The ONS said that the data continued to present a “mixed picture” about spending in the UK
Retail sales in the UK registered a surprise pick-up in March, led by strong food and non-store sales.
Sales volumes rose 0.2% compared with a month earlier according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Market analysts had expected a much weaker number after a downbeat survey was released by the British Retail Consortium last week.
It follows a revised 0.9% drop in sales in February – a fall that had also caught analysts by surprise.
Smaller shops were doing well – including those in London selling memorabilia for the royal wedding, Aileen Simkins from the ONS told the BBC.
The good weather had also helped sales of items such as climbing frames, as people prepared for a long summer.
Other sectors showing strong growth were garden stores and toy stores, while IT stores were also doing well on the back of new product launches, she said.
However, supermarkets had suffered a more challenging month, which showed that there was a mixed picture across the retail sector, she said.
The ONS figure comes after supermarket giant Tesco revealed earlier this week a 0.7% drop in UK like-for-like sales in the three months to 26 February.
Meanwhile Home Retail Group reported shrinking markets for its Argos and Homebase chains.
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Houllier took over at Aston Villa from Martin O’Neill in September
Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has been admitted to hospital, the BBC understands.
It is thought the 63-year-old was taken to hospital in Birmingham overnight.
He is understood to have spoken to the club’s chief executive Paul Faulkner and his condition is said to be comfortable.
Assistant manager Gary McAllister will take Thursday’s training session. The club is expected to release an official statement later.
Houllier is expected to remain in hospital for a couple of days as a precaution and it is anticipated McAllister will take charge of the team on Saturday for their game against Stoke at Villa Park.
Houllier had major surgery after suffering heart-related problems in 2001, whilst manager of Liverpool FC.
He arrived at Villa Park in September to succeed Martin O’Neill.
When he took the position Houllier revealed he had consulted his heart surgeon before accepting the job.
He said he had returned to speak to Dr Abbas Rashid, the man who led the team who performed his 11-hour operation, and was given a clean bill of health.
“When you go into a job you know there will be pressure, that it will be hard work and you won’t sleep every night,” he said at the time.
“You need to make sure your body is ready. I have checked that. I am much healthier and fitter now than I was before.”
Villa have been hovering around the relegation zone in recent weeks, although they have won their past two matches and the club said Houllier had their “total support” as he attempts to guide them to Premier League safety.
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Users of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader will soon be able to borrow electronic books from libraries in the US.
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Kizza Besigye’s hand was shot last week; it is not clear if it was with live ammunition or a rubber bullet
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Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye will spend Easter in jail after being arrested for a third time this month.
He was detained during a “walk-to-work” protest against high prices in the capital, Kampala.
The Forum for Democratic Change leader was charged with unlawful assembly and his bail hearing set for next week.
Dr Besigye, who was shot in the hand during a similar protest a week ago, lost to President Yoweri Museveni in a February election he says was rigged.
Mr Museveni has warned the walking campaign over the high cost of food and fuel is illegal.
Before February’s election, Dr Besigye had called for Egypt-style uprisings in the event of fraud. Police responded by banning public demonstrations.
April’s “walk-to-work” campaign, organised by several opposition parties, has been marked by clashes between protesters and the police, tear gas and the arrest of opposition politicians.
Police confronted Dr Besigye’s supporters after his arrest
Ahead of the the fourth day of the protest, a group of women pleaded with Dr Besigye not to walk from his home on the outskirts of Kampala.
They said they had had enough of the tear gas and commotion.
Instead he drove part of the way and then got out of his car and started walking.
A crowd then joined him, which was when the police fired tear gas and moved in to arrest Dr Besigye.
It is the third time the runner-up in February’s election had been charged over the campaign.
On Monday, after being charged with inciting violence, he was released on bail.
But the judge said on Thursday that the court was too busy to hear the bail application and set next Wednesday for the hearing.
The BBC’s East Africa correspondent Will Ross says that while Uganda’s government appears heavy-handed in its response, it clearly has one eye on events in north Africa and does not want protests to gain any momentum whatsoever.
Dr Besigye has been defeated by Mr Museveni in three presidential elections, gaining 26% to the president’s 68% in February.
