US hints at focused military strike on Syria – even without UN backing US secretary of state John Kerry has said that any action the country takes on Syria will be "tailored and limited", strongly hinting that the US will go ahead with a focused military strike. Kerry said that while the US and president Barack Obama respects the judgement of the United Nations, the current investigation will [...]
Kerry: We know that Syrian regime has largest chemical weapon programme in the Middle East US secretary of state John Kerry has said the government knows that the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad "has the largest chemical weapon programme in Middle East" and has used them multiple times this year. The most recent attack on 21 August left at least 1,429 dead including at least 426 children, he said. [...]
Boost to the UK economy from dating up £200m from 2012 The boost to the UK economy from spending on dates is expected to rise by six per cent in 2013 compared with the year before, according to a study commissioned by match.com. This year, the overall spend on dating by UK singles is expected to be £3.6bn – up by £200m on the year before, [...]
US consumer confidence rises in August following downward revision August 30, 2013 Consumer confidence in the US rose in August after a drastic downward revision of the previous month's figure, according to survey data from Reuters and the University of Michigan. The consumer sentiment index rose to 82.1 in August, up from 80.0 the month before (revised down from 85.1). Analysts had expected to see 80.5. Earlier [...]
Barclays appoints former White House and Treasury lawyer as general counsel August 30, 2013 Barclays has announced the appointment of former White House and Treasury lawyer Bob Hoyt as group general counsel, completing chief executive Antony Jenkin's executive team to deliver the bank's "Transform" programme. Hoyt will succeed Mark Harding, who announced his intention to retire in February. He joins from PNC Financial Services, where he is currently general [...]
Brazilian central bank denies it is discussing coordinated currency intervention with India August 30, 2013 The Brazilian central bank has denied reports it is discussing a coordinated currency intervention with India, following media reports suggesting this was so. Earlier today, Reuters released a report citing the Indian finance ministry’s principal economic advisor Dipak Dasgupta saying his country is liaising with other emerging economy countries on a plan to co-ordinate intervention [...]
Brazilian economic growth surprises August 30, 2013 Brazil’s economic growth in the second quarter of the year smashed expectations, according to official figures. The country’s gross domestic product was up 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter, compared to a Reuters poll consensus of 0.9 per cent. Compared with the same period the year before, economic growth was 3.3 per cent (2.5 per cent expected). [...]
Indian GDP growth slows by more than forecast August 30, 2013 India's economic growth slowed by more than expected in the April to June period, according to official figures. The country’s gross domestic product rose by 4.4 per cent in the period April to June 2013 – the lowest in more than four years. This was down from 4.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter [...]
Cameron: “Technical issue” behind failure of senior MPs to turn up to Syria vote August 30, 2013 UK prime minister David Cameron has said that the two senior Tory ministers who missed yesterday’s vote on intervention in Syria did so because a “technical issue” meant they didn’t hear the division bell. Minister without portfolio Kenneth Clarke was unable to attend the vote for family reasons – although he released a statement saying [...]
Germany has no plans to get involved in Syria intervention August 30, 2013 The German government has said it has no plans at present to join any military intervention in Syria. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said today, “we haven't considered any German military participation and still aren't doing so”. Speaking to German newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung earlier, foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said Germany had not yet been asked [...]
