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WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Growing numbers of American seniors are going online, chipping away at the dominance of 18- to 44-year-olds who comprise half the Web population, according to a study released Wednesday.

Since 2005, the population segment that has made the largest online gains in the United States is the 70- to 75-year-old age group, the Washington-based Pew Research Center said.

“While just over one-fourth (26 percent) of 70-75 year olds were online in 2005, 45 percent of that age group is currently online,” according to the survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

But it is the young who still dominate the Internet population, the study showed: 93 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds were online in 2008, compared with 89 percent of those 18-24, 83 percent of those 40-44, and 62 percent of those 60-64.

While email remains the most popular online activity, especially among older users, instant messaging, use of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and blogging have gained ground.

Pew said that while senior citizens are “competitive” when it comes to using email, “teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people.”

Indeed, email use among teens slipped from 89 percent in 2004 to just 73 percent last year.

The online entertainment world clearly remains the realm of the young.

Some 78 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds play video games online (more than twice the rate for adults overall), 68 percent send instant messages, 59 percent download music and 49 percent read blogs.

Of older Baby Boomers (55-63 years old), only 21 percent download music and 25 percent read from blogs.

And 10 percent of those 12-17 visit virtual worlds, compared with just two percent of adults, the survey showed.

Of Generation Xers (33-44 years old), fully 82 percent seek out health information online, about the same rate as those 73 and older.

Generation X is also most likely to shop online (with 80 percent doing so compared with 71 percent for the 18- to 32-year-old Generation Y), manage their bank accounts online (65 percent) and consume news on the Web (76 percent).

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The International Monetary Fund slashed its economic growth forecasts Wednesday, predicting the severe financial crisis would brake global growth to the slowest pace in six decades.

“World growth is projected to fall to 0.5 percent in 2009, its lowest rate since World War II,” the IMF said in a sharp 1.75-point downward revision of November forecasts.

“The world economy is facing a deep recession” under continued financial stress, it warned.

The advanced economies were expected to contract by 2.0 percent, their first annual contraction in the post-war period and far more than the negative 0.3 percent the IMF estimated less than three months ago.

“Despite wide-ranging policy actions, financial strains remain acute, pulling down the real economy,” the 185-nation institution said, warning its projections were made in a “highly uncertain outlook.”

“The timing and pace of the recovery depend critically on strong policy actions,” it said.

“A sustained economic recovery will not be possible until the financial sector’s functionality is restored and credit markets are unclogged.”

Still, the IMF offered some light at the end of the suffering, saying said it saw a gradual recovery in the global economy in 2010 to growth of 3.0 percent, spurred by “continued efforts to ease credit strains as well as expansionary fiscal and monetary policies.”

The United States, the epicenter of the financial crisis, would endure a 1.6 percent contraction, the IMF said, slashing its prior estimate of 0.9 percent.

The world’s biggest economy, nonetheless, would weather the financial storm better than most other major advanced economies.

Japan’s economy would shrink by 2.6 percent in 2009 instead of the mild prior estimate of 0.2 percent. The world’s second-largest economy would be in recession for the second consecutive year, following a 0.3 percent contraction in 2008.

The 27-member eurozone economy would hit a wall, suffering a 2.0 percent contraction after growing 1.0 percent in 2008. The previous 2009 estimate was for a 0.5 percent contraction.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, would shrink by 2.5 percent this year after a 1.3-percent expansion in 2008, according to IMF figures published six days ago.

France would undergo a 1.9 percent contraction, after 0.8 percent in 2008.

Italy was seen contracting for three years in a row through 2010, with a peak of 2.1 percent this year.

Britain, outside the eurozone, would suffer the most, with gross domestic product (GDP) activity contracting 2.8 percent, after 0.7 percent growth last year.

Of the major advanced economies, Canada would be the least affected, hit with a 1.2-percent contraction.

Developing countries were forecast to have relatively weak growth of 3.3 percent in 2009, about half the 6.3-percent expansion of last year.

