British bonds win 'safe haven' tag in eurozone debt storm

 

British government bonds are attracting strong support, in sharp contrast to their troubled eurozone peers as investors seek a safehaven from a debt crisis now spreading to Italy, Spain and even France. British government bonds, or gilts as they are known, are in huge demand largely because the Bank of England is buying them up with newly-created money that it hopes can in turn be used to stimulate an anaemic economic recovery, analysts say. But investors are also reassured by the British coalition government's determined efforts to slash state debt and avoid the severe troubles that have snared the crisis-hit eurozone trio of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

TWO MILLION EUROS CLAIMED AFTER CANCELLED STONES CONCERT

The PP mayor of El Ejido in Almería, Francisco Góngora, has criticized the "negligence" of the former government team and announced that the city council are to begin legal proceedings against the promotions company who were to stage a concert by the Rolling Stones in 2006.

Following the findings of "many irregularities" in the case, the council are now seeking to claim a total of 2,251,000€, which they feel they are owed, in view of the cancellation.

The announcement was made at a press conference in which Francisco Góngora claimed that there was a “contractual obligation” by the promoter to ensure that the concert went ahead and that even if the company were insolvent, then they would seek recompense from the individuals responsible for the incomplete commitment made to the previous government team.

Information indicates that there was a contractual clause that stipulated that insurance must be provided that should the concert be cancelled, then the promoter would be able to repay any money owed, in full, through an insurance claim. It is believed that this insurance was never provided.

Although some money is said to have been returned, it was only about half of the 4.176 million euro that the city had paid for the organisation of the concert.

There also appears to be a lack of information as to where the money actually went and who might be accountable for the cash given to the company by the council. There have also been allegations made that this whole case could be part of a much wider campaign of both political and corporate corruption.

Now, reviewing the clauses of the original contract, it has been found that the rights to claim the money back would expire after 15 years.

Góngora, also stated that there were economic losses of 2.6 million euro recorded after the second concert by the Rolling Stones in El Ejido held in 2007, which were due to "mismanagement" whereas the projected ticket sales were calculated at 60,000 attendees, but only 20,000 tickets were actually sold.

Referring to the award of the second contract by the previous council, Góngora  stated that "despite the failed previous contract they rehired the same company for four million euro of which they did not deduct anything owed," continuing that he considered the failings to be down to the complacency of the previous PSOE government.

The Ministry of Interior for Andalusia had already imposed a 60,150 euro fine on the organisers for breaching the rules on show cancellations in failing to return ticket money within the maximum four days which is set out by the governing body. In actual fact, it took several weeks for the organisers to return the money raised on the 50,500 tickets sold for the cancelled concert.

Four police officers stabbed in north London

 

Four police officers were stabbed as they tried to detain a man after a disturbance in north London, Scotland Yard said on Saturday. Police said officers were called to an incident shortly before 9 a.m. on the main road in Kingsbury where they had tried to speak to a man before he ran into a butcher's shop and grabbed a knife. "Officers followed the man in an attempt to detain him and were subsequently assaulted," Chief Superintendent Dal Babu told reporters. "Four male police constables suffered stab injuries during the incident and have been taken by the London Ambulance Service to hospital." One was stabbed in the stomach, a second suffered head injuries and stab wound to his arm, the third was stabbed in the leg, and the last sustained stab wounds to a hand and also suffered a broken hand. Witnesses told media the suspect had been shouting at police beforehand and up to 10 officers had tried to calm him down. A 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is being quizzed at a police station in the area.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi after his capture, his fingers wrapped in bandages and his legs covered with a blanket

. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of Libya's deceased former dictator, has been arrested in southern Libya, according to officials from the country's new government.

Libyan state TV reported that Saif has arrived in captivity and unhurt at an army base in the town of Zintan, 90 miles south-west of Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi's second and highest-profile son was captured along with several bodyguards by fighters near the town of Obari in Libya's southern desert, said the interim justice minister and other officials.

Saif was said to be in good health, according to the justice minister Mohammed al-Alagi.

"We have arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in [the] Obari area," the minister told Reuters.

Saif was captured near the southern city of Sabha with two aides trying to smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger, militia commander Bashir al-Tayeleb said.

Zintan, a base for forces in the Nafusa Mountains which played a key part in the storming of Tripoli in the summer, is reported to have crowds dancing in the streets and waving the Libyan flag.

There are reports that an angry mob tried to storm the plane on which Saif was taken to the western mountain town of Zintan, the home of one of the largest revolutionary brigades in Libya.

Gunfire is echoing across the capital, Tripoli, where large crowds have gathered in Martyrs' Square firing volleys of automatic fire in the air. "A great day, a great day," said Abdullah, a taxi driver, stuck in one of the traffic jams that built up around the square.

A Reuters reporter said a man who appeared to be Saif, but who refused to confirm his identity, was on a plane flown by militiamen to the town.

The man wore traditional robes with a scarf pulled over his face, but his features, visible despite a heavy black beard, as well as his rimless spectacles, conformed to pictures of the 39-year-old younger Gaddafi.

The man's thumb, index finger and another finger were heavily bandaged.

Libyan TV also showed him He is sitting by a bed and holding up three bandaged fingers as a guard looks on.

