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worldcom ex-boss launches defence lawyers defending former worldcom chief bernie ebbers against a battery of fraud charges have called a company whistleblower as their first witness. cynthia cooper worldcom s ex-head of internal accounting alerted directors to irregular accounting practices at the us telecoms giant ... | business |
german business confidence slides german business confidence fell in february knocking hopes of a speedy recovery in europe s largest economy. munich-based research institute ifo said that its confidence index fell to 95.5 in february from 97.5 in january its first decline in three months. the study found that the ou... | business |
bbc poll indicates economic gloom citizens in a majority of nations surveyed in a bbc world service poll believe the world economy is worsening. most respondents also said their national economy was getting worse. but when asked about their own family s financial outlook a majority in 14 countries said they were posi... | business |
lifestyle governs mobile choice faster better or funkier hardware alone is not going to help phone firms sell more handsets research suggests. instead phone firms keen to get more out of their customers should not just be pushing the technology for its own sake. consumers are far more interested in how handsets f... | tech |
enron bosses in $168m payout eighteen former enron directors have agreed a $168m (£89m) settlement deal in a shareholder lawsuit over the collapse of the energy firm. leading plaintiff the university of california announced the news adding that 10 of the former directors will pay $13m from their own pockets. the se... | business |
howard truanted to play snooker conservative leader michael howard has admitted he used to play truant to spend time with his school friends at a snooker hall. mr howard said his time at jack s snooker hall in llanelli in the 1950s had not done him any lasting damage . but he told the times educational supplement t... | politics |
wales silent on grand slam talk rhys williams says wales are still not thinking of winning the grand slam despite a third six nations win. that s the last thing on our minds at the moment said williams a second- half replacement in saturday s 24-18 win over france in paris. we all realise how difficult a task it ... | sport |
french honour for director parker british film director sir alan parker has been made an officer in the order of arts and letters one of france s highest cultural honours. sir alan received his decoration in paris on wednesday from french culture minister renaud donnedieu de vabres. you have explored the possibiliti... | entertainment |
car giant hit by mercedes slump a slump in profitability at luxury car maker mercedes has prompted a big drop in profits at parent daimlerchrysler. the german-us carmaker saw fourth quarter operating profits fall to 785m euros ($1bn) from 2.4bn euros in 2003. mercedes-benz s woes - its profits slid to just 20m euros -... | business |
fockers fuel festive film chart comedy meet the fockers topped the festive box office in north america setting a new record for christmas day. the sequel took $44.7m (£23.2m) between 24 and 26 december according to studio estimates. it took $19.1m (£9.9m) on christmas day alone the highest takings on that day in bo... | entertainment |
blair rejects iraq advice calls tony blair has rejected calls for the publication of advice on the legality of the iraq war amid growing calls for an investigation. the prime minister told his monthly press conference the matter had been dealt with by the attorney general. earlier conservative mp michael mates joined... | politics |
housewives lift channel 4 ratings the debut of us television hit desperate housewives has helped lift channel 4 s january audience share by 12% compared to last year. other successes such as celebrity big brother and the simpsons have enabled the broadcaster to surpass bbc2 for the first month since last july. however... | entertainment |
uk coal plunges into deeper loss shares in uk coal have fallen after the mining group reported losses had deepened to £51.6m in 2004 from £1.2m. the uk s biggest coal producer blamed geological problems industrial action and operating flaws at its deep mines for its worsening fortunes. the south yorkshire company ... | business |
bp surges ahead on high oil price oil giant bp has announced a 26% rise in annual profits to $16.2bn (£8.7bn) on the back of record oil prices. last week rival shell reported an annual profit of $17.5bn - a record profit for a uk-listed company. bp added that it was increasing its fourth-quarter dividend by 26% to 8.... | business |
ireland 21-19 argentina an injury-time dropped goal by ronan o gara stole victory for ireland from underneath the noses of argentina at lansdowne road on saturday. o gara kicked all of ireland s points with two dropped goals and five penalties to give the home side a 100% record in their autumn internationals. an im... | sport |
