Informant says Maddy stolen to order August 8, 2008 An informant told police in London that Madeleine McCann was stolen to order by an international paedophile ring, according to newly released documents. The unnamed source said a spotter took photographs of her while she was on holiday with her family in Portugal and sent them to the group in Belgium. The ring then ordered [...]
Osama bin Laden’s driver is convicted August 7, 2008 A Military court yesterday convicted Osama bin Laden’s driver of supporting terrorism but acquitted him on the more serious charge of conspiring with Al Quaeda in the first US war crimes trial since World War Two. The trial of Yemeni captive Salim Hamdan at the remote US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was [...]
London is as congested as five years ago says TfL August 7, 2008 London is just as congested as it was five years ago before the introduction of the Congestion Charge, because of roadworks and measures to give priority to pedestrians, buses and cyclists. Transport for London (TfL), which runs the capital’s transport system, said traffic levels had fallen significantly since the Congestion Charge was introduced in January [...]
Darling mulls stamp duty suspension August 6, 2008 The Treasury yesterday refused to deny reports that the Chancellor has plans to temporarily abolish stamp duty on house purchases. Yesterday morning, Alistair Darling took to the airwaves and hinted he may try to jump-start the ailing housing market by bringing forward proposals to suspend stamp duty. Details of the move, which would bring much [...]
Rwanda has a pop at France for genocide August 6, 2008 Rwanda formally accused senior French officials yesterday of involvement in its 1994 genocide and called for them to be put on trial. Among those named in a report by a Rwandan investigation commission were former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and late President Francois Mitterrand. Kigali has previously accused Paris of covering up its [...]
Fortis profits halve on new writedowns August 5, 2008 Fortis was the latest bank to be hit by the credit crunch, as it announced interim profits down by 41 per cent, after a second wave of writedowns related to choppy credit markets. The troubled Belgian-Dutch group’s net profit slumped to €1.6bn (£1.3bn) from €2.8bn in the first six months as the bank took €591m [...]
Imperial surges as India and China launch rival bids August 5, 2008 China and India are going head to head in a bidding war to take over British oil and gas firm Imperial Energy, sending its shares shooting up by 8 per cent yesterday. China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, the state-owned oil company commonly known as Sinopec, has approached Imperial with an offer in the region of [...]
HSBC profits hit as bad debt surges August 5, 2008 Europe’s largest bank announces a 28 per cent drop in earnings as crunch bites HSBC chairman Stephen Green insisted yesterday that his bank’s performance was “resilient”, despite a 28 per cent fall in profits and a surge in bad debt charges to more than $10bn (£5bn). Interim pre-tax profits at Europe’s largest bank fell from [...]
Sage expects to deflect the credit crunch August 5, 2008 Business software maker Sage yesterday said that its second quarter profits were up by 12 per cent, fuelling hopes that it will hold strong in the face of challenging market conditions. Despite increased competition in the small to medium enterprise (SME) market, the company continued to grow ahead of market expectations, posting an increase of [...]
Rio loses key mine rights August 5, 2008 Bid target Rio Tinto has lost control of one of its most important iron-ore projects that could generate annual sales of more than $10bn (£5bn), it was revealed yesterday. The Government of Guinea has told Rio that its licence to mine Simandou, one of the world’s largest undeveloped iron-ore deposits, has been rescinded. The company’s [...]