Buddah Lineage

Police in London said they arrested two men who allegedly robbed a diplomat of 2 million pounds ($3.2 million) destined for the Dubai royal family Wednesday. Police recovered suitcases stuffed with cash blocks away from the bank where the diplomat had just withdrawn the cash, The Sun reported. A third man escaped. The robbery occurred at about 4 p.m. in the posh Knightsbridge neighborhood. The diplomat told police he was headed to a chauffeured car when three masked men surrounded him and one held a gun to his head. "Give me the money, or I'll blow your brains out," he said he was told. Armed officers from the Police Diplomatic Protection Service arrested two suspects almost immediately. The suspects were identified as Jonathan Hayes, 36, and Trevor Mair, 45, both unemployed and from suburbs south of London, The Independent said. They were remanded in custody pending a hearing in September. Royals from Dubai and other Arab emirates often spend the summer in London. "...

The parents of Tommy Kelliher from Newcastle West, Co Limerick, were abroad at a wedding when their 25-year-old son was taken at gunpoint just before he opened the family-run post office yesterday morning. He was later released unharmed. The post office is one of the biggest sub-offices in the country and covers a large catchment area. Last night, Tommy Kelliher Snr told of his relief that his eldest son was unharmed as he made arrangements to fly home. Speaking to the Irish Independent from Spain, Mr Kelliher said he knew very little about the tiger kidnapping. "He's fine. He is all right -- that is the main thing. He has been through an awful ordeal," Mr Kelliher said. "I'm getting a flight now. You probably know as much as me. He's safe -- that's all I know," he said. The investigation into the brazen raid in west Limerick is continuing and gardai have already recovered vital evidence. Officers were last night continuing to speak to Tommy Kelliher...

The arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in connection with a sexual assault in New York risks throwing the French presidential race in disarray. Strauss-Kahn is seen as the strongest potential challenger to conservative and unpopular President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012 presidential elections. Strauss-Kahn has not announced his candidacy but was expected to seek the Socialist Party nomination. Political rivals expressed shock after his arrest in New York. Far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said his presidential bid was doomed. Socialist adversary Segolene Royal urged prudence pending further investigation. Ally Jean-Marie Le Guen said the sexual assault claim sounded nothing like Strauss-Kahn. Le Guen recently suggested the IMF chief was the subject of a smear campaign.  

This kind of cover is expensive and tends to be difficult, if not impossible, to claim on, meaning it is often a complete waste of money. The only people to benefit are the banks and other financial providers who make billions of pounds a year from selling it. PPI is supposed to help people with credit card debt, loans and other borrowing if they can't keep up their payments because of job- loss or illness. But many of those sold policies don't understand how costly it will be, or that they won't be able to claim if they are self- employed, part-time or contract worker, or if they have a pre- existing medical condition. Many who are eligible to claim think they will receive enough cash to clear their borrowing. In fact, PPI only covers their monthly payments for a maximum of a year. After that, the debt is their responsibility again, regardless of whether they can afford it. Other customers don't even know PPI has been added to their credit agreement until they spot it ...

They told home owners they were “not confident” that they could lower arrears and repossessions as successfully as last year. In 2010, the number of repossessions dropped to 36,300 compared with 47,700 the previous year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Measures taken by banks and the Government to ensure people were only evicted from their homes as ‘a last resort’ ensured levels for 2010 were lower than forecast amid the fallout from the recession. But lenders expect numbers to increase again this year to 40,000, the same level as 2008 during the height of the credit crisis. The CML blamed the expected rise on a weak economy, Government cuts, the rising cost of living and possible interest rate rises.  

Credit Suisse says a 130 million Swiss franc ($147.8 million) hit to pretax profit at its private banking unit, due to the Swiss franc’s strength, is hiding progress from the money-management unit, the growth of which is key to investors in the stock. The private bank is grappling with a Swiss franc which has been persistently strong against the euro and U.S. dollar, ultimately putting private bank targets set by Chief Executive Brady Dougan into question just a few short months after they were scaled back. While the franc was largely steady against the euro in the quarter, the Swiss currency strengthened roughly 5% against the U.S. dollar. That meant pain for Credit Suisse and other private banks. With a pretax unit margin of 26% in the first quarter, Credit Suisse’s private bank is far from its 30% target, which was lowered from 40% in February. The currency hit is one all Swiss private banks are taking, and Credit Suisse’s much smaller rival EFG International Wednes...

"Revenues are growing at a good pace throughout the group and in Spain reversed the downward trend of recent quarters. I am convinced that this change will continue in the coming months," Chairman Emilio Botin said in a statement. While analysts agreed that things looked better in Santander's home market, they said it would be a while before Spain is out of the woods. The country has been a focus of market attention since a property crash unleashed high personal debt levels and high unemployment. Santander's profit in Spain, which accounts for less than Brazil or Britain at the geographically diversified bank, fell 31 percent year-on-year but rose by 54.3 percent quarter-on-quarter. "These are basically solid results and I think this quarter will be the worst in terms of comparables because after the weakness of 2010, revenues will be more stable," said Arturo de Frias, analyst at Evolution Securities. "Spain will start to look better in terms of profit...