China: US Factory Boss 'Hostage' Speaks Out

An American company boss who is being detained by workers in a Chinese factory has been speaking about his ordeal from behind the metal bars of his office window.

Staff at the Beijing medical supply plant co-owned by Chip Starnes have been holding him for five days in a pay dispute.

He said about 80 workers have been blocking exits around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights on his office.

Union officials say Mr Starnes has failed to pay wages for two months, and staff at the factory fear the business is about to close without any promise of severance packages.

Mr Starnes, 42, denied the workers' allegations of unpaid wages and put it down to a "miscommunication".

He said of his "intimidating" captivity: "The first couple of days were very, very tough - nothing physical, more mental type of stuff going on ...

Workers at the factory push journalists away

"Standing around you, anywhere you walk - 14, 16, 18 people following you, walk towards the gate, gate's completely blocked, all accesses.

"They have little shifts where they cover all the exits and entrance points."

He described the dispute as disappointing and said he was keen for it to be resolved internally.

About 100 workers are demanding packages similar to those received by 30 workers at the plastics division of the Florida-based firm, Speciality Medical Supplies, which is moving to India.

One worker, Gao Ping, said she wanted to quit because she had not been paid for two months.

Chu Lixiang, a local union official representing the workers, said they were demanding the portion of their salaries yet to be paid and a "reasonable" level of compensation before leaving their jobs.

Mr Starnes' lawyer visited him on Tuesday.

Similar disputes have happened at other businesses in China after a history of workers sometimes being unprotected when factories close.

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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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Tax Breaks For Married Couples 'Before 2015'

Tax breaks for married couples will be introduced by David Cameron before the next election, according to a Treasury minister.

David Gauke has moved to reassure Tory backbenchers amid growing concern in the party about how much support is being offered to traditional families.

In a letter to Conservative MPs, he insisted the change would go ahead during this parliament - meaning it will happen in the next two years.

The step is designed to avoid another backbench rebellion as Tories are currently trying to force the issue by introducing an amendment to the Finance Bill.

Treasury minister David Gauke

Mr Gauke wrote: "The Prime Minister and Chancellor have consistently made clear that we remain committed to recognising marriage in the tax system.

"I know that many of you will have heard the Chancellor set out his commitment to deliver on this during the course of this parliament.

"An announcement on details of how we will legislate for this in this parliament will be made by the Chancellor in due course."

Under the Tory plan, spouses who do not work could transfer part of their tax-free allowance if their partner earned less than the basic rate of tax.

It is thought the change would be worth up to £150 to married couples, meaning its significance would be largely symbolic.

But it would go some way to easing anger about the coalition's approach to stay-at-home mothers, who have been hit by restrictions on childcare support and child benefit cuts.

MPs welcomed the reiteration of Mr Cameron's commitment to the policy, but pushed for a clearer timetable for its introduction.

Former education minister Tim Loughton, who is leading the backbench revolt, told The Telegraph: "There is only a certain amount of promises about 'in due course' that hard-working families can take.

"This was a clear Conservative manifesto commitment to deliver a clear and popular Conservative policy that rights an injustice by recognising hard-working families in the tax system."

A tax break for married couples is a pet project of David Cameron's

A limited tax break was offered in the Tory election manifesto in 2010 and a commitment to hold a vote on the measure by 2015 was included in the coalition agreement.

The document allows the Lib Dems, who oppose the measure, to abstain.

Government sources are reported to have indicated the change is likely to be tabled in April 2015, which would coincide with general election campaigning.

But is is also considered possible that it could be legislated on in this parliament with implementation delayed.

Mr Cameron's official spokesman confirmed George Osborne intended to bring forward legislation before the end of the parliament but refused to give any clearer timetable.

He also refused to clarify whether the change could come into effect before or after the election.

Sky's deputy political editor Joey Jones said: "Whether or not that will satisfy some increasingly impatient colleagues, we will only find out in the next couple of weeks."

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Italian Football Clubs Raided In Tax Probe

Police 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.

The other clubs involved in the inquiry were 11 B league teams and 12 from the lower brackets, a police spokesman confirmed.

Though none of the team names were officially released, both the Reuters and AP news services reported that sources within the police and judiciary had suggested that top clubs Lazio and Juventus were among the clubs involved in the inquiry.

The probe also included 12 player agents and a number of foreign clubs.

Tottenham fans were attacked in a pub in Rome last year

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.

A statement by Naples prosecutors added that the clubs involved in the searches were under investigation for alleged conspiracy to avoid payment of "huge amounts of money" to tax authorities during the transfer of players.

