Business outlook slumps on stalling economy

Pre-election predictions of a slumping economy could be borne out if the latest survey of business confidence is a portent of the future. The ANZ National Bank business outlook for November shows the mood of business at its lowest level since the 1987 sharemarket crash but there is no impending crisis.

A net 66 per cent of firms expected general business conditions to deteriorate over the next year – the lowest level of business confidence since the sharemarket crash in the late 1980s. Pessimists accounted for 71 per cent of replies and optimists five per cent.

Firms’ own activity expectations – a key barometer of economic growth prospects – were also crushed. A net zero per cent of respondents expect conditions to improve over the coming year, the lowest level since the grumpy growth period of 2000.

“This level of confidence is indicative of an economy at a stand still and forewarns there could be a negative GDP outturn in the last quarter of 2005 or the first quarter of 2006,” chief economist John McDermot said.

Consistent with the decline in firms’ expectation about their own activity was a fall in profit expectations, employment intentions and investment intentions. No meltdown coming“The potential slowdown has been on the horizon for a while now and has been commented on so often that people are starting to believe the economy is in a meltdown.

It is not. The truth of the matter is that economy grew strongly in the first nine months of 2005, but this expansion looks to be built on unstable foundations. “Unfortunately, it feels like we are walking uphill in a mist of uncertainty and somewhere in that mist is the cliff we could fall down – unless we tread carefully,” Dr McDermott said.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the fall in business confidence was no surprise given the sensitivity to official interest rates, which are at their highest level since the official cash rate was introduced in 1999. Briefing papers from the Reserve Bank, issued yesterday, said the economy had serious imbalances. Factors included high domestic demand, core inflation knocking 3 per cent, a widening balance of payments deficit, a high dollar and high house prices.

"All these factors point to a rough landing unless debt-financed consumption begins to slow," Dr Cullen said. Official interest rates are expected to rise to 7.25 per cent next month, despite the gloomy business outlook, falling consumer confidence and official figures showing low migration. Though some commentators had called for a halt to rising interest rates for the sake of the economy, "such pleas will fall on deaf ears", he said.

The Reserve Bank was aware that if higher unit labour costs and higher oil prices were producing inflation, the only way to counter that was by slowing or stopping economic growth. The bank survey showed inflation expectations had again increased, to 3.4 per cent in November, the highest level since the middle of 2000.

www.nbr.co.nz

Alcohol, drugs health concern to young

YOUNG people doubled their alcohol intake between the ages of 12 and 19, according to a Federal Government report.The findings of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, which included responses from 30,000 young people, also show drug users report poorer health than non-drug users.

Report author David Batts said heart disease, mental illness and asthma were the most commonly reported problems by drug users aged 14-years and older.

"Most strikingly, one in two Australians who had used heroin in the last month (of the 2004 survey) were diagnosed or treated for mental illness in the last 12 months compared with only one in 11 (9 per cent) of those who had not used heroin in the last 12 months," Mr Batts said.
It was not only hard illicit drugs that had harmful effects.

Three in 10 Australians reported they had been verbally or physically abused by someone affected by alcohol in the past 12 months and one in eight had a similar experience with someone affected by illicit drugs.

The legal drugs most available were alcohol and tobacco.

The illicit drugs most available were pharmaceuticals used for non-medical purposes and cannabis.

One in 11 (8.9 per cent) of Australians drank daily and five in 11, or 42.2 per cent drank weekly, with two in 11 people (16.4 per cent) saying they did not drink at the time of the survey.

One in 14 (17 per cent) of young people aged 12-15 said they had used an illicit drug, cannabis being the most common.

www.theadvertiser.news.com.au

Microsoft to launch next-generation games technology

Games industry observers have predicted that it will be at least a year before competitors Sony and Nintendo release their versions of next-generation gaming technology, putting Microsoft at a considerable advantage in its effort to revolutionize the gaming industry and secure itself a place within the emerging digital entertainment industry.

"The debut of Xbox 360 marks one of the biggest consumer launches in Microsoft's history," said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft and chief Xbox officer. "With its sheer power, portfolio of graphically stunning games, rich online capabilities, and features for enjoying music, movies and photos, Xbox 360 delivers integrated digital gaming and entertainment experiences that simply can't be matched."

Microsoft is hoping to sell over one million Xbox 360s within its first three months on the market, and with plans to deliver a new operating system that will optimize Xbox 360's facilities and features, it is difficult to estimate the extent to which Microsoft is set to profit from the introduction of its new product.

With most of its appeal attributable to the product's enhanced action imagery and next generation graphics, there is every reason to believe that Microsoft will set a new standard for gaming technology. The advances that digital technology can lend to the gaming industry are sure to make new products every bit the virtual reality experience games fanatics appreciate.

www.cbronline.com

PepsiCo to Buy Sara Lee Nuts Business in Netherlands, Belgium and France

Deal for Duyvis and Benenuts Will Make PepsiCo Europe's Leader in Branded Nuts

PepsiCo .- Has reached agreement on the principal terms and conditions
for the purchase of Sara Lee Corporation's European nuts business in
the Netherlands, Belgium and France for a price of euro 130 million,
the company announced today.

The transaction will broaden PepsiCo's portfolio in the European snack market.

The business being purchased sells products under the Duyvis brand in
the Netherlands and Belgium and the Benenuts brand in France, the
leading nut brands in their respective markets. The products are
principally roasted and coated bagged peanuts, but also include mixes,
noble nuts and extruded snacks.

