Money news

The former vice president of the Maldives has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to money laundering and embezzlement under orders from the former president. The Criminal Court on Monday night also fined Ahmed Adeeb $129,800. The prison sentence, which will be shortened by one year because he served time after a previous conviction on the same charges, also covered charges of corruption and possession of an unlicensed firearm. Adeeb was a protege to former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom during the early years of his presidency between 2013 and 2018. He had been sentenced to 33 years in prison in 2016 for several counts including masterminding a blast in a presidential speedboat in which Yameen's wife was wounded. He was freed from all charges after Yameen lost reelection in 2018. Under the new President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, many cases perceived to be politically motivated were revisited. After his release, Adeeb testified against …

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A line of 60 uniformed security guards stretched across the entrance to ailing Chinese property giant Evergrande’s gleaming Shenzhen tower on Monday as dozens of angry investors demanded answers – and their money – from the company. The protesters, who claimed they had been “swindled”, represent just a fraction of an estimated 1.5m people who pumped cash into Evergrande to buy apartments which have yet to be built – and may never be. Evergrande, founded in 1996 by the well-connected billionaire Xu Jiayin, rode an urban property boom now running out of steam and is teetering under a $300bn debt burden. The firm was forced to deny an imminent bankruptcy but ratings agencies predict a default, while domestic banks and foreign creditors are on the hook, prompting fears of a "Lehman moment" for the world’s second-biggest economy. “Right now, there are an awful lot of people in China paying for a property from a company that looks like it's going down the plughole,” says Mark Williams, …

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THESE clever tricks will save you a fortune on specialist car cleaning products. And you don't need an endless stream of instructions or hours of careful planning to get your motor looking fresh. According to cleaning experts, there are several everyday items that can keep your vehicle in tip-top shape. Toothpaste, WD40, hair conditioner - and even vodka could be the answer to your motoring woes. They'll help remove ugly stains from your paintwork and even clean your headlights. These are the best car cleaning tricks using basic household items to save you time and money. Toothpaste Headlight casings can get mucky and clouded over time blocking the effectiveness of your lights. While headlight restorer kits can be purchased, toothpaste can work wonders, too. Simply apply some toothpaste to a cloth and scrub the outside of the light, then rinse and wipe to see instant results. OPEN SPACES How can I report illegal parking? …

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Hundreds of migrants — including small children, babies and elderly people — have camped out in northwest Bosnia braving worsening weather and tough Croatian border police for a chance to head on towards Western Europe With some of the shelters no more than sticks covered by nylon sheeting, the settlement sprawls over a muddy field near the town of Velika Kladusa, a few kilometers (miles) from the border with Croatia, a European Union member. Locals say the camp has sprouted over the past few weeks. There's no running water, lavatories, showers or electricity, and a freezing Bosnian winter is approaching fast. The migrants cope as best they can. They bring water in plastic containers, light fires for warmth and try to keep their tents tidy inside. Some men could be seen washing or shaving, hoping to keep clean in a sea of mud and dirt around them. Nearby, others were chopping firewood as toddlers used sticks to draw on the ground. Some children played with plush …

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Self-conscious Brits are literally too embarrassed to barter – losing them hundreds of pounds per year in holiday costs, according to a study. Researchers found the main reasons for not wanting to haggle include embarrassment (46 percent), not wanting to appear rude (41 percent) and thinking it socially unacceptable (30 percent). A huge 80 percent admitted they have never tried to barter a price down abroad, while 46 percent feel uncomfortable haggling for money off items in the UK. Two-thirds of the 2,000 people polled would never attempt to barter on the price of a holiday. Another 40 percent wouldn’t haggle for a car, and seven in ten said there’s no chance they’re asking for money off a hotel room. Adrian Murdock from hotel bookings site justhooit.com, which commissioned the research, said: "We live by the words: "don’t ask, don’t get" – hotels will listen to sensible offers and Brits are losing out on millions of pounds a year because they’re afraid …

