Newcastle’s injury-prone strikeforce of Mark Viduka and Michael Owen finished off West Ham even if they failed to finish the game, putting the seal on an impressive victory for Sam Allardyce’s men.

Aggessive but full of dainty touches, clever but ruthless, Viduka bought a clinical quality to a game dominated by the long ball and the full-throttle challenge. He later left the field to a deserved standing ovation and a hamstring strain on 72 minutes.

For the second time in a week Owen also failed to last the 90 minutes, the England forward limping off early in the second half with his ongoing groin strain. Owen showed a good touch and worked hard, but the explosive pace that characterisies him at his best was wholly absent.

Newcastle had taken an early lead inside two minutes when Viduka superbly headed in a Charles N’Zogbia cross, as the Magpies looked to make early amends for their defeat at Derby last week. After a scintilating opening, the pace dropped and the game became untidy, with possession changing hands quickly. Steve Harper got down well to his right to push a Mark Noble drive round the post as Newcastle’s concentration waned.

Dean Ashton profited from another Newcastle lapse, equalising by arrowing a superb volley across Steve Harper just after the half hour mark.

The Hammers’ equaliser stung Newcastle back into action, with Viduka a constant menace and Newcastle’s recently recruited right back, Habib Beye, also impressive going forward. N’Zogbia and Viduka combined again for Newcastle’s second after 41 minutes; N’Zogbia flew down the left flank before hitting a low centre that Viduka scrambled in at the far post.

In the second half, West Ham were restricted to set pieces and scrambles with Ashton carrying the Hammers’ main threat. He drove one free-kick into Harper’s arms and then flicked a header just wide of the far post. And the Hammers’ hopes were finally extinguished on 76 minutes, when substitute Obafemi Martins crossed for the outstanding N’Zogbia to turn in a third.

With just minutes to go, Martins missed a great chance to further add to West Ham’s embarrassment, blazing wildly over after he had rounded keeper Robert Green, but it wasn’t to prove costly.

John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor both scored as Aston Villa beat Everton 2-0, their third home win in a row. Carew drove home the first, taking advantage when Joseph Yobo headed the ball straight up in the air and Leighton Baines failed to clear. Agbonlahor then added a second, controlling a long clearance by goalkeeper Scott Carson before slipping a shot past Stefan Wessels.

TELECOM

AT&T launches parental control

The nation’s largest wireless carrier will launch a service that allows parents to set usage limits on their children’s mobile phones. The service includes call blocking and limits on usage times, text messaging and downloads. Parents will be able to adjust restrictions through AT&T’s () Web site. As a precaution, calls to 911 or calls to or from a parent’s phone can be made at any time. AT&T will offer the service as an add-on for $4.99 per month per line. Shares rose 1% to 40.28.

Motorola wins key Iridium ruling

The mobile phone maker won dismissal of some Iridium claims. The ruling lets Motorola () off the hook in a lawsuit where creditors of once-bankrupt satellite system Iridium were trying to force the phone company to return $3.7 bil it was paid to build Iridium’s 66-satellite constellation. Motorola could have been forced to give back to Iridium’s creditors all or some of the cash it received to develop the satellite network. Motorola rose 1.5% to 17.20.

The president of Sony Ericsson, () the world’s fourth largest mobile phone maker, said he’s stepping down for personal reasons. Miles Flint was credited with leading a successful turnaround the joint venture of Sony and Ericsson.

CONSUMER

Sony mulls movie download store

The Japanese electronics company said it is considering creating its own movie download service. The move could allow Sony () to compete directly with Apple’s () iPods, and iTunes. Last week, Sony revealed a new Walkman video player that comes with Microsoft’s () Windows Media Player 11, which is capable of managing digital libraries in the U.S. and Europe. Sony had fallen behind Apple’s iPod, and got a late start on flat-panel TV, forcing the company to cut jobs. Sony climbed 2.7% to 49.07.