China would remain the world’s fastest-growing economy, putting in a relatively blistering 6.7-percent pace, down from 9.0 percent in 2008.

India’s economic growth would slow to 5.1 percent after 7.3 percent.

The IMF cautioned that “the uncertainty surrounding the outlook is unusually large.”

“Downside risks continue to dominate, as the scale and scope of the current financial crisis have taken the global economy into uncharted waters,” it said.

“The main risk is that unless stronger financial strains and uncertainties are forcefully addressed, the pernicious feedback loop between real activity and financial markets will intensify, leading to even more toxic effects on global growth.”

Tom (Ackles) returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine’s night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, however, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame (King) is the only one will believes he’s innocent.

April and Frank Wheeler are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.

Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski’s prized possesion: his 1972 Gran Torino

The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans.

In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

His life changed history. His courage changed lives. In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights;

he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change. With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones, Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words. When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White. But as White and Milk’s political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge. Milk’s platform was and is one of hope–a hero’s legacy that resonates in the here and now.

DHAKA (AFP) - - Car sales in impoverished Bangladesh’s capital hit a record high in 2008, bucking a gloomy global trend for the auto industry but threatening to push the city’s crumbling traffic system towards collapse.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said a record 14,944 new and reconditioned cars were sold in Dhaka last year, up 46 percent from 2007.

“Car sales in the capital hit an all-time high in 2008. It’s more than twice the number of cars sold in 2006,” said Sitangsu Shekhar Biswas, a deputy director of the BRTA, citing figures released earlier this week.

The number also represents 90 percent of nationwide car sales, he said. Government figures do not differentiate between new and used car sales.

Authorities said car sales averaged 5,000 annually for more than a decade until 2006 when they started to spike thanks to two straight years of six percent economic growth.

Car traders said the availability of easy financing had helped fuel the record-breaking sales run since 2006.

“Some 90 percent of the cars we sell are being financed by private banks’ consumer financing facilities. Thanks to easy credit, even middle income people can now afford cars,” said Abdul Haq, owner of leading car shop Haq’s Bay.

“In addition, banks, big corporate houses give interest-free loans to employees to buy cars. It’s also now the most-frequently used carrot to lure away mid-managers,” he said.

As the global economic slump claims vehicle sales among its many victims, Bangladesh is one of the few countries, along with China, where car sales continue to grow — though official Chinese figures show a slowdown.

While that might be good news for Bangladesh’s short-term bottom line, transport and urban development experts shudder at the explosion of car sales in the city of more than 12 million people, already notorious for its traffic congestion.

“It represents the worst nightmare for Dhaka and its millions of commuters,” Mohammad Rahamatullah, a former UN transport expert, told AFP.

Dhaka’s population was less than half a million when it became the capital of independent Bangladesh in 1971. As it has grown, transport infrastructure has not kept pace.

“Such a huge growth in car sales has already started to take a toll on the capital. Traffic jams are getting bigger and lasting longer. Already we spend three hours a day in jams,” Rahamatullah said, adding: “Dhaka’s traffic system is heading for total breakdown.”

According to government statistics, 170,000 motor vehicles including buses, mini-buses and cars ply the roads daily in Dhaka.

They jostle for space on narrow roads with another half-million cycle-rickshaws, so traffic here is among the slowest in the world.

Urban planner Nazrul Islam of Dhaka University called the rise in car sales “frightening”.

“Dhaka does not have a mass transport system like a metro rail, commuter train or even a fleet of taxis,” Islam said.

“Dhaka does not have even adequate footpaths for pedestrians, forcing people to hire rickshaws for the smallest rides,” he said.

“The government needs to take urgent steps to save the city from total chaos.”

The newly-elected government that took power this month has put Dhaka’s chronic congestion atop a list of priorities, pledging a major programme of infrastructure development “to solve the public transportation problem and traffic jam in the capital”.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - - Yahoo! reported a quarterly net loss on Tuesday but the Internet pioneer beat analysts’ expectations on results which were dragged down by restructuring charges and writedowns.

