UK service sector sees strong growth, PMI figures show
The UK's dominant service sector grew at its fastest rate since March 2011 in January, according to a key survey.
The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose from 54 to 56. Any figure above 50 indicates growth.
Markit also reported the biggest monthly rise in business optimism since the survey started 15 years ago.
The data will reduce fears of a new recession, following a contraction in the economy at the end of last year.
An increase in new business also drove employment in the sector to rise at its fastest pace since March 2008, the survey found.
The service sector accounts for more than 70% of the UK's economic output.
Recession 'unlikely'
"All [this] points to a resounding revival of UK economic growth in January," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"A slide back into recession is now looking increasingly unlikely. The economy could well expand at close to trend rate - around 2-2.5% per annum - in the first quarter if business conditions hold up in the next two months," he added.
The data follows a similar survey showing the UK's manufacturing sector returned to growth in January, with overall activity at its highest level for eight months.
The results will be closely analysed by the Bank of England when it meets next week.
Risks
The Bank had been expected to expand its quantitative easing programme to provide extra credit to the economy.
"The recent upturn in some of the key indicators should make for an interesting policy debate at next week's Bank of England meeting," said Philip Shaw from Investec.
"Our feeling is that there are still big downside risks out there. And the BoE's own inflation forecast is so low in the medium term, it would take a big shift to the upside to remove the case for more easing," he said.
However, the data contradicts the latest forecast from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
The think tank predicted the UK economy would shrink by 0.1% in 2012.
Motorola makes Apple pull iPads and iPhones in Germany
Apple has pulled several iPad and iPhone models from its German online store after Motorola Mobility enforced a patent injunction against its rival.
The move follows a December ruling that Apple had failed to license one of Motorola's wireless intellectual properties.
iPhone users in Germany may also face the loss of their push email iCloud service after a separate patent victory by Motorola.
Apple has said it will appeal.
The dispute may eventually pit Apple against Google. The search giant is in the process of taking over the Razr handset-maker. The deal still needs to clear the competition authorities.
Pulled products
The sales ban relates to Motorola's patent for a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system".
Motorola licenses the patent to other companies on Frand (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.
Frand-type patents involve technologies that are deemed to be part of an industry standard. In this case Motorola's innovation is deemed crucial to the GPRS data transmission standard used by GSM cellular networks across the world.
Companies must offer Frand-type patents for a reasonable fee to anyone willing to pay.
Apple has said it would be willing to pay the fee going forward, but the two firms dispute how much Apple should pay for failing to license the technology up until now. Missed payments are not covered by the "reasonable" rule, and Motorola would be able to demand a more expensive price.
Apple said: "While some iPad and iPhone models are not available through Apple's online store in Germany right now, customers should have no problem finding them at one of our retail stores or an authorised reseller.
"Apple is appealing this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."
Motorola said it had offered Apple "reasonable licensing terms and conditions" since 2007.
"We are pleased that the Mannheim court has recognized the importance of our intellectual property and granted an enforceable injunction in Germany against Apple Sales International," a statement said.
Apple's iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 are all affected - but not its newer iPhone 4S. All 3G models of the iPad are involved, but not their wi-fi-only counterparts.
Email technology
The separate push email ban would only come into effect if Motorola decided to enforce a second judgement that Apple's iCloud and MobileMe infringed another of its innovations.
The patent relates to two-way communications between pagers and other devices and was granted in 2002.
If Motorola decides to enforce the judgement some iPhone users in Germany would lose the ability to automatically receive emails as soon as they have been sent. Instead they would either have to manually check their accounts or set their devices to periodically check for updates.
This patent is not deemed to be critical to an industry standard, so the firm does not have to license the technology to Apple even if the iPhone-maker offered to pay.
Apple said that it believed the patent involved was invalid, adding that it was appealing against the decision.
Although the two cases only apply to Germany they may have implications for other European lawsuits. EU rules say different countries' courts can reach different conclusions, but must explain why.
Patent consultant Florian Mueller notes on his blog that Apple has brought patent claims of its own against Motorola in Germany, and that Motorola also faces a lawsuit filed by Microsoft which is due to be considered next Tuesday.
Megaupload co-founder's bail appeal rejected by court
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's bail application appeal has been rejected in New Zealand.
The High Court in Auckland said it agreed with an earlier ruling that Mr Dotcom - a German national - might try to flee the country.
The file-sharing site creator is accused of profiting from the copying and distribution of pirated content.