The pair used to be allies, and Dr Besigye was once Mr Museveni’s personal physician.
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Ms Donkin was arrested after she also allegedly made a gun gesture
A woman accused of saying “bang, bang” to the policeman blinded by killer gunman Raoul Moat has pleaded not guilty to a public order offence.
Kelsey Donkin, 22, allegedly made the comment when Pc David Rathband arrived at Newcastle Crown Court for the trial of two men accused of helping Moat.
Pc Rathband attended court most days with his wife Katherine.
Ms Donkin, of Stamford Avenue, Sunderland, appeared before magistrates in Newcastle.
She was arrested after allegedly making the comment and a gun gesture with two fingers behind the officer’s back as he attended Newcastle Crown Court on 2 March.
Ms Donkin will next appear at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on 27 June accused of using threatening words and behaviour to cause Pc Rathband distress.
Pc Rathband was shot in the face twice
The unarmed Pc lost his sight after Moat shot him in the face twice, 24 hours after he murdered his ex-girlfriend’s new lover and seriously injured her.
Minutes before Pc Rathband was shot in the face, Moat had called Northumbria Police and said he intended to target other police officers.
Following the shootings, a manhunt started for Moat. The 37-year-old died after a six-hour stand-off with police in Rothbury, Northumberland, on 10 July.
Karl Ness, 26, and Qhuram Awan, 23, were found guilty of helping Moat. Ness was given a 40-year minimum term, and Awan must serve at least 20 years.
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Adm Mullen is in Pakistan for security talks
The US military’s top officer, Adm Mike Mullen, has accused Pakistan’s spy agency of having links with militants targeting troops in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had a “long standing relationship” with a militant group run by Afghan insurgent Jalaluddin Haqqani.
The comments come as he arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for meetings with senior Pakistani leaders.
Pakistani officials regularly reject any charges of collusion.
“It’s fairly well known that the ISI has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani network,” Adm Mullen told Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
“Haqqani is supporting, funding, training fighters that are killing Americans and killing coalition partners. And I have a sacred obligation to do all I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
But a senior Pakistani intelligence official told the Reuters news agency that the accusation was unfounded.
“If he means we’re providing him with protection, with help, that’s not correct,” the official, who wished to remain unnamed, told Reuters.
But analysts say that Haqqani’s insurgent network has been based in Pakistan since 2001 and that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) still exerts considerable influence over it.
The group has been blamed for some of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops across the border in Afghanistan.
Adm Mullen said he would raise the issue with the Pakistani army chief and other leaders during his meetings there.
He said the spy agency’s support of the network remained at the “core … and the most difficult part of the relationship” and that he would take it up with Pakistan’s army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani.
The latest comments come as US-Pakistan ties struggle to recover following the row over CIA contractor Raymond Davis – who was arrested and later released after shooting dead two Pakistani men in Lahore.
The incident prompted a wave of anti-American demonstrations across the country.
Correspondents say that anti-US sentiment, among both ordinary Pakistanis and the country’s top civil and military leaders, remains high, and point to a marked decline in the relationship between the countries’ spy agencies.
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Police in the western French city of Nantes have found a leg under the house of a family of six reported missing for more than two weeks.
Investigators now suspect kidnap and murder to have taken place, city prosecutor Xavier Ronsin said, announcing the find to reporters.
He added that the couple and their four children had kept to themselves.
The parents recently informed a school their children were being removed because of a sudden move to Australia.
There has been no trace of the father, 50, or mother, 49, or their children aged 13, 16, 18 and 21, since the beginning of April, Mr Ronsin said on Thursday.
Records show no internet or phone communications with the house in the centre of Nantes since 3 or 4 April, AFP news agency reports.
Since the discovery of the leg beneath a terrace at the house, the investigation is “leaning towards kidnapping and murder”, Mr Ronsin said.
Before the disappearance, the family left “rambling and contradictory” messages, saying they were taking their two younger children out of school because they were emigrating to Australia.
“The father explained he was a secret agent and was leaving as part of a witness protection programme,” the prosecutor said, quoting people who know the missing man.