"These are top-quality brands with strong market positions," said
Michael D. White, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo
International. "They will broaden our product portfolio by immediately
giving PepsiCo a strong position in branded nuts, a large category
that's increasingly popular among consumers interested in convenience,
great taste and nutrition. This also will give us an important source
of products to sell in other markets where we have an established nut
business."

The transaction is subject to satisfactory outcome of works council
proceedings, as well as regulatory approvals and clearance by the
Dutch competition authority.

PepsiCo International comprises all of the businesses outside the
United States and Canada of PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food
and beverage companies.

PepsiCo's portfolio includes 16 brands that each generate retail sales
of U.S. $1 billion or more, including Pepsi-Cola, Gatorade, Tropicana,
Lay's, Doritos and Quaker.

www.biz.yahoo.com

Cervical Cancer Shots Win Some Conservative Favor

Conservatives that fought wider access to a "morning-after" pill are
speaking favorably about vaccines against a sexually transmitted cause
of cervical cancer, but some groups may still call for limited use.

The makers of the still-experimental vaccines, Merck & Co. Inc. and
GlaxoSmithKline Plc, have been meeting with advocacy groups to dispel
any concerns that giving the shots might promote sexual activity by
young girls.

The efforts are paying off, as some religious organizations are
welcoming the vaccines as a new weapon against the sexually
transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV). Experts blame HPV for nearly
all cases of cervical cancer.

"We think it's a great idea to have this vaccine," said Dr. Gene Rudd,
associate executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental
Association.

Should studies continue to show solid results, "we think it ought to
be a recommended vaccine," he said.

Rudd's organization was among the opponents of Barr Pharmaceuticals
Inc.'s bid for over-the-counter sales of the Plan B "morning-after"
contraceptive. Some Plan B backers worry the same forces will stymie
the HPV vaccines by arguing their availability could clash with a
message promoting abstinence.

"We do not want to see another instance of ideology trumping the
health and well-being of the American people," Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton, a New York Democrat, wrote in a letter to Health and Human
Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.

Cervical cancer strikes about 10,000 U.S. women a year and kills about
3,900, according to the American Cancer Society.

Merck's vaccine has shown 100 percent protection from the two most
common HPV strains and could win approval next year.

For maximum acceptance, the makers need a strong endorsement from the
Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, a panel convened by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Schools often follow the
panel's recommendations when deciding which vaccines to require for
students.

While some physicians suggest mandatory vaccination for girls --
possibly at age 11 or 12 -- others want the shots limited to those at
high risk of HPV infection because they have multiple sexual partners.

"You can't get HPV through casual contact, and if you limit your
sexual behavior ... you're not going to have to worry about HPV," said
Dr. Hal Wallis of the Physicians Consortium, which advocates
abstinence until marriage.

By requiring universal vaccination, "we would be literally vaccinating
millions of women who really are at no risk at all," he said.

Urging limits could be a "back-door way" for opponents to defeat the
vaccines, said Susan Wood, a women's health expert who left the Food
and Drug Administration because of its refusal to clear
over-the-counter Plan B. Just as with Plan B, opponents "don't want
widespread availability," she said.

Concerned Women for America, a conservative group that lobbied against
Plan B, has no position on the vaccines yet.

"People do seem more willing to take risks if they think they are not
going to suffer consequences," said Wendy Wright, CWA's executive vice
president. She said she was "encouraged" Merck was pitching the
vaccine as preventing cancer, rather than a sexually transmitted
infection. That could avoid "the very touchy issue of how this virus
is transmitted," she said.

Executives from Merck and Glaxo said they are sensitive to concerns
from groups that teach abstinence.

"Abstinence obviously is the most effective approach to preventing
cervical cancer, but there are many other potential outcomes,"
Margaret McGlynn, president of Merck Vaccines, said at the Reuters
Health Summit this month.

www.cancerpage.com

Macromedia CFO Betsey Nelson Joins Good Technology's Board of Directors

Good Technology, Inc., the leading provider of industry
standards-based enterprise handheld computing software and service,
today announced that Betsey Nelson, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR - News), has joined the
Company's Board of Directors.

"With more than 7,000 corporations using Good Technology's software
and service to manage and secure mission critical enterprise
applications and boost mobile productivity, Good is enabling the next
wave of computing," said Nelson. "I look forward to contributing to
the company's success."

"Betsey brings an immense wealth of financial and operational wisdom
to Good from her experience leading a highly successful public company
with a growing wireless business," said Danny Shader, CEO, Good
Technology. "Good will benefit from Betsey's business expertise as we
continue to grow by serving our worldwide customer base and aligning
with the needs of operators and handheld manufacturers."

Betsey Nelson is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
of Macromedia, Inc. She joined Macromedia in 1996 and has served as
the company's CFO since 1997. She is responsible for all of the
company's operational and administrative functions, including business
development, customer care, finance, investor relations, information
technology, legal, operations, and real estate.

Prior to joining Macromedia, Betsey spent eight years at
Hewlett-Packard, where she held a variety of positions in finance and
corporate development. Betsey holds an MBA in Finance with distinction
from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in
Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She currently serves on
the Boards of Macromedia, CNET Networks and MarketLive.

About Good Technology
Good Technology is the leader in enterprise handheld computing
software and service, using industry standards to provide the
corporate applications enterprises need on the handhelds they choose
over the networks they prefer.