Mr Dotcom's lawyers said that he denied the charge and would fight an extradition application by the US.
Prosecutors had said Mr Dotcom - also known as Kim Schmitz - posed an extreme flight risk, noting that he had passports and bank accounts in three names and a history of fleeing criminal charges. They said measures, such as electronic monitoring, were likely to prove ineffective.
'Go to hell'
Lawyers representing the US authorities also said that a man with a history of making fake travel documents had unsuccessfully asked to visit Mr Dotcom following his arrest.
Mr Dotcom's said he had no intention of running away. He said he wanted to be with his pregnant wife and fight to get his assets unfrozen. He also denied all knowledge of the rejected visitor.
"If people were to approach me and to offer such a service, I would tell them to go to hell," Mr Dotcom said.
He added that he had also been contacted by a man claiming to be a prosecutor, who had said he could organise a favourable bail hearing in return for a payment.
He also complained that he had been sent letters from female prison inmates asking to become his pen pals.
Mr Dotcom's next court appearance is scheduled for 22 February, when his extradition hearing is planned.
Data deletion
Megaupload has been offline since 19 January, when the US government forced its shutdown and executed search warrants on two companies that provided it with file hosting services - Cogent Communications and Carpathia Hosting.
Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken tweeted earlier this week that the hosting firms had agreed to preserve consumers' data until at least mid-February.
The US-based digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation has since written a letter hinting it might begin its own legal action if the service providers consequently tried to wipe the data, now that they were no longer being paid by Megaupload to store it.
"Many innocent third parties... used Megaupload for wholly legal purposes and have since lost access to their data," wrote the organisation's legal director, Cindy Cohn.
"Many of these materials are property of the individuals involved, and they are legally entitled not only to access but to preservation and privacy.
"We are hopeful that our client and other third parties can obtain access to their material without resorting to legal action, but if that is not the case, we intend to take the necessary steps to ensure the return of their materials."
Carpathia has already pledged not to wipe the data without warning.
More Cairo clashes after Port Said football deaths
Protesters have clashed with security forces in Egypt's capital Cairo for a second day, amid anger over the deaths of 74 football fans on Wednesday.
Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing crowds outside the interior ministry.
A soldier died from injuries received in Thursday's clashes in Cairo, state media said. Two people were shot dead in unrest in Suez, also on Thursday.
Many Egyptians blame the authorities for failing to protect fans at a stadium in the city of Port Said.
Hundreds were injured in fighting between security forces and protesters across the country on Thursday.
Most of the dead were believed to be supporters of Cairo's al-Ahly team, who were attacked after losing a match to Port Said side al-Masry.
A group of hard-core al-Ahly fans known as the "ultras" have accused the authorities of allowing the killings to happen.
They say the authorities wanted revenge because the ultras were among those battling the police during last year's revolution that ousted strongman leader Hosni Mubarak.
Anger over the deaths has combined with widespread frustration at the pace of reforms undertaken by the interim military rulers.
Early on Friday, protesters and security forces clashed outside the interior ministry, which is seen by protesters as an unreformed institution dominated by Mr Mubarak's supporters.
A doctor at the scene told the Associated Press that one person had been killed.
Protester Wael Nawara told the BBC's Network Africa programme that many middle-ranking officers loyal to the former president were still in charge at the ministry and were "conspiring against revolution".
"There have been many calls throughout the last few months of restructuring the ministry of interior to bring the officers who are responsible for earlier deaths to trial, but nothing really has changed much in the behaviour of the ministry," he said.
The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says protesters have spent the night dismantling concrete security walls that were erected around the ministry after a previous outbreak of unrest late last year.
Protesters are planning several marches across the city later, and there will be special funeral prayers at Tahrir Square for those who died at the football match.
Iran ‘Will Retaliate’ Against Sanctions or Attack
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Friday that Iran will retaliate against Western-backed oil sanctions and threats of attack, as media reports say U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta fears Israel could strike Iran in the next few months.
A report Thursday in The Washington Post, later backed by other news outlets, said Panetta worries Israel could attack Iran as early as April to stop Tehran's progress on a possible nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.
Panetta was not directly quoted in the report and has not commented on it.
Khamenei's comments came in a speech on state television Friday as he marked the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
He said sanctions will have no effect on Iran's determination to continue its controversial nuclear program. He also said Iran will back any nation or group that intends to confront Israel.
