Sport Comment: Stripping Russia of World Cup is just not practical July 27, 2014 SPORT always has been and remains a political football. I have spent much of the past weekend at the Rugby 7s at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. I have been trying to explain to people who asked why Fiji were not competing as a team when some of their individual athletes were. Fiji were expelled [...]
World Cup 2018 should not be held in Russia says Clegg in call for tougher sanctions July 27, 2014 Nick Clegg has called for Russia to be stripped of its right to host the World Cup in 2018, saying it would be “unthinkable” for the country to enjoy the prestige of hosting the event after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The deputy prime minister made the comments in an interview with the [...]
European leaders urged to approve most severe Russian sanctions yet July 26, 2014 European leaders are being urged to approve a new set of sanctions against Russia, spanning the financial, defence and energy industries. The package being put forward represents “phase three” of the European Union's plan to hit entire sectors of Russia's economy. If approved, it will result in the most wide-ranging sanctions to have been [...]
IMF Admits: The UK is on top of the world July 24, 2014 BRITAIN is set to outstrip global growth this year, with figures out today expected to confirm that the economy has bounced back from the recession and is now larger than it ever has been before. British GDP will have grown by 3.4 per cent between the fourth quarter of last year and the end of [...]
Targeting Russian oligarchs with EU sanctions won’t work say lawyers July 24, 2014 Lawyers have cast doubt on the plausibility of directing EU sanctions at Russian oligarchs, as politicians look to freeze the assets of figures close to President Putin. Europe is in the process of agreeing tougher sanctions on Moscow, following the downing of Malaysian airlines flight MH17 over separatist-controlled Ukraine last week. Last night, EU members [...]
UK economy upgraded by IMF forecast. Here’s what else the World Economic Outlook expects July 24, 2014 Ahead of gross domestic product (GDP) second quarter estimates on Friday, which are expected to show that the British economy has surpassed its 2008 peak, the UK has received another boost in the form of an IMF forecast upgrade. The Washington-based fund, which pulled no punches in its criticism of the government's austerity programme last [...]
IMF upgrades UK growth expectations again but trims global growth forecast for 2014 to 3.4pc July 24, 2014 The International Monetary fund has slashed its global growth forecast to 3.4 per cent, down 0.3 per cent on its April estimates, following weak economic data from the United States and emerging economies. The surprise fall in US gross domestic product for the first three months of the year, which plunged 2.9 per cent year [...]
Will financial sanctions on Russia significantly damage the City of London? July 24, 2014 Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank, says Yes. Russia’s economy matters, even for the UK where only a small fraction of financial services activity is tied directly to Russia’s fragile petro-economy. The UK economy dances to the beat of world events because of confidence, uncertainty and financial market spillovers. The crisis in the [...]
Cameron vows to review exports to Russia amid arms contract row July 23, 2014 David Cameron has vowed to double check the UK’s arms deals with Russia, as pressure increases on the government to end all contracts with President Putin in the wake of the MH17 disaster. Following a letter from the chair of the committee on arms export control yesterday, Cameron said he would look again at all [...]
Saudi’s Tadawul: a better prospect than Micex for foreign investors? July 23, 2014 They are both emerging market, oil-rich equity markets, but while Russia's Micex index has been open to foreign investors for a number of years, Saudi's Tadawul index will be opening up for the first time in 2015. The Tadawul is the Middle East's biggest equities market, and foreign investors have been eagerly awaiting the [...]