LONDON – Britain’s biggest supermarket chain says it is dropping a firm that supplied it with beef burgers contaminated with horsemeat.
Egypt opposition leader wants national dialogue
CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's liberal opposition leader has called for a broad national dialogue with the Islamist government, all political factions and the powerful military after the latest eruption of political violence left 60 dead over the past week. Home loans point to boost from central bank scheme
LONDON (Reuters) – Home loan approvals in Britain rose last month to the highest since January 2012, a sign that a Bank scheme may be starting to boost the flow of credit and support a flaggin g economy. Net mortgage lending also jumped sharply to its highest level since April, offering hope that the bank's Funding for Lending Scheme – which went into operation in August – is starting to bear fruit. The scheme is a response to worries that ultra-low official interest rates and the extra funds the bank has pumped into the financial system are not getting through to households and businesses. … Severe storms rake central, southern US, causing scattered power outages after record warmth
JACKSON, Miss. – A large storm system packing high winds, rain and some possible twisters tore across several states in the South and central U.S. early Wednesday, blacking out power to thousands, downing trees and damaging homes.
School bus driver fatally shot; suspect grabs 6-year-old and runs
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. – An unidentified man boarded a school bus, shot the driver several times, then escaped with a six-year-old passenger, prompting an hourslong standoff with police that remained unresolved early Wednesday.
Cricket-Lillee joins Australia high-performance team
Jan 30 (Reuters) – Cricket Australia have appointed fast bowling great Dennis Lillee as an advisor, days after spinner Shane Warne panned the board and said cricket people needed to be running the team rather than ‘muppets’. Lillee would provide coaching services, guidance and mentoring to Australia’s emerging fast bowlers as well as the national team, Cricket Australia (CA) said on their website (www.cricket.com.au) on Wednesday. “Lillee will be available face-to-face and on mobile to the squad, but won’t travel extensively abroad with the national team,” it added. …
Instant View - December mortgage approvals higher than forecast
LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England released the following data for consumer credit and M4 money supply on Wednesday (previous data in brackets): ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS HOWARD ARCHER, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT “Housing market activity continues to rise gradually from the lows seen around the middle of 2012, seemingly helped by the Funding for Lending Scheme leading to more mortgages being available. Even so, a marked upturn in housing market activity currently remains elusive and it is likely to stay so for some time to come given ongoing challenging economic conditions. …
EU says Romanian reforms on rule of law still lacking
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission criticized Romania on Wednesday for failing to fully meet demands on protecting democracy and the rule of law, and told the leftist government of Victor Ponta to speed up reforms. The EU executive said in a report the authorities had taken some steps in recent months to uphold constitutional law, after the Commission expressed concerns last year that political bickering was undermining democracy in the Black Sea state. …
Green thumb? Washington state hiring consultant to help develop rules for legal marijuana
SEATTLE – Wanted: A green thumb with extensive knowledge of the black, or at least grey, market.
Syrian refugee surge tests Sweden's welcome
MARSTA, Sweden (AP) -- Wisam Attiki was drawn by the tales of Nordic refuge: All he had to do was set foot in Sweden, his fellow Syrians said, and the rich, peaceful nation would let him stay. Bangladesh arrests factory owners over allegations of negligence
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh police has detained the chairman and managing director of a garment factory after a fire killed seven workers, police said on Wednesday, following allegations that the plant employed under-age workers and had no license to run. The fire at the Smart Exports Garment Ltd in the capital Dhaka on Saturday came just two months after the country’s worst factory blaze turned the spotlight on the conditions in the garment sector. At least 112 people died in that fire in another part of the city. …
Tesco drops Irish beef burger supplier
LONDON (Reuters) – Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, said on Wednesday it had dropped the Irish supplier of frozen beef burgers that sparked a scandal by testing positive for horse DNA. Tesco said it would not take any more products from Silvercrest, a unit of ABP Food Group, and said it would now introduce a c omprehensive system of DNA testing across its meat products. There was no immediate response for a request for comment from ABP. … December mortgage approvals rise to highest since January 2012
LONDON (Reuters) – Loan approvals for house purchase in Britain rose last month to their highest level since January 2012, and net mortgage lending rose by the biggest amount since April, Bank of England figures showe d on Wednesday. The data suggests that the central bank's Funding for Lending Scheme – which went into operation in August – may be starting to raise the outright amount of money being lent to home buyers. The central bank has been hoping that the FLS would boost the flow of credit to households and businesses and support an economy now perilously close to a "triple-dip" … China court to rule on compensation for man jailed for Bo joke
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese court rules on Thursday whether to award damages to a man who spent a year in a labor camp for an online joke about now disgraced leader Bo Xilai, although experts say compensation, if given, is likely to be low to avoid a flood of new grievances. Fang Hong, a blogger and former forestry official, said he is demanding 367,000 yuan ($59,000) for psychological suffering after being sentenced in 2011 to a year of re-education in a labor camp at the height of Bo’s campaign against organized crime in the city of Chongqing, where he was Communist Party boss. …
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