Amazon's 'at-cost' Kindle Paperwhite and Fire HD near UK release

 The company's new tablets and e-readers are coming to Europe, along with Amazon's book-lending scheme, but Jeff Bezos says the firm is making no profit on the hardware. Instead, Amazon is relying entirely on its content strategy to make money off the devices.

Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablet goes on sale in the UK on 25 October.

Amazon will also roll out its Lending Library in the countries for the first time, allowing Amazon Prime subscribers to borrow from a collection of 200,000 books for free.

The Paperwhite comes in Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi-plus-3G variants, priced at £109 and £169 respectively, while the seven-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet costs £169 for the 16GB version and £209 for the 32GB version. Customers get £10 off those Kindle Fire HD prices if they agree to see advertising on the device.

According to Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, the company is not making a profit on the devices themselves.

"We sell the hardware at our cost, so it's break-even on the hardware," Bezos told the BBC on Thursday. "We want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices. After you buy a Kindle Fire HD you may use it to buy books, games, movies and so on. So that continuing relationship with the customer is where we hope to make money over time."

Kindle comparisons

In the case of the Kindle Fire line, Amazon uses a forked version of Android that does away Google's Play Store and brings in Amazon's own storefront. With its e-readers, Amazon also makes it easy for customers to buy books at any time.

The Kindle Fire HD is a direct competitor to Google's Nexus 7 tablet, which is itself intended very much as a conduit to media sales. The similarly-priced devices both have a 1280 x 800-pixel resolution, although Amazon's tablet gives more storage for the price (the Nexus 7 comes in 8GB and 16GB versions), and Google's tablet is lighter (at 340g versus 396g) and more powerful (using a quad-core rather than dual-core processor).

The touch-controlled Kindle Paperwhite is a significant step up from earlier iterations of the device, as the screen comes with built-in illumination. Amazon is also making great play of the screen's high contrast and resolution, which is supposed to offer a more paper-like experience than the cheaper Kindles.

Then again, those entry-level, non-illuminated and non-touch Kindles are much cheaper, as they only cost £69.

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Microsoft rolls out massive Windows 8 update

As Windows 8's launch date nears, Microsoft begins to tailor its core apps like Mail and Calendar to clear the high bar set by Apple and Google while also updating the OS itself.

Microsoft's notorious Patch Tuesday has been replaced by Update Tuesday, at least for today, as the company makes sweeping alterations to Windows 8 and its core apps.

The update to Windows 8 Release to Manufacturing (read the review) aims to improve what was already solid performance in Windows 8. In the blog post announcing the update, Windows president Steve Sinofsky explained that the update would be seamlessly available for all Windows 8 machines when they boot up on October 26 and thereafter. "By developing better test automation and test coverage tools we are happy to say that Windows 8 will be totally up to date for all customers starting at General Availability," he wrote.

Basically, this is a strong indication that Microsoft has learned the valuable lesson of releasing unobtrusive but important updates when they're ready, instead of saving them for larger, less frequently issued "service packs". That's not to say that a Service Pack update couldn't be in the works for Windows 8 in the future, but this is definitely a shift in how Microsoft gets things done.

The changes are all under the hood improvements. We haven't yet had a chance to verify any of the claims, but Sinofsky wrote that power efficiency has been tweaked to extend battery life; audio and video playback has gotten better in "many scenarios"; application and driver compatibility has gotten better as well; and performance improvements have been made to the Start screen and the core Windows 8 apps.

Speaking of those Microsoft-built apps, nearly all of them saw updates today, and many of those changes were substantial. The big four productivity apps of Mail, Calendar, People, and Messaging got some much-needed improvements that I said in August would be required for Windows 8's success back in August.

Mail now has Conversation view for the Inbox, IMAP account support, and you can accept or decline calendar invitations directly from an e-mail. You can capture and update your account picture from People; search for a contact from the Messaging app, and search has been improved. These are substantial changes, especially Calendar integration with the Mail app, but in a half-day's use it's clear they don't go far enough. I would be surprised if there weren't more improvements soon as Microsoft pulls its apps into feature parity with the competition.

