economic growth slowed in the previous quarter, as manufacturing output fell, while consumer confidence has slipped. There is also growing evidence that the previously booming UK housing market is now cooling. House prices fell 0.4% in October, according to the Nationwide, their biggest monthly fall since February 2001. Last month, Bank of England governor Mervyn King said that the economy had hit a "softer patch" after rapid economic growth in the first half of 2004. Richard Jeffrey, chief economist at Bridgewell Securities, said it was very unlikely that the Bank of England would put rates up again this time around. "There have been sufficient signs in the economy of a slowdown to stay the Bank of England's hand," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. However, Mr Jeffrey said he believed the slowdown in economic activity was temporary and it was dangerous to assume that rates had peaked. "I still think interest rates are going up," he said. "We are not out of the woods."


The once famous Commodore computer brand could be resurrected after being bought by a US based digital music distributor. New owner Yeahronimo Media Ventures has not ruled out the possibility of a new breed of Commodore computers. It also plans to develop a "worldwide entertainment concept" with the brand, although details are not yet known. The groundbreaking Commodore 64 computer elicits fond memories for those who owned one back in the 1980s. In the chronology of home computing, Commodore was one of the pioneers. The Commodore 64, launched in 1982, was one of the first affordable home PCs. It was followed a few years later by the Amiga. The Commodore 64 sold more than any other single computer system, even to this day. The brand languished somewhat in the 1990s. Commodore International filed for bankruptcy in 1994 and was sold to Dutch firm Tulip Computers. In the late 1980s the firm was a great rival to Atari, which produced its own range of home computers and is now a brand of video games, formerly known as Infogrames. Tulip Computers sold several products under the Commodore name, including portable USB storage devices and digital music players. It had planned to relaunch the brand, following an upsurge of nostalgia for 1980s era games. Commodore 64 enthusiasts have written emulators for Windows PC, Apple Mac and even PDAs so that the original Commodore games can be still run. The sale of Commodore is expected to be complete in three weeks in a deal worth over 17m.


Andy Roddick has ended an 18 month association with coach Brad Gilbert which yielded the US Open title and saw the American become world number one. Roddick released a statement through the SFX Sports Group with the news but did not give a reason for the split. "The decision to not re hire Brad Gilbert for the 2005 season is based on what I think is best for my game at this time," said Roddick. "Any more on this situation's a private matter between coach and player." Roddick won 121 of his 147 matches while working with Gilbert, and said he had enjoyed their time together. He won his first Grand Slam event at Flushing Meadows last year, and finished 2003 on top of the ATP Tour rankings. But Roddick slipped to second this year behind Roger Federer, who became the first man since 1988 to win three Majors in a season. Federer, who has not had a coach since he split from Peter Lundgren at the end of last year, beat Roddick to win the Wimbledon title and in two other tournament finals. Roddick hired Gilbert after deciding to part from coach Tarik Benhabiles in the wake of his first round exit at the 2003 French Open. He went on to win the US Open and four other titles for the year. He has won four events this season. "I have enjoyed all of my time with Andy," Gilbert said on his personal website. "He has been a great student of the game during the time that we worked together and I am very proud of the results that were achieved. "While I believe that there is still a great deal of work to be done, Andy clearly does not feel that way."


