Post Office Staff Due To Stage Strike Action

Post office workers are due to go on strike over plans to close 70 state-owned branches and a dispute over pay.

The idea is to franchise the closing Crown branches - which are currently directly managed by Post Office Ltd - and put them within retailers such as WH Smith, which has already happened in some towns.

Debbie Spiteri, who works at the Dagenham branch in Essex, has been employed by the Post Office for 32 years and said she thought she had a job for life.

"I thought I would be here until I retired in my 60s, but now it looks like I may be made redundant, looking for another job and at my age I didn't want to be doing that," she said.

"I feel sorry for the local people. A lot are elderly and if they have to go somewhere else, they won't. They won't go into a shop to do their business because to them they want the personal touch."

The Post Office insists staff will be transferred to a new employer or offered voluntary redundancy, but the Communication Workers Union predicts 800 jobs will be lost.

Roger Gale, General Manager of the Post Office's Crown and WH Smith Network, said the changes are needed.

"It's absolutely not a programme of closing post offices," he said.

"We want to retain post office services on the high street but we have to do it in a way that doesn't lose tax-payers' money.

"What we're trying to do is get the Crown Network to a point where it breaks even. It currently loses £37m a year of tax-payers' money and what we're trying to do is to remove that loss."

The 373 Crown offices, which are usually the larger ones, represent just 3% of the total post office network.

But the CWU says its staff deal with a fifth of all customers and handle 40% of financial transactions involving things like banking and credit cards.

Clive Tickner, the CWU's representative for the Dagenham area, questions the timing as the Post Office launches its new current account.

"Ironically, if they close down Crown offices there will be less outlets to transact the current account so I'm very, very concerned that they are eroding away at the Post Office so that there will be nothing left in a few years' time," he said.

There is also concern about the impact on the high street.

Deborah Satchell works at Heathway Dry Cleaners in Dagenham.

She said: "It will affect the local shops because people will go elsewhere to do what they have got to do and it will take the business away from the local community."

The strikes will be the seventh round of action in the current dispute and will only affect the Crown branches.

Staff are also calling for a pay rise of 3.5% for 2012/13 and a further rise this financial year, but the Post Office says that is not possible when it is making losses.

Instead, it is offering a series of cash payments totalling up to £3,400 before April 2015.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Facebook To Remove Adverts From Adult Pages

Facebook will stop advertisements appearing on pages containing sexual or violent content after a number of companies suspended their campaigns.

Marks and Spencer and BSkyB, the parent company of Sky News, were among those to pull their adverts from the social networking site because of concerns about placement.

It led Facebook to announce a tightening of its review process, preventing promotions from appearing on pages and groups which contain offensive content.

"Our goal is to both preserve the freedoms of sharing on Facebook but also protect people and brands from certain types of content," a spokesman said in a blog post.

"We know that marketers work hard to promote their brands and we take their objectives seriously.

"While we already have rigorous review and removal policies for content against our terms, we recognise we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial pages and groups."

In the first three months of the year, 85% of Facebook's revenue came from advertising - up 43% on the same quarter in 2012.

Advertisers paid a total of $1.25bn (£820m) to promote their products and services to the website's reported 665 million daily active users.

The company is paid around 3% more per advert than it was 12 months ago.

Facebook said its advertising review process will be manual at first but an automated system is expected to launch within weeks.

The spokesman added: "Like any digital platform, we're not going to be perfect but we will be much better.

"We'll continue to work aggressively on this issue with advertisers.

"We're confident the immediate steps we're taking will result in a significantly improved approach to preventing these instances from occurring, and we're committed to making this process work for everyone who uses Facebook."

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The Sky News Business Look Ahead

Sky's Naomi Kerbel offers a look ahead to what's coming up in the week's business news.

:: Monday July 1

Bank of England - Mark Carney's five-year term begins

Croatia - European Union accession

:: Tuesday July 2

Ocado Group interim results

OECD Consumer Price Indices

:: Wednesday July 3

Bowie memorabilia auction at Bonhams

:: Thursday July 4

Monetary Policy Committee Meeting - interest rate decision

European Central Bank Governing Council - interest rate decision 

:: Friday July 5

MPs vote on the EU Referendum Bill

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Power Warning: Higher Risk Of Shortages

The energy regulator has warned of a greater risk of power shortages in three years' time - although it says blackouts are unlikely.

Ofgem said electricity margins could tighten in 2015-16 to between around 2% to 5% and the generation industry must get a grip on the problem through greater investment and other initiatives.