The company's GoodAccess and GoodLink products extend mission-critical
enterprise applications -- including Microsoft Exchange, Oracle,
salesforce.com and Siebel -- to mobile employees when an where they
need them, using end-to-end AES encrypted, FIPS 140-2 certified
security, and cradle-free, real-time synchronization.

GoodLink and GoodAccess are combined enterprise software and service
that run on a variety of devices and networks, freeing customers from
vendor lock-in, and allowing maximum flexibility.

Good Technology is located in Santa Clara, California. For more
information call 1-866-7-BEGOOD and select the option for sales,
e-mail sales@good.com or visit www.good.com.

www.biz.yahoo.com

APEC leaders to improve business conditions in Pacific Rim

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries agreed to improve business conditions in the Pacific Rim at the summit in South Korea Saturday.

The leaders said in the final declaration that they had instructed relevant ministries to tackle the improvement of national regulations to create a favorable business environment in the Pacific Rim.

The leaders also hailed the initiative to develop the private sector in the region, as well as recommendations of the APEC Business Advisory Council.

The council's recommendations include strengthening the APEC leading role in the completion of the "Doha Round" of WTO multilateral trade negotiations that was launched in Qatar, in November 2001, consolidating regional financial systems and boosting of the protection of intellectual property rights.

The APEC Business Advisory Council was set up in 1995 to promote the forum's cooperation with business circles that are considered the main driving force of economic development in the Pacific Rim. Each APEC member state has three representatives in the council.

www.en.rian.ru

Diabetes derails Kerala's health sector

Kerala is facing a huge challenge these days in the form of growing incidence of diabetes.It’s one disease that has not only put immense burden on the state's health care delivery sector but is also eating into the health care budget.

Kerala has now begun a unique campaign in its capital, in the wake of acquiring the dubious status of being the epicentre of the country's diabetic population. Some estimates say close to Rs 5000 crore are spent each year to treat diabetes in the state, whose annual budget is just a little higher at Rs 5600 crore.

"The government is more concerned with preventing infectious diseases like Malaria and TB. But considering the complications, death and expenditure it is thousand times more complicated," said Dr Jothy Dev, Diabetologist.

Alarming riseWhile there has been no official survey on the prevalence of diabetes in Kerala, unofficial estimates say 17 per cent of the state's population is affected.The reasons are a rapidly changing life style and a growing geriatric population.

Fifty years ago, the life expectancy of a Malayalee, which was 55, are now 75 for men and is even higher for women. But the disease is also increasing alarmingly among people 30 to 40 year olds."It may be true there are genetic features. But Kerala has got high literacy rate and combined with the inactivity and food with rich fat people are prone to the disease," said Dr Jothy Dev."

Often people come to know about diabetes at a very late stage because of serious ailments. But it can be treated if we come to know early. So awareness campaigns are essential," said Bindu, health activist.Clearly then, Kerala requires mass campaigns to prevent and treat diabetes which is threatening to derail the state's health care sector.

www.ndtv.com

Cisco to buy firm known for cable TV technology

Betting that video will drive the future of networking, Cisco Systems Inc. agreed yesterday to buy the cable television technology company Scientific-Atlanta Inc. in a $6.9 billion deal that would create a one-stop shop for sending TV over the Internet.

The acquisition is expected to help fuel the revolution in how TV is distributed and watched - a change that’s accelerating as telephone companies barge into the domain of cable operators and begin offering programming over fiber-optic networks using the language of the Internet.

It also fits Cisco’s strategy of moving into areas that are converging on the Internet Protocol standard - a shift that creates an opportunity to increase revenue with new business and enhance its traditional routers and switches that direct data over networks.

"Over the next two or three years, we are going to see a dramatic change in the landscape, where video-over-broadband infrastructure becomes the centerpiece of investments that service providers make and the expectations that consumers have," said Mike Volpi, a Cisco senior vice president.

For providers and consumers, IP television promises expanded choices, lower costs and new services in the same way voice-over-the-Internet Protocol has made phone calls less expensive and enabled features that were not possible with the traditional telephone network.

The deal also opens up opportunities for Cisco’s Linksys home networking division. Its products could be made to work seamlessly with Scientific-Atlanta boxes to distribute television throughout the home.

"We have Wi-Fi, broadband routers and other kinds of home devices which we believe can interconnect and extend the Scientific-Atlanta footprint in the home," Volpi said, "and put Cisco in the leadership not only in the network ... but also in the digital home itself."

It is Cisco’s largest acquisition ever in terms of head count and revenue. The San Jose company is paying $43 a share for Scientific-Atlanta - a 3.7 percent premium over its closing price on Thursday. The Atlanta company has about 7,500 employees and posted $1.91 billion in sales in fiscal 2005.

Scientific-Atlanta shares rose 70 cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $42.15 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while Cisco shares slipped 35 cents to $17.02 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the third quarter of Cisco’s fiscal 2006 calendar, pending closing conditions.

For Scientific-Atlanta’s business of supplying infrastructure to TV providers, Cisco’s position as the leading provider of network infrastructure will help seal deals as cable, telephone and others build and expand their networks, said Jim McDonald, Scientific-Atlanta’s chief executive.

"These customers want more complete integrated solutions from fewer vendors," said McDonald, who said he will remain with the company for two years.

