General Election 2015: Four things you should know about the tories’ plan to scrap the Human Rights Act May 10, 2015 The Conservatives are hoping to rid the UK of the Human Rights Act, and this has caused some consternation. But what does it mean exactly, when you scratch beneath the surface? Does the Prime Minister have a viable alternative? And will it do just as much to protect human rights? Here are the key things [...]
BP share price falls as UK intervenes in legal battle over oil spill payouts September 8, 2014 BP's share price fell to 462p this morning, despite news the UK government is planning to intervene in the US' attempt to order huge payouts for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In a filing with the US Supreme Court, the government said BP had “gone to great lengths to restore the Gulf Coast”, [...]
Expedia gets thumbs up for £380m takeover of Wotif October 9, 2014 EXPEDIA’S $615m (£380m) takeover of Australian online travel firm Wotif Group was passed with a thumping majority by shareholders yesterday. The tie-up had faced heavy scrutiny from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which feared a takeover would hurt competition in the online travel industry, but it approved the deal last week. Wotif shareholders passed [...]
Julian Assange timeline: From Wikileaks’ cable-leaker to Ecuadorian embassy refugee August 18, 2014 October 2006 – Assange sets up Wikileaks as a platform for anonymous whistleblowers. February 2010 – Wikileaks publishes a leaked cable relating to the Icesave scandal – the first classified documents supplied by Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning. April 2010 – Wikileaks reveals a video called Collateral Murder, showing two US military teams [...]
Top economists reject Paul Krugman’s call for government intervention to curb Amazon’s market power October 29, 2014 Rarely far from controversy, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman caused quite the stir in his New York Times column a couple weeks back. Krugman argued that e-commerce giant Amazon "has too much power, and it uses that power in ways that hurt Americans". Furthermore, state intervention was necessary to protect the public. Amazon drew Krugman's [...]
Argentina must stop telling “half truths” about default, says US judge August 2, 2014 A US judge has urged Argentina and its creditors to resume negotiations after the Latin American nation defaulted for the second time in 12 years. Judge Thomas Griesa told investors holding Argentine bonds and lawyers acting for the government: "Nothing that has happened this week has removed the necessity of working out a settlement," at [...]
De Kirchner lays out Argentina’s debt swap plan August 20, 2014 THE ARGENTINIAN government revealed draft legislation yesterday, with measures that would allow Buenos Aires to circumvent the US legal ruling that had brought the country to a technical default. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced the move, which would allow bondholders which could not currently access their repayments to swap the debt for securities not [...]
Airlines braced for bumper claim payouts after appeal court ruling June 11, 2014 AIRLINES could have to pay out millions of pounds in compensation for flight delays caused by technical defects, after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of a passenger who had brought a claim against budget carrier Jet2.com. Ronald Huzar’s flight from Malaga to Manchester in 2011 was delayed for 27 hours, when faulty wiring [...]
US court ruling leaves Argentina to pay back holdout funds in full June 16, 2014 THE US Supreme Court dashed Argentina’s hopes of a further appeal on its debt restructuring yesterday, leaving the country liable for a looming $1.33bn (£780m) payout to hedge funds. The highest US court’s decision not to hear the Argentinian government’s case against creditors that rejected previous debt restructuring means that it may be faced with [...]
New York Report: Dow Jones ignores US economic woes June 25, 2014 Stocks on Wall Street rose yesterday despite disappointing US economic data and after a Supreme Court decision boosted the shares of major broadcasters and as drugmakers’ stocks rallied. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.67 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 16,845.8, the S&P 500 gained 4.98 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,954.96. The [...]