South Wales 'Ride me' bus advert sparks online backlash

A south Wales bus company says it will withdraw an advertising campaign following an online backlash.

The New Adventure Travel advert depicts a semi-naked woman on the back of buses holding a billboard which reads: "Ride me all day for £3".

The company said it had been trying to "make catching the bus attractive to the younger generation."
It has attracted an angry response on social media - including criticism by MPs.

On Facebook, one person wrote: "Absolutely dreadful advert, what is wrong with you?!"

Another said: "Do they seriously think they can get away with this? Women should take a stand on this and boycott that bus company."

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Greece’s plight at odds with public's lack of concern as default deferred – for now

“Nothing will change this week,” said Aris Karnachoritis confidently as the waitress handed out bottles of beer and frosted glasses to him and his friends.

Constantinos Neocleous, sitting beside him at a table on the beach at Vouliagmeni near Athens, nodded in agreement. “It’s not in anyone’s interests to have a crisis now,” he said.

Beyond the beach lay shallow waters of radiant turquoise. Children paddled. Teenagers romped. And from nearby, where a group of young men were playing beach tennis, came the comforting “plock-plock” sound of bat on ball.

The talks between Alexis Tsipras’s government and its creditors have dragged on for so long that it has become hard to believe there will ever be a decisive make-or-break juncture. And never has that been harder to believe than now, with the arrival of summer and the entrancing distractions it brings to a country like Greece.

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Cunard's 175th anniversary Liners gather in Southampton

Cunard's three liners have gathered in Southampton to mark the start of the shipping company's 175th anniversary celebrations.

The Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria started a procession down Southampton Water at about 17:45 BST after an hour's delay.

It was organised to pay homage to the city which is the fleet's home port.

Further celebrations will take place in Liverpool, where the company has its headquarters, in May and July.

Angus Struthers, from Cunard, said it was "the very first time" Queen Mary 2 had led a daylight parade of the "three queens" down Southampton Water and into the Solent.

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The most corrupt countries in the world, ranked in order

Transparency International has released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks 175 countries on their levels of public sector corruption.

A statement released with the report indicated that a low score “is likely a sign of widespread bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs”.

It is pointed out that while no countries score 0 (highly corrupt), there are also none scoring a perfect 100 (very clean).

Bribes and backroom deals don’t just steal resources from the most vulnerable – they undermine justice and economic development, and destroy public trust in government and leaders.

Transparency International

Britain scores 78 which takes it up to 14 on the list and overall the country has seen a steady improvement over the past two years (2012: 74, 2013: 76).

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These are the world's most powerful passports

A passport from a country on good diplomatic terms with its peers is a powerful tool, allowing holders to travel across borders with ease.

Financial firm Arton Capital, which specializes in helping wealthy individuals obtain multiple citizenships, sometimes through immigrant investor programs, has put together a ranking of the world's most powerful passports.

The ranking shows which passports give holders the most global mobility, based on how many countries can be visited without a visa, or by getting one upon arrival.

Developed countries with advanced economies fare the best. Tied for first place are U.S. and U.K. passports, which give holders access to 147 countries.

Passports from the world's most populous country, China, offer quick access to 74 countries. Indian passport holders aren't so lucky, with 59 easy destinations. A Russian passport provides 98 country options.

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How low can interest rates go?

The Bank of England's website says that the "effective lower bound" for the interest rate it sets, Bank Rate, is the current rate of 0.5%.

This is the level, according to the Bank, "below which it cannot be set" - the lowest practicable official interest rate.

But on this important issue the website is behind the thinking of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which sets Bank Rate as its main tool to keep inflation on target.

Because just over a month ago, the Bank's governor said that if low inflation were to begin to depress expectations of inflation and wage growth, the MPC could "cut Bank Rate further towards zero".

And with inflation well below the 2% target at zero, the Bank's chief economist, Andy Haldane, has said - as a personal rather than institutional view - that there is a meaningful chance that Bank Rate will be cut.

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Nigeria's Tony Elumelu funds 1,000 African entrepreneurs

Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu has decided to fund 1,000 budding African entrepreneurs as part of a $100m (£670,000) initiative to boost the continent's private sector.

Mr Elumelu said the entrepreneurs were Africa's "hope for the future".

The 1,000 come from 52 African states and territories and were chosen from some 20,000 applicants.

Forbes magazine listed Mr Elumelu last year as the 26th richest African, worth $1bn.

The BBC's Lerato Mbele reports from South Africa's main city, Johannesburg, that his donation is the largest by a businessman towards the development of small businesses in Africa.

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Egypt to build new administrative and business capital - BBC

Egypt's new administrative and business city, on the outskirts of Cairo, has been revealed on a new website.

It says the city will house up to five million residents and be built in the corridor between Cairo and the Red Sea.

There will be 1.1m housing units and 1.75m permanent jobs.

The city is set to be officially unveiled at an Egyptian government conference at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, to global investors and politicians.

