Hacking scandal tabloid's editor and lawyer found in contempt of Parliament

The former editor and legal manager of defunct newspaper the News of the World have been found in contempt of Parliament over evidence they gave to a committee of MPs about the phone-hacking scandal.

But Colin Myler and Tom Crone rejected the findings, insisting that they did not mislead the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee in hearings in 2009 and 2011.

The House of Commons Committee of Privileges recommended that the Commons should "formally admonish" Mr Myler and Mr Crone for giving misleading evidence over claims that hacking at the Sunday tabloid was confined to a single "rogue reporter".

News of the World editor Colin Myler and News International head of legal affairs Tom Crone, when they appeared before the Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee

The committee did not uphold similar allegations against one-time News International (NI) executive chairman Les Hinton - a right-hand man of the firm's boss Rupert Murdoch - and found that NI did not commit contempt as a company.

Mr Myler - who edited the News of the World from 2007 until its closure - said he was "extremely disappointed" at the Privileges Committee's conclusion, which he said was "plainly contradicted" by evidence in its own report. And lawyer Mr Crone said he stood by the evidence he gave

The Privileges Committee launched its investigation in response to complaints from the CMSC that it had been misled by witnesses during its inquiries into the phone-hacking scandal, which led to the closure of the News of the World in 2011.

Its report found that Mr Myler misled the committee by denying that he was aware of hacking and other wrong-doing by employees of the best-selling paper other than royal correspondent Clive Goodman, who was jailed in 2007 for conspiring to eavesdrop on private voicemail messages.

Mr Crone misled the CMSC in relation to the same issue, and in relation to a settlement reached with Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor, the report found.

However, it found there was not enough evidence to show that Mr Crone sought to mislead MPs about the commissioning of surveillance.

And it found that allegations Mr Hinton sought to mislead the CMSC over payoffs to Mr Goodman, and misled it over the "rogue reporter" question, did not meet the required standards of proof to be upheld.

While the CMSC was "sceptical" about Mr Hinton's memory, there was "no evidence that he misled the committee in relation to his role in the payment of legal fees, or the fact that he authorised the payments to Mr Goodman to settle his Employment Tribunal claim", found the Privileges Committee.

There was "insufficient evidence" of a breach of parliamentary privilege on the part of NI - now News UK - said the committee, which said it did not consider the company to have committed a contempt.

News International's initial claim that Mr Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire had been acting alone in listening in to the private phone messages of people in the public eye collapsed after the emergence of an email which indicated that others at the newspaper were aware of what was going on.

The company acknowledged liability in a number of cases in 2011 and paid out significant sums in compensation.

Responding to the Privileges Committee report, Mr Myler said: "I have made clear throughout the respect I hold for the Parliamentary process. I maintain that I did not mislead the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

"Had the appropriate standard of proof been properly applied, the Privileges Committee could not have reached a finding of contempt against me, given that the report identifies evidence which plainly contradicts their conclusions.

"It is profoundly disappointing that the Privileges Committee has chosen to act in a manner which serves to discredit parliamentary procedures rather than enhance the very authority and respect which they profess to command.

"For decades, Parliament has failed to follow clear, detailed and carefully considered advice that fundamental change is needed to bring acceptability to the antiquated contempt procedures upon which Parliament still relies."

Mr Crone said: "I do not accept the findings made against me in the Committee of Privileges Report.

"I stand by the evidence I gave on both of the issues they have highlighted.

"In particular, I accepted clearly and unequivocally at the outset of my evidence to the CMSC that the problem of phone-hacking by News of the World reporters went beyond the Clive Goodman/Glenn Mulcaire situation. That is a matter of record which is beyond challenge.

"It is regrettable that the CMSC report which is the subject of the Privileges Committee findings chose to ignore completely the above evidence I gave."

Mr Hinton said that his exoneration was "too little and too late", and said he had been the victim of a "free-for-all character assassination" when the CMSC's allegations were first made in 2012.

"After more than four years, the Committee of Privileges has thrown out the charges that I was guilty of contempt of Parliament and a cover-up of phone hacking," said the former News International executive.

"Its findings are too little and too late, coming so long after I was vilified by MPs in a 125-page report, a televised press conference and a 90-minute House of Commons debate.