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

A major match-fixing scandal in 2006 involved some of Italy's top clubs, including Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina.

Telephone wiretaps at the time showed alleged attempts by club managers - mostly Luciano Moggi, a now disgraced, ex-Juventus executive - to influence referee appointments.

The scandal sent shock waves across football-crazed Italy before the World Cup in Germany.

Spurs fan Ashley Mills was stabbed in Rome

Juventus, who were Serie A champions, were relegated to the second division for the first time in their history, and were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 titles.

Other problems have marred Italian football, from violence to low attendance at many of the nation's ageing stadiums.

Tottenham fans were among those to feel the force of Italian football violence last November when a mob of about 50 assailants, armed with sticks, iron bars and paving stones, launched a frenzied assault on them at a pub in Rome ahead of a Europa League game against Lazio.

Lazio "Ultras" - fanatical supporters - were initially suspected of the attack but two fans of cross-town rivals Roma were later charged with the attempted murder of one Spurs fan who was stabbed.

Coaches and players have been among dozens implicated in match-fixing in a country where the courts have extraordinary powers to order arrests and inquiries into allegations of wrongdoing.

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Market Mayhem: Europe Volatile Amid Fightback

European stock markets are tentatively putting on some weight after China moved to reassure investors that its credit tightening policy would not damage liquidity.

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 - after the People's Bank of China (PBC) moved to clarify its earlier intervention, aimed at curbing a cheap credit boom.

The worry for investors - particularly those in small banks - was that higher commercial lending rates would damage the banks and growth in the world's second-largest economy.

The crackdown left markets in China particularly fearing a liquidity squeeze though early trading in Europe was nervous on Tuesday.

Prices correct at 08:25 BST on Tuesday

Shanghai's stock index had endured its biggest loss in four years in the previous day's session 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.

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 which were all seen as adding value because of under-valued stocks.

Price correct at 15:14 BST on Tuesday

The momentum behind the clawback intensified into afternoon trading but the London market has lost more than 10% of its value since concerns first arose last month about the prospect of Fed stimulus easing.

In his final evidence session to the Treasury Select Committee as governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King said he believed that markets had "jumped the gun" about when central banks were likely to start raising base interest rates, amid the stimulus debate.

He said: "I think people have rather jumped the gun thinking this means an imminent return to normal levels of interest rates. It doesn't."

He added that economic growth would need to be stronger before interest rates could be increased.

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Qatar: Influential Emir Hands Power To Son

One of the richest and most influential leaders in the world, the Emir of Qatar, has abdicated his crown in favour of his son.

Dozens congratulated the Emir (l) and his son after the abdication ceremony

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani handed power to his 33-year-old son, Sheikh Tamim, in a televised ceremony on Tuesday, in a first for the Arab world.

"I announce handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani," the 61-year-old Emir said, adding the decision opened the way for a "young leadership".

Sheikh Hamad handed to his son power over a state that owns one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, which itself owns major property holdings in London.

The move had been rumoured for months. Qatar has given no official explanation, but it is widely believed that Sheikh Hamad is suffering from health problems.

British-educated Sheikh Tamim is expected to begin the process of putting together a new government that may be in direct contrast to the old guard leaders in other Gulf Arab states.

Qatar, an ally of the West, is an absolute monarchy under the leadership of the al Thani family, which have been in power since 1825. It has no parliament and political parties are banned.

Qatar's abdicating Emir Sheikh Hamad and new Emir Sheikh Tamim

Sheikh Hamad is listed on Muslim500, an independent internet-based list of major Islamic figures, as the fifth most influential Muslim in the world.

In 1995, soon after taking over from his father, he provided a loan to set up and subsequently bankrolled the satellite news channel Al Jazeera, which has increasingly significant influence in the Middle East and Asia

Sheikh Hamad's personal wealth was listed at £2.5bn, but the amount of assets possessed by his country is considerably greater.

The new Emir will head up a country which, according to Global Finance, has the highest per capita income in the world at an average of £66,000 each. Other lists put Qatar only behind Luxembourg, Monaco and Liechtenstein.

Qatar has the world's third largest gas reserves

Its vast wealth comes from huge supplies of gas. It is the world's largest exporter of liquified natural gas and sits on the world's third largest gas resource, after Iran and Russia.

Qatar's £115bn sovereign wealth fund has made huge investments in industry, finance and property around the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.

The Qatar Investment Authority owns Harrods, is the largest shareholder in Sainsbury's, owns 15% of the London Stock Exchange, and 12% of Barclays.

