Google profits and revenue surge in the third quarter
Internet giant Google has reported a large rise in profits in the three months to September.
The search engine said net income in the third quarter surged 26% to $2.73bn (£1.74bn), up from $2.17bn in the same period last year.
Earlier this year, Google launched Google+, a social network to take on Facebook.
"People are flocking into Google+ at an incredible rate," said Google head Larry Page.
The profits were well ahead of market expectations, and shares in the company rose 6% in trading after the market closed.
"The real interesting thing here is the expenses weren't as high as the Street was anticipating," said UBS analyst Brian Pitz. "This is the fourth quarter in a row the company has accelerated their revenue on top line."
Revenue rose 33% to $9.72bn - just shy of having a quarterly turnover of $10bn.
Mr Page, a co-founder of the company, replaced Eric Schmidt as CEO in April.
"We had a great quarter," he said. "Google+ is now open to everyone and we just passed the 40 million-user mark."
Facebook, around since 2004, has around 800 million users.
As well as generating money through advertising based on search, Google also makes the popular Android mobile phone operating system.
Source:BBC
JP Morgan profits fall due to eurozone crisis
Profits at JP Morgan Chase have fallen 4% as the continuing debt crisis in the eurozone hit its investment banking arm.
The US bank made a net profit of $4.3bn (£2.7bn) in the three months to the end of September, compared with $4.4bn a year earlier.
JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said the results were "reasonable given the current environment".
Its third quarter revenues fell 0.3% to $23.8bn.
Shares in New York ended 4.8% lower.
Mr Dimon added: "Our shareholders should rest assured that we are being extremely cautious while navigating through this challenging economic environment."
The company's profits were lifted by a $1.9bn gain due to adjustments to the market value of the bank's debt.
However, the bank also had to set aside $1bn for legal purposes connected to mortgage loans and securities.
Meanwhile, investment banking fees dropped by close to a third, to $1bn, as investors stayed away from markets.
Debt underwriting fees fell 37%, and stock underwriting fees fell by 47%.
Matt McCormick, a portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor Investment in Cincinnati, said he liked the quarterly results.
But he add that "the macro environment is stressed for JP Morgan and the majority of banks, and until Europe is resolved, a lot of their customers are going to be on the sidelines, and a lot of potential investors in their shares are going to be on the sidelines".
JP Morgan is the first major US bank to report its earnings, with Citigroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs all to come next week.
US trade deficit narrows to smallest in four months
The US trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed in August to the smallest gap in four months, official figures have shown.
The trade gap narrowed to $45.61bn (£29.1bn), from a revised $45.63bn in July, the Commerce Department said.
However, the politically-sensitive trade gap with China widened to a record high.
US imports and exports both slowed in the month as the weakening in the global economy took hold.
For August, exports slipped by $95m to $177.6bn, as sales of expensive industrial items like cars, aircraft engines and oil field equipment all declined.
Imports fell by $111m to $223.2bn.
China gap
With China, which the US has accused of keeping its currency artificially low, imports into the US reached a record $37.4bn.
Between January and July, the US trade deficit with China was running 10% higher than the same point last year - when the trade gap between the two ballooned.
On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a bill that would mandate the imposition of tariffs on some Chinese goods if the US Treasury determines that China is manipulating its currency.
Earlier this week, Congress also approved three free trade agreements - with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
Blackberry says services 'fully restored'
Blackberry's founder Mike Lazaridis has said services are "fully restored" following a three-day global blackout.
Millions of customers worldwide had their messaging and email service disrupted with many turning to Twitter to express their anger.
In a press conference at 15:00 BST, Mr Lazaridis said the company would now begin a full investigation of what happened.
He apologised again for the problems customers had experienced.
"We know we've let many of you down. You expect more from us. I expect more from us," he said.
The firm admitted that it was the largest crash it had ever experienced. Prior to the 2011 problems, the last significant blackout was in 2009.
The next priority would be a "root cause analysis" of why there was a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure.
We don't know why the switch failed and why the back-up didn't function as it should," said Mr Lazaridis.
In a question and answer session following the press conference, RIM declined to discuss whether it would be compensating users.
Some operators, such as Telefonica owner of the UK's O2, are mulling whether to provide compensation for affected users.
Users began to report loss of services mid-morning on 10 October and the problems spread around the world.
Robin Bienfait, chief information officer of RIM, the Canada-based owner of Blackberry, issued an apology for the ongoing issues, following complaints that the firm was not informing users about the situation.
"You've depended on us for reliable, real-time communications, and right now we're letting you down. We are taking this very seriously and have people around the world working around the clock to address this situation," he said on Wednesday.
RIM blamed the ongoing issues on a backlog of emails to Europe from Asia and the Americas.
