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UK retail sales fall in September

UK retail sales fell again September, the second month in succession they have declined, official data has shown.

Sales last month were 0.2% lower than August, led by falls in clothing and car fuel sales, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS also revised down August's decline, saying sales that month slipped by 0.7% compared with its original calculation of 0.5%.

The data comes as a number of retailers have warned of weak trading conditions.

Three such warnings have come this week from Debenhams, Argos-owner Home Retail Group, and sportswear chain Sports Direct.

The ONS said that compared with the same month last year sales in September were 0.5% higher. However, this was below analysts' expectations of a 1% rise.

BAE faces 'modest' hit from UK defence cuts

BAE Systems has said that the impact on its business of the UK government's defence cuts will only be "modest".

While the defence group has been hit by some cuts - such as the retirement of the Harrier jet - a number of its manufacturing contracts will continue.

These include the two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, of which BAE is a lead member of the consortium that is building them.

Outside of the UK, BAE said it was enjoying strong business in the US.

Credit Suisse profits hurt by weak market

Credit Suisse's profits fell 74% in the third quarter, thanks to choppy stock markets hitting its investment bank.

The Swiss bank earned 609m Swiss francs ($630m, £400m) during the three months, down from 2.4bn francs a year ago.

Investment banking revenues fell by 30%, mainly because of low client activity in the group's equity advisory and underwriting businesses.

Stock markets took a battering over the summer because of fears over eurozone debt and a US double-dip recession.

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As a result, fewer companies paid the bank to arrange share offerings, advise on mergers and acquisitions, or provide other such services during the quarter.

Toyota to recall over a million cars in US and Japan

Toyota has announced a recall of more than 1.5 million cars worldwide over brake and fuel pump defects.

The carmaker said the decision affected certain Avalon, Highlander and Lexus cars, including 740,000 cars in the US, 600,000 in Japan and 17,000 in the UK.

It wants to ensure that fluid does not leak from the brake master cylinder, causing the warning light to turn on.

The fault could cause the brake pedal to feel spongy, and braking performance to "gradually decline".

China's rapid economic growth slows in third quarter

China says its economy has maintained robust growth in the third quarter of 2010, but at a slightly lower rate.

Official figures show a drop from just over 10% growth to 9.6%.

This leaves China still far ahead of any major economy, but experts fear the slowdown will reduce the contribution China can make to a global recovery.

The Chinese government has recently taken measures to cool a credit boom in order to achieve more sustainable growth levels.

Ducati's Casey Stoner secures Australian GP win

Casey Stoner has won the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island for the fourth successive year.
Having earned pole position on his 25th birthday on Saturday, the Australian Ducati rider led from start to finish to seal the win in superb fashion.
Stoner opened up a 1.5 second gap between himself and newly crowned MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo within the first lap.
He eventually finished 8.598secs ahead of Lorenzo, with Valentino Rossi third.
Rossi, the 2009 world champion from Italy, stole in to finish third courtesy of a bold overtaking manoeuvre on United States rider Nicky Hayden in the final lap of the race.

Everybody was expecting the fourth win but I attacked this race like any other and we were able to control the gap at the front and bring home the win
Casey Stoner
His third place finish ensured that he and Spaniard Lorenzo sealed the 2010 Team Championship with two rounds remaining.



China-Brazil 'friendly' ends in mass 'basket-brawl'

The Chinese Basketball Association has apologised for a fight which broke out during a friendly match against a visiting team from Brazil.

The game on Tuesday degenerated into a brawl as players from both sides exchanged kicks and punches - forcing an end to play.

The Chinese association said training for the Asian Games had been put on hold while it investigated.

It said players found to be at fault would be dealt with severely.

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"The CBA apologises to the Brazilian side and all other parties over the incident which created such serious consequences," association vice chairman Li Jinsheng said in a statement.

Alpine climb to star in 2011 Tour de France

The Tour de France will mark 100 years since the race first went over the Col du Galibier by visiting the legendary Alpine climb twice in 2011.
The 18th stage will end at the summit of the Tour's most climbed mountain, which at an altitude of 2,645 metres will be the event's highest finish.
The following day, the riders will take on the Galibier again before another mountain-top finish at Alpe d'Huez.
The race starts on 2 July in the Vendee and finishes in Paris on 24 July.
A 191km opening stage, instead of the more traditional time trial prologue, marks the Grand Depart of a race that has 10 flat and six mountain stages with four summit finishes in its 21 stages.

Spending Review: Osborne defends 'fairness' of cuts

Chancellor George Osborne has defended the "fairness" of his UK spending cuts after Labour claims they were reckless and would hit the poorest hardest.

He told the BBC that including Budget measures, the top 10% of earners would be hit hardest but everyone was making a contribution to cutting the deficit.

He said "the path to economic ruin" lay ahead if the deficit was not tackled.

Labour called the £81bn cuts - the biggest since the 1970s - a "reckless gamble" with the economy.



Kanye West says he 'contemplated suicide'

Kanye West says he's thought about killing himself, but now feels a responsibility to make a meaningful contribution to pop culture and art.

The 33-year-old rapper didn't say when he'd considered suicide.

He told an audience at a screening of his new film Runaway in LA that although there had been times when he "contemplated suicide" he would "not give up on life again".

The star went on to describe himself as a pop icon and "soldier for culture".

He said there were so many people who would never have their voices heard, that he'd "do it for them".

The singer is credited as a director for the 35-minute film, which features portions of nine new Kanye West songs.

The movie is set to premiere this weekend on American cable channels and will accompany his upcoming album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy released on 22 November.

JLS and Tinie Tempah scoop Mobo Awards

Pop heart-throbs JLS and hip-hop MC Tinie Tempah shared the major spoils at the Mobo (Music of Black Origin) Awards in Liverpool, winning two prizes each.