An anti-British backlash gathered pace in Germany yesterday as David Cameron and Angela Merkel struggled to disguise the gulf between them on how to tackle the eurozone crisis.

 

An anti-British backlash gathered pace in Germany yesterday as David Cameron and Angela Merkel struggled to disguise the gulf between them on how to tackle the eurozone crisis. The Prime Minister returned from talks in Berlin with the German leader having made little progress in agreeing emergency action to stop the financial contagion spreading. Tensions were inflamed after a close ally of Ms Merkel predicted Britain would eventually adopt the euro. The German media joined the clamour, with the mass-circulation newspaper Bild questioning whether it might be better for Britain to leave the European Union altogether. Behind the leaders' smiles at a joint press conference yesterday, they acknowledged fundamental differences remained on three key issues: * New eurozone rules. Ms Merkel called for "limited" changes to European treaties to impose fiscal discipline on the single currency but stressed negotiations should only be for eurozone members. Mr Cameron wants Britain involved in the talks because of the potential impact of the decisions on the UK; * Whether the European Central Bank should intervene to support the eurozone. Ms Merkel – backed by the German public – is fiercely resisting the move, which she fears would fuel inflation. But Mr Cameron insisted that all the eurozone's institutions had to "do what is necessary to defend it"; * Taxing financial transactions within the EU. Ms Merkel supports the step but Mr Cameron fears it would disproportionately hit the City and said it would work only if applied globally. The Prime Minister said: "It is obvious we don't agree on every aspect of European policy, but I am clear we can address and accommodate and deal with those differences." He also stressed the two leaders were "very good friends" and "absolutely" in agreement on the importance of completing the single market, budget discipline and stopping EU spending from rising by more than inflation. But shortly before Ms Merkel also paid tribute to the "strong bonds of friendship" between the countries, her veteran Finance Minister used less diplomatic language in which he seemed to predict the end of sterling. Wolfgang Schäuble told the news agency DPA it was Britain's right to remain outside the eurozone "for the time being". But he said it was a matter of time before non-eurozone states became convinced of the euro's advantages. "One day the whole of Europe will have a single currency and perhaps it will happen more quickly than many people on the British island think," he said. Meanwhile, in an article headlined 'The Sick Empire', Der Spiegel magazine described Britain's plans to eradicate its budget deficit by 2015 as "utopian". It added: "The situation on the island is more dramatic than in parts of the continent. It's bad news nearly every day. "But the British government gets away with it by proclaiming carry-on-as-usual policies and by blaming its economic stagnation on the eurozone." The war of words between Berlin and London erupted on Tuesday after Volker Kauder, Ms Merkel's parliamentary party leader, lambasted Britain for being too self-centred on Europe. "Just looking for their own advantage and not being prepared to contribute – that cannot be the message we accept from the British," he told a congress of his ruling conservatives. The former Prime Minister, Sir John Major, weighed in behind Mr Cameron last night as he condemned the financial transaction tax as "a heat-seeking missile...aimed at the City of London". He also warned of an "undemocratic" move towards eurozone fiscal union. In an interview with Al Jazeera, he also predicted "one or two countries" would be forced to quit the euro.

Virgin buys Northern Rock for £747m

 

Northern Rock has been sold to Virgin Money, for £747m, marking the first return to the private sector of a UK government-backed bank since the financial crisis. Virgin, the retail banking arm of Sir Richard Branson, will pay £747m in cash upfront – roughly half of the £1.4bn of government equity that was injected into Northern Rock following its collapse in 2007. The taxpayer could receive up to an additional £250m if the business is sold or floated in future. The sale of the “good” part of the bank marks a £400m loss for the government. The bulk of the funding for Virgin’s bid was provided by Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire investor, who owns a 20 per cent stake in the group. More ON THIS STORY Q&A How the deal affects you Lombard Branson risks Northern exposure Metro Bank has issued just 100 mortgages Good news for Lloyds as Co-op bids for branches On London UK domestic banks ON THIS TOPIC N Rock expects to make profit in 2012 Northern Rock to set off privatisation wave Hedge fund says Northern Rock call is wrong Virgin’s success follows an unsuccessful first attempt to acquire Northern Rock before its nationalisation almost four years ago. This time Virgin faced very little competition for the business, which includes 75 high-street branches, 1m customers and £14bn of mortgages. The sale signals the end for one of the most notorious brands in British high-street banking.

UK press in dock over phone-hacking, lawyer says

 