Cisco also will help fuel Scientific-Atlanta’s expansion beyond cable TV companies that have been relatively slow to introduce new technologies to customers, said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research.

www.columbiatribune.com

Eisai Resubmits NDA for the Anti-epilepsy Drug Rufinamide

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.- Eisai Medical Research Inc. (Headquarters:
Ridgefield Park, NJ, President: Mindell Seidlin), a U.S.
pharmaceutical subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd. , announced today that
they resubmitted the New Drug Application (NDA) for the anti-epilepsy
agent rufinamide on Nov. 16, 2005.

Eisai Medical Research had withdrawn the original NDA in early
November and has supplemented its filing to include copies of some of
the data from the original NDA in a more accessible electronic format.

Rufinamide has been evaluated as an adjunctive treatment for
partial-onset seizures in adult and adolescent patients (12 years and
older) and as adjunctive treatment for seizures associated with
Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) in children (4 years and older).

About Eisai Co., Ltd.
Eisai Co., Ltd. is a research-based human health care company that
discovers, develops and markets products in more than 30 countries.

Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites
and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects
of the worldwide health care system. Eisai employs 8,000 people
worldwide.

About Eisai Medical Research Inc.
Eisai Medical Research Inc. is a U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of
Eisai Co., Ltd. Eisai Medical Research Inc. was established to focus
solely on clinical research and to expedite clinical drug development
of new chemical entities and of new indications for marketed products.

www.medadnews.com

Cognos 8 Business Intelligence Now Generally Available for Customers Worldwide

Decision makers across the enterprise gain a more consistent, accurate
view of information to better manage performance.

OTTAWA and BURLINGTON.- the world leader in business intelligence and
corporate performance management (CPM), today announced the immediate
general availability of Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, the industry's
first solution that delivers complete BI capabilities in a single
product, on a single Web Services-based architecture.

Today's CIOs and business leaders require a BI solution that delivers
a complete view of business issues for high value decision-making on a
global scale. Cognos 8 BI is a groundbreaking product that addresses
this need by providing decision makers at all levels of the enterprise
with a consistent, accurate view of information to better manage
performance.

As a single product that easily integrates into existing
infrastructures with multiple systems and data sources, Cognos 8 BI is
a robust technology foundation for BI standardization and corporate
performance management.

BI is a top strategic priority for organizations worldwide. In a
recent Gartner EXP CIO survey, BI was listed as No. 2 on the 2005 CIO
top 10 technology priority list, up from No. 10 in 2004.* IDC's recent
Market Watch survey also ranks BI as no. 2 on the "CIO To-Do List" for
2006.**

Showcased to more than 20,000 decision makers worldwide, Cognos 8 BI
is the only solution to deliver a simplified, zero-footprint interface
for all users, authors and administrators. Easy to integrate, deploy
and use, Cognos 8 BI delivers a simplified BI environment that drives
high user adoption and speeds decision-making with relevant,
actionable information in the right language and format. Role-based
licensing provides flexibility for customers to quickly implement the
capabilities they require as they need them.

Cognos 8 BI has also gained overwhelmingly positive reviews from
industry analyst thought leaders since its market introduction:

AMR Research
"The release of Cognos 8 BI continues to raise the stakes for BI
standardization ... Cognos' SOA design aids functionality and
agility."(1)

Bloor Research
"Cognos 8 has two big advantages over its competitors: it has a
unified architecture, which not all of its rivals do; and it has Event
Studio, which is a major differentiator."(2)

Nucleus Research
"With this new release of its business intelligence platform, Cognos
is making it easier for companies to standardize on its tools to
handle all aspects of business analytics, reporting, and
measurement."(3)

Ventana Research
"We believe the release of Cognos 8 BI strengthens Cognos' market
position. The product is a strong option for organizations seeking to
standardize their BI product portfolio. With its broad set of
functions, tighter integration and new capabilities, Cognos 8 is a
strong competitor."(11)

These published reports address BI standardization; competitive
differentiators, the product's Services Oriented Architecture and key
new features such as extended open data access, dimensional reporting
and dynamic dashboards, comparative analysis against
multi-dimensionally modeled relational or OLAP data, event management
and process integration, and actionable scorecards.

"The market paradigm shift underscored by the industry research and
led by Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is the latest phase in the
evolution of BI from a departmental 'nice-to-have' to a strategic
'must-have' solution," said Rob Ashe, president and CEO, Cognos.
"Cognos 8 BI delivers a single platform that goes beyond mere 'suite
integration' by providing the complete spectrum of capabilities
enterprises need to achieve their BI goals. It's a modern BI platform
tailored to deliver the proven reliability our customers enjoy and our
prospects seek."

Network Computing Magazine recently awarded Cognos BI its Editor's
Choice in a rigorous competitive review of leading vendors. Featured
in the Oct. 13, 2005 cover story of Network Computing, the review
cites Cognos BI's excellence in data presentation and web-based
reporting capabilities as key to its selection. See:
http://www.cognos.com/news/releases/2005/1013.html.

Cognos is positioned in the Gartner "leaders" quadrant for both the
CPM Suites, 2005 and Enterprise Business Intelligence Suites and
Platforms, 2H04 reports(22). See:
http://www.cognos.com/news/releases/2005/1107.html

ABOUT COGNOS:
Cognos, the world leader in business intelligence and corporate
performance management, delivers software and services that helps
companies drive, monitor and understand corporate performance.