Former X Factor finalists JLS won best album and were named best UK act, as well as inducing the loudest screams from fans at the Echo Arena.

Tempah, whose debut album recently topped the charts, won best newcomer and best video for his single Frisky.

N-Dubz and Plan B were among the other winners at the 15th Mobos ceremony.

The awards were first handed out in 1996 to showcase British urban music at a time when it was largely overlooked in the mainstream.

Yulianna Avdeeva scoops Chopin Piano award

Russian musician Yulianna Avdeeva has become the first woman to win the prestigious Chopin Piano Competition in 45 years in Warsaw, Poland.

Ms Avdeeva, 25, who won £26,506, said she had been working towards winning the competition her "whole life".

Held every five years, the contest for young pianists is one of the most important in the classical music world.

Martha Argerich, a past winner and member of the jury, caller Ms Avdeeva a "harmonious artist".

She added: "I am extremely happy about Yulianna, and particularly because she is the first woman after 45 years. After me there was no lady, so I am very happy."

Tributes paid to Happy Days actor Tom Bosley

Veteran US actor Tom Bosley, most famous for playing all-American father Howard Cunningham in the 1970s TV series Happy Days, has died aged 83.

The star, who had been suffering from lung cancer, passed away at his home just outside Palm Springs, his family said in a statement.

Henry Winkler, who played The Fonz in Happy Days, paid tribute to the actor.

"He was our television father on the sound stage, but a father figure in real life," he said.

French workers vow to step up pension protests

French workers will step up their protests against pension reforms next week, a top trade union leader says.

Bernard Thibault, head of the CGT workers' confederation, made the statement as union leaders prepared to discuss plans to hold a seventh day of national protests across France.

Meanwhile rolling strikes are continuing against government plans to raise the pension age from 60 to 62.

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Belgian skydiver who killed love rival to be sentenced

A Belgian woman convicted of murdering her fellow skydiver and love rival by sabotaging her parachute is due to be sentenced.

Els Clottemans, aged 26, faces between three years and life in prison.

On Wednesday, a jury heard how she cut key parts of the parachutes of Els Van Doren, 38, because she was jealous of her relationship with a male skydiver.

Ms Van Doren fell 1,000m (3,200ft) to her death in November 2006. Clottemans denied the charges.

The four-week trial in the north-eastern Flemish town of Tongeren (French: Tongres) gripped the nation.

India malaria deaths hugely underestimated, says report

The number of people dying from malaria in India has been hugely underestimated, according to new research.

The data, published in the Lancet, suggests there are 13 times more malaria deaths in India than the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.

The authors conclude that more than 200,000 deaths per year are caused by malaria.

The WHO said the estimate produced by this study appears too high.

Hamilton & Button must beat Webber in Korea - McLaren

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button must beat Mark Webber in Korea on Sunday to have any chance of winning the title, says McLaren engineer Phil Prew.
Red Bull driver Webber has a 14-point lead over team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with only three races left.
Hamilton is 28 points adrift with Button 31 points behind Webber.
And Prew told BBC Sport: "We need to be in front of Webber. Both our drivers need to attack."
Every team is entering into the unknown to some extent this weekend in Yeongam on a brand new track being used for a grand prix race for the first time.

The New Constitution of Nepal still Uncertain

 

Six months after the extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA) deadline for one more year, the political leaders and constitution experts paint a bleak picture on the prospects of the country getting a new constitution. They say if the leaders continue lacking a sense of urgency, the CA would not be able to promulgate the new constitution in the next six-month timeline.

“The six months have passed without any substantial progress, so there is no room to express satisfaction," said Nilamber Acharya, chairman of the Constitutional Committee (CC) of the CA. "If the parties continue the same tendency, the country will not get the constitution in time.”

The high-level taskforce headed by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has settled some of the contentious issues of new constitution such as citizenship and language. However, the parties are yet to sort out differences on several other vital issues like forms of governance and mapping of the federal states. Besides, the works of the taskforce have also been questioned by some lawmakers.

CC Chair Acharya and some lawmakers have expressed their dissatisfaction over the formation of the taskforce stating that it is beyond the jurisdiction of the CA. On Tuesday, some lawmakers urged CA Chairman Subas Nembang not to extend the duration of the taskforce. The taskforce is scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday after the gap of two weeks due to the Maoist plenum.

Five-month-long deadlock on government formation and souring relationship among the parties due to the budget issue have raised doubts about timely promulgation of the constitution. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had resigned from office five months ago, but a new government is still nowhere in sight. Another key issue linked with the constitution drafting process—integration and rehabilitation of the former Maoist combatants—has failed to make pace despite the compressed deadline of UNMIN's exit [Jan 15, 2011].

Constitution expert Purnaman Shakya said it is time the political leaders feel the sense of urgency.

On May 30, two days after the extension of CA by one year, CA Chairman Nembang had said they would prepare a time-bound action plan to draft the constitution within nine months of the extended period. He had also talked about issuing a white paper about the delay on constitution drafting.

Political leaders concede their doubt over the prospect of the country getting the new constitution on time. “We set a work plan but failed to implement it,” said CPN-UML leader Pardip Gyawali. “If the same pace continues, there are no grounds to expect a new constitution in time.”

The Constitutional Committee, which has the responsibility to prepare a draft of constitution, is jobless for months as different thematic committees failed to forward their reports.

Speaker Nembang, who is helpless against political wrangling, is also worried whether the leaders are serious about resolving the deadlock over constitution writing. He has expressed serious exception to the foreign trips of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and other political leaders at a time when they had to engage in a serious and result-oriented dialogue. “The time is running out," said Nembang. "The parties should be serious about drafting the constitution on time.”