Gold rallies to fresh record, stocks up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold climbed to a record on Thursday as the dollar struggled, while U.S. stocks settled higher after Alcoa (AA.N) began the third-quarter earnings season with an unexpected profit.Major U.S. equity indexes rose nearly 1 percent, led by Alcoa, a day after the Dow component and the largest American aluminum producer posted its first profit after a string of quarterly losses. Alcoa cited improving metal prices and cost savings as the main reasons for its profitable quarter.Alcoa is the first major company to release earnings in the U.S. third-quarter reporting season.Its profit surprise also played a factor in world equity markets...

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United Commercial Bank is shut down, sold to East West BancorpThis creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.This creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.

This creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.Toppled by loan losses and misstated financial reports, San Francisco's United Commercial Bank was shut down by regulators Friday night and immediately sold to Pasadena's East West Bancorp, creating by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market.The combination also will be the largest bank based in Southern California, surpassing City National Bancorp.East West agreed to assume all of United Commercial's deposits, so no depositors...

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US jobless rate rises to over 10%

The unemployment rate in the US rose to 10.2% in October, which was its highest rate since April 1983, according to figures from the US Labor Department.It rose from September's figure of 9.8%. The economy lost 190,000 jobs in the month. Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 8.2 million, while the jobless rate has risen from 4.9%. President Barack Obama described the rise in unemployment as "sobering". "I will not rest until all Americans who want work can find work," he added. He also said he would be signing legislation to extend unemployment benefit, cut taxes for businesses and extend tax credits...

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Berlin all fired up for wall-to-wall partying

THE elderly lady with her shopping bag stood and stared at the armed policeman politely but firmly preventing her from crossing the 8ft-high barrier built across the street. “It’s like having the Wall back,” she said tetchily. But with a smile.The policeman smiled back. Stretching away on either side, a chain of 1,000 wall-like slabs daubed with graffiti form a new 1.2-mile barrier from the Brandenburg Gate to Potsdamer Platz — now once again one of Europe’s busiest intersections.Tomorrow night, at the climax of the biggest official party seen in Europe, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, hosting Gordon Brown, Hillary Clinton, the US...

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Texan police officer Kim Munley who shot Fort Hood gunman hailed as a heroine

A police officer who intervened to stop a shooting spree at America's biggest military base was hailed today a heroine as she received treatment for the wounds received in a shoot-out with the gunman. Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon. But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first on the scene as Major Hasan picked off his victims. Sergeant Munley...

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Fort Hood shooting: President Barack Obama will travel to Texas for Fort Hood memorial service

The mass shooting by Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan on Thursday, left 13 dead and 38 wounded at America's largest military base.A memorial service has been scheduled for Tuesday. The White House said Mr Obama and Michelle Obama, the First Lady, would be there. Mr Obama is due to leave the following day for a 10-day tour of Asia.Earlier, he said the response to the tragedy had displayed "the best of America." He said: "Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base and yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America."Mr Obama said he had...

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