Another dozen apps also received updates. From the SkyDrive app, you can now search in-app, rename and move folder and files, and customize the sorting order. It also has a new first-run experience to smooth out the learning curve. This is important, and hopefully bodes well for getting a solid operating system tutorial when Windows 8 launches. Otherwise, those screen edges are probably going to confuse a lot of users.

The Photos app received crop and rotate abilities, networked drive and Desktop mode support, and auto-curated collage slideshows. In the Video app, you can watch with closed captioning, purchase in local currencies, and search by actor or director. The Music app gets expanded music services, a SmartDJ feature for hands-free music discovery, and an improved "now playing" experience.

Previously, the Bing-powered apps were fairly solid, if a bit light on features. That's no longer the case. The Maps app is the opposite of Apple's: gorgeous, easy to use, powerful, and accurate. It now has a "bird's eye view" option, more than 3,000 indoor maps, driving direction hints, improved customization, and integration with Bing and Travel apps.

The Finance, Sports, Travel, Weather, and News apps now support videos, and pull in more news and magazine content. There's more specialized content, so the Finance app supports more market exchanges and the Sports app grabs scores and stats from more leagues. The Travel app can show you 360-degree panoramas, and the News app gets better offline reading and better article reading support.

The Windows 8 Calendar app received some big changes today, along with more than a
dozen other Microsoft-built apps.

The Bing search app integrates Bing rewards, offers richer results for local content, allows you to zoom on your search results to see related queries, and supports the Windows 8 file picker so you can use an image from Bing on your lock screen or in other apps.

Lastly, the Games app offers more games, and finally supports in-game purchasing -- previously a big concern for developers.

Microsoft, however, has more fixes to make. Windows 8 forums are filled with complaints about faulty webcam support, trouble with browser multitasking in Metro mode, and missing basic features in the core four productivity apps.

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Lance Armstrong saga makes it hard to trust cycling - Brailsford

Lance Armstrong has made it hard for anyone to trust cycling, says British Cycling boss Dave Brailsford.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency has banned him for life and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles.

"It is understandable now for people to look at any results in cycling and question that," said Brailsford."It completely and utterly lost its way and I think it lost its moral compass."

Brailsford said he was staggered by the extent of the systemic doping revealed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).

"It is shocking, it's jaw dropping and it is very unpleasant," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "It's not very palatable and anybody who says it is would be lying wouldn't they?"

He also criticised Armstrong.

"I think there are plenty of people out there who saw this guy and what he did as an amazing achievement," said Brailsford.

"He is one of the first cyclists that maybe transcended the sport and became a hero beyond cycling.

"It was an amazing thing and people got behind that. So to now find out what was behind [it] is, of course, disappointing."

Brailsford insisted cycling is trying to right the wrongs of the past and said his own outfit, Team Sky, was leading the fightback.

This year's Tour de France was won by a Team Sky rider, Britain's Bradley Wiggins.

"Everybody has recalibrated and several teams like ourselves are hell-bent on doing it the right way and doing it clean," said Brailsford.

But one of the 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates who testified against him was Michael Barry, who admitted to doping while a member of Armstrong's US Postal Service Pro Cycling (USPS) team between 2002 and 2006, and who rode under Brailsford for Team Sky from 2010.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Canadian insisted he had not doped again from the summer of 2006.

"We signed Michael from HTC which was, at the time, highly regarded as being a very sound, clean team," said Brailsford.

"During his time at Team Sky, we have had absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever, there has never been any question in terms of his performances, his training, his behaviour on the team. There have never been any issues in that respect. But ultimately he lied.

"We set out with a zero tolerance policy, so we said that anyone who has had a doping conviction from the past or proved to have been involved in doping hasn't got a place on Team Sky. That is our policy.

"When you take someone you ask them a question and if someone lies to you and you find out later it's disappointing."

In his statement, Barry said: "I apologise to those I deceived. I will accept my suspension and any other consequences. I will work hard to regain people's trust."

According to Usada chief executive Travis T Tygart, there is "conclusive and undeniable proof" of a team-run doping conspiracy at USPS.

Armstrong has always denied doping but chose not to fight the doping charges filed against him.

Usada claimed the Texan supplied banned drugs to other riders on his team, pressured them into participating in the doping programme and threatened to get them removed from the team if they refused.

"You can see how the sport got lost in itself and got more and more extreme because it seemed to be systematic and everybody seemed to be doing it at the time," Brailsford added.

