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The director of the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE) has quit over the school’s connections to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

Gold and Silver Bullion prices fell sharply London lunchtime on Thursday, bouncing 1.5% and 2.3% below this week's record Dollar highs after European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said a Eurozone rate rise is possible next month.

Gold rose to $1,413 an ounce in Europe on Monday as turmoil in the Middle East region lifted safe-haven buying and fueled a fresh spike in oil prices, stoking concerns over U.S. growth and knocking the dollar.

The inflation debate is raging in the UK among policy makers. Meanwhile, the only inflation hawk and dissenting voter on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Thomas Hoenig, is no longer a voting member this year.

Gold and Silver Prices failed to hold onto a sharp overnight bounce in London trade on Friday, trading below $1404 and $33 respectively per ounce as volatility in crude oil remained at record levels but world stock markets rose for the first day in six.

You can't really blame financial hacks for getting things so wrong, so often. Because every financial decision you now make is a speculation on interest rates. And so pretty much every story a financial journalist might choose to write must start and end with the same speculation, built on the inaction of each monthly central-bank vote.

The UK factory orders rose in February as demand for exports from the country continued to improve. Manufacturers’ total order book balance in Britain rose to -8 in February from -16 in January, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey showed on Thursday.

New Bank of England forecasts opened the door on Wednesday for interest rates to rise slowly in Britain but Governor Mervyn King warned against jumping to conclusions about when the central bank would pull the trigger.

New Bank of England forecasts opened the door on Wednesday for interest rates to rise but Governor Mervyn King warned markets not to jump to conclusions about the timing or speed of any moves.

The projection for four-quarter growth is weaker than in November for much of 2011, following the weak data around the turn of the year.

Consumer prices in Britain rose in January, mainly led by an increase in value added tax (VAT) and rising crude oil prices.

Inflation is likely to rise further in Mauritius, central bank governor Rundheersing Bheenick said on Saturday, reinforcing speculation that the central bank may raise rates at its March meeting.

Factory gate inflation rose twice as fast as expected last month, and the cost of raw materials soared, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.

World stock markets fell hard on Thursday, with Hong Kong shares losing 2% and London's FTSE100 dropping 0.9% by lunchtime. Indian stock markets have lost more than $20 million per minute so far in 2011, the Economic Times reports, with billionaire Anil Ambani blaming vicious and illegal rumors.

Caught between calls to rein in inflation and prop up the fragile economic recovery, BoE's Monetary Policy Committee decided to support the government's fiscal tightening efforts without bumping off the shoots of economic recovery.

Gold rose back towards yesterday's 3-week peaks in London on Wednesday, pushing higher against all major currencies as world stock markets slipped.

The British government has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the nation’s largest banks on matters related to lending, transparency and bonuses payments to executives, after four months of negotiations and wrangling.

UK unemployment rate is expected to peak this year and will remain stubbornly high during 2012, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said on Wednesday.

Physical delivery times for wholesale Silver Bars in London – heart of the world's physical bullion markets – have improved. But major dealers continue to offer three-day settlement or longer, compared with the more normal two-day terms.

Personal insolvencies in Britain reached an all-time high in 2010, with 135,089 bankruptcies recorded (up 0.7 percent from the prior year), although the trend has been declining since the second quarter of last year, according to The Insolvency Service.

Construction activity returned to growth in January, helped by better weather and a rise in new business, the monthly Markit/CIPS purchasing managers index showed on Wednesday.

Manufacturing activity grew in January at its fastest pace since records began in 1992, and factory costs also surged, in a further sign that price pressures are building in the economy, a survey showed.

The minutes of Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on January 13 showed that policymaker Martin Weale joined Andrew Sentance in voting for a 25 basis points rate hike.

Economy in the U.K. grew slower in the fourth quarter though it was above economists' forecasts, according to the latest report by the U.K. Statistical Department.

UK retail sales slid 0.8 per cent in December as food, petrol and clothing sales remained under pressure and the adverse effects of the snow dented high street spending.

Banks must be allowed to fail in order for capitalism to succeed according to Paul Tucker, the deputy governor of The Bank of England (BoE).

Gilts and short sterling futures slid on Tuesday after data showed UK consumer price inflation rose faster than forecast in December, fuelling concerns the Bank of England may be forced to raise interest rates sooner than expected.

Investors remain preoccupied by the threat of further monetary tightening in China, writes Marc Ground at Standard Bank in London today. This is weighing on precious metal prices, encouraged further by a stronger Dollar off the back of lingering Eurozone debt concerns.

The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record low 0.5 percent as expected on Thursday, judging that longer-term downward pressure on prices will quell a looming spike in inflation.