Insurers paid out £650m from 335,000 claims made as a result of damage caused by the wintry weather in the...

I have been noticing graphic ads appearing in my RSS feeds recently. The advert pictured that really caught my eye seems to be being served by Google, but I am sure that these adverts are appearing via other advertising networks as well. A quick search online shows the legal issues that eBay has had with a range of companies over the sale of fake goods: L’Oreal, LVMH (Louis Vuitton) and Tiffany to name but a few. Beyond short-termist thinking of profits why would advertising networks want to sell inventory to counterfeiters? What surprised me was a couple of things: The advertising networks have done nothing obvious to stop the use of their networks to sell fake goods. Looking at these ads it is doubtful that they have been vetted by a real-life person There is no way to suggest...

Mexican Carlos Slim Huan overtakes Bill Gates as the world's richest man, according to the Forbes 'rich...

Talks aimed at averting strike action by BA cabin crew break down without...

Administrators at Portsmouth FC start to make employees redundant, with 85 people losing their...

The European Parliament has voted in favour of cutting red tape for small businesses by exempting them from producing onerous annual accounts. The objective of the proposal is to reduce the bureaucratic burden on micro-entities in order to enhance their competitiveness in the wake of the financial crisis. Micro-entities are defined as businesses where two of the following three criteria apply: 1. The balance sheet does not exceed €500,000 (around £456,000); 2. The net turnover does not exceed €1,000,000 (around £912,000) and; 3. The average number of employees during the financial year is 10 or less. South West MEP Graham Watson told the PRSD: “This is a ray of light for small businesses at a very difficult time. “There are around two million businesses in the UK that...

Photojournalist Ed Kashi documents 50 years of oil extraction in the Niger deltaEric HilaireShiona Tregaskis...

• BA accepts partial repeal of staff cuts on flights• Union mulls counter-offer as 5pm deadline for talks loomsBritish Airways has tabled an 11th-hour counter-offer as peace talks over a looming cabin crew strike go to the wire.The airline has responded to the offer of a 2.6% pay-cut by the Unite trade union with its own demands. Unite is considering the proposals but sources close to the talks said the union and representatives from its cabin crew branch, Bassa, harboured serious concerns about the counter-move.It is understood that BA has accepted a partial repeal of cuts to staffing levels on flights but it wants fewer crew back onboard than Unite has proposed.The TUC, which is hosting the peace talks, has set a deadline of 5pm to achieve a deal but both sides have shown...

Banks are now being forced to look at whether they have enough capital to withstand a peak-to-trough fall in GDP of minus 8.1% by 2014Britain's biggest banks are being subjected to new stress tests by the Financial Services Authority to ensure they can withstand another four years of difficult economic conditions.As the FSA chairman, Lord Turner, unveiled the regulator's financial risk outlook for 2010, he revealed that banks were now being forced to look at whether they have enough capital to withstand a peak-to-trough fall in GDP of minus 8.1% by 2014. That is a worse scenario than the tests for 2009, when the FSA ensured banks have enough capital for a peak-to-trough fall in GDP of 6.9% – the basis upon which Lloyds Banking Group was allowed to withdraw from the government's toxic...

Former ITV boss to become executive chairman as troubled firm prepares last-ditch bid to raise £100m from investorsFormer ITV boss Charles Allen is taking control of EMI's music business, home to acts including Coldplay and Robbie Williams, after the surprise departure of chief executive Elio Leoni-Sceti.Leoni-Sceti will be leaving the troubled company at the end of March after just 18 months with the firm. His departure comes at a critical time for EMI, as the cash-strapped business puts the finishing touches to a new business plan which its private equity owners can present to investors.Allen, who joined EMI as a non-executive director in January 2009, will become executive chairman of the music company. EMI Music Publishing will continue to be run by chairman and chief executive Roger...

The chances of a child from a poor family enjoying higher wages and better education than their parents is lower in Britain than in other western countries, the OECD saysChildren from poor families in Britain have a greater chance of struggling on low incomes than their counterparts in the west's other rich countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said today.Highlighting the UK's lack of social mobility, the Paris-based thinktank said the chances of a young person from a less well-off family enjoying higher wages or getting a higher level of education than their parents was "relatively low".The findings came in the OECD's latest Going for Growth report, which said the developed world faced a "daunting task" in restoring public finances to health after...