wenger signs new deal arsenal manager arsene wenger has signed a new contract to stay at the club until may 2008. wenger has ended speculation about his future by agreeing a long-term contract that takes him beyond the opening of arsenal s new stadium in two years. he said: signing a new contract just rubber-stamps m... | sport |
u2 s desire to be number one u2 who have won three prestigious grammy awards for their hit vertigo are stubbornly clinging to their status as one of the biggest bands in the world. the most popular groups in the history of rock all have several things in common. the music must be inspired and appeal across generatio... | entertainment |
hantuchova in dubai last eight daniela hantuchova moved into the quarter-finals of the dubai open after beating elene likhotseva of russia 7-5 6-4 and now faces serena williams. australian open champion williams survived an early scare to beat russia s elena bovina 1-6 6-1 6-4. world number one lindsay davenport and... | sport |
melzer shocks agassi in san jose second seed andre agassi suffered a comprehensive defeat by jurgen melzer in the quarter-finals of the sap open. agassi was often bamboozled by the austrian s drop shots in san jose losing 6-3 6-1. defending champion and top seed andy roddick rallied to beat sweden s thomas enqvist 3-... | sport |
moving mobile improves golf swing a mobile phone that recognises and responds to movements has been launched in japan. the motion-sensitive phone - officially titled the v603sh - was developed by sharp and launched by vodafone s japanese division. devised mainly for mobile gaming users can also access other phone fun... | tech |
hewitt overcomes wobble in sydney lleyton hewitt gave himself the perfect preparation for next week s australian open with victory over ivo minar in the final of the sydney international. the defending champion brushed aside the czech qualifier 7-5 6-0. the australian world number three strolled to the first five game... | sport |
carry on star patsy rowlands dies actress patsy rowlands known to millions for her roles in the carry on films has died at the age of 71. rowlands starred in nine of the popular carry on films alongside fellow regulars sid james kenneth williams and barbara windsor. she also carved out a successful television care... | entertainment |
serena becomes world number two serena williams has moved up five places to second in the world rankings after her australian open win. williams won her first grand slam title since 2003 with victory over lindsay davenport the world number one. men s champion marat safin remains fourth in the atp rankings while beate... | sport |
ferguson urges henry punishment sir alex ferguson has called on the football association to punish arsenal s thierry henry for an incident involving gabriel heinze. ferguson believes henry deliberately caught heinze on the head with his knee during united s controversial win. the united boss said it was worse than ruu... | sport |
bt boosts its broadband packages british telecom has said it will double the broadband speeds of most of its home and business customers. the increased speeds will come at no extra charge and follows a similar move by internet service provider aol. many bt customers will now have download speeds of 2mbps although the... | tech |
china had role in yukos split-up china lent russia $6bn (£3.2bn) to help the russian government renationalise the key yuganskneftegas unit of oil group yukos it has been revealed. the kremlin said on tuesday that the $6bn which russian state bank veb lent state-owned rosneft to help buy yugansk in turn came from chin... | business |
peer-to-peer nets here to stay peer-to-peer (p2p) networks are here to stay and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms says a panel of industry experts. once several high-profile legal cases against file-sharers are resolved this year firms will be very keen to try and make money from p2p t... | tech |
henman to face saulnier test british number one tim henman will face france s cyril saulnier in the first round of next week s australian open. greg rusedski the british number two is in the same quarter of the draw and could face andy roddick in the second round if he beats swede jonas bjorkman. local favourite lle... | sport |
uk will stand firm on eu rebate britain s £3bn eu rebate is not up for renegotiation at next week s european council summit jack straw said. the foreign secretary told mps the rebate secured by margaret thatcher in 1984 was entirely justified . new european commission president jose manuel barroso has suggested t... | politics |
iran budget seeks state sell-offs iran s president mohammad khatami has unveiled a budget designed to expand public spending by 30% but loosen the islamic republic s dependence on oil. the budget for the fiscal year starting on 21 march calls for the sell-off of 20% of the state s corporate holdings. mr khatami s se... | business |
