A Hong Kong billionaire has bought the most expensive diamond ever auctioned – but who came before him? November 13, 2015 A new jewel has just topped the list of the most expensive diamonds ever sold at auction. The “Blue Moon” was bought this week in Geneva for $48.4m, smashing all previous record diamond sales. Vivid blue in colour and weighing 12.03 carats, it went for the “highest price per carat” ever obtained for any kind [...]
Legal & General chairman John Stewart to retire next year November 13, 2015 John Stewart, chairman of financial services company Legal & General, is stepping down after six years at the business. In a statement today, Stewart said he will leave next year, once a replacement has been appointed. "We are now coming to a stage where the post-financial crisis work has been successfully delivered: the company is now [...]
Syngenta share price soars on rumours of takeover offer from China National Chemical Corporation November 13, 2015 Shares in Swiss agrichemicals company Syngenta received a big boost this morning, after rumours circulated that it is in takeover talks with China National Chemical Corporation. According to a Bloomberg report, the Chinese state-owned company approached the European firm with an offer of $42bn (£28bn). Although this was rejected because of potential regulatory issues, the companies [...]
Dodge a lot of cars? Don’t worry – city roads are officially safer than quiet, country lanes November 12, 2015 NULL
Melting Arctic is like the “new Africa” for precious resources November 12, 2015 The Arctic's ice is rapidly melting away, leaving behind sea passages that offer much easier access to the resource-rich area than ever before. The result, according to Iceland's President Olafur Grimsso, is an Arctic that is like the “new Africa”. Rare metals, minerals, oil and gas are among the many resources being eyed up by governments [...]
For the UK economy to thrive, we need our young people to be more in touch with business November 12, 2015 As news broke yesterday that Britain's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since early 2008, we were slow to celebrate. Youth unemployment persists at three times the average national rate even though there are 700,000 unfilled vacancies. In a separate piece of research, the British Chambers of Commerce revealed that 69 per cent [...]
Spire healthcare shares plummet on lowered full-year outlook November 12, 2015 Shares in UK-based hospital group Spire Healthcare fell in trading this morning, after it cut its revenue guidance for the full year. The company said it expects revenue for 2015 to grow by between three and 3.7 per cent compared to last year, which is a decline from its previous forecast of between four and six per cent. [...]
You can now buy land in space – as long as you live in the US November 12, 2015 It's now possible for businesses and individual people to own parts of space – and it's likely to be asteroids they put their money on. This week, Congress passed the final version of the Commercial Space Bill, which will give limited property rights for resources extracted from asteroids. Called the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, the [...]
This is when most British people get grey hair, dodgy knees and back problems November 12, 2015 Some people embrace their grey hair as a sign of wisdom, others do everything they can to cover it up. But whichever category you fall into, you can expect to see the first silver strands when you're 39. This is according to a survey carried out by the South West News Service, which worked out the [...]