Danny Finkelstein has written an article today about the image of the Conservative party and about changes in public perception. As part of this he used Coca-Cola as an example, the curved Coca-Cola bottle is iconic, loved and is recognisable even when only a fragment can be viewed, this he says the Conservatives would do well to aspire to.My advice to Danny is to be very careful about what...

ISPs, Google, Facebook, eBay and Yahoo sign letter saying clause threatens free speech and could lead to blocking of sitesAmendments made to the digital economy bill by the House of Lords threaten freedom of speech and will lead to British websites being blocked without due judicial process, the bosses of leading technology companies said today.The heads of the four largest UK internet service providers – BT, Orange, Virgin Media and TalkTalk – as well as Google, Facebook, eBay and Yahoo have all co-signed the letter, along with consumer groups, academics and the technophile television host Stephen Fry, objecting to amendment 120A to the bill, which was added to the bill last week with support from Liberal Democrat and Conservative peers.Ministers had been seeking powers to amend...

Driver says his hybrid car accelerated out of control on a US freeway on Monday...

Prime minister also announces pay freeze for doctors, dentists and hospital consultants as well as senior managers across most of the public sectorGordon Brown warned today that Britain's economy is still in "choppy waters" but declared he had the "character" to lead the country to recovery. The prime minister announced a pay freeze affecting doctors, dentists, and hospital consultants as well as senior managers across most of the public sector.Brown stressed the country was at a "crossroads" and faced "crucial decisions" in the months ahead. He warned that "ideologically-driven" Tory plans for cuts risked tipping the country back into recession.Brown also used his address to confirm that the budget will be in two weeks' time, on 24 March, leading to speculation that the prime minister...

Some economists believe the weak outturn was a blip and expect production to have bounced back in FebruarBritain's manufacturers suffered their biggest fall in production in six months at the start of the year when snow storms brought parts of the country to a standstill.Factory output fell by 0.9% in January, official figures showed this morning, taking City economists by surprise who had pencilled in a 0.3% gain. This was the biggest monthly drop since last August.The pound fell more than half a cent to $1.49 on the news, which dented hopes that the economic recovery might have picked up more speed in the first quarter of the year.The Office for National Statistics said the decline came after a strong December and poor weather in January.Some economists believe the weak outturn was a...

Despite the losses – down to £257m from £1.3bn a year ago – Northern Rock is paying out £15m in bonuses to its staff but chief executive will waive hisMore than 22,500 Northern Rock customers – over 4% - have missed monthly mortgage payments, the nationalised mortgage lender admitted today as it reported a sharp fall in losses for last year.Despite the losses – down to £257m from £1.3bn a year ago – the bank is paying out £15m in bonuses to its staff and will be paying £1.5m to the Treasury to cover the cost of the one-off tax on the payments.Chief executive Gary Hoffman is waiving his bonus although the bank said a new long-term incentive scheme was being drawn up for the former Barclays executive.The new scheme for Hoffman will pay out only when the nationalised bank...

The earthquake in Chile may cost the global insurance industry as much as $7bn (£4.7bn), Swiss Re...

Northern Rock says that it made "good progress" in 2009, after reporting a sharp fall in its annual...

China's exports surged 46% in February, figures show, raising hopes of a strong recovery in global...

Number of 'phishing' attacks have risen to 51,000 from just 1,700 five years ago, according to the UK Cards AssociationThe amount of money lost to online banking fraud last year rose by 14%, according to figures released today, despite an overall drop in card fraud losses.Criminals have switched their attentions from internal bank systems, which are notoriously difficult to attack, to individual household computers, the UK Cards Association said.Fraudsters are targeting bank customers through email links and attachments. Once consumers click on the links or open the attachments they expose themselves to computer viruses that can detect their keystrokes when they log on to their accounts.The number of "phishing" attacks, where fraudsters lead customers to fake bank websites via an email...

Talks aimed averting strike action by BA cabin crew are due to resume later, after a deadline was...