pompeii gets digital make-over the old-fashioned audio tour of historical places could soon be replaced with computer-generated images that bring the site to life. a european union-funded project is looking at providing tourists with computer-augmented versions of archaeological attractions. it would allow visitors a ... | tech |
rapper snoop dogg sued for rape us rapper snoop dogg has been sued for $25m (£13m) by a make-up artist who claimed he and his entourage drugged and raped her two years ago. the woman said she was assaulted after a recording of the jimmy kimmel live tv show on the abc network in 2003. the rapper s spokesman said the ... | entertainment |
china continues rapid growth china s economy has expanded by a breakneck 9.5% during 2004 faster than predicted and well above 2003 s 9.1%. the news may mean more limits on investment and lending as beijing tries to take the economy off the boil. china has sucked in raw materials and energy to feed its expansion whi... | business |
security papers found in street an inquiry is under way after files containing security details about the pakistani president s visit to london were found by a member of the public. the files are believed to contain detailed security arrangements for gen pervez musharraf s visit this week including police codes. sc... | politics |
philippoussis doubt over open bid mark philippoussis is almost certain to miss the australian open after suffering a groin injury during the hopman cup loss to the netherlands. the 28-year-old suffered two tears to the adductor muscle and was unable to play in the deciding mixed doubles. he is now unlikely to be fit i... | sport |
musical treatment for capra film the classic film it s a wonderful life is to be turned into a musical by the producer of the controversial hit show jerry springer - the opera. frank capra s 1946 movie starring james stewart is being turned into a £7m musical by producer jon thoday. he is working with steve brown wh... | entertainment |
corry backs skipper robinson england forward martin corry says jason robinson is the right man to lead the national team back to winning ways. after losses to wales and france critics have started to wonder whether robinson can captain from full-back. but corry has backed robinson who was given the role after the in... | sport |
yachvili savours france comeback france scrum-half dimitri yachvili praised his team after they fought back to beat england 18-17 in the six nations clash at twickenham. yachvili kicked all of france s points as they staged a second-half revival. we didn t play last week against scotland and we didn t play in the fir... | sport |
prop jones ready for hard graft adam jones says the wales forwards are determined to set the perfect attacking platform for the backs by dominating the powerful france pack in paris. the prop said: if we get stuffed in the front five our backs have had it. the mentality of the french is scrum scrum scrum . we wil... | sport |
security scares spark browser fix microsoft is working on a new version of its internet explorer web browser. the revamp has been prompted by microsoft s growing concern with security as well as increased competition from rival browsers. microsoft said the new version will be far less vulnerable to the bugs that make ... | tech |
argonaut founder rebuilds empire jez san the man behind the argonaut games group which went into administration a week ago has bought back most of the company. the veteran games developer has taken over the cambridge-based just add monsters studios and the london subsidiary morpheme. the argonaut group went into adm... | tech |
mcleish ready for criticism rangers manager alex mcleish accepts he is going to be criticised after their disastrous uefa cup exit at the hands of auxerre at ibrox on wednesday. mcleish told bbc radio five live: we were in pole position to get through to the next stage but we blew it we absolutely blew it. there s ... | sport |
premier league planning cole date the premier league is attempting to find a mutually convenient date to investigate allegations chelsea made an illegal approach for ashley cole. both chelsea and arsenal will be asked to give evidence to a premier league commission but no deadline has been put on when that meeting wi... | sport |
viewers to be able to shape tv imagine editing titanic down to watch just your favourite bits or cutting out the slushier moments of star wars to leave you with a bare bones action-fest. manipulating your favourite films to make a more personalised movie is just the beginning of an ambitious new 7.5m euro (£5.1m) proj... | tech |
obituary: dame alicia markova dame alicia markova who has died in bath aged 94 was the uk s first prima ballerina of the modern age and in her heyday the greatest in the western world. she was born lilian alicia marks in london in 1910. her parents were comfortably off - her father a mining engineer drove a rol... | entertainment |
