Business news

• UK eyes cuts to Huawei's 5G network involvement in wake of COVID-19 - report

  22-05-2020 23:18 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Johnson has asked officials to make plans to reduce China's involvement in British infrastructure to zero by 2023, the newspaper reported late on Friday.The prime minister is expected to use less reliance on China as a means to boost trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in the aftermath of Britain's departure from the European Union, according to the newspaper.
  
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• Coronavirus: Leading economist warns of 10 years of depression and debt

  22-05-2020 23:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Economist Nouriel Roubini - "Dr Doom" - has warned of a prolonged downturn and sluggish recovery.
  
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• Coronavirus: The shops refusing to pay their rent

  22-05-2020 23:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As the next quarter's rent falls due, who should pay it while businesses are closed?
  
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• Specialist Leisure Group collapses into administration

  22-05-2020 23:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  More than 64,000 bookings have been cancelled due to the collapse of Specialist Leisure Group.
  
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• Sunak at odds with Johnson over speed of UK lockdown exit

  22-05-2020 22:30
  Chancellor takes aim at ‘cautious’ Sage experts amid Treasury alarm over economy
  
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• Sunak at odds with Johnson over speed of lockdown exit

  22-05-2020 22:30
  Chancellor takes aim at ‘cautious’ Sage experts amid Treasury alarm over economy
  
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• Argentina defaults on bond payments as debt talks heat up

  22-05-2020 22:14 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Argentina missed payments on around $500 million (411 million pounds) in already delayed bond coupons on Friday, creditors and a ratings agency said, marking the country's ninth sovereign default amid ongoing restructuring talks with creditors.The default on three bonds came as negotiations to revamp around $65 billion in foreign debt revved up, with Economy Minister Martin Guzman saying talks were on a positive course despite an "important distance" left to reach a deal.Argentina and its credit
  
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• U.S. adding 33 Chinese companies, institutions to economic blacklist

  22-05-2020 21:58 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it was adding 33 Chinese companies and other institutions to an economic blacklist for human rights violations and to address U.S. national security concerns involving weapons of mass destruction and other military activities.The blacklisting marked the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on companies with ties to military purchases and to punish Beijing for its treatment of Muslim minorities.It came as Communist Party rulers in Bei
  
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• Irish regulator reaches preliminary decision in Twitter privacy probe

  22-05-2020 21:38 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Twitter may be the first big technology firm to face a fine by the EU's lead regulator under the region's tougher data protection rules after it submitted a preliminary decision in a probe into the social media firm to other member states.Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) also said on Friday it had sent a preliminary decision to Facebook-owned WhatsApp for their submissions and made further progress in three other investigations related to Facebook.Ireland hosts the European headquarter
  
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• UK holiday company Jet2 to restart flights, holidays programme on July 1

  22-05-2020 21:08 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The company, owned by Dart Group Plc , in April cancelled all fights and holidays until mid-June due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has hammered global travel demand."In view of the ongoing travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken the decision to recommence our flights and holidays programme on July 1st", Jet2 said.
  
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• African solutions to the coronavirus crisis

  22-05-2020 20:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  African firms tell the BBC how they are solving problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
  
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• UK holiday firm SLG collapses with 2,500 job losses

  22-05-2020 19:36 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  UK holiday firm SLG collapses with 2,500 job losses. Thousands of tours, cruises, holidays and hotel breaks cancelled as coronavirus crisis pushes firm into administration
  
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• Brewers Carlsberg UK and Marston's announce merger

  22-05-2020 19:25 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Brewers Carlsberg UK and Marston's announce mergerSmaller breweries warn deal could harm independent beer firms
  
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• BA chief hits out at unions over redundancy consultation

  22-05-2020 18:56
  Alex Cruz criticises failure to attend meetings as Unite campaigns against loss of up to 12,000 jobs
  
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• Markets remain nervous over fears of new Hong Kong protests hitting recovery

  22-05-2020 18:50 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The FTSE 100 closed the day down 21.97 points to 5993.28.
  
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• Coach company Shearings collapses into administration

  22-05-2020 18:49 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Travel trade organisation Abta described it as 'a stark indication of the pressure that the holiday industry is under'.
  