Britain's entire press stands in the dock at an inquiry into media standards, said a lawyer representing victims of press intrusion and phone-hacking by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. David Sherborne, who is representing 51 "core participants" at an inquiry set up as the hacking scandal engulfed News Corp's British arm, said Wednesday that "tawdry" tabloids were guilty of blackmail, bribery and vilification. He said his clients had endured lies, harassment and other "despicable" actions from the press and that phone-hacking might only be the tip of the iceberg. "It is the whole of the press, and in particular the tabloid section of it, which we say stands in the dock," he said. "It is time we had change and by that I mean real change." The Leveson inquiry, due to last a year, will make recommendations which could have a huge impact on the industry and lead to tighter regulation and, at the least, an overhaul of the current system of self-regulation. Lawyers for Britain's major newspaper groups have already pleaded for the essence of that system to remain and said that if anything, the press needed more freedoms. But in a scathing and detailed attack on newspapers, particularly the notoriously aggressive tabloid press, Sherborne said: "We are here not just because of the shameful revelations which have come out of the hacking scandal, but also because there has been a serious breakdown of trust in the important relationship between the press and the public." "The press is a powerful body. They have a common interest and a self-serving agenda," he told the inquiry. Sherborne said revelations that a private detective, jailed for phone-hacking in 2007 along with the News of the World's former royal reporter, had carried out more than 2,000 tasks for the paper suggested that there were about 10 stories in the tabloid every week from the illegal practice. He listed details of some of those who had been targeted, starting with the parents of Milly Dowler, a missing schoolgirl who was later found murdered. It was the revelation that her phone had been hacked while she was missing that changed attitudes to the issue. Within days, News Corp withdrew its bid to buy the 61 percent of broadcaster BSkyB it did not already own and its British newspaper arm News International closed down the 168-year-old News of the World. It also prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to order the inquiry.

UK economy forecast: Eurozone crisis dampens Bank’s growth estimate

 

THE Bank of England warned today that the eurozone debt crisis is the “single biggest risk” to the UK recovery as it forecast a dramatically increased threat of a double-dip recession next year. Its quarterly inflation report revealed a greater chance of the economy contracting in the first three quarters of 2012, compared with its August forecasts, as eurozone and banking concerns and squeezed household budgets continue to weigh on growth. The Bank slashed its central - or most likely - growth estimate to no more than 1 per cent in both 2011 and 2012 from previous forecasts of around 1.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. The worsened prospects for the UK economy mean inflation is likely to fall far quicker than previously estimated, hitting the Government’s 2 per cent target in the second half of next year before falling to as low as around 1.3 per cent in 2013. Bank governor Sir Mervyn King warned the “journey to a more balanced world economy will be long and arduous”. He said UK economic activity will be broadly flat until the middle of next year and added that the country faces a “difficult economic environment”. Today’s report backs the City’s view that the Bank will keep interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future and add another £75 billion to its quantitative easing programme by February. Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “Even the Bank’s downgraded growth forecasts still look optimistic to us - we expect zero growth next year.”

Euro zone crisis is tough going -- for traders

 

Life is not easy for the financial market traders who are making things so hard for euro zone policymakers. There are no pumped-up traders cheering from their screens as Italy's bond yields rise or as France gets sucked into a debt crisis which has already forced Greece, Ireland, and Portugal to seek international bailouts. The mood is weary and fraught. Bond traders see their own business throttled off by the same market forces that squeeze Italy's public finances and stir speculation about France's triple-A credit rating. "Things have felt almost as bad as it was back during the Lehman days in terms of liquidity - it is increasingly hard to get any business done and, to be honest, we think it is going to get worse," a London-based bond trader said. "Two-way markets have gone, the size of business you can get done at these bid/offer rates is minimal, bonuses and jobs are being cut. It's depressing and what is worse, there is no guarantee that anything is going to be better next year." Talk to fund managers and it is easy to see why a debt crisis which has mutated into an existential crisis for the euro is not translated into a bonanza for traders. "What if the currency union falls apart? Our premise is that it doesn't happen. (But) if you think that is going to happen, don't buy equities. Don't buy anything. Just go and hide," a London fund manager running money for institutional investors said. UNRELENTING STRESS As investors stampede to exit some euro zone bond markets, price swings have become bigger and the business of trading -- which relies on finding buyers or sellers before the market moves against you -- has become harder. "People are just exhausted because of the intensity of what is going on," said a bond salesman in London who has been working in the financial market for decades. "It is unbelievable stress and it is unrelenting. People are just hunkered down and working their socks off as everything is just more difficult -- hedging your risk, avoiding losses, everything." There is somewhat less gloom in equity markets, where investors are still trying to spot pockets of value. But the extent to which stock markets have been moving in lockstep with the price of Italian, Spanish, or French bonds in recent days means that trading behavior is far from normal even in equities. "Over the past few days there have very quiet periods punctuated by mad dealing frenzies," said Yusuf Heusen, sales trader at IG Index in London. "The quiet periods have been really very quiet as traders have not been taking on much risk other than to short the euro markets. The busy periods are absolutely manic as everybody wants to get on at the same time and generally same direction and sell offs are extreme as a consequence."

Bank governor Sir Mervyn King sent a stark message to political leaders as he flagged an unresolved eurozone debt crisis

 

Bank governor Sir Mervyn King sent a stark message to political leaders as he flagged an unresolved eurozone debt crisis as the "single biggest risk" to the economy. But despite cutting forecasts, some experts accused the bank of being too optimistic and have predicted another multibillion-pound injection into the economy as early as next month. In its quarterly inflation report, the bank slashed its central, or most likely, growth estimate to around 1% in both 2011 and 2012 - but compared to previous forecasts the Bank's projections reveal a greater chance of the economy shrinking in the first three quarters in 2012. The forecasts assume the problems in the eurozone do not deepen, quantitative easing is maintained at current levels and interest rates stay at record lows. The worsened prospects for the UK economy mean inflation is likely to fall far quicker than previously estimated, hitting the Government's 2% target in the second half of next year before falling to as low as around 1.3% in 2013. Sir Mervyn, who was formally knighted at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, said UK economic activity will be broadly flat until the middle of next year and added that the country faces a "difficult economic environment". The bank's report backs the City's view that interest rates will be kept on hold for the foreseeable future and another round of quantitative easing (QE) will be rolled out before February. But some economists were still not convinced. Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "Even the bank's downgraded growth forecasts still look optimistic to us - we expect zero growth next year."

