Bring back hanging! Capital punishment still supported 50 years after Britain’s last execution August 13, 2014 On the 50th anniversary of the last state execution in Britain, a YouGov poll has found that 45 per cent of people would bring it back – with UKIP supporters the most enthusiastic. Although the average number of those in favour of state execution has fallen since 2010, when it was 51 per cent, nearly [...]
US retail and food sales edge up August 13, 2014 Retail and food sales reached $439.8bn (£263m) in the US last month, a marginal uptick of 0.5 per cent on June, and 3.7 per cent higher than July 2013. Health and personal care stores recorded the biggest annual rise, with July's sales up 7.3 per cent on last year, and 0.4 per cent on [...]
Watch: Jack Reacher author Lee Child on the Amazon row August 13, 2014 Jack Reacher author Lee Child appeared on Newsnight yesterday to explain why he and hundreds of other authors have spoken out against Amazon. The etail giant is in a stand-off over pricing with publishing group Hachette, which has the rights to authors as varied as JK Rowling (post-Harry Potter), Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame, crime [...]
Scandal-hit American Apparel posts bigger-than-expected losses August 13, 2014 American Apparel has reported bigger than expected losses for its second quarter, as the company attempts to ride out a series of scandals relating to founder and former chief executive Dov Charney. The retailer said in a preliminary filing that it expected to make a net loss of $15m (£8.9m) for the three months [...]
Arcadia strikes deal to launch Topshop and Miss Selfridge in mainland China August 13, 2014 Sir Philip Green's high street retailers Topshop and Miss Selfridge will debut in China next month through a deal with local online partner ShangPin.com. The deal between Green's Arcadia Group and online department store ShangPain will take the two retailers to consumers in 400 cities across the country. This is the first time [...]
Regular pay growth at lowest rate since records began August 13, 2014 Regular pay has grown at its lowest rate since records began in 2001, according to the Office for National Statistics. Average earnings excluding bonuses between April and June rose by just 0.6 per cent year-on-year, while pay in the three months to May had risen by 0.7 per cent. In comparison, consumer price [...]
UK unemployment rate falls to lowest since 2008 – but pay suffers dip August 13, 2014 The UK's headline unemployment rate dropped to 6.4 per cent in the three months to June, which is down from 6.5 per cent in May and the lowest level since late 2008. UK employment rose in the second quarter of this year to 30.6m, up 1.5 per cent on the same period last year, [...]
UK government “in breach of human rights” over prison vote ban – but no damages will be paid August 12, 2014 The UK government did breach prisoners' human rights by denying them the right to vote, a European court has found – but it stopped short of awarding damages to the 10 inmates who brought the action. The prisoners, who are in Scottish jails and includes sex offenders, took their case to the European Court [...]
New Look pauses Russia launch as situation worsens August 12, 2014 New Look's plans to launch in Russia have been put on hold because of concerns over the worsening political situation in the country. The retailer, which this morning posted group revenue growth of 8.1 per cent to £392.5m for the 13 weeks to June 28, had earmarked Russia as one of four countries ripe [...]