"Clearly we have a backlog in Europe... as you can imagine, with the global reach of Blackberry and people using it to contact others around the world, there's a lot of messages to Europe from Asia and the Americas," RIM software vice president David Yach told a press conference in Ottawa, Canada.
"Over time that backlog has built up and affected our other systems."
'Major failure'
The server problems are believed to have originated at RIM's UK data centre in Slough.
The "issues" left many Blackberry owners only able to text and make calls.
Such a major failure will come as unwelcome news to RIM, which has been losing market share to smartphone rivals - in particular Apple's iPhone.
Many corporate clients have switched to the device after Apple made a concerted effort to improve its support for secure business email systems.
Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, said the timing of the outages was bad for RIM.
"The current situation with the Blackberry outages couldn't come at a worse time for RIM, following some harsh criticism in recent months," he said.
Such crashes may lead RIM and others to "re-evaluate their reliance on centralised servers and instead look to investing in more corporately controlled servers", he added.
But he thinks customers will stick with the firm despite current frustrations.
"It will take more than just a couple of collapses to persuade loyal consumers of Blackberry services to look for alternatives," he said.
Source:BBC
Barack Obama 2012 campaign raises $70m in third quarter
US President Barack Obama has raised $70m (£45m) towards his re-election bid in the third quarter of 2011, campaign officials say.
The amount is less than his fundraising total for the previous quarter but higher than his $55m goal.
Some Obama fundraisers were cancelled during the summer debt ceiling crisis.
He leads his Republican rivals in fundraising by tens of millions of dollars, and will not have to expend money on a primary opponent.
During the same quarter, Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, topped the Republican field in fundraising, with $17m.
The fundraising totals do not include money being raised by independent organisations, known as political action committees (PACs), for their preferred nominee.
Mr Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney have at least one so-called "super PAC" supporting their candidacies.
Another is backing Obama's re-election bid.
'Building infrastructure'
Nearly $43m was raised directly by the Obama campaign, while $27m was raised by the Democratic National Committee, which will help his re-election effort next year.
In an email to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said more than 600,000 people donated to the campaign in the most recent quarter. Some 98% of the donors gave $250 or less, with an average donation of $56.
Democrats said those figures were indicative of grassroots support.
Mr Obama has faced months of declining poll numbers as the US economy remains troubled. He has recently called himself the "underdog" in the presidential race.
Mr Messina said the campaign was focusing on "building infrastructure", including opening three new field offices every week during the past three months.
A Republican National Committee spokeswoman told the Associated Press news agency that Mr Obama would need "every penny he can raise because voters don't believe he has the ability to turn the economy around or create much-needed jobs."
Mr Romney leads the Republican field in fundraising, pulling in more than $18m in his first three months of campaigning. He is not expected to match that level or Mr Perry's total during the current quarter, but should lead the pack in terms of cash on hand.
Source:BBC
Strauss-Kahn sex case: French inquiry dropped
A French inquiry into attempted rape claims against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been dropped.
The prosecutor's office said the evidence suggested sexual assault - a less serious offence than attempted rape, with a shorter statute of limitations.
Writer Tristane Banon had accused Mr Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape in 2003.
Her accusation emerged while Mr Strauss-Kahn was accused of rape in New York; that case was later dropped.
Prosecutors said in a statement that "it is clear that, for lack of sufficient proof, a prosecution may not be initiated over the count of attempted rape, but facts that could be described as sexual assault have meanwhile been recognised".
Under French law, the statute of limitations for attempted rape is 10 years, but three years for sexual assault.
Ms Banon's lawyer described the decision as a victory: "[Mr Strauss-Kahn] will have to be satisfied with being an unconvicted sex attacker, protected by the statute of limitations, allowing him to escape criminal prosecution, but not a legitimate suspicion," lawyer David Koubbi said.
The ruling demonstrated "the facts that [Ms Banon] complained of were not 'imaginary' contrary to Mr Strauss-Kahn's claims", he added.
Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer has said the decision means her client has been "completely cleared".
'Advance'
Ms Banon has indicated she may still file a civil suit against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
As part of the police inquiry, Mr Strauss-Kahn and Ms Banon confronted each other at a Paris police station at the end of September.
Ms Banon said Mr Strauss-Kahn had tried to rape her during an interview for a book.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was previously said to have admitted making "an advance" on Ms Banon, but denied any violence and is suing for slander.
He resigned from his job as head of the International Monetary Fund after a New York hotel maid accused him of attempted rape earlier this year.
He still faces a civil suit in the US by his alleged victim in New York, Nafissatou Diallo.
Source:BBC
Raj Rajaratnam jailed for 11 years for insider trading
A former hedge-fund manager has been sentenced to 11 years in jail in New York for one of the biggest insider trading cases in American history.
