Max Clifford jailed for eight years in UK

UK's top PR guru Max Clifford faces up to two years in jail for sexually assaulting young women. Source: AAP

DISGRACED PR guru Max Clifford has been jailed for eight years in the UK for a string of indecent assaults on four women.

The 71-year-old finally fell from grace after decades influencing the media when he was convicted on Monday of eight counts of the crime, carried out between 1977 and 1984.

Passing sentence at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, Judge Anthony Leonard told him

"These offences may have taken place a long time ago, when inappropriate and trivial sexual behaviour was more likely to be tolerated, but your offending was not trivial, but of a very serious nature."

The judge said that due to the age of the offences that occurred between 1977 and 1984, Clifford was charged under an act from 1956, which set the maximum term at two years.

Under later legislation passed in 2003, the maximum term would have been 10 years, and for the worst instances would have been charged as rape or assault by penetration, which attract a maximum life term, the court heard.

Clifford repeatedly shook his head as the judge made his comments to a packed courtroom.

Judge Leonard added that he thought Clifford's personality and position in the public eye were why the crimes had not been made public sooner.

"The reason why they were not brought to light sooner was because of your own dominant character and your position in the world of entertainment which meant that your victims thought that you were untouchable, something that I think you too believed," he said.

Clifford, who branded his accusers "fantasists", remained defiant ahead of his sentencing.

"I stand by everything I have said in the last 17 months," he said.

A string of his clients have moved to distance themselves from the veteran agent in the wake of his conviction, the first under the sex crime inquiry Operation Yewtree.

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US construction spending rises 0.2%

US construction spending rose slightly in March, fuelled by increases for apartments, single-family homes, factories, health care centres and office projects.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday that construction spending increased just 0.2 per cent in March, after having fallen 0.2 per cent in February.

The March gains put construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $US942.5 billion ($A1.02 trillion), an 8.4 per cent increase year-over-year.

Construction spending dipped in January with the harsh winter weather and continues to run below its December 2013 levels.

Apartment construction spending increased 4.3 per cent in March, while single-family home spending inched up 0.2 per cent. Residential construction spending is at its strongest pace since May 2008, nearly five years ago.

Spending on government projects fell 0.6 per cent, including a 2.3 per cent drop for schools and educational buildings.

Despite the gains in residential construction, warmer weather has yet to produce much of a rebound for residential real estate.

Builders started work on 946,000 homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in March, up 2.8 per cent from 920,000 in February, the Commerce Department said last month.

Applications for permits, a gauge of future activity, fell 2.4 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 990,000.

Sales of new homes declined 14.5 per cent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, the second straight monthly decline and the lowest rate since July 2013. Sales have declined 13.3 per cent over the past 12 months.

New-home buying plunged in the Midwest, South and West in March. But they picked up in the Northeast, where snowstorms in previous months curtailed purchases.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index was 47 in April. Readings below 50 indicate that more builders view sales conditions as poor rather than good.

Sales have also been modest because of affordability issues as rising prices over the past year and higher mortgage rates have made it harder for many Americans to afford a home.

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Stars tweet tributes to Hoskins

TRIBUTES have poured in for Bob Hoskins, with many taking to Twitter to express their disbelief at his death.

Actor and comedian Stephen Fry tweeted: "Oh no, Bob Hoskins. Gone? That's awful news. The Long Good Friday one of the best British movies of the modern era. A marvellous man."

Hollywood actor James Woods, who starred with Hoskins in the 1995 drama Nixon, mourned his death by celebrating the Briton's acting talents. He tweeted: "Oh man, what a terrible loss. A great guy and a superb artist."

Fellow Tinseltown legend Samuel L Jackson spoke of his sadness at the news, saying: "Truly saddened by the passing of Bob Hoskins! A truly Gigantic talent & a Gentleman. R.I.P."

The League of Gentlemen actor Mark Gatiss, who starred in a production of The Wind In The Willows with Hoskins for the BBC, posted a photograph of the pair from the show.

He tweeted: "So sad to hear we've lost the great Bob Hoskins. A true gent & an inspiration. Happy memories of 'the Willows' in '06".

Actor Nick Frost shared the silver screen with Hoskins when they appeared together as Nion and Muir, two of the seven dwarves in the 2012 film Snow White And The Huntsman.

Frost tweeted: "Terribly sad news about Bob Hoskins. A pleasure to have shared the screen with you mate. An Actors actor and a gentleman to boot. RIP.

"If you want to see Bob in full flow watch The Long Good Friday. A tour de force. The long shot at the end of Bob in the taxi is amazing."

