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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Deepening recession may throw Britain into full-year GDP fall | |
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Britain's economy is set to shrink over the next year as a deepening recession
inflicts the first full-year fall in national income since 1991, a leading
forecasting group predicts today. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Sales at Taylor Wimpey sites slump to half a house a week | |
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View
graphic: Taylor Wimpey's sweeteners to homebuyers |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Airlines mock decision to award BAA Olympics role | |
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BAA has been appointed as a security adviser to the organisers of the 2012
Olympic Games in a move that has been ridiculed by airlines, which have
criticised the airports operator for long queues and poor service. |
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27/08/2008 03:28 PM |
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| TNS's biggest shareholder rejects WPP's hostile offer | |
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Cedar Rock Capital, the largest shareholder in Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) with
9.4 per cent, is understood to have rejected WPP’s £1.1 billion hostile
offer for the British market researcher, The Times has learnt. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Need to know: E.ON ... Blinkx ... Oil prices | |
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Economics |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Royal Bank of Scotland eyes up John McFarlane to succeed Tom McKillop | |
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John McFarlane, the former chief executive of ANZ Bank, emerged yesterday as a
front-runner to succeed Sir Tom McKillop as chairman of Royal Bank of
Scotland (RBS). |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Brit Insurance may quit UK within months over tax as profits are halved | |
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Brit Insurance, the Lloyd's of London underwriter, will decide within the next
six months whether to move its tax headquarters away from Britain,
increasing pressure on the Government to act to stem a potential wave of
corporate departures. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Marks & Spencer suspends worker who leaked plans to cut payoffs | |
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Marks & Spencer has suspended the worker who blew the whistle on its proposals
to cut redundancy terms for more than 60,000 staff. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Johnston Press classified collapse makes gloomy reading | |
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Johnston Press, owner of The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, admitted
yesterday that newspaper advertising revenues had plunged 23 per cent in the
first three weeks of August - the fastest rate of decline that the group had
experienced this year. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Yakuza stalk Japanese markets as organised crime opens new front | |
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Japan's powerful yakuza organised crime syndicates are mounting a widespread
assault on the country's financial markets that may have left hundreds of
listed companies riddled with mob connections. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Daniel Mudd sticks as Fannie Mae gets shake-up | |
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Daniel Mudd, chief executive of Fannie Mae, was told last night that he still
has the confidence of the rest of the board, as the chairman of the US
mortgage giant ousted his finance director and his head of risk. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Chinese disease stalks orange groves of Florida | |
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Real estate is not the only industry in Florida to be suffering from an
economic blight. While the Sunshine State ranks as one of the foreclosure
capitals of America, its huge citrus fruit industry is fighting a disease
that threatens to devastate the orange business within a decade. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Britons face Nicolas Sarkozy tax rise to fund French welfare plan | |
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President Sarkozy will face accusations that he is turning his fiscal policy
on its head today when he announces an increase in tax on investment revenue
to finance a back-to-work programme.
The 1 per cent rise on share, property rental and other investment income is
designed to help to pay for the French President’s promise to end the
so-called welfare trap, in which it can be unprofitable for jobless people
to return to employment.
The tax will be wide-ranging and could affect thousands of Britons who let
their properties in France in the holiday season.
Critics argue that the move signals the death of Mr Sarkozy’s tax-cutting
crusade as he struggles to implement Blairite electoral pledges while trying
to limit the €50 billion (£40 billion) French budget deficit.
The tax increase, which officials hope will generate about €1.5 billion a
year, will bring the total tax rate on investment revenue to 30 per cent.
Opponents say that it flies in the face of Mr Sarkozy’s attempts to
encourage wealth creation and to tempt back French tax exiles from Britain,
Switzerland, Belgium and elsewhere.
Alain Lambert, a prominent senator and a member of Mr Sarkozy’s centre-right
coalition, said: “I’m going to need a few minutes to understand why we’re
raising tax on investment revenue when we brought down inheritance tax a
year ago.”
Mr Lambert said that it would have been better to finance the back-to-work
benefit through cuts in welfare spending.
Dominique Paillé, spokesman for Mr Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement,
said, however, that the new benefit “is a good means for those in difficulty
and in a precarious situation to find stable and lasting work again and,
therefore, it deserves solidarity from everyone”.
The Revenue de Solidarité Active is designed to ensure that the income of
welfare claimants rises when they find employment. At present some people
are better off on benefits than in a low-paid job – a disincentive to get
off the dole, many economists say.
Under the new scheme, claimants will be able to keep benefits equivalent to 60
per cent of their salary after they start work. An average couple on low
wages with one child would be €224 a month better off.
Mr Sarkozy’s scheme is likely to apply to up to four million people and cost
about €8.5 billion a year. The Government will find €7 billion a year by
abolishing some existing benefits.
The French economy contracted by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter and
jobless levels are expected to rise from 1.9 million over the next 12
months. |
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27/08/2008 07:31 AM |
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| Heineken loses fizz through S&N acquisition | |
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Heineken, the giant Dutch brewer which recently bought out Scottish &
Newcastle (S&N) in partnership with its rival Carlsberg, today said the
£10 billion acquisition had been a drag on first half earnings despite a
rising thirst among consumers for its premium brands. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Royal Bank of Scotland paves way for changes at the top | |
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It is easy to see why it has taken the headhunters the thick end of eight
months to come up with three new non-executive directors for RBS. Being an
independent director of one of the world's biggest banks is fine when times
are good. When times are bad, it's no fun at all. |
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25/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Can Democratic convention hide the parlous state of the US economy? | |
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With the herd-like instinct for which they are renowned, more than 15,000 of
the world's media representatives have descended on Denver this week for the
Obamafest that is this year's Democratic National Convention. |
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27/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Tread carefully, but Costain is out to build a better future | |
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The completion of the Eurostar platform at St Pancras was seen by many
observers of Costain to symbolise a new era for the company. Once a
venerable British construction business, much of its recent history has been
dogged by frequent refinancing and doubts over the future of the operation. |
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23/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Why it’s all smiles for tooth tourism | |
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WITH a set of tooth implants overseas costing up to £40,000 less than in
Britain, “tooth tourism” is booming – and soon the cost could fall more –
thanks to new European Union legislation. |
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23/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| 10 ways to earn cash on the side | |
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A growing number of people are looking for ways to supplement their incomes as
the cost of living soars. |
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23/08/2008 08:00 PM |
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| Lenders rake in millions in fees | |
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BIG-NAME mortgage lenders have been accused of employing underhand moves to boost their profit margins – raising their loan fees by as much as three times the level they were a year ago. |
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