UAE pulls out of BAE Typhoon aircraft deal December 19, 2013 The UAE government has decided not to proceed with a BAE deal for the supply of defence and security services, including the supply of Typhoon aircraft. The deal would have been worth around £6bn. BAE had not "built this prospect into its planning assumptions." The company says that a timely agreement in 2014 would be [...]
Exclusive: It’s a miracle – Netflix releases Christmas Eve viewing figures December 19, 2013 It’s a minor Christmas miracle: Netflix has released some viewing figures. Sort of. The online TV service, notoriously quiet about its subscriber base or their viewing habits, issued a press release this morning about Britain’s festive telly plans. The release, from an external PR agency, contains statistical insights including “a quarter of us (23%) Brits… [...]
Hackers launch assault against Chinese central bank December 19, 2013 The People's Bank of China was hacked on Wednesday in possible retaliation for the country's crack down on the crypto currency Bitcoin. The attack made the Chinese central bank's website temporarily inaccessible. The website was disabled through a Distribute Denial of Service attack. The online Bitcoin exchange BTC China was also hacked. The attack follows [...]
What it’s like to get your secret santa from the world’s richest man December 19, 2013 Reddit's Secret Santa gift exchange took an interesting turn this year when 24 year old Reddit user Rachel received a gift from a surprising secret santa. Her secret santa was no less than the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. The world's richest man, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires, gave Rachel a stuffed cow representing a [...]
This week’s US jobless claims are 45,000 higher than expected December 19, 2013 This week's US initial jobless claims figures have shot up. Analysts had expected a fall from 369,000 (368,000) to 334,000 for the week ended 13 December, but claims have risen to 379,000 – 45,000 higher than expected. That's the highest number since March. But the data has lost its significance. While investors had been watching [...]
Government may face legal hurdles in regulation of zero hours contracts December 19, 2013 In the wake of the governments announcement of a 12-week public consultation on zero hours contracts, some have been questioning whether it is possible to impose to any clear regulation on the employment arrangements due their lack of of legal definition. Global law firm Eversheds commented on the announcement: The major problem faced by the [...]
Serco to repay government £68.5m for tagging scandal December 19, 2013 Serco has agreed to repay the government £68.5m for overcharging for its tagging of criminals, Justice secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed. Both Serco and rival G4S have been found to have overcharged on contracts dating back to 2005, in a review prompted by allegations surrounding the two firms. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a [...]
How the US managed to avoid a Japanese style tapering crash December 19, 2013 Many thought that the Federal Reserve would never taper – or that when it did that markets would crash. But Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has managed to avoid a slump of the kind Japan witnessed in 2006. Then – as Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Michael Hartnett points out – stock values fell by [...]
Vince Cable is wrong – London’s growth is win-win December 19, 2013 Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Vince Cable said that London "is becoming a giant suction machine draining the life out of the rest of the country." The business secretary was discussing the possible expansion of London's Heathrow airport. He added that the country needed to make more use of provincial airports to provide [...]