Zimbabwe has just £138 left in the bank. Chinese hackers attack New York Times' computers. Kenneth Clarke: leaving EU would be fatal mistake. Polish is England's second language. Census reveals 140,000 cannot speak English. Facebook revenues up 40%. Sky's pre-tax profits rise 7.5% year on year despite 3% ad revenue decline. MediaCom hires Marco Ramos to run Sky account. LBi promotes Paolo Yuvienco to global CTO. ROBERT W. BAIRD & CO The company said it hired a former Wells Fargo Advisors senior manager to help expand its recruiting of veteran advisers, with plans to open a new office in the Northeast. Peter Miller joined Baird last week as a senior vice president, based out of the firm's office in St. Louis, Missouri. BANCO POPULAR ESPANOL SA The Spanish lender named risk officer Francisco Gomez Martin as its new chief executive, a role that until now had been vacant leaving Chairman Angel Ron as the top executive. ITAÚ UNIBANCO HOLDING SA Brazil's largest private-sector lender tapped…
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Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have commonly offered loans for socially excluded people, whether it be farming, selling products at markets or other activities. However, if the main mission behind microcredit is that of giving the tools to people to improve their own lives, then we must also accept that access to financial support for other aspects of one’s life is also much needed. For example, in recent years, MFIs began to diversify their products and many offer financie for housing. In the case of Mexico, in rural and sub-urban areas, almost fifty per cent of people live in patrimonial poverty, where households are not able to meet the basic needs of security, hygiene or comfort. Some live in shacks, others do not have access to water, sanitation or gas and many live without doors or windows that can be shut. In such situations, where there is plenty of room for improvement, offered services and loans have to be structured clearly and designed in ways that assure…
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Tax sugary drinks to save lives, says Sustain report. Google iPhone tracking: more than 70 users contact lawyers. Iraqi ex-prisoners call for inquiry into allegations of British military abuse. Theresa May proposes fast track promotion for young police officers. Barclays preparing to pay bonus of at least £1m to new chief Antony Jenkins. Virgin Media ends free Wi-Fi for all on the Tube. Now only available to customers. Coral is seeking a new marketing director following a restructure, prompted by the departure of commercial director Chris Edington. Havas Media hires SMV's Scott Moorhead to lead digital trading. MORGAN STANLEY Morgan Stanley's Peter Bacon, one of the most senior financing bankers in Europe, has left the U.S. bank to pursue other opportunities, according to an internal company memo. Gregory Peters, the bank's chief global asset strategist, is leaving after 12 years with the investment bank and wealth manager to pursue opportunities on the buyside, according to people familiar with the matter on Tuesday. OLD MUTUAL ASSET…
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-Bernanke seen buying $1.4tn in Assets before 2014 -US GDP growth likely to be weakest since Q1 2011 -US Jobs growth forecast predicts slower January -US house prices climb at fastest rate since 2006 -Eurozone sees investment dip in Q4 of 2012 -Chinese rural income gains for a third straight year -UK private sector workers saving too little for retirement -Global markets hit multi-month highs yesterday -Asian markets advance overnight - Europe set for a steady open -Pound rises as Miles says UK economy set to improve -Oil trades near four-month high before Fed’s statement -US Mint Silver-coin sales rise to all time high in January
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Iran sends a monkey into space. Clare Balding beats all Royals to claim 'most fascinating person in Britain' title. Mali: Britain prepared to send 'sizeable amount' of troops to support French. France 'totally bankrupt', says labour minister Michel Sapin. Murdoch apologises for 'offensive' Scarfe cartoon in Sunday Times denounced as anti-semitic. Tax sugary drinks to boost child health, says report. Eden Project to axe up to 70 jobs. Research in Motion prepares 'biggest' campaign for crucial BlackBerry 10 launch. Havas Media hires SMV's Scott Moorhead to lead digital trading. Kellogg's UK marketing chief, Peter Harrison, is to assume a more commercial role following the company's acquisition of snack brand Pringles. GOLDMAN SACHS The U.S. bank's veteran dealmaker Luigi Rizzo, managing director of European financial mergers and acquisitions, is to leave the bank, five people familiar with his departure told Reuters. Rizzo, who joined Goldman Sachs in 1993 and became a partner in 2008, has worked on some of Europe's biggest bank deals. RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL…