"The CMSC reached its false findings in 2012. It posed as a quasi-judicial body with the right to impose criminal punishments, yet followed none of the usual rules of law and fair process. It carried out an amateur investigation, missed vital evidence, and some members displayed no pretence at impartiality. Even before its report was released, the committee's most vocal member, Tom Watson MP, published a book accusing me of misleading the committee.

"Today's report by the Committee of Privileges speaks proudly of its concern to 'meet modern standards of fairness' in deciding whether the Culture Committee had been 'correct' in its findings.

"Parliament has a back-to-front idea of justice and fairness when it claims these standards, after allowing the sham trial and free-for-all character assassination I experienced in 2012."

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3788814/Hacking-scandal-tabloids-editor-lawyer-admonished-claims-MPs.html#ixzz4KEADQbGM

Read More

Mortgages for house purchases fell in July, says CML

The number of mortgages taken out for house purchases dropped by 14% in July, the latest figures from mortgage lenders show, as the housing market slowed down around the time of the EU referendum vote.

A total of 58,100 loans were taken out by first-time buyers and movers during the month, worth a combined £10.6bn. The number was down 14% on June’s figure, while the value was 13% lower. July’s fall in activity followed a 26% increase in new mortgages in June.

The figures cover loans as they are advanced to borrowers, so suggest applications for mortgages were slowing down ahead of the UK’s Brexit decision.

Paul Smee, director-general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), said: “These figures cover the first full month of lending following the EU referendum. They show a month-on-month decline in first-time buyer and home mover activity, and muted activity on the buy-to-let market.

“It is hard to determine whether these figures reflect a first uncertain reaction to the referendum vote, or are a sign of a market that was already cooling.”

The CML’s monthly report showed 28,200 mortgages were taken out by first-time buyers in July, a fall of 19% on June. The number of loans taken by movers was down by 9% month on month at 29,900. Remortgaging activity increased, as mortgage rates continued to fall to new record lows.

Some 33,400 loans were taken out by remortgagors, up 3% on June. Meanwhile, landlords continued to return to the market slowly after the rush of activity ahead of the change to stamp duty on second homes in April.

Buy-to-let loans worth £3bn were advanced during the month – up 3% on June but down by 21% year on year.

Smee said it would be “quite some time before a full assessment can be made” of the impact of the Brexit decision on the property market.

Jeremy Leaf, former residential chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said the figures appeared to signal caution on the part of lenders and prospective home buyers ahead of the referendum.

“There was clearly some stand-off before and immediately after the outcome was known,” he said. “There appears to have been an immediate nervousness following the referendum and clearly a pause before taking action.”

He added: “It is understandable that people have been taking longer to commit to a decision as big as buying a home. That is only natural – the referendum result was a huge earthquake and it is not unreasonable for people to pause and reflect on how it will affect their lives.”

Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said mortgage availability was continuing to improve and rates were reaching new lows.

“Remortgage activity in particular is setting the pace, with strong competition giving many consumers an incentive to explore lower repayments in the full understanding that rates won’t go much lower,” he said.

However, he added that the end of the help-to-buy mortgage guarantee at the end of the year needed to be considered. “Despite Brexit being a government priority, Westminster cannot afford to put off action to ensure that access to homeownership is supported for the long term,” he said.

“The new chancellor needs to deliver in his autumn statement in November.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Read More

California sues car donation charities

Consumers donated their cars but not much money went to charity, state charges

Photo: cars4causes.net

Donating your old car to charity sounds good -- you get a big tax deduction and your favorite charity gets gobs of money. But it often doesn't work out that way, as a lawsuit against two California car-donation organizations illustrates.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris and local prosecutors sued People's Choice Charities and Cars 4 Causes, saying they misrepresent their programs and improperly profit from what are supposed to be charitable activities.

“These charities exploited the goodwill of generous donors by misrepresenting their charitable programs, misappropriating donations and accruing excessive administrative costs,” Harris said. “These lawsuits hold People’s Choice Charities and Cars 4 Causes accountable for breaking the law and give California consumers greater confidence that their donations go toward the intended charitable cause.”

Tax breaks broken?

An even bigger problem for many consumers is that the actual tax benefit from donating a car can turn out to be quite small. Until the tax laws changed a few years ago, you could deduct the fair-market value of your car. Now you can only deduct the net proceeds that the charity receives when your car is sold.

For example, if the charity ends up selling your donated car, with a fair market value of $2,000, for $800 then $800 is what you can deduct from your income at tax time.

