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US consumer spending rises again

Consumer spending accounts for 70% of total US economic output

US consumer spending rose modestly in November for the fifth consecutive month, reinforcing the view of a solid if pedestrian economic recovery.

Spending rose 0.4% against the previous month, the Commerce Department said, roughly in line with analysts’ forecasts. Consumer incomes rose 0.3%.

Consumer spending is watched closely as it accounts for about 70% of the US economy’s total economic output.

Separate data showed new home sales rising by 5.5% in November.

Sales during the month were at an annualised rate of 290,000 homes, slightly below analysts’ expectations, the Commerce Department said.

Sales were down by a fifth compared with a year earlier.

The department also said that orders for so-called durable manufactured goods fell 1.3% in November.

However, orders excluding transportation rose by 2.4%.

“Consumers are shopping until they are tired, they are not shopping until they drop”

Joel Naroff Naroff Economic Advisers

The Commerce Department also revised the consumer spending figure for October, from 0.4% to 0.7%, which bodes well for the end-of-year GDP figures, it said.

“Consumer spending in November and October is consistent with stronger economic growth during the fourth quarter,” said the department’s acting deputy secretary, Rebecca Blank.

Analysts were also cheered by the figures.

“The spending numbers are good for the economy, no question about it,” said Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisers.

“Consumers are shopping until they are tired, they are not shopping until they drop.”

Figures released on Wednesday showed that the US economy grew by an annualised rate of 2.6% between July and September, slightly up on the previous estimate of 2.5%.

However, doubts remain about the strength of the recovery.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Reserve said the recovery was still too slow to bring down the country’s high level of unemployment.

Figures released earlier this month showed the unemployment rate rising to 9.8%, its highest rate since April.

This is why the Fed has announced that it will pump $600bn (£390bn) into the economy, and why the government has extended tax cuts enacted by President George W Bush that were set to expire this year.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Sex slaves

Plan to rescue thousands of victims fails in Mali

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Sheridan trial: Lies and betrayal

BBC Scotland’s Mark Daly writes about the police investigation which culminated in the High Court verdict on Tommy Sheridan.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Tommy Sheridan guilty of perjury

Tommy and Gail Sheridan faced the media outside court after the verdict

Tommy Sheridan has been convicted of perjury following a 12-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The 46-year-old former MSP was found guilty of lying during his successful defamation case against the News of the World newspaper in 2006.

Sheridan has been given bail and faces a prison term when he is sentenced on 26 January.

His wife Gail, also 46, was acquitted last week after the Crown withdrew charges against her.

Following the verdict, Sheridan’s solicitor, Amar Anwar, read a statement on his client’s behalf outside the court.

In the statement, Mr Sheridan said: “I make no apology for taking on the might of Rupert Murdoch.”

After this was read out, Gail Sheridan gave her reaction to the waiting media.

She thanked everyone across Scotland for all their support, emphasising their gratitude towards “real friends”.

Mrs Sheridan added: “I have and will always stand by Tommy.”

At this point, a highly emotional Sheridan hugged and kissed his wife.

The verdict, which took six hours to deliver, brings to a close what is thought to be the longest-running perjury case in Scottish legal history.

Its beginning can be traced to Sheridan’s successful defamation action against the Sunday tabloid in August 2006.

TIMELINE

31 October, 2004 – The News of the World publishes the first of a series of stories about the then-SSP leader11 November, 2004 – Mr Sheridan resigns for “personal reasons” and later that week announces he will sue the paper21 November, 2004 – The paper runs another story purporting to reveal “the real reasons” why Sheridan had stepped down4 July, 2006 – Thomas Sheridan v News Group Newspapers begins at the Court of Session4 August, 2006 – The politician wins his case and £200,000 in damages1 October, 2006 – The paper publishes details of a video in which Mr Sheridan is said to admit visiting a sex club16 December, 2007 – Mr Sheridan is detained as he leaves a radio station in Edinburgh and is charged with perjury17 February, 2008 – Gail Sheridan is charged with perjury4 October, 2010 – The couple’s perjury trial begins17 December, 2010 – Gail Sheridan is acquitted23 December, 2010 – Tommy Sheridan convicted of perjury

He sued after it printed allegations that he was an adulterer who had attended a swingers’ club.

The civil case tore the SSP apart as 11 colleagues testified against Sheridan, saying that he had admitted attending the sex club during a party meeting in 2004.

Sheridan won the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, however, and was awarded £200,000 damages.

