Retail sales fell by 0.3% compared with November, figures from the US Commerce Department said.

Sales of electrical goods and cars saw some of the biggest falls, though core sales – which exclude cars, fuel and building materials – still fell.

Concerns over job security are expected to continue to restrict spending, with unemployment still at 10%.

Many economists expect unemployment to keep rising until the middle of the year.

December’s figures end a tough year for US retailers, with total sales for 2009 down 6.2% on the previous year.

But sales were expected to have been stronger, given the string of retailers reporting positive results for the festive season.

Job worries

The weaker-than-expected retail figures will add to concerns over the strength of the recovery in the US economy.

In December, the US unexpectedly cut a further 85,000 jobs after seeing some job creation in November.

Economists are still predicting a recovery in 2010, but warn that it will be slow.

“I don’t think that portends a new downturn in the economy, but it does serve as a warning that the recovery is going to take some time to put in place here,” commented Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York.

Real estate prices rose by 7.8% from a year ago – up from the 5.7% annual rise seen in November and renewing fears that an asset bubble is developing.

Chinese authorities have expressed concerns that property prices are rising too fast.

On Tuesday, China’s central bank announced measures to curb lending in order to reduce real estate investment.

Lending boom

Last year, Chinese banks issued $1.5 trillion (£932bn) in loans in order to boost economic growth – with a large proportion being used to invest in property.

One of the leading rating agencies, Fitch Ratings, has been among those expressing concern over the trend, arguing that too much lending could harm the banking sector as well as the property sector.

“Fitch is concerned about an eventual deterioration in banks’ asset quality, amid the loan growth acceleration in 2009,” the ratings agency said.

“High investment spending, particularly in the real-estate sector, also carries the risk of asset price misalignments.”

Banks have been told to increase the amount of capital they hold in order to curb lending, and Chinese city authorities have been told to speed up property developments and build more low-cost housing.

The government also this month brought back a sales tax on property sold within five years of its purchase to discourage speculators looking to make quick profits.

The suspect, Goel Ratzon, has been living in Tel Aviv with 17 women with whom he had up to 40 children.

Police launched an undercover investigation in June 2009 after complaints from some of the women.

Mr Ratzon says the women were with him voluntarily and that a book of rules he used did not amount to enslavement.

The women and children were kept in cramped apartments in several locations in the south of Tel Aviv, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Mr Rosenfeld told the AFP news agency that in one case, police raided a three-bedroomed apartment where 10 women and 17 children were found in a “terrible state” living in “horrible conditions”.

Mr Ratzon is said to have asked them to live by a book of rules which specified behaviour and punishments, including fines.

The women are now being questioned by police, and the children placed in temporary care.

Mr Ratzon’s lawyer, Shlomzion Gabai, told the Associated Press news agency that her client denied all the allegations, adding: “He may be different, but he’s not a criminal.”

Thirteen more were injured in the blast in Dihrawud in Uruzgan province.

The bomb could have gone off prematurely as the bomber waited for a military or police convoy to attack, said a deputy police commissioner.

On Wednesday, a UN report said the number of civilians killed in violence in 2009 was higher than in any year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

Civilian casualties rose by 14% in 2009 compared with 2008, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) reported.

This was the worst such incident in Afghanistan in months, and the dead were all civilians, says the BBC’s Mark Dummett in Kabul.

Uruzgan is the home province of the Taliban’s leader Mullah Omar.

As the insurgency spreads and more Western troops are sent to Afghanistan, 2010 is likely to be as bad as 2009 in terms of civilian casualties, our correspondent says.

The men were held responsible for killing 13 policemen during the riots in which five civilians also died.

The violence flared when police tried to clear the Soba Aradi camp, which housed refugees from the two-decade long north-south civil war.

Rights group Amnesty condemned the executions, saying that the men may have been tortured into confessing.

‘Blatant failure’

The latest executions once again put strain on the fragile peace between northern and southern politicians.

Some of the men were reportedly from Darfur, and others were from the south.

The main southern political party, the SPLM, which is a partner in the national government, said five of them were its members.

“There was no evidence… that they were responsible,” SPLM official Yasir Arman told Reuters news agency.

“This was a political issue and there were many irregularities in the court proceedings.”

Amnesty said there had been a “blatant failure” to ensure that the men had a fair trial.

“These tragic deaths highlight the growing number of executions taking place in Sudan, many of which are being carried out after unfair trials,” said the group’s Tawanda Hondora.

According to the group, Sudan put to death 60 people last year.

The 22-year war between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south claimed the lives of some 1.5 million people.

As part of the 2005 peace deal, northern and southern politicians agreed to share power until a national election scheduled for April.

The US is sending up to 3,500 troops and 2,200 marines but correspondents say aid is so far only trickling in.

President Barack Obama pledged one of the biggest relief efforts in recent US history and said Haiti would “not be forgotten” in its hour of need.

Aid groups say they need food, water, medical supplies and lifting equipment.

President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, working with Brazil, Canada and other countries, will organise a conference on reconstruction in Haiti, the French presidency has announced.

The Red Cross estimates that up to three million people in Haiti have been affected by Tuesday’s earthquake.

Many are preparing to spend another night without shelter or in makeshift camps in the ruined capital, Port-au-Prince.

Correspondents there say bodies are piling up in the streets and there is still no sign of a co-ordinated relief effort.

Speaking in Washington on Thursday, Mr Obama said some US rescuers were already on the ground in Haiti and more were on their way.

He promised the country “every element of our national capacity, our diplomacy, and development assistance, the power of our military and most importantly, the compassion of our country” following the disaster.