A UK Independence Party MEP suggested Germany saw the EU as an 'empire' and was cheaper than using tanks, a new documentary has revealed. Mike Nattrass, UKIP's deputy leader, made the comments to an audience at a meeting during last September's Hartlepool by election campaign. But challenged on the remark, he denied accusing Germany of using the EU as cover for a "4th German Reich". He says he was not "German bashing" but saying peace was the EU's founding aim. The meeting was shown in a BBC 3 film on ex UKIP MEP Robert Kilroy Silk. The former chat show host quit the party earlier this month, calling it a joke. The documentary showed Mr Nattrass, apparently talking about the EU, telling the meeting: "The Germans are the big losers here but they don't care because to them the project is worthwhile. "It's like an empire for them spreading in all directions away from Germany into Hungary, into what they call the Sudetenland Czechoslovakia, places like that. "So it's cheaper for them to do it this way than roll the tanks in." On Tuesday, he told the BBC News website he did not think the comments were offensive and worked happily with MEPs of different nationalities in the European Parliament. He argued that peace was the only reason for having the "outdated" EU as there was no economic justification. Pointing to Germany's trade interests as a country in the centre of Europe, Mr Nattrass said: "The fact is that the EU benefits Germany but it does not benefit Britain. "I'm not at all German bashing. It's the truth." A UKIP spokesman said: "Mike has some passionate beliefs and sometimes uses excessively colourful language with which to express them." The documentary showed some of the tensions between Mr Kilroy Silk and his fellow MEPs after UKIP took third place in last year's European elections. He denied wanting to be leader until October 2004, when he told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost programme he aspired to the job. Asked by the documentary makers why he had lied about his leadership ambitions, Mr Kilroy Silk said: "There was one thing I said that I shouldn't have said at the time. "I was trying to be helpful to the party and it was the wrong thing to do, I should have told the truth." The film also included footage of a row between Mr Kilroy Silk, MEP Nigel Farage and party leader Roger Knapman about rumours that he was about to resign the UKIP whip in the European Parliament. Mr Kilroy Silk told them he had not left the UKIP group a move he announced shortly after the meeting. He told Mr Farage: "Don't tell lies Nigel, now you've told too many. Most of the trouble had been caused by you." UKIP officials claim it was in fact Mr Kilroy Silk, not Mr Farage, who briefed newspapers he was leaving the group of MEPs. Later in unguarded, off air comments in a television studio, Mr Kilroy Silk was heard saying he was irritated by "defending some of these right wing fascist nutters". Mr Kilroy Silk separately said he had argued against UKIP working with such groups which believed homosexuality was a sin. A UKIP spokesman said there were more than 40 MEPs in the same group in the European Parliament. They were from a broad spectrum some right wing, some left wing but with a shared belief in the "unfeasibility of the EU as it is now". He did not defend other groups' religious beliefs but argued it was their right to hold such views just as Mr Kilroy Silk had a right to criticise Arab states. London UKIP MEP Gerard Batten said: "Robert has made a variety of comments about UKIP and its MEPs. "There are of course two sides to every story. What Robert does not say is that he was offered several positions which would have given him effective control of the party, but not the title of leader." Mr Kilroy Silk is to launch his own parry, Veritas, in Westminster on Wednesday.


A system to make it easier to create website addresses using alphabets like Cyrillic could open a back door for scammers, a trade body has warned. The Internationalised Domain Names system has been a work in progress for years and has recently been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force. But the UK Internet Forum (UKIF) is concerned that the system will let scammers create fake sites more easily. The problem lies in the computer codes used to represent language. Registering names that look like that of legitimate companies but lead users to fake sites designed to steal passwords and credit card details could become a whole lot easier for determined scammers, says Stephen Dyer, director of UKIF. Domain names are the "real language" addresses of websites, rather than their internet protocol address, which is a series of numbers. They are used so people can more easily navigate the web. So called ASCII codes are used to represent European languages but for other languages a hybrid of a system called Unicode is used. So, for example, website PayPal could now be coded using a mixture of the Latin alphabet and the Russian alphabet. The resulting domain as displayed to the users would look identical to the real site as a Russian 'a' look just like an English 'a'. But the computer code would be different, and the site it would lead users to could be a fake. This is more than just a theory. A fake Paypal.com has already been registered with net domain giant Verisign by someone who has followed the debate around the Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) system, said Mr Dyer. As the idea was to prove a point rather than be malicious the fake domain has now been handed back to Paypal but it sets a worrying precedent, Mr Dyer said. "Although the IDN problem is well known in technical circles, the commercial world is totally unaware how easily their websites can be faked," said Mr Dyer. "It is important to alert users that there is a new and invisible and almost undetectable way of diverting them to what looks like a perfectly genuine site," he added. There are solutions. For instance, browsers could spot domains that use mixed characters and display them in different colours as a warning to users. Mr Dyer acknowledged that it would be a huge undertaking to update all the world's browsers. Another solution, to introduce IDN disabled browsers could be a case of "throwing out the baby with the bath water," he said. CENTR, the Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries, agrees. "A rush to introduce IDN disabled browsers into the marketplace is an overly zealous step that will harm public confidence in IDNs a technology that is desperately needed in the non English speaking world," the organisation said in a statement.