But how much is that going to mean at tax refund time? Not very much. Let's assume you are in the 28% tax bracket – an $800 deduction will give you $224 back. If you are in the 10% bracket, it only yields $80.

People's Choice

Los Angeles-based People’s Choice Charities (PCC) claimed that 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of donated cars would go to the donors’ chosen charities. But Harris' lawsuit alleges that 97% of the donations were spent on administrative costs, such as towing, car repairs, and advertising.

PCC claimed that towing was free and that it employs experienced staff to repair and sell the cars at minimal cost. In reality, PCC charges the charities for towing expenses and has no repair staff; instead they pay outside vendors hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this work, Harris charged. After PCC deducts its numerous and undisclosed expenses, only a tiny fraction of the vehicle’s sale price is forwarded to the donor’s chosen nonprofit, the suit alleges.

According to audits conducted by the attorney general’s office, from 2007 to 2012, PCC reported that it had donated over $700,000 to other nonprofits, while actually only donating $174,000. To increase their inventory, PCC also developed a “cash back” program whereby vehicle donors could receive money in return for their “donation,” effectively transforming a charitable organization into an unlicensed used car dealership in violation of state law, Harris said.

Cars 4 Causes

Ventura-based Cars 4 Causes claimed it “worked smarter” to “get the most money for charity.”  In reality, the state's lawsuit alleges, C4C used 87% of its donations to pay for items such as advertising and administrative costs, including staff salaries, while only 13% was directed to actual charities.

From 2009-2014, C4C reported that $15.9 million was donated to charity.  In reality, C4C only gave $5.4 million to charity—and many of the charities designated by donors received nothing at all, the suit charged.  During this time, C4C denied many requests from individuals in need seeking a car, including single mothers, college students, and seniors, all while paying thousands towards staff salaries and millions to advertisers.

C4C took money from the very charities it promised donors that it would support, Harris said.  According to C4C’s own accountings, it misappropriated about $2 million from thousands of charities, including over $600,000 that should have been given to charities serving the sick and providing medical research, $250,000 to children’s and education charities, $100,000 to veterans’ organizations, $230,000 to religious organizations, and $200,000 to charities serving the poor, among others.

Read More

Mastercard faces £14bn card fee claim

A £14bn legal claim has been filed against Mastercard on behalf of UK consumers seeking damages for anti-competitive card fees.

In 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that regulators were right to condemn the cost of its interchange fees - the fees retailers pay banks to process card payments.

Mastercard lowered its fees but now faces a claim for damages for 16 years of charging from 1992 to 2008.

It has vowed to fight the action.

"Now that the claim has been filed, we will take time to review it in detail. However we continue to firmly disagree with the basis of this claim and we intend to oppose it vigorously," Mastercard said.

"We deliver real value through the benefits of security, convenience and consumer protection, and we are committed to investing in our payment services in order to continue to meet the rapidly evolving needs of all our customers."

'Watershed moment'

Mastercard is the second-largest credit and debit card provider after Visa.

It fought a seven-year legal battle against the decision by the EU's competition watchdog, which ended with its defeat at the European court.

It is claimed that consumers faced higher costs than they should, as retailers passed on the unnecessary high interchanges fees in their prices.

Former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks is leading the claim, with the backing of law firm Quinn Emanuel, under the new Consumer Rights Act. The first stage is to take it to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London.

"The filing of this claim is the first step towards consumers obtaining compensation for what Mastercard did," Mr Merricks said.

"I am confident that the CAT will authorise the claim to go forward, and I look forward to the opportunity to present our case. This is a watershed moment for consumer redress in this country."

'Better than cash'

Speaking to Radio 5 Live, Mark Barnett of Mastercard said that using card payments had reduced costs for consumers overall because it was cheaper than using cash, as there was no need to print notes and transport them across the country.

"UK consumers have benefitted enormously from being able to use card payments, for example buying on the internet. If the goods don't arrive, you're protected," he said.

If successful at this stage, a full trial hearing is not expected until 2018.

Under the 2015 Consumer Rights Act, consumers living in the UK would automatically be included in the claim for damages and ultimately, if successful, be eligible for compensation.

Read More

Your Questions: I can't get a motor insurer to quote me after spending two years abroad - what can I do?

