Elections are coming, MAY 6th

Many people are hoping that Labour will not get voted in this year and they are likely not to, howver, I believe that Lib Dem should be voted into Government and Conservatives should not be. However, what ever way you look at this all the parties are not likely to do what they say and promise and finally I would like to add, BNP are a disgrace as a party and I don't even know why they should get in. They would not even be ready for Government and their policies would just ruin the British economy.

Manchester United put pressure on Chelsea while Tottenham slip up on form.

Earlier today Man U just put the pressure on Chelsea by beating tottenham 3-1 which may look comfortable looking at the scoreline but it sure wasn't. In the first 30 minutes there wasn't even a chance at goal and then in the second half it all started to kick on. Berbatov finally played an important part for Manchester United after making a run and creating a penalty from a pass to Evra which Giggs took with a great finish even though Gomez dived the right way. Then Tottenham came back into the game with a Ledley King header which may have been said to be a foul and Rafael made a mistake by coming away from the goal line. However, late into the game Nani scored a terrific goal with a cool finish and it was finished off with a penalty form Giggs.

Bankers get more money, bonuses keep coming in

Goldman Sachs has announced it will pay its bankers a share of $5.5 billion (£3.5 billion) for three months work just hours after the Financial Services Authority launched a formal investigation into the US bank.

Staff will receive average compensation of $166,000 each for the first quarter of 2010 after the bank beat expectations with a $3.5 billion net profit.

Goldman Sachs has seen $10 billion wiped from its market value since the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a $1 billion lawsuit against the bank, alleging the bank and one of its vice presidents, Fabrice Tourre, committed securities fraud.

Today, Britain’s FSA said that it has decided to start a “formal enforcement investigation” into Goldman Sachs International, its London-based business, after an initial review of the US case.

The bankers’ payouts beat the start of last year, when average remuneration for the first quarter was $149,000. However, this quarter’s pay is still considerably below the $226,000 allocated to each worker in the first quarter of bank’s record year of 2007.

The amount Goldman put aside for pay this quarter is equivalent to 43 per cent of its $12.8 billion net revenue, the lowest first-quarter compensation ratio in the bank’s history.

In a statement today, Goldman’s chairman and chief executive Lloyd Blankfein alluded to the scandal surrounding the bank. Even before Friday’s shock charges, Goldman had already been criticised for accepting a $10 billion state bailout then paying out billions of dollars in bonuses to its employees.

Mr Blankfein said: “In light of recent events involving the firm, we appreciate the support of our clients and shareholders and the dedication and commitment of our people”.

First quarter profit was up 91 per cent, while revenue rose 36 per cent, which Mr Blankfein said was a reflection of “signs of growth across the economy” as well as the strength of the bank’s relationship with its clients.

The bank was accused last Friday by the SEC of allowing Mr Tourre, 31, to mislead investors into buying toxic mortgage assets, in order to curry favour with a favoured hedge fund client, Paulson & Co.

The allegations feed long-running suspicions that the bank bet against its own clients on the collapse of the housing market. Goldman announced its figures as President Barack Obama prepared to come to New York on Thursday to press for reform of the financial sector.

Goldman has vehemently denied the allegations.

The bank today reported a 43 per cent year-on-year jump in net revenue from trading and principal investments to almost $10.2 billion, including $510 million from investing with the bank’s own money.

Revenue from investment banking was 44 per cent higher at almost $1.2 billion.

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West Ham Vs Liverpool 2010

The european flights are back!!!

ONDON - European governments opened the continent’s airspace to new flights from Tuesday giving hope to passengers around the world trapped by the cloud of volcano ash that has grounded airlines there.

But British air traffic chiefs said late Monday that the Icelandic volcano at the source of the chaos had spewed a fresh cloud of ash and warned it was headed for Britain.

On Monday, the dust that has blanketed much of Europe’s skies forced the cancellation of another 20,000 flights, as Britain sent navy ships and other governments took their own measures to rescue stranded passengers.

But under relentless pressure from airlines who have lost more than a billion dollars from the crisis so far, EU transport ministers agreed to ease restrictions from Tuesday.

“From tomorrow morning on, we should progressively see more planes start to fly,” EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said.

Europe’s air traffic control group Eurocontrol subsequently predicted that flights over the continent could be running normally again by Thursday.

France said it was progressively reopening airports from Monday, with restricted flights from Paris to start from early Tuesday.

And although flights over Germany remained banned until 1200 GMT Tuesday, some operated with special permission. German flag carrier Lufthansa announced the immediate resumption of all its long-haul flights Monday.

Three KLM flights carrying passengers left Amsterdam-Schiphol airport Monday for Shanghai, Dubai and New York, the Dutch transport minister announced.

Flights heading for Europe from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport also started to run again late Monday.

Authorities in Sweden, Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic announced the resumption of flights. Romania and Bulgaria announced their airspace had been reopened, while Switzerland said its airspace would reopen early Tuesday.

But hopes that the ash cloud nightmare might be over were tempered by the latest bulletin from British aviation chiefs Tuesday.

“The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK,” said the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which manages British airspace.

It now looked less likely London airports would be reopened Tuesday, as had been hoped, although plans to open airspace in Scotland should still go ahead, said the air authority.

The problem meanwhile had spread west across the Atlantic Monday, as Canada’s Saint John’s, Newfoundland announced it had cancelled a batch of domestic flights because of fears the ash would reach their airspace.

In Europe marooned passengers juggled rail, boat and road links, zig-zagging across borders in desperate attempts to make it home — whether to the other end of Europe or to the United States.

Britain ordered its flagship aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean and HMS Albion to pick up thousands of Britons from France — where they have come from all over Europe — and Spain.

Spain, one of the rare countries operating normally, struck an agreement with Britain, France and Germany to fly hundreds of thousands of their nationals back to Europe via Spanish airports.

Nearly seven million passengers have been affected by the blanket shutdowns, which governments have insisted were essential on safety grounds, given the possibility that the ash could choke up jet engines and provoke air disasters.

But EU leaders have come under fire from the airlines for their handling of the chaos sparked by Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano, which began erupting last Wednesday.

“This is a European embarrassment and it’s a European mess,” said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

But as airlines argued their case, a senior US military official said the ash had affected one of NATO’s F-16 fighter planes, which detected a glass build-up inside its engine.

Ash from volcanoes can be turned into a glass form at high temperatures when it passes through a jet engine.

Companies are losing 200 million euros (270 million dollars) per day according to IATA.