Business news

• Google unveils plan for giant new technology village for staff

  02-09-2020 23:52 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Google has unveiled designs for a technology-focused village filled with office space, shops, lakes and playing fields and new homes, despite telling employees that they will be working from home until July next year. It submitted on Tuesday a proposal to remodel a 40 acre plot in Mountain View, California, which is home to its international headquarters. The impressive Middlefield Park Master Plan details a campus with 1.33 million square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail space
  
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• Google reveals plans for huge technology village for staff despite office closures

  02-09-2020 23:52 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Google has unveiled designs for a technology-focused village filled with office space, shops, lakes and playing fields and new homes, despite telling employees that they will be working from home until July next year. It submitted on Tuesday a proposal to remodel a 40 acre plot in Mountain View, California, which is home to its international headquarters. The impressive Middlefield Park Master Plan details a campus with 1.33 million square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail space
  
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• Microsoft unveils 'deepfake' detector ahead of US vote

  02-09-2020 23:50 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Microsoft has unveiled software that can help spot "deepfake" photos or videos, adding to the list of programs designed to fight the hard-to-detect images ahead of the US presidential election.
  
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• Global stocks gain with Wall Street again at fresh records

  02-09-2020 23:20 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street stocks powered to new records again Wednesday as investors continued to shrug off lackluster US economic data amid optimism over coronavirus therapeutics and vaccines.
  
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• US growth, job gains slowing, Fed reports

  02-09-2020 22:58 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Economic growth and job gains continued in most of the United States but the pace has slowed in many areas while spending remains far below pre-pandemic levels, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.
  
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• Michael Jordan takes stake in betting site DraftKings

  02-09-2020 22:52 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Former basketball superstar Michael Jordan has taken an equity stake in online betting site DraftKings and will serve as a special advisor to the board, the company announced Wednesday.
  
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• Chilean truckers end week-long strike on promise of beefed up security

  02-09-2020 22:09 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Chilean truckers said on Wednesday they would lift a seven-day strike that has damaged supply chains and raised fears for food and commodities exports, following a deal with government.Jose Villagran, vice president of the National Confederation of the Chilean Cargo Transport (CNTC), said the strike would end at 3 p.m. local time.Strikers pushed Congress to fast-track a dozen security bills after a spike in arson attacks on their vehicles which culminated in the shooting of a nine-year-old girl
  
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• Chilean truckers end to week-long strike on promise of beefed up security

  02-09-2020 22:09 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Chilean truckers said on Wednesday they would lift a seven-day strike that has damaged supply chains and raised fears for food and commodities exports, following a deal with government.Jose Villagran, vice president of the National Confederation of the Chilean Cargo Transport (CNTC), said the strike would end at 3 p.m. local time.Strikers pushed Congress to fast-track a dozen security bills after a spike in arson attacks on their vehicles which culminated in the shooting of a nine-year-old girl
  
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• Duped by Russia, freelancers ensnared in disinformation campaign by promise of easy money

  02-09-2020 22:05 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  When freelance journalist Laura Walters submitted a 1,000 word article about Chinese political influence in New Zealand to her new editors at non-profit media outlet Peace Data, the response was emphatic."I'd like to express our deep gratitude for your work," wrote Peace Data communications manager Alice Schultz in a June 15 email seen by Reuters."It's hard to believe how totalitarian countries like China (or Russia) are finding their ways to meddle even in the strongest democracies around the g
  
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• Record 409 migrants reach UK in single day

  02-09-2020 21:30 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  409 migrants crossed the English Channel to reach UK shores in small boats today - significantly breaking the previous single-day record.
  
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• Internet companies urge FCC to reject Trump bid to impose new social media regulations

  02-09-2020 21:07 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  A group representing major internet companies including Facebook Inc , Amazon.com Incand Alphabet Inc's Googleon Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reject a Trump administration bid to narrow the ability of social media companies to remove objectionable content.The Internet Association said in a filing that the Trump administration petition filed in August seeking new rules "is misguided, lacks grounding in law, and poses serious public policy concerns."
  
