Brown hints at Iraq troop withdrawals July 23, 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown played up an improving security situation in Iraq yesterday and said the number of British troops there could continue to come down as key security tasks were completed. Brown told parliament the 4,100 British troops serving in Iraq would stay for the “next few months” but said he expected to see [...]
Crusaders and Salford get the nod to contest new-look Super League July 23, 2008 Rugby Football League chief Richard Lewis admitted selecting licenses for the new-look Super League was a “difficult decision” after several top clubs missed out. All 12 of the existing Super League clubs retained their place in the 14-club top-flight, joined by National Leaguers Salford City Reds and Celtic Crusaders. Licenses run until 2011, with no [...]
McCanns are in the clear July 22, 2008 Portugal’s chief public prosecutor yesterday dropped the case on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann pending any new leads and cleared her parents of suspicion of involvement. Prosecutor Fernando Pinto Monteiro said in a statement a third suspect, Robert Murat, a Briton living in Portugal, was also cleared. “The public prosecutor’s office has determined that the [...]
Bank of America adds cheer to bank stocks July 22, 2008 Shares in Bank of America, the largest retail bank in the US, surged after the mortgage lender revealed better-than expected second quarter results, despite a 41 per cent drop in profits and a rise in bad loans. The stock climbed 6 per cent higher after the bank topped earnings forecasts, boosting confidence amongst investors that [...]
More firms on brink of bankruptcy July 21, 2008 The number of companies in Britain that are facing bankruptcy rose 685 per cent in the last year, new figures have revealed. Some 4,258 firms faced “critical problems” – defined as being embroiled in some kind of insolvency related legal action – in the second quarter of 2008, compared with just 542 in the same [...]
WTO talks could ease trade crisis July 21, 2008 World Bank president Robert Zoellick yesterday urged trade ministers to push for a breakthrough in this week’s World Trade Organization talks, saying it was “now or never” to reach a deal. Zoellick said progress on agricultural issues in the meeting opening in Geneva today would bolster confidence in a world economy strained by soaring food [...]
House prices plunge July 21, 2008 Distressed sellers driving the gloomy housing market down cut average asking prices by a dramatic £4,345 or 1.8 per cent in July, new figures out today show. The 1.8 per cent fall in values this month follows a 1.2 per cent drop in June, as house prices registered their first year-on-year decline since property website [...]
Brown calls for release of five Britons July 21, 2008 Gordon Brown called for the release of five British hostages held in Iraq yesterday, after the release of a video claiming that one had killed himself. earlier this year. The prime minister, who is visiting Israel, described the video as “abhorrent”. He said: “I call on the hostage-takers to release those people who have been [...]
London and New York need each other July 21, 2008 Much fuss is made about the “lead” or “lag” that London shows vis-ą-vis New York in the financial and business sector. Whenever studies such as the Global Financial Centres Index report is published, many commentators pore over the tables to see by what degree London or New York is ahead. This misses the point: more [...]
Backers earn big as perfect trading pays July 18, 2008 Betdaq’s PR Director Russ Wiseman looks back at a busy week on the exchange… The explosive growth of betting exchanges over the past couple of years has provided a whole host of benefits to punters and has made the challenging task of earning a profit that much more attainable. At the core of this revolution [...]
