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Copyright 2009 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
The Evening Standard (London)

December 24, 2009 Thursday

LENGTH: 824 words

HEADLINE: CITY SPY

BODY:

EXPECT more media firms to announce plans to charge for content online in early 2010. City Spy hears that business-to-business publisher United Business Media is the latest outfit which is thinking of ramping up its subscription model. Property Week and Building are among the titles which recently started asking users to register their details to keep reading stories, which is seen as a possible precursor to charging.

BUSINESSES TIPPED TO COME A CROPPER

AMID all the contradictory forecasts for recovery or double-dip recession in 2010, what do the insolvency practitioners say? City Spy's mole in the bean-counting world says the last quarter of 2009 was surprisingly quiet as the economy stabilised but they are not optimistic about the new year: "We reckon there's going to be a rush of insolvencies in the second quarter, after the end of the financial year." The next quarterly rent review is due tomorrow, Christmas Day, then again at the end of March. But given the number of "seasonal sales" that started on the High Street at least a week before Christmas, it would be no surprise to see some retailers come a cropper sooner...

EPSTEIN PILOT TAKES TO THE ROAD

FURTHER news reaches City Spy of former Bear Stearns trader, Prince Andrew's shooting companion and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

The ex-Wall Street star served 13 months in jail on criminal charges of soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution and he now faces civil claims from young women accusing him of having unlawful sex with them. This week, City Spy recounted how Epstein had transferred the title deeds of his prized 2003 Ferrari 575M Maranello to his private pilot Larry Visoki, prior to the car going on sale for $159,000 (£99,000) (possibly to help Epstein pay his legal bills). It turns out, the same Visoki was deposed last week by Bradley Edwards, an attorney for three of the women suing Epstein. Questioned by Edwards about plane passengers who might have witnessed Epstein in the company of young girls, Visoki admitted Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, former Colombian president Andrés Pastrana Arango, Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers, billionaire Ron Burkle, and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker had been on board the plane while young girls were present. Fortuitously for Epstein, however, Ferrari-selling Visoski swore on oath that he never suspected his boss of having sex with them.

Of course not, Larry. Now drive off into the sunset.

More on Prince Andrew, our special representative for international trade and investment. The European Parliament and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe have strongly condemned Azerbaijan for tightening restrictions on the media and jailing two bloggers who were critical of the government. It transpires the oil-rich country has long blocked BBC broadcasts there, which might explain why oft-criticised Andrew and former Prime Minister Tony Blair spend so much time visiting the sometime Soviet State.

What does the snow have in common with the recession? Every other country can get out of both but Britain can't get out of either. HAPPY news: private jet travel is back, reports the Wall Street Journal. Alas, there is a "but" [#x2039]

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