But the study did admit it was difficult to anticipate rising demand because of various factors including uncertainty over the strength of the UK economy and the timing and scale of plant closures and mothballing.

Ofgem said the report illustrated the need for the timely implementation of the Department for Energy and Climate Change's capacity market reforms.

It said: "Electricity margins could tighten in 2015-2016 to between around 2% and 5% depending on demand.

"This means that the probability of a supply disruption increases from 1 in 47 years now to around 1 in 12 years for 2015/16 or lower.

"If the projected decline in demand does not materialise margins could fall to 2%."

Ofgem has been working with Government and National Grid to explore options that would provide consumers with additional safeguards against the increased risk to security of supply.

These include giving National Grid the option to buy extra reserve generation to balance the electricity network.

Andrew Wright, Ofgem's Chief Executive, said: "(Our) latest report on electricity security of supply highlights the need for reform to encourage investment in generation.

"This is why Ofgem welcomes DECC's (Department for Energy & Climate Change) commitment to introduce a capacity market that will provide a longer term solution to this problem at a time when Britain's energy industry is facing an unprecedented challenge to secure supplies."

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Ed Balls Admits To Running A Red Light

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has admitted to being caught running a red light as he drove home through London after work.

He was snapped by a traffic camera as he headed along the Embankment after a late night sitting in parliament.

His spokesman said the MP had "passed through the light just after it turned red" when traffic diversions were in place.

It is not the first time Mr Balls has been caught breaching the rules of the road.

Earlier this year the MP said he was "bang to rights" when he was caught driving six miles above the 50mph limit on a motorway near his constituency home in West Yorkshire.

Mr Balls joked at the time that he had been going "too far, too fast" - a favourite attack line against the coalition's austerity measures - and said he had been "caught out by the never-ending roadworks on the M62".

He chose to pay a fine and attended a speed awareness course rather than accept penalty points.

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House Price Growth 'Hits New Three-Year High'

House prices have recorded their fastest growth in almost three years in a further sign that the market is gathering pace, according to a new study.

Nationwide said the annual increase of 1.9% registered in June pushed average UK prices to £168,941, marking the strongest year-on-year uplift seen since September 2010.

On a month-on-month basis, house prices rose by 0.3% in June, marking a slight slowdown compared with a 0.4% rise recorded the previous month.

The building society said that Government efforts to kick-start the market, as well as a lack of available homes to choose from, are helping to bolster house prices.

However, there are big regional divides, with prices in London now standing at a new all-time high at £318,214 on average, which is 5% above their previous 2007 peak.

Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, said London "has seen the greatest recovery in prices of any region".

By contrast, prices across the UK are still around 9% below their pre-crisis peak.

Prices in England are currently 5% lower than those seen in 2007, while they are 13% down in Wales, 12% lower in Scotland and have plummeted by 53% in Northern Ireland compared with their 2007 levels.

Ten out of 13 areas across the UK have seen house prices increase over the last year, while three - Scotland, Northern Ireland and Yorkshire and Humberside - have seen falls.

London has seen the strongest annual growth at 5.2%, followed by East Anglia, which saw house prices increase by 3.6% year on year.

Northern Ireland recorded the biggest year-on-year drop in house prices, with a 2.1% fall taking them to £108,116 on average. Scotland saw the second biggest fall, with a 1.2% slide pushing prices to around £134,611.

Meanwhile, prices rose in Wales by 1.2% year on year to reach £133,432 typically.

Among England's cities outside London, Newcastle saw the biggest housing market jump year on year, with prices up by 11% to reach £173,296 on average, while Liverpool saw the biggest annual drop, with an 8% slide taking prices to around £142,454.

A string of recent studies have pointed to signs that the housing market is picking up, helped by Government initiatives such as Funding for Lending, which gives lenders access to cheap finance and has prompted a sharp increase in mortgage availability as well as lenders slashing their rates.

Schemes such as Help to Buy, which will be fully launched next year, have been introduced to help borrowers with smaller deposits and there have been reports of more first-time buyers entering the market in recent months.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders, which represents banks and building societies, recently said that May was the best month it has seen for mortgage lending since 2008.

Mr Gardner said the recent house price jump is likely to be down to a number of factors, including the increase in mortgage availability brought about by the Funding for Lending scheme.

Some signs of a modest improvement in the economy may also be boosting buyers' confidence and at the same time there are "few signs" that the supply of housing is increasing significantly, he said.

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Payday Loans Firms Face Competition Inquiry

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has confirmed it is to refer the payday loans market to the Competition Commission to investigate "deep-rooted" problems.

