Blood moon 2014: Pictures of the October lunar eclipse as UK misses out on sky spectacle October 9, 2014 A lunar eclipse wowed skywatchers yesterday as it turned the moon dramatic shades of red and orange. The so-called “blood moon” appeared in the skies across North America, western parts of South America, Australia, and parts of South East Asia, The spectacular event was the second lunar eclipse of the year, but the UK missed [...]
World Bank calls for $20bn fund to tackle Ebola spread October 9, 2014 Jim Kim, President of the World Bank, has called for the introduction of a global fund worth $20bn (£12bn) to help tackle the Ebola epidemic currently gripping West Africa. Yesterday, the United Nations' loan provider predicted that Ebola could cost the global economy as much as $33bn over the next two years if it [...]
Will I get a tax rebate or do I have to pay more back? HMRC statement error affects thousands October 9, 2014 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is sending out second tax statements to thousands of people, asking them to pay back their tax rebates because of initial miscalculations. Earlier this year, millions of people received notifications that they had paid the wrong about in tax for the year ending in April. Reasons given by [...]
Carl Icahn tells Tim Cook: Apple share price dramatically undervalued October 9, 2014 Infamous activist investor Carl Icahn has published in full a letter to Apple urging Chief Tim Cook and board executives to buyback shares. Icahn tweeted yesterday about the letter to Cook hinting "Believe it will be interesting." In the letter, Icahn said Apple was "dramatically undervalued in today's market" and that "the more shares repurchased [...]
London Tube strike called off after RMT union makes “substantial progress” October 9, 2014 The 48-hour Tube strike that was due to take place next week has been called off after unions said they had made “substantial progress” in talks. The strike had been scheduled to start at 9pm on Tuesday and run until 8:59pm Thursday evening, and had been called over the threat of around 900 job [...]
Google “Camel View”: The Arabian version of the Street View car used for mapping the UAE’s Liwa desert October 9, 2014 Forget the Google Street View car zooming around London and the rest of the country mapping its streets. If you're trying to take pictures of the desert, it’s a whole other ball game. It’s a bit dusty and you're likely to get sand in, well, everywhere, but camels are pretty much built for it. This makes them [...]
Interest rates: Bank of England keeps base rate at 0.5 per cent October 9, 2014 The pound has risen against the dollar today, after the Bank of England confirmed the base rate would stay at 0.5 per cent. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street threw no surprises into the mix today, with the monetary policy committee (MPC) voting to keep the interest rate where it has been since March 2009. [...]
Small business confidence surges to four-year high October 9, 2014 Small business confidence in the UK has climbed to a four-year high, according to the annual Sage Business Index. The annual survey of almost 14,000 businesses in 18 countries showed the majority expecting significant growth over the next year. However, the good news is not confined to the UK, with businesses across the globe more [...]
Blood moon eclipse 2014: What is a blood moon? Last night’s total eclipse was part of a lunar tetrad October 9, 2014 Yesterday, the moon turned a reddish-orange colour as the Earth passed in front of it and blocked rays of sunlight from giving it its usual silver glow. While this “blood moon” phenomenon was not visible from the UK or anywhere else in Europe, it brightened up American, Asian and Australian skies for a few hours. [...]