Fraudsters are continuing their switch from traditional card fraud to raiding online bank accounts, new research...

Why postal reforms are good news for direct...

10 years on from the burst Nasdaq...

Stefan...

Ok, so the iPad isn’t floating everyone’s boat is it? I’ve actually been interested in Microsoft’s offering for quite some time now and there’s some more info seeping through about the twin screened tablet known as Courier. So, we all already know that the Courier will react in a nice way to being stroked and poked by either finger or stylus but the video below also shows that Microsoft’s Courier has shrunk since we first got sneaky peeks at it. The shrinkage will obviously help it be more portable and, as it looks to be around 5″x7″ and about an inch think, should be luggable +++ It beats the Apple table by seemingly sporting a camera. The Courier, as well as having the pinch-zoom touchscreeness can also recognise...

President Barack Obama has 'responded positively' to calls to clamp down on market speculators, says the Greek PM after...

Korean company Samsung kicks off the industry-wide push by launching a 3D range that will be in British shops by the end of the monthThe friendly green monster Shrek, the blue-skinned Na'vi of the planet Pandora and Wayne Rooney's shots on goal will shortly take on a new, three-dimensional glory.Spurred on by the success of the Hollywood fantasy blockbuster Avatar, the world's top electronics companies believe they can make 3D television sets the norm for consumers in the US and Europe within three years.The Korean company Samsung kicks off the industry-wide push – and battle for brand supremacy – by launching a 3D range that will be in British shops by the end of the month.Billed as the world's first high definition, three-dimensional LED televisions, Samsung's range will be...

• Despite weak pound hopes of export-led recovery doubtful• Small firms seek more help over funding exports drive Hopes that the cheaper pound will power the UK to an export-led economic renaissance suffered a blow with news that the trade gap widened sharply in January.With sterling around 25% weaker than before the credit crunch, economists have been expecting demand for cut-price British goods to increase, helping to offset some of the pain from the clapped out banking sector and weak consumer spending.But official figures released today showed that instead of benefiting from the weakness of the currency, exports of goods fell in January by £1.4bn, or almost 7%: the worst monthly decline in exports since July 2006. With imports falling much less sharply, the deficit widened by...

Aer Lingus announces plans to lay off 670 staff, including nearly a quarter of its cabin crew, as part of restructuring...

José Manuel Barroso says European commission considering ban on credit default swaps to ease market pressure on GreeceThe European commission announced moves today to shore up the euro and ward off market pressure on Greece by considering a ban on complex derivatives allegedly being used to undermine the single currency.The draconian move suggested by José Manuel Barroso, commission president, follows a joint campaign by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, for a prompt clampdown on credit default swaps (CDS).George Papandreou, the embattled Greek prime minister, who has been arguing in Berlin, Paris, and Luxembourg for the past several days that unbridled speculation on the markets is driving his country towards national insolvency and...

The Financial Services Authority is delaying its plans to combat the mis-selling of payment protection...

Dodgy tenner cartoon featuring Alastair Darling drawn for Channel 4 News © Matt Buck Hack cartoons More rumblings from some of the membership of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England – as reported by CityWire. The MPC is the committee which decides how well the national economy is doing and which recently approved the policy of Quantitative Easing (video explainer). This process invented £225Bn of new UK money (or credit) which was then used to buy government debt, much of which was undertaken to support the insolvent banks and financial institutions including HBOS and RBS. QE in the UK started on March 5th 2009 and ended during February of 2010. The following chart is a screenshot of the BBC twelve-month tracker for the value of the UK’s currency –...

Brussels says it will be "extremely concerned" if it was found that defence group EADS was prevented from fairly bidding for a major US defence...

The UK goods trade deficit with the rest of the world widens in January, with imports rising faster than...

We can't devalue out way out of trouble after...

Eurotunnel, which manages the Channel Tunnel, makes an annual profit of 1.4bn euros despite a "poor economic...

Northrop Grumman and EADS pull out of bidding for a $35bn US Air Force air-to-air refuelling tanker...

Further rises in house prices may be held back by more properties coming onto the market, surveyors have...