Martin Bruin, a former chief doping inspector at the Tour de France during the time Armstrong was competing, said he had been left "speechless" by Usada's report.

"I've just heard the whole story and the proof is there," he told Radio 5 live. "We are only human beings, we did our best to test and bring samples to labs according to rules, but I'm speechless about the systematic use, very disappointed.

"It's terrible for sport in general, for riders, I'm really disappointed. You are always running behind the facts.

"You're always trying your very best to clean up the business, to achieve and do what is possible. But what can you do?"

BBC Radio 5 live Sport will have a special programme, "Peddlers: Cycling's Dirty Truth", at 19:00 BST on Monday looking at the whole Lance Armstrong saga, including a full interview with former team-mate Tyler Hamilton.

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HP reacts: Lenovo not PC leader, Gartner wrong, IDC data better

Earlier today a Gartner report revealed that China’s Lenovo Group Ltd had edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard Co to become the world’s No 1 PC maker in the third quarter.

HP has issued an official response to the Gartner report without naming it, stating that the IDC report that says HP is the world’s number 1 PC vendor is correct. Here’s the response below:

“While there are a variety of PC share reports in the market, some don’t measure the market in its entirety. The IDC analysis includes the very important workstation segment and therefore is more comprehensive. In that IDC report, HP occupies the No. 1 position in PCs.”

The press release then goes on to give a link to the IDC report. You can view the IDC reporthere.

According to the IDC report, HP has 15.9 percent of the PC market share in Q3 while Lenovo has 15.7 percent share for the same quarter. The Gartner report shows that HP has a share of 15.5 percent while Lenovo has 15.7 percent market share. The difference in percentage points is not too high.

The IDC report goes on to sayHP saw shipments contract more than 16% from a year ago and narrowly held on to the top vendor spot.

As far as Lenovo is concerned, IDC states that Lenovo, despite slowing growth in Asia, continued to register the highest yearly growth among all top vendors. But it also states thatLenovo’s persistence as well as missteps of its rivals helped Lenovo to maintain a top 5 position in the US, and gain a couple points of share to nearly tie HP for the lead in global shipments.

In the IDC report the difference in numbers. between the two companies as far as global PC shipments for Q3 are concerned is not too much. HP has shipped 13,946 (in thousands), while Lenovo has 13,824 ( in thousands). The Gartner report states Lenovo has 13.77 million units shipped during the quarter while HP had shipping 13.55 million units.

While the two reports differ on the numbers for who’s the top vendor, there’s agreement on one fact which is that global PC sales have declined. According to IDC the worldwide PC market contracted sharply in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), with shipments declining 8.6% from the third quarter of 2011. According to Gartner, PC sales declined 8.3 percent for Q3 2012.

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About 10 per cent of Delhi’s population suffer from mental illnesses: Study

The Capital is seeing a rise in the number of people suffering from mental health problems, particularly suicidal tendencies, even among the economically weaker sections, doctors said.

On World Mental Health Day, they said the city needed more psychiatrists to address the issue.

Dr Nimesh Desai, Director of Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), said: “In Delhi, 8-10 per cent of the population suffers from some form of diagnosed mental illness. This includes depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, alcoholism and phobias, among others.”

He said 50 per cent of patients suffer from depression. “Of the patients diagnosed with depression in Delhi, around 10-15 per cent are likely to commit suicide at some point, while 40-50 per cent attempt suicide,” Desai said.

A community-based study, conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the city, to assess suicidal behaviour from 2004-2010, found a life-long prevalence of possible suicidal tendencies in 11.1 per cent of the population.

“What’s more surprising is that more than one third of them have no previous history of psychiatric disorders. Almost 40 per cent of suicidal thoughts are not associated with any psychiatric disorders — unlike the belief common among mental health practitioners and the public,” Desai said.

This, experts said, indicates the role of other risk factors like “stress of daily living, including issues related to urbanisation and other social changes.”

The study was spread over 11 colonies of different socio-economic strata. Data was collected from 100 households in each colony.

Two colonies were from South Delhi — Sriniwaspuri and Gautam Nagar. Two were unauthorised colonies from East Delhi with middle income groups — Pandav Nagar and Ganesh Nagar.