It announced its decision following a period of consultation, having already issued the market's biggest participants with an ultimatum to clean up their act or risk being closed down.

The OFT said it decided to make the referral because it continues to suspect that features of the market "prevent, restrict or distort competition" and it could not tackle them under existing laws.

The areas of concern include:

:: Practices that make it difficult for consumers to identify or compare the full cost of payday loans, undermining competition over price for loans.

:: Barriers to switching between lenders when loans are rolled over that prevent other lenders competing for this business.

Payday firms are accused of making loans that cannot be paid back in time

:: Variable levels of compliance with relevant laws and guidance leading to firms that do invest time and effort complying being at a competitive disadvantage to firms that do not.

:: A significant proportion of borrowers have poor credit histories, limited access to other forms of credit and/or a pressing need to borrow. The cost of the loan may therefore be a less significant factor for borrowers, which may weaken competition on price between lenders.

The watchdog said it was also worried that lenders were competing primarily on the availability and speed of loan approval, rather than price and that some business models appeared to be predicated on making loans which were unaffordable, leading to borrowers paying far more than expected through rollovers, additional interest and other charges.

It said lenders appeared to derive up to 50% of their revenue from such practices.

The OFT had previously identified a series of other issues, including lenders not carrying out proper affordability checks before lending or rolling loans over.

Consumer groups say many penalties for late payments are extortionate

Firms were also accused of failing to explain adequately how payments will be collected and acting aggressively to claw back debts.

The OFT said it expected responses by the end of July from all 50 payday lenders it contacted earlier this year, giving them 12 weeks to demonstrate they complied fully with their legal obligations.

To date, five of the 50 lenders have informed the OFT that they have left the payday market while three firms not included in the crackdown have had their consumer credit licences revoked.

Clive Maxwell, OFT chief executive, said "We have seen evidence of financial loss and personal distress to many people.

"The Competition Commission can now conduct a detailed investigation to get to the root causes and, if necessary, use its far reaching powers to fix the payday lending market."

Payday lenders expressed disappointment at the OFT's decision and urged the commission to take into account their own attempts to clean up the industry and give borrowers more protection.

Russell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association, said: "No other sector has faced such intense scrutiny in such a short space of time.

"We would have preferred the inquiry to have been deferred to allow the significant improvements that lenders have made to take effect."

16.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Double-Dip: Recession Never Actually Happened

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says updates to its past calculations on the performance of the UK economy mean Britain was never in a double-dip recession after all.

Revised GDP data showed that output was actually flat in the first three months of 2012 - rather than shrinking as had first been measured - meaning there was no second recession.

The ONS credited a stronger contribution to growth from the construction sector.

But that was where the good news ended for the Chancellor George Osborne as there were downgrades to other key economic indicators.

The ONS said the original recession in the wake of the financial crisis was deeper than had been previously found, with growth contracting by 7.2% instead of 6.3%.

The body said that output was now 3.9% below its pre-recession peak - again worse than previously reported.

While growth in the first three months of 2013 was unrevised at 0.3%, the year-on-year growth estimate was unexpectedly halved to 0.3%.

The ONS also released first quarter current account data which showed that Britain's deficit with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly.

More follows...

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Shale Gas Reserves 'Far Bigger Than Thought'

Britain's reserves of shale gas are much larger than previously thought, it has emerged as the Government is due to announce major investment in extracting the energy source.

New geological data from the British Geological Survey shows much more shale gas could be extracted from under the UK - as much as double earlier estimates at one site.

There is now thought to be as much as 1,300 trillion cubic feet at the Bowland site in Lancashire.

The findings are expected to be highlighted by Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander when he announces a £100bn Government infrastructure package aimed at kick-starting sluggish economic growth later.

Tax breaks and fast-track permits for controversial shale gas exploration will be at the centre of the announcement.

Danny Alexander is unveiling the controversial measures

Exploiting the natural resource is highly controversial as critics say the process of fracking - fracturing rock with high-pressure liquid to release the gas - can cause earthquakes, pollute water supplies, blight the countryside and affect house prices.

But ministers believe the experience of the United States shows it could boost tax revenues, create jobs, reduce energy imports and drive down household bills.

Setting out details of the latest round of capital spending in a Commons statement, Mr Alexander is expected to tell MPs the Treasury will now move quickly - consulting on a tax break and publishing detailed planning guidance within the next three weeks.

It could pave that way for the Environment Agency to offer permits for fracking projects more quickly and to set them to defined timetables in a further bid to encourage firms to invest.