Two months later, Edinburgh’s procurator fiscal ordered Lothian and Borders Police to investigate allegations of perjury during the case.

During the investigation, the News of the World also published details of a video tape, secretly recorded by Sheridan’s best man George McNeilage, in which the politician was alleged to have admitted visiting a swingers’ club in Manchester.

When the police probe concluded, Sheridan and his wife were charged with perjury.

The resulting trial at the High Court in Glasgow, which got under way in October, saw dozens of witnesses give evidence against the former MSP.

During the second week of the trial, Sheridan released his defence QC Maggie Scott and opted to represent himself – just as he had done successfully during the 2006 defamation action.

Like the civil case again, a number of former SSP colleagues stated that he had admitted the sex club visit at an executive meeting of the party in November 2004.

The trial also heard allegations of affairs with journalist Anvar Khan and former SSP colleague Katrine Trolle.

The video tape, which Sheridan’s best man George McNeilage sold to the News of the World, also formed a central part of the prosecution case.

In the final weeks of the trial, perjury charges against Gail Sheridan were dropped and she was acquitted.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC said it was no longer in the public interest to pursue them.

The number of perjury allegations against Mr Sheridan was also reduced from 18 to six.

As the trial came to a close, the Crown’s case centred on three key areas – what Sheridan was alleged to have said at the SSP meeting in November 2004, the alleged visit to the Manchester swingers’ club and the secret video tape recorded by Mr McNeilage.

In a marathon closing speech, lasting five hours over two days, Sheridan told the jury that the Crown witnesses were not credible or reliable.

He accused police of conducting “a vendetta” against him during their investigation and claimed the tape was a fabrication designed to incriminate him.

The jury, however, chose to believe the Crown’s case, and convicted him of perjury.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Ice and snow hit Western Europe

A bus which crashed into a tree in Duesseldorf

Icy roads made conditions for drivers hazardous in many areas of Germany

‘Record’ shopping day predicted

With only two days to go until Christmas, many presents still need to be bought

N Koreans ‘ready for sacred war’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in newly released pictures of an undated visit to the Huichon youth electrical complex in Chagang Province

Kim Jong-il’s North Korea has until now been less strident in its tone over the new exercises.

North Korea is ready for a “sacred war of justice” using the nuclear deterrent, its armed forces minister has said.

Kim Yong-chun said exercises conducted by South Korea near the border were a preparation for war with the North.

The drill is one of the largest in South Korea’s history, involving tanks, helicopters and fighter planes.

Tension has been high since North Korea shelled the South’s Yeonpyeong island last month, killing four South Koreans.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has promised immediate retaliation to any further Northern attack.

The South Korean army acknowledged that the drill was aimed to display its firepower.

Although the South has conducted 47 military drills this year, this is the largest winter live-fire exercise ever conducted on land.

The North earlier branded Seoul’s exercises “warmongering” but until now had not threatened the South with any retaliation.

During a meeting in the North Korean capital, Mr Kim, quoted by Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency, accused the South of preparing for a new Korean War.

“The South Korean puppet forces perpetrated such grave military provocation as renewing their shelling against the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] during their recent exercises for a war of aggression in the West Sea [Yellow Sea] of Korea,” he said.

“This indicates that the enemy’s scenario for aggression aimed at the start of another Korean War, has reached the phase of its implementation.”

“The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on the nuclear deterrent at anytime necessary to cope with the enemies’ actions deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war,” he added.

Both China and Russia have called on the South to defuse tensions and US officials too are privately expressing their concern about Seoul’s new, more aggressive stance.

South Korea and the US had already been conducting large-scale military exercises, following the apparent torpedoing of a South Korean warship by the North on 26 March, which killed 46 south Korean sailors.

Efforts to redirect the Korean issue back to the negotiating table have been unsuccessful.

China and the North say it is time to return to the six-nation talks about North Korea’s nuclear programmes.

But the US, South Korea and Japan have said they will not return to such talks, which have previously involved rewards for the North if it cuts back on nuclear development.

North Korea walked out of the six-party talks in April 2009 and expelled UN nuclear inspectors from the country.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

‘Cell assault’ sergeant dismissed

Sgt Andrews will appeal against the decision

A policeman convicted of assaulting a woman in custody and later cleared on appeal has been sacked by the Wiltshire Police force.

Sgt Mark Andrews was filmed dragging Pamela Somerville through Melksham police station custody area.