Despite its riches, Qatar is surrounded by much bigger oil states

The fund possesses considerable property holdings, including London's The Shard and major shares in the owners of Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf.

At the point it invested in Heathrow operator BAA, now known as Heathrow Airport Holdings, Qatar Holding said the UK was an "attractive investment destination".

It also owns a stake in Royal Dutch Shell, around 6% of Swiss bank Credit Suisse and in 2012, bought the football club Paris St-Germain for £110m, making an investment that led to David Beckham coming on board.

Qatar is the majority owner of London's The Shard skyscraper

Its investments in world football led to Qatar being award the 2022 Fifa World Cup, despite the fact that matches will be played in 40C plus heat if it takes place in the summer.

In 2010, Qatar brought a 110-year tradition to an end by brokering an agreement to sponsor Barcelona Football Club, with Qatar Airways replacing the Qatar Foundation on shirts in 2013.

Despite being an ally of the US, Qatar is a supporter of Hamas and in 2012, Sheikh Hamad became the first world leader to visit Gaza where the Palestinian nationalist party is in power.

Lionel Messi plays in a Qatar Foundation sponsored Barcelona FC shirt

Qatar was the second country to pledge support for Libya's transitional government and is thought to have spent millions supplying weapons to rebels.

It is also believed to be funding militant rebels in war torn Syria and hosts that country's transitional government.

In the last few days, it has also allowed the Afghanistan Taliban to set up an embassy in Doha, the capital, designed to allow negotiations to take place.

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Education Group To Cash In With £200m Sale

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

One of the country's biggest private providers of pre-university education is poised to cash in on a surge in the number of foreign students in the UK with an auction valuing it at up to £200m.

Sky News understands that Cambridge Education Group (CEG), which was established in 1985, is about to be put up for sale by its private equity owners.

CEG offers pre-university and English language teaching, tutoring a combination of overseas and UK students at Foundation, GCSE, A-Level and International Baccalaureate levels.

It operates from three campuses in Cambridge, London and Canterbury and runs additional on-campus Foundation Programmes at five other universities.

The company also runs educational summer camps for foreign students at 18 locations across the UK.

CEG has been controlled by Palamon Capital Partners, a buyout firm which has invested in a string of professional services businesses, since 2007.

Palamon will reap a handsome return from a sale valuing CEG at £200m, having injected just £15m into the company six years ago.

It has benefited from a huge influx of foreign students into the UK, and last year paid itself a £23m dividend through a refinancing backed by Royal Bank of Scotland.

CEG is likely to attract bids from other private equity firms and could spark interest from the likes of Pearson, the education and publishing group which owns the Financial Times.

Palamon did not return calls seeking comment.

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Jane Austen Set To Appear On New £10 Note

Plans have been drawn up to put novelist Jane Austen on the £10 banknote.

The author of Pride And Prejudice, Sense And Sensibility and Emma is a "clear candidate" to replace Charles Darwin on the new note, said Sir Mervyn King, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England.

It follows criticism that with Sir Winston Churchill likely to take the place of social reformer Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note as early as 2016, there would be no female figures on UK currency apart from the Queen.

During his final public appearance, Sir Mervyn said Austen was "waiting in the wings" as the likely replacement for Darwin.

He told the Treasury Select Committee the novelist had already been chosen as a "reserve" figure in case the Churchill £5 note suffered any "technical problems".

The design for the Churchill note was released in April

Sir Mervyn said: "Any time we produce a note there are always two notes we have running in parallel - the figure we are actually using and a reserve figure, so if there are technical problems with the first note we can run with the second.

"That second figure often becomes a figure on the following note.

"The figure that we've been working with for two years, we've said already that it's a woman - I can tell you today it's Jane Austen.

"That clearly is a candidate for the £10 note down the road."

Some 50 Labour MPs and peers have backed a campaign to keep a woman on British banknotes.

Plans have not been finalised for Churchill's appearance on the £5, but they currently show his portrait alongside a view of Westminster with Parliament's clock showing 3 o'clock.

This was the approximate time on May 13, 1940, when he declared in a speech: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

British personalities have featured on the back of banknotes since 1970, and other figures have included Charles Dickens, scientist Michael Faraday and composer Sir Edward Elgar.

The final decision on who appears on the banknotes will be made by Sir Mervyn's successor Mark Carney, a Canadian.

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Greece Bailout: Reshuffle As Deadline Looms

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has announced an overhaul of his cabinet, days after a junior coalition partner quit the government.