How a Financial Pro Lost His House

 

ONE night a few years ago, when the value of our home had collapsed, our debt was out of control and my financial planning business was shaky, I went to take out the trash. He wrote a book based in part on lessons learned by losing his Las Vegas home in the housing crisis. There was this enormous window that looked right in on the kitchen table, and through it I could see my wife, Cori, and our four children eating dinner. It was dark outside, so they couldn’t see me, and I just stood there looking at them. After a while, I pulled up a bucket and I sat on it, just watching my children eat. I found myself wishing that I could get back there, connected to the simple ordinary stuff of my family’s life. And as I sat and watched, filled with longing and guilt, two questions kept arising: How did I get here? And how am I going to get out of this? There are many stories these days of people who lost their financial bearings during the housing boom and the crisis that followed, but my story is a bit different from most. I’m a financial adviser. I get paid to help people make smart financial choices, and I speak and write about personal finance issues for this publication and others. My first book comes out in January, “The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things With Money” (Portfolio, a Penguin imprint). The thing that few people know, though, is that I learned a lot of this from experience. I made a bunch of mistakes, the very same ones that I now go around warning people to avoid. So this is the story of how I lost my home, the profound ethical questions that arose along the way, and what my wife and I learned from the mistakes that led us to that point. It made me better at what I do, but it wasn’t much fun getting there. Like most financial stories, this one is personal. It starts with me getting into the financial services industry more or less by accident. I answered an ad in 1995 that I thought was for a job related to “security” (as in security guard) but was in fact related to “securities.” That’s how little I knew about the stock market. A few months later I found myself working a phone at a Fidelity Investments call center. Things went well, and by 1999 I was a Merrill Lynch financial adviser and a certified financial planner. By then, we also owned a house in Salt Lake City. We’d bought it two years earlier, with a $25,000 down payment. A few years later, an opportunity arose to form a partnership with a successful Merrill adviser in Las Vegas. The place was on our top 10 list of never-move-to cities because we had always associated it with the Strip. But Cori and I were looking for an opportunity to have an experience somewhere else, and we met some great people when we visited the city. I took the job, and we moved down there. That was May 2003. Housing prices were already crazy, so we rented. But our neighborhood had zero character and lots of cookie-cutter houses. Within a few weeks, we were looking for a place to buy. I felt we could afford around $350,000. We called a real estate agent named Mitch, who had signs on all the bus stops: Talk to Mitch! He picked us up in a gold Jaguar, and suddenly we were looking at houses that listed at $500,000 or more. It felt a little crazy to be shopping for houses that cost half a million dollars, but my income was growing rapidly. Everywhere I looked, people were being rewarded for buying as much house as they could possibly afford, and then some. There was this excitement in the air, almost like static. I started to think that if I didn’t buy a house right then, I would never be able to afford one. At moments during our house hunt, I felt in my gut that something wasn’t right. We’d go to open houses for $400,000 homes and see lines of couples in their late 20s — younger than we were — waiting to get inside. I kept wondering where all the money was coming from. How did all these people make so much?

BOTTOM five most hated airports

5. Ninoy Aquino International, Manila, Philippines

 

Wear a helmet -- the first collapsed ceiling in 2006 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Beleaguered by ground crew strikes, unkempt conditions, soup kitchen-style lines that feed into more lines and an overall sense of futility, NAIA brings the term “Stuck in the 1970s” to a new level.

 

At Terminal 1 all non-Philippine Airlines remain crammed despite serious overcapacity issues and a new and underused Terminal 3 is occupied by a few minor carriers. 

A rash of bad press this year (including a “Worst in the World” ribbon from Sleeping in Airports) was capped by a collapsed ceiling in T1, a paralyzing ground service strike at T2, and the usual charges of tampered luggage, filthy restrooms, seat shortages at gates, re-sealed water bottles sold in retail shops and an Amazing Race-style check-in routine spiked with bureaucracy, broken escalators, lengthy Dot Matrix passenger lists and creative airport departure fees. 

Read more on CNNGo: World's busiest airports announced

4. Toncontín International, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

 

Over-priced corn chips will be the least of your worries.

When do the most common airport gripes about inefficiency, uncomfortable gate chairs, dirty floors and lousy dining options suddenly become irrelevant? When you’re preoccupied about whether your 757 will actually be able to stop before the runway does. 

 

Nestled in a bowl-shaped valley at 957 meters above sea level, Toncontín’s notoriously stubby, mountain-cloaked landing strip was recently lengthened another 300 meters following a fatal TACA aircraft overshoot in 2008.

Not enough though to avoid being named the “second most dangerous airport in the world” by the History Channel. 

Nepal’s hair-raising Tenzing-Hillary Airport in the Himalayas is the top seed, but receives fewer gripes from its thrill-seeking Everest-bound clientele.

Read more on CNNGo: Shanghai Pudong International Airport: Fifth best in the world

3. London Heathrow, London, England

 

"You'll fly through departures -- at the speed of a penguin."

