UK economic growth accelerated more than initially estimated in the second quarter, helped by construction and manufacturing and a boost from trade. GDP increased 0.7% from the first quarter, when it rose 0.3%, the Office for National Statistics said in London on Friday. That compared with an initial estimate of 0.6% published on July 25. Exports rose the most in more than a year and net trade contributed 0.3 percentage point to GDP. The pound rose. Signs that the economy has maintained its momentum, with services, manufacturing and construction indexes all rising last month, have prompted some economists to raise their growth forecasts for this year and next. The pound traded at $1.5616 as of 10.28 am London time, up 0.2% from Thursday.
Goldman banker charged with rape in New York
A New York-based Goldman Sachs MD was arrested and charged with raping a 20-year-old woman while on vacation in the up-market Hamptons resort in New York state. The East Hampton Town Police arrested Jason Lee, 37, after responding to a disturbance at a house, the local police service said in a statement. Lee was arrested on a charge of first-degree rape and was released on bail on Wednesday, the statement said. The police did not name his employer, but his role at Goldman Sachs’ New York office was confirmed to the New York Times by his lawyer Edward Burke Jr, who said Lee ?adamantly denies the allegations?. Lee was released after posting bail of $20,000 and is due back in court on September 19.
Huawei, ZTE win bulk of China Mobile?s 4G bonanza
China Mobile has awarded initial 4G contracts worth around 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion), with Chinese firms securing more than half of the biggest prize in the global telecoms industry this year and foreign firms winning about a third, industry sources said. Telecoms equipment makers, such as global leader Ericsson and Huawei Technologies, have been waiting for China Mobile’s 4G tender to lift the fortunes of an industry that has been hit by a lack of spending worldwide. The development of a 4G network by the carrier, which with more than 700 million mobile customers is the world’s largest by subscribers, is also regarded as key to it clinching an agreement with Apple to carry its blockbuster iPhone. ?This is the tender that global telecom equipment vendors have been vying for this year,? said an industry source. ?Even though we see Huawei and ZTE getting the bulk of the contracts and foreign vendors getting around a third, I’m sure they will keep going back to China Mobile and get a bit more share.? Shenzhen-based Huawei and crosstown rival ZTE have obtained about 25% each of the total 4G procurement in China Mobile’s tender this year, said the sources.
Fonterra suspends Lanka operations amid protest
Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world?s biggest dairy exporter, suspended operations in Sri Lanka after protests outside its local office sparked by allegations some milk powder products were tainted. The company closed its office and local plants and asked its 755 local workers to stay at home, Auckland-based Fonterra said on Friday in a statement. A court order issued this week prevents it from selling products, advertising or making public statements in Sri Lanka, the company said. Fonterra, which has provided product safety assurances to the government, sees Sri Lanka as a key growth market for milk products. About 200 protesters on Thursday shouted slogans and displayed banners that read ?Ban all tainted milk? outside the Fonterra local office on the outskirts of Colombo, the Associated Press reported. They also brought a coffin with posters of Fonterra brands and laid it before the building. ?Recent events have made it difficult to maintain day-to-day operations and we need to get them resolved,? CEO Theo Spierings said in the statement. The plant clo-sures are a ?precautionary measure to ensure our people working there are safe?, he said.
Court rules phone users can halt automated calls
Consumers have a right under a federal law to revoke their consent to being contacted on their cellphones by automated dialling systems, a US appeals court decided on Thursday in a defeat for computer maker Dell. Reversing a lower court ruling, the 3rd US circuit court of appeals in Philadelphia ruled in favour of a Pennsylvania woman, Ashley Gager, who complained that Dell hounded her with more than 40 calls in less than three weeks to collect a delinquent debt after she had sent a letter asking it to stop. Circuit judge Jane Roth said Congress intended the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 to protect consumers from unwanted automat-ed calls. She rejected Dell’s argument that beca-use the law did not address whether consumers may revoke consent to be contacted by an auto-dialling system, such a right to revoke didn?t exist.