Cognos delivers the next level of competitive advantage -- Corporate
Performance Management (CPM) -- achieved through the strategic
application of BI on an enterprise scale. Our integrated CPM solution
helps customers drive performance through planning; monitor
performance through scorecarding; and understand performance through
business intelligence.

Cognos serves more than 23,000 customers in over 135 countries. Cognos
enterprise business intelligence solutions and services are also
available from more than 3,000 worldwide partners and resellers. For
more information, visit the Cognos Web site at http://www.cognos.com.

About the Magic Quadrant
The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted October 2005 by Gartner, Inc. and is
reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical
representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It
depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendor's measure against
criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not
endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant,
and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors
placed in the "Leaders" quadrant.

The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not
meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all
warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research,
including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose.

*Source: Gartner "BI Software Becoming a Top Priority for CIOs," by
Colleen Graham, March 2, 2005.
**Source: IDC European Market Watch Survey Q3 2005.

(1) AMR Research Outlook: Cognos 8 BI: Another Example of Why
Architecture Matters, Dennis Gaughan, John Hagerty, Ryan Garvey, Sept.
13, 2005.
(2) Bloor Research: Unification versus integration, Philip Howard, Sept.
23, 2005.
(3) NUCLEUS RESEARCH, Research Note: Cognos 8, Sept. 2005.
(11)Cognos Offers a Sneak Peek at Version 8: September BI Suite Release
Tightens Integration and Unifies UI, by Eric Rogge, Ventana Research,
July 15, 2005.
(22)Source: "Magic Quadrant for CPM Suites, 2005" N. Rayner, F.
Buytendijk, L. Geishecker November 4, 2005 and Magic Quadrant for
Enterprise BI Suites and Platforms, 2H04 H. Dresner, B. Hostmann, F.
Buytendijk 29 November 2004. To read the full reports visit:
http://www.cognos.com/news/analyst_reviews.html?lid=//News//Industry%20Analyst
%20Reviews

Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Cognos Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All
other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective companies.

www.biz.yahoo.com

Laptops to make technology child's play

A cheap laptop boasting wireless network access and a hand crank to
provide electricity is expected to start shipping in February or March
to help extend technology to school-age children worldwide.

The machines are to sell for $100 each, slightly less than cost. The
aim is to have governments or donors buy them and give full ownership
to the children.

"These robust, versatile machines will enable children to become more
active in their own learning," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told
reporters.

Mr. Annan and more than 23,000 people from 176 countries were
attending the three-day U.N. World Summit on the Information Society,
in its second day yesterday. The goal is to find ways to extend
communications technologies to the world's poorest people -- through
projects like the $100 laptop.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Laboratory chairman,
Nicholas Negroponte, who introduced the textbook-sized laptop
Wednesday, said he expects to sell 1 million of them to Brazil,
Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria.

The effort is being led by the One Laptop Per Child Initiative, a
nonprofit group founded by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD),
Brightstar Corp., Google Inc., News Corp. and Red Hat Inc., all of
which have donated $2 million and work in conjunction with the MIT
Media Lab.

Once the laptops are in the hands of schoolchildren, the real fun --
and learning -- will begin, said Billy Edwards, senior vice president
and chief innovation officer at AMD.

"There's a lot of learning that has to happen before the launch and
even more after" because students in different countries will use the
laptops in diverse ways and demand a wide variety of applications
based on their needs, Mr. Edwards said. It will be up to the
technology providers and educators to meet the students' requests.

Mr. Negroponte did not say who would build the machines, which will
cost $110 each to make, but at least five companies are considering
bids. He said a commercial version may be available at a higher price
to subsidize machines provided to children.

The laptop will run on an open-source operating system, such as Linux,
which is generally cheaper than proprietary systems such as Microsoft
Corp.'s Windows, Mr. Negroponte said.

The devices will be lime green, with a yellow hand crank, to make them
appealing to children and to fend off potential thieves -- people
would know by the color that the laptop is meant for a child.

Also, Microsoft announced a new network of learning centers in Tunisia
to train people to be teachers in technology. Jean-Philippe Courtois,
president of Microsoft International, said the company would replicate
the centers elsewhere as part of its outreach efforts.

www.washingtontimes.com

APEC agrees tighter measures on bird flu

Asia Pacific nations Wednesday pledged to strengthen their ability to
mount a swift and effective response to a possible bird flu pandemic,
including stockpiling of drugs and vaccine development.

Foreign and trade ministers at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum "noted with concern" the threat of avian influenza and
agreed to accelerate work to counter the deadly H5N1 virus, a joint
statement said.

The ministers "agreed it was critical to ensure that APEC was prepared
for and had the capacity to effectively respond to infectious diseases
at the individual, regional and international levels," said the
statement.

It said APEC would cooperate with the World HealthOrganization, the
Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Organization for
Animal Health.

The ministers "underscored the importance of timely and accurate
reporting and capacity building efforts to enable adequate, systematic
and well-coordinated prevention."

They also endorsed a report reached during an APEC-organized meeting
of international health experts in Brisbane late last month, which
recommended measures such as stockpiling of drugs such as Tamiflu and
developing a vaccine for the disease.

Ministers called for support to strengthen regional monitoring and
response systems and welcomed an offer by Singapore for the use of its
Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Center to help APEC in
responding to a possible pandemic.

It also included a proposal to hold a simulated outbreak of a
human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus next year to test
APEC's emergency preparedness.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Asia
since late 2003 and experts fear disaster could strike if it becomes
readily contagious through human-to-human contact.