Two colonies were from Walled City with low- and middle-income groups — Nai Sarak and Jama Masjid. One was a slum colony from East Delhi with a low-income group and two were from Southwest Delhi with middle-income group — Vikaspuri and Hari Nagar.

Shalimar Bagh from North Delhi with a middle- and upper-income group population and Pitampura from Northwest Delhi with a middle- and higher-income group population were the other colonies studied.

According to government estimates, Delhi has only 250-odd psychiatrists, against an estimated requirement of at least one lakh.

In another three-state ICMR study from 2004-09, spread over a sample size of 10,600 people in Delhi, Lucknow and Chennai, doctors found that between 77-82 per cent of patients with diagnosed mental health problem, who needed clinical help, do not seek treatment.

“There is a problem of shortage of specialists and there is a total lack of awareness. The study found that, among the urban poor, the treatment gap is because of a lack of awareness about their affliction as a health problem and the availability of mental health services,” Desai said.

IBHAS to train docs to handle psychiatric cases

There are only 3,500-odd registered psychiatrists in the country, against of an estimated requirement of 6 lakh. To address the problem, IHBAS, together with ICMR and the Indian Medical Association (IMA), has prepared an 18-hour module for training around 4 lakh general practitioners to treat basic mental health problems. Experts feel this resource pool can play a huge role in addressing the rising number of mental health cases. The first batch of doctors is expected to be trained from Delhi soon.

22-year-old tries to kill self

A twenty-two-year old student of Swami Shraddhanand College allegedly attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the Jahangirpuri Metro station on Wednesday afternoon. According to police, he was depressed over a love affair. He was rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital. His condition is stable, police said.

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Pussy Riot ruling sows division says Russia media

MOSCOW — The court ruling that saw one member of the anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot walk free from court has generated new tensions in a case that is far from over, Russian media reported on Thursday.

A Russian appeals court on Wednesday unexpectedly ordered the release of Yekaterina Samutsevich, but upheld the two-year prison camp sentences against her two bandmates Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.

"The release of one of the Pussy Riot members has caused a new split in society," said online newspaper Gazeta.ru.

"Instead of being happy for the release of the Pussy Riot member, those on social networks are beginning to accuse her of betrayal," it said.

Mass-circulation newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets struck a similar note.

"Which new game exactly have our authorities begun?" the newspaper said on its frontpage.

"Are we once again talking about an attempt to apply the time-honored formula 'divide and rule'"? it asked.

The ruling, the newspaper said, did nothing to calm tensions around the highly controversial case that has polarised the predominantly Orthodox country.

"Unfortunately, the scandal around Pussy Riot which is absolutely unnecessary for our society and the country is still endlessly far from being over," said Moskovsky Komsomolets.

Liberal business daily Vedomosti said the court's decision had nothing to do with justice.

"...the case itself and the trial remain absurd," the broadsheet said in an editorial. "All the three accused will appeal the verdict."

Pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda meanwhile acidly remarked that the most important thing for the freed Pussy Riot band member Samutsevich was not to allow a sense of "euphoria" go to her head.

The two jailed rockers have now a choice to make: "dubious fame obtained through a prison camp or going home but with new laywers", the tabloid added.

Samutsevich's release came after her announcement at the first appeals hearing on October 1 that she was changing her lawyer.

Samutsevich vowed defiantly after the appeals hearing that the group's protest actions would continue.

"We are not finished, nor are we going to end our political protest," Samutsevich told CNN. "We have to act in such a way that they do not learn about concerts ahead of time and arrest us."

Samutsevich said efforts by the Russian authorities to divide the group would not work and that her "negative" attitude toward President Vladimir Putin and his "mega authoritarian project" remained unchanged.

The band's three members were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for a protest performance at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in February.

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Education a focus on International Day of the Girl Child

The United Nations has designated October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. 

The mission of the day is “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”

One ingredient crucial to affording girls the opportunity to reach their full potential is education.

International Day of the Girl Child comes as the world reacts to the shooting of a 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, who attends school and wrote online about the value of educating girls. The Taliban took responsibility for the attack, which also injured two other classmates. The shooting has been called despicable and cowardly, and has drawn tremendous international interest.