Depending on which of Heathrow’s five terminals one is funneled through, the average experience at the world’s third-busiest airport ranges from mildly tedious to "Fawlty Towers" ridiculous. 

 

With its rash of -- as they were politely called -- “teething problems” in bright and airy T5 (remember that riotous grand opening with 34 canceled flights?) and nicely matured problems in Ts 1, 2 and 3, the issues passengers are beset with run the gamut.

Parking messes. Busted baggage carousels. Deadlocked security lines. Long walks (or, more commonly, runs) between gates to a frenzied soundtrack of “last call” announcements. Realizations that getting out of Heathrow took longer than actually flying here from Madrid. 

In the airport “where the world changes planes,” it all boils down to a chronic inability to cope with this many people. Plans for a sixth terminal should help sever even more nerves.

2. Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, United States

 

It's not even a good spot for celebrity sightings.

If the world’s seventh-busiest flight hub was an old ballpark resting on the stale reputation of its Dodger Dogs and that great 1959 series, LAX might have some endearment value. 

 

But it’s an airport -- a dramatically undersized and moribund one with the architectural élan of a 1960s correctional facility and several publicized concerns about how its 1,700 takeoffs and landings a day can be sustained in a facility a fifth the size of healthier cousins like Dallas/Fort Worth. 

The unsupportive donut-shaped design -- it’s been called “eight terminals connected by a traffic jam” -- makes dashing between airlines feel like a diesel-scented cardio test. 

Plunked in the middle is the airport’s landmark Jetsons-style restaurant and only mentionable amenity, Encounter, but how does one actually get inside this place -- at least before being nailed for a petty traffic violation by some of the most ticket-hungry airport cops west of the Mississippi?

Read more on CNNGo: World's most terrifying airports

1. Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France

 

Don't expect to make friends during a storm closure.

“A great country worthy of the name,” President Charles de Gaulle once opined, “does not have any friends.” 

 

True or not, it’s this sort of attitude that has helped CDG become the most maligned major airport on earth. What’s fueling it? 

Grimy washrooms with missing toilet seats don’t help. Nor do broken scanning machines and an overall lack of signage, gate information screens and Paris-worthy bars, restaurants or cafés.

The baffling circular layout is worsened by warrens of tunnel-like structures, dismissive staff and seething travelers waiting forever in the wrong queue. 

The worst part may be this airport’s aura of indifference to it all. “Waiting for a connection here,” notes one commuter, “is like being in custody.”  

If you’re actually staying in Paris, you may be okay. If you have the gall to just be passing through between Malaga and Montreal, you can cut the spite of this place with a cheese knife.

Top five most hated Airports

10. São Paulo-Guarulhos International, São Paulo, Brazil

 

Whether it's 9 a.m. or 9 p.m. this airport experiences round-the-clock rush hour.

Why is this place on our list after scoring third best airport in South America at the 2011 World Airport Awards? 

 

Because, shockingly enough, it turns out that corporate medal ceremonies aren’t always in sync with what people are thinking when they're standing in two-hour immigration lines, suffering routinely unannounced gate changes and paying through the teeth for a stale Brazilian cheese roll and beer inside an understaffed and over-aged aviation facility. 

In a country where flight delays (departing or arriving) are just part of the deal, some recent numbers would give pause to the most unflappable traveler at Brazil’s largest airport.

Just 41 percent of all flights leave on time. Only 59 percent of flights arrive on schedule, according to Forbes.  

São Paulo-Guarulhos has announced plans to add runways and terminals -- what airport hasn’t? -- but with nearly 30 million passengers traipsing through every year (the figure has reportedly doubled in under a decade) the urgency is palpable and, sadly enough, unsolved by upping prices at musty duty-free shops.

But does this really constitute bronze medal status? When the best unofficial advice for surviving Brazil’s pin-up airport is to try and learn a little Portuguese and not lose your temper, something’s gotta give. 

Read more on CNNGo: World's biggest airport planned

9. Perth Airport, Perth, Australia

 

Kick a dog while it's down: The Qantas strike didn't help PER's reputation.

If there’s one thing Australians love, it’s hating their airports.

 

But while the big guns in Sydney, Melbourne and also-rans in Darwin, Cairns and Hobart get routinely lambasted for various inefficiencies and rip-off tactics, passengers in Western Australia have a special place in their spleens for Perth. 

“The only advantage over some other airports is the lack of nearby combat,” notes one of several miffed passengers on airportquality.com. 

With a reviled pair of domestic terminals (home of two-hour taxi-line queues, atrocious check-in lines, overpopulated gates and meager lounges) and a slightly more palatable international terminal five kilometers away, Perth’s brittle facilities can be overwhelmed just by a trio of aircraft arriving within 20 minutes of each other. 

Now that an ambitious “billion-dollar” redevelopment project has been significantly scaled back, who would ever want to leave Changi for this place? 

Read more on CNNGo: Transit hotels: How to get to sleep during your stopover

8. Tribhuvan International, Kathmandu, Nepal

 

Don't look the officers -- or the dogs -- in the eye.

For a small airport in a pretty country, Tribhuvan has it all: the interminable weather delays of Boston Logan, the shoddy restroom maintenance of a Glasgow sports bar, the departure board sparsity of McMurdo Airfield and the chronic chaos of a kids' soccer match. 