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• Lego-playing kidults help build UK toy sales during Covid lockdown

  02-09-2020 21:04 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Lego-playing kidults help build UK toy sales during Covid lockdown. Company is latest to benefit as pandemic forces families to spend more time together
  
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• Over-indulged housebuilding sector does not need more help

  02-09-2020 21:01 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Over-indulged housebuilding sector does not need more helpGreatest chunk of Treasury’s subsidies always stick to the housebuilders who don’t need a leg-up
  
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• Apple app developers to bear cost of UK tech tax

  02-09-2020 20:46 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Apple has said app developers will shoulder most of the cost of the UK’s new “tech tax”, following Google’s advertising and Amazon’s online marketplaces in passing on the levy. An update sent to developers by the iPhone maker this week said that the 2pc digital services tax (DST) will start to be charged on apps in the coming days. The DST, formulated under former chancellor Phillip Hammond, is designed to raise £500m a year for the Treasury through a levy on
  
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• Iraq denies it was seeking exemption from OPEC+ oil cuts - ministry

  02-09-2020 20:45 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Iraq said on Wednesday it remained fully committed to the OPEC+ oil supply cut agreement, denying earlier media report that it was seeking an exemption from the reduction pact during the first quarter of 2021, Iraq's oil ministry spokesman said."The Ministry of Oil would like to categorically deny this baseless statement, and affirm that, to the contrary, Iraq remains fully committed to the April OPEC+ Declaration of Cooperation, and the compensation mechanism agreed to in June," the spokesman s
  
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• Airbnb spurns approach from Ackman's blank-check company - sources

  02-09-2020 20:34 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The discussions are currently not moving ahead and Airbnb is prioritizing going public through a traditional initial public offering this year in what would be one of 2020's most high-profile stock market debuts, the sources said.Representatives for Airbnb and Ackman declined to comment.Airbnb said last month it had filed confidentially for an IPO with U.S. regulators.
  
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• Johnson warns UK’s economic health set to worsen

  02-09-2020 20:24
  PM tells Tory MPs waters will get choppier while chancellor admits tax rises needed to deal with pandemic
  
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• Kickstart work scheme: 'It's really hard to get a job'

  02-09-2020 20:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Many young people are out of work in the pandemic, but a new government scheme aims to help them find jobs.
  
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• UK small businesses raise concern over £2bn Kickstart jobs scheme

  02-09-2020 20:07
  Companies taking on fewer than 30 young workers will be unable to apply directly for funds
  
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• PDVSA, Eni weigh options to transfer oil from idled facility amid risks

  02-09-2020 19:56 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The companies suspended output at their joint venture Petrosucre shortly after Washington imposed sanctions on PDVSA in January 2019, depriving the partnership of its main crude buyer, PDVSA's U.S.-based refining subsidiary Citgo Petroleum.About 1.3 million barrels of Corocoro crude stored at the FSO (floating storage and offloading facility) have remained stuck in the vessel, which has been left without operating crew.
  
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• United Airlines plans layoffs if no more aid from Washington

  02-09-2020 19:53 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  United Airlines said Wednesday it plans to lay off up to 16,000 workers amid a prolonged industry downturn due to the coronavirus and the continuing stalemate in Washington over further federal support for the industry.
  
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• New book claims FBI examining deaths of ENRC workers

  02-09-2020 19:47 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The FBI is allegedly examining the deaths of two men who worked for a former FTSE 100 mining company at the centre of a long-running probe into allegations of corruption. James Bethel, 44, and Gerrit Strydom, 45, were found dead in their separate motel rooms while on holiday together in the US in May 2015. Bethel had left a senior position working for ENRC in the Democratic Republic of Congo in September 2014, while Strydom remained a general manager for the group in the country. Police in Sprin
  
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• Bank of England warns mass return to UK offices 'not possible'

  02-09-2020 19:37 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Bank of England warns mass return to UK offices 'not possible'Senior official says government campaign will fall foul of Covid safety guidelines* Coronavirus – latest updates* See all our coronavirus coverage
  
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• Coronavirus: 'I took a £1,000 flight to beat Portugal quarantine'

  02-09-2020 19:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Amid reports Portugal may be put on the UK's quarantine list, UK holidaymakers face rising prices to get home.
  
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• Barnier intensifies blame game in deadlocked Brexit talks

  02-09-2020 19:26
  EU’s chief negotiator says Britain has ‘shunned’ offers to make progress in talks
  
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• Ford to cut 1,400 jobs via retirements as profit lags

  02-09-2020 19:16 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  US automaker Ford on Wednesday announced it would offer around 1,400 voluntary retirement packages as it aims to cut staff amid a shakeup in leadership and struggles with profitability.
  
