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Two of the UK's biggest High Street names have announced falling like-for-like sales over the Christmas period.
Clothing retailer Next announced that its sales had dropped 7% in the six months to Christmas Eve. It added there had been a good start to its sale.
Meanwhile, Debenhams said its sales in the past 12 weeks had fallen 3.3%.
It said this had been a "creditable sales performance, given the extremely difficult and volatile conditions seen across the High Street".
In early morning trade in London shares in Next were up 7% after the announcement, and those in Debenhams were up 30%.
The updated trading figures had been in line with analysts' expectations.
Both chains have been offering up to 70% off items in their seasonal sales.
'Challenging year'
Next had refused to slash prices in the approach to Christmas - and said it expected sales clearance rates to be ahead of last year.
However, looking ahead to 2009, the firm said that it would be "another challenging year" and predicted negative like-for-like sales figures for the full year.
"We expect falling house prices, unemployment, and the fear of unemployment to continue to restrain spending," said Next in its statement.
But it said it was well placed to weather the downturn, with a robust balance sheet and net debts of £670m. Next also said it would manage its costs and look to make further efficiencies.
Cost controls
Debenhams, which has 153 stores in the UK and Irish Republic, has seen its shares fall more than 80% over the past two years on fears about its ability to pay its debts.
Despite the 3.6% fall in like-for-like sales over the past 12 weeks, this compared with a decline of 4.2% for the previous six weeks and meant that Debenhams' profits for the 18-week period had improved on a year earlier.
The retailer also said that, despite the tough environment, it had "continued to take market share from competitors in all major categories".
"Looking forward, the trading environment is likely to remain challenging for the whole retail sector," said chief executive Rob Templeman, adding that the firm would keep a tight control on costs, stock and capital.
Job fears
The updates come as the Nationwide's consumer confidence index fell to a new record low during December.
The index fell to just 47 last month, nearly half of its level of 84 in December 2007, and down from 51 in November.
Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Consumers' confidence fell sharply in 2008, driven mainly by their sentiment about the economic and labour market situation.
"As the UK enters recession, it is likely to be some time before we see confidence returning to levels seen in 2007."
BBC
The ex-head of children's services at the council at the centre of the Baby P case is appealing against her sacking.
Sharon Shoesmith was dismissed from Haringey Council last month after a damning initial report into her department's role in Baby P's death.
The 17-month-old, who was on the council's "at-risk" register, died in 2007 after a series of major injuries.
A spokesman for Haringey Council in north London confirmed Ms Shoesmith was appealing against her dismissal.
'Loss of confidence'
Following the report, Ms Shoesmith was dismissed with immediate effect and the council said she would not be receiving any compensation or pay in lieu of notice.
The document said her department's shortcomings "led to a fundamental loss of trust and confidence" in her ability.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls had removed Ms Shoesmith from her post on 1 December but she remained on full pay while the council considered her case.
Baby P's mother admitted in court to causing or allowing the boy's death. Her boyfriend and Jason Owen, 36, were convicted of the same offence.
They were due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 15 December but sentencing has been delayed "for legal reasons".
After the convictions, Ms Shoesmith said she was satisfied that her department had acted appropriately.
Risk failures
However, inspectors sent into Haringey after the trial of those responsible for the baby's death identified a string of "serious concerns" about the area's child protection services which they described as "inadequate".
In a 16-page report, they criticised everything from poor record-keeping to a failure to identify children at immediate risk of harm.
Baby P, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had suffered more than 50 injuries by the time of his death.
This was despite being in contact with officials, doctors and police 60 times in the eight months before he died.
The council has appointed Peter Lewis as Ms Shoesmith's successor.
He has spent five years as children's director at Enfield Council, also in north London.
Haringey is the same council that was severely criticised after the murder of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie in 2000.
BBC
After all the injuries that Baby P suffered in his short life this woman should not have been sacked she should have just been taken around the corner and shot.....
Several European countries say they have suffered major disruption to their Russian gas supplies after Moscow cut deliveries to Ukraine.
Turkey said all its supplies had been cut. Romania reported a 75% reduction. Bulgaria, Greece and Macedonia have also been affected, Bulgaria said.
Russian energy giant Gazprom decided to cut exports through Ukrainian pipelines by a fifth in a row over unpaid bills.
Russia stopped supplying gas to Ukraine last week.
A statement on the website of Ukrainian state company Naftogaz listed nine countries, including Germany, Poland, and Hungary which, it said, would receive reduced supplies.
"Naftogaz of Ukraine considers that in such a case if European users receive less volumes of natural gas, all claims of the noted countries must be directed to Gazprom," says the statement.