Raj Rajaratnam, 54, was also fined $10m (£6.4m).
The Galleon Group founder made well over $50m from illegal trades, said the judge at the Manhattan federal court.
Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam was convicted of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy charges in May after a two-month trial.
The judge denied Rajaratnam bail and he must report to prison on 28 November.
Business culture 'virus'
The prosecution had requested he be handed nearly 20 years in prison, but the defence asked for nine years at most.
District Judge Richard Holwell disclosed that Rajaratnam has advanced diabetes and needs a kidney transplant, and that this had been taken into consideration in the sentencing.
He said Rajaratnam's "crimes and the scope of his crimes reflect a virus in our business culture that needs to be eradicated".
But the judge also praised Rajaratnam's philanthropy for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan and the 9/11 attacks.
The BBC's Michelle Fleury, who was in court, says Rajaratnam was expressionless as he learned his fate.
He stood still and said little during the hearing, for which extra chairs had to be provided to seat all the spectators.
Rajaratnam's family did not attend the sentencing. His lawyers say the defendant has tried to protect his loved ones from the intense media scrutiny the trial has generated.
More than two dozen people have been jailed in the case, with sentences ranging from a few months to 10 years.
In their pre-sentencing arguments, prosecutors said Rajaratnam "remains defiant that he never committed insider trading and, incredibly, he maintains that the line between legal and illegal conduct was not always clear to him".
The prosecution said Rajaratnam made up to $75m in profits from illegal trades.
But the defence said he made a much lower sum - about $7m - when trades by his Galleon Group of hedge funds were discounted.
Before the sentencing, the prosecution urged the judge to revoke Rajaratnam's $100m bail.
He has been under house arrest, wearing an electronic tag in his Manhattan residence.
Among those also convicted in the Galleon case was Bear Stearns hedge-fund trader Danielle Chiesi, a former beauty queen.
Prosecutors said the 45-year-old, sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail in July, used her feminine charms to elicit illegal information from male executives.
Obama censures Iran over 'plot'
President Barack Obama has said the US can back up all its allegations of an Iranian conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
In a White House news conference, Mr Obama accused the Iranian government of reckless behaviour.
The state department meanwhile said it had been in "direct contact" with Iran about the alleged plot.
Two men were charged in a New York federal court on Tuesday with conspiring to kill the Saudi envoy.
"Now those facts are there for all to see," Mr Obama said at a joint news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
"We would not be bringing forward a case unless we knew exactly how to support all the allegations that are contained in the indictment."
'No dispute'
The US government announced on Tuesday it had foiled the alleged plot, which it said involved members of the Iranian government and the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The indictment says one of the accused approached a US informant, who was posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel, to carry out the assassination.
Iran has labelled the claims a fabrication, but Mr Obama said there would be no dispute about the facts of the case.
"We believe that even if at the highest levels there was not detailed operational knowledge, there has to be accountability with respect to anybody in the Iranian government engaging in this kind of activity," the president said.
"The important thing is for Iran to answer the international community, why anybody in their government is engaging in these kinds of activities."
Asked on Thursday about the alleged plot, state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters: "We have had direct contact with Iran."
Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, an Iranian-American used-car salesman who lived in Texas, was arrested on 29 September.
US authorities say he wired $100,000 (£63,000) to a US bank account as a down payment for the assassination, which he discussed with an informer posing as a Mexican drug gangster.
The US Treasury has since imposed sanctions on five men, including Mr Arbabsiar, and an Iranian commercial airline.
Washington says Mahan Air secretly transported members of the Quds Force and Hezbollah across the Middle East.
Haiti gov't links to old regime prompts scrutiny
Back from exile, former strongman Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier lives in a villa in the hills above Haiti's capital. His son serves as a consultant to the country's new president, Michel Martelly, while others with links to Duvalier's hated and feared regime work for the administration.
Duvalier himself is rumoured to be ill and appears too frail to return to power. But for many Haitians who remember the ex-dictator's brutal rule, the rise of his loyalists to the new president's inner circle triggers suspicions about where Martelly's loyalties lie.
Such developments might be shrugged off in many countries, but not in Haiti, where much of the political establishment for the past 15 years has consisted of people associated with the mass uprising that forced ‘Baby Doc’ to flee the country for France in 1986.
Now a former minister and ambassador under the regime is serving as a close adviser to Martelly. And at least five high-ranking members of the administration, including the new prime minister, are the children of senior dictatorship officials.
Senator Moise Jean-Charles said he and others who lived through those years are uneasy that Duvalierists are aligned with a president with no previous political experience and a history of supporting right-wing causes.
"They've been nostalgic for 25 years," Jean-Charles said of Duvalier's supporters. "And now, they're back in the country and back in power."