There will also be protection offered for communities affected - with each receiving at least £100,000 in benefits for each well and no less than 1% of the overall revenues.

The statement by the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury comes a day after Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to slice a further £11.5bn off other Whitehall spending in 2015/16 - as poor growth forced him to extend austerity measures beyond the next general election.

George Osborne delivering his spending review to MPs in the Commons

In an interview with Sky News ahead of Mr Alexander's statement, Mr Osborne said that it was essential for Britain to make the most of its natural energy resources.

He said: "We want cheaper energy. We have gas under the ground in this country and we have a way of getting it out.

"This country can't be left behind by the rest of the world. Just saying no to a gas revolution that is taking place in places like the US and China would be a massive mistake."

But Labour's shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said the fracking move was premature.

"Announcing community benefits and tax breaks before we know how much shale gas is actually recoverable, or before anyone even has a licence to extract it, looks like a desperate attempt to draw attention away from the Government's cuts to infrastructure investment in the spending review and its abject failure to get the economy growing," he said.

The Government's latest infrastructure investment also includes funds for projects such as new road and rail capacity, science facilities and nuclear power stations.

16.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Come And Get Our Cash, RBS Tells UK Companies

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is poised to reignite the bitter political debate about business lending by telling thousands of its corporate customers: "come and get our money".

Sky News has learnt that in recent weeks the state-backed lender has begun writing to approximately 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to inform them that it would be willing to substantially increase the sums it lends to them.

The initiative follows a successful pilot programme by RBS and its NatWest subsidiary, and is likely to be extended to a much larger number of its 1.2m UK-based SME customers.

The bank is expected to announce details of the campaign, which is the most aggressive since RBS was rescued by taxpayers in 2008, later this week.

It involves offering new working capital facilities or term loans, as well as providing 12-month capital repayment holidays or reduced monthly repayments in some cases.

The lending appetite project is understood to be the brainchild of Chris Sullivan, RBS's corporate banking chief, who is seen in the City as one of a small number of credible internal candidates to succeed Stephen Hester as the group's chief executive.

It comes as industry-wide figures showed a further contraction in lending to non-financial businesses.

Data released by the British Bankers' Association on Tuesday revealed a £1.7bn fall in May, which the trade body said was attributable to businesses relying on cash and other forms of funding rather than bank loans.

RBS's move to reach out to business customers also comes amid growing uncertainty about its future structure, with George Osborne, the Chancellor, bowing to calls to explore a break-up of the group.

In his speech at Mansion House last week, Mr Osborne said a review of whether to split RBS into separate 'good' and 'bad' banks was partly driven by a desire to see it lend more to the real economy.

"We will establish a 'bad' bank if it meets our three objectives: if it supports the British economy; if it's in the interests of taxpayers; and if it accelerates the return to private ownership," he said.

Senior RBS sources said the bank had trialled the lending appetite outreach programme with 20,000 SME customers, resulting in an additional £1.7bn of credit being extended.

To avoid possible accusations that it is lending recklessly, RBS is only writing to customers with a satisfactory repayment history.

In an interview with The Sunday Times last month, Mr Hester said RBS was "desperate" to lend as much as £20bn of corporate deposits but said customers' borrowing appetite was being constrained by a lack of confidence in the British economy.

Mr Hester's departure from the bank was effectively orchestrated by the Chancellor, and his successor will face intense pressure to grow its SME lending as the Government tries to engineer a faster economic recovery.

RBS is Britain's biggest lender to businesses, extending £58bn of new loans to corporate customers in its home market last year, more than half of which were to SMEs.

The debate about the bank's future and its willingness to lend has drawn in other Cabinet ministers. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said last week that he wanted formal lending targets to be reintroduced at RBS and for the pay of its next chief executive to be more closely linked to business lending levels.

Rows over business lending have blighted the banking sector since the financial crisis, with a string of government measures failing to trigger a sustained upturn in the supply of credit to British companies.

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Direct Line Cuts 2,000 Jobs In New Cost Drive

The insurance group Direct Line is wanting to cut approximately 2,000 jobs as part of new cost-cutting plans.

The majority of the anticipated job losses, Direct Line said, would come from head office and support functions though it did not rule out some redeployment.

The group, which is Britain's biggest motor insurer and behind the Churchill brand, said it had launched a consultation and would work to find opportunities for affected workers with other potential employers.

More than 1,200 positions were cut last year after the transformation plan was first launched.

