Infozone Breaking World News

A number of public figures may well sue the News of the World newspaper over phone hacking. Many so it seems were victims of phone hacking by private investigators who were hired by the News of the World.

A lawyer who spoke to the BBC said that he had already received two enquiries and that both politicians and celebrities are seeking advice.

A news story in the Guardian that claimed the News of the World was willing to pay great sums of money to settle a legal case which may have exposed the use of illegal methods to get stories.

Scotland Yard have commented that the fresh allegations will not be investigated.

The new phone hacking allegations involve some well known sports celebrities such as Alan Shearer the former England Captain and also Sir Alex Ferguson who is the Manager for Manchester United.

Among the new Inquiries are the press complaints commission, the commons select committee and the director of public prosecutions.

It’s is not the first time that the news of the world have had allegations of phone hacking made against them. Back in 2007 an investigation was made by the Metropolitan police when it was found that News of the world Journalists were phone hacking messages left for the aides to Prince Charles.

This at the time resulted in six month Jail sentences for a private investigator (Glenn Mulcaire) and for Clive Goodman the Royal editor. The scandal was large enough back in 2007 to also result in the resignation of the editor Andy Coulson.

An exclusive 125% mortgage deal will now be made available to existing Nationwide customers who are presently in negative equity but would like to move house.(Negative equity is when the value of a house is less than the amount they currently owe on their mortgage)

Nationwide have stated that the 125% mortgage deal is very much a niche offer and that not all of its customers that are in negative equity will qualify for the deal.

Currently the Nationwide building society is offering 85% mortgages to new customers. 

Loans that are above 100% have already been focused on as “risky” and have come in for much criticism, especially when we consider those that were offered by the now nationalised Northern Rock Bank. Borrowers that choose the 125% mortgage deal will find themselves immediately in negative equity.

A Nationwide spokeswoman has said that the new 125% mortgage deal is “not about additional borrowing or additional risk”.

The new product would mean that borrowers would have the choice of taking on a loan of 95% of the value of their new property at an interest rate of 6.73 % for a period of three years or 7.48% for a period of five years.  They could then add on to the loan any negative equity from their old property, which could be up to 30% of the value of their new home.  They would then be given the choice of taking out an additional loan for this amount at a higher interest rate of 7.23% for a period of three years or 7.98% for a period of five years.

The foreign office minister for Asia, Africa and the United Nations is to leave the government at the end of this month.  In a statement the minister said that it was never his intention to “do the job forever”.

Also, the Minister indicated that the decision came about because of personal and family reasons and that his resignation was not motivated by a political situation.

Downing Street has made no comments so far on any potential replacement for the foreign office minister and it is thought that any immediate announcement is unlikely at this stage. Lord Malloch Brown has said that he still greatly admires what the prime minister is doing and that he would continue to support the government.

When stepping down from his post as the foreign office minister Lord Malloch Brown said that his entrance to the government was “as a professional and not a politician”.

The Foreign office minister also stated that he thought it was a privilege to work with such people as David Miliband and Gordon Brown. 

The foreign minister was a member of the prime ministers Government of All the Talents which was aptly named “goats” by commentators. (People who are not political but have been utilised by the government for their areas of expertise in certain policy areas)

Gordon Brown has tried to maintain the goat policy; this is evident when he hired the former M&S chairman Paul Myners to take the role of city minister. Mervyn Davies (former bank boss) was also brought in to replace Lord Jones.

Many who have won tickets through a lottery to the Michael Jackson Memorial service are trying to sell them through online auctions such as EBay. EBay told the BBC that they would not permit listings of the Jackson Memorial tickets on their site.  EBay has stated that they would try to remove any listings as soon as they appeared and think that such sales are “inappropriate”.

Some auctions for the tickets have already attracted offers of as much as £15,000 before being pulled by EBay. Fans that continually support Jackson have been outraged by the sale of the tickets online and have bid up the tickets to high level sums such as £62m.

Craigslist has also being targeted for ticket sales and advertisements were soon highlighted by users for removal.

The estimation is that over 1.6 million people made an application to the online lottery for the Michael Jackson Memorial Service which is taking place in the Staples Centre based in Los Angeles. Organisers of the Jackson event (AEG Live) put 17,500 free tickets online via email and people had until 6pm last night to pick up the passes.

The Jackson Memorial will be streamed live by the BBC in the UK and on the 5 main US television networks. The timing for the event is 10am Pacific Coast time and could be one of the largest events in Internet history.  Google news has already seen such huge numbers of enquiries about the Jackson Memorial Service at one point it thought it was under attack.

