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FROM REUTERS

Britain slashes spending, raises retirement age


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will cut half a million jobs, lift the retirement age and slash welfare as part of an unprecedented cost-cutting drive announced on Wednesday which will test the strength of the economy and the government.

The long-awaited spending review confirmed 80 billion pounds of cuts, sent unions into a fury and turned up the heat on the Liberal Democrats, the junior coalition partners who campaigned against such sharp fiscal tightening before the May election.

The jury remains out on whether the economy -- just recovering from the worst recession since World War Two -- can survive the squeeze which will cut growth by around half a percent each year. Analysts expect the Bank of England to keep monetary policy super-loose for the foreseeable future.

Nor is it clear whether the cuts -- aimed at bringing down a record budget deficit of 11 percent of GDP -- can actually be achieved. More of the burden has been shifted to the notoriously hard-to-cut welfare bill -- an extra 7 billion pounds on top of the 11 billion pounds cuts already announced.

Conservative finance minister George Osborne said that was the best way and would mean that government departments outside protected areas like health and international aid would only see their budgets shrink by, on average, 19 percent, not the 25 percent announced in his budget.


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Learn about the dollar redesign project by clicking on image below

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Court: Israelis suspected in 'Nigerian scam' can be extradited to U.S.Seven Israelis are suspected of scamming tens of millions of dollars from U.S. pensioners in a so-called Nigerian scam over the course of four years.

By Liel Kyzer and Haaretz ServiceTags: Israel newsThe seven Israelis suspected of scamming tens of millions of dollars from U.S. pensioners in a so-called "Nigerian scam" can be extradited to the United States to face trial there, the Jerusalem District Court ruled on Wednesday.

The seven, arrested by Tel Aviv police in July 2009, have been charged by American prosecutors for a serious of legal violations, including conspiracy to commit fraud. Some of the defendants also face money laundering charges.

The defendants are suspected of building a sophisticated crime network to defraud elderly American pensioners. Over four years, the network netted tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.

The defendants, all in their 20s and 30s, allegedly phoned American pensioners, told them they had won the lottery and asked them for a fee of several thousand dollars for the transfer of the prize money, which in fact never existed.



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Click image to see real-time feed/ this is likely misleading (i.e. conservative estimates) but it gets the job done. Thanks for making these people who own everything!!!

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http://www.usdebtclock.org/
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http://www.wlwt.com/video/22605945/
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