Theatre director and choreographer Matthew Bourne added simply: "RIP Bob Hoskins".

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Trump buys famed Scottish Turnberry course

DONALD Trump is buying Turnberry Resort in Scotland, famous for its Ailsa Course that has hosted the British Open three times.

Turnberry is the 17th golf property owned by Trump, and it is sure to bring the American developer is first major championship.

Turnberry last hosted the British Open in 2009, when Stewart Cink won a playoff over 59-year-old Tom Watson.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Independent in London reported that Trump paid Dubai-based Leisurecorp just more than $US63 million ($A68 million.

Trump says it's a privilege to own what he calls one of the most exciting properties in golf.

He said he would invest millions of dollars in the hotel and make it one of the most luxurious in all of Europe.

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US TV shows ordered off Chinese websites

VIDEO streaming websites in China have been ordered to stop showing four popular American TV shows, including The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife.

The move suggests government attention is intensifying on the online industry, which is freer than state television and China's cinemas to show foreign productions and other content and has stretched the boundaries of what can be seen in the country.

A spokeswoman for a leading video site, Youku, said on Sunday it had received notification not to show sitcom The Big Bang Theory, political and legal drama The Good Wife, crime drama NCIS and legal drama The Practice.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television didn't give a reason for its order, she said.

A senior manager at another site, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said it received the surprise order last week to "clean their website".

The edict, which was identical to the one sent to Youku and other companies, also listed a Chinese slapstick miniseries made by another site, Sohu, as having to be removed.

Online streaming sites regularly receive orders to take down Chinese or foreign TV programs and movies, but usually because the regulator considers them too salacious or violent or because they infringe copyright laws.

Sohu's most popular US shows are crime drama Nikita - episodes from the first and second seasons have been watched a combined total of 472 million times - and Masters of Sex, which weren't included in the order.

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WA remains Australia's strongest economy

WESTERN Australia remains the nation's best performing economy but the Northern Territory is a close second.

The Top End is leading the way when it comes to economic activity, due to strong growth in construction, according to CommSec's quarterly State of the States report.

South Australia and Tasmania were the weakest performing states, while NSW came in third, followed by Queensland in fourth place and Victoria in fifth.

Every three months, CommSec uses eight key indicators to rank the states and territories - economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, unemployment, construction work done, population growth, housing finance and dwelling commencements.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said the rebalancing of the Australian economy away from mining investment would soon cause a shake-up in the rankings.

"Western Australia continues to lead the rankings of best performing economies but in the latest quarter there was little to separate it from the Northern Territory economy," he said.

"The mining construction boom is over, replaced by the home construction boom.

"As a result, winners and losers will change across Australia, not just industries but also state and territory economies."

NSW lifted from fifth to third place following improvements in its economic growth, business investment, population growth and dwelling starts.

NSW is now the strongest state for new housing construction, with starts over 39 per cent above decade averages, Mr James said.

"The outlook for housing construction continues to strengthen, underpinned by low interest rates and strong demand by investors," Mr James said.

The jobs market was strongest in the Northern Territory and ACT and weakest in South Australia, where the jobless rate is up almost 28 per cent on the decade average, Mr James said.

He said the outlook for the Tasmanian and South Australian economies remained challenging.

"The hope is that property investors will soon switch attention away from NSW and Victoria to more affordable housing sectors," he said.

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Muslim world body heading to CAR

THE world's largest bloc of Islamic countries is sending 14 delegates to the strife-torn Central African Republic on a fact-finding and solidarity mission.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation said on Sunday delegates would be in the capital, Bangui, for three days from Tuesday.

Guinea's Foreign Minister Lounceny Fall will head the delegation, which will include Turkey's foreign minister and diplomats from some of the 57 member-states, as well as OIC Secretary-General Iyad Ameen Madani and the body's special envoy to the Central African Republic, Sheikh Tidiane Gadio.

The OIC said the delegates were expected to meet with interim President Catherine Samba-Panza, the prime minister and foreign minister, as well as Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

Central African Republic exploded into violence in early December amid mounting resentment toward a Muslim rebel government that had seized power in March 2013 by overthrowing the president of a decade.

The rebel leader-turned-president had little control over his forces, who were blamed for raping, torturing and killing civilians particularly among the country's Christian majority.

Once the government fell in January, Christian militia fighters began attacking Muslim civilians, prompting tens of thousands to flee the country and leaving an untold number dead.

The OIC visit follows that of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was in Central African Republic earlier this month.

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