Study shows power of Twitter in international diplomacy July 24, 2013 The power of Twitter in global politics has been evidenced by the latest study by Twiplomacy, which found that the governments of 77.7 per cent of the 193 UN member countries have a Twitter presence, with nearly half personal accounts of heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs (infographic). But while [...]
New data suggests that tomorrow will show growth doubled in the second quarter July 24, 2013 The CBI industrial trends survey for total orders has hit its highest level in seven months, up from -18 to -12, in-line with analyst forecasts. That's a seven month high. Business optimism came in at seven from five prior (eight expected). 32% of firms reported an increase in total new orders and 27% said they [...]
UK regulator fines RBS £5.6m for incorrect reporting July 24, 2013 The Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £5,620,300 by the Financial Conduct Authority for incorrectly reporting transactions made in wholesale markets and in some instances failing to report transactions at all. According to the FCA, RBS failed to properly report 44.8m transactions between November 2007 and February 2013 and failed altogether to report 804,000 [...]
Women in London live longer – but rising life expectancies highlight welfare spending problem July 24, 2013 Women living in London have one of the highest life expectancies in the country, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (release). Females aged 65 in 2009-11 are expected to live for a further 21.6 years, the same as in the South East and South West and over seven months more [...]
ISP tells customers that if they want Cameron’s censored internet they should move to North Korea July 24, 2013 Internet service provider Andrews & Arnold has told customers that if they want filtered internet – they should change providers or move to North Korea. The comments are a reaction to plans announced by Prime Minister David Cameron, who wants all internet to be filtered for adult content as default, with customers only able to [...]
Eurozone banks tighten credit standards despite plunging loan demand and better funding conditions July 24, 2013 The European Central Bank has reported an improvement in funding conditions among eurozone banks in the second quarter of the year, but a tightening of credit standards for both companies and mortgages despite expectations of a further fall in loan demand. In its latest bank lending survey, the ECB found that a net seven per [...]
Eurozone order books start to grow for first time since January 2012 July 24, 2013 Eurozone composite purchasing manager's index (PMI) has risen above 50, implying that order books are now finally starting to grow. PMI was last this high in Janaury 2012. Analysts had forecast a rise from 48.7 to just 49.3. Manufacturing was up from 48.8 to 50.1 (49.2 expected) and services rose from 48.3 to 49.6 (48.5 [...]
Petrofac president and executive director steps down after 22 years July 24, 2013 The president and executive director of FTSE 100 oilfield service company Petrofac Maroun Semaan has announced he will be retiring at the end of this year after more than 22 years with the company. Group chief executive Ayman Asfari said much of the growth the company has experienced is “directly attributable to Maroun” and thanked [...]
Tate & Lyle expect another year of profitable growth after a slow start in US July 24, 2013 British agribusiness Tate & Lyle says its outlook for 2013 has remained unchanged as adjusted operating profit in the period 1 April to 30 June 2013 was reported in line with expectations (release). As expected, a cold spring and slow start to summer in the US impacted negatively on sales volumes in its beverage sector, [...]
German manufacturing and services sectors their strongest since February July 24, 2013 Following some strong figures from France, purchasing manager's index (PMI) data for Germany has come in strong, at a composite five month high for manufacturing and service sectors. Analysts had forecast a manufacturing PMI rise from 48.6 to just 49.4 – which under 50 would still imply contraction – but a strong 50.3 means that [...]