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• Scientists urge caution over reopening schools in England

  22-05-2020 18:34
  Robust system to test and trace coronavirus cases should be in place, say experts
  
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• Robinsons maker Britvic hoping for lockdown soft drinks spike

  22-05-2020 18:30 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The company will unveil its half year results on Wednesday where investors will see how hard pubs and bar closures have hit the business.
  
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• Nuts, bolts and bay leaves: UK trade after Brexit

  22-05-2020 18:25
  Scrapping the tariff code on confectionery is a sweet victory for Eurosceptics
  
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• Earth’s magnetic field is mysteriously weakening, causing satellites and spacecraft to malfunction

  22-05-2020 18:23 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The Earth's magnetic field is weakening between Africa and South America, causing issues for satellites and space craft.Scientists studying the phenomenon observed that an area known as the South Atlantic Anomaly has grown considerably in recent years, though the reason for it is not entirely clear.
  
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• Worst week ever for UK economy as deficit soars and retail sales collapse

  22-05-2020 18:06 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Record borrowing and an unprecedented collapse in retail sales have laid bare the devastating impact of the lockdown after Britain reported its worst ever week of economic data. The Treasury borrowed £62.1bn in April, the biggest single monthly figure in history, as tax revenues crashed and spending surged. It left a deficit far bigger than at the height of the financial crisis and without equal in peacetime - giving weight to Chancellor Rishi Sunak's warning earlier this week that the cou
  
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• White House adviser says U.S. employment to turn around soon, more stimulus on the way

  22-05-2020 18:02 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  June could mark a turning point in massive joblessness caused by the coronavirus pandemic, White House adviser Kevin Hassett said on Friday, adding that he expects President Donald Trump and lawmakers will still work toward a fourth round of stimulus to get the nearly frozen economy moving again."I think that there's a great deal of uncertainty about how fast it will recover," Hassett told reporters at the White House, saying he thought unemployment would peak in June and then start easing.Hasse
  
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• How one Indian company could be world's door to a COVID-19 vaccine

  22-05-2020 18:00 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  If the world is to gain access to a vaccine for COVID-19, there's a good chance it will pass through the doors of Serum Institute of India.Serum Institute, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, is working on several candidates for the novel coronavirus - including potentially mass-producing the AstraZeneca/Oxford university one that has garnered global headlines - as well as developing its own.The efforts are partly being shepherded by Umesh Shaligram, the head of research and
  
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• Coronavirus: Devastation for airlines as UK confirms 14-day quarantine post-travel

  22-05-2020 18:00 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  These are similar measures that have already been announced by other countries.
  
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• No U.S. state avoided job losses in April - Labour Department

  22-05-2020 17:52 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said 43 states set record-high rates of unemployment last month, with the highest being in Nevada, the state with the greatest reliance on the hard-hit food services and hospitality industry.The rate in Nevada surged 24.2 percentage points from a year earlier to 28.2% - nearly twice April's national unemployment rate of 14.7%.
  
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• All 50 U.S. states shed jobs in April - Labor Department

  22-05-2020 17:52 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said 43 states set record-high rates of unemployment last month, with the highest being in Nevada, the state with the greatest reliance on the hard-hit food services and hospitality industry.Nevada's jobless rate surged by 21.3 percentage points from March to 28.2%, which was nearly double the national rate of 14.7% in April.The monthly breakdown of state-level nonfarm employment and jobless rates, published two weeks after the national payrolls report
  
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• Hong Kong’s future as a global hub in ‘peril’

  22-05-2020 17:48 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  China’s sweeping plans to strip Hong Kong of democratic autonomy spell the “death knell” for the enclave’s special trading and financial status and will have grave economic consequences for China itself, Washington has warned in a dramatic shot across the bows. The draft law bans “treason, secession, sedition and subversion” in Hong Kong, eviscerating the zone’s ‘One Nation, Two Systems’ status and violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration
  
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• Hong Kong's future as a global hub in 'peril'

  22-05-2020 17:48 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  China’s sweeping plans to strip Hong Kong of democratic autonomy spell the “death knell” for the enclave’s special trading and financial status and will have grave economic consequences for China itself, Washington has warned in a dramatic shot across the bows. The draft law bans “treason, secession, sedition and subversion” in Hong Kong, eviscerating the zone’s ‘One Nation, Two Systems’ status and violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration
  
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• Coronavirus: Chinese retail giant Alibaba sees 'recovery' after virus

  22-05-2020 17:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Chinese firm Alibaba reports an increase in revenue as its economy shows signs of recovering.
  