“To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction, you will not be forsaken, you will not be forgotten,” he said.

However he warned it would take time for much-needed help to reach people.

Mr Obama also promised an immediate $100m for Haiti’s relief effort and said that investment would grow over the coming year to aid long-term recovery.

The first 100-strong contingent from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division was expected to arrive in Haiti by the end of Thursday, with several hundred more due by Friday.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and the USS Bataan, carrying a marine expeditionary unit, are on their way.

Gen Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern Command, told reporters that logistics would be the key to providing relief and that US forces would strive to make Port-au-Prince’s port functional again.

The US Federal Aviation Authority earlier temporarily stopped civilian relief flights to Haiti at the Haitian government’s request because there was not enough space on the ground for more planes.

‘Overwhelmed’

Aid groups say it is a race against time to find people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

UN emergency relief co-ordinator John Holmes said search and rescue teams were the first priority and had begun to arrive in Haiti.

“They’re now beginning, I hope, to make a difference. Every hour counts for this, as you know,” he said.

“And of course we’re trying to get the medical aid in as fast as possible but it’s clear that the local facilities are overwhelmed. We need to get more doctors, field hospitals and supplies on the ground.”

The BBC’s Matthew Price in Port-au-Prince says Haiti is in massive need of food, water and medicine, as well as bulldozers and heavy lifting equipment.

But perhaps more than anything it needs someone to take charge here, our correspondent says. The government is fragile at the best of times and there is no sense it is able to do anything for now.

The director of Port-au-Prince’s general hospital said that by 1100 (1600 GMT) at least 1,500 bodies were already stacked inside and outside the mortuary, with police continuing to bring more corpses on pick-up trucks, Reuters reports.

A United Nations spokesman in Haiti, David Wimhurst, said 188 UN staff remained unaccounted for following the collapse of the organisation’s HQ in Port-au-Prince and that 36 UN military and police personnel were confirmed dead.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it could be days before even an estimate of the overall death toll from the earthquake could be made, but said he feared it would be “very high”.

On a note of hope, he recounted the survival of an Estonian UN official who was detected under 4m (13ft) of rubble after scratching noises were heard. He was dug out and is now in hospital.

Mr Ban also praised the readiness of the international community to help.

A British rescue team with heavy lifting gear and dogs has reached Haiti. Other plane-loads of rescuers and relief supplies are being sent from China, the EU, Canada, Russia and Latin American nations.

Cuba had more than 300 doctors in Haiti before the earthquake and they have been treating the injured in field hospitals.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who cancelled a trip to Asia to deal with the crisis, said Haiti’s recovery was “going to be a long-term effort”.

The World Bank is funding $100m of emergency aid.

The World Food Programme is working on supplying 15,000 tonnes of food and the Red Cross has begun a $10m appeal.

On a note of hope, he recounted the survival of an Estonian UN official who was detected under 4m (13ft) of rubble after scratching noises were heard. He was dug out and is now in hospital. Mr Ban also praised the readiness of the international community to help. A British rescue team with heavy lifting gear and dogs has reached Haiti. Other plane-loads of rescuers and relief supplies are being sent from China, the EU, Canada, Russia and Latin American nations. Cuba had more than 300 doctors in Haiti before the earthquake and they have been treating the injured in field hospitals. To magnify this image of Port-au-Prince mouse over the left-hand panel US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who cancelled a trip to Asia to deal with the crisis, said Haiti’s recovery was “going to be a long-term effort”. The World Bank is funding $100m of emergency aid. The World Food Programme is working on supplying 15,000 tonnes of food and the Red Cross has begun a $10m appeal. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? // E-mail this to a friend Printable version

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu faced numerous questions about Google’s announcement that it is ready to leave China because of cyber attacks and censorship rules.

She told reporters at a briefing Thursday that China’s Internet is, in her words, “open.”

Jiang says Chinese law prohibits cyber attacks, including hacking.  She says China administers the Internet according to law and that its administrative measures comply with standard international practice.

She refused to comment on the specifics of the Google case, but said, generally, that China welcomes international Internet enterprises to conduct business in China, according to the law.

At the same time, Jiang stresses that Chinese law explicitly stipulates what content and information can be spread over the Internet.

Internet providers in China are required to filter out content that Beijing considers illegal, such as Web sites organized by outlawed group, Falun Gong.  It also blocks Web sites run by Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and some international news sites, such as the Voice of America.

Earlier this week, Google made an unexpected announcement that is considering withdrawing from China because of cyber attacks and because it says it will no longer accept operating a filtered search engine in China.

Chinese authorities and Google are discussing the matter.

In a separate development, the law firm that represents American software maker CYBERsitter – Gipson, Hoffman and Pancione – says it has come under cyber attacks this week, and the attacks originated in China.

Attorney Greg Fayer says he was one of the first people in the firm to receive what he calls a Trojan e-mail, which is an e-mail that allows the sender to initiate malicious actions on the recipient’s computer.

“I can’t say too much about it because there is an FBI investigation that is going on, but there was a series of Trojan e-mails that were sent to different members of our firm, that made it appear as if they were sent by other members of our firm, on different pretenses, asking them to click on links, saying, ‘Look, I want to send you a file, it’s too big, can you click on this link and it will get to you?’” said Fayer.

Fayer’s firm last week helped CYBERsitter file a $2 billion software piracy lawsuit against the Chinese government and seven Chinese computer manufacturers.

The suit is in connection with the Green Dam censoring software program that was supposed to be unveiled in China in June.  CYBERsitter, which also has been targeted by hackers, is accusing the Chinese firms of copying more than three thousand lines of CYBERsitter’s code for the Green Dam software.