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Discountautomobileinsurance.info has been updated with new car insurance quotes for september policies. Clients can review multiple plans and get the right coverage protection for their vehicles.

 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403469

Staying updated with the latest auto insurance quotes is a great way to find low cost policies. Clients have quick access to the latest rates on a single brokerage website:http://discountautomobileinsurance.info/. Here, by completing the ZIP code and an online form, each customer will be able to review advantageous policies in his/her area.

The auto insurance market is constantly changing

The auto insurance market is always changing. New policies are issued every month and with the help of online quotes, every car owner can check these offers. All the quotes are calculated based on the same algorithm agencies use to determine prices.

Because the insurance market is dynamic, it is important to be aware of new offers. Luckily, drivers can now compare free online auto insurance quotes on a single website. The process is very simple:

1. Enter the ZIP code. Location is always important when shopping for coverage. Auto insurance can be cheaper in some areas and it will determine a policy's premiums.
2. Complete the quote request form. The quote request form must be completed with information about the vehicle, driving experience and the client's age, gender and marital status. In the last past, every visitor has to enter his/her coverage preferences like the type of insurance and the amount of coverage.

By comparing online auto insurance quotes, every car owner can cut his/her coverage costs by more than 25%. This means that a client will be able to save a few thousand dollars every year.

"We have updated our website with the latest auto insurance plans in your area. Visit us, compare plans and secure the best financial protection for your vehicle."  said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Discountautomobileinsurance.info is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to  offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

_Source: Yahoo

Read More

Corneas, heart and pancreas: the organs that we are reluctant to donate

 While there are more people than ever on the NHS’s donor register, there are some body parts that people find it difficult to part with – even after death

In Organ Donation Week, it’s heartening to see that the number of people consenting to have their organs used after their death is at its highest-ever level. There were almost 22.5 million registrants on the donor register as of 31 March – up 6.6% on the previous year.

While the majority of those registered have given consent for all their organs and tissues to be donated, one in eight are “restricted donors” – people who have registered, but state that they don’t want to donate specific body parts.

 Registrants on the organ donor list since 2007.

If you are squeamish about giving up your eyes even in death, you are not alone.NHS figures show that the vast majority of those who opt out – almost 90% of those who choose not to donate, and 10.7% of the whole register – do so because they don’t want to give their corneas.

There is a shortage of cornea donors in the UK. In the year to 31 March 2015, almost 3,780 cornea transplants were recorded on the UK transplant registry. However, while the NHS would require an average of 10 donations a day to meet demand, it only receives on average seven viable donations per day.

Among the restricted donors, a much smaller proportion opted out of donating their heart, pancreas, lungs, liver or kidneys.

Although people of all ages are eligible for organ donor registration, the highest proportion of donors are in their late teens and 20s: people aged between 16 and 30 make up 43% of the current register.

 Organ donor registrants by age group.

While a higher proportion of women aged between 16 and 30 are registered than men in the same age category, the reverse is the case in the older age groups.

All the figures cited here exclude the 177,204 people in the UK who have specifically asked not to become an organ donor when they die.

 Registrants across age groups by gender.

organdonation.nhs.uk

_Source: https://www.theguardian.com/

Read More

AIM newcomer LoopUp Group transforming the conference call business

A still from comedians Trip & Tyler's Conference Call in Real Life (link below), which has dragged in 14mln views.

A sketch by YouTube comedians Trip & Tyler that has attracted 14mln hits illustrates the chaos of the average conference call.

Played out in ‘real life’, with the participants sitting around a boardroom table, the four-minute video incorporates the incessant buzzing, beeps and awkward pauses that make these virtual meetings so aggravating.

It is estimated that 13 minutes – or around a third of these sessions – are wasted trying to patch people or repeating information for the late-comers.

It is an irritant, but if you look at the impact on an international scale and frame it in terms of lost man hours, then it adds up to a £14bn-a-year brake on productivity in the UK and US alone.

Or at least this is the figure arrived at by AIM newcomer LoopUp Group PLC (LON:LOOP), which commissioned Research Now to carry out the study.

Even if you heavily discount the figure, there is still a cost to business; which begs the question: why has conferencing evolved so little in the quarter of a century since it was first introduced?

• VIDEO: Company targeting a huge market 

• VIDEO: Trip & Tyler's conference call in real life

• IPO: LoopUp makes a premium debut on AIM 

It is a point picked up with very little prodding by LoopUp chief executive Steve Flavell, whose service purports to offer a pain-free alternative to the status quo.

