Daily Mail - Vorderman criticised over TV ads

Debt charities today urged television presenter Carol Vorderman to stop promoting companies that offer debt consolidation loans that put people's homes at risk. Credit Action said Vorderman's profile could cause people to think debt consolidation was suitable for them when it was not.

Telegraph - Orange axes up to 2,000 UK jobs

Mobile phone giant Orange is to axe between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs in the UK as it takes the knife to costs following the integration of its Wanadoo UK Internet business. The France Telecom-owned company said its cost base needed to be 15pc leaner.

Guardian - Interest rates remain unchanged

The Bank of England today left interest rates at 4.5% for the ninth month running, amid signs of a recovery in the UK manufacturing sector and suggestions that the next move may be upwards.

Credit Action - April debt statistics update

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) total household debt has grown sharply as a percentage of disposable income over the past decade and currently stands close to 150%. At the end of 2005, the secured debt to income ratio was 121%, compared to 80% in 1995. And the unsecured debt to income ratio was 24%, almost double that of 10 years ago.

My Finances: House prices to rise 6%

House prices in the UK could rise six per cent this year, a new report finds. While this is far less than the returns experienced in the last decade, a six per cent rise is faster than many analysts predicted at the start of the year.

ABC News (AUS): Rates rise will hurt consumer spending, retailers warn
NZ Herald: Interest rates to rise across Tasman

The retail industry says it is shocked by the latest rise in interest rates. The Reserve Bank has decided to lift rates by 0.25 per cent.