"And why are they so afraid of Malala?" columnist Frida Ghitis wrote on CNN.com. "Mostly, because she is not afraid of them."

But many girls don't have the support Malala does.

The reality

In more than 100 countries, school is not free, and parents of limited resources choose to invest in their sons’ education, not their daughters’.  The high rate of child marriage in some cultures means that many girls in developing countries never even have the opportunity to go to school. Worldwide, only 30% of girls are enrolled in secondary school.

And when it comes to overall literacy, there is a gap between males and females worldwide.  Though there has been progress over the past decade, there is a5.1% gap between male and female youth literacy, meaning that fewer young females are literate.

According to UNESCO, “Despite progress, girls and women continue to be disproportionately excluded from education, especially at secondary education level and in the area of adult literacy.”

Benefits of educating girls

Educating girls has far-reaching positive effects for the individual, her community and her world. According to DayoftheGirl.org, educating girls...

Reduces the rate of child marriage: A girl who has 7 years of education will typically marry four years later and have fewer children.

Reduces disease: A girl who has basic education is three times less likely to contract HIV.

Strengthens the economy: Only a year of extra school can increase a girl’s future earnings by 10% to 20%.

Promotes health: Children born to educated moms are twice as likely to survive beyond the age of 5.

Solves problems: Because education promotes critical thinking skills, girls learn to solve problems, a vital skill for the next generation of world leaders.

What you can do, today and beyond

CNN is partnering with 10×10, a global action campaign to promote girls’ education, to spread the message that educating girls in developing nations can change the world. A film, "Girl Rising," will air in spring 2013 that tells 10 girls' stories from around the globe. The organization has kicked off a photo campaign to invite people to raise awareness on why educating girls is #basicmath, and we hope you’ll take part. You can help. This CNN iReport assignment can show you how!

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Google vs Apple a 'defining fight': Eric Schmidt

Eric Schmidt expects more than a billion mobile devices around the world to be running its Android software within a year, intensifying a battle with Apple Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc Executive ChairmanEric Schmidt expects more than a billion mobile devices around the world to be running its Androidsoftware within a year, intensifying a battle with AppleInc that he called a "defining fight" of the industry. Schmidt said there were already four times as many Android mobile gadgets - smartphones and tablets made by the likes of Samsung Electronics - and that the scale of the battle between the two firms was unprecedented.

"We've not seen ... competitive fights on this scale," he said during an interview with tech blog AllThingsDigital at New York's 92nd Street Y on Wednesday. 

Google and Apple were once close partners, with Schmidt serving on Apple's board during part of his tenure as Google CEO. But the ties between the two have been strained by the rise of Google's Android mobile operating system, now the world's leading platform for smartphones and a direct threat to Apple's lucrative iPhone and iPad businesses. 

As competition between the two companies has heated up, Apple has moved to cut its reliance on Google products by dumping YouTube from the new iPhone's pre-loaded selection of apps and replacing Google's mapping software on the iPhone with its own mapping service. 

Apple's foray into mapping has not gone smoothly. Apple CEO Tim Cook was forced to issue a public apology earlier this month amid complaints that the product - based on Dutch navigation equipment maker and digital map maker TomTom NV's data - contained glaring geographic errors and gaps in information. 

"What Apple has learned is that maps are really hard," Schmidt said. "We invested hundreds of millions of dollars in satellite work, airplane work, drive by work, to get the maps accurate." 

But he added that the two technology companies were "always in communication with each other." 

Schmidt also said he did not expect Google to become a significant player in China any time soon, following its 2010 standoff with the government over Web censorship and cyber-attacks that Google said originated in China. 

Google relocated its search engine to Hong Kong in the wake of the episode, allowing Chinese search engine Baidu Inc 

to widen its lead in China, one of the few markets in the world where Google's search engine is not dominant. 

"Baidu will continue to be the Number One player in China for a long time," Schmidt said. He said that he did not expect any mending of ties with the Chinese government, which he said has cut off access to Google's Web services in the past. 

"China has in its power to arbitrarily restrict our access to Chinese citizens to keep us at whatever percentage market share they wish," Schmidt said.

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Messi poses headache for South American rivals

BUENOS AIRES - Stopping Lionel Messi is the primary concern of South American teams facing Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers. This week it is Uruguay's turn.

