Financial news

• ‘Social Security is going broke!’ Benefit payments to be cut by 24%, Joe Biden warned

  31-03-2023 20:18 via express.co.uk
  
  President Joe Biden is being warned that benefit payments for Americans could be cut by 24 percent if changes are not made to the Social Security system.
  
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• Homeless man breaks down as Undercover Boss gives him £40,000: ‘Our prayers are answered!’

  31-03-2023 19:22 via express.co.uk
  
  Employees are being awarded for their good work on Undercover Boss with one man getting $50,000 in recognition of what he has done for the company.
  
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• Canada’s approval of major telecoms takeover condemned as ‘dark day’

  31-03-2023 17:58
  
  Anti-monopoly consumer groups slam multibillion-takeover of Shaw by Rogers that will create a media and sports behemoth Canada has approved a major telecoms takeover that would create a media and sports behemoth in an already concentrated media landscape, in a landmark deal that anti-monopoly consumer groups slammed as “a dark day” for competition in Canada.On Friday the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said he had approved a multibillion-dollar takeover of Shaw
  
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• Sunak’s anti-union laws would make UK ‘international outlier’, lawyers say

  31-03-2023 17:00
  
  Employment experts say proposals are ‘departure from established norms and treaty obligations’Rishi Sunak’s new anti-trade union legislation would make the UK one of the most difficult countries in the democratic world in which to go on strike and may breach treaty obligations, a group of top employment lawyers have said.The 10 academic experts in employment law said the proposed laws to enforce “minimum service levels” in sectors such as health, transport and schoo
  
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• Council tax to rise in April - could you be eligible for a 50% of 100% discount?

  31-03-2023 16:11 via express.co.uk
  
  Millions of households will see a rise in their council tax bill from April, but there are a number of discounts available to certain people.
  
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• Couple reduces £715 supermarket bill to zero thanks to savings tip - 'got it for nothing!’

  31-03-2023 15:55 via express.co.uk
  
  One couple did not have to pay for their supermarket shop despite the final bill coming to £715.
  
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• Calls for over 65s to be able to access state pension early as pension age increase looms

  31-03-2023 15:44 via express.co.uk
  
  A Government-commissioned state pension age review published this week recommended ministers look at introducing an early access scheme.
  
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• E-scooters: a tale of two cities as London and Paris plot different paths

  31-03-2023 15:00
  
  London seems to be slowly embracing the rental scooters but in Paris the love affair with trottinettes looks overOn either side of the Channel, a love-hate relationship between e-scooters has run a typically different course. The French swiftly embraced them; the English belatedly entered a tentative trial engagement, with a reluctance to commit.Now London is aiming to go deeper, re-tendering contracts in April for another year – while the Paris honeymoon could end with the firms spurned a
  
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• TikTok: why the app with 1bn users faces a fight for its existence

  31-03-2023 14:37
  
  Chinese-owned firm caught in geopolitical standoff, with US lawmakers leading charge against itSitting at the heart of youth culture, TikTok is beloved of its more than 1 billion users worldwide.With a range of compelling content that extends from viral dances to comedy skits, cleaning hacks, BookTok, music and the Gen Z melancholy of the corecore trend, it is the app of the 21st century. Continue reading...
  
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• Santander offers market-leading interest rate on fixed cash ISA

  31-03-2023 14:21 via express.co.uk
  
  Santander recently launched a new ISA range, and it's one-year fixed product is currently topping the table with an interest rate of 4.15 percent.
  
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• UK energy firms lose high court challenge over handling of Bulb sale

  31-03-2023 13:57
  
  ScottishPower, British Gas and E.ON alleged government’s decision-making process was ‘flawed’The biggest UK state bailout since 2008 will move ahead after justices threw out a high court challenge to the government’s sale of the collapsed energy firm Bulb.Three big energy suppliers – ScottishPower, British Gas and E.ON – had hoped to upend the £3bn deal to sell Bulb to rival Octopus Energy by calling for a judicial review. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Take back control’? With this Pacific trade deal, Brexit Britain has just signed it away | Nick Dearden

