TODAY’S HEADLINES IN BRIEF: £100BN LEAVES SPAIN. CHINESE ECONOMY SLOWS. TAXMAN TO TARGET LANDLORDS AND N.Y. MAYOR TRIED TO BAN LARGE DRINKS
… EURO CRISIS …
FINANCIAL TIMES
SPAIN REVEALS €100BN CAPITAL FLIGHT
By Claire Jones and Patrick Jenkins in London and Miles Johnson in Madrid
Madrid was dealt a double blow on Thursday after it emerged that almost €100bn in capital had left the country in the first three months of the year and the head of the European Central Bank lambasted its handling of Bankia, the troubled Spanish lender.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
EUROZONE IS 'UNSUSTAINABLE' WARNS MARIO DRAGHI
By Louise Armitstead, Chief business correspondent
The head of the European Central Bank hit out at the political paralysis gripping the region as he warned the eurozone's set-up was "unsustainable". Mario Draghi said the central bank could not "fill the vacuum" left by member states' lack of action as it was claimed the zone is on the point of "disintegration".
DAILY EXPRESS
THOMAS COOK EYES RETURN OF DRACHMA
By Andrew Johnson
A Greek exit from the eurozone would result in travellers flooding to the beleaguered country in search of bargain basement holidays, the acting chief executive of Thomas Cook ¬predicted yesterday. Sam Weihagen’s comments came as the world’s oldest travel group said pre-tax losses rose from £269million to £712million during the first half as a string of one-off restructuring costs, write downs on the value of business, sluggish sales and a lack of interest in Olympic Games’ corporate packages took their toll.
… THE REST OF THE NEWS ….
FINANCIAL TIMES
CHINA’S FACTORY OUTPUT WEAKENS
By Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing
An important gauge of China’s manufacturing sector has weakened sharply, adding to the pressure on the government to take more decisive action to support the flagging economy. The official purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing fell to 50.4 in May, its lowest in five months, from 53.3 in April.
THE SUN
BAE TO AXE 600 AFTER MOD CUTS
By Rhodri Phillips
Defence giant BAE Systems plans to close a historic factory and axe more than 600 jobs after Army orders for its tanks dried up, it announced yesterday. Its Newcastle plant — which has made tanks since World War I — will go with the loss of 330 posts. Up to 280 more will go at Washington, Tyne and Wear, Radway Green, Cheshire, and Glascoed, South Wales. Ten jobs at the HQ in Farnborough, Hants, also face the chop.
DAILY MAIL
TAXMAN TO TARGET BUY-TO-LET LANDLORDS, TAXI FIRMS AND EVEN 'DEL BOY' MARKET TRADERS
By Lee Boyce
The taxman is creating three new 'taskforces' to uncover tax evasion among taxi drivers, street market traders and buy-to-let landlords. It is part of a recent crackdown on 'hotspots' identified across Britain by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) - a result of the Government’s £917million spending review. The aim is raise an additional £7billion each year by 2014/15. It has so far recovered £50m in 2012.
THE SCOTSMAN
BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE CUTS FORECASTS AND CALLS FOR INVESTMENT
By Kristy Dorsey
Economists at the British Chambers of Commerce have slashed their forecast for this year amid renewed demands for radical government action to boost growth. The business lobby group now expects UK gross domestic product to rise by a meagre 0.1 per cent in 2012, versus 0.6 per cent previously. Today’s downgrade is the second successive quarterly cut by the BCC.
WWW.BBC.CO.UK
SPAIN DENIES 'SENSELESS' IMF BAILOUT RUMOURS
Spain's economy minister has dismissed talk of it seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund as "senseless". And the IMF denied that Spain had asked to discuss rescue loans. The IMF has contributed to bailouts of all the other eurozone nations, such as Greece, that needed help
… AND FINALLY ….
DAILY TELEGRAPH
NEW YORK MAYOR PROPOSES BAN ON LARGE SODAS AND OTHER DRINKS TO TACKLE OBESITY
By Ed Pilkington and Katie Rogers in New York
Mayor Bloomberg will put the proposed ban in front of New York City's board of health, a body he hand picks, so opposition is unlikely. Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, has opened a new front in his personal crusade against obesity by proposing a ban on the sale of large-sized sugary drinks in restaurants, cinemas and other public outlets.