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Brazil mourns as Santa Maria nightclub death toll exceeds 200. Andy Murray runs out of steam at final hurdle as Novak Djokovic takes third Australian title in row. French-led troops enter Timbuktu. Addiction soars as online gambling hits £2bn mark. OMG appoints ITV's Jenny Bullis to lead data and technology. Grand Union, the interactive agency, has appointed Adrian Gans as its executive planning director. McDonald's to create 2,500 UK jobs. Northern & Shell combines print and TV partnerships teams. Michael Clarke, Premier Foods' chief executive, has stepped down from the role after less than 18 months, and has been replaced by Gavin Darby, the former Coke marketing director and Cable & Wireless chief executive. Struggling car-maker Opel/Vauxhall has promoted Duncan Aldred to its top marketing job, following the departure of Alfred Rieck after only seven months in the role. RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL INC The company said on Friday it added a veteran team of advisers from top U.S. brokerage Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, expanding its…
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• US economy faces a fresh financial shock • US job market probably made headway in January • Clegg says UK to continue its fiscal squeeze • China industrial companies’ profits climb for fourth month • Carney willing to take a more activist stance • Japan to raise more money from taxes than bond sales • Argentina has a week to present its debt case to US court • Cyprus banks face money laundering probe • China’s stocks at 7-month high; Nikkei slips after 11,000 breakthrough • European shares set track Wall Street gains. • Yi Gang urges G-20 nations to collaborate over currencies • Oil near its highest in four months on hopes of economic recovery • Russia & Kazakhstan expand gold reserves The $1.2tn in automatic spending cuts that Barack Obama once promised to avert – the so called ‘sequester’ - are increasingly likely to occur because of entrenched politics in Washington. The sequester is a budgetary mechanism passed in 2011 that takes…
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I am currently receiving a daily IV drip of antibiotics for an infected arm, following an operation. It is slightly inconvenient, makes me feel a bit nauseous and sleepy. However, without antibiotics I would probably have lost my arm. Today, UK's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, has said antibiotic-resistant diseases pose an apocalyptic threat and the issue should be added to the national risk register of civil emergencies. She can see a scenario, whereby people going for a routine operation could die from infection because we have run out of antibiotics that work. The issue of drug resistance is as old as antibiotics themselves (1942) and arises when drugs knock out susceptible infections, leaving hardier, resilient strains behind. The survivors then multiply and, over time, can become unstoppable with front-line medicines. The best known are the hospital superbugs, such as MRSA. My particular strain goes by the cute name osteomyelitis, since you ask. Alan Johnson, clinical scientist at the Health Protection Agency, said: “In…
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Bradley Wiggins angered and saddened by fallen idol Lance Armstrong. UK economy shrank at end of 2012 (down 0.3%). Unemployment hits a record high in Spain (26%). Sir Martin Sorrell blasts Cameron's referendum announcement. WPP acquires ecommerce digital agency Salmon. M&C Saatchi acquires stake in talent agency Merlin Elite. Ogilvy & Mather has poached Brian Cooper, a senior creative at Apple, to become its executive creative director. MEC and Hogarth in creative tie-up. Paul Hammersley, the former managing partner and co-founder of The Red Brick Road, has joined EDC Communications, the owner of Dare and Elvis, as its UK group chief executive. HSBC Europe's biggest bank has hired former Nomura deal-maker William Barter as the head of UK for global banking, it said on Thursday. JANUS CAPITAL GROUP INC The global investment company said Seiji Inagaki joined its board on Jan. 22 as part of a strategic alliance with Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd. Inagaki has been an executive officer and general manager of the…
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Weekly Headlines: • Japan: Bank of Japan agrees to double inflation target • China: Manufacturing grows at fastest pace in two years • Spain: Unemployment rate rises to 26% • Germany: Investor confidence takes surprising leap • Italy: Monti under fire over bank crisis • UK: Osborne sticks to austerity as GDP data emerge • Companies: Apple doubles iPhone sales points in China • Currencies: Asian currencies fall most in 6 months • Commodities: Gold set to rally this year • Focus on: China set for a mini bull market? Japan: Bank of Jan agrees to double inflation target The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has agreed to double its inflation target to 2% and ease monetary policy, meeting key demands of Japan's new government. Japan's central bank has guarded its independence and there were fears it may resist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's calls for it to do more to help growth, but the BOJ has gone further than many analysts predicted, offering to do open-ended…
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