tv station refuses adoption show a tv station in the us has refused to show a controversial new series where adopted children try and pick their birth father - and win a cash prize. the wraz-tv fox affiliate in north carolina was the only one of 182 stations to refuse monday s show. who s your daddy promises $100 000 ... | entertainment |
china ripe for media explosion asia is set to drive global media growth to 2008 and beyond with china and india filling the two top spots analysts have predicted. japan south korea and singapore will also be strong players but china s demographics give it the edge a media conference in london heard. the world s... | tech |
broadband fuels online change fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online research suggests. a quarter of broadband users in britain regularly upload content and have personal sites according to a report by uk think-tank demos. it said that having an always-on fast connection is changing... | tech |
halo 2 sells five million copies microsoft is celebrating bumper sales of its xbox sci-fi shooter halo 2. the game has sold more than five million copies worldwide since it went on sale in mid-november the company said. halo 2 has proved popular online with gamers notching up a record 28 million hours playing the g... | tech |
bank set to leave rates on hold 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 pr... | business |
telewest to challenge sky plus cable firm telewest is to offer a personal video recorder (pvr) in a set -top box to challenge sky plus. sky plus is the market leader in the field of digital video recorders in the uk with 474 000 subscribers. pvrs record tv programmes to a hard drive letting viewers pause and rewind... | tech |
mourinho defiant on chelsea form chelsea boss jose mourinho has insisted that sir alex ferguson and arsene wenger would swap places with him. mourinho s side were knocked out of the fa cup by newcastle last sunday before seeing barcelona secure a 2-1 champions league first-leg lead in the nou camp. but he denied his c... | sport |
mps quiz aides over royal income senior officials at the two bodies generating private income for the queen and prince of wales are to be questioned by mps. aides from the duchy of lancaster and duchy of cornwall will appear before the commons public accounts committee. it has been reported they could be questioned ab... | politics |
federer claims dubai crown world number one roger federer added the dubai championship trophy to his long list of successes - but not before he was given a test by ivan ljubicic. top seed federer looked to be on course for a easy victory when he thumped the eighth seed 6-1 in the first set. but ljubicic who beat tim ... | sport |
calder fears for scottish rugby former scotland international finlay calder fears civil war at the sru could seriously hamper his country s rbs six nations campaign. four members of the executive board including the chairman david mackay have resigned after a simmering row. and calder said: this is terrible news f... | sport |
blair buys copies of new band aid prime minister tony blair purchased two copies of the charity single band aid 20 in edinburgh on friday. staff were surprised when the prime minister walked into hmv at 0900 gmt accompanied by aides and local police. when mr blair came in unannounced we were all pretty gobsmacked ... | entertainment |
borussia dortmund near bust german football club and former european champion borussia dortmund has warned it will go bankrupt if rescue talks with creditors fail. the company s shares tumbled after it said it has entered a life-threatening profitability and financial situation . borussia dortmund has posted record l... | business |
german growth goes into reverse germany s economy shrank 0.2% in the last three months of 2004 upsetting hopes of a sustained recovery. the figures confounded hopes of a 0.2% expansion in the fourth quarter in europe s biggest economy. the federal statistics office said growth for the whole of 2004 was 1.6% after a ... | business |
tory backing for id cards the tories are to back controversial government plans to introduce id cards. the shadow cabinet revealed its support ahead of next week s commons vote on a bill to introduce compulsory id. the decision follows a tough meeting where some senior tories argued vociferously against the move pa... | politics |
benitez delight after crucial win liverpool manager rafael benitez admitted victory against deportivo la coruna was vital in their tight champions league group. jorge andrade s early own goal gave liverpool a 1-0 win. and benitez said: we started at a very high tempo and had many chances. it is a very important win f... | sport |
