A threat of jail continues to hang over Ben Gilroy, a founder of the political movement Direct Democracy Ireland, over alleged contempt of court orders restraining trespass and interference with receivers appointed over a stud farm lands in Co Kildare.

THROUGHOUT the summer at least 2,000 people, many of them involved in businesses during the boom, made a last-ditch attempt to remain in control of their debt-laden properties. They did so by putting their faith in a mysterious property trust that it was claimed had found a way to split mortgages from properties themselves.

A quasi-spiritual trust has moved to assert control over a lucrative portfolio of properties signed into its care, by telling receivers and auctioneers to vacate the lands or face hundreds of millions of euro in claims.

The mysterious Rodolphus Allen trust has not explained the magical tactic it believes will defeat the banks. But it has left some clues about its long-shot strategy.

Despite glaring security blunders, no US intelligence officials will be fired or disciplined for failing to prevent a 2009 suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA employees in one of the deadliest attacks in the agency’s history.

EMI unified its music label and publishing arms under one boss today as part of a restructuring it hopes will boost returns from artists and songwriters.

The owner of music group EMI today pledged to inject more money into the business in order to prevent US bank Citigroup from taking control.

EMI’s recorded music division appeared to be back in the sights of Warner Music today after a report said the rival US firm had joined forces with private equity giant KKR to consider plans for a bid.

Music group EMI has named former ITV boss Charles Allen as executive chairman as the firm battles to improve its fortunes.

Consumer-facing stocks were on the receiving end of some punishment today on the London market thanks to a miserable update from the high street.

Lower profits at John Lewis and a sharp fall in sales at catalogue business Argos derailed retail stocks today.

Broadcaster ITV and Carphone Warehouse are to be evicted from the FTSE 100 Index after the latest quarterly reshuffle, it was confirmed today.

The race for control of Virgin Radio took a new twist today after it was reported that Malaysia’s largest media company had entered the fray.

The UK's largest commercial radio broadcaster, GCap Media, axed two of its stations today after labelling digital radio "economically unviable".

The break-up of FHM and Heat publisher Emap remained on track today after the media group reported “good interest” in all of its assets.

ITV boss Michael Grade today pledged to invest in original programming under a “self-help” plan to revive the broadcaster.

Emap’s consumer magazine division has attracted interest from the US publisher of Maxim, it was reported today.

Italian magazine publisher Mondadori, controlled by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is looking to snap up Emap’s consumer magazines arm, it emerged today.

Private equity firm Apax has made a £1.3bn (€2bn) approach for a major slice of magazines and radio group Emap, it was reported today.

Radio stations including Heart and Galaxy were sold for £170m (€253m) today in a deal involving former ITV chief executive Charles Allen.

BBC chairman Michael Grade shocked the media industry today by taking the top job at rival ITV.

Richard Branson is considering challenging BSkyB’s £940m (€1.4bn) investment in ITV, it was reported today.

The broadcasting industry is digesting a surprise move by BSkyB to buy a major stake in ITV.

Richard Branson is backing cable company NTL’s merger attempt with ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, according to reports today.

Bid talk surrounding fund-management firms and a strong performance from Vodafone helped the FTSE 100 Index move further from the 6,000 barrier today.

The FTSE 100 Index continued its recent improvement after seeing world markets remain steady following North Korea’s claims to have held nuclear testing.

ITV took the value of its disposal programme to almost €738m today after agreeing to sell its stake in TV3.

Media executive Roger Parry today confirmed his interest in succeeding Charles Allen as chief executive of broadcaster ITV.

An upbeat start to trading across the Atlantic drove the FTSE 100 Index to a positive finish today.

A string of high-profile TV flops helped pile the pressure on ITV’s chief executive Charles Allen, who quit yesterday.

Shares in oil giant BP took a further hit today as investors pondered the impact of the on-going pipeline closure in Alaska.

Under-pressure ITV chief executive Charles Allen stepped down today after two and a half years at the helm of the commercial broadcaster.

The London market closed in the red today after BP took a major hit following its decision to shut production at a key Alaskan oil field.

Market confidence was dealt a double blow today as investors fretted over US interest rates and the impact of BP’s decision to shut a key oil field.

The Bank of England’s first move on interest rates in a year sent leading shares into freefall today as the FTSE 100 Index slumped by almost 2%.

London’s top ranking shares were led by supermarket group Morrisons today after chairman Sir Ken Morrison delivered a major boost to the chain’s recovery hopes.

Shares in ITV continued to rally today as speculation regarding the future of chief executive Charles Allen intensified.

The FTSE 100 Index made up for losses earlier in the week today as it moved into positive territory, sweetened by strong gains by Cadbury Schweppes and ITV.

British broadcaster ITV today said advertising revenues continued to fall as viewers abandoned its flagship channel in favour of digital platforms.

ITV today said it had rejected a new proposal from a consortium seeking to take control of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster because it carried too much risk.

THE private equity consortium stalking ITV could abandon its bid this week if a proposed cash sweetener fails to win over investors in Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster, it was reported yesterday.

Broadcaster ITV was today offered deep cuts in its licence fee to help it cope with the challenge of the digital age.

Broadcaster ITV bucked the downbeat trend in the rest of its sector today by predicting that advertising revenues would rise by 3% in the first six months of 2005.

ITV put its recent ratings woes behind it today by unveiling a 57% rise in profits in its first full-year results as a unified company.