The Internet pioneer reported a net loss of 303 million dollars for the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with a net profit of 206 million dollars for the same quarter a year earlier.

Leaving aside a goodwill writedown of 488 million dollars and restructuring charges of 108 million dollars, Yahoo! posted an adjusted net profit for the quarter of 238 million dollars.

Revenues fell one percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago to 1.81 million dollars.

Earnings per share were 17 cents while Wall Street analysts had expected Yahoo! to report making 13 cents a share. For the year, Yahoo!’s earnings per share were 46 cents, higher than the 42 cents expected by analysts.

Net profit for the year was 424 million dollars, down 35.7 percent from 2007.

The fourth quarter loss comes as freshly appointed chief executive Carol Bartz tries to trim expenses, focus resources and right the California Internet company’s listing financial ship.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, Yahoo! delivered adjusted operating cash flow above the midpoint of guidance for the fourth quarter,” said Bartz.

“The company also made important investments while aggressively managing costs, leaving us better positioned to weather the economic downturn and emerge stronger when advertiser spending improves,” the former Autodesk chief said.

“We have work to do, but I am excited by Yahoo!’s opportunities, and encouraged by the tremendous innovation and momentum I’ve seen since joining the company,” Bartz said.

Yahoo! gained 2.65 percent to 11.64 dollars in after-hours trading after the results were announced.

The Yahoo! announcement closed the books on what was a turbulent year for the company.

Company founder Jerry Yang stepped down in November after a rocky tenure as chief executive of the Sunnyvale, California, firm that lasted a little over a year and was replaced by Bartz.

Yahoo! has been outshined by Internet search star Google and stumbling in the wake of a failed courtship with Microsoft, which offered last year to buy Yahoo! for nearly 47 billion dollars.

Yang’s rejection of Microsoft’s 33-dollar-a-share takeover bid was met with disapproval by many shareholders including billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who led a revolt against Yang and was eventually named to Yahoo!’s board.

Yahoo also announced plans to lay off at least 10 percent of its workforce, some 1,400 employees.

NEW YORK (AFP) - - New York state officials said Tuesday they had begun a probe into “billions of dollars” in bonuses paid by investment giant Merrill Lynch days before a takeover announced by Bank of America.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said his investigators had issued a subpoena to former Merrill chief executive John Thain and others to look at the “troubling” allegations.

The move is part of a probe into firms receiving aid from the US government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, a 700-billion-dollar rescue fund.

“Today, as part of our ongoing inquiry into executive compensation issues at institutions who have received TARP funds, my office issued subpoenas seeking the testimony of former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, as well as the testimony of Bank of America chief administrative officer J. Steele Alphin,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“These subpoenas are part of an ongoing inquiry into billions of dollars in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch late last year just days before Merrill was taken over by Bank of America,” Cuomo said.

“The fact that Merrill Lynch appears to have moved up the timetable to pay bonuses before its merger with Bank of America is troubling to say the least and warrants further investigation.”

Cuomo said the probe would be “conducted cooperatively and in coordination” with the special inspector general for the US Treasury’s TARP program, Neil Barofsky.

Thain resigned Thursday from Bank of America, in which he has been head of global banking, securities and wealth management, after the banking giant said that “his situation was not working out.”

On January 16, Bank of America received 20 billion dollars in fresh government capital to help shore it up after acquiring Merrill Lynch.

BofA had already received 25 billion dollars in capital injections from the TARP, set up in early October to aid at-risk firms in the global credit crisis.

On September 15, Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill Lynch for 50 billion dollars in a transaction that created the world’s largest financial services company.

It also saved Merrill from what some analysts felt was a possible collapse in the wake of a meltdown at Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers. Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection on September 15.

There was no government aid at the time of the Bank of America announcement but some analysts have speculated that US Treasury officials had pledged to offer capital to help BofA absorb Merrill.

Although the former Wall Street giant’s results were not included in the overall Bank of America financial report, Merrill Lynch lost 15.3 billion dollars in the fourth quarter.