BUSINESS: France and Germany exit recession

The French and German economies both grew by 0.3% between April and June, bringing to an end year-long recessions in Europe's largest economies.

Stronger exports and consumer spending, as well as government stimulus packages, contributed to the growth.

The data came as a surprise, with few analysts expecting Germany and France to start to recover so soon.

But economic activity in the eurozone fell by 0.1%, showing the region as a whole is still in recession.

It was the fifth consecutive quarter of economic contraction in the eurozone, but was a marked improvement on the 2.5% drop recorded in the first three months of the year.

UK reaction

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 1.3%, with traders anticipating a positive effect on the UK economy, which by contrast shrank by 0.8% in the second quarter.

Asked about why the UK seemed to be lagging behind, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: "Different economies will show different patterns of behaviour."

"But the key point is all these economies rely on each other; 55 to 56% of our trade is with the rest of Europe. So when [they are] recovering that is good news for our manufacturers and our exports here."

France and Germany may have been less hard hit than the UK by the global economic slowdown because their financial sectors, which were at the heart of the crisis, account for a smaller proportion of their economies.

Export recovery

Germany was thrown into recession earlier in the year because its exports collapsed.

The latest figures showed German exports had grown at their fastest pace for nearly three years at 7%, with particularly strong growth in demand from rapidly-growing economies such as China.

The country's Federal Statistics Office said that household and government expenditure had also boosted growth.

It added that imports had declined "far more sharply than exports, which had a positive effect on GDP growth".

Reaction to the signs of Germany's recovery, however, was mixed.

"The recession has ended, and it has ended sooner than we all thought. We expect to see growth of 1% in the third quarter, which is very strong for Germany, and I wouldn't rule out the chance of even better growth," said Andreas Rees at Unicredit.

But there are concerns that the banking system across Europe is still fragile and that the growth is reliant on government stimulus spending that will eventually have to come to an end.

BBC Europe business reporter Mark Sanders said that although the surprise news was highly welcome for those that have been suffering, there were questions about how strong and credible the economic recovery is.

"To draw a medical analogy, we've got the patient waking from a coma and talking to medical staff," he said. "They're not necessarily going to be running any marathons soon."

Consumer spending

In France, economy minister Christine Lagarde said: "The data is very surprising. After four negative quarters France is coming out of the red."

Ms Lagarde said that consumer spending and strong exports had helped to pull France out of recession.

"What we see is that consumption is holding up," she said.

Official figures showed that household consumption rose by 0.4% in the second quarter.

She said government incentive schemes for trading in old cars, together with falling prices, were helping consumers.

Foreign trade contributed 0.9% to the GDP figure - a "very strong impact", said Ms Lagarde.

"[The figures are] a positive surprise, as many people were expecting slightly negative numbers," said Marie Diron at Oxford Economics.

But she warned that growth was "still very fragile".

"Investment is down, we still have surprisingly low stock levels, and growth is boosted by the fact that imports fell sharply," she added.

SPORTS: AFRIDI brings PAKISTAN home with maiden victort as captain

Pakistan wins by 52 runs with Shahid's outclass performance as captain.

the green shirts outclass the lankan lions in all the departments.

Afridi was given man of the match award.

Costa Rica leader gets swine flu

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has announced that he has swine flu.

"Apart from the fever and a sore throat, I feel well and in good shape to carry out my work by telecommuting," the 68-year-old said in a statement.

The president is receiving medical care at his residence and is expected to remain there for a week, his brother and chief of staff Rodrigo Arias said.

He had been mediating talks on the Honduran crisis, after President Manuel Zelaya was toppled in a coup in June.

But the negotiations broke down two weeks ago, and Mr Arias's brief absence is not expected to affect the outcome.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who suffers from chronic asthma, is the first head of state known to have contracted the H1N1 influenza virus.

He was diagnosed with a mild case of swine flu on Tuesday after having flu-like symptoms for some days.

More than 20 people in Costa Rica have died as a result of the swine flu outbreak, which was declared a pandemic on 11 June by the World Health Organization.

Pakistanis shot at Somali mosque

At least five Pakistanis have been killed in a dawn attack at a mosque in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, witnesses say.

Armed men in masks entered a mosque in Galkayo and ordered six Pakistanis and one Somali outside, they said.

The gunmen then opened fire, killing five men and seriously injuring two.

Those targeted are said to be preachers from a religious sect. Puntland has been tense recently, but correspondents the reason for the attack is unclear.

The Pakistanis are thought to be missionaries from an Islamic sect called Tabliq who arrived in Galkayo on Tuesday.

Warning

Correspondents say it is common for groups of foreign preachers to spend several months travelling in Somalia on missionary work.

Tabliq is known to be peaceful. Six religious leaders from the sect were killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in 2008, during fighting between Ethiopian troops supporting the government and Islamist militants.

In Galkayo, security forces cordoned off the area after the shooting and were conducting house-to-house searches.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 and has recently been riven by fighting between Islamist insurgents and government troops.

The security situation in Puntland has been tense after the recent killing of an information minister.

Pirates operating off the Somali coast are based in the northern region, but it has seen less violence than the rest of the country.

However, a report from International Crisis Group released on Wednesday warned that if the government did not enact reforms, the region could break up violently.

It said that friction within the Harti clan had undermined formerly consensual politics in Puntland, meaning that grievances including poverty, poor governance and corruption had not been tackled.

Russian Construction Minister Ingush minister shot dead at work

Two masked gunmen have shot dead the construction minister of the volatile Russian republic of Ingushetia, local officials say.

Ruslan Amerkhanov was killed in his office in the town of Magas on Wednesday. The gunmen then fled by car.

Attacks on government officials have become more common in the troubled, mainly Muslim North Caucasus republic.

In June, Ingushetia's President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt.

The Ingush interior ministry said the gunmen shot and killed Mr Amerkhanov at point-blank range in his office.

His assistant, Magomed Amerkhanov, was wounded in the attack.

Ingushetia has seen escalating clashes between security forces and armed militants in the past year, similar to the violence that continues in neighbouring Chechnya.

Ingush security officials quoted by Itar-Tass news agency said Wednesday's killing might be linked to a recent review of construction projects in the republic. Ingushetia is plagued by corruption, including in the construction sector.

Three employees of Russia's emergencies ministry were shot dead in Ingushetia ten days ago.

In Chechnya, Russian forces were engaged in heavy fighting with separatist rebels until a few years ago, though the fighting has become much less intense recently.