He reveals there are alternative communications platforms out there developed by software firms and telcos. But they either fail to address the familiar chaos or are just too complicated to encourage widespread adoption.

LoopUp, which made its début on the junior market last month with a market-capitalisation of just over £40mln, thinks it has cracked the problem with its system.

Using Microsoft Outlook it takes just two clicks to organise a meeting and LoopUp sends out alerts to the host when their first guest joins the meeting.

It uses traditional telephony supplied by tier-one operators across four centres globally, but dial-in numbers aren’t the preferred method for joining LoopUp meetings.

Rather, you simply click a link displayed on your computer, smartphone and tablet, and LoopUp then calls you on the phone of your choice.

Onscreen is displayed the participants – so you know who is there and who exactly is talking.

Users can even share biographical details via LinkedIn and there is a “big, orange, Fisher Price-type button” on the desktop that allows them to share documents and presentations.

“Our product solves a big, well-recognised pain point. That pain point is the time wasted in these meetings,” says Flavell.

It certainly seems to.  The proof of the pudding, of course, is in the eating, or in the case of LoopUp adoption of the product.

The company boasts 2,000 client companies and it added 200 in the first six months of 2016 alone.

More than 70% of these new customers have already adopted features that set LoopUp apart – including the product’s Outlook and mobile apps – and they click-to-join their meetings rather than dialling in the old-school way.

These adoption figures are high, Flavell says, particularly when compared with the uptake of other software conferencing tools from the likes of Cisco, Citrix and Microsoft.

Use of LoopUp’s technology is high enough to encourage the company to offer the service on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than signing businesses up to year-long contracts.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, the model appears to promote loyalty.

Churn (the percentage of clients lost each year) stands at around 6%, or, put another way, the lifespan of a typical customer is 16 years.

If you measure churn and balance that off against up-sell to existing clients, then LoopUp is actually experiencing net growth of 6.7% rather than any erosion, Flavell says.

And actually, LoopUp product revenue (which represents £9.2mln out of the total £10.1mln in revenues in 2015) has been growing around 36% a year for the last three years, and the company has been EBITDA (underlying earnings) positive since the final quarter of 2013.

That strong financial track record probably explains why City investors were keen to get a piece of the action ahead of last month’s float, a process that brought in £8.5mln in new funds.

That money will be used to strengthen the balance sheet, and will also be ploughed into sales and marketing and continued product innovation.

The payback from making that inward investment is significant, according to Flavell, as he reckons every pound spent on the firm’s distribution returns £9.57 of gross profits.

Listed at £1, the shares have enjoyed a decent run in the secondary market, advancing 20p in the last week.

“Now that we are here [on the stock market], we are all about growth,” says Flavell.


_http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/

Read More

RDC: la police déployée devant le siège du parti de l’opposition UDPS

En RDC, alors que le gouvernement a promis ce jeudi de nouvelles mesures de décrispation dans le cadre du dialogue national, et notamment la libération d’une centaine de prisonniers qui étaient pourtant déjà amnistiés depuis 2014, plusieurs dizaines de policiers sont déployés devant le siège de l’UDPS à Limete. Le parti d’Etienne Tshisekedi dénonce un état de siège et dit craindre pour la vie de ses militants. La police parle d’une occupation illégale de la chaussée par les militants de l’UDPS.

Ils sont sous les arbres, de l’autre côté de la rue, à quelques mètres du tout nouveau siège de l’UDPS. C’est une provocation, dit l’un des cadres du parti. « Ils font ça pour empêcher les combattants de venir en nombre, c’est pour les intimider », assure ce cadre.

Le porte-parole de la police explique qu’un ultimatum avait été lancé aux dirigeants de l’UDPS pour demander à leurs militants, les fameux combattants, de rentrer à l’intérieur du siège et de ne plus occuper illégalement la chaussée. Les policiers ont tout simplement décidé de prendre leur place.

Les combattants ne sont pas très loin. A quelques centaines de mètres à l’angle de la rue. « On leur a demandé de ne céder à aucune provocation », insiste un cadre de l’UDPS, craignant qu’il s’agisse d’une manœuvre pour faire fermer le siège du parti, mais pour le porte-parole de la police, le risque est tout autre : c’est celui de nouveaux troubles. Il y a eu plusieurs affrontements entre les combattants de l’UDPS et la police depuis le retour d’Etienne Tshisekedi au pays.

