White House and UN condemn chemical warfare ahead of emergency meeting on Syria August 21, 2013 The White House has said it is “deeply concerned” and the United Nations “shocked” to hear reports of alleged chemical attacks on rebel forces on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria today. Opposition forces in Syria say rockets with toxic agents were launched at the suburbs of the Ghouta region today, resulting in the deaths of [...]
Ackman explains “mistakes” to Pershing investors August 21, 2013 American hedge fund manager and activist investor Bill Ackman has written to investors to explain his recent headline-hitting activities in a regular quarterly letter. Ackman heads up Pershing Square Capital Management, whose funds remained more or less flat in the most recent quarter (for the first half of the year, returns ranged from 5.3 to [...]
Hague urges EU not to stop humanitarian aid to Egypt August 21, 2013 UK foreign secretary William Hague has joined a number of European counterparts in urging the EU not to stop giving humanitarian aid to Egypt. Speaking in Brussels at a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the continuation of a €5bn (£4.26bn) aid package for Egypt, Hague said that most Egyptians wanted democracy "so we mustn't [...]
Whisteblower Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison with three years credit August 21, 2013 The American army private Bradley Manning, who leaked US government documents to Wikileaks has been sentenced 35 years in prison with 1294 days credit. The terms also included the forfeit of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. Manning, who has sometimes gone by the name Breanna, has been incarcerated for a period of [...]
Higher-than-expected inflation prompts another downgrade of Brazilian growth August 21, 2013 Brazilian bank Itau BBA has become the latest bank to cut Brazil’s growth forecast after reports that inflation rose at by more than expected – generating further speculation the central bank will increase the pace of increase in borrowing costs. The IPCA-15 consumer price index rose at a monthly rate of 0.16 per cent and [...]
US existing home sales increase at fastest rate in three years August 21, 2013 More homes than expected were sold in the US in July, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) (release). Existing home sales – which are completed transactions including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39m in July – up from a downwardly revised [...]
ECB’s Asmussen says Greece must continue reforms as fears about third rescue package intensify August 21, 2013 The European Central Bank's (ECB) Jorg Asmussen has said that Greece must continue to implement reforms, saying that the country will have a sound banking system once recapitalisation is complete. Saying that he "came to Athens to take stock of the current programme" and "to see what the situation is", Asmussen said that he had [...]
Bloomberg steps up privacy reforms August 21, 2013 Bloomberg has made further changes to its data policies following an external review into how its journalists were accessing client log-in activity on the company's trading data terminals (release). While the review by law firm Hogan Lovells and regulatory compliance firm Promontory Financial Group found that the news agency already had appropriate client data policies [...]
Merkel confirms details of potential Greece bailout will not be decided until mid-2014 August 21, 2013 German chancellor Angela Merkel has confirmed that any decision on the details of a potential third bailout for Greece will not be made before the middle of next year. Speaking to SAT.1 television, she said she could not say today what amount Greece would evenutually need – echoing earlier comments made by her spokesman Steffen [...]
India may be forced to tighten monetary policy as it faces financial crisis August 21, 2013 As emerging markets including India tank with the rupee hitting record lows against the pound and the dollar, Shweta Singh of Lombard Street Research suggests that expectations of quantitative easing withdrawal are now "baked in". It now looks as if Raghuram Rajan will have a tough start at India's central bank (a stark contrast to [...]