Theresa May: 8 Things You Should Know About the UK’s New Prime Minister

Theresa May: 8 Things You Should Know About the UK’s New Prime Minister

Theresa May became Britain’s second female prime minister Wednesday, three weeks after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. The 59-year-old becomes the 13^th prime minister to lead the U.K. under Queen Elizabeth II, and she assumes office after having served as home secretary from 2010 until this year.

Here are eight things you don’t know about her:

• She’s the daughter of a minister and as the Guardian put it, she’s “steeped in moral purpose.”
• May has been called a “micro-manager,” who oversees every decision of her subordinates.
• She demands loyalty, but doesn’t surround herself with sycophants. She likes a good argument and will change her mind if one is made.
• She may be a Conservative but she’s got an across-the-board high tax, high spending agenda that even a liberal like Bernie Sanders might love.
• She’s a new “suffragette,” stumping for gender equality and women’s rights.
• She opposes the UK’s high levels of immigration. According to VOX, May used her power as home secretary to impose a rule that would block skilled immigrants from permanently settling in the UK if they made less than £37,000 a year (roughly $53,000 at pre-Brexit exchange rates). Anyone who made less than that would be deported.
• May doesn’t pander to political correctness. She would not reverse the detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner. Greenwald published the Wikileaks documents in the Guardian and Miranda was detained under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
• It may not count for much, but she was found in contempt of court for “totally unacceptable and regrettable behavior” when she disregarded a legal agreement to free an Algerian from a U.K. detention center. 

Culled from The Fiscal Times

Hitler Escaped Nazi Germany And Lived In Paraguay Until His Death In 1971 Claims Historian Abel Basti

‘There was an agreement with the US that Hitler would run away and that he shouldn’t fall into the hands of the Soviet Union’

By Sara C Nelson 

 

 

The mental image of Adolf Hitler living out his final days happily in sunny South America is an unpleasant one, but it’s one that continues to endure.
The story is at stark odds with the official version of events, which places the Fuhrer with his wife of just one day Eva Braun, in an underground bunker on 30 April 1945.
A reported suicide pact saw Hitler die by a gunshot to the head and Braun poisoned by a cyanide pill, after the Nazi leader’s terrible reign was defeated by the Allied powers.

S&G/S&G and Barratts

Adolf Hitler fled to Argentina and then Paraguay, where he died in 1971, believes historian Abel Basti 

Their bodies were then taken outside and burned by staff, before being deposited in a shallow grave, it is claimed.
But a growing number believe this version of events to be untrue, subscribing instead to the theory that Hitler was among thousands of Nazis to seek refuge in South America.
Abel Basti is one of those to detail this hypothesis in his book El Exilio De Hitler (Hitler in Exile), a new edition of which was recently published in Argentina.
Basti, who has written extensively on the dictator, told Sputnik News: “There was an agreement with the US that Hitler would run away and that he shouldn’t fall into the hands of the Soviet Union. This also applies to many scientists, the military and spies who later took part in the struggle against the Soviet regime.”

Hulton Archive

Officially, Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide on 30 April 1945

The historian believes Hitler exited the bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin via a tunnel, which took him to Tempelhof Airport, where a helicopter spirited him to Spain.
From there, he claims he travelled to the Canary Islands where a U-boat waited to take him to Argentina.
Hitler is alleged to have spent a decade in the country, before moving to Paraguay, where he lived under the protection of President Alfredo Stroessner, who had German roots.
The former Fuhrer died there on 3 February 1971, Basti believes.
He said: “Wealthy families who helped him over the years were responsible for the organisation of his funeral. Hitler was buried in an underground bunker, which is now an elegant hotel in the city of Asuncion. In 1973, the entrance to the bunker was sealed and 40 people came to say goodbye to Hitler. One of those who attended, Brazilian serviceman Fernando Nogueira de Araujo, then told a newspaper about the ceremony.”

AP

Basti believes the Fuhrer died in 1971 in Paraguay. Hitler is pictured here during a speech in Berlin in 1937

Basti’s theory of Hitler’s escape and particularly his route via the Canary Islands has also been backed up by veteran CIA agent Bob Baer, who claims to have proof the German leader faked his own death and fled to Tenerife.
Appearing on a History Channel series in January, Baer and his team analysed 700 pages of declassified information, with one stating: “American Army officials in Germany have not located Hitler’s body nor is there any reliable source that Hitler is dead.”
Circumstances of the dictator’s death were also clouded in 2009 when American researchers claimed DNA tests on a fragment of skull, said to belong to Hitler, revealed it actually belonged to an unidentified woman, the Guardian reported.
The skull fragment, complete with bullet hole, was supposedly taken from the bunker by the Russians and went on display in Moscow in 2000, where it was presented as irrefutable evidence Hitler had committed suicide.

