Hoboroads Woman Of The Year Is Angela Merkel

Hoboroads Man Of The Year Is Vladimir Putin

Danica Thrall Glamour Pictures

Amy Willerton Glamour Pictures

Colum Eastwood Is Elected Leader Of The SDLP

LEAST PROSPEROUS COUNTRIES

125 Nigeria

126 Ethiopia

127 Congo, Rep.

128 Zimbabwe

129 Togo

130 Pakistan

131 Guinea

132 Liberia

133 Angola

134 Sudan

135 Yemen

136 Syria

137 Congo, Dem. Rep.

138 Burundi

139 Chad

140 Haiti

141 Afghanistan

142 Central African Republic 

20 MOST PROSPEROUS COUNTRIES

1 Norway

2 Switzerland

3 Denmark

4 New Zealand

5 Sweden

6 Canada

7 Australia

8 Netherlands

9 Finland

10 Ireland

11 United States

12 Iceland

13 Luxembourg

14 Germany

15 United Kingdom

16 Austria

17 Singapore

18 Belgium

19 Japan

20 Hong Kong

HMRC Win Big Tax Case

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has won a judgement that Rangers' use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) broke tax rules.

Rangers used the scheme from 2001 until 2010 to give millions of pounds of tax-free loans to players and other staff.

In what became known as the "big tax case", HMRC claimed these were salary payments and subject to tax.

HMRC lost its appeals at tax tribunals in 2012 and 2014. Now three judges at the Court of Session in Edinburgh have upheld their appeal.

The appeal was heard by Lord Carloway, sitting with Lord Menzies and Lord Drummond Young.

New Hampshire Monmouth Opinion Poll

Donald Trump 26%
Ben Carson 16%
Marco Rubio 13%
John Kaisich 11%
Ted Cruz 9%

Global Top Ten Tax Havens

10. Dubai / UAE

9. Bahrain

8. Germany

7. Lebanon

6. Luxembourg

5. Cayman

4. Singapore

3. USA

2. Hong Kong

1. Switzerland

Majority Vote For Same Sex Marriage

A majority of Stormont assembly members have for the first time voted to legalise same-sex marriage in the Six Counties , but a voting mechanism triggered by the Democratic Unionists means the law change will not happen.

The vote is the fifth attempt to make gay marriage legal in the Six Counties.

Peter No Peerage

Peter Robinson was rejected for a peerage according to Private Eye magazine. Gee I wonder why?

SDLP Minister Bans Fracking In The Six Counties

SDLP minister Mark H Durkan has banned fracking in the Six Counties.
The move has been warmly welcomed by environmentalist's.

Three Cheers For The SDLP

The SDLP has voted against adjournment.Thursday’s motion was supported by 46 votes from two parties - the DUP and Alliance - and voted against by three parties - the SDLP, Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Party - representing 54 votes.

53% Of Scottish Voters Would Vote Yes In New Independence Referendum

A new opinion poll by Ipso/Mori shows most Scottish people would now vote for a Independent Scotland.
The 1,002 participants were polled between Monday and Sunday last week. And half said they would back a second referendum being held in the next five years and 58 per cent in the next ten.

All Tied Up

Doctor Ben Carson and Donald Trump are tied at the top of the Republican field in a new survey of likely Iowa caucus-goers with 23% each, according to the results of a poll by Monmouth University that was released Monday. Coming in third is Carly Fiorina with 10%.

The World's Top Earning Actors

1. Robert Downey Jr: $80m

2. Jackie Chan: $50m

3. Vin Diesel: $47m

4. Bradley Cooper: $41.5m

5. Adam Sandler: $41m

6. Tom Cruise: $40m

7. Amitabh Bachchan: $33.5m

7. Salman Khan: $33.5m

9. Akshay Kumar: $32.5m

10. Mark Wahlberg: $32m

11. Dwayne Johnson: $31.5m

12. Johnny Depp: $30m

13. Leonardo DiCaprio: $29m

14. Channing Tatum: $29m

15. Chris Hemsworth: $27m

15. Daniel Craig: $27m

Amy Willerton In Ibiza

The UK National Debt Is £8.6 Trillion

The UK’S national debt would stand at £8.6 trillion if it were to include all of the UK government’s liabilities, according to new research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA).