The latest job cuts - which represent about 14% of its current 14,400-strong workforce - are part of Direct Line's drive to more than double its original cost savings target to over £200m in gross annual savings by 2014, or £130m a year on a net basis.

Paul Geddes, group chief executive, said the firm had "not made these proposed changes lightly."

He added: "As we have done in the past, we will deal fairly and carefully with those impacted, and do all we can to support them through these changes."

It has 16 sites across the UK, including offices in central London, Croydon, Bromley, Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester.

As had been previously announced, the group's Teesside call centre is to shut over the next week while it is understood another site is at risk of closure under the latest move to slash costs.

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Spending Review: Osborne To Slash Budgets

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

George Osborne will today take the axe to public spending and claim the Government's tough policy of cuts is leading to economic recovery.

The Chancellor will announce his spending review, setting out limits for 2015/16 and slicing £11.5bn off the budgets of Whitehall departments, an average of 8%.

But he is also expected to pledge billions more to major big infrastructure projects in an attempt to boost growth over the years up to 2020.

Echoing his Mansion House speech last week, the Chancellor is expected to tell MPs: "Britain is moving from rescue to recovery. But while the British economy is leaving intensive care; now we need to secure that recovery ...

"We're saving money on welfare and waste to invest in the roads and railways, schooling and science our economy needs to succeed in the future.

"I know that times are still not easy for families. But we have a clear economic plan. We've stuck to it. It is working. And I'm determined to go on delivering it.

"Now, together, we're moving Britain from rescue to recovery, let's build an economy that works for everyone."

Following the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby outside Woolwich barracks, the Chancellor will confirm a boost in spending on the fight against terrorism.

Earlier this month, after agreeing Theresa May's Home Office budget, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said: "Counter-terrorism policing is a crucial part of our national security and I took no convincing of the need to protect this area.

"Given recent events in Woolwich, we cannot compromise on our national security."

Tory MPs will be anxiously awaiting news of where spending cuts in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget will fall, following the Chancellor's pledge at the weekend that they will not involve further cuts in manpower levels.

But they will welcome Mr Osborne revealing how he intends to implement a proposed cap on previously uncontrolled parts of the public finances, such as welfare, debt interest and payments to the EU.

The Chancellor tweeted this image as he was finishing off his speech

The cap on so-called "annually managed expenditure" was floated by Mr Osborne in his Budget in March, when he said he would impose a limit on a "significant proportion" of AME, which is made up of elements of public spending which can go up and down due to factors beyond the Government's control.

The Treasury has signalled that the state pension will not be affected by any cap, and Mr Osborne has said it will not impact on the "automatic stabilisers" which come into effect in a downturn, suggesting that unemployment benefits could also be excluded.

Mr Osborne reached agreement at the weekend with Vince Cable over the level of cuts at his Business Department - the last Whitehall ministry to finalise its settlement.

All areas of departmental current spending will be asked to tighten their belts except the NHS, schools and overseas aid, which are ring-fenced.

Attention will, however, be focused on whether departments like defence or the Foreign Office have succeeded in reassigning elements of their activities to the health or international development budgets.

Mr Osborne said at the weekend that there would be a cut in numbers of civilian workers at the MoD, as well as a renegotiation of major contracts with suppliers to save money.

Cuts will take place in the defence budget

But he insisted there would be no cuts in numbers of sailors, soldiers or airmen and no reduction in the UK's military capability.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said on Wednesday morning: "What we see again today is the British people paying the price for this Government's failure.

"The Government tells us the economy is healing but actually it is getting worse for ordinary families. What we actually need is a fairer plan to get growth moving, living standards rising and the deficit down."

But in Treasury Questions on Tuesday, Mr Osborne insisted his economic plan was moving Britain "from rescue to recovery" and vowed to protect health and schooling.

Mr Balls taunted the Chancellor: "The fact is that you promised to get the deficit down and it is rising. How can you still say we are all in it together, when for everyone else living standards are falling and the economy has flat-lined for three years?

"Isn't this economic failure the reason why you will not balance the books in 2015 and why tomorrow you are coming back to the House to ask for more cuts in public services, because you are unfair, out-of-touch and now revealed as totally incompetent?"

Mr Osborne replied: "Getting a lesson from you in how to balance the books is like getting a lesson from Dracula in how to look after a blood bank."

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) head Paul Johnson said: "The scale of the cuts is really astonishing,

"If you really do carry on with the next two years up to 2017-18 as pencilled in, that will result in a whole slew of government spending one third or more less than it was in 2010.

"So, if I was a betting man I would think there would be some kind of tax rises after the election."

