Here's a convoluted tale.

There's a little press release from Lotus - not the Formula One team, the car manufacturer.

At first sight, it's innocuous: "Lotus and Cosworth have entered into a new technical and commercial partnership with established IndyCar competitors KV Racing Technology to run in the 2010 IndyCar Series."

A father and son have pleaded guilty to selling USD1 million worth of counterfeit computer software through the Internet. And used search-engine small-ads to promote their activities.

Spam scams are so common they are rarely worth reporting on. But sometimes one is interesting - even if only because it is so ridiculous. This advanced fee fraud is just silly. Read it - don't be taken in by it. And yes, of course we'll keep it confidential as the writer asks. Not.

The 2010 season is under way: whether Bahrain is the right circuit to start the season is open to debate: it's hard, hot and bumpy. But it's close to the UK where most teams are based and so is in some respects a good choice for the first race after testing has finished. So was it just an extended shakedown with points? Not a bit of it.

Bahrain. 09:00. Mechanics have been working all night - partly to get things ready, partly because some only arrived yesterday and partly because it's cooler at night. The first engines fire up and out onto track come the first two cars. Jarno Trulli is followed by Heikki Kovalainen: it's the first time a Lotus has been at a Formula One race meeting since the end of the 1994 season; it's six months to the day since the FIA granted the team entry. And it's all been achieved from scratch with no takeover of an existing team and no backing of an established GP2 or similar team... and that's not all.

The deadline for UK residents (excluding the famed non-dom class) to declare offshore accounts and pay any tax due is today. If they do it online. If they want to use paper, it's already too late.

There are estimates of just how much surplus China has in US dollars. There is little doubt that it's enough to cause lasting and long-term harm to the US currency if China dumped it. So when it's got no real growth potential sitting in a bank, what would you do with it? China's answer? It's becoming the lender to the world, adopting the Kennedy policy of the early 1960s in relation to South America, but without a regional restriction.

Last month, the Thai authorities warned travellers to Bangkok to be cautious due to the threat of disturbances from supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin. Now some 30 countries are warning their citizens to be cautious as widespread demonstrations are planned for the Thai Capital today.

Three companies based in Bolton in the north of England which used misleading sales practices to solicit sponsorship from businesses have been wound up in the High Court following an investigation by Company Investigations of the Insolvency Service.