 

Some airport improvements have been underway for the Visit Nepal 2011 tourism campaign, including things most passengers don’t much care about (e.g., the new helicopter base). 

The most serious beefs with Nepal’s only international airport revolve around its primitive yet officious check-in procedure, starring a roulette wheel of underpaid security agents. 

“Departure is an endless game of body searches and silly questions,” notes one passenger.

“Those who didn’t have their e-tickets printed out had to argue their way in,” says another, who was checked seven times and scolded for not having a baggage tag on a carry-on before eventually boarding. 

Never mind. The city’s markets and surrounding mountains are lovely.

7. John F. Kennedy International, New York, United States

 

Fans flooded the airport to welcome the 1964 British Invasion, but it seems they never left.

You’d think it would be one of the greatest humiliations any major airport would never allow itself to live down -- getting routinely abandoned by fed-up folks opting to fly out of Newark (Newark!) instead, where at least the ground staff cop less attitude and fewer people outside are pretending to be cab drivers.  

 

But, nah, JFK really couldn’t really care less.

Every year, more than 21 million passengers stumble through worn, mid-century terminals that peaked when The Beatles arrived in the United States and rooftop parking was all the rage; JFK proudly remains the world’s busiest international air gateway.

So if you’re not into a dim, surly, unbearably congested airport reeking with attitude and unapologetically long immigration lines -- good riddance. 

“JFK had a piece of my luggage sitting in a little detention room for bags -- for over a year,” notes one passenger. “No one noticed it was there, until finally an observant Air France employee wondered what the dusty little green bag in the corner was.” 

Read more on CNNGo: Secret Report: Singapore's Chiangi Airport world's favorite 

6. Jomo Kenyatta International, Nairobi, Kenya

 

Can't be disappointed if you're not expecting much.

“As African airports go, it’s not that bad -- but as an international hub, it may be one of the worst out there.” 

 

This is the common refrain among travelers through JKIA, who either don’t have the heart or the expectations to give this dated aviation facility the kind of pounding reserved for the JFKs and Charles de Gaulles of the world. 

Saddled with a 1958 blueprint designed for 2.5 million passengers, JKIA receives close to twice that many. Hence the airport’s 2005, Three Phase, US$100 million expansion project which has seen long delays (something about the rain) and has been spinning its tires somewhere in Phase Two for the last few years. 

For now, that means business as usual: cramped spaces; long lines; inadequate seating; frequent power outages; tiny washrooms hiding up several flights of stairs; shabby duty free shops; overpriced food outlets; and business class lounges worthy of a shelter in mid-city Los Angeles.

Sure, it’s a breeze compared to Lagos. But it could be so much better. The confusing result: grateful disappointment?

Fall of richest man in Ireland as Quinn is declared bankrupt

 

TROUBLED tycoon Sean Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man, was declared bankrupt yesterday at the High Court in Belfast. The 64-year-old businessman was granted a voluntary adjudication over an alleged E2.8bn debt owed to Anglo Irish Bank. It is believed to be one of the biggest bankruptcy orders of its kind ever made in either the United Kingdom or Ireland. Mr Quinn said he brought the application north of the border because he was born, reared and worked all his life in Co Fermanagh. But by declaring himself bankrupt in Northern Ireland it also means he only has to wait a year before going back into business – rather than 12 years in the Republic. He claimed to have been left with no alternative but to take the “drastic decision” over problems which stemmed from “ill-fated investments in Anglo”. The former billionaire was stripped of control of his manufacturing and insurance business empire in April. He had been plunged into financial trouble by purchasing bank shares which then became worthless. As a consequence, receivers were installed and he and his family lost any role in the management of the Quinn Group. Mr Quinn accepts that he owes around E194m to Anglo for property loans which he cannot repay. But the rest of the alleged debt, which relates to Contracts for Difference (CFDs) used to buy bank shares, is disputed. The Quinn family are currently suing Anglo, claiming the CFDs were tainted with illegality. Mr Quinn applied for voluntary bankruptcy through his lawyer and licensed insolvency practitioner, John Gordon of Napier and Sons. The order was granted during a brief hearing before a Master at the High Court in Belfast. Mr Quinn said in a statement: “I have done absolutely everything in my power to avoid taking this drastic decision. The vast majority of debt that Anglo maintains is owed is strenuously disputed. I cannot, however, now pay those loans which are due.” He added: “Following Anglo taking control of the Quinn Group of companies, which I and a loyal team spent a lifetime building, I find myself left with no alternative.” The businessman said he had “worked tirelessly” to find a solution to the problems. He claimed: “Anglo, and more recently the Irish Government, are intent on making scapegoats of my family and I.” According to him, the bank has attempted to avoid acknowledging “a lack of corporate responsibility, self-interest and lack of regulation that prevailed at the time”. His allegations are now the subject of High Court proceedings. Mr Quinn accepted: “I am certainly not without blame. I am not in the business of pointing fingers or making excuses. “However, recent history has shown that I, like thousands of others in Ireland, incorrectly relied upon the persons who guided Anglo and who wrongfully sought to portray a ‘blue chip’ Irish banking stock.” He said that he and his team had developed one of the most successful businesses in Irish history, with the group generating more than 5,000 jobs and contributing in excess of E1bn in tax revenues. Mr Quinn rejected any suggestion that he had brought down the empire. He also claimed: “Anglo has supported and promoted an ill-conceived and highly damaging receivership programme which I believe, if it continues on its current road, is destined for certain and catastrophic failure.” The statement added: “My family and I have been subjected to relentless negative media coverage over the past three years. “I have been portrayed as a reckless gambler who bet on a bank. I have never sought publicity, nor have I courted the media. “Sadly this now seems to have worked very much to my disadvantage, especially when compared with the sophisticated and massively expensive publicity campaign operated for, and on behalf of Anglo.

