Three people are said to have been killed and over a hundred injured by two explosions near the finishing line of the Boston marathon yesterday. “The White House said the incident would be handled as an ‘act of terror’. If confirmed as terrorism, it would be the most dramatic such incident on the mainland US since the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001,” writes the Financial Times.
According to The Telegraph, executives from banking giant Barclays “went behind [a] client’s back” to make a rival bid for a carbon-trading firm in 2010. It is alleged that Barclays was hired in 2008 by CF Partner to help finance a bid for Tricorona, but then misused confidential information to mount its own offer.
Supermarket giants Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have announced that they are cutting their petrol prices, according to The Guardian. “This is perhaps another glimmer of sunlight for drivers after a hard, wet, pot-holed and expensive winter of driving,” said Edmund King, the President of the AA.
The Times says that the ousted Chief Executive Officer of Trinity Mirror was given a pay package of £2.3m, comprising a pay-off, cashing in nil-cost options and basic salary. Sly Bailey stood down last summer after an investor revolt over executive pay.
Gold prices experienced their sharpest one-day drop in 30 years yesterday, “heightening fears among investors that the precious metal’s decade-long bull run has ended,” reports the Financial Times.
The Independent says that a former HSBC employee is alleged to have stolen data on tens of thousands of bank accounts which ended up in the hands of tax authorities in several European countries.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Germany “does not have the economic strength to launch another stimulus package now without running the risk of losing market confidence”, says The Telegraph.