dozens held over id fraud site twenty-eight people including a briton have been arrested after a global operation against a website allegedly involved in identity fraud. those arrested are accused of operating shadowcrew.com which investigators claim was a global clearing house for criminals involved in credit card... | tech |
arsenal may seek full share listing arsenal vice-chairman david dein has said the club may consider seeking a full listing for its shares on the london stock exchange. speaking at the soccerex football business forum in dubai he said a full listing was one of the options for funding after the club moves to its ne... | business |
prince crowned top music earner prince earned more than any other pop star in 2004 beating artists such madonna and elton john in us magazine rolling stone s annual list. the singer banked $56.5m (£30.4m) from concerts album and publishing sales with his musicology tour and album. he kept madonna in second place ... | entertainment |
what high-definition will do to dvds first it was the humble home video then it was the dvd and now hollywood is preparing for the next revolution in home entertainment - high-definition. high-definition gives incredible 3d-like pictures and surround sound. the dvd disks and the gear to play them will not be out fo... | tech |
two nigerian banks set to merge nigerian banks united bank of africa and standard trust bank have agreed plans to merge and create the biggest bank in west africa. the deal is also in line with a 2004 directive from the nigerian central bank that called for more consolidation in the nation s crowded banking sector. th... | business |
dent continues adelaide progress american taylor dent reached the final of the australian hardcourt event in adelaide with a crushing 6-1 6-1 win over argentine juan ignacio chela. dent will meet swede joachim johansson on sunday after the second seed survived a tense tie-break to defeat belgium s olivier rochus 6-1 7... | sport |
stalemate in pension strike talks talks aimed at averting national strikes over pension reforms have ended without agreement after 90 minutes. five public sector unions met deputy prime minister john prescott at the labour spring conference in gateshead. they want the government to withdraw regulations - due to be int... | politics |
tories outlining policing plans local communities would be asked to go to the polls to elect their own area police commissioner under plans unveiled by the conservatives. party leader michael howard said the new role would replace inconspicuous police authorities. he said the new office would not supersede the job ... | politics |
us state acts to stop spammers us state texas has filed a lawsuit against two men believed to be among the world s top five spammers. it is seeking millions of dollars in damages in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this week. the texas attorney general said it started the legal action as messages sent by the alleged sp... | tech |
gates opens biggest gadget fair bill gates has opened the consumer electronics show (ces) in las vegas saying that gadgets are working together more to help people manage multimedia content around the home and on the move. mr gates made no announcement about the next generation xbox games console which many gadget l... | tech |
aragones angered by racism fine spain coach luis aragones is furious after being fined by the spanish football federation for his comments about thierry henry. the 66-year-old criticised his 3000 euros (£2 060) punishment even though it was far below the maximum penalty. i am not guilty nor do i accept being judged ... | sport |
camera phones are must-haves four times more mobiles with cameras in them will be sold in europe by the end of 2004 than last year says a report from analysts gartner. globally the number sold will reach 159 million an increase of 104%. the report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a bui... | tech |
vickery upbeat about arm injury england prop phil vickery is staying positive despite a broken arm ruling him out of the rbs six nations. the 28-year-old fractured the radius in his right forearm during gloucester s 17-16 win over bath on saturday. he will undergo an operation on monday and is expected to be out for a... | sport |
balco case trial date pushed back the trial date for the bay area laboratory cooperative (balco) steroid distribution case has been postponed. us judge susan illston pushed back a preliminary evidentiary hearing - which was due to take place on wednesday - until 6 june. no official trial date has been set but it is ex... | sport |
gebrselassie in london triple bid double olympic 10 000m champion haile gebrselassie will race in the london marathon for the next three years. the ethiopian legend won sunday s almeria half-marathon in spain on his return from an operation on his achilles tendon. he was third in london in 2002 in his first serious at... | sport |