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P&G fined $1m in China over toothpaste advertisement - BBC

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has been fined close to $1m (£662,876) in China for what Shanghai regulators said was false advertising of its Crest toothpaste brand.

They said P&G overstated the effects of its toothpaste in a TV ad featuring a popular Taiwanese talk show host.

Images in the ad were said to be digitally enhanced to show whiter teeth.

Chinese media are reporting the fine as the biggest of its kind on record.

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China's core inflation rises by 1.4% in February - BBC

China's core inflation rate rose by 1.4% in February from a year earlier, recovering from a more than five-year low and exceeding most expectations.

The consumer price inflation (CPI) data compares with a rise of 0.8% in January, which was the weakest reading since November 2009.

China's new consumer inflation target is about 3%, down from 3.5% in 2014.

The rise in inflation for the period was attributed by officials to China's Lunar New Year celebrations.

The official number could ease some deflation worries for the world's second-largest economy, although analysts were unconvinced the holiday period was a factor for the year-on-year rise.

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Singapore remains world's most expensive city - BBC News

Singapore has retained its position as the world's most expensive city, according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The top five most expensive cities in the world remain unchanged from a year earlier and include, in descending order, Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney.

The EIU's survey comprises 133 cities worldwide and uses New York as a base.

It compares the cost of more than 160 services and products including food, clothing and utility bills.

Singapore was found to be 11% more expensive than New York for basic groceries.

And together with Seoul, it was found to be the most expensive place in the world for clothes, "with prices 50% higher than New York", the EIU said.

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Bill Gates is named world's richest person again - BBC News

Bill Gates has been declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires.

The Microsoft founder once again beat Mexican businessman Carlos Slim to the top spot.

Mr Gates' net worth rose by just over $3bn (£1.94bn) in the year to 13 February, to $79bn.

There are a record 1,826 billionaires in the world, Forbes said, an increase of 181 in the past 12 months.

Mr Gates has now been top of the list for 16 of the last 21 years, Forbes added.

Legendary US investor Warren Buffett regained third place in the list with a net worth of $72.7bn, from Amancio Ortega, the founder of Spanish fashion chain Zara.

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Greek debt crisis: German MPs back bailout extension - BBC News

The German parliament has voted to extend financial aid to Greece by another four months.

The extension - approved by creditors last week in exchange for a series of Greek government reforms - needs to be ratified by eurozone members.

Some MPs had expressed doubts about the deal and there is substantial public scepticism but the vote passed easily.

It comes after police and protesters clashed during anti-government demonstrations in Athens on Thursday.

They were the first such disturbances since Greece's leftist Syriza was sworn in as the main government party exactly a month ago, promising to renegotiate the country's debt and end austerity.

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Malaysia's AirAsia posts first loss in two years - BBC News

AirAsia, one of the continent's most successful carriers, has posted its first net loss in two years, citing currency exchange losses and higher taxes.

In December, the Malaysian airline's Flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea, with 162 people on board.

The firm said its net loss for the three months to December amounted to 429m Malaysia ringgit ($120m; £77.8m).

The result compares to a MYR169m profit for the same quarter a year earlier.

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Japan's shares at fresh 15-year high on weaker yen - BBC News

Shares on Japan's main index were up on Friday morning due to a weaker yen against the US dollar and despite a raft of mostly disappointing economic figures.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 0.24% in early trade at 18,805.50 points.

The dollar was buying 119.36 yen on Friday, after rising overnight from a Thursday low of 118.68 yen in the US .

A weaker yen helps Japan's big exporters.

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Net neutrality rules passed by US regulator - BBC News

New rules on how the internet should be governed have been approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

In what is seen as a victory for advocates of net neutrality, the commission voted in favour of changes proposed by chairman Tom Wheeler.

Three commissioners voted in favour and two against.

The US Telecommunications Industry Association said that broadband providers would take "immediate" legal action over the rule changes.

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HSBC bank 'helped clients dodge millions in tax' - BBC News

Britain's biggest bank helped wealthy clients cheat the UK out of millions of pounds in tax, the BBC has learned.

Panorama has seen thousands of accounts from HSBC's private bank in Switzerland leaked by a whistleblower in 2007.

They show bankers helped clients evade tax and offered deals to help tax dodgers stay ahead of the law.

HSBC admitted that some individuals took advantage of bank secrecy to hold undeclared accounts. But it said it has now "fundamentally changed".

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Morgan Stanley income rises despite 'choppy market' - BBC News

US banking giant Morgan Stanley has seen net income more than double after lighter legal fees relating to mortgage-backed securities.

Fourth-quarter earnings for 2014 were $903m (£596m), or 40 cents a share, compared with $336m a year earlier.

The bank's legal expenses were $284m, down from $1.4bn a year earlier.

However, the bank said overall performance had been affected by "choppy market conditions" in the quarter.

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