Dow at record high; Three London women held as slaves for 30 years; 'Christianity faces extinction in Britain'; Backward march for UAE women; India's Modi and the market

1 Dow at record high (BBC) The Dow Jones industrial average has closed above 16,000 for the first time. The average was buoyed by a report showing fewer Americans were looking for work, as well as surging tech stocks, which also pushed the Nasdaq average higher. The Dow Jones rose 109.17 points to 16,009.99, and the Nasdaq index rose 47.88 points to close at 3969.15. The S&P 500 also rose, adding 14.48 points to 1,795.85. The US Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by a better-than-expected 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000 last week.

US stock markets have been rising rapidly in recent months, pushed upwards by strong corporate earnings and continued stimulus from the Federal Reserve, which has kept in place its $85bn a month bond buying programme for longer than many analysts had been expecting. The bond buying programme has kept interest rates low, which has encouraged investors to put their money in stock markets in the hopes of getting a higher return.

However, not all stocks contributed to the rally. Discount retailer Target's stock slid after the company reported disappointing earnings, and Dollar General's shares also declined after an earnings miss.  Retailers have warned that holiday season sales - typically the biggest time of the year for most firms - might be disappointing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11900474

2 Three London women held as slaves for 30 years (BBC) Three women have been "rescued" from a south London house as police investigate claims they were held as slaves for about 30 years. Last month officers were contacted by Freedom Charity after it received a call from a woman saying she had been held against her will for decades. A Malaysian woman, 69, an Irish woman, 57, and a British woman, 30, were rescued from the house on 25 October. A 67-year-old man and woman were held in Lambeth and bailed until January.

The women, who are said to be "highly traumatised", were found following delicate phone conversations between the charity and the 57-year-old, who had secretly gained access to a phone. There followed a number of phone conversations over a week, and the three woman eventually left the property when the owners of the house were not around, the charity said. They were met by police and representatives from the group, and were then moved to a safe location. The 30-year-old had spent her whole life in captivity. Officers are trying to establish whether she was born in the house. Police said the relationship between the women was being investigated.

Det Insp Kevin Hyland, from the Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking Unit, said: "We have seen some cases when people have been held for 10 years, but we have never seen anything of this magnitude before.There was a delay in the arrest. This was down to the fact that we had to work very carefully with these people who were highly traumatised and it was very difficult to establish the facts. The last thing we wanted to do was increase that trauma. A television documentary on forced marriages relating to the work of Freedom Charity was the catalyst that prompted one of the victims to call for help.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25040741

3 'Christianity faces extinction in Britain' (John Bingham in Johannesburg Times) Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has warned that Christianity is "a generation away from extinction" in Britain. Christianity is close to extinction in Britain unless churches make a dramatic breakthrough in attracting young people back to the faith, Carey has warned. Clergy are now gripped by a "feeling of defeat", congregations are worn down by "heaviness", and the public simply greets both with "rolled eyes and a yawn of boredom", he said.

His comments at a conference came as a stark report laid before the Church of England's General Synod warned that its position as a "national institution" would be in doubt if numbers in the pews dropped much further. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, also underlined the scale of the crisis, telling members of the Synod they must "evangelise or fossilise". The Synod responded by voting to set up a committee.
His comments came as a report was laid before the Church of England's General Synod, warning that plunging congregations now threaten its ability to "sustain a nationwide presence".

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/11/20/christianity-close-to-extinction

4 UAE women face backward march (Khaleej Times) The Federal National Council (FNC) recently approved a proposal for the government to lower the retirement age of women in the UAE. This step, which seeks to cap the years of service at 15, may be perceived as taking a step backwards when it comes to women empowerment in the country, especially in light of the fact that the UAE enjoys the reputation of being a champion of women’s rights in the GCC.

A council member’s argument that women needed “more time at home to look after their children to reduce the dependence on housemaids” is unrealistic. Even if a woman decides to retire early, in most cases, her children would have grown up, thereby reducing the dependence on housemaids anyway. The other supposed benefit of lowering women’s retirement age is tackling unemployment — giving employment opportunities to other women. It would, however, be prudent to note that the same also applies to men retiring early.

The main point of concern here is that children are being brought up by maids. A sensible (and cheaper) alternative would be to make workplaces child-friendly with play-schools or nurseries, allowing women to take children along. Yet another alternative would be extending maternity leaves and/or (optional) reduced working hours for the first few years after birth.

As more women enter the workforce across the world, many countries are looking to increase their retirement age, not lower it. The most visible characteristic of the UAE’s modern history is the evolving role of women in society, and this move would be counter-productive to the country’s conscious and commendable efforts in women empowerment.

http://khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=/data/editorial/2013/November/editorial_November45.xml&section=editorial

5 India's Modi and the market (Sadanand Dhume in The Wall Street Journal) Can Narendra Modi revive India's economy? In some ways, this is the central question Indian voters face when the country goes to the polls next summer. Yet as with most anything that concerns the Gujarat chief minister and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate, opinion in the country is sharply divided.

Mr. Modi's supporters say that only he can reverse a slump that has seen GDP growth drop to an estimated 3.2% last year, its lowest since India began liberalizing its economy in 1991. The skeptics put the case rather differently. Mr. Modi may have run Gujarat like clockwork, goes their argument, but you can't really compare administering a relatively homogenous state where he holds a nearly two-thirds legislative majority with managing a fractious coalition in New Delhi.

To be sure, at this point nobody can predict whether Mr. Modi will become prime minister, much less which policies he might follow, with certainty. But even a casual observer can see that Gujarat's standout economic performance is at the heart of Mr. Modi's partly successful effort to distance himself from anti-Muslim riots that took place on his watch in 2002. On balance the chief minister's record and public pronouncements suggest that, when it comes to economic administration, it's not unreasonable to keep our expectations of him high.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304337404579211501945017252