Financial news

• Nearly 100 London councillors have links to property industry

  29-04-2018 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Almost one in 10 councillors work for consultancies involved in planning or construction firmsAlmost one in 10 councillors in London either work for property businesses or have received gifts or hospitality from them, a Guardian investigation into the depth of links between town halls and the property industry has revealed.Nearly 100 councillors in the capital work for property companies or lobbying and communications consultancies involved in planning, according to declarations of interest made
  
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• Millions of trees at risk in secretive Network Rail felling programme

  29-04-2018 22:19 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Plan to stop leaves and branches falling on lines has already led to thousands of trees being chopped downMillions of trees are at risk in a secretive nationwide felling operation launched by Network Rail to end the nuisance of leaves and branches falling on the line.
  Thousands of poplars, sycamores, limes, ash trees and horse chestnuts have already been chopped down across the country from Yorkshire to Dorset, and the scale of the potential destruction outlined in a Network Rail blue
  
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• Sainsbury's and Asda to reveal details of shock £15bn merger

  29-04-2018 20:12 via theguardian.com
  Deal that would create a new grocery superpower has triggered fears of thousands of job lossesSainsbury’s and Asda will confirm on Monday the details of a £15bn merger creating a new grocery superpower that would ring up nearly £1 in every £3 spent on groceries on the UK high street.The shock deal was revealed on Saturday and immediately triggered fears of thousands of job losses. The pair have a combined workforce of 360,000 people and the merged company would leapfrog T
  
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• MPs call for crackdown on Russian oligarchs using City to avoid sanctions

  29-04-2018 18:39 via theguardian.com
  Government urged to impose tough measures following controversial London flotation of Oleg Deripaska’s En+ groupLabour has called on ministers to toughen the scrutiny and regulation of City flotations as a matter of urgency following the controversial $7bn (£5bn) London flotation of En+, a Russian metals group controlled by oligarch Oleg Deripaska.The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, called on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to introduce serious measures against oligarchs and consi
  
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• Sainsbury's and Asda play seismic supermarket sweep | Zoe Wood

  29-04-2018 16:59 via theguardian.com
  Retail experts predict ‘Herculean task’ will prompt colossal change if blockbuster deal goes aheadRetro 90s fashion is a huge trend on the high street at the moment but that nostalgia has now spilled over into food retail as the supermarket giant Sainsbury’s attempts a blockbuster deal that will result in it seizing back the UK grocery crown it surrendered to Tesco in 1995.The UK’s second-largest retailer has confirmed plans to merge with its nearest rival Asda in a &poun
  
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• Saudi Aramco appoints first woman to board

  29-04-2018 16:29 via theguardian.com
  World’s most profitable company recruits US oil executive Lynn Laverty Elsenhans in milestone move for Saudi ArabiaSaudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, has appointed a woman to its board, in a milestone move for Saudi Arabia, where only one-fifth of women work and there are very few female executives. The oil company, which made profits of $33.8bn (£25bn) in the first half of 2017 – $5bn more than second-placed Apple – said on Sunday it had recruited t
  
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• Want to resolve the UK's housing crisis? Here's how | Larry Elliott

  29-04-2018 11:48 via theguardian.com
  Our system favours landlords over communities. The PM must side with the many, not the fewTheresa May is right. Britain’s housing market is broken and needs fixing. Homelessness and rough sleeping are rising and owner-occupation levels for the young have collapsed because homes have become unaffordable. The average private rent in London accounts for more than a third of household income. The bill for housing benefit has risen eight-fold since the early 1980s after inflation is taken into
  
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• Overhaul of planning rules ‘threatens to reduce supply of affordable housing’

  29-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Charity Shelter warns ministers new rules might let developers reduce commitments to cheaper forms of propertyMinisters have been warned that an overhaul of planning rules could cut the amount of affordable housing even further, despite Theresa May’s pledge to take “personal charge” of solving the housing crisis.Serious concerns have emerged that an updated version of the government’s planning laws appears to alter the definition of what counts as “affordable housin
  
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• How can I recycle my inkjet printer?

  29-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  I want to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible way, not fly-tip it like so many other peopleWe have been running around like headless chickens to find an environmentally responsible way to gift or dispose of two inkjet printers. None of the charitable organisations or companies we contacted is able to help. Our local Space Waye recycling centre (London Borough of Hounslow) will not allow pedestrians to use the facility – you can only drive in, not drop anything off. We do not ow
  
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• Millennials are struggling. Is it the fault of the baby boomers?

  29-04-2018 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The postwar generation, now retiring in luxury, stands accused of a wilful failure to safeguard young people’s interestsT he late 1940s were about bombsites, rationing, loss and mourning, but amid the gloom a new generation was emerging. In the grim, grey aftermath of war, children were born on an unprecedented scale in a population explosion: the baby boomers – born between 1946 and the mid-60s – had arrived. It was time for a new life. It was time for the young to grow up wit
  
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