A disciplinary panel has now decided he was not of sufficient standard to be an officer in the force and he has been dismissed with immediate effect.

Sgt Andrews will now appeal to the Chief Constable of Wiltshire.

If that is unsuccessful he will make a further appeal to an appeals tribunal.

The disciplinary inquiry by neighbouring Gloucestershire Constabulary was held in private.

It examined Sgt Andrews’ dealings with Ms Somerville during the incident in July 2008.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said the result of the hearing was made public because of the public interest and high profile nature of the case.

The officer was found guilty of causing actual bodily harm and jailed for six months in September.

Sgt Andrews spent six days in prison, but was released on bail pending the appeal at Oxford Crown Court.

The appeal judge, Mr Justice Bean, said after the four-day hearing in November he was satisfied that Sgt Andrews did not intend to throw Ms Somerville into the cell and that injuries she suffered “were probably caused by her falling to the floor after letting go of the door frame”.

Ms Somerville had been arrested for failing to take a breath test but was never prosecuted.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Parcel bomb blast at Rome embassy

The Swiss embassy in Rome (image from embassy website)

The embassy stands on via Barnaba Oriani

A parcel bomb blast has seriously injured a Swiss national at the Swiss embassy in Rome, officials from the two countries say.

A male member of staff at the embassy received serious injuries to both of his hands, emergency services told Italian media.

The man was rushed from the embassy on via Barnaba Oriani to hospital.

As police began an investigation, there was no immediate indication of who might have sent the device.

A spokeswoman for the embassy told Reuters news agency the explosion had occurred around midday (1100 GMT).

No further details of the incident were released by the Italian foreign ministry, and police were not commenting as of early Thursday afternoon.

The embassy is located near Villa Glori Park, to the north of the city centre.

A suspected bomb was found on an empty underground train in Rome on Tuesday. The device lacked a detonator and tests showed it contained no explosive.

Anti-government protests had gripped Italy over the past week, with Rome the scene of some of the most serious rioting.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Grenade found at PSNI man’s home

A device believed to be a grenade has been found outside a policeman’s home near Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh.

It was discovered on Wednesday evening. It is not clear if it exploded. The policeman and his family have been moved out of the house.

No-one was injured. A security operation is under way.

SDLP Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tommy Gallagher said it was “a cowardly attack”.

“While it is yet unclear who is responsible their actions will be wholeheartedly condemned by everyone in our community.

“Their cowardly actions – attacking a family in their own home during the Christmas period – are in stark contrast to the bravery of those who continue to serve our community in the PSNI.

“I would appeal for anyone with information as to who was responsible to bring it to the PSNI without delay.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Polar bears lose US endanger bid

The US upholds a decision classifying polar bears merely as “threatened” rather than “endangered”, giving them less protection and angering activists.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Osborne ‘out of touch’ – Lib Dem

Two senior Lib Dems tell undercover Daily Telegraph reporters that they voted in favour of tuition fees even though they opposed the policy.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Santa goes to war

Remembering the UK’s soldiers at Christmas

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

California hit by intense storm

Forecasters warned the storm could soak California with an inch of rain per hour

Residents in southern California are bracing for flooding, thunderstorms, hail and even tornadoes from the worst in a week-long series of storms.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for a half a dozen communities in the state, some of which have already seen mud slides and flooded streets.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Forecasters said the storm could bring as much as 1in (2.5cm) of rain an hour.

“There’s going to be a six-hour time frame in the early morning when it’s really going to be dumping on us,” National Weather Service spokesman Bill Hoffer told the Associated Press news agency.

Forecasters say southern California will be the hardest hit area, although they expect the storm to move into Arizona, Utah and Nevada on Wednesday as well.

Some areas could expect up to 2in of rain per hour as thunderstorms move through the region, forecasters said.

Steady rain began coming down late on Tuesday and is expected to strengthen.

Heavy rains collapsed a hillside on a heavily user section of Interstate 10 early on Wednesday, covering three lanes near the city of Ponoma.

Homes in the mountains near Silverado Canyon in Orange County were blocked by boulders and mud as rescue workers helped residents seek shelter before the largest of the storms struck.

On Tuesday, officials ordered the evacuation of 232 homes that site beneath large hillsides in La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta, in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Flood warnings and emergency orders have also been put in place in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Trio guilty of Sydney attack plot

An Australian court finds three men guilty of plotting a suicide attack on a Sydney army base, with two co-defendants acquitted.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.