UK services growth reaches 16 year high

Activity in the UK services sector grew at its fastest pace since 1997 in the third quarter of the year,a closely watched survey has indicated.
The Markit CIPS PMI services index said the rise was due to growth in financial services,bolstered by the housing market,and the business sector.The survey raises hopes that the economy as a whole saw strong growth in the July to September period.
                                   

Couple rescued in Russia from borsch eating bear

Police in the Siberian region of Irkutsk have rescued a couple after a bear broke into their holiday home,attracted by the smell of fresh soup.
A patrol turned up at their dacha near Ust Ilimsk in the early hours after a neighbour raised the alarm.They found the couple hiding in their bath-house as the bear digested the hot beetroot soup in their garden.A warning shot was sufficient to scare off the intruder.No one was hurt,although there was damage to the house.According to a police statement,the couple said they had left the soup to cool when they went to bed.
                                    

US shutdown:Defence staff told to return to work

Most of the 400,000 US defence department staff sent home amid the US government shutdown have been told to return to work next week.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the decision was based on an interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act.A budget row between Republicans and Democrats has forced the closure of federal services for five days now.But the sides have now voted to approve back-pay for the 800,000 federal workers sent home without salaries.In a rare moment of bipartisan co-operation,the House of Representatives on Saturday approved by 407-0 a bill to pay the federal workers once the shutdown ends.
                           

US commando raids target Islamist leaders in Africa

US special forces have carried out two separate raids in Africa targeting senior Islamist militants,American officials say.
In Libya,US commandos captured an al Qaeda leader accused of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.Anas al Libi was seized in the capital Tripoli.And a leader of the al-Shabab group was targeted in southern Somalia, but that raid appears to have failed.The al Shabab leader who has not been identified is suspected of involvement in last month's attack in the Westgate shopping centre in Kenya's capital Nairobi,which left at least 67 people dead.
                              

Jimmy Choo Co Founder Tamara Mellon Puts On Her Revenge Boots

For fifteen years,Tamara Mellon was the muse,face,and legs of Jimmy Choo,the luxury shoe company she co founded in London with her parents’money in 1996.The stilettos regularly appeared on Sex and the City and quickly became an object of desire;wearing them suggested a life of carefree glamour.Eventually,she says,Jimmy Choo became a $900 million business.Mellon had an extravagant clothing allowance,and a make up artist and hair stylist on call,too.She was photographed at store openings and celebrity-filled parties,on the red carpet,on vacation in St.Bart’s,in her closet,in the nude.Her 2000 wedding to Matthew Mellon,an heir to the banking fortune,was photographed for British Vogue
                                  

Metallica film ‘took 15 years’

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says the band's new concert film was 15 years in the making.The 3D movie was first proposed by Imax in 1997,but "the cameras were like the size of small houses,so we had to walk away from it,Ulrich told BBC 6 Music.Metallica Through The Never is not a typical concert movie,however featuring a surreal subplot about a roadie sent out on a secret mission during one of the band's shows."We didn't want 'here's Metallica getting in and out of a limo' as the cut-away scenes",explained Ulrich.The Danish musician also hinted the band would return to the studio to make a new album in the near future.Lars Ulrich was speaking to BBC 6 Music's Matt Everitt.Metallica Through The Never is out in the UK on 4 October.
                                  

Deja vu for the ECB

Berlusconi tries to topple Italy's government (again).Greece may need another loan and is experiencing political turmoil with the problematic Golden Dawn party.And ongoing funding challenges for banks in peripheral eurozone countries mean that the European Central Bank (ECB) may offer another round of cheap cash.It feels like we've been here before.Certainly a bit of deja vu.
                      

Halt on BP payments to 'phony' oil spill victims

The prospect has receded of BP being financially crippled by an escalation of compensation payments to businesses claiming to be victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

                          

Owl recorded in Oman could be a new species

Ornithologists working in Oman say an owl discovered in a remote, mountainous region could be a new species.
Wildlife sound-recordist Magnus Robb told BBC News that he heard the bird's call whilst trying to record the call of another type of owl.After repeated trips to the remote site,he and a colleague naturalist and photographer Arnoud van den Berg captured photographs of the bird.
                             

Singapore:a new playground for the rich?

New York, London and Monaco are the traditional destinations for the ultra rich. But now, add Singapore to that list.The city-state is gearing up for its most glitzy event of the year the Formula One night race where thousands of people will be flying in for both business and pleasure.Singapore has among the highest number of millionaires in the world,and as people choose to park their wealth here, a host of businesses have sprung up to service their needs.