Poland wants to take Russia to court over food ban August 20, 2014 In the wake of Russia's ban on some European food products, Poland has asked the European Commission to complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Poland sent the request to European Trade Commissioner Karel De Grucht, who represents the EU in WTO cases. Marek Sawicki, Poland's agriculture minister has said that preliminary consultations are underway, and [...]
Is there life on Mars? Nakhla meteorite indicates it’s possible August 20, 2014 The question of whether there is – or ever was – life on Mars has rumbled on for centuries, but a meteorite that landed on Earth more than 100 years ago could offer scientists new clues about the environment of our neighbouring planet. The Nakhla meteorite, which landed in Egypt back in 1911, has [...]
Barcelona to appeal Fifa transfer ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport August 20, 2014 Barcelona will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to a fight a Fifa ban on all transfer activity until January 2016. Fifa imposed the ban spanning two transfer windows in April this year, after discovering that the Catalan club had breached regulation regarding the signing of players under the age [...]
Carillion calls off Balfour Beatty merger bid August 20, 2014 Building giant Carillion has backed away from its bid for rival Balfour Beatty after three unsuccessful attempts. Ahead of tomorrow's "put up or shut up" 5pm, Carillion this afternoon issued a statement saying it was "no longer proposing a merger". Balfour Beatty shares opened 5.7 per cent lower per cent this morning after its board [...]
Islamic State in Europe: Nine suspects detained in Austria August 20, 2014 Nine people have been arrested in Vienna, Austria, for intending to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria. According to the Austria Press Agency, the individuals were being questioned and a decision on whether to place them in investigative custody was pending. The news was reported by prosecutors in Austria on [...]
More billionaires born in London than any other European city August 20, 2014 If ever there was a suitable carrot to dangle in a bid to make us work harder, this might just be it. Wealth consultancy WealthInsight and Spear’s magazine have revealed more billionaires are born in London than any other city in Europe (unless you consider Moscow part of Europe, in which case we’re second). Globally, [...]
Twitter updates: Favourites to appear in timelines and gory photos of death to be removed August 20, 2014 If you're on Twitter, you may have noticed a change. A new update means that from now on, tweets favourited by people you follow will occasionally appear in your timeline – whether you agree with the sentiment or not. Twitter began testing the update two days ago, and it received a pretty hostile [...]
Lidl clothing range: Discount retailer challenges British supermarkets on fashion front August 20, 2014 Not content with challenging big British supermarkets on food prices, discount favourite Lidl is taking the stores on in the fashion stakes. The German retailer is about to launch a fashion range for women that includes jeans, shoes and even leather jackets, with a men's range to follow later this year. From August 25th shoppers [...]
This message will self-destruct in five seconds: Snapchat is set to offer disappearing ads August 20, 2014 Photo messaging app Snapchat could soon be offering users more than just perishable pictures and videos, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). In a move that could actually begin to make the three-year old company some money, Snapchat has been in talks with a host of media companies and advertisers about offering disappearing news [...]