RETAIL

Home Depot plans repurchasing

The home improvement and construction store said it plans to repurchase 289.6 mil shares for $10.7 bil. The buyback is half of its $22.5 bil goal. Home Depot () will pay about $37 a share and use $8 bil from its sale of the HD Supply unit and $2.7 bil in cash. Shares fell 5% to 36.36.

TECHNOLOGY

CDC Games unveils U.S. branch

The online gaming business of China’s CDC Corp. () said it has launched U.S. operations. CDC Games said Ron Williams, the vice president of systems engineering for CDC Software, will head the unit as general manager. The U.S. branch has a memorandum of understanding with online free-to-play game company K2 Network Inc. It will look for opportunities to publish titles in North America. Shares fell 1.4% to 8.67.

MEMC slashes Q3 sales outlook

The supplier of silicon wafers for chipmakers cut its Q3 sales outlook 5% to $475 mil, below views. MEMC Electronic Materials () said it anticipates margins will be flat from Q2 to Q3 of 2007. The company said a construction incident last week caused by an electrical subcontractor at the site led to a power outage and the shutdown had about a one-week effect on its Q3 output. Shares fell 5% to 58.33.

Yahoo, () the Web services firm, surged 5.5% to 23.97 after Bear Stearns named it a top pick, saying strategic initiatives are likely to boost shares.

Chip sales rise while prices grow

Global semiconductor sales lifted 2.2% in July on higher sales of its microprocessor, MOS logic device and Nand flash memory. The industry’s sales totaled $20.6 bil, up from $20.1 bil last year. Chip sales increased 3.2% from June to July. Its microprocessor unit sales climbed 5% as price edged up 3%. Nand flash product sales rose 8%.

Intel, () the No. 1 PC chipmaker, signed an agreement with Bangladesh’s Grameen Solutions to provide computers and assistance in the country’s rural areas. Intel, however, said it had no immediate plans to invest in Bangladesh. Shares rose 1.7% to 26.18.

Microsoft fails in bid for standard

The software giant failed to get a world standards body to approve the format tied to its flagship Office software as the global standard, a step that would help Microsoft () fend off growing competition from open-source software. Microsoft needed to secure a two-thirds majority vote of the 104 nations that comprise the International Standards Organization, but garnered only 53%. Microsoft said it was confident it will garner enough votes next year. Shares edged up 0.3% to 28.81.

FOOD

Wimm-Bill-Dann dairy sales soar

The Russian milk and juice producer and baby food company said its Q2 net income climbed 15% to $33.7 mil, below views. Sales rose 41% to $605 mil, topping forecasts on stronger-than-expected dairy sales, which jumped 43%. Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods () affirmed its 2010 sales target but gave no near-term outlook. Shares rose 6.4% to 108.93.

Kraft adds Starbucks to Tassimo

The food giant said it made a deal with Starbucks and Bosch Household Appliances to increase growth of its Tassimo hot beverage system. Kraft Foods () will add Starbucks () coffees to its Tassimo beverage lineup in the U.S. and Canada. Bosch in mid-2008 will launch a new Tassimo brewer carrying the Bosch name. Kraft said Tassimo was on track to become a $200 mil brand by year-end. Kraft edged up 0.3% to 32.15. Starbucks rose 0.6% to 27.72.

FINANCE

Nasdaq may extend LSE deadline

The exchange may extend its Friday deadline for potential buyers to vie for its 31% stake in the London Stock Exchange, a source said. Nasdaq, () which tried and failed to take over the LSE on two occasions, recently announced that it would sell off its interest in the exchange, worth about $1.72 bil. NYSE Euro-next, () Australia’s ASX and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings have expressed interest in the stake. Nasdaq rose 1% to 32.98.

CME Group’s Aug. trading grows

The world’s largest futures exchange said its average daily volume in August grew 78% from a year ago, on strong volume growth in its equity options and interest-rate products. CME’s () electronically traded contracts made up 77% of its 341 mil monthly contracts. Equity options jumped 82%. The previous-year figures are adjusted to include recently purchased CBOT’s trading volume. Shares rose 1.8% to 564.80.

