Nadir stole £150m and fled to Cyprus, court told January 23, 2012 ASIL Nadir, the Turkish Cypriot tycoon, stole £150m from his own company more than 20 years ago, a court heard yesterday. Nadir switched £146m and $6.4m (now £4.1m) from his Polly Peck International empire to a bank he owned in Northern Cyprus before fleeing the country, the Old Bailey was told. The businessman, now 70, [...]
Lords block welfare bill January 23, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT has suffered a further defeat over its welfare reform proposals after peers backed a move to exclude child benefits from the £26,000 annual cap on benefits paid to families. The House of Lords voted by 252 to 237 last night in favour of the amendment introduced by the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, [...]
Music industry shows content is king January 23, 2012 MOST industries have done well from the extraordinary change unleashed by the internet since the web went mainstream in 1994. Among the few exceptions have been content businesses, including the media and music industries, which have seen their old business models decimated by the technological revolution and which have struggled to build a viable alternative. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 23, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES HAYWARD ACCUSED OF LYING TO US CONGRESS Lawyers for plaintiffs suing for damages over the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 have alleged that Tony Hayward, BP’s former chief executive, lied in a court statement and gave untruthful testimony to the US Congress when he testified about the spill. In a filing at the [...]
US mortgage deal closer January 23, 2012 US STATE and federal officials are nearing a deal with the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders to settle claims of foreclosure that drove people out of their homes. Democratic state attorneys general and Obama administration officials met yesterday in Chicago to discuss the terms of the settlement. People familiar with the talks have said Bank [...]
Petroplus halts fuel deliveries January 23, 2012 Petroplus has been forced by its lenders to stop delivery lorries from leaving its refinery in Coryton in Essex, the area’s MEP Richard Howitt said yesterday. The struggling company’s shares were suspended from the Swiss SIX exchange yesterday as it continues talks with its creditors. Petroplus has already closed three refineries in Europe but has [...]
Labour group sounds jobs alarm January 23, 2012 The International Labour Organization sounded the alarm on the global jobs situation in its annual report published yesterday, as it called for more coordination of fiscal policies, repair and regulation of the financial sector and support for the real economy. “What has changed with respect to last year is that our forecast has become much [...]
Cable’s boardroom reforms get cautious support from companies January 23, 2012 VINCE Cable’s plans to reform boardroom pay received a cautious backing from the City, although it was thought unlikely that the business secretary’s proposals would have a meaningful impact on actual pay levels. John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, said “executive pay must always be fair and transparent, and that high pay must be for [...]
Shares lifted by hopes of a Greece deal January 23, 2012 THE FTSE hit its highest level in almost six months yesterday, leading a rise in shares across Europe as hopes grew that negotiations to stop a Greek default may finally conclude. Rumours of French and German proposals to cut bank capital requirements, enabling increased lending, also boosted European markets. Though the talks suffered a setback [...]
EU bans Iran oil imports as nuclear row escalates January 23, 2012 EUROPEAN Union governments yesterday agreed to an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, buy or transport Iranian crude oil, a move to put pressure on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme by shutting off its main source of foreign income. But the governments agreed to phase in the embargo, giving countries with existing contracts with [...]