All but four of the deaths -- which were in Cambodia -- were recorded
in APEC member countries, namely Thailand, Indonesia and worst-hit
Vietnam.

Asia Pacific leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush and
Chinese President Hu Jintao, will meet in the South Korean port of
Busan for their annual summit on Friday and Saturday.

In Japan ahead of his arrival Wednesday in Busan, Bush urged his APEC
colleagues to learn from the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003 and join
forces to fight a potential worldwide spread of bird flu

www.thejakartapost.com

Nokia to Buy Intellisync for $430 Mln to Add Business Products

Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj, the world's largest mobile-phone
maker, agreed to buy Intellisync Corp. for $430 million to add
wireless messaging and other mobile applications for businesses.

Intellisync stockholders will receive $5.25 per share in cash for each
Intellisync common share, Espoo,

Finland-based Nokia said in an e-mailed statement today. The
transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006,
according to Nokia.

Intellisync, based in San Jose in California, was founded in 1993 and
has approximately 450 employees, Nokia said.

www.bloomberg.com

FEATURE-Can technology ease Africa's woes?

It is hard to believe that 19 shiny flat screen computers can cure the
ills of this tiny community in South Africa's arid north where people
battle every day against poverty, AIDS, illiteracy and hunger.

Yet U.S. computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. <HPQ.N> and South African
President Thabo Mbeki are promoting Dipichi's smart new IT lab as a
blueprint for how technology can trigger growth and tackle poverty
across the world's poorest continent.

Bridging the so-called digital divide in Africa became a popular
mantra among aid workers and government officials during the tech boom
that started in the late 1990s but it fell from favour as countless
ill-conceived rural IT centres went unused.

Sceptics asked what use a computer was when people were hungry, dying
of AIDS and too poor to send their kids to school?

But as multinationals start to invest in South Africa and elsewhere on
the continent, they are touting technology as a panacea for
development. Hewlett-Packard (HP) says the Dipichi project will help
create jobs, improve farming and educate.

"I saved someone from a poisonous snake bite after I learnt about
first aid from the computer," said Rosina Ledwaba, a 39-year old
home-based carer who lives in one of the village's tiny thatched huts
with her five children and husband.

Next to the brightly painted shipping container that houses the IT
lab, Viviane Marakalala proudly showed off the village vegetable
garden, which has been packed with leafy cabbages since a group of
women learnt about drip irrigation from a computer program.

"I had never seen a computer in my life but now I know how to use it,"
said Marakalala, 27. "We looked in the computer and it told us in our
language how to use our water better."

GADGETS FOR GADGETS' SAKE

HP's former Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina and Mbeki launched
the i-Community project -- one of only two in the world -- in 2002 at
the World Sustainable Development conference in Johannesburg. The
other project is in Kuppam, India.

The project is being run in the Mogalakwena municipality in Limpopo
province where 53 percent of the population is jobless and more live
below the poverty line.

Run in tandem with local government, it links libraries, community
centres, clinics and schools around the main town of Mokopane to the
Internet, and includes a PC refurbishing centre, call centre and
micro-lender.

It also includes IT centres in rural villages like Dipichi, which
until recently had neither water nor electricity and can be reached
only by a dirt road.

In Dipichi, and in many other locations, the computers are operated
using satellite technology and residents hope that their presence will
pressure local authorities to link their villages to the electricity
grid.

Miriam Segabutsa, one of the project directors, conceded computer
literacy might not seem like an obvious priority for a continent
racked by disease and hunger, but insisted it could improve quality of
life for ordinary people.

"It is not about teaching computers for the sake of computers, it is
about giving people access to the information they need," she told
Reuters.

HP is not the only multinational to hand out free computers.

Chipmaker Intel Corp. <INTC.O> funds community IT centres in townships
and software giant Microsoft <MSFT.O> is setting up "digital villages"
to reach half a million poor South Africans.

Cell phone companies have adapted wireless technology for myriad
development uses like low-cost banking for the poor, delivering price
information to rural farmers and monitoring AIDS patients in sprawling
townships.

NON STARTER?

Cellular technology has won praise thanks to the lightning spread of
mobile phones across Africa but some commentators wonder whether
computers and the Internet can be as useful.

If only a minority of people in Africa's richest country have access
to the Web, Internet use is even rarer in the rest of the continent,
where populations are more scattered, resources scarce and where few
multinationals dare to venture.

Even if computers were available, many would not be able to use them
in countries with some of the world's highest illiteracy rates.

"Bridging the digital divide is a non starter if we haven't even
crossed the literacy divide," said Arthur Goldstuck, head of South
African technology research company World Wide Worx.

"There is a danger of ... delivering technology without making sure
people can use it."

One-off projects like the i-Community that help a handful of people
are meaningless when high phone call and Internet access costs keep
communications out of most people's reach, he said.

But HP and the government say the i-Community project is about
opportunity not aid, and can be easily replicated.

"Most digital divide projects have had a philanthropic impetus, but HP
has said that if this thing is to be sustainable, it has to have a
solid business case," said Clive Smith, HP's project director. "It
can't be sustainable if it is dependent on grants."

HP and the local government want to turn the project into a business,
which might include handing community IT centres over to local
entrepreneurs.

After that, they hope to launch more projects across the developing
world, eventually making them self-sufficient.