Restless and visibly fatigued from having faced down the gravest political crisis to grip his government just a year after his election win, Mr Samaras is determined to press ahead with key reforms and avert a swift return to the ballot box.

He told his revamped cabinet council to waste no time in pushing through reforms and delivering on commitments the government has agreed to in exchange for bailouts from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said: "There is no time to lose. There are pending issues that must be resolved and deadlines that have to be met for Greece to secure its next (bailout) instalment.

"We have to work at a faster pace and in tighter synergy."

Although key posts like the finance ministry remained in the same hands, Mr Samaras appointed new ministers for the posts of foreign affairs, justice, transport, defence and health.

US-trained economist Kyriakos Mitsotakis was given the most crucial job, replacing Antonis Manitakis as minister of public administration, who infuriated creditors with his resistance to mass public sector layoffs and the closure of state organisations.

Mr Mitsotakis must sack some 2,000 public sector workers by June 30 and a further 2,000 by the end of the year.

Mr Samaras's year-old government nearly collapsed last week after his smallest coalition partner pulled out in protest against the prime minister's sudden shut down of the state broadcaster.

The ERT fired all its 2,656 employees with no prior notice.

Waged in the name of austerity, the kill-off was intended to show lenders that Greece was serious about its to commitments to cull some 15,000 public sector employees by 2014.

There were mass protests when the ERT was shut

However, the boldness of the move backfired, leaving Mr Samaras and his conservative party relying exclusively on their longstanding ideological foe, the Socialist Pasok party.

The two-party coalition controls 153 seats in Parliament - a slender three-seat majority which pundits, politicians and the public fear could spell a short-lived coalition.

"Even if it survives for now, a limping government can not last for long," said John Loulis, a leading political strategist.

"There will be more crises. They won't be able to push reforms. At some point - sooner rather than later - we'll have early elections."

The stakes are high in Greece, especially since the government's bid to sell off the country's natural gas company to Russia's Gazprom floundered.

Failure to woo Gazprom back into the bidding process or attract new investors could mean further budget cuts for Greeks already reeling from three years of austerity.

The cabinet reshuffle comes a week after European and IMF inspectors suspended a review of Greece's public finances. They warned IMF loan payouts could be affected if the review is not completed by July.

With the new government in place, the inspectors are set to return to Greece next week to finalise a 1.8bn euro (£1.5bn) rescue aid package.

If no deal is reached, creditors may have no option other than to pull the plug on further Greek funding.

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Secret Anglo-Irish Bank Tape Inquiry Launched

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has ordered a government investigation into the Anglo-Irish Bank bailout after the release of secret audio recordings.

In them, Peter Bowe, then head of Capital Markets, can be heard telling Peter Fitzgerald, director of retail banking, that seven billion euros would not be enough to save the bank but would be sufficient to ensure further bailout money was made available. 

Asked by Mr Fitzgerald how he worked out the bank needed seven billion euros, Mr Bowe said: "Just as Drummer [bank CEO David Drumm] would say, picked it out my ****, you know?... That number is seven, but the reality is we need a lot more than that...

"The strategy here is you pull them in, you get them to write a big cheque and they have to keep, they have to support their money, you know?"

Anglo-Irish Bank was liquidated in February this year.

In total, the failed bailout of Anglo-Irish bank, which was liquidated in February of this year, cost Irish taxpayers some 30 billion euros. 

In the tapes, which were recorded internally by the bank and made public by the Irish Independent newspaper, Mr Bowe can be clearly heard making light of both the bailout application process and the bank's ability to repay bailout funds.

He said: "If they saw the enormity of it upfront, they might decide, they might decide they had a choice... They might say the cost to the taxpayer is too high. 

"If it doesn't look too big at the outset, if it looks big, big enough to be important but not too big that it spoils everything, then you have a chance. I think it can creep up."

Anglo-Irish Bank was at the centre of the Irish housing market bubble, lending billions of euros to developers during the nineties and 2000s that would never be recouped. 

Mr Bowe can be heard laughing as he said: "This is seven billion (euro) bridging. So it is bridged until we can pay you back, which is never. 

"So, under the terms that say 'repayment', we say 'no... not applicable'." 

Both Mr Bowe and Mr Fitzgerald have released statements denying deliberately trying to mislead the Irish government's financial regulator or abusing the guarantee of Irish banks issued by Dublin at the height of the financial crisis. 

Referring on the tapes to the prospect of the Anglo-Irish Bank being nationalised, Mr Bowe says: "That would be fantastic. If it was nationalisation, we'd all keep our jobs... civil servants, you know?"

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