Dave Lewis begins first day as Tesco boss August 31, 2014 Former Unilever executive Dave Lewis has taken up his role today as chief executive of Tesco – a month earlier than planned – after the troubled food retailer issued its second profit warning in six weeks on Friday. Tesco slashed its interim dividend by 75 per cent and said it would cut its capital expenditure [...]
Nato can save us from Putin – but only if Europe gets serious about its military August 31, 2014 For my sins, early in my Washington career I was sent to literally scores of high-level North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) meetings, frustratingly all on the same beside-the-point topic. Stripped of its finery, basically every conclave revolved around finding another mission for the most successful politico-military alliance in the history of the world, now that [...]
Putin wants to negotiate “statehood” of southeast Ukraine August 31, 2014 As Europe gets ready to place more sanctions on Russia, Vladimir Putin has called for the “statehood” of southeast Ukraine to be negotiated. In a TV interview, the Russian President said: “We must immediately begin substantive, meaningful negotiations, not on technical questions but on questions of the political structure of society and of the [...]
Putin compares Kiev to the Nazis, Ukraine seeks Nato membership August 30, 2014 Ukraine has pleaded for full membership in Nato, signalling a desire for increased Western military protection from Russian aggression. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told government yesterday that his cabinet would "bring before parliament a law to scrap the non-aligned status of the Ukrainian state and establish a course towards membership of Nato." Nato membership would [...]
Barack Obama: Russia to blame for violence in Ukraine August 29, 2014 Barack Obama has blamed Russia for the violence taking place in eastern Ukraine. As tensions escalate between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels, the US President said that “deep Russian involvement” was the cause of fighting. "There is no doubt that this is not a home-grown, indigenous uprising in eastern Ukraine," he said [...]
Tesco share price plunges on profit warning, dividend cut – and Dave Lewis to start early August 29, 2014 Tesco's share price plunged 8 per cent in early trading after issuing a shock profit warning this morning. The struggling supermarket reduced full-year forecasts from £2.8bn to £2.4bn amid tough trading conditions and expects to reduce its dividend by 75 per cent on last year’s interim payout to 1.16p per share when it reports interim results [...]
Markets wobble as Obama looks to push sanctions against Russia August 28, 2014 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday said the US would look for ways to expand economic sanctions on Russia, after Kiev accused Moscow of moving troops into south eastern Ukraine. But he stopped short of calling the recent Russian aggression an invasion. US stocks edged lower as growing tensions snapped focus back to the volatile region, [...]
Hollande calls for growth summit amid political turmoil August 28, 2014 French President Francois Hollande has appealed for a Eurozone growth summit to get to grips with the currency block's economic stagnation and high unemployment. The embattled President warned an audience of ambassadors in Paris that “Europe is threatened by a long and possibly interminable stagnation if we do nothing.” Hollande called on European leaders to [...]
Christine Lagarde charged with negligence August 27, 2014 Head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has been charged with “simple negligence” by a court in France, following claims of ministerial wrongdoing surrounding a €400m (£318m) payout to French businessman Bernard Tapie when she was finance minister. Lagarde said she would challenge the “totally baseless” decision.
Forget Piketty: How Sweden combined wealth and equality through capitalism August 27, 2014 SWEDEN continues to be one of the countries others look to for an answer to this fundamental question of our times: how can a country successfully combine increasing prosperity with a relatively egalitarian distribution? The French economist Thomas Piketty provided part of an answer in his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, in which he [...]