London  - The government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to give nervous British consumers an early Christmas present on Monday, when he is expected to cut Value Added Tax (VAT) in an effort to lift the national economy out of recession, media reports said on Sunday.

The consumption tax is expected to be cut from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent, as part of a comprehensive fiscal stimulus package to be unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, Britain's finance minister.

Such a tax cut is expected to cost the government some 12.5 billion pounds (18.5 billion dollars). In total the government will support the national economy to the tune of at least 15 billion pounds.

London, Nov 23 : Treasure hunters have unearthed the first Roman tombstone in Scotland for more than 170 years, among other rare artifacts that were dug up at the site.

According to a report by BBC News, the red sandstone artifact was found by enthusiast Larney Cavanagh at the edge of a field near Inveresk in Scotland.

The artefact was for a man called Crescens, a bodyguard for the governor who ran the province of Britain for the Roman Emperor.

It forms part of Scotland''s annual Treasure Trove, items found by archaeologists or enthusiasts which have been handed to the Crown Office.

Other pieces include a 5,000-year-old axe head, a Bronze Age sword and mysterious carved stone balls.

London, Nov 23 : Amid concerns about discrimination in the British Police forces, official figures prove that the number of recruits from ethnic minorities to British Police forces has almost been halved in the past five years.

Official figures obtained by the Tories have revealed that the total of black and ethnic minority (BME) entrants into the 43 forces in England and Wales fell from 795 in
2003-04 to 430 in the last financial year, despite concerted efforts to improve relations between the police and minority communities, reported The Independent.

London, Nov 23 : US President-elect Barack Obama’s inclination towards retaining George W Bush''s Defence Secretary Robert Gates, and other ‘hawks’, has reportedly attracted huge criticism of selling out on his promises of change in US foreign policy.

He has been accused putting national security policy in the hands of establishment figures who supported the Iraq war, said an article in The Telegraph.

London, November 23: A British sailor spent four days in a liferaft off the coast of Spain before being rescued by coastguards.

Jay Patel was rescued after his wife alerted coastguards in England.

He and his Belgian colleague Philippe took to the inflatable liferaft after their 44ft (13.4m) motorboat, Umbalika, was sunk by a wave 20ft high.

Both of them survived on bottled water and dried biscuits until Patel’s wife, who was in London, called the coastguard.

“It was terrifying. We were hit by a giant wave and sank in two minutes. We didn’t even have time to put in a rescue call over the radio,” Times Online quoted Patel as telling Spanish coastguards after his rescue.

London, Nov 23 : With its grand properties and large, green, open spaces, Elmbridge has been voted as the best place to live in Britain.

It is currently home to several Chelsea footballers and television personalities.

Elmbridge topped the Halifax survey as it has one of the highest rates of central heating in the country, some of the largest houses - with properties on average having 6.1 rooms - and some of the best salaries, with residents earning on average 1,048 pounds a week.

It also has good school results and the weather is better than the national average, seeing almost two hours more sunshine per week than the British average.