DAILY TELEGRAPH
DEBT CRISIS: BOND BUYING PLAN TO EASE EURO DEBTS ONLY 'THEORETICAL' SAYS ANGELA MERKEL
By Louise Armitstead, Chief business correspondent
Angela Merkel put Germany on a collision course with Europe by insisting an idea to allow bail-out funds to buy Spanish and Italian debt was "purely theoretical". Her comments came as a top European Central Bank policymaker publicly backed the idea. Benoît CÅ“uré said that the action could ease the “very severe strain” on Spain and Italy.
FINANCIAL TIMES
BAILOUT FUND SHOULD BUY EURO DEBT
By Michael Steen and Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
A top European Central Banker has publicly backed the rapid use of the eurozone’s bailout fund to buy distressed sovereign bonds, saying such action could ease the “very severe strain” being felt by Spain and Italy. Speaking to the Financial Times, Benoît CÅ“uré, also said a cut in interest rates was likely to be discussed at next month’s ECB rate-setting meeting..
DAILY TELEGRAPH
US FED SLASHES GROWTH FORECASTS AND EXTENDS 'OPERATION TWIST' BY $267BN
By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
America's central bank has slashed its US economic growth forecasts for the next three years, as it stepped up efforts to rescue the flagging US recovery by extending “Operation Twist”, a diluted version of quantitative easing. It now predicts the US economy will expand by between 1.9pc and 2.4pc this year, compared with previous estimates of between 2.4pc and 2.9pc. The forecast also projected that unemployment will remain stubbornly close to 8pc until the end of 2013.
GUARDIAN
UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS BUT PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS HIT NINE-YEAR LOW
By Phillip Inman, economics correspondent
Public sector employment dropped to its lowest level in nine years in April as the government pushed ahead with its plans to reduce the size of the public pay bill. The number of public sector jobs fell by 39,000 between February and Apri, the lowest total since March 2003. Ministers said the drop reflected a deliberate policy shift to promote private sector employment, which increased by 205,000.
THE SCOTSMAN
BANK OF ENGLAND ON VERGE OF PRINTING MORE MONEY
By Peter Ranscombe
The Bank of England is now “odds-on” to pump more cash into the economy next month after minutes published today showed its rate-setters came close to pushing the button earlier this month. Governor Sir Mervyn King was among four members of the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) to call for an extension of the UK’s quantitative easing (QE) scheme but they were outvoted by the five other members.
CITY AM
INVESTORS GAIN NEW POWER OVER BOSSES’ PAY PACKETS
By Tim Wallace
Business and investor groups yesterday welcomed plans to give shareholders binding votes on directors’ pay, which are intended to give firms’ owners a greater say in assessing business performance. Business secretary Vince Cable announced the plan, which is set to be in place by 2014, arguing “there is compelling evidence of a disconnect between pay and performance in large UK listed companies.”
THE SUN
WORK FOR THE CHAIN GANG ... JOBS AT IBIS
By Rhodri Phillips
A leading hotels group yesterday gave Britain’s flagging services sector a major boost — by announcing an extra 3,500 jobs by 2015. French firm ACCOR — which owns IBIS, SOFITEL and NOVOTEL hotels — also plans to invest £5million in training UK employees.
DAILY MAIL
DAVID CAMERON LAUNCHES BLISTERING ATTACK ON JIMMY CARR
David Cameron has called the alleged attempts of comedian Jimmy Carr to avoid tax as 'dodgy' and 'completely wrong' in a rare attack on an individual's financial arrangements. The Prime Minister said: 'I think some of these schemes - and I think particularly of the Jimmy Carr scheme - I have had time to read about and I just think this is completely wrong.
DAILY EXPRESS
£67 BILLION.. WHAT WE PAY FOR PENSIONS OF DOCTORS WHO ARE ON STRIKE
By Jo Willey
Striking doctors’ gold-plated pension deals cost taxpayers £67billion, it was revealed yesterday. The staggering sum could pay the salaries of all 308,000 NHS nurses in England for seven years and is the equivalent of £4,000 for every household in Britain. The average doctor in England earns £109,400 a year
WWW.BBC.CO.UK
APPLE ORDERED TO PAY DAMAGES TO SAMSUNG BY DUTCH COURT
Apple iPad and Galaxy Tab Apple and Samsung have accused each other of copying aspects of their devices. Apple has been ordered to pay damages to rival Samsung Electronics by a court in the Netherlands. The court said that Apple had infringed a patent held by Samsung relating to the way phones and tablet PCs connect to the internet.
ORANGE NEWS
JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR ZOMBIES
An experience website is offering job opportunities with a difference - it is looking for zombies. Wish.co.uk wants people to play 'the undead' for its Zombie Manor House experience, near Manchester. It gives people the chance to battle zombies in an abandoned manor house in the Cheshire countryside.