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Marks & Spencer (M&S) is closing its store in Bristol Broadmead after nearly seven decades, the retailer has announced. It could also close branches in Maidstone and Poole, according to chief operating officer Stuart Machin. The high street chain has been based in the centre of Bristol since 1952, selling homewares, clothing and food. The M&S Broadmead store is set to shut in January, but no exact date has been set. The retailer is in consultations with 89 staff, and is trying to move as many as possible to other M&S outlets, according to the Bristol Post . M&S regional manager John Dorrington said: “Shopping habits are changing, so we’re rotating our store estate to make sure we have the right stores to offer our customers a brilliant shopping experience. Are you a worker affected by the closure? Get in touch: [email protected] “As part of this transformation, we have today announced to colleagues our proposal to close our M&S …

[Read more...] about M&S to shut popular high street branch after 70 years – and two more could follow

If you want a fast-paced thriller to read this bank holiday, then Robert Tressell's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is not going to fit the bill. Yet the bulky novel, once known as "the painter's bible" and written in 1910, is leading an unlikely surge in the popularity of classic leftwing titles. Sales of the book received a boost last year, following a star-studded Radio 4 serialisation of the work that featured Bill Bailey, Timothy Spall, Johnny Vegas, Paul Whitehouse and the MP John Prescott in a cameo role. This year, in the midst of dire economic forecasts, the book is still confounding expectations, peaking at number six in the Amazon Movers and Shakers list. "It has really surprised us," said Simon Winder, a publishing director at Penguin. "We sold many more than usual of our Penguin Classics edition last year, with sales going up from about 3,000 a year to more than 5,000, and this year it is carrying on the same way. It is incredible for such a serious classic. …

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A French policeman tasked with protecting VIPs is among five charged with swindling a Champagne heir out of his bubbly and fortune by convincing him he had been recruited as a secret agent. The five, including an interior ministry staffer,  are accused of luring the gullible producer of 450,000 bottles per year into handing over tens of thousands in fizz and cash. The money was supposed to pay for a raft of increasingly outlandish “missions” they claimed involved the Moroccan royal family, ex-US president Barack Obama, the United Nations and a part in a film with Alain Delon. The men face charges of "abuse of weakness” and “extortion” of Hugues B (whose full name has not been disclosed) - a psychologically frail individual with “megalomaniac delusions” who they mockingly referred to as VIM (Very Important Madman), according to the indictment seen by Le Parisien. Prosecuting judges say the plaintiff squandered his fortune on being fooled into buying fast cars and a plane the …

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Terminally ill people in rural Scotland could have applications to end their lives approved over Zoom under proposals to legalise assisted suicide . Under a Private Members’ Bill, agreement from two doctors would be needed for a person with an incurable illness to end their own life by taking a fatal cocktail of drugs that would be provided on the NHS. A consultation published ahead of the proposed law’s introduction to Holyrood raises the prospect of a death being signed off via video link, if the patient is unable to travel or cannot find two doctors to visit them. Liam McArthur, the Liberal Democrat MSP behind the plan, admitted that a lack of access to doctors could make an assisted death harder to access for people in remote areas, particularly if a local GPs boycotted the process on conscientious grounds. His document goes on to note that in some other countries where assisted dying is legal, approval by video link is allowed in “exceptional circumstances”. …

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This week, Brussels negotiators promised to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol with hopes that it could end months of post-Brexit bickering between the bloc and the British Government. Readers took this opportunity to share why they feel the protocol is unnecessary. Elsewhere, the first major report into the Government’s pandemic response concluded that Britain did not lock down sooner due to a ministerial failure to challenge poor scientific advice . In response, our readers offered up how they believe the pandemic should have initially been dealt with.Read on to find out what our readers had to say about these stories and the week’s biggest talking points. Get‌ ‌involved‌ ‌in‌ ‌future‌ ‌round-ups‌ ‌by‌ ‌joining‌ ‌the‌ ‌ Telegraph‌ ‌Community‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌group.‌ Revealed: EU's four-pronged plan to reform Northern Ireland Protocol and end months of Brexit bickering On Wednesday, negotiators from Brussels travelled to London, with promises to bend and break their …

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