IrishTimes.com

Compiled by MARY HANNIGAN
Wednesday, August 1, 2012

In that a UFO over the Olympics? You bet it is

When Kevin Coakley walked in to his local branch of William Hill in Cardiff on Friday and asked for the odds on a UFO appearing over the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony, you’d have to bet a bit of giggling went on behind the counter. Still, he was given odds of 1000-1 so he put on a quid, and sat back and waited.

You probably know what happened next: a flying object was spotted over the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony. Whether it’s unidentified is the issue, though, with Goodyear claiming it was probably one of their blimps being used by NBC.

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RFERL.org
July 28, 2012

The report looked at the amount of money hidden away.

Gaps in cross-border tax rules have allowed a very small number of the world’s super-rich elite to hide an estimated $21 trillion in offshore bank accounts. That’s according to a new study, “The Price of Offshore Revisited.”

The astounding amount of hidden money cited in the report is more than the gross domestic products of the American and Japanese economies combined. The research was commissioned by the Tax Justice Network -- an independent organization started by the British Parliament to promote reform. The report’s author, James Henry, is the former chief economist for the global management consultant firm McKinsey & Company. RFE/RL's Bruce Jacobs spoke with him by phone from New York.

RT.com
Published: 27 July, 2012, 14:31

British bank Barclays faces a new regulatory probe at home and more lawsuits in the US over the Libor rate fixing case. The lender has officially apologized over its involvement in the scandal as it reported a multi-billion dollar profit.

­The UK Financial Services Authority is investigating whether the bank made sufficient disclosures about the fees it paid under commercial agreements in June and November 2008. The investigation involves current and former senior employees such as finance director Chris Lucas.

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