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November 7, 2011

The week ahead: Carlos the Jackal trial, Lloyds TSB profits, Mosley privacy verdict, James Murdoch faces MPs again

By admin

Journalists’ guide to the big diary stories for the week ahead provided by Foresight News.

Four men appear in Reading Crown Court today on charges of carrying out the gruesome murder of father-of-three Shaleem Amar, 33, who was found tortured and dying in the back of a van after it was stopped by police in Sunningdale, Berkshire. Three of the men, Robert Johnston, 57, and his two sons, Tom and Ben, 25 and 27, are from the village of Pampisford, Cambridgeshire, while the fourth, Shaun Mattthews, 55, is from Whittlesford.

In other trial news, the infamous Ilich Ramirez Sanchez (Carlos the Jackal) appears at Paris’s Tribunal de Grande Instance today on charges that he was behind the bombings that killed 11 people in France in 1982 and 1983. Venezuelan Sanchez is already serving a life sentence for the murder of two French agents and a Lebanese informer.

Coming on the back of last week’s better-than-expected results from two big British banks, RBS and Barclays, who returned a Q3 profit, it’s the turn of embattled Lloyds to take centre stage on Tuesday. The partially state-owned bank suffered a blow last week when the recently appointed chief executive and former Santander chief, António HortaOsório, took a temporary leave of absence due to fatigue.

Phone-hacking firebrand Max Mosley maintains his presence in the public’s eye as another verdict on his privacy case is expected in Paris on Tuesday. The trial concerns charges brought against former News of the World chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, and News Group Newspapers, who are accused of breaching French privacy and defamation laws in relation to a 2008 article on the former FIA president’s penchant for S&M sessions.

Not satisfied with the occupation of St Paul’s Churchyard, protesters from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, supported by the National Union of Students and University and College Union, take to the streets on Wednesday over hikes in higher education fees and government spending cuts.

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International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, pays a two-day visit to China, beginning on Wednesday, where she plans to make a speech to the International Finance Forum and meet Chinese authorities.

Another select committee session will be hitting the news channels on Thursday, and it hardly needs to be said what the subject is. News Corporation executive James Murdoch finds himself back in the Wilson (read Watson) Room for another grilling from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Subsequent to the Murdochs’ appearance at the July 19th hearing, former News International insiders have gone on to directly contradict James’s recollection of his handling of the phone hacking debacle.

Also on Thursday, the trial begins for 10 people charged in connection with the occupation of Fortnum and Mason’s during the London protests on March 26th. On July 18th the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued 109 cases against individuals connected with the demonstrations.

Two men found guilty of murdering honeymooners Ben and Catherine Mullany are expected to be sentenced in St John’s, Antigua, on Friday. The couple were each shot in the back of the head at their luxury cottage on July 27th, 2008, the final day of their Antiguan honeymoon. The killers Kaniel Martin and Avie Howell have also been convicted of the murder of shopkeeper Woneta Anderson.

The City of London, demonised by anti-capitalist protesters for its lack of transparency, admits its new Lord Mayor on Friday, with the current Mayor standing down after a year at the helm. The day after the Mayor’s admission event, known as the Silent Ceremony, the streets come alive for the Lord Mayor’s Show – though it may be a livelier affair than usual if the Occupy London protesters have anything to say about it.

More demonstrators are set to descend upon the capital on Saturday when a group of disgruntled young people who are attempting to recreate the 1936 Jarrow march arrive at Temple. The Youth Fight for Jobs group is protesting against the Government’s education policies and rising youth unemployment.

There’ll be glasses of red wine all round at Old Trafford on Sunday as the man with the purplest nose in football celebrates 25 years as manager of Manchester United. Since joining United from Scottish side Aberdeen, Sir Alex Ferguson has become the most successful manager in English club history, winning 12 league and two Champions League titles.

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