Argentina defend their lead in the South American group at home to Uruguay in Mendoza on Friday (0100 GMT Saturday). After seven matches they have 14 points, one more than Colombia and Ecuadorand two ahead of Uruguay and Chile.

They will be looking to make amends for a poor performance in their last match, a 1-1 draw with Peru in Lima where Messi, who had scored 10 goals in his previous six internationals, had one of his quietest games for his country.

South American champions Uruguay want a second successive upset over their neighbours after their Copa America quarter-final victory on penalties last year.

Uruguay's coach Oscar Washington Tabarez does not believe in man-marking Messi, but rather in preventing Argentina from functioning in support of the Barcelona ace.

"Messi is a great player, among the best seen in the history of football...so I'm not going to say too much about that because it would be redundant," Tabarez told reporters in Montevideo on Tuesday.

"But Messi has a team around him trying to ensure be shows all his potential.

"So we have to work on and counter everything Argentina does for the ball to get to Messi and after Messi takes it try to mark him."

The Uruguayans, World Cup semi-finalists in 2010, need to recover from a poor September when they lost 4-0 away to Colombia and only managed a 1-1 draw at home to Ecuador.

Captain Diego Lugano believes this double away fixture will be the hardest trip for Uruguay, who play Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz next week, in the 16-match qualifying series.

"These are key (qualifying) points, much more so after the last double-header when we didn't do well," Lugano said.

'MOST DIFFICULT'

"We're facing two matches that are surely the most difficult of the qualifying series. An Argentina-Bolivia sequence (away) is very hard and we're practically obliged to bring back some points," the central defender said.

Uruguay have to manage without left wing back Alvaro Pereyra, who is suspended, and injured midfielders Diego Perez and Gaston Ramirez.

Argentina, who beat Paraguay 3-1 at home then drew 1-1 away to Peru last month, welcome back Sergio Agüero but have lost fellow striker Ezequiel Lavezzi to injury.

Midfielder Javier Mascherano said good results against Uruguay and then Chile away in Santiago four days later would put Argentina well on course for a berth in the 2014 finals in Brazil.

"If we can get six out of six points it would be ideal and we would be well on track to qualifying, not certain but on the right track," Mascherano said at Argentina's training base outside Buenos Aires.

"For us, the match against Uruguay is a classic. The last ones we have played against them were very tight (and) if we win we'd go with more confidence to Chile."

The Chileans, whose coach Claudio Borghi is serving a four-match suspension for dissent, first travel to play Ecuador in the rarefied air of Quito nearly 3,000 metres above sea level on Friday (2100 GMT).

Colombia, with striker Falcao in red-hot scoring form, are at home to bottom team Paraguay in their favourite Caribbean cauldron in Barranquilla (2030 GMT) and Bolivia, at home in both fixtures, host Peru in La Paz (2000 GMT).

Venezuela, in sixth place with 11 points having already played eight matches, have a bye at the halfway stage in the competition.

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Germany's Goetze and Podolski fit despite minor injuries

BERLIN - Germany's Mario Goetze and Lukas Podolski are nursing minor injuries but will be fit for Friday's World Cup soccer qualifier against Ireland in Dublin, assistant coach Hansi Flick said on Wednesday.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Goetze was rested towards the end of training on Wednesday, feeling the effects of a minor muscle injury. Arsenal winger Podolski is recovering from an ankle injury and both players missed training on Tuesday.

"Today was the first day that every player was there," Flick told reporters.

"Yesterday Lukas and Mario received treatment. Lukas Podolski had some problems with his ankle, Mario with some muscle problems. We decided to spare him towards the end of training today when it became a bit more intensive.

"Goetze did individual training."

Flick said the depth of Germany's squad allowed them to easily adapt to any changes.

The Germans are already without injured defender Mats Hummels, midfielders Ilkay Guendogan and Lars Bender while captain Philipp Lahm is suspended.

"Even despite the missing players we can handle any absence because of our team's strength."

Germany are looking to make it three wins in three qualifiers in Dublin before heading back to Berlin for a match against Sweden next Tuesday.

Flick said his team has been practising defensive plays, knowing that the Irish would be looking for chances of a quick break.

"Our focus is absolutely the defence. We have been working on the basics which at times have not worked that well in the past," said Flick.

