Financial news

• CVS to buy insurance giant Aetna in $69bn deal

  03-12-2017 21:30 via theguardian.com
  Deal pairs a company that runs more than 9,700 drugstores and 1,100 walk-in clinics with an insurer covering about 22 million peopleCVS will buy insurance giant Aetna in a roughly $69bn deal that will help the drugstore chain provide more healthcare and keep a key client, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The person said on Sunday that CVS Health will pay about $207 in cash and stock for each share of Aetna. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not be
  
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• Financial markets could be over-heating, warns central bank body

  03-12-2017 18:15 via theguardian.com
  Bank for International Settlements’ quarterly health check warns global economy resembles era just before financial crashInvestors are ignoring warning signs that financial markets could be overheating and consumer debts are rising to unsustainable levels, the global body for central banks has warned in its quarterly financial health check.The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said the situation in the global economy was similar to the pre-2008 crash era when investors, seeking high
  
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• Ryanair crew judged against strict sales targets, documents show

  03-12-2017 17:47 via theguardian.com
  Staff say if they fail to hit targets they are threatened with disciplinary measures or arbitrary shift changesFresh details have emerged of how Ryanair cabin crew are put under pressure to boost in-flight sales, including the posting of league tables of staff performances at the airline’s bases.Photographs and documents obtained by the Guardian show how staff at Ryanair’s Barcelona base, one of its key European airports, are judged against strict sales targets and are named if they
  
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• UK government to release funding for mini nuclear power stations

  03-12-2017 16:43 via theguardian.com
  Up to £100m expected to be announced in effort to make UK leader in technology and provide fresh source of clean powerMinisters are expected to back the first generation of small nuclear power stations in Britain with tens of millions of pounds this week, in an attempt to give the UK a competitive edge on the technology and provide a new source of clean power.Rolls-Royce and a host of US and Chinese companies have been lobbying and waiting for the support since George Osborne first promise
  
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• How second-homes boom is hollowing out Yorkshire Dales villages

  03-12-2017 16:34 via theguardian.com
  Council plans tax crackdown as influx of part-timers is pricing out locals and younger people and threatening schools and servicesIncreasing levels of second home ownership in the Yorkshire Dales have left the national park with a “flight of working-age people, school closures, loss of services and hollowed-out communities”, local politicians and campaigners have said. The Yorkshire Dales national park authority chairman, Carl Lis, said people looking to the area for a picturesque bo
  
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• Income inequality is getting wider. If the stats count what counts

  03-12-2017 14:15 via theguardian.com
  The Tories say the income gap is not growing and cite data that ignores key contributors to the wealth of the top 1% such as capital gains and inheritanceForget all that guff about a growing gap between rich and poor, says Philip Hammond. Pay no heed to Jeremy Corbyn when he talks of how he will deliver for the many not the few, Theresa May says. The chancellor and the prime minister might not always see eye to eye, but on this at least they are in unison: income inequality is at its lowest sinc
  
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• Government amends 'misleading' claims for 30 hours free childcare scheme

  03-12-2017 14:07 via theguardian.com
  Education department issues clarification after man complained to advertising watchdog about ‘30 hours a week’ claimThe government has been cowed into clarifying the facts about its “free” childcare offer after a father complained to the advertising watchdog that the Department for Education’s description was misleading. Related: A thousand nurseries close as free childcare scheme faltersContinue reading...
  
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• UK extradition hearing to start for tycoon sought by India - Financial Post

  03-12-2017 10:35
  UK extradition hearing to start for tycoon sought by India
  Financial Post
  LONDON — Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya is set to face an extradition hearing in London that should determine whether he is sent back to India to face money laundering allegations related to the collapse of several of his businesses. The Westminster ...en meer »
  
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• Silk River 2017: Project journey to explore India, UK relationship - Financial Express

  03-12-2017 09:17
  Financial Express
  Silk River 2017: Project journey to explore India, UK relationship
  Financial Express
  Come December 6, a group of contemporary artists, historians, writers and musicians from the UK and India will set out on a unique 11-day-long journey to explore the relationship between the two countries. By: PTI | Kolkata | Published: December 3 ...en meer »
  
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• The Brexit ‘patriots’ care little for British history or influence

  03-12-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Those who seek a hard exit from the EU do so in defiance of old allies in Europe and beyond, and of long-held principles of UK foreign policyPhilip Hammond’s recent budget – are you old enough to remember it? – was completely overshadowed by the gloomy analysis of our economy, present and future, presented by the Office for Budget Responsibility on the same day.Politically, the chancellor was constrained by the knowledge that the minority of deranged Brexiters who seem to be ru
  
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• Why won’t Argos let me return my Furby after security alert?

  03-12-2017 07:59
  I bought it early as a Christmas present but I now learn it could be hackedIn an uncharacteristically early stab at my Christmas shopping in September, I spent £24.99 on a Furby Connect toy from Argos for my nine-year old grand-daughter, unaware it is one of several such “intelligent” dolls that have been the subject of security concerns. There seems to be mounting evidence that strangers can hack into them and talk to children playing with them. I find this deeply worrying and
  
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• Tax havens wait to hear if they’ve fallen foul of EU

  03-12-2017 07:59
  Europe’s list of jurisdictions failing on tax transparency is out this week – but the wrangling over who’s in and who’s out is not over yetWhich jurisdictions will be on the EU blacklist of tax havens? This week the composition of the list will be revealed, but the final number is not yet clear. Finance ministers will decide on Tuesday about the initiative, which was begun earlier this year following multiple disclosures of offshore tax avoidance schemes by companies and
  
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• Tony Blair backs Labour’s ‘land value tax’ to tackle housing crisis

  03-12-2017 01:05
  Endorsement of controversial measure is seen as attempt by former prime minister to re-engage with British politicsTony Blair is backing one of the most controversial measures raised in Labour’s last manifesto, by supporting a new “land value tax” designed to help solve the housing crisis.The former prime minister said the new tax, which sees the value of underlying land taxed rather than property, should replace council tax and business rates to create a “fairer and more
  
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• 30 hours of ‘free’ childcare scheme ruled misleading by advertising watchdog

  03-12-2017 01:05
  Father of three-year-old boy complained government offer was valid for only 38 weeks a year and subsidised by other chargesThe government has been cowed into clarifying the facts about its “free” childcare offer after a father complained to the advertising watchdog that the Department for Education’s description was misleading. Related: A thousand nurseries close as free childcare scheme faltersContinue reading...
  
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