Pipes across Ukraine carry about one-fifth of the European Union's gas needs.
'Gas stolen'
The move to reduce supplies going through the Ukraine by a fifth came after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held talks with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.
Mr Miller recommended that deliveries via Ukraine should be reduced "by the amount stolen by Ukraine, that is 65.3 million cu/m of gas".
Future deliveries should be reduced on a daily basis by the amount of gas "stolen", he added.
"Start reducing it from today," Mr Putin told Mr Miller on Monday.
Ukraine has denied stealing gas, saying technical problems are disrupting the onward flow of gas to Europe.
Gazprom, in which the Russian state owns a majority stake, said it would compensate by sending more gas to Europe via other routes.
Divisions
The row between Russia and Ukraine has been simmering for weeks. Gazprom says Ukraine owes it money; Ukraine says it has paid its debt. The two sides have also failed to agree on the price Ukraine should pay for gas in 2009.
A similar row between Gazprom and Ukraine at the beginning of 2006 led to gas shortages in several EU countries.
EU leaders have been meeting in Brussels to discuss the dispute and a delegation has also been sent for talks with both Ukrainian and Gazprom officials.
But, say correspondents, the EU is reluctant to get involved in what it describes as a commercial dispute - reflecting Europe's own deep divisions on how to respond to Russia.
BBC
Israeli forces have pressed nearer to and into cities in Gaza despite new international calls for a ceasefire in an 11-day-old conflict in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces moved into Khan Younis in southern Gaza as the army widened the ground assault it launched four days ago against Hamas militants after a week of air strikes failed to stamp out cross-border rocket fire.
There was intense fighting overnight on the outskirts of the city of Gaza, where residents huddled indoors in fear. Deaths recorded by Palestinian medics reached 564.
Most of several dozen deaths reported by hospitals in recent days have been civilians, apparently because dead militants remain on the battlefield.
The Israeli military said it had killed 130 militants since Saturday - an indication that the total Palestinian death toll since 27 December may be close to 700.
Israel's military said three soldiers were killed and 24 were wounded yesterday when an Israeli tank fired at a building in northern Gaza that they had occupied in fighting against the Hamas group, which seized control of Gaza in 2007.
The so-called friendly fire incident caused the military's highest casualty toll since Israel launched its offensive.
More than 550 Palestinian deaths; Eight Israelis killed
Eight Israelis, including four civilians hit in Palestinian rocket attacks, have been killed in the conflict.
Palestinian medics said 18 Palestinian civilians were killed today, including 10 people who were hit by naval shells along the beach in central Gaza.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the assault could get harder for troops. Hamas, vowing to fight on in every street and alley, threatened to fire more rockets across into Israel.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a peace mission to the Middle East, and US President George W Bush, in his final weeks in the White House, both appealed for a ceasefire.
But disagreement on who should stop shooting first and on what terms made the chances of a quick truce seem remote.
Israel, whose leaders fight a parliamentary poll on 10 February, made clear its priority was securing the safety of its citizens.
Hamas demanded a lifting of Israel's blockade of Gaza. Many of the enclave's 1.5m people lack food, water or power.
The Jewish state launched the offensive after Hamas called off a six-month truce last month and stepped up cross-border rocket attacks in response to Israeli raids and the blockade.
Barak warns of tough times ahead
Israeli media reported that Hamas gunmen were manoeuvring within a well-fortified tunnel system and that Israeli troops had encountered Palestinian suicide bombers.
Militants had been trying to lure Israeli soldiers into built-up areas, witnesses said.
An overnight Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza town of Rafah killed a Palestinian woman, medical officials said.
Barak told Israeli legislators yesterday Hamas had been dealt a heavy blow: 'But we cannot say that its fighting capabilities have been harmed ... Difficult moments lie ahead in this operation and the main test could still be ahead,' he said.
Hamas leaders, who have support from Iran and Syria but are viewed with suspicion by most Arab states, were defiant.
Thousands of fighters were waiting 'in every street, every alley and at every house' to tackle the Israeli forces, Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a broadcast speech.
Hamas would increase its rocket strikes on Israel if the Jewish state kept on attacking Gaza, he said.
Hamas, which wants to reverse the events of 1948 that created the Jewish state and turned Palestinians into refugees, won a parliamentary election in 2006.
It routed rival forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, taking control of Gaza and creating a schism that has blighted Mr Abbas's bid to found a Palestinian state through US-brokered talks with Israel.
Israel pulled its troops and more than 8,000 settlers out of Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation in a move that many at the time hoped would lead to a breakthrough for relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
RTE
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