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• Heathrow to cut up to 1,200 jobs as furlough unwinds

  02-09-2020 19:09 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Heathrow is to axe up to a quarter of its workforce as Europe’s busiest airport grapples with spiralling losses and braces for the end of the taxpayer-funded furlough scheme. Up to 1,200 of Heathrow’s 4,700-strong workforce are at risk of compulsory redundancy after Covid brought a golden age of air travel to a juddering halt. The airport said it had lost £1bn since March and passenger numbers during August were 82pc lower than the previous year, with demand for foreign holiday
  
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• Bank of England's Bailey slams EU barrier to investment banking services after Brexit

  02-09-2020 18:51 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  An EU refusal to grant cross-border access to investment banking services from the CIty of London shows how the bloc wants to force Britain to keep adopting its rules in future, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Wednesday.Brussels has said that for now it won't allow investment banks to service customers in European Union member states directly from London after Britain's unfettered access to the bloc ends on Dec. 31, forcing the banks to use their EU hubs instead.The EU is set to d
  
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• ZTE releases Android phone with selfie camera under its screen

  02-09-2020 18:47 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Chinese smartphone company ZTE has launched the first Android smartphone with a selfie camera under its screen.The ZTE Axon 20 5G, which has no price tag nor launch date, does not have a notch nor a cutout for the front-facing camera as many others do.
  
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• UK rail passengers down 3m on last year despite return to office plea

  02-09-2020 18:47 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  UK rail passengers down 3m on last year despite return to office pleaGovernment’s call brings only a slight increase in commuter journeys on Tuesday * Coronavirus – latest updates* See all our coronavirus coverage
  
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• Fear of virus is holding back economy, Andrew Bailey warns

  02-09-2020 18:44 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Britain's recovery is being held back by fears that Covid will strike again, Andrew Bailey has warned, with key parts of the economy still operating at far below normal levels. "Natural caution" among consumers and businesses has prevented a swift bounce back, the Governor of the Bank of England said. He added that pubs, restaurants and other hospitality companies are still being shunned by fearful consumers - while firms of all kinds are reluctant to invest for fear of longer-term economic harm
  
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• Google, Apple to install contact tracing directly on smartphones

  02-09-2020 18:35 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Apple and Google plan to directly integrate contact-tracing software into smartphones as they aim to broaden a jointly developed initiative to combat the coronavirus.
  
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• United Airlines to start laying off up to 16,000 workers on Oct 1

  02-09-2020 18:31 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  United Airlines said Wednesday it plans to lay off up to 16,000 workers starting in October amid a prolonged industry downturn due to the coronavirus.
  
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• Intel releases new laptop chips to confront rising rivals

  02-09-2020 18:30 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The company said the chips use a new manufacturing technique and other tweaks that will make them more powerful at tasks such as using artificial intelligence to reduce background noise during video calls.The company said it worked with laptop makers includingDell Technologiesand Samsung Electronics Co Ltdand that there will be 50 different machines from different makers available for the holiday shopping season.The Tiger Lake processors come as Intel, one of the few chip companies that both des
  
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• Intel releases new laptop chips to confront Apple, rising rivals

  02-09-2020 18:30 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Intel said the chips use a new manufacturing technique and other tweaks that make them more powerful at tasks such as using artificial intelligence to reduce background noise during video calls.The company said it worked with laptop makers includingDell Technologies Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and that 50 machines from different makers will be available for the holiday shopping season.
  
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• Finance minister Sunak says must make public finances sustainable over time

  02-09-2020 18:28 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  British finance minister Rishi Sunak said the country would need to make its public finances sustainable over time, but he did not comment on reports of planned tax rises, saying his short term priority was jobs and driving a recovery."In the short term my priority is to drive our recovery forward to protect and support and create as many jobs as possible, but of course it's right that over time we have sustainable public finances," Sunak said.
  
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• Small firms face being locked out of Sunak's flagship youth jobs scheme

  02-09-2020 18:26 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Thousands of small companies face being locked out of Rishi Sunak's £2bn flagship jobs scheme after being told they must create at least 30 work placements or band together in a group to qualify. Business leaders warned that small firms will struggle to access the Kickstart scheme - which offers six-month paid placements for young people at the taxpayer's expense - amid fears the Chancellor’s jobs stimulus is falling flat. Employers will have to provide a minimum of 30 placements or
  
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• UK households face £1,700 hit to incomes after pandemic, Bank of England warns

  02-09-2020 18:24 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The UK faces a permanent £33bn annual hit to the economy as it emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey told MPs on Wednesday.Structural changes in the economy as people change their behaviours in response to the pandemic could cause long-term “scarring” to growth and employment, Mr Bailey warned.
  
