Cameron: Syria is “fundamentally different” to Iraq August 29, 2013 UK prime minister David Cameron has said that intervention in Syria would be "fundamentally different" to Iraq in 2003. First off, intervention would not be about regime change or even working more closely with the opposition. It would be a "response to war crime, nothing else". He added that the fact that the Syrian regime [...]
US jobless claims just beat expectations August 29, 2013 US jobless claims have fallen by 6,000 this week, to 331,000 from 337,000 (revised from 336,000). Analysts had been hoping for a fall to 332,000. Continuing claims fell to 2.989m from 3.003m (revised from 2.999m). Here economists had forecast a greater improvement to 2.980m.
US GDP revisions see massive boost to 2.5 per cent August 29, 2013 US second quarter GDP has been revised up from 1.7 per cent on an annualised basis to a massive 2.5 per cent. Economists had been forecasting revisions to 2.2 per cent. Positive momentum came from a smaller trade gap and more inventories. The good news is confusing equities investors, who don't want the economy to [...]
UK government says it is legally justified to take unilateral action against Syria without UN backing August 29, 2013 The UK government has said that unilateral attacks on specific Syrian targets would be “legally justifiable” without the backing of the United Nations (release). The UK government is currently seeking a resulution of the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter of the UN, which would condemn the use of chemical weapons by [...]
Regulator welcomes end of Amazon’s “price parity” rule August 29, 2013 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has welcomed a decision by online giant Amazon to end its price parity policy (release). Amazon's policy had prohibited sellers on its platform from offering the same goods elsewhere at lower cost. Here's how Amazon describe it: Price parity generally means that the price of each product you list [...]
German inflation misses estimates August 29, 2013 German inflation rose by more/less than expected in August, according to data from the Statistiches Bundesamt Deutschland. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.5 per cent in the year to August, following a 1.9 per cent annual increase the month before. Analysts had expected to see a rise of 1.7 per cent. On a [...]
Greek teaching union plans legal action against troika-induced austerity measures August 29, 2013 Greek teaching union OLME has said it is planning to take legal action against the government’s plan to put thousands of teachers into a mobility scheme in which they would be given reduced pay ahead of being transferred to another post or dismissal. Implementing the mobility scheme is one of the key conditions for Greece [...]
European Central Bank plans to double number of women in management positions by 2019 August 29, 2013 The European Central Bank wants to double the number of women holding management positions by 2019, executive board member Jorg Asmussen has told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. At present, women hold 17 per cent of middle management roles and 14 per cent of upper management positions – the ECB wants to double this to a [...]
Co-op bank won’t be healed for at least four years August 29, 2013 Niall Booker, chief executive of the Co-operative Bank has said that the bank will take at least four years to get into decent shape. That's if the bank is able to heal at all. Booker said that the process is going to take some time, pointing at state-backed Lloyds and RBS banks were returning them [...]
Greek finance minister: It is “premature” to speculate about a third bailout August 29, 2013 Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras has said it is “premature” to speculate about the necessity or details of a third bailout for Greece, echoing comments made earlier by EU commissioner Olli Rehn. Speaking to the Guardian, Stournaras said: It's very early now to talk about an economic support package. For the next full year we [...]