US committee is unlikely to have agreed budget cut plan November 20, 2011 A US government committee is expected to announce today that it has failed to come up with a plan to make a dent in Washington’s $15 trillion (£9.5 trillion) debt pile. The congressional cross-party “super-committee” charged with finding $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over a decade is set to announce that it has failed to [...]
Libya to try Saif Gaddafi itself November 20, 2011 LIBYA stood firm yesterday over the trial of Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam, saying its courts could judge him fairly, defying the International Criminal Court, which says it is its right to try him at The Hague for crimes against humanity. As news came in of the capture of Gaddafi’s feared intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, [...]
NY police avert terrorist plan November 20, 2011 NEW York officials said yesterday that police have arrested a man trying to build a pipe bomb with instructions from an al Qaeda magazine, which he planned to use against US soldiers. The suspect – identified as Jose Pimentel, 27 – was charged with three terrorism-related counts and two other counts. Beyond soldiers, his intended [...]
City: no substantial growth until 2013 November 20, 2011 THE majority of our Voice of the City panel thinks the UK will not return to annual growth of two per cent until at least 2013, according to our latest survey. Almost a third (31 per cent) of our panel, recruited in association with PoliticsHome.com, believe the UK economy will start growing at two per [...]
Vodafone India offices raided in anti-corruption investigation November 20, 2011 VODAFONE was last night facing a fresh crisis in its all-important Indian growth market, after police raided its offices in connection with a corruption investigation. The weekend searches at Vodafone’s Indian unit and Bharti Airtel’s offices were to seek details on spectrum allocation by the government to operators between 2001 and 2002. The searches were [...]
Spanish opposition wins strong mandate for cuts November 20, 2011 SPAIN voted to implement deep austerity cuts proposed by opposition leader Mariano Rajoy last night, with his conservative People’s Party (PP) sailing to a landslide victory over José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s socialists. With most of the votes counted last night, Rajoy’s party had 186 seats out of 350 total, whereas the socialists had 111. The [...]
EU avoids making any budget cuts November 20, 2011 The EU avoided cuts to its budget after negotiations between member states resulted in a two per cent spending rise, in line with Eurozone inflation. MEPs wanted a five per cent rise, but met with opposition from austerity-focused governments all over the continent. However, member states failed to agree on cutting spending programmes in line [...]
Ackermann calls for EFSF boost November 20, 2011 The Eurozone must avoid issuing euro-bonds and should focus on boosting the size of its bailout fund to stop contagion, Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann has said. “We need the firewall to cope with the spillover effect, if it occurs,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “The stability facility should be increased,” he added, referring to [...]
UBS to battle Occupy camp November 20, 2011 UBS could begin legal action this week against protesters who have taken over a disused City building owned by the Swiss bank. The bank’s lawyers spent the weekend considering their next step after the Occupy London group made the empty block its third site after setting up outside St Paul’s Cathedral and at Finsbury Square. [...]
No Resolution for Phoenix in buyout talks November 20, 2011 THE collapse of talks between insurance takeover specialist Resolution and rival Phoenix Group has cleared the way for a rival bid from buyout firm CVC Capital or Swiss Re. CVC has opened talks over a deal to buy all or part of Phoenix, it emerged yesterday, as Resolution broke off negotiations over a deal. City [...]