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• UK households face £1,200 hit to incomes after pandemic, Bank of England warns

  02-09-2020 18:24 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The UK faces a permanent £33bn annual hit to the economy as it emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey told MPs on Wednesday.Structural changes in the economy as people change their behaviours in response to the pandemic could cause long-term “scarring” to growth and employment, Mr Bailey warned.
  
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• Fears of Bank of England directly financing UK spending are ‘misplaced’

  02-09-2020 18:21 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Directly funding government spending would raise serious questions about the autonomy of the Bank of England.
  
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• Market report: ITV relegated after Covid horror show

  02-09-2020 18:20 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  A Covid-induced revenue crunch knocked ITV out of the FTSE 100. The broadcaster was confirmed to have lost its spot in London’s top index on Wednesday, after nine year run among the blue-chips. The group’s shares have dropped 61pc this year, against a backdrop of plunging advertising budget. Its sport will be taken up by FTSE 250 leader B&M; European Retail. It is the second time a recession has knocked ITV out of the blue-chip cohort. It first joined the leading index following
  
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• Exclusive: Aspiring TikTok buyers pursue four options in effort to revive talks - sources

  02-09-2020 18:05 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Other options being considered include asking for Chinese approval to pass TikTok's algorithm on to the acquirer of the short video app's U.S. assets, licensing the algorithm from ByteDance, or seeking a transition period from a U.S. national security panel overseeing the deal, three sources said.ByteDance had been looking to pick a buyer for TikTok assets by this week so it can finalize a deal by mid-September and comply with President Donald Trump's order to divest them, after U.S. officials r
  
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• Zombie firms 'threaten German recovery'

  02-09-2020 18:04 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  The coronavirus crisis could turn one in six German businesses into “zombie” companies dependent on state handouts for survival and drag down Europe’s biggest economy, a senior banker has warned. Christian Sewing, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, said in a speech in Frankfurt that the large number of so-called zombie firms in Germany would have "a serious impact on the productivity of our economy". So-called "zombie" companies – often debt-laden and kept from insolve
  
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• Speedy return to workplace 'not possible'

  02-09-2020 18:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A top Bank of England official casts doubt on government moves to get workers back to the office faster.
  
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• Saudi Aramco slows diversification plans amid industry downturn - WSJ

  02-09-2020 17:47 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Aramco will review a $6.6 billion(4.96 billion pounds) plan to add petrochemical output at its Motiva refinery in Texas, as well as a big natural-gas project with Sempra Energyin the same state, according to the report.Oil companies globally have been cutting spending across the board to shore up cash as the industry contends with a realization that lower crude prices could be the norm for a long period of time after the COVID-19 pandemic sapped fuel demand.In Saudi Arabia, Aramco is delaying pl
  
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• Estée Lauder to review skin whitening cream amid Black Lives Matter outcry

  02-09-2020 17:42 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Estée Lauder is reviewing the language and marketing around its skin-lightening creams as companies face increasing scrutiny over their racial equality pledges. Rival cosmetics firms have faced accusations of cultural insensitivity in recent months because they sell products designed to lighten the skin, seen by critics as perpetuating so-called colourism. Estée Lauder, which owns 25 brands including Bobbi Brown, Clinique and La Mer, is hoping to avoid similar criticism by assessin
  
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• 'Record level' of uncertainty for UK economy, warns Bank of England governor

  02-09-2020 17:40 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey told MPs that forecasts drawn up in August were done in the face of huge uncertainty caused by the continued battle against COVID-19, structural changes in the economy, and Brexit trade talks.
  
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• Harry and Meghan sign multi-year Netflix deal

  02-09-2020 17:37 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Investors will be watching any share price movements following the deal.
  
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• Commerzbank looks externally for CEO - source

  02-09-2020 17:33 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  Commerzbankhas launched an external search for its chief executive, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, as a leadership vacuum at the German lender continues.Commerzbank's chairman and its chief executive stepped down in July, bowing to demands from top shareholder Cerberus that the lender change its strategy to stop a downward spiral in its financial performance.Commerzbank declined to comment.
  
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• Heathrow Airport consults unions over redundancies

  02-09-2020 17:32 via uk.finance.yahoo.com
  
  London's Heathrow Airport said it is consulting with unions about redundancies as a result of a downturn in the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which could see over 1,000 frontline roles go.The airport has informed union officials that it was triggering a 45-day consultation period about the proposals, which involve voluntary severance schemes as well as pay and recruitment freezes and salary reductions for management.
  
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