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• Britain’s biggest housebuilders put their bosses back on full pay

  22-05-2020 17:15 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Bosses at some of the UK's largest housebuilders are back on full salaries after accepting pay cuts while building sites were temporarily shut to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The chief executive and the finance director of FTSE 100 housebuilder Persimmon, Dave Jenkinson and Mike Killoran, initially accepted a 20pc reduction in base salary from April 1. With work on its sites re-starting earlier this month, their salaries have now returned to pre-coronavirus levels. However, non-executive d
  
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• Rapper who flaunted billionaire lifestyle kidnapped and tortured to death

  22-05-2020 17:14 via ibtimes.co.uk
  
  The body of a missing Portuguese rapper was found after he was abducted and his home robbed.
  
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• Insurer AXA must pay restaurant's COVID-19 losses, French court rules

  22-05-2020 17:08 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  A Paris court ruled that insurer AXAmust pay a restaurant owner two months' worth of coronavirus-related revenue losses, the restaurateur's lawyer said on Friday, potentially opening the door to a wave of similar litigation.The ruling will be of interest to restaurants, cafes and nightclubs in Britain and the United States which are also threatening legal action against insurers who have not paid out on business interruption policies.The case was brought by Stephane Manigold, who owns four Paris
  
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• French court orders insurer AXA to pay restaurant's COVID-19 losses

  22-05-2020 17:08 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  A Paris commercial court has ruled that French insurer AXA will have to pay a restaurant owner two months' worth of coronavirus-related revenue losses, the restaurant's lawyer said on Friday, potentially opening the door to a wave of similar litigation.Stephane Manigold, who owns four restaurants in Paris and spoke to journalists in tears following the announcement, had filed a lawsuit seeking AXA to cover his operating losses following a government order to close bars and restaurants from March
  
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• Ikea to reopen 19 stores during UK lockdown

  22-05-2020 17:00 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Ikea to reopen 19 stores during UK lockdownBritain’s biggest furniture chain installs Covid-19 safety measures for 1 June reopening* Coronavirus – latest updates* See all our coronavirus coverage
  
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• Spain's Repsol pulls out of planned Arctic JV in Russia

  22-05-2020 16:58 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Spain's Repsolhas pulled out of a planned joint venture to develop two Arctic oil blocks with Russia's Gazprom Neftand Royal Dutch Shell , a spokesman at Repsol said on Friday.Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom , Repsol and Shell signed a memorandum of understanding last June on establishing a joint venture to develop the Leskinsky and Pukhutsyayakhsky blocks on the Gydan Peninsula in northern Siberia.
  
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• Coronavirus: Ikea to begin reopening stores

  22-05-2020 16:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  But the furniture giant will limit family groups to one adult and one child per household.
  
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• Explainer: How ending Hong Kong's 'special status' could affect U.S. companies

  22-05-2020 16:36 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  New Chinese national security restrictions imposed on Hong Kong could draw a U.S. revocation of the former British colony's "special status" under U.S. law, a move that would have far-reaching trade and investment implications.U.S. businesses oppose any change in Washington's recognition of Hong Kong as a sufficiently autonomous city, where major U.S. companies enjoy access to China and Southeast Asia, and where bilateral trade flourishes across various parts of the economy, from wine to financi
  
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• Marston's and Carlsberg UK announce £780m merger

  22-05-2020 16:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The companies say their £780m deal - which does not include pubs - will bring a wider choice drinks to customers.
  
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• Brewers Marston’s and Carlsberg UK to join to form £780m beer giant

  22-05-2020 16:32 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The move, which is the latest in a string of deals involving UK brewers, will create the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company.
  