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Satellites To Boost Internet In 180 Countries

Billions of people who struggle with slow internet access are to get quicker connections when a dozen new satellites are shot into space.

The first four satellites will be carried into orbit by the Russian Soyuz rocket, as part of a project to offer affordable, high-speed access to people in around 180 "under-connected" countries.

The launch has been delayed by at least 24 hours due to adverse weather.

Users will lock on to the satellites in the same way they might with GPS handsets.

Internet pioneer Greg Wyler, who launched the scheme after finding it difficult to get online during a trip to Russia in 2007, said: "Access to the internet backbone is still severely limited in emerging markets, whether landlocked in Africa or isolated by water in the Pacific Islands.

"Only when emerging markets achieve affordable and ubiquitous access to the rest of the world will we observe locally-generated content, widespread e-learning, telemedicine and many more enablers to social and economic growth."

The project is dubbed O3b after the "other three billion" people in the world with restricted internet access.

A constellation of small satellites will hover above the equator, covering a vast area that includes the entire African continent, the Middle East, southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and most of Latin America.

Existing geostationary satellites provide similar services but their cost is prohibitive for many people.

Orbiting at around 36,000km (22,000 miles) above Earth, they take around half a second to bounce signals back to the planet.

The cheaper, lighter O3b satellites will be closer to Earth and communicate four times faster.

Another four orbiters will be launched within weeks, with the final four set to arrive in space next year.

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Market Mayhem: China Woes Extend Losses

The flight from risk in world stock markets has continued in Asia during volatile trading amid concerns over credit tightening in China and the winding down of US stimulus.

Asian stock markets suffered steep falls during much of Tuesday's session - with the Shanghai Composite Index entering bear market territory, analysts said, following falls of more than 5% at one stage on top of steep declines on Monday.

But Tuesday's losses were largely erased in late-trading - with Shanghai just 0.2% down - while Europe opened positively on perceptions that many stocks were now under-valued following weeks of falls.

The most recent worry for investors, particularly in Asia, has been that measures by the People's Bank of China (PBC) to curb a cheap credit boom would hurt growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Higher commercial lending rates prompted a flight from the stocks of smaller banks, which rely on central bank funding the most.

Prices correct at 08:25 BST

The value of medium-sized lenders was also hurt.

While the PBC has said it is satisfied by the amount of money available, the crackdown has left markets in China particularly fearing a liquidity squeeze.

Shanghai's stock index had endured its biggest loss in four years on Monday while the pain was also felt worldwide, with the US and European markets falling back further, having already been spooked in recent weeks by the prospect of the US Federal Reserve easing its $85bn-a-month bond-buying programme.

A top US central banker warned on Monday against market attempts to lift the yields on US Treasuries and stop plans to slow the Fed's stimulus.

Price correct at 08:30 BST

Richard Fisher, who is president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, told the Financial Times that "feral hogs" would not break the Fed's resolve.

The FTSE 100 share index lifted 0.7% in early trading on Tuesday from five-month lows while there were stronger gains on the continent.

The London market has lost more than 10% of its value since concerns first arose last month about the prospect of Fed stimulus easing.

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Top Italian Football Clubs Face Money Probe

Police with financial expertise have raided 41 Italian football clubs, including 18 of the 20 Serie A sides, as part of a tax and money laundering investigation.

Documents were seized and premises searched in an apparently coordinated operation early on Tuesday as officers hunted for evidence of tax evasion and irregularities over the buying and selling of players.

Eleven B league teams and 12 from the lower brackets were the other clubs involved in the inquiry, a police spokesman confirmed, though none of the team names were released.

The probe also included 12 player agents.

The spokesman said the operation was ordered by a court in Naples in connection with crimes of criminal conspiracy, international tax evasion, money laundering and invoice falsification.

Italian football is no stranger to scandal on or off the pitch - with match-fixing allegations and hooliganism among its other problems.

More follows...

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Chancellor Signs Off £11.5bn Spending Cuts

Chancellor George Osborne has reached agreement with Cabinet colleagues over the extent of cuts to their budgets for the year after the next general election.

The Treasury said the new agreements among government departments would produce savings of £11.5bn.

A spokesman said: "We've completed the spending round savings early and without all the arguments you normally get. This shows our determination to take the tough decisions needed to deliver our economic plan and to turn Britain around."

Sky News political correspondent Sophy Ridge said the sign-off would come as a "huge relief" for the Chancellor.

"I'm not completely convinced by the Treasury's argument that there were no rows over this spending settlement," she said.