The group has today issued a new report calling on the government to report the “real” national debt by changing the way it measures the figure.

According to the TaxPayers Alliance, the debt should also include liabilities in relation to unfunded pensions, the Private Finance Initiative and nuclear decommissioning, among other items.

But Philip Booth at the Institute of Economic Affairs said: “The government national debt only takes account of past borrowing and takes no account at all of financial commitments the government has made to future generations.”

 However, the EY’s Martin Beck said such a calculation would require the inclusion of public assets which “would have the opposite effect and reduce the levels of national debt”.

 

Donald Trump Is Running For President Of The United States

Donald J. Trump, the real estate mogul and reality television celebrity, announced Tuesday that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination from the eponymous Trump Tower in New York.

"We need somebody that literally will take this country and make it great again. We can do that," Trump told a crowd of supporters. "...So ladies and gentleman, I am officially running for president of the United States."

Mirror Phone Hacking Victims Get Almost 1.25 Million Damages

Damages totalling of nearly £1.25m have been awarded to eight celebrities whose phones were hacked by Mirror Group journalists writing celebrity stories.

Actress Sadie Frost won £260,000 and  the former footballer Paul Gascoigne £188,250.

Soap stars Shane Richie, Shobna Gulati and Lucy Benjamin also received large payouts. Mirror Group is considering whether to seek permission to appeal.

The decision followed a three-week hearing at London's High Court to determine wrongdoing and damages.

The judge, Mr Justice Mann said the victims had all suffered a "serious infringement of privacy" and the scale of hacking had been "very substantial".

Here Comes The SNP

Neck And Neck In Latest Guardian Poll

Election 2015: Labour and Tories neck and neck in final Guardian/ICM poll http://gu.com/p/486y8

More UK Polls

Populus: CON 34, LAB 34, LD 10, UKIP 13, GREEN 5

Ashcroft: CON 32, LAB 30, LD 11, UKIP 12, GREEN 7

New Poll Shows SF Narrowing Gap In Upper Bann

IPSO-Mori Opinion Poll For STV

SNP 54% (+2)
Lab 20% (-4)
Cons 17% (+5)
LD 5% (+1)
Green 2% (-2)

Sunday Times Rich List 2015

1 Len Blavatnik £13.17 billion 
2 Sri and Gopi Hinduja £13 billion 
3 Galen and George Weston and family £11 billion 
4 Alisher Usmanov £9.8 billion 
5 David and Simon Reuben £9.7 billion 
6 Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli £9.45 billion 
7 Lakshmi Mittal and family £9.2 billion 
8 Kirsten and Jorn Rausing £8.7 billion 
9 The Duke of Westminster £8.56 billion 
10 Roman Abramovich £7.29 billion 
11 John Fredriksen and family £7.24 billion 
12 Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho £7.145 billion 
13 Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay £6.5 billion 
14 Hans Rausing and family £6.4 billion 
15 Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber and family £5.935 billion 
16 Carrie and Francois Perrodo and family £5.8 billion 
17 Nathan Kirsh £5.06 billion 
18 Earl Cadogan and family £4.8 billion 
19 Nicky Oppenheimer and family £4.55 billion 
20 Sir Richard Branson and family £4.1 billion 
21 Bruno Schroder and family £3.76 billion 
22= Mike Ashley £3.5 billion 
22= Sir James Dyson and family £3.5 billion 
22= Sir Philip and Lady Green £3.5 billion 
25 Sir Henry Keswick and family £3.275 billion