Israel is among the nations, including the United States, that suspect Iran may be enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons. Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, while the United States is pushing for increased international sanctions instead.
In retaliation for any further action, Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's oil is shipped.
2 British Vacationers Die of Legionnaires Disease in Spain
Two elderly British men vacationing in Spain have died from Legionnaires disease.
A British-based vacation booking company says three others who stayed at the Diamante Beach Hotel in the eastern town of Calpe are being treated at a Spanish hospital.
The company says five other British citizens who stayed at the same hotel were treated after returning home.
All of the victims are more than 70 years old.
British officials say they are providing consular assistance to victims of the outbreak and their families.
The Telegraph newspaper says Spanish health officials have not located the source of the waterborne bacteria, which led to an outbreak last month.
They suspect more people could possibly have been infected.
UN: Somalia Famine Over, but Millions Still Need Food Aid
The United Nations has officially declared an end to the famine in Somalia, but warns that nearly a third of the war-torn country's population is still in need of food aid.
The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said Friday that because of a good harvest and humanitarian aid, parts of southern Somalia have improved from famine conditions to a less-severe “emergency.”
But FAO Director-General Jose Graziano warned those gains were fragile and could be reversed without continued support.
“We got this season more than 200 percent improvements in some food staple crops and we can do that (again) if we are able to support the farmers in this forthcoming 90 days. We have less than 100 days to avoid another famine in the region, that is the important message.”
The Horn of Africa is emerging from its worst drought in 60 years. The drought killed tens of thousands of people, and forced hundreds of thousands of Somalis to flee to refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Somali capital of Mogadishu in search of food and water.
At the height of the crisis, three-quarters of a million people were at risk of dying. The FAO said Friday that more than 2.3 million Somalis still need humanitarian assistance.
By U.N. standards, a “famine” means two adults or four children per 10,000 people die of hunger each day and a third of children are acutely malnourished.
The world body declared a famine in six parts of southern Somalia last year. Friday's announcement removed the designation from the last three of those areas, including the displaced persons camps of Mogadishu.
Efforts to deliver aid to Somalia have been hampered by militant group al-Shabab, which has restricted international relief efforts in the areas it controls. Last week, the group banned the International Committee of the Red Cross from operating in those areas.
The ICRC said in a statement late Thursday that it regrets al-Shabab's decision but remains committed to helping Somalis overcome humanitarian crises.
Mark Bowden is the United Nations humanitarian coordinator.
“Access to the vulnerable populations remains a major challenge. However, I believe that through inevitable planning, strengthening local partnerships, we have been able to mitigate the worst effects of the famine but we also really rely on the humanity of all parties to conflict to demonstrate their continuous commitment to the Somali people.
Philippine Troops Search for Bodies of Slain Militant Leaders
The Philippine military says it has not recovered the bodies of three senior Islamist militants killed Thursday in a U.S.-backed air raid on the remote southern island of Jolo.
A military spokesman says troops were still searching the jungle camp near Parang town for the remains of Umbra Jumdail, a leader in the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf group, and Jemaah Islamiyah leaders Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdullah Ali. The three men were said to have been killed along with 12 other militants in Thursday's strike.
The spokesman says the troops have been hampered by gunfire from the surviving extremists.
Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian national also known as Marwan, carried a $5 million reward for his capture offered by the United States.
Ali was a Singaporean national who went by the alias Muawiyah.
About 600 U.S. special forces have been deployed in the southern Philippines since 2002, providing support for the country's counterterrorism efforts.
Abu Sayyaf is responsible for a series of recent abductions in the southern Philippines, where Muslim rebels have been fighting government forces for self-rule since the 1970s.
The Jemaah Islamiyah network has been blamed for a series of terrorist attacks across Asia, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Facebook unveils $5bn stock market flotation plans
The world's largest social networking site, Facebook, has announced plans for a stock market flotation.
Facebook said it would seek to raise $5bn (£3.16bn, 3.8bn euros), about half the amount many analysts expected.
But the initial public offering (IPO) is still expected to be the biggest sale of shares by an internet company.
Facebook, just eight years old and started by Harvard University students, now has 845 million users and made a profit of $1bn last year.
Facebook filed its intention to float with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the US stock markets closed.
The documents revealed for the first time information about the company that had previously been the subject of speculation.
This included news that Facebook's net income in 2011 rose 65% to $1bn, off revenues of $3.71bn.