The top three US car manufacturers saw vehicle sales drop again in June, with General Motors reporting a 33.6% drop and Chrysler’s sales falling 42% from the previous year, but there was some stabilisation in the car market as Ford posted its smallest drop in a year at 10.7%.

Ford is the only car manufacturer not to have filed for bankruptcy during the economic crisis, with Chrysler filing for bankruptcy protection in April and General Motors joining them in June. Chrysler have subsequently emerged from its bankruptcy protection after Italian car manufacturer Fiat bought its top assets, but GM has been told that its financial support will be pulled if it does not get permission to sell its strongest assets by July the 10th.

General Motors is looking for court approval to sell its assets to a new company, which the US government will be the majority stake holder, but the deal has been opposed by GM’s bondholders, who do not want to sell.

US vehicle sales continue to drop despite large discounts being offered to car buyers. Analysts estimate that sales will increase over the next couple of months as the US introduces their ‘cash for clunkers’ scheme, which it hopes to encourage customers to trade in their old cars for newer models. Similar schemes have already been introduced in Germany and the UK.

US car manufacturer General Motors is widely expected to file for bankruptcy later today, which is set to become the largest failure of a US industrial company. General Motors has reportedly racked up losses exceeding $81 billion over the last 4 years, plunging the company to the verge of collapse.

President Obama is expected to give more detail at a press conference later today and is likely to announce further funding for GM in the region of $30 billion. As a part of the new funding, the federal government is reportedly receiving a 60% stake in a new, leaner company, which is due to be re-launched within 3 months.

The General Motors restructuring is set to be dramatic, with up to 20,000 workers likely to lose their jobs. GM’s European brands Vauxhall and Opel are likely to be spared though, as Canadian car part manufacturer Magna proposed to buy the brands.

One of the rarest forms of diamond, the blue diamond fetched a record breaking 10.5 million Swiss Francs (£6.2m) at an auction house in Geneva. The diamond, which weighs 7.03 carats, is so rare that there is only a handful in existence.

The diamond was mined in the South African Cullinan mine last year, and once inspected, was graded flawless; the highest grade given to a diamond. The rarity of these diamonds is down to the fact that there are only a few places in the world that mine for blue diamonds.

 World renowned auctioneer David Bennett said that: “It is a new world record price for a blue diamond.”

He also added, “For people who are looking to buy something that nobody else has, or somebody who wants something that is beyond beautiful, a blue diamond is going to be very difficult to find, so when they appear on the market, you have to have a go.”

The winning bidder will now get to name the diamond, which is mounted in a platinum ring, but has so far wished to remain anonymous.

Barclays Bank has released its pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2009, showing a 15% increase compared to the same quarter of last year, despite the ongoing economic climate. Pre-tax profits were up to £1.37 billion, with total income rising to a record £8.15 billion due to a healthy performance from its investment banking group.

Barclays had avoided being given government help during the financial crisis, choosing to raise extra money privately. The bank recently sold its iShare fund management business to raise an estimated £3bn and last year raised £7bn from Middle Eastern investors.

In a statement released by Barclays chief executive John Varley, he said: “We generated strong income growth across most business lines driven by the investments we have made in expanding our international network”.

Informational leaflets about swine flu have started to be sent out to all UK households today as a countrywide campaign begins to help prevent the spread of the virus after the number of confirmed cases reached 27. The leaflets will provide people with information about the virus and recommend good hygiene practises to prevent the spread of swine flu.

The leaflet will also give details on setting up a network of friends, family or neighbours who can pick up medication and essential supplies in case someone has to stay at home due to the flu.

In a statement, the chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said that, “It reinforces the basic hygiene principles that can play a very important part in halting the spread and reducing the risk to individuals,”

He also added that the last time a mass leaflet was sent out to UK households, was during an outbreak of the HIV virus in the 1980’s.

With the current economic downturn, coupled with consumers cutting costs, Marks and Spencer has announced today that its sales were down for the fourth consecutive quarter and that the outlook remains unsteady.

Marks and Spencer’s announced the latest figures, which do not take into account store openings and closures, shows a 4.2% fall in like-for-like sales in the UK for the first 13 weeks of the year. Sir Stuart Rose, M&S’s executive chairman said that he believed the company was undertaking, “the right things for our customers”.

The latest figures come after Marks and Spencer’s announced in January, that it would be closing 25 of its Simply Food outlets and two of its regular stores, with 1,200 job losses.

The fall in sales was not as much as previously expected, and better than the 7.1% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. Food sales were down 3.7%, with general merchandise seeing a 4.2% fall, but overall sales were 1.9% up, with a significant increase in international and online sales.