Politics
Blackwater guards to make court appearance (AP)
British government proposing "name and shame" equality list
The government's equalities office is drawing up an amendment to the equality bill that would force companies to publish figures in annual accounts showing the number of men and women in particular pay bands. The bill is due to be published early this year.
Business leaders reacted angrily to the proposal. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) complained that forcing companies to produce "meaningless statistics" would do little to tackle the underlying causes of inequality, while the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said the response was "over-prescriptive".
The minister in charge of the bill, Vera Baird, the solicitor general, is understood to be sympathetic to the scheme following criticism that the existing requirement for public sector bodies to report on gender pay inequalities did not go far enough to close the pay gap.
Men are paid 17.1% more than women for full-time work, according to government figures published in November. In part-time wages, the gender gap is 36.6%, according to the Office of National Statistics. Over a lifetime, that disparity means that women in full-time employment will be paid £369,000 less than their male counterparts, the EHRC estimated.
Separate research by Cranfield Business School showed the number of women holding executive directorships in FTSE 100 companies fell in 2007 to the lowest level for nine years. Only three of Britain's top companies have female chief executives.
Team Obama dabbles in drama (Politico)
UK report: 25% of families will have no disposable income in 2009
In November, a survey by Nielsen, the market research firm, and trade body the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that 21 per cent of families had no spare cash left after essential living expenses. However, sector insiders expect this to grow to at least 25 per cent by the spring.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey last week showed that six in 10 people believe they will have less disposable income in 2009 than they had last year. Those in the lower socio-economic DE classifications were particularly gloomy, with nearly 70 per cent convinced they would have less money to spend on the high street.
Stephen Robertson, director-general at the BRC, said: "A fifth of all families had nothing left to spend [after core expenses] and I think that will get worse during 2009."
A leading retail figure predicted that the next Nielsen/BRC survey, due in May, will show at least 25 per cent of families lacking the cash needed for minor luxuries.
Madoff scandal, SEC role under scrutiny (AP)
AP - Two more months of mortgage payments and retiree Allan Goldstein says he'll be broke, just another victim in what may be the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
Obama's intel picks short on direct experience (AP)
AP - President-elect Barack Obama's selection of an old White House hand to head the CIA shows a preference for a strong manager over an intelligence expert.
Obama stimulus plan boosts business tax refunds (AP)
AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus package would provide businesses with billions of dollars in refunds on taxes they paid several years ago.
Economic crisis, Obama response face new Congress (AP)
AP - The Democratic-dominated Congress convenes Tuesday to confront perhaps the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and to grapple with a hugely ambitious agenda set by President-elect Barack Obama.
Nation's health spending rises, but not so much (AP)
Ukraine: Russia cut gas to Europe by two-thirds (AP)
National Briefing: Bushes’ Pet Cat Dies
This year's list of words that should be banned
First Dude "Skateboard English is not the appropriate way to refer to the spouse of a high ranking public official," says one commentator on the university's website.
Maverick The word has been left so battered and bruised by the assaults perpetrated on it by John McCain and Sarah Palin that it might be a kindness to leave it in peace to recover for a while.
Staycation Banishment of this seems harsh. Staycation is a succinct, witty way of labelling the new trend for staying in your home country at holiday time, but it is suffering for enshrining both green and economic concerns, which as we have seen above, is a sure way to tick people off.
Chris has used staycation on the blog, and I had no idea what it meant until I read his post, so I'm not sure that one's being overused, yet.
Kennedy missteps might not trip her up in the end (AP)
AP - Caroline Kennedy's missteps and halting speech patterns have been replayed endlessly since she announced her bid to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate.