"Defence starts from attack and we need to be compact. We need to have order and move well. Our offensive players will also need to do a lot of defensive work and we have been training in that."

Germany top qualifying Group C with six points, three ahead of Sweden and Ireland.

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F1 title race turning into Alonso v Vettel

SUZUKA, Japan (Reuters) - The Formula One title battle is turning into a straight duel between Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for the honour of becoming the youngest triple world champion.

By winning Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after Alonso had spun off at the start, 25-year-old Vettel slashed the 31-year-old Spaniard's lead to four points with five races - a maximum 125 points - remaining.

Finland's 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen is third for Lotus but 37 points off the lead and has yet to win a race this season while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is fourth a further five points adrift.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner refused to rule out McLaren, winners of five races this year, and Lotus but he also spelled out where the real challenge lay for the champions.

"Luck tends to balance itself out over a 20-race season and it will be down to what the two of them do on track now and the relative performances of the cars over the remaining five races," he told reporters.

Vettel has suffered two alternator failures and not scored on three of his races, while Alonso has twice drawn a blank - both coming in the last four outings and due to first lap incidents beyond his control.

Raikkonen is where he is because of consistency - 12 races in a row in the points - while 2008 champion Hamilton and his car have been quick but erratic.

"The championship now is effectively a battle of five races between Fernando and Sebastian," said Horner. "You can't rule out the others but whoever does the best job over the next five races will ultimately prevail."

FERRARI PRESSURE

After the first seven races of the season were won by an unprecedented seven different drivers, the championship has settled into a familiar pattern with the focus on Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Vettel's commanding pole-to-flag triumph, with the fastest lap thrown in as well, at Suzuka made him the first driver this season to chalk up back-to-back wins and he joined Alonso and Hamilton as a three-times winner in 2012.

As in 2010, when the German became the youngest champion, the season appears to be coming good for Vettel at just the right time.

Alonso had led by 29 points before Suzuka but he could lose his advantage altogether when Formula One re-groups in South Korea for the 16th round of the season this weekend.

"I guess Fernando will be going home more unhappy than most, he is under pressure, more pressure frankly from Sebastian than from us but we have closed that gap and we have five races to go," McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh told reporters in the Suzuka paddock on Sunday.

"Red Bull were on form here and at the moment Ferrari are under some pressure from us and Red Bull," added the Briton, who had Jenson Button fourth and future Mercedes driver Hamilton fifth on Sunday.

Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo expected his team to hold their nerve.

"We know we can count on the strongest driver around at the moment and it's only mistakes from others at Spa and again at Suzuka that have prevented him from having a more comfortable lead over his rivals," he said of Alonso on the team website (www.ferrari.com).

"But for those two collisions, today Fernando would have had at least 30 points more and that's a conservative estimate. In sport, as in life, the wheel turns and we must not forget that."

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British Nobel winner once written off by teacher

London, Oct 9 (IANS) A British researcher who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine was once dismissed by his school teacher about his ambition to become a scientist as "quite ridiculous", the Guardian reported Tuesday.

Sir John Gurdon, 79, of Cambridge University, Monday shared the prize in physiology or medicine - and 744,000-pound cash - withJapanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, 50.

Their ground-breaking work has given scientists fresh insights into how cells and organisms develop.

The research may pave the way for radical advances in medicine that allow damaged or diseased tissues to be regenerated in the lab, or even inside patients' bodies.

According to his Eton schoolmaster, Gurdon, at an age of 15, did not stand out as a potential scientist.

Writing in 2006, Gurdon quoted a school report as saying: "I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous.

"If he can't learn simple biological facts, he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him."

His fellow researcher Yamanaka holds academic posts at Kyoto and San Francisco Universities.

Speaking to reporters in London, Gurdon said it was "very gratifying" to be recognised for what has been his life's work.

Prior to the duo's research, scientists believed adult cells were committed irreversibly to their specialist role, for example, as skin, brain or beating heart cells.

Gurdon showed that essentially all cells contained the same genes, and so held all the information needed to make any tissue.

Building on Gurdon's work, Yamanaka developed a chemical cocktail to reprogramme adult cells into more youthful states, from which they could grow into many other tissue types.

In a statement, the Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said the scientists had "revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop".

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