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• Nigerian fraud ring exploits coronavirus crisis to scam ‘hundreds of millions’ in unemployment benefits from Americans

  22-05-2020 16:30 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  A Nigerian fraud ring is suspected to have stolen “hundreds of millions of dollars” in unemployment benefits from Washington state as it reels from the economic impact of the coronavirus.The scammers used stolen personal information to submit tens of thousands of unemployment claims at a time when the system was overloaded with legitimate applications from people who had lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
  
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• Ikea to reopen 19 stores with social distancing wardens on patrol

  22-05-2020 16:28 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The homewares giant will only allow one child and adult from each family in store, with restaurants and play areas remaining closed.
  
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• Rare public statement the latest twist in bitter Barclay family saga

  22-05-2020 16:25 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Aidan and Howard Barclay, sons of Sir Frederick’s twin brother Sir David, hit back at claims they sold London’s The Ritz hotel to a Qatari buyer.
  
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• Mortgage payment holiday extended for further three months

  22-05-2020 16:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Treasury cautions that borrowers should continue to pay their mortgages if they are able.
  
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• Exclusive: BP's Looney halves top management roles in energy transition plan

  22-05-2020 16:17 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  BPis more than halving the size of its senior management team as part of Chief Executive Bernard Looney's drive to make the 111-year-old oil company more nimble as it prepares for the shift to low-carbon energy.In May 14 emails to staff seen by Reuters, Looney named over 100 so-called Tier 2 managers who will form the leadership teams of the 11 divisions he created in February to "reinvent" BP and move away from its traditional structure of upstream and downstream units.For example, Starlee Syke
  
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• Nationwide will not repossess homes of those hit by Covid-19 for next 12 months

  22-05-2020 16:15 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The building society has unveiled a five-point support package, including extending mortgage payment holidays by another three months.
  
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• Best bank holiday sales and discounts on homeware, garden and fashion

  22-05-2020 16:15 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  It’s the final bank holiday in May and it’s set to be a scorcher.Take the opportunity to treat yourselves and hit the sales. Whether you are investing in your outdoor space or your wardrobe, the biggest brands in the biz are giving you the chance to save your pennies with deals on a whole host of bank holiday essentials.
  
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• Turkey's economy grew 5.4% in first quarter before coronavirus hit - Reuters poll

  22-05-2020 16:14 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Turkey's economy is expected to have grown 5.4% in the first quarter of the year, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, displaying the economy's strong momentum driven by a lending spree before the coronavirus outbreak hit.Turkey left behind a recession in the third quarter of last year and rebounded strongly in the fourth quarter of 2019, growing 6% year-on-year, mainly thanks to a surge in lending as the central bank slashed its policy rate in the second half of the year.Despite the strong growth i
  
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• Man charged with fraud for lying about coronavirus test, forcing employer to shut plant

  22-05-2020 16:14 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  A man from Atlanta, Georgia is facing fraud charges after telling his employer he had tested positive for coronavirus while in fact uninfected – causing the plant where he worked to be shut down for cleaning and costing his employer some $100,000.Santwon Antonio Davis, who works in Atlanta at a Fortune 500 company, appeared in court this week accused of faking a dubious medical excuse letter saying he had Covid-19 – a letter that was neither signed nor written on formal letterhead, a
  
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• GM delays resumption of second shift at three North American truck plants - source

  22-05-2020 16:11 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The Detroit automaker, which resumed production on Monday after suspending operations in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, will launch a second shift on Monday only at its Lansing Delta Township plant.GM spokesman Dan Flores said "demand for our full size picks has been very strong so we are certainly exploring ways to add production and will do that when it makes sense."
  
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• Take Five: Coronavirus vaccine race is on

  22-05-2020 16:08 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. President Donald Trump has put his faith in anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off COVID-19, but governments and investors are focusing on a vaccine.Investors twitchy for vaccine news sent the share price of biotech company Moderna 20% higher when it said its vaccine trials showed promise.Rivals Novavax and Inovio also rose when they secured vaccine development funding.
  
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