No trace of a struggle or violence has yet been found at the house, where the wardrobes have been emptied, he said.
The family were living in a one-storey house on a central boulevard in Nantes, with all its windows shuttered.
A note cellotaped to the letter-box reads “Return all mail to sender”.
A black Golf car, which neighbours say belongs to the mother, stands parked nearby.
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Kieren Fallon will miss the Guineas meeting at Newmarket later in April despite being partially successful in his appeal against a 10-day riding ban.
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Only 8% of teachers believe government policy for free schools and academies in England will improve poor children’s education, a survey suggests.
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David Cameron condemned the bomb threats to Neil Lennon
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David Cameron has described parcel bombs being sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two prominent supporters of the club as “an appalling act”.
The prime minister, who is visiting Scotland ahead of next month’s Holyrood election, said police would be given every help to catch those involved.
The devices were addressed to Mr Lennon, Paul McBride QC and former Labour MSP Trish Godman.
Police described them as “viable” and designed to “kill or maim”.
Mr Cameron told the BBC: “Any assistance the Strathclyde Police need the Strathclyde Police shall get because this is an absolutely appalling act.
“The most important thing is that the police pursue it with every piece if vigour they have and get to grips and find the person who is responsible for it and [ensure] they are severely punished.
He added: “It is a reminder of the appalling sectarianism that exists in some people’s minds, even as we actually deal with it quite effectively in Northern Ireland, it’s still a problem and it must be sought out and crushed.”
The devices sent to Mr Lennon, Mr McBride and Ms Godman were found at various locations in the west of Scotland.
The first device was intercepted by the Royal Mail in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, on 26 March and was addressed to Mr Lennon at Celtic’s training ground in nearby Lennoxtown.
Two days later, a device was delivered to Labour politician Ms Godman’s constituency office in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire. Her staff were suspicious and contacted Strathclyde Police.
The third package was addressed to Mr McBride at the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh.
It is believed to have been posted in Ayrshire, before being found in a letter box by a postal worker on Friday and taken to a Royal Mail sorting office in Kilwinning, where police were contacted.
Detectives are also investigating another package addressed to Neil Lennon which was found at a sorting office in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, on 4 March but this has not been confirmed as an explosive device.
The developments represent a serious escalation in threats to Celtic employees in recent months.
Lennon, and players Paddy McCourt and Niall McGinn, all three of whom are Catholics from Northern Ireland, were sent bullets through the post earlier this year.
Strathclyde Police confirmed that extra security was put in place for those Celtic board members and players who were at Rugby Park on Wednesday night for the club’s SPL match against Kilmarnock.
The force confirmed that security advice had been given to members of the board and high-profile supporters.
Strathclyde Police also confirmed that an investigation was ongoing into pages on social networking sites which hosted offensive or threatening material aimed at the Celtic manager.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that a live bullet was sent to the official residence of Scotland’s most senior Roman catholic, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, ahead of the Pope’s visit to Scotland last year.
The incident, which has not being linked to the parcel bomb or bullet threats to Celtic-related figures, was not reported at the time.
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Calm has returned to most areas but many people have fled fearing more violence
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said the violence following his election is a “sad reminder” of events that plunged Nigeria into civil war.
He said Nigeria was still struggling to come to terms with the suffering of the 1967 conflict when the south-east tried to establish the state of Biafra.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the recent post-poll unrest.
The president said the violence was intended to frustrate remaining elections, but they would go ahead.
Riots broke out in the north on Monday after Mr Jonathan, a southerner, emerged as the winner of the presidential poll.
Muhammadu Buhari, who is popular in the north, denies instigating the “sad, unfortunate and totally unwarranted” events.
Nigeria is divided by rivalry between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south, which also have cultural, ethnic and linguistic differences – so much so that the presidency has often alternated between people who come from each of the two halves of the country, in an attempt to keep the peace.
The polls for Nigeria’s 36 powerful state governors are due to take place next Tuesday.
In an address to the nation, President Jonathan said the “horrific acts” of the last few days had been shocking.
“They killed and maimed innocent citizens. They set ablaze business premises, private homes and even places of worship,” he said.