china aviation seeks rescue deal scandal-hit jet fuel supplier china aviation oil has offered to repay its creditors $220m (£117m) of the $550m it lost on trading in oil futures. the firm said it hoped to pay $100m now and another $120m over eight years. with assets of $200m and liabilities totalling $648m it needs c... | business |
o driscoll out of scotland game ireland captain brian o driscoll has been ruled out of saturday s rbs six nations clash against scotland. o driscoll was originally named in the starting line-up but has failed to recover from the hamstring injury he picked up in the win over italy. his replacement will be named after t... | sport |
vodafone appoints new japan boss vodafone has drafted in its uk chief executive william morrow to take charge of its troubled japanese operation. mr morrow will succeed shiro tsuda as president of vodafone kk japan s number three mobile operator in april. mr tsuda who will become chairman was appointed president o... | business |
super size me wins writers award super size me director morgan spurlock has won the writers guild of america s award for documentary feature writing. the oscar-nominated film followed spurlock as he ate only mcdonald s fast food for an entire month. spurlock was given the award at a special ceremony at the roosevelt ... | entertainment |
ukraine strikes turkmen gas deal ukraine has agreed to pay 30% more for natural gas supplied by turkmenistan. the deal was sealed three days after turkmenistan cut off gas supplies in a price dispute that threatened the ukrainian economy. supplies from turkmenistan account for 45% of all natural gas imported by ukrain... | business |
text messages aid disaster recovery text messaging technology was a valuable communication tool in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in asia. the messages can get through even when the cell phone signal is too weak to sustain a spoken conversation. now some are studying how the technology behind sms could be bette... | tech |
peugeot deal boosts mitsubishi struggling japanese car maker mitsubishi motors has struck a deal to supply french car maker peugeot with 30 000 sports utility vehicles (suv). the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding and say they expect to seal a final agreement by spring 2005. the alliance comes as a badly-... | business |
howard pitches for uk ethnic vote michael howard is to make a pitch for britain s ethnic vote urging people who feel taken for granted by tony blair to vote conservative. he will say conservatives share the same values as the uk s minorities. and that he wants to build a better britain where everyone whatever t... | politics |
clarke to press on with id cards new home secretary charles clarke has vowed to plough on with plans for id cards despite a call for him to pause for thought from charles kennedy. the lib dem leader said david blunkett s resignation was a good opportunity to question whether the legislation was necessary. but mr c... | politics |
venus stunned by farina elia venus williams suffered a first-round defeat for the first time in four years at the dubai championships. sylvia farina elia who had lost all nine of her previous meetings with the american fifth seed won 7-5 7-6 (8-6). former wimbledon champion conchita martinez and india s sania mirza ... | sport |
iranian misses israel match iranian striker vahid hashemian will not travel to israel for bayern munich s champions league match against maccabi tel aviv on wednesday. the german club said the player had pulled out because of a back injury. iran refuses to recognise israel s right to exist and does not allow its citiz... | sport |
boris opposes mayor apology ken livingstone should stick to his guns and not apologise for his nazi comment to a jewish reporter tory mp boris johnson has insisted. mr johnson also claimed tony blair s intervention in the row was an attempt to reassure jewish voters . london mayor mr livingstone says he is stan... | politics |
deal to ban homophobic reggae the reggae industry is to refuse to release or stage concerts featuring homophobic songs under a global deal struck with gay rights groups. a damaging campaign against stars such as beenie man and sizzla has been waged over lyrics that allegedly call for gay people to be killed or assau... | entertainment |
britain boosted by holmes double athletics fans endured a year of mixed emotions in 2004 as stunning victories went hand-in-hand with disappointing defeats and more drugs scandals. kelly holmes finally fulfilled her potential by storming to double gold on the track at the olympic games. holmes helped erase the gloom h... | sport |
campbell to be lions consultant former government communications chief alastair campbell will act as a media consultant to sir clive woodward s 2005 lions on their tour to new zealand. campbell who left downing street earlier this year will advise on media strategy before and during the tour. i hope i can contribut... | sport |
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