Mr_McGowan

Freezing weather sweeping across Europe has led to a shortage of vital Russian gas supplies to several countries, officials say. An EU energy spokeswoman said eight countries had seen a reduction in gas due to increased demand in Russia. She said the situation was not an emergency but was being monitored. The cold snap is being blamed for scores of deaths in eastern Europe where temperatures have plunged to below -35C. Read Full Story

Telecoms group BT has reported a rise in profits, thanks to cost-cutting and an increase in broadband users. Pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of December were £652m, 48% higher than a year earlier. Revenue fell 5% to £4.77bn. Excluding one-off items, profits increased by 18%. The company said it had expanded the availability of its fibre-optic broadband to seven million homes and signed up 95,000 customers to it. Read Full Story

The US economy created 243,000 jobs in January, the highest total for nine months, official figures show. The rise was much more than expected. Analysts had forecast an increase of about 150,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%, which was the lowest rate in nearly three years, and down from a revised rate of 8.5% in December. News of the jobs growth caused shares to rocket up, with the Dow Jones index up 156 points at 12,862, its highest level since May 2008. The Nasdaq index... Read Full Story

I do not know what to believe! Al Gore made a good case for Global Warming in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" which really made everyone think. But now and again there are many experts and scientists who do not believe it at all. James Delingpole is one such critic of the automatic acceptance of global warming. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100129892/global-warming-red-faced-climatologist-issues-grovelling-apology/ and this one here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news... Read Full Story

With the future of Scotland potentially at stake with the upcoming referendum over the break-up of the United Kingdom, who would get the oil in the North Sea? 95% of the oil the UK drills is on Scottish water, but it would be unlikely that Scotland would get it keep all of the revenues as UK money has been spent on machinery, equipment and research. Plus when the oil was discovered it was as the UK and not just as Scotland. But surely we need a concrete agreement of what would happen as this... Read Full Story

Thought I would share a great article I read on the BBC called: "Can a company last forver" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16611040 We all know that when it comes to the product life cycle we sometimes have fads (which have very short lives) whereas classics such as Coca Cola seem to go on forever. But can this idea be extended from products to actual companies themselves? I found this incredible: "In Japan, there are more than 20,000 companies that are more than 100 years old, with a... Read Full Story

KODAK FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY Eastman Kodak, the company that invented the hand-held camera, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The move gives the company time to reorganise itself without facing its creditors, and Kodak said that it would mean business as normal for customers. The company has recently moved away from cameras to refocus on making printers to stem falling profits. The 133-year-old firm has struggled to keep up with competitors who were quicker to adapt to the digital era... Read Full Story

Rea today an interesting article about a clash between FIFA and the Brazilian Government. "Beer must be sold at all venues hosting matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, football's world governing body, Fifa, has insisted. Fifa General Secretary Jerome Valcke said the right to sell beer must be enshrined in a World Cup law the Brazilian Congress is considering. Alcoholic drinks are currently banned at Brazilian stadiums and the country's health minister has urged Congress to maintain the... Read Full Story

There is an "unhealthy correlation" between the building of skyscrapers and subsequent financial crashes, according to Barclays Capital. Examples include the Empire State building, built as the Great Depression was under way, and the current world's tallest, the Burj Khalifa, built just before Dubai almost went bust. China is currently the biggest builder of skyscrapers, the bank said. India also has 14 skyscrapers under construction. "Often the world's tallest buildings are simply the... Read Full Story

Teaching S1 today in ICT we were doing our Citizenship challenge and one of the groups received Panama as their country. I used this to share an interesting piece of knowledge/trivia with my pupils! Leigh Mercer published an excellent and world famous palindrome (a sentance or word that reads the same backwards as forwards) in 1948 on the topic of Panama. A MAN A PLAN A CANAL PANAMA! Check it, it works! Read Full Story