Murdochs are not a mafia – but the family firm is in meltdown

 

There are times to push fine detail and finely timed memory losses aside and ask: what makes sense? And thus the fall and fall of the House of Murdoch continues. Young James is so smart, so smooth, such a master of dead bats and – yes! – detail. He's a clever lad. Why, then, did he act so stupidly? And why did those who were supposed to protect him, in loco parentis, do such a lousy job? We're not talking corporate governance here: we're talking family. Tom Watson may have pushed his mafia metaphor a tad too far at the committee grilling last week, but the family and its faithful, well-remunerated retainers are what matter most. See everything that Rupert has done over the last 20 years as family first and it all begins to fall into place. Take Les Hinton, the head butler at Wapping Abbey at the time. Did he brief Rupert Murdoch as Clive Goodman went to prison? How could he not have? Murdoch senior is always on the phone. He'd be chatting to editor Andy Coulson just as he'd chatted to News of the World editors down the years. Would Rupert have left his de facto heir to sink or swim in this rancid pool without full briefings and full protection? Of course not. Take Rebekah Brooks, the tabloid queen waiting to climb the management ladder when young James arrived. She'd been editor of the News of the World; she was editor of the Sun, just a few corridor yards away; Andy Coulson was her former deputy, her pick for the top, her boy. Didn't she see the perils post-hacking? Surely she wouldn't let James fall into the mire. Or take Colin Myler, the last editor of the News of the World, the Mr Clean chosen to clear up the whole damned mess. Hugely experienced, a previous editor of the Sunday and daily Mirror; an honourable guy who took the fall when a high-profile trial was stopped because people on his staff made mistakes. How did Myler come to Wapping, then? Because, after almost seven years' exile on Murdoch's New York Post, he was the safe pair of hands Rupert chose personally to put things back on track. And today? Les Hinton is history, dumped from Dow Jones as the family scrabbles after a safe haven. Rebekah is history, too, left with an office, a chauffeur and £1.7m to keep her warm. While Myler is suddenly the enemy, the loyalist inexplicably contradicting James about what James was told and siding with Tom Crone, the paper's equally suddenly reviled lawyer. Does any of this make the remotest human sense? If some revered TV scriptwriter (say Peter Morgan) wrote a series about newspaper life in which nobody gossiped, nobody got drunk, nobody told anyone anything, he'd be laughed out of the studio. The entire farrago doesn't hold for a second. With Scotland Yard knee-deep in unread emails, there's nil chance of that unsteady state ending any decade soon. Proof – in any bewigged form – will probably only emerge much later: but proof, in a thumbs-up or -down way, is commodiously available already. An over-protected fool or a desperate man cornered? It's a sad, sad choice, but amounts to much the same thing either way. Protectors didn't protect. Instead, they were jettisoned one by one. And perhaps the saddest – nay, tragic – explanation of what went on is also the most benign. James wasn't interested in tabloid blunders, or even playing executive chairman to them. He loved digital, TV, the future. He was bored, bored, bored by lawyers and their letters. His father, the dad who must be obeyed, had made him serve his time; but his mind kept wandering away to the fields he loved. There's the tragedy for the son and the family, but worst of all for Rupert. Those who didn't quite believe it in the summer must surely acknowledge it now: James Murdoch can never sit at his father's desk. The whole succession scenario is bust. The Murdoch hegemony stops here. No sentient shareholder is going to let the family run things hands-on any longer. Just sit back and cash the dividends. There may be more rumours about a Sun on Sunday come the dawn of 2012, but forget them. We can't even be sure there'll be a Sun if James's readiness to shut it (should more hacking be discovered) is tested. There won't be any clear, calm, imminent moment when, all passion spent, the Bun seems wholesome again. Trinity Mirror, its profits bulwarked by the greatest ever stroke of luck, can carry on smiling. The murk of 2011 will just linger on (oozing into view every time Tom Watson mentions a new private eye). Those who like strong medicine and stronger penalties against malfeasance may care to count the payback thus far. For Murdoch: no heir, no News of the World, some $90m (£56m) gone, a reputation and an influence lost, a family at war. For James: no glowing future. For many of the rest of the gang: no jobs and possibly no freedom either. Retribution doesn't come crueller than this. Hacking can damage your health, wealth, your nearest and dearest. Hacking has sundered the biggest media empire in the globe: and many things, including Wapping and, less joyously, the papers that remain, can never be quite the same again. ■ The News of the World may be dead and buried, but a dogged Max Mosley is still trying to drive a stake through its heart. About 3,000 copies of the Nazi orgy story that incensed him circulated in France so, three years after the event, he went to Paris, launched another privacy case and (last week) won. Triumph? Only up to a point. The court awarded €32,000 in all (€10,000 as a state fine, €7,000 (£27,000) as Max's damages and the rest as costs). That doesn't sound much, sniffed Britain's finest media eagles, barely worth putting on a wig and gown for in the Strand. His French lawyer thought Max had done pretty well – but the tariff, by Strand standards, is low, low, low. Whether it's under French law or the European Convention on Human Rights, you can make a point over the Channel, if you must: but you won't make a mint.

