Federal Reserve: US interest rates to remain near zero September 17, 2014 The Federal Reserve has stuck to its pledge to keep interest rates near zero for a "considerable time" after its asset purchase program ends next month. In a statement following the Fed’s Open Market Committee, the US central bank also announced it had sliced a further $10bn from the programme, leaving it with monthly [...]
Apple to reveal new iPads and OS X Yosemite at event next month September 17, 2014 Apple, apparently not content with two new iPhones, its first smart watch, and trolling iTunes users with a U2 album, could be set to unveil two new iPads next month. The tech giant will announce the sixth iteration of the iPad, the third version of the iPad Mini, and OS X Yosemite, the latest [...]
Watch: Taiwanese animators turn their hands to Scottish independence September 17, 2014 Taiwanese agency Next Media Animation – famous for its snarky take on such global issues as Tiger Woods' infidelity and the Royal Wedding – has created another animation. This time its focus is the Scottish independence referendum, and it features a slightly questionable Scottish accent. The video includes highlights such as the Queen [...]
PayPal’s Peter Thiel: “Twitter workers smoke a lot of pot” September 17, 2014 Has the co-founder of Paypal just effectively accused Twitter's workforce of being high on the job? Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook, was speaking on American cable channel CNBC when he suggested that “there’s a lot of pot smoking going on” at Twitter's headquarters. Thiel said: Twitter’s hard to evaluate. They [...]
Dixons Carphone agrees to hire 800 Phones 4u staff September 17, 2014 Dixons Carphone announced today it has agreed to take on the 800 staff employed at the 160 Phones 4u concessions in its stores. The company released a statement saying it was "pleased to confirm we have secured agreement to offer all Phones 4u colleagues in our curryspcworld stores roles". The move was hinted at on [...]
Which airline has the best first class cabins? Singapore Airlines flies all the way to the top September 17, 2014 Looking to make the flight from business to first class and wondering what is the best airline to travel in style? Well it depends what is the most important criteria – and it doesn't appear that the price of a ticket has much to do with it. Which airline has the most comfortable [...]
Scottish independence: What are voters most concerned about (on social media)? September 17, 2014 With polls suggesting the Scottish independence referendum is still too close to call, we are looking to social media to see if it can tell us how voters are leaning and what is getting people talking. According to data from analytics firm Brandwatch, millions of people have been taking to Twitter to find out [...]
Scottish independence would be bad for whole of EU, says Rajoy September 17, 2014 The effects of a “Yes” vote would spread far beyond our shores – to the whole of the EU, according to Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy. At a meeting of MPs in Madrid he said independence referendums such as Scotland’s often result in “more economic recession and poverty”, and that they are bad for [...]
Broker the right deals when buying overseas shares September 17, 2014 Investing in overseas shares can be rewarding, but keeping a close eye on foreign exchange costs is must to ensure maximum return on investment. Andrew Woolley, executive director of international payments, runs through some key considerations: “To keep foreign exchange costs to a minimum it’s wise to team-up with an overseas stock broker and a [...]
Speak to the experts for great exchange rates and fee-free online transfers September 17, 2014 It's been an unsettled summer for sterling. Back in July, it seemed that the pound could do no wrong. A stream of encouraging economic data emanated from the UK. Upbeat employment figures, strong PMI readings and a statement from the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, which suggested that interest rates could rise [...]