"For example, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Vince Cable were pretty late in signing off cuts to their budgets so I think there was clearly concern among some Cabinet ministers.

"But at the same time this is a clear win for the Chancellor and I think he will be pretty relieved to have had it signed off at all."

Mr Osborne indicated there would be further cuts in the number of civilians employed at the Ministry of Defence, but no further reduction in military manpower under the settlement agreed with Mr Hammond.

There will be no reduction in military manpower under the settlement

He also promised £10m a year to help uphold the military covenant and to spend more money on cyber warfare.

Before the 2010 election Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to protect universal pensioner benefits such as bus passes and winter fuel allowance for the duration of the Parliament.

But Mr Osborne would not commit to funding pensioner benefits beyond the 2015 poll, acknowledging "we have got to look at how we can afford them".

Mr Cable was understood to be holding out until he was sure that he had reached a settlement which would safeguard measures to boost growth.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he would adopt Mr Osborne's day-to-day spending limits for 2015-16 if his party wins the election, but indicated that a Labour government could borrow more to pay for infrastructure investment.

"If George Osborne had done that last year or the year before, we wouldn't have had such a flatlining economy," he told the BBC.

"I think he is so complacent and out of touch, I'm not going to make the same mistake."

Mr Osborne will announce the details of the Whitehall cuts in the Government's spending review on Wednesday, in which he will also reveal plans for an infrastructure plan using savings to invest in roads, railways, education and science.

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner In Emergency Landing

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet operated by United Airlines has been forced to make an emergency landing due to a problem with its brake system.

United said in a statement that the unscheduled landing occurred on a domestic flight in the United States over the weekend.

"United flight 94 from Houston to Denver returned to Houston Sunday due to a brake indicator issue," the US carrier said.

"Following standard operating procedures, as a precautionary measure, the flight landed in emergency status.

"The aircraft landed safely at 11.58am and our maintenance team is conducting a review of the aircraft."

A Boeing spokeswoman said the problem with the braking system forced the plane "back to base," without giving details of the malfunction or how long it might take to repair it.

Batteries overheated on two Japanese Dreamliners in January

Boeing sent a field service representative to the scene in Houston to help the airline with the problem.

The dual concerns were getting the aeroplane back into service and dealing with the flight's stranded passengers.

Last week, United said a Dreamliner on its way to Tokyo from Denver was forced to land in Seattle as a precaution.

Regulators and investors are keenly following the progress of the Dreamliner, Boeing's first predominantly carbon-fibre aircraft.

It was more than three years late getting into service after a number of production setbacks.

Introduced by airlines in late 2011, the Dreamliner was grounded in January after batteries overheated on two Japanese jets in quick succession.

It resumed commercial service in May after Boeing installed a redesigned battery system, based on a beefed-up housing, on the 50 jets in service.

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Vodafone Lines Up £9bn Kabel Deutschland Deal

Mobile phone giant Vodafone is poised to buy Germany's biggest cable operator in a deal worth £9.1bn, it has been confirmed.

The addition of Kabel Deutschland's 8.5 million connected households would leave Vodafone with 32.4 million mobile, 5 million broadband and 7.6 million direct TV customers in 13 of Germany's 16 states.

Kabel Deutschland was "an attractive platform for TV and fixed broadband in Germany and creates a leading integrated operator with pro forma revenues of approximately 11.5 billion euros," Vodafone  said in a statement.

The latest offer, which has been backed by Kabel Deutschland's management and supervisory boards, has a total value of £9.1bn when including £2.5bn of debt.

The acquisition, however, could still be derailed by rival interest from US media group Liberty Global.

Vodafone's proposal is worth 87 euro (£74) a share and is thought to better an earlier rival bid from Liberty, owner of Virgin Media, at 85 euro (£72) a share.

The British company has been expanding its presence in Germany recently, announcing a tie-up with Deutsche Telekom to offer pay-TV over high-speed broadband to its customers.

Germany has been one of Vodafone's better-performing markets in Europe, while its Mediterranean region has been hit hard during the downturn.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "German consumer and business demand for fast broadband and data services continues to grow substantially.

"As customers increasingly access TV, fixed and mobile broadband services from multiple devices in the home and workplace, and on the move."

Early trading in London saw shares in Vodafone rise 1.18% before easing to 0.8%, meanwhile Kabel Deutschland shares in Frankfurt added 1.7%.

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Diesel Drivers 'Get Worse Deal' In Fuel War

The cost of filling up at the pumps has edged up over the last month, with diesel drivers getting a worse deal than those using petrol, according to new figures from the AA.

