Business

Sir Fred Goodwin, the former head of Royal Bank of Scotland has said he will reduce his pension by up to £200,000 a year, leaving him with approximately £350,000 a year. He has been heavily criticised for receiving a large pension, while being blamed for contributing to RBS' recent issues, which is now owned mainly by the UK government, after a £20 billion bailout last autumn. RBS has previously threatened legal action to recoup some of the money. In October 2008, Goodwin agreed to a deal with the bank that allowed him to take his whole pens

A new television advert for Diet Coke featuring singer Duffy has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority in the United Kingdom after they received twenty two complaints. The advert depicts Duffy cycling through a supermarket during a concert she was performing in. Eighteen viewers complained because she was not wearing reflective clothing and her bicycle had no lights. Four other viewers complained because they believed children could copy her actions. ASA upheld Coca Cola's argument that the ad was supposed to reflect Duffy's f

Kathmandu, the capital of the Asian country of Nepal, has been shut down after former Maoist rebels called a strike to protest to the alleged killing of one of their leaders. Businesses, schools, and factories closed down on Monday, when members of the Young Communist League (YCL) entered city intersections to enforce the strike. Vehicles of drivers who have defied the strike have been torched and vandalised. The protests and strikes come several days after local Maoist leader Rajendra Phuyal was found dead in the country's capital on June 11

A Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces today while protesting the separation wall in the West Bank village of Nilin. Another protester, who is 15, was wounded. Aqel Srur, who was 35, died in an ambulance while en route to a local hospital. He had been fatally shot once in the heart. Palestinians were fired upon by Israeli forces after they began to throw stones at the soldiers. Palestinian officials say Srur was shot once with a single round of live ammunition, something an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson could not confi

Data from the United States Labor Department says that the unemployment rate in the U.S. has reached its highest level in over 25 years, namely 9.4%. The job loss rate, however, was only 345,000, which is the lowest monthly job loss rate since September of last year. Analysts had predicted that the loss could be as high as 525,000. The news suggests that the US economy may be improving, as the job loss rate, which peaked at 741,000 jobs this January, has started to ease. "Even as we see things start to stabilize and hopefully grow again, we

General Motors Corporation (GM), an American automaker which has filed for bankruptcy protection, announced on Friday that the Penske Automotive Group (PAG) was selected to purchase Saturn Corporation. The transaction should be completed in October. The purchase includes rights to the Saturn brand, its five current models and its dealership network. Two models would be discontinued, the Sky and Astra. GM would continue building the Aura sedan, the SUV's, Vue and Outlook for at least two more years. Saturn has 350 dealers across the United St

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly rejected calls to end settlements in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after Netanyahu was pressed by the Obama administration to halt all settlement activity during a meeting last week in Washington. Obama criticized settlement activity saying, "On the Israeli side, those obligations include stopping settlements. They include making sure that there is a viable, substantial Palestinian state." Obama's requests were quickly met with rejection from the Israeli government, "I want to say in a crys

In a New York press conference at 16:15 UTC, June 1st, Fritz Henderson, the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy and Chapter 11 protection from its creditors earlier today, outlined a plan for what he called a "New GM". Speaking to the press under safe harbor provisions of U.S. law, Henderson described the events of today as a "defining moment" in the history of General Motors. Speaking to the public he said that "The GM that let you down is history," and described a "New GM" that he expected to result from th

According to an original Reuters report, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is moving his Bolivarian Revolution forward by nationalizing more private companies and clamping down against his opponents. Some oil service companies were nationalized earlier this month along with other sectors like banking, cement and steel. Cited by Reuters, Chavez said on Saturday "We are proceeding and will continue to proceed with nationalizations of strategic sectors." According to The Financial Post, expropriation of oil service companies follows their disput

American Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is cutting US$100 million dollars from hydrogen fuel cell vehicle research and diverting the remaining $69 million to hydrogen fuel cell research for household current. Former president George W. Bush advocated the zero-emission vehicles and launched $1.2 billion for hydrogen fuel cell research over a number of years. President Barack Obama is proposing a "corporate average fuel economy," or CAFÉ, placing standards for gas mileage at 39 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks at 30 mpg. "The probabi

__NOTOC__ United States automobile manufacturing firm General Motors filed for bankruptcy and Chapter 11 protection from its creditors at 12:00 UTC Monday, in a Manhattan, New York federal bankruptcy court. This was the largest bankruptcy filing for a U.S. manufacturing company, and with declared assets of $82.29 billion and a debt of $172.81 billion, and the fourth largest bankruptcy filing in recent U.S. history — after the bankruptcies of {{w|Lehman Brothers|| ($691.06 billion), Washington Mutual ($327.91 billion), and WorldCom ($103.91 bil

In a televised speech from the White House at 16:00 UTC today, President of the United States Barack Obama presented a reorganization plan following the 12:00 UTC announcement by General Motors that it had filed for bankruptcy and Chapter 11 protection from its creditors, the largest bankruptcy of a U.S. manufacturing company. Describing the problem with the company as one that had been "decades in the making," Obama explained the rationale behind his proposed reorganization plan for General Motors. He stated that his intent was not to "perpet