S&P buys two monitoring firms

The bond rating company, a unit of McGraw-Hill, () said it bought 2 companies to help evaluate mortgage bonds and other structured finance debt and monitor their performance. Standard & Poor’s said it bought IMAKE Consulting, a provider of software and services to the asset-backed markets. It also acquired ABSXchange, a software company that offers data, analytics and modeling for structured finance instruments. McGraw-Hill rose 0.9% to 50.91.

MEDICAL

Bayer sees Asia sales jump 17%

The drug business of Germany’s Bayer () expects its revenue in Asia to go up by about 17% to more than $2.6 bil this year, driven by soaring sales in China. Bayer Schering Pharma said the sales in China was ahead of Japan for the first time. Year to year, the company sees 16-17% sales growth. In China, there has been a strong demand for so-called primary care drugs such as those to treat cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes. Shares rose 1% to 79.81.

Celera to buy private heart lab

The molecular testing firm said it will buy Berkeley HeartLab for about $195 mil in cash. Berkeley, a privately held company focusing on cardiovascular health, expects sales of $81 mil this year. Berkeley’s disease management offerings are expected to benefit from Celera’s () genetic markers that help identify problems early. Celera climbed 2.4% to 13.48.

InterMune, () a drug maker, said it won European approval for it plans for an early stage trial on its Hepatitis C drug. The drug candidate prevents the virus from being able to copy itself. It surged 5% to 20.75.

Study: stents risk may be smaller

Drug-coated stents may not be as dangerous as previously thought, Swedish researchers said. The new findings from 35,000 patients suggested there was no statistical difference between death rates of patients who used drug-eluting stents and patients who used older bare metal ones. Worries over the drug stents have led to a $1 bil slump in sales in the past year, hurting manufacturers such as Boston Scientific () and Johnson & Johnson. ()

LEISURE

Mattel recalls may spur inquiry

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was considering launching an investigation of whether toy maker Mattel () notified authorities quickly enough of its massive recalls of Chinese-made toys. Meanwhile, published reports said Mattel will announce a third recall of toys made in China because they may contain excessive amounts of lead paint. Mattel’s last recall, announced on Aug. 14, covered about 19 mil toys worldwide. Mattel rose 1.6% to 21.97.

Alistair Darling admitted today that lessons would be learned from the Northern Rock crisis as he promised to strengthen protection for ordinary voters.

The chancellor used his keynote speech at the Labour party conference in Bournemouth to say that changes would be made to ensure stability.

“Last week was difficult,” he said. “Difficult for Northern Rock savers, for all of us. There are lessons to be learned - and I will make the changes we need to ensure stability.”

Mr Darling said no government should “ever be in the business of protecting executives who make the wrong call or bad decisions”.

“My job is to protect ordinary savers. So we need to strengthen protection… to give them confidence,” he said “Ensuring their savings in a bank or building society are guaranteed.

Mr Darling added: “It’s in all our interests to learn from what’s happened and we are ready to take the lead and take whatever action is needed.”

The chancellor also used his speech - at the start of the prosperity and work debate - to pay tribute to his predecessor, “the longest serving chancellor in modern times and the most successful: Gordon Brown”.

He also heaped praise on former prime minister Tony Blair. “The man who led us to three consecutive election victories.”

Mr Darling said it was “a real privilege and an enormous responsibility” to be in government and he vowed to remain cautious with “other people’s hard-earned savings and with our hard-won, stable economy”.

The chancellor underlined his commitment to tackling climate change and making Britain the first country in the world to introduce legally enforceable carbon budgets.

On energy, Mr Darling outlined three imperatives: to maintain security of supply, ensure affordability and drive down carbon emissions.

And on poverty, the chancellor said Britain would reach its international obligations in full.

“Our priority is always to look forward and to see what more can be done,” he said.