Après 2011 et la présidentielle dont les résultats ont été contestés par le vieil opposant, la police a longtemps été déployée autour du siège de l’UDPS. Mais ce dispositif sécuritaire avait été allégé, jusqu’à disparaître. « Tshisekedi refuse aujourd’hui le dialogue, il a perdu ce qu’ils appellent la protection de la majorité », s’amusait un délégué de l’opposition tout en dénonçant une tentative d’intimidation incompatible avec la tenue du dialogue national

Read More

Sénégal: colère des agriculteurs de Diokoul qui s’estiment spoliés de leur terre

Au Sénégal, une partie des habitants de Diokoul, village situé à trois heures de voiture au nord de Dakar, sont en colère. En majorité agriculteurs, ils s’estiment spoliés d’une partie de leurs terres au profit d’un groupe privé qui s’est vu attribuer 1 000 hectares. Les autorités estiment au contraire que ce projet de développement est une chance. Pour se faire entendre, les mécontents ont organisé une manifestation ce jeudi.

« On dit non », c’est le slogan principal des 300 manifestants qui ont débuté leurs marches devant les champs attribués au groupe Senegindia. Malgré son âge, Birame est en première ligne : « Les champs que vous voyez là, c’est les champs de nos grands-pères, nos pères, même nos fils ! On gagne notre vie dans ces champs-là ! Pourquoi ils veulent les prendre de force ? On ne va pas les laisser faire ! ».

Alors que les manifestants prennent la direction de la mairie de Diokoul, Khady, accompagnée de ses enfants lève sa pancarte « non à l’injustice » : « Nous n’avons pas de terre suffisante pour cultiver. Les Indiens sont venus ici pour les accaparer, nous ne l’acceptons pas, jamais ».

Sur les 1000 hectares octroyés par la commune, le groupe Sénégindia a prévu de cultiver des pommes de terre. Près de 2 500 emplois devraient être créés explique le maire Cheikh Sadibou Diack : « La terre est là. On ne l’utilise pas. Autant la donner maintenant cette terre et ceux qui avaient aujourd’hui la chance de travailler sur cette terre-là on leur donne d’autres terres ailleurs. Et tout le monde s’y retrouve ».

Moustapha Ba est président du collectif qui s’oppose à ce projet et demande de nouvelles concertations : « Ce que nous demandons à l’Etat c’est que l’on annule les actes qui ont été pris et qu’on recommence le processus. C’est ça que nous voulons ».

Les manifestants de Diokoul entendent continuer leur lutte s’ils ne sont pas entendus par les plus hautes autorités.

_Source: http://www.rfi.fr/

Read More

Roger Ailes Has Hired Hulk Hogan's Lawyer

When New York published its exposé of life in Fox Newsunder Roger Ailes, the magazine was well aware he would not be happy. Even before the story’s publication, lawyers for the former CEO began to call reporters with damning quotes about author Gabriel Sherman and his work.

But now it seems that Ailes is angry enough to think about “Gawker-ing” New York.

Ailes has hired Hollywood libel lawyer Charles Harder, better known as the attorney who represented Hulk Hogan in his successful $140 million suit against Gawker, according to the Financial Times. The judgement forced the online media company and its founder Nick Denton into bankruptcy.

Harder has already contacted New York, though it’s still not clear whether he will sue.

“New York Media and Gabriel Sherman were contacted by Charles Harder on behalf of Roger and Elizabeth Ailes, asking that we preserve documents related to the Ailes, for a possible defamation claim,” the magazine said in an email statement to Fortune. “The letter sent by Harder was not informative as to the substance of their objections to the reporting. Sherman’s work is and has been carefully reported.”

Sherman has had a contentious relationship with Ailes, having written The Loudest Voice in the Room, a critical 2014 book examining life under Ailes at Fox News. As CNN media correspondent Brian Stetler has reported, a full two years before that book was published, Fox had compiled a 400-page opposition research file on Sherman. And with the publishing of Sherman’s most recent piece, Ailes attorney Mark Mukasey contacted The Daily Beast with some choice commentary on Sherman.