"Dipichi is making history," Mbeki told crowds of cheering villagers
during a recent visit to the project. "Dipichi can show the whole of
South Africa how to do development."

But concrete plans for turning the unwieldy project into a business
are hazy and some commentators are sceptical.

"It's a bit of a pipe dream to expect this to become self-funding. You
can't expect an impoverished community to bear those kinds of costs,"
said Goldstuck.

www.alertnet.org

Chain-smoker star in health drive

India's anti-smoking campaign has a new ambassador - chain smoking
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss found a new face for the cause in
Khan after he pledged to quit smoking on the eve of his 40th birthday.

Shah Rukh Khan celebrated his birthday on 2 November and in an
interview to an Indian media channel said he would try to quit
smoking.

The health ministry is trying to ban smoking scenes in films.

Inspiring youth

Shah Rukh Khan has rarely been seen without a lit cigarette in his hand.

He has also not been shy of puffing away while being photographed or
interviewed on camera, unlike other Bollywood actors who smoke.

In a letter to the film star, Dr Ramadoss said "such a public health
initiative taken by a charismatic personality like you would go a long
way in inspiring and protecting the youths of our country from being
addicted to the use of tobacco".

He smokes and quits for himself and I smoke for myself. I won't leave
it because he does

Martin Lewis

The federal health ministry has been seriously pushing its
anti-smoking campaign and this is yet another initiative taken in that
direction.

Earlier this year the ministry announced its move to ban images of
smoking in films and on television. It is currently working out the
finer details of the ban with the information and broadcasting
ministry.

If the ban comes into effect it would mean that no new movies or TV
programmes could portray smoking. Old films would have to carry
warnings.

Celebrity endorsers

The health ministry has used celebrities in the past to promote their
health campaigns.

Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were roped in to urge people to get
their children immunised against polio.

So will Shah Rukh Khan prove to be a motivator for people to quit cigarettes?

People on the streets of Mumbai (Bombay) have mixed feelings.

Twenty-five-year-old Martin Lewis says "He smokes and quits for
himself and I smoke for myself. I won't leave it because he does."

Twenty-nine year old media professional and regular smoker Kaustubh
Mahajan thinks it would be very difficult for Khan to quit after being
a chain smoker for years.

"It will not motivate me to throw mine. However, a reasonable number
of youngsters would certainly follow his cue as they are affected by
what film stars do," he said.

The actor himself is not in the country as he is busy shooting for
Bollywood movie in New York.

His office confirmed they had received the letter from the health ministry.

But the big question is - is he living up to his pledge and not smoking?

www.news.bbc.co.uk

Schwarzenegger focuses on energy in first phase of China trip

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved through a packed schedule on his
first official business day in China, from a morning speech praising a
Silicon Valley-designed solar chip as part of "the future" of energy
efficiency to a ceremonial dinner at the historic Great Hall of the
People.

Schwarzenegger, who arrived Monday for a three city trade mission,
used his first full day in Beijing to highlight renewable energy and
preside over a series of business roundtables with Chinese and
California business leaders.

He was set to address students at Quinghua University and host a
showcase of California products Wednesday before departing for
Shanghai in the evening. He heads to Hong Kong later in the week.

The day featured an announcement of at least one high-profile business
deal between a California company and a Chinese media partnership.

Mark Mosher of the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth
said an agreement had been struck between Alameda-based UT Starcom and
two Chinese media companies to deliver television over the Internet.
UT Starcom produces the delivery equipment; a partnership of Shanghai
Media and China Telecom will provide content and market the service to
Chinese subscribers.

Mosher was quick to emphasize that the deal had been in the works long
before Schwarzenegger's trade mission. But he said the publicity
surrounding the governor's visit prompted the companies to announce
the agreement here.

"This is going to be a huge deal" in China, Mosher said.

Schwarzenegger aides know not to hype business deals connected to his
trade missions.

After a 2004 trip to Israel, the governor boasted that he had struck
agreements to bring almost 1,000 jobs to California.

But officials at those companies later said they made the deals
without help from Schwarzenegger or his administration.

Earlier Tuesday, the governor promoted energy efficiency at a
conference sponsored by former President Bush and his public policy
school at Texas A&M University.

Bush introduced Schwarzenegger and described him as a "dear personal friend."

The governor's remarks came as China struggles to balance its
explosive growth with its energy needs and outsized power consumption.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that at least one major power
plant is completed in China each week - usually fueled by coal, which
produces high levels of air pollution.

Schwarzenegger praised an innovative solar chip - designed by Silicon
Valley-based SunPower Corp. and manufactured in China - as "an amazing
China-California success story" that had great potential in both
countries.

"This is the future, ladies and gentlemen," Schwarzenegger said,
hoisting the chip as cameras whirred.

Schwarzenegger's environmental record received mixed reviews in a
report last week by the Sierra Club, a nonprofit environmental group.

While praising his efforts to pass legislation promoting solar roofs
and his overall leadership on the problem of global warming, the
report concluded that "those achievements were overshadowed by more
potentially far-reaching, though less publicized decisions to aid
developers, energy companies, big corporate farms, and other polluter
interests."

Schwarzenegger and a 79-member delegation are on a mission to promote
California products and encourage Chinese officials to crack down on
rampant piracy of intellectual property - from movies and music to
pharmaceuticals, wine and designer apparel.