Man arrested over alleged police payments named as Sun journalist

 

A Sun journalist has been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged payments to police officers by newspapers. The reporter is believed to be Jamie Pyatt, district editor of the paper. The arrested journalist was taken to a South West London police station at 10.30am on Friday. Pyatt, 48, has been working at the Sun since 1987. He is the sixth person arrested by detectives working in Operation Elveden, which was set up in July following allegations that police officers had received up to £130,000 over several years from the News of the World for information, including contact details of the royal family. News International refused to comment on the arrest and saying it had "a very clear duty of care to employees and would not be making any comment on individuals". Scotland Yard also refused to confirm the identity of the person it arrested, but said in a statement earlier that it had arrested a 48-year-old man in connection with Operation Elveden. Its statement said: "He was arrested outside London on suspicion of corruption allegations in contravention of section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, and is being brought to a south-west London police station." Operation Elveden is one of three Met investigations relating to alleged illegal activities by newspapers. The others are Operation Weeting and Operation Tuleta, set up to examine phone hacking and computer hacking, respectively. On Thursday, Scotland Yard confirmed to the Guardian that the number of people whose phones may have been hacked had reached 5,800 – 2,000 more than previously stated. So far 16 people have been arrested and bailed on allegations of phone hacking.

Italy government hangs by thread as coalition crumbles

 

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fate hung by a thread Friday and desertions from his crumbling centre-right coalition may have already robbed him of the parliamentary numbers he needs to survive. Berlusconi, caught in the crossfire from European powers and a party revolt at home, agreed at a G20 summit in France to IMF monitoring of economic reforms which he has long promised but failed to implement. But this may soon be irrelevant for the Italian leader, who will return to Rome later Friday to face what looks increasingly like a deadly rebellion by his own supporters. With financial markets in turmoil over the situation in Greece and Italy viewed as the next domino to fall in the euro zone crisis, calls are mounting for a new government to carry through reforms convincing enough to regain international confidence. Berlusconi has consistently rejected calls to resign and says the only alternative to him is an early election next spring, rather than the technocrat or national unity government urged by many politicians and commentators. Yields on 10-year Italian bonds reached 6.36 percent by early afternoon, creeping closer to 7 percent, a level which could trigger a so-called "buyers' strike" where investors take fright and refuse to buy the paper. Two deputies from Berlusconi's PDL party this week defected to the centrist UDC, taking his support in the 630-seat lower house of parliament to 314 compared with the 316 he needed to win a confidence vote last month. But at least seven other former loyalists have called for a new government and could vote against the 75-year-old media magnate. "The (ruling) majority seems to be dissolving like a snowman in spring," said respected commentator Stefano Folli in the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. Other commentators spoke of an "inexorable" revolt against Berlusconi. Even Defence Ministry undersecretary Guido Crosetto, a Berlusconi loyalist, said on television: "I don't know how many days or weeks the government has left. Certainly a majority relying on a few votes cannot continue for long." PATRONAGE Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, still has significant powers of patronage and he and his closest aides are expected to spend the weekend trying to win back support for a parliamentary showdown Tuesday. Some rebels have already threatened to vote against Berlusconi in the vote to sign off on the 2010 budget. Berlusconi faced concerted calls to resign when he lost a previous vote on this routine measure, which was almost unprecedented. Although it is not a confidence motion, he would come under huge pressure if he suffered a second defeat. "Unpopular prescriptions are necessary and this challenge cannot be faced with a 51 percent government," said UDC leader Pier Ferdinando Casini, in a reference to Berlusconi's weakness and a widespread feeling that the reforms can only be passed with a broad consensus. The premier has promised European leaders that he will call a formal confidence motion within 15 days to pass amendments to a budget bill incorporating new measures to stimulate growth and cut Italy's huge debt. That will be in the Senate where he has a more solid majority but it could still bring him down. Berlusconi, beset by a string of sex scandals and court cases, has consistently resisted pressure from groups ranging from a powerful business lobby to the Catholic Church to stand down.

Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel

Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel before it can even kick in.

Greek Premier George Papandreou said he will put Greece's bailout through a referendum, throwing the long-awaited deal into disarray.

Financial markets around the world have tumbled in reaction to the shock announcement today and U.S. stocks have also fallen at the open.

Wall Street: Financial markets around the world have tumbled in reaction to the shock announcement and U.S. stock futures are down on Tuesday

The Dow Jones opened down 258 points, or 2.2 per cent; the Nasdaq fell 78 points, or 2.9 per cent, and the S&P fell 33 points, or 2.7 per cent.

‘The market did not see this Greek referendum coming, which is potentially a killer,’ said Vermont investment strategist Paul Mendelsohn.

 

 

 

‘It could knock the wheels off the bus of the whole (Europe rescue) plan.’