“If anything at all, these acts of mayhem are sad reminders of the events which plunged our country into 30 months of an unfortunate civil war,” he said referring to the Biafran war in which more than one million people died.
“As a nation we are yet to come to terms with the level of human suffering, destruction and displacement, including that of our children to far-away countries, occasioned by those dark days.
“Enough is enough,” he said.
The BBC’s Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar in Kaduna, the state which has witnessed the worst of the violence, says Kaduna city is now calm.
Security has been stepped up nationwide
But it is difficult to confirm what is happening in the south of the state where there have been reports of continuing trouble.
Kaduna’s police say 32 people have died in the clashes – our reporter says the casualty figure may rise as Muslims tend to bury their dead quickly.
He went to one hospital in the city and saw 25 charred corpses on a mortuary floor and was told there were another 25 bodies in the mortuary fridge but he had to leave without checking because of the stench.
On Wednesday, the Red Cross put the figure of those fleeing the violence at 48,000.
Final resultsGoodluck Jonathan, People’s Democratic Party: 22.5 million votes (59.6%)Muhammadu Buhari, Congress for Progressive Change: 12.2 million votes (32.3%)Nuhu Ribadu, Action Congress of Nigeria: 2.08 million votes (5.5%)Ibrahim Shekarau, All Nigeria Peoples Party: 911,455 votes (2.4%)
Figures: Independent National Electoral Commission
Can Nigeria unite behind Goodluck Jonathan?
During his speech, the president said that security has been reinforced nationwide to quell any further unrest.
He added that there was no grievance that the law courts could not address.
Gen Buhari has said that his party will challenge some of the results – he maintains the election commission’s computers were programmed to disadvantage his party in some parts of Nigeria.
But he urged his supporters to refrain from attacks, saying: “It is wrong for you to allow miscreants to infiltrate your ranks and perpetrate such dastardly acts as the mindless destruction of worship places.
“Needless to say, this act is worse than the rigging of the elections.”
International observers have said the election was reasonably free and fair.
Mr Jonathan, a Christian from the oil-producing Niger Delta, was appointed to the presidency last year upon the death of incumbent Umaru Yar’Adua, a northern Muslim whom he had served as vice-president.
He staked his reputation on the election, repeatedly promising it would be free and fair.
Nigeria: A nation divided
To win at the first round, a candidate not only needs the majority of votes cast, but at least 25% of the vote in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states. Goodluck Jonathan, of the PDP, reached that threshold in 31 states; runner-up Muhammadu Buhari of the CPC only did so in 16 states.
Nigeria’s 160 million people are divided between numerous ethno-linguistic groups and also along religious lines. Broadly, the Hausa-Fulani people based in the north are mostly Muslims. The Yorubas of the south-west are divided between Muslims and Christians, while the Igbos of the south-east and neighbouring groups are mostly Christian or animist. The Middle Belt is home to hundreds of groups with different beliefs, and around Jos there are frequent clashes between Hausa-speaking Muslims and Christian members of the Berom community.
Despite its vast resources, Nigeria ranks among the most unequal countries in the world, according to the UN. The poverty in the north is in stark contrast to the more developed southern states. While in the oil-rich south-east, the residents of Delta and Akwa Ibom complain that all the wealth they generate flows up the pipeline to Abuja and Lagos.
Southern residents tend to have better access to healthcare, as reflected by the greater uptake of vaccines for polio, tuberculosis, tetanus and diphtheria. Some northern groups have in the past boycotted immunisation programmes, saying they are a Western plot to make Muslim women infertile. This led to a recurrence of polio, but the vaccinations have now resumed.
Female literacy is seen as the key to raising living standards for the next generation. For example, a newborn child is far likelier to survive if its mother is well-educated. In Nigeria we see a stark contrast between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south. In some northern states less than 5% of women can read and write, whereas in some Igbo areas more than 90% are literate.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and among the biggest in the world but most of its people subsist on less than $2 a day. The oil is produced in the south-east and some militant groups there want to keep a greater share of the wealth which comes from under their feet. Attacks by militants on oil installations led to a sharp fall in Nigeria’s output during the last decade. But in 2010, a government amnesty led thousands of fighters to lay down their weapons.
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