First Lady Maria Shriver kept her own schedule Tuesday, touring the
Maples Women's Psychological Counseling Center, which offers aid to
victims of domestic abuse in Beijing. The center, which receives no
government money, has taken 80,000 calls since its opening in 1988.

Shriver, who has promoted women's issues during her tenure, also met
privately with two clients of the center.

"I wanted to learn about the struggles of the women in China and the
struggle about starting a center like this," Shriver told reporters
after her visit.

The visit was considered significant because domestic violence and
other social ills are largely hidden from public view.

www.mercurynews.com

Abbott to License J&J Catheter Technology

Pharmaceutical firm Abbott Laboratories said Tuesday that it is
licensing a catheter technology from health care products maker
Johnson & Johnson.

Abbott said its deal is depends on J&J completing its acquisition of
Guidant Corp. J&J announced separately Tuesday that it had
renegotiated the deal with the troubled pacemaker manufacturer for a
lower price.

Catheters are the flexible tubes used in a range of surgeries,
particularly heart operations. Abbott said the license covers certain
technology for developing and commercializing "rapid exchange"
delivery systems and related products such as drug-covered stents.

Abbott did not provide financial details of the deal.

Shares of Abbott Laboratories rose 98 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $41.50.

www.forbes.com

Scientists Express New Hope for Malaria Vaccine

Scientists at an international conference on malaria in Yaounde,
Cameroon, have released new findings, which show major progress has
been made in efforts to create a vaccine for the deadly disease. The
vaccine's proponents hope a partnership with donors will make it
available to the world's poor.

Work has been under way on the candidate vaccine, known as RTS,
S-AS02, for more than two decades. But test results presented at the
Pan-African Malaria Conference in Yaounde Tuesday are being touted by
its makers, American-based pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline, as a
critical breakthrough.

Results from a study conducted in cooperation with Mozambique's health
ministry published last year showed the vaccine reduced severe malaria
episodes by more than half.

There had been fears that level of effectiveness would fade over time.

Tuesday's results indicate that, 18 months later, the level of
efficacy has indeed dropped, but only very little.

Inventor, Dr. John Cohen says, if the findings hold up, even in its
current form the vaccine could eventually save hundreds of thousands
of lives every year.

"To put things in perspective, you must remember that it is estimated
that between one and three million kids, mainly, die of malaria every
year in the endemic regions. So a vaccine that can protect with a 50
percent efficacy against the severe form of the disease has the
possibility of protecting against many of these deaths," said Dr.
Cohen. He adds that he's now working to make the vaccine even better.

"We will also be reporting at this MIM conference on a potential
improvement of the vaccine, changing a little bit what we call the
formulation," he said. "We will be testing that new formulation in the
field very soon, over the next year or so. And there is, we feel, a
good chance that this formulation will further increase the level of
efficacy of the vaccine."

Work on the vaccine is being funded through a private-public
partnership, pairing money from GlaxoSmithKline with funding from
donor organizations.

The Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, which is managing the clinical
development, last month received more than $107 million from Microsoft
founder Bill Gates.

Its director, Melinda Moree says this new method of funding drug
research is making headway in the fight against diseases endemic in
the developing world.

"For a lot of these diseases that only affect poor countries, the
industry doesn't really have the reward system in place that
encourages them to work on these things. So, for malaria vaccines, for
many years, very few people were working on them," she said.

Ms. Moree says, if hopes for Dr. Cohen's vaccine do pan out, she hopes
that same level of cooperation will go into making it available to
those that need it most.

"We've got over a million kids a year dying of malaria, 2,000 kids a
day are dying of malaria," she said. "We should be putting more money,
more effort into doing something about this. We just need to do
something to stop these deaths."

RTS, S-AS02 is among several candidate vaccines currently in
development. Several phases of testing remain, but researchers hope it
will be on the market by 2010.

www.voanews.com

Cisco Bundles Small Business IP Tools

Linksys One communications platform supports mix of voice, data,
applications and Internet access.

Cisco's Linksys division announced Monday a hosted IP communications
platform for small businesses that offers voice, video, data
networking, business applications, and high speed Internet access
through a single connection from a service provider.

Called Linksys One, the initiative includes an IP Phone, an integrated
switch and router, and a voice gateway, Linksys officials said.

The IP phone is priced at $229; the router, $1195; and the gateway, $279.

Product Specs
Martin De Beer, vice president and general manager for Linksys Small
Business Systems Business Unit, said Linksys One is a plug-and play
system where customers can use one converged services infrastructure
for telephony, data networking, and business applications.

Customers can arrange for the service through a service provider.

"Linksys One provides support and technology for all the needs of a
small business--IP phones, PCs, faxes, as well as a security
concerns," De Beer said.

The Linksys PHM12000 Color Manager IP Phone is SIP-based and includes
a speakerphone voice mail and an application developer toolkit.

The SVR3000 Services Router includes a 16-port LAN switch, which can
host e-mail services, a firewall, and a virtual private network. It
also provides power to all the attached devices, including phones
using Power over Ethernet.

A VGA2000 Analog Voice Gateway integrates with traditional public
telephone system technologies to connect analog phones and fax
machines into the Linksys One network.

All-in-One Approach
With the launch, Cisco is attempting to offer an integrated, low-cost
IP communications system, says Michael Howard, a principal analyst
with Infonetics Research.

"This [product launch] seems to be a convenient, all-in-one package
for small business," said Howard, listing the voice, router, and
security features of the offering.

www.pcworld.com