Inside the tortured mind of a murderer April 21, 2010 BLUEEYEDBOY BY JOANNE HARRIS Doubleday, £18.99 THE colour of murder is blue, he thinks. Ice-blue, smokescreen blue, frostbite, post-mortem, body-bag blue. It is also his colour in so many ways, running through his circuitry like an electrical charge, screaming blue murder all the way.” So begins this chilling, elegant thriller about a blue-eyed boy that [...]
‘Tis the season for green shoots April 21, 2010 AS WELL as stranding tens of thousands of Brits around the world this week, the volcanic ash crisis had the supermarkets sweating over the possibility of serious fruit and veg shortages. Ironically, the mini-crisis came just as the season gets underway for the one vegetable where we can justifiably claim that home-grown beats all-comers –?the [...]
Goldman U-turn on Fabulous Fab April 20, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs last night stripped the trader at the centre of an alleged securities fraud of his licence to operate in the City of London. Fabrice Tourre has been de-registered with the Financial Services Authority, meaning he will not be able to carry out any regulated work. The move comes just days after Goldman insisted [...]
Relief as UK flight ban ends April 20, 2010 ALL UK airports re-opened last night after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) decided to remove restrictions on airspace. The first British Airways flight landed at Heathrow around 10pm, spelling an end to the six day ban on flying. The announcement came after experts reassessed the risk to planes from volcanic ash. The CAA said that [...]
Tories take on welfare state April 20, 2010 THERE will be “no free ride” for the work-shy under a Tory government, David Cameron said yesterday, as he unveiled his plans to shake-up the welfare state. Speaking at a rally in Burton upon Trent, the Conservative leader said he would write a “new welfare contract” for “those who refuse to work”. “Do the right [...]
Spend £1bn on education, Goldman April 20, 2010 HERE is a suggestion for Goldman Sachs: make an immediate £1bn donation to a special new fund for financial and economic education. Then try and rope in a few more of the big banks and financial institutions, all of whom may be happy to stump up to deflect the tidal wave of populist anti-bonus and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TRAFIGURA LIFTS VEIL TO REVEAL $1BN PROFIT Trafigura, one of the world’s leading oil and metals traders, has told bond investors it earned almost $1bn last year, revealing the extraordinary profitability of the publicity-shy Swiss-based trading houses which dominate commodities markets. The company raised €400m ($438m) recently on its first Eurobond issue after [...]
What does the surge in Liberal Democrat support really mean? April 20, 2010 THE LIBERAL Democrats were once also-rans, a third party that had little chance of electoral success. But since Nick Clegg was crowned winner of last week’s leaders’ debate, the election has been blown wide open. Or has it? We want to know what you think. 1) How likely or unlikely is is it that you [...]
ELECTION2010 April 20, 2010 Lib Dems score YouGov high The Liberal Democrats last night recorded their highest YouGov poll score, with popularity up three per cent to 34 per cent. The Lib Dems showed a three point lead over the Conservative party, which dropped two points to 31 per cent. The Labour party fell one per cent to 26 [...]
IMF proposes double tax hit for all banks April 20, 2010 BANKS around the world could face two new taxes to cover the cost of any future bailouts under proposals by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) circulated to the Group of 20 countries yesterday. The report proposes a “Financial Stability Contribution,” which would be used to cover the cost of any future financial sector bailouts to [...]