LOCAL

» Visitor spending in October jumped 15.6 percent from a year earlier to $1.1 billion, and industry observers said Hawaii has a chance to top the record for annual visitor spending, $12.8 billion in 2007.

» The Honolulu Board of Water Supply approved Monday a schedule of annual rate increases that will raise the average Oahu household’s water bill a total of 70 percent over the next five years.

» Ansaldo Honolulu JV signed a $1.4 billion contract Monday to provide 80 rail cars for Oahu’s rail transit system. City officials had delayed finalizing the contract by a few days to take another look at Ansaldo’s financial stability.

» University of Hawaii constitutional law professor Jon Van Dyke, an advocate of Native Hawaiian rights and an expert on the law of the sea, died Tuesday in his sleep in Australia, where he was to have given a speech. He was 68.

» Councilman Tom Berg admitted Wednesday that he clashed with Secret Service agents at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation reception at the Hale Koa Hotel on Nov. 12.

» Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, was reappointed Wednesday for four years. His contract calls for a salary of $479,760.

MAINLAND

» Herman Cain suspended his faltering bid for the Republican presidential nomination Saturday amid a drumbeat of sexual misconduct allegations against him, throwing his staunchly conservative supporters up for grabs with just one month to go before the lead-off caucuses in Iowa. Cain condemned the accusations as "false and unproven" but said they had been hurtful to his family and were drowning out his ability to deliver his message

» The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell last month to 8.6 percent, its lowest level in 21/2 years. The Labor Department also said Friday that U.S. employers added 120,000 jobs in November and that job growth in the previous two months was better than initially reported.

WORLD

» In a striking display of solidarity between two of the world’s most recognizable women, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed Friday to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi’s long-isolated and authoritarian homeland.

» Iranian protesters yelling "Death to England" stormed the British Embassy compound and a diplomatic residence Tuesday in Tehran. Britain responded by expelling Iranian diplomats.

» Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest winner in the first round of parliamentary elections, sought Saturday to reassure Egyptians that it would not sacrifice personal freedoms in promoting Islamic law. Meanwhile, the swearing-in of a new temporary Cabinet was delayed due to disagreements over key posts.