It was disclosed that founder Mark Zuckerberg owns 28.4% of Facebook and has more than 50% of voting rights. It also revealed that the network now has 845 million monthly users of which 443 million are daily users.
A letter from Mr Zuckerberg said: "Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission - to make the world more open and connected.
"We think it's important that everyone who invests in Facebook understands what this mission means to us, how we make decisions and why we do the things we do."
The $5bn being raised would be the most for an internet initial public offering since Google and its early backers raised $1.67bn in 2004.
"The company is a lot more profitable than we thought," said Kathleen Smith, principal of IPO investment advisory firm Renaissance Capital.
She said Facebook's numbers were "very impressive," but she added that Facebook needed to talk more about where it saw its growth coming from.
"What new areas of business is it expecting to pursue beyond display ads?" she said.
The final amount Facebook will raise is likely to change as Facebook's bankers gauge the investor demand for the shares over the coming months.
The story of the company was made the subject of a 2010 Hollywood film, The Social Network, and the firm has made the verb "to friend" a part of everyday language.
Valuation justified
Reports have suggested the company could be worth $100bn, roughly the same as US giants Amazon and McDonald's.
Facebook currently makes most of its money from online advertising.
"As it is not a paying service, you are not the customer, you are the product," explains the BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.
"What Facebook is selling to the world is users' time and their attention, their likes and dislikes, all that time and data they pour into the site, so that they can be very precisely targeted with adverts matching our interests," our correspondent says.
As a private company, Facebook has not had to publish detailed accounts so it has not had to make public whether, or how much, profit it makes. This has been the subject of much speculation, however.
Releasing much more detailed information on its finances will become part of the Facebook's duties as a publicly listed firm.
"The company does change when you go public," co-founder of online travel site Lastminute.com Martha Lane Fox told the BBC.
"Whatever Mark Zuckerberg says about continuing to run the company for users, for employees, not for shareholders... it does mean there is a level of scrutiny and accountability not known in a private company."
Planning the IPO
"The IPO of Facebook is the one that investors have all been waiting for, given that it is now an iconic global brand with huge scope to expand even further," said Phil Wong, stockbroker at Redmayne Bentley.
"The major investment banks have competed to be selected as lead advisors given the status of the firm, and investors are sure to be equally eager to acquire a holding in the business."
Facebook is the latest in a series of online firms to sell shares to the public in recent months.
Online voucher firm Groupon went public in November 2011 and online games maker Zynga in December 2011.
Zynga's stock market value immediately fell below its asking price on the first day of trading, whilst Groupon only climbed past its offer price three months after the float.
Shares in the social networking site Linkedin fell below their May 2011 offer price after its shares became freely tradeable.
However stock market traders remain positive about Facebook's flotation.
"Facebook is worth the expected $80-$100bn valuation because we believe it is and will be the dominant social media platform globally," said Richard Nunn at Charles Stanley Securities.
"It has more than 100m more US users than Google did when it IPO'd, and Google is valued at $180bn, and most importantly for advertisers, the average dwell time of 6hrs 51m per month spent on Facebook trounces the competition by some way.'
BBC
Sony reports further losses as Thai floods hit sales
Japanese electronics giant Sony has reported another quarterly loss after sales were hit by lower production following the floods in Thailand.
The company reported a net loss of 159bn yen ($2.1bn; £1.3bn) for the final three months of 2011, compared with a profit of 72bn yen a year earlier. Sales fell 17% to 1.8tn yen.
The firm also blamed weaker demand and the strong yen for the loss.
It also forecast a loss for the financial year of 220bn yen.
In November, Sony had predicted an annual loss of 90bn yen.
Analysts were unimpressed with the results.
"Sony's earnings were worse than I had imagined," said Hisashi Kuroda at Meija Yasuda Asset Management.
"Sony has few businesses that have value. The only hope is, perhaps, film and music, or whether they can make a recovery in the game business - basically software business - not the hardware one."
New leadership
The company has struggled in recent years, particularly at its TV division, which has lost money for the past seven years.
It has been hit by price falls, an oversupply of panels, and intense competition and innovation in the electronics market, analysts say.
On Wednesday, Sony announced that its chief executive, Sir Howard Stringer, would step down from the job on 1 April, to be replaced by vice president Kazuo Hirai. Sir Howard will stay on as chairman.
"It won't be easy for Sony to regain its lost ground under new leadership, as its overall competitiveness has sharply weakened," said Kim-young Chan at Shinhan Investment.
"It's got structural problems that will take years to fix."