MIDDLESBROUGH, England, Nov 22 (Reuters) – In the
former British industrial powerhouse of Middlesbrough, a skyline
once dominated by smoke-belching chimneys and steel mill
furnaces now features a monumental piece of public art and an
elegant new state college clad in silver and bronze.

The town’s harsh industrial landscape inspired film director
Ridley Scott, a son of north-east England, in his vision for the
science fiction film “Blade Runner”.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain borrowed slightly less than expected in October, leaving the government on track to meet its deficit reduction goals this year, but weak growth and the euro zone crisis are increasingly expected to derail its attempts to balance the books.

Figures published a week before Chancellor George Osborne presents his autumn budget statement to parliament showed public sector net borrowing excluding financial interventions fell to 6.498 billion pounds in October, down 16 percent on the year.

LONDON (Reuters) – British exporters must target fast-growing economies outside the euro zone and the United States to end years of underperformance and give the struggling UK economy a shot in the arm, the Confederation of British Industry said on Monday.

The CBI said a strategy to boost exports to countries like China, India and Brazil would give the stagnant economy a lift worth 20 billion pounds, or 1.5 percent of GDP, by 2020.

LONDON (Reuters) – Officials attached legal notices to the tents of anti-capitalist protesters in London’s financial district on Wednesday, giving them 24 hours to end a demonstration that has shaken the Church of England and upset senior politicians.

The letters ordered them to leave the area outside St Paul’s Cathedral by 1800 GMT on Thursday or face action in the High Court to end a month-long protest inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement. Police in New York evicted protesters from their camp in a park near Wall Street on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Unemployment hit its highest in 15 years and the number of young people out of work soared to a record of more than 1 million, adding to pressure on the government to do more to support a faltering economy.

The coalition government’s room for manoeuvre is limited by its pledge to erase Britain’s huge budget deficit through a tough austerity plan, which includes axing an estimated 400,000 public sector jobs.

LONDON (Reuters) – The government should scrap plans to raise fuel taxes next year because it is “crippling” an economy that has barely grown in the last year and is hurting households already hit by high inflation and low wage growth, MPs said on Tuesday.

The government wants to raise fuel duty by three pence in January and by a further penny in August — a move that will take the duty on a litre of unleaded petrol to 61 pence. Drivers must also pay 20 percent VAT when they fill up their car.

LONDON (Reuters) – WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange will ask senior British judges next month to refer his fight against extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes to the country’s highest court, a WikiLeaks spokesman said on Tuesday.

Assange, 40, and his legal team have lodged an application with Britain’s High Court to consider whether to refer the case to the Supreme Court, said spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson.

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Britain should scrap plans
to raise fuel taxes next year because it is “crippling” an
economy that has barely grown in the last year and is hurting
households already hit by high inflation and low wage growth,
lawmakers said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s government wants to raise
fuel duty by three pence in January and by a further penny in
August — a move that will take the duty on a litre of unleaded
petrol to 61 pence. Drivers must also pay the 20 percent VAT
sales tax when they fill up their car.

LONDON (Reuters) – Two men went on trial in London on Monday for the 1993 murder of black student Stephen Lawrence, a landmark case that led to police being branded racist and helped to end a doctrine that prevented a suspect being tried twice for the same crime.

Lawrence, an 18-year-old who hoped to train as an architect, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths at a bus stop in southeast London.

LONDON (Reuters) – Two men went on trial in London Monday for the 1993 murder of black student Stephen Lawrence, a landmark case that led to police being branded racist and helped to end a doctrine that prevented a suspect being tried twice for the same crime.

Lawrence, an 18-year-old who hoped to train as an architect, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths at a bus stop in southeast London.