Martelly's powers will be at least partly held in check because his opponents control both houses of parliament.
Nonetheless, Jean-Charles, an ex-mayor under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has taken his concerns to radio stations and the senate floor. Human rights advocates have echoed similar warnings, especially after a raucous protest staged by Duvalier supporters last month disrupted a news conference calling for the ex-dictator's prosecution.
"There's a lot of worry," said Haitian economist and sociologist Camille Chalmers. "The political circle is made up of Duvalierists."
Martelly spokesman Lucien Jura told The Associated Press that the appointments were based on individual qualifications rather than political affiliation.
"As President Martelly said before, he's not excluding," Jura said. "If the citizen is competent, honest and has good will ... regardless of the political sector he's in, he's welcome."
The new government includes a few veterans from Aristide's government, including Mario Dupuy, a communications adviser who was chief spokesman during Aristide's second term.
Martelly met with Aristide and Duvalier yesterday in an effort to reconcile differences between the former leaders and their followers. The day before he met with Prosper Avril, an army colonel who overthrew a transitional government in 1988 and resigned two years later amid protests.
"It's time for us again to be one nation, stand behind one project," Martelly told the AP outside the plush home where Duvalier is staying.
While running for office, Martelly pitched himself as a populist even if he later imposed taxes on remittances and phone calls from abroad to help pay for the free schooling of 772,000 children. He's also pledged to build housing and create jobs for some of the half million people still homeless nearly two years after an earthquake devastated the country.
While Martelly hasn't publicly voiced any support for Duvalier, he's addressed some of the top priorities of Duvalier's relatively small political base since taking office in May.
Last month, he proposed to restore the country's disbanded army in addition to award back pay to former soldiers dismissed by Aristide in 1995. Duvalier relied heavily on the military to crack down on internal dissent.
The proposed force will patrol Haiti's porous borders and provide relief during natural catastrophes as well as revive an intelligence unit that the CIA created after Duvalier's ouster to combat cocaine trafficking. That unit, the National Information Service, will assume a new role of fighting terrorism threats, mafia networks and "extremist" organisations.
Critics say it would be better to improve the police force, which is more likely to remain independent. Martelly said he has seen little reform in the police department.
"He can't control the police so he's trying to create his own force," Jean-Charles said.
Adding to the worries, Martelly hasn't pressed for the prosecution of Duvalier, who has been accused of looting the treasury and torturing and killing political opponents during his 15-year rule. Martelly has said it's up to the judiciary to handle Duvalier's case.
What's sparked the most concern has been the personnel picks of the musician-turned-president.
In his first months in office, Martelly turned to people such as Daniel Supplice, an adviser who served as an ambassador and a former minister of social affairs under Duvalier. Supplice hasn't been directly tied to the abuses associated with the Duvalier regime.
Martelly's also tapped the children of Duvalier officials including Prime Minister Garry Conille, a former chief of staff to Bill Clinton in the ex-president's role as UN special envoy to Haiti. Conille's father, Serge, was a minister of sports and youth for the dictatorship.
Conille declined to discuss his father and the family ties to Duvalier when asked by an AP reporter, responding, "I would expect a much more intelligent question from somebody like you."
Other picks with Duvalier links include Martelly's senior advisers Thierry and Gregory Mayard-Paul, whose father Constantin Mayard-Paul was a lawyer for Claude Raymond, a feared army lieutenant general under ‘Baby Doc’.
Raymond's son, Claude Jr, recently joined the administration as deputy director general for immigration. Josefa R Gauthier, whose father Adrien was a diplomat under ‘Baby Doc's’ regime, is the director general for the government's Fund for Economic and Social Assistance.
The most prominent tie is Francois Nicolas ‘Nico’, Duvalier's 28-year-old son, who is a consultant to Martelly.
To be sure, Haiti's political ranks have been a revolving door since both Duvaliers exiled thousands of professionals and shrank the talent pool from which governments draw qualified workers. Even Aristide, who helped lead the movement to oust the dictatorship, had a few Duvalierists in his administration.
But Martelly has hired more officials from the former regime than his last two predecessors.
Source:AP
Prison riot in northern Mexico leaves 7 dead
Mexican security officials say seven inmates have died in a prison riot that may have been set off by the arrest of a top drug cartel lieutenant.
Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene says about 60 inmates at a prison near the city of Monterrey burned mattresses and attacked each other with improvised knives.
Domene said today that military and federal authorities were called after prison staff failed to control the fight.
Domene says the outburst may have been a response to yesterday’s arrest of Carlos Oliva Castillo, who is allegedly a leader of the Zetas cartel. He allegedly ordered an arson attack on a Monterrey casino that killed 52 people in August