Keystone via Getty Images

Argentina was seen as something of a haven to leaders of the Third Reich, with ‘Angel of Death’ Joseph Mengele seeking refuge there

Hitler biographer Werner Maser has also declared the fragment to be a fake, the BBC reports.
The post World War II connection to South America is widely known, with archaeologists last year stumbling upon what they believed were the ruins of a secret jungle lair built especially for Nazi leaders of the Third Reich, should they have been forced to flee Germany.
A series of stone ruins located in Argentina’s Teyu Cuare provincial park in the north of the country with its border with Paraguay were discovered by researchers hacking their way through the undergrowth with machetes.
In the event, the lair was not needed, as Argentinian president Juan Peron welcomed thousands of Nazis and Italian fascists to the country with open arms.
Joseph Mengele, a doctor who conducted barbaric experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp and Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann, were known to have fled there.
Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli agents in 1960, taken to Israel where he was tried and executed.
In 2000 Argentinian President Fernando de la Rua issued a formal apology for the country’s role in harbouring Nazi war criminals.
But as yet there has been no formal comment or evidence of Hitler’s own presence in the region...

Culled from Hughington post

This is how much longer you now need to save for retirement -Alexandra Gibbs

Current retirees may have worked tirelessly to ensure that their retirement is financially bulletproof, yet for today's typical worker to achieve the same status, they're expecting to save for an additional seven years, new HSBC (London Stock Exchange: HSBA-GB) research suggests.
Having interviewed over 18,200 people across 17 countries either online or face-to-face, the leading lender discovered that workers now expect to save for an average of three decades to feel financially secure for retirement — seven years more than the previous generation, on average worldwide.
"We are seeing, I think, a meaningful change in how investors think about retirement," Michael Schweitzer, HSBC's global head of sales and distribution, told CNBC over the phone.
"Awareness has risen. People have either witnessed or experienced the challenges of people around them who have retired or haven't planned effectively for retirement."
"Many people, particularly those in their forties are supporting others such as their children and their parents. So people see that and experience that, and there's a recognition there, that they need to take a more active role in planning for retirement and doing all they can to pad their nest egg for the future," Schweitzer added.
The news comes as U.K. citizens become increasingly concerned over their own economic future and savings, following the country's decision to leave the European Union . When asked about how this would impact U.K. retirement plans, Schweitzer said it was too early to determine what the long-term impact would be, but it was best for pre-retirees to always be ready for financial ups and downs.
In fact, concerns over global growth and an ageing population in general, make both governments and workers worldwide deliberate over what retirement will look like for future generations.
According to the research—conducted prior to the Brexit vote—the U.K. isn't the worst off however, with pre-retirees in both Britain and the U.S. expecting to save for an additional seven years to each country's current saving average.
China's working community is expected to take on the biggest hurdle, with pre-retirees expecting to now save for an additional 14 years, bringing their average saving total up to 23 years, compared to the nine years that current retirees had saved for.

The United Arab Emirates, Australia, France and Hong Kong are also worse off, with each average citizen looking to save for an additional 10 years or more on top of their current average, to feel financially ready for retirement.
Meanwhile, Indonesia was the only country surveyed that doesn't expect to save for longer than its current average, as many pre-retirees started saving earlier, but expect to retire earlier too, according to the "Generations and journeys" report.
When it comes to how workers plan to save for their future, alternative saving methods are becoming increasingly attractive compared to relying on traditional state pensions. Cash savings/deposits, downsizing or selling property, and personal pension schemes were among some of the options people are looking into to fund retirement.

While it appears the working population is becoming more financially-conscious about retirement, over a third admitted that they wish they'd started saving earlier on. Meanwhile, 24 percent confessed they hadn't begun saving for retirement, including 12 percent of those in their 60s.
However it isn't all that easy for workers who have started to save either. Forty two percent of those who have begun saving admitted to having either faced challenges or stopped, when it came to preparing for life after work.
"For some, (retirement) is about discipline with some wanting to prioritize outgoings versus incomings and make choices about how they spend their assets. For others it's far more challenging — income levels may not give them the [flexibility] to do such things, while others have commitments they are funding," said Schweitzer.
While the way we save for retirement differs from person to person, HSBC stresses that it's essential for individuals to start saving as early as possible, even if it's a small amount.
"People need to start (saving) earlier. The earlier you start, the less impact it will have on your daily outflows, because you have more time. So if you can start in your early twenties, even if it's just £50 ($66.50) a month, it's much, much better than waiting until you're 30 to do £100 a month. You don't pick up the benefit ever, of time."
As well as starting the saving process as early as possible, the bank recommends three other measures when it comes to approaching retirement: consider the essential retirement expenses, get advice from professionals, and finally a very important step considering today's climate: prepare for financial ups and downs.
Culled from CNBC International

Burberry first-quarter like-for-like sales fall 3 pct

A customer walks in front of a Burberry store in central London July 15, 2008. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Burberry reported a 3 percent drop in like-for-like sales in a "challenging" first quarter, underlining the size of the task facing Marco Gobbetti when he takes over chief executive duties from Christopher Bailey next year.

The luxury goods group said a positive 3 percent contribution from new stores resulted in flat retail sales of 423 million pounds ($562 million), slightly better than analysts' expectations.

Burberry announced the appointment of Gobbetti, the Italian boss of LVMH brand Celine, on Monday. Bailey will become president as well as retaining his creative role.

The firm is struggling to counter a sales downturn in mainland China and Hong Kong and fewer tourists in Europe after attacks in Paris and Brussels.

However, it is benefiting from a drop in the value of the pound after Britain voted to leave the European Union last month, saying its adjusted profit would be boosted by about 90 million pounds if exchange rates remain at current level.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton)

Culled from Reuters