“Gabe Sherman is a virus, and is too small to exist on his own, and has obviously attached himself to the Ailes family to try to suck the life out of them,” Mulkasey said.

In his most recent article, Sherman wrote that former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson—who filed the sexual harassment suit that led to Ailes’ downfall—had secretly taped conversations with Ailes, that Ailes had acquired the phone records of journalists through what a source called “legally questionable means,” that Murdoch blamed Ailes for employing Fox, to support Donald Trump’s candidacy, and that Ailes’ lawyer mistakenly leaked a copy of his settlement with the network.

Harder has helped stars like George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood, and Sandra Bullock remove their names from products they were not paid to support, the FTreports.

See also: Gawker’s Latest Legal Battle Could be Over Donald Trump’s Hair

The attorney has also worked for the Trump family, representing aspiring first lady Melania when she sued the publisher of the British Daily Mail newspaper and a Maryland blogger after the two published stories saying she had been an escort in the 1990s.

“These defendants made several statements about Mrs.Trump that are 100% false and tremendously damaging to her personal and professional reputation,” Harder said in a statement at the time.

There’s no word whether Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel—who bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, paying Harder in the process—will be taking part in the Ailes lawsuit. Though with Ailes receiving a reported $40 million settlement on leaving Fox News, which is owned by 21st Century Fox  FOX -42.34% , it’s likely that he has the money.

Fortune has contacted Charles Harder and will update the story should he respond.

Read More

Mortgage lenders fail to pass on UK rate cut

©Getty

Nearly half of mortgage lenders have failed to pass on to their variable rate borrowers the benefits of the Bank of England’s base rate cut, flouting Bank governor Mark Carney’s warning that they had “no excuse” not to do so.

The Bank’s quarter-point cut to its base rate on August 4 was expected to prompt many lenders to trim monthly interest bills for borrowers on standard variable rates or other floating rate deals. Research by finance website Moneyfacts.co.uk found that, a month on, nearly half have yet to react.


Charlotte Nelson at Moneyfacts.co.uk said it was a mixed picture for borrowers who had anticipated they would be left financially better off by the move.

“Given the bumpy road ahead for the economy, some providers are still quite cautious in their reaction to this new turn of events, with many choosing to wait and see to ensure they get the timing right,” she said.

Ms Nelson said average tracker rates had fallen by 0.19 percentage points, but added that some lenders had raised the rates on tracker deals in anticipation of a base rate cut, in order to offset later cuts.

“To illustrate this, at the start of July the average two-year variable tracker rate stood at 2.01 per cent. This had increased by 0.12 per cent on August 1, therefore reducing the effect of the reduction in the month of August to 0.07 per cent in real terms.”

Fixed rates deals are still some of the best on offer, regardless of short term future changes to base rates. Moneyfacts said a borrower with a £200,000 mortgage over 25 years would be £243 better off each month on an average two-year fixed rate — currently 2.46 per cent — compared to an average standard variable rate of 4.71 per cent.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1c9420a4-705f-11e6-9ac1-1055824ca907.html#ixzz4JU0yV3BA

_Mortgage

Read More

Why only doctors and lawyers will ever be able to pay off their student loans as universities prepare to charge £9,000-a-year fees

Graduates from middle-income families can only fully repay student loans if they pursue high-paying medicine or law careers, a study suggests.

The ‘majority’ will be unable to pay them off entirely before they are written off after 30 years, experts warn.

It comes as more universities are set to announce they will charge record-breaking tuition fees of £9,250 a year from next autumn. Durham, Kent and Royal Holloway have already declared plans to hike them above £9,000.

+2

Researchers have found that the majority of those that went to university will not be able to pay off their loans unless they are lawyers or medics

The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates the average cost of degree study is already £20,000 a year, with undergraduates needing to supplement loans by working or with parental support.

Middle-income students eligible for £7,023-a-year maintenance loans accrue around £52,000 worth of tuition fee and living costs debt after three years. Richer students eligible for smaller loans – the minimum is £3,821 – end up with around £41,000. And those studying longer courses such as medicine, veterinary science or architecture are likely to owe around £94,000 for a five-year course.

The report, commissioned by private client investment house Killik & Co, claims that if students are unable to repay their loans immediately upon graduating, this becomes ‘the most expensive way of funding university’. Outstanding balances start incurring interest at a 3 per cent rate above inflation while students are still at university.

_Loans

All credit to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Read More