Plan for housing benefit cuts to slash welfare bill October 8, 2012 GEORGE Osborne yesterday confirmed his desire to restrict housing benefit for people aged under 25 as part of an attempt to slash the welfare budget by a further £10bn. Osborne told the Conservative party conference that reform is necessary: “How can we justify giving flats to young people who have never worked, when working people [...]
Romney catches Obama in poll October 8, 2012 US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has clinched a four point poll lead on Barack Obama after his barnstorming performance in last Wednesday’s debate, according to the Pew Research Center. The latest national poll, carried out from 4-7 October , gave Romney and Obama both 46 per cent support among surveyed registered voters, while among likely [...]
Court hears of UBS slush fund chat October 8, 2012 A UBS trader raised the issue of a “slush account” in an electronic chat with Kweku Adoboli months before he was arrested over allegations he lost the Swiss bank $2.3bn (£1.4bn), a London court heard yesterday. Appearing as a witness at Adoboli’s trial, Darren Bailey rejected as “ridiculous” an accusation by the accused former trader’s [...]
IMF cuts global growth hopes on weak data October 8, 2012 THE IMF slashed its forecasts for world growth yesterday, on worries that gloomy data suggests a sustained slump in the global economy. World output will expand just 3.3 per cent during 2012, the international body said, down from its July estimate of 3.5 per cent. And next year will see growth rebounding to only 3.6 per [...]
Corporate governance mishap puts Reckitt boss in spotlight October 8, 2012 RECKITT Benckiser, the FTSE-listed consumer giant, could face a probe by the City watchdog after failing to alert the stock exchange that chief executive Rakesh Kapoor had pledged £8.7m worth of shares against a personal loan. The company behind household products such as Strepsil and Gaviscon admitted yesterday that in 2010 Kapoor had put up [...]
Aid is delaying bank overhaul October 8, 2012 STATE AID is postponing a necessary revolution in the banking sector, leading to stagnant returns, claims consulting giant McKinsey in a report out today. Bank revenues grew just three per cent last year – down from nine per cent growth in 2009 and 2010, and returns to equity dipped. One key reason banks are not [...]
BP sells off its Texas refinery October 8, 2012 OIL giant BP has agreed to sell most of its Texas City assets for $2.5bn (£1.6bn), severing ties with the refinery where 15 people were killed in 2005 and raising funds for the firm’s Gulf of Mexico clean-up fund. BP said the sale to US-based Marathon Petroleum would bring its recent divestments to $35bn. The [...]
Youtube launches TV channels October 8, 2012 YOUTUBE is launching 60 new channels featuring original content from the BBC, ITN and Endemol, extending its original programming initiative in a bid to draw consumers away from television. The new online stations from Britain, the US, France, and Germany, will also a dedicated channel for Jamie Olivers (pictured) cooking shows. YouTube, owned by web [...]
Ministers deny Spain needs help as they launch bailout fund October 8, 2012 EUROZONE finance ministers launched their permanent €500bn bailout fund yesterday but said Spain, the country widely expected to be first to draw on it, was taking steps to overhaul its economy and did not need a bailout for now. Moody’s gave the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) a long-term issuer rating of Aaa last night – [...]
Thousands of Greeks protest in anger at Merkel’s visit to Athens October 8, 2012 ABOUT 8,000 demonstrators chanted anti-austerity slogans and hoisted banners warning Angela Merkel she was not welcome in Greece at a protest yesterday, the eve of a visit by the German chancellor. Organised by labour unions fed up with wage and benefit cuts, the demonstration was called before Merkel said she was coming to Greece in [...]