Some Predictions For The 7th of May

North Down: Lady Hermon
South Down: Margaret Ritchie
North Belfast:Gerry Kelly
East Belfast: Naomi Long
South Belfast: Doctor McDonnell
West Belfast: Paul Maskey
Lagan Valley: Jeffrey Donaldson
Upper Bann: Catherine Seeley
Foyle: Mark Durkan
Newry And Armagh: Mickey Brady
Strangford: Jim Shannon
East Derry: Gregory Campbell
West Tyrone: Pat Doherty
Mid Ulster: Francis Molloy
Fermanagh and South Tyrone: Michelle Gildernew
North Antrim: Ian Paisley
East Antrim: Sammy Wilson
South Antrim: Willie McCrea

More Than 50% Of Scottish Voters Say They Will Vote SNP

More than half of adults in Scotland who are certain to vote on May 7 (52%) said they would vote SNP, against 24% backing Labour a TNS poll of 978 adults in Scotland found.

The 28-point lead is nearly double last month's figure, when the parties scored 46% and 30% respectively.

The Conservatives scored 13% (down one percentage point), the Liberal Democrats 6% (up three points) and the Greens 3% (down one point).

Support for Ukip in Scotland is "almost negligible", TNS said. The survey covered the period of the UK-wide TV debates, although it closed before the impact of the Scottish leaders' TV debates could be taken into account.

Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland, said: "The official election campaign has got off to a great start for the SNP, undoubtedly helped by Nicola Sturgeon's strong performance in the UK-wide TV debate. Not only has Labour's hopes of a recovery in support been dashed but, even worse, it appears to have gone backwards.

"The SNP seems to be building on the momentum which they carried forward from the independence referendum, while Jim Murphy is still struggling to win back Labour's lost supporters. Indeed, the latest poll shows some evidence that the growth in SNP support is mainly coming from disaffected Labour supporters.

"But it's important to remember that the campaign is really only beginning and 29% of those who say they are certain to vote have not made up their minds who to vote for. It will be interesting to see what difference the campaigns of the various parties make to people's intentions by polling day."

Support for the SNP continues to be very strong among younger voters who are certain to vote and express a preference - 71% of 18 to 34-year-olds, against 57% for 35 to 54-year-olds and 40% for those aged 55 and over. Among the oldest age group, Labour scores 32% and the Conservatives 20%.

Hillary Clinton Is Running For President Of The United States Of America

More Charlotte Mckinney Pictures

The Queen Of England Is Worth Around 300 Million Pounds

Author David McClure has pored over the royal finances to calculate the Queen’s true worth for Royal Legacy, the first full-length book on the regal balance sheet for 20 years.

He puts the figure at around £300million, less than the £330million attributed to Her Majesty by last year’s Rich List.

Ex-Reuters journalist McClure said: “To be fair, there is an element of guesswork in all lists of the mega-rich since without access to their bank accounts or tax returns valuers can do no more than speculate about the exact size of many hidden assets.

"But I think it is fair to say that the Queen is not as wealthy as is often made out and could be viewed as asset rich and cash poor.”

The Queen’s landed property is easiest to put a price tag on.

Balmoral and Sandringham, the only royal residences the 88-year-old monarch owns privately, have been valued at more than £60million.

However, some of her most valuable possessions are kept under wraps, or rather protective sheets.

She inherited the Royal Philatelic Collection, the world’s most comprehensive collection of postage stamps of Britain and the Commonwealth

Many of the most prized pieces were assembled by her father, George V.

With just one set of penny blacks valued at £4million, the Queen’s total collection must be worth £10million although some estimates put the figure at £100million.

The Queen also owns a valuable art collection worth many millions.

The Crown Jewels and the Royal Collection are inalienable state treasures and do not figure in her private wealth.

She inherited the Queen Mother’s collection of paintings and jewellery with an estimated value of £60million.

The Queen is also thought to own shares in blue chip British companies rumoured to be worth as much as £105million.

The income the Queen derives from the 18,458 acres of the Duchy of Lancaster has also been on the rise.

The jewel in the crown is the Savoy Estate, two acres of prime real estate in London between the Savoy Hotel and Somerset House.

