Sarkozy proposes Google tax to help French artists January 7, 2010 France could start taxing internet advertising revenue from online companies such as Google, using the funds to support creative industries that have been hit by the digital revolution. The proposal, put forward in a government-commissioned survey, is France’s latest challenge to Google and its online rivals. Google said that it does not believe an additional [...]
Mayor calls on business expertise December 8, 2008 London mayor Boris Johnson has recruited the help of 47 top-flight business leaders to offer him guidance and advice, it was announced yesterday. The International Business Advisory Council for London has been set up and will be chaired by Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising group WPP. The council will advise the mayor on [...]
Labour must adapt, admits weary Brown September 10, 2008 Gordon Brown yesterday admitted that the Labour party would have to rethink the way it governs if it is to win at the next general election. In an unusually candid interview, the Prime Minister conceded that the government needed to do more to convince voters that it deserves an historic fourth term. He made the [...]
Brown needs to improve or quit, says former Home Secretary Clarke September 5, 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown should stand down as party leader if he cannot improve his government’s performance in the coming months, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke said yesterday. Clarke said Labour was heading for “disaster” at the next election if it did not change course. In a rare outbreak of dissent within the party, Clarke [...]
Palin silences critics with first speech September 4, 2008 Republican running mate Sarah Palin fought back at her critics in her first key address to the Republican National Convention last night. Her speech came as Republican US presidential candidate John McCain slammed the media for questioning the way his running mate Sarah Palin’s candidacy was vetted, following shock revelations that Palin’s 17-yearold unmarried daughter [...]
Inexperience is no bad thing in business and politics September 2, 2008 If anyone needed more evidence that the 21st century was going to be one where women take on new levels of prominence, Sarah Palin’s nomination as Vice Presidential candidate on John McCain’s ticket was there to bring home the point. What an odd choice you say? A heart beat away from the Presidency and no [...]
UK asks NATO to get tough with Russia August 28, 2008 British Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday called on the EU and NATO to initiate “hard-headed engagement” with Russia in response to its actions in Georgia. Speaking in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, he said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a big responsibility not to start a new Cold War. “Russia has not reconciled itself to the new [...]
Clinton to rally round Obama August 27, 2008 Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sought to heal the wounds of their bruising nominating battle yesterday and unite the Democratic party behind Obama’s bid to seize the White House from the Republicans. Clinton will give a speech meant to lift a shadow over this week’s convention that will crown Obama, 47, a first-term Illinois senator, [...]
Coalition in Pakistan fails after schism August 26, 2008 Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pulled the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) out of the ruling coalition yesterday, after disputes over the judiciary and who should be the next president. The two parties that had led the coalition will now put forward separate candidates in a presidential election on 6 September, when the [...]
Russia denies breaking truce August 14, 2008 Georgia accused Russia of breaking a shaky ceasefire in their six-day conflict yesterday, a charge strongly denied by Moscow. In a highly charged atmosphere of claim and counter-claim, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russian tanks had stormed the Georgian town of Gori and were advancing on the capital, though a deputy minister later backtracked on [...]