The average price of petrol in the UK has risen from 133.35p a litre in mid-May to 134.61p in mid-June, while diesel has gone up from 138.17p a litre to 139.16p.

Northern Ireland has the most expensive petrol, at an average of 135.8p a litre, with London having the cheapest, at 134.61p.

Northern Ireland also has the dearest diesel (139.8p a litre) with London and south west England having the least expensive (139.1p).

The AA said the slight rise in average petrol prices nationally represented "something of a lull" after the 8-10p swings in prices over the last 12 months.

But it warned that this year retailers have on average been "creaming up to £1 a tank extra off diesel car drivers and up to £1.40 a tank extra off diesel van owners".

The AA went on: "At present, the 1p-a-litre premium that fuel stations are generally adding to the cost of diesel adds 5,500 miles to the break-even point for a new car buyer who chooses diesel instead of petrol.

"Diesel cars typically cost £1,500 more but the saving from better fuel efficiency should eventually recoup that."

AA President Edmund King said: "To be fair, there is often much greater variation in the price of diesel among retailers in a town than with petrol.

"However, on average, the profit margin on diesel is consistently at least a penny higher than with petrol.

"The clear message to diesel drivers is to take advantage of the greater range of prices locally. Some forecourts are more diesel-friendly than others."

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Football Streaming Website Faces Legal Action

Internet service providers in the UK could be forced to block a Swedish-based website which streams live football matches.

The Premier League is in the process of requesting a court order that would make ISPs effectively ban their customers from accessing www.FirstRow1.eu.

The planned legal action by the football governing body follows moves made by the music and film industries.

They have successfully blocked websites which offer the opportunity to download copyrighted material, such as Pirate Bay, under Section 97 of the 1988 Copyright, Design and Patent Act.

The Premier League has agreed a new worldwide television deal worth around £5.5bn over three years, starting with the new season.

BT has paid £246m to the Premier League for three years and BSkyB, the parent company of Sky News, has invested £760m in its football coverage for the next three seasons.

The Premier League has written to the major UK ISPs, which also include Virgin Media and TalkTalk, to outline its plans to apply for a court order to block www.FirstRow1.eu.

The proposals are expected to be put forward by the end of the month.

Should the court order be granted, the ISPs would then have to contest the application, or comply and restrict access.

It is understood that indications are the ISPs have no plans to go against any such application.

The Premier League has for many years monitored various websites during live matches and enforced the removal of any streaming content which breaches copyright.

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Osborne: Economy 'Leaving Intensive Care'

Chancellor George Osborne will claim the British economy is "moving from rescue to recovery" as he unveils his fresh round of spending cuts for Whitehall.

Mr Osborne will deliver his spending review on Wednesday, setting out £11.5bn of cuts in Government departments in the year after the next general election.

Alongside the cuts the Chancellor will announce plans for an infrastructure plan to "power Britain back into the economic premier league", using savings to invest in roads, railways, education and science.

Final details of the spending review are still being worked out, with reports suggesting some ministries, including Vince Cable's Business Department, are yet to agree their settlements.

Mr Osborne is expected to tell MPs on Wednesday: "Britain is moving from rescue to recovery. But while the British economy is leaving intensive care; now we need to secure that recovery.

"Full recovery won't be easy but I won't let up in my determination to put right what went so badly wrong. We are already making progress: the economy is growing, more than a million new jobs have been created by British businesses and the amount the government has to borrow each year - the deficit - is down by one third.

"But there's more we have to do - it's time for the next stage of our economic plan."

Ed Balls calls on Mr Osborne to pump money into the economy

Mr Osborne has come under pressure to invest in capital projects in order to help the fragile recovery and he will give details of  "a long term infrastructure plan".

He will say: "We're saving money on welfare and waste to invest in the roads and railways, schooling and science our economy needs to succeed in the future.

"I know that times are still not easy for families. But we have a clear economic plan. We've stuck to it. It is working. And I'm determined to go on delivering it. Now, together, we're moving Britain from rescue to recovery let's build an economy that works for everyone."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls urged Mr Osborne to pump money into the economy now in order to reduce the need for cuts in two years' time.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, he said: "Instead of planning more cuts two years ahead, they should use this week's spending review to boost growth and living standards this year and next year.

"More growth now would bring in more tax revenues and mean our public services would not face such deep cuts in 2015."

He said the Government should boost lending to businesses with a new British Investment Bank and reintroduce the 10p income tax band.

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