Commercial rents have risen from £3.75million in 1992 to £13.6million in 2014.

For all her renowned thriftiness, the Queen harbours one indulgence... horses.

In 2001, her 30 racehorses and 26 broodmares were valued at £3.6million although by 2011 she reduced her stable to about 25 horses.

However, with overheads as high as Becher’s Brook, it is a moot point whether her equine venture has ever made a profit.

Plebgate Payout

The police officer at the centre of the "plebgate" row has accepted £80,000 in damages from Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell.

A judge ruled last year the MP probably had called PC Toby Rowland, an officer on duty at Downing Street's gates, a "pleb".

Mr Mitchell accepted using bad language but said he had not used that word.

The ex-chief whip has already paid £300,000 in legal costs to the Sun newspaper and the Police Federation.

He lost a high-profile action against News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun in November.

A judge said he had reached the "firm conclusion" that Mr Mitchell had used the "politically-toxic" word "pleb" in September 2012 when he was not allowed to cycle through the main Downing Street vehicle gates.

Dirty Money

in today's London independent newspaper:

"Some 36,342 properties in London have been bought through hidden companies in offshore havens and while a majority of those will have been kept secret for legitimate privacy purposes, vast numbers are thought to have been bought anonymously to hide stolen money,"

Criminals and corrupt officials from foreign countries were buying high-cost housing via a web of offshore companies as a way to hide illicit cash, it explains.

Det Ch Insp Jon Benton of the Metropolitan Police's Proceeds of Corruption Unit tells the paper, "In nearly all the grand corruption cases we investigate, we find - what we suspect is - proceeds of corruption being used to purchase high-value properties."

The money used to purchase these properties, he points out, is often stolen "from the world's poorest people".

The Worlds Wealthiest People Under 40 Years Old

1. Mark Zuckerberg, 30 - Facebook ($33.4bn)

2. Dustin Moskovitz, 30 - Facebook ($7.9bn) 

3. Elizabeth Holmes, 31 - blood-testing ($4.5bn) 

4. Tom Persson, 30 - H&M ($3bn)

5. Julio Mario Santo Domingo, III, 29 - beer ($2.2bn) 

6. Tatiana Casiraghi, 31 - beer ($2.2bn)  

7. Nathan Blecharczyk, 31 - Airbnb ($1.9bn) 

8. Anton Kathrein Jr, 30 - antennas ($1.7bn) 

9. Evan Spiegel, 24 - Snapchat ($1.5bn)

10. Bobby Murphy, 25 - Snapchat ($1.5bn)

George Osborne How To Avoid Paying Tax

George Osborne on how to avoid inheritance tax (09Jan13): http://youtu.be/8qjBec3fpBI

SF Most Popular Party In The Irish Republic

Sinn Fein are now the most popular party in the Irish Republic. According to a recent opinion poll published in a downmarket newspaper yesterday. SF have 26% of the voters polled support. The republican party sits just 1% ahead of Fine Gael, indicating that it will be a straight fight between Gery Adams and Taoiseach Enda Kenny to lead the next Irish Government

Solveig Mork

Top Ten Billionaires

1.Bill Gates
2.Carlos Slim Helu & family
3.Warren Buffet
4.Amancio Ortega
5.Larry Ellison
6.Bernard Arnault
7.Mark Zuckerberg
8.Charles Koch
9.David Koch
10.Dieter Schwarz

The New Parnell

Tory MP Sir Bill Cash said the former SNP leader was 'the new Parnell' after Charles Stewart Parnell, whose lengthy speeches on the issue of Irish Home Rule caused much disruption to the Westminster Parliament.

He said if elected to Gordon at May's General Election, Mr Salmond would "ruthlessly and recklessly" disrupt the UK as much as possible.

Let's hope Mr Cash is correct and Mr Salmond and as many SNP MPs are returned as possible. To take a wrecking ball to the cosy concensus that is the House Of Commons.

Charlotte McKinney Pictures