  31-03-2023 13:43
  
  Goodbye, food standards. Hello, corporate lobbyists. Why are we doing this, for no real economic benefit? Last night, the government announced that Britain has joined a trade deal so contentious that it united Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in opposition to US membership.While hardcore Brexiters would like to pretend this is the ultimate payoff of our decision to leave the EU and write our own rules, the reality is somewhat different. In signing the Comprehensive and Progressiv
  
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• Manchester’s £1-a-night tourist tax comes into force

  31-03-2023 13:42
  
  First city in the UK to impose such a charge hopes to raise £3m a year to develop its visitor experienceFrom tomorrow (1 April) tourists will have to pay a £1 tax to stay in Manchester – the first city in the UK to impose a tourist tax on visitors.Overnight guests in city centre hotels or holiday apartments will be charged £1 a night, per room, as part of a new scheme which officials hope will raise £3m a year. Continue reading...
  
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• Rolls-Royce appoints first female finance chief in boardroom shake-up

  31-03-2023 13:24
  
  Helen McCabe joins from BP where she worked alongside Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan ErginbilgicBusiness live – latest updatesRolls-Royce has appointed its first female finance chief as part of a boardroom shake-up by the chief executive, Tufan Erginbilgic, who has promised to instil a “winning culture” at the engineering and aerospace firm, whose past performance he has criticised.Helen McCabe will start in the role later this year, taking over from Panos Kakoullis, who has only been i
  
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• Failed IT systems at Capita fuel fears of cyber-attack on crucial NHS provider

  31-03-2023 13:22
  
  Staff unable to access computers and local authority phone lines knocked out as outsourcing giant investigates possible data breachComputer systems have abruptly stopped working at the outsourcing group Capita, knocking out council phone lines and triggering fears that the company that runs crucial operations for the NHS and the military could be under cyber-attack.Capita staff are understood to have been unable to access IT systems since the early hours of Friday, and an early investigation has
  
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• Heathrow ‘operating as normal’ as 10-day strike by security staff begins

  31-03-2023 13:12
  
  Stoppage by 1,400 members of Unite union mainly affects Terminal 5 and is due to last until Easter SundayBusiness live – latest updatesHeathrow airport said it was “operating as normal” as the first of 10 days of strikes by security staff got under way at the start of the Easter holiday period.Passengers have been warned of potential disruption as 1,400 members of the Unite union take industrial action over pay. However, Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said
  
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• Amazon workers in Coventry announce six new strike dates

  31-03-2023 13:02
  
  April dates come as GMB union prepares to test support for stoppages at five other sitesWorkers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have announced six fresh strike dates, as the GMB union prepares to test support for stoppages among staff at another five of the delivery company’s sites.Strikes at the vast Coventry centre, known as BHX4, began in January – the first industrial action ever taken against Amazon in the UK. Staff are demanding pay of £15 an hour. Continue reading..
  
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• Virgin Orbit cuts 85% of workforce after failing to secure fresh funding

  31-03-2023 13:01
  
  Decision raises fears that company founded by Sir Richard Branson may be on verge of collapseVirgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by the billionaire Sir Richard Branson, is cutting 85% of its workforce after failing to secure fresh funding, raising fears that the firm may be on the brink of collapse.The California-based company said in a US filing that about 675 staff would lose their jobs as part of efforts to cut costs, leaving about 100 employees to run what is left of the busin
  
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• ‘One and done’ parents are some of the most thoughtful and compassionate I have met | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

  31-03-2023 13:00
  
  It’s time to retire the offensive, outdated idea that having only one child is somehow selfish or unfair“Aren’t you worried they’ll be lonely?” This is the question that the parents of only children are probably asked the most, and the one that is mentioned again and again when I asked for “one and done” parents to get in touch. Although “one and done” parenting is on the rise, and in some countries only children are becoming the norm, the st
  
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• Buy. Return. Repeat … What really happens when we send back unwanted clothes?

  31-03-2023 12:00
  
  The rise and rise of online fashion stores – and their generous returns policies – has created a new industry dedicated to dealing with our unwanted clothes. But what damage is being done – to our planet and to retailers – by our boomerang shopping habits? In the past, the post office has been an embarrassing place for Megan Hitt. The 25-year-old nurse from south Wales recalls a time, a few years ago, when she had to approach the counter with six different Asos parcels in
  
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• UK house prices fall at fastest annual rate since 2009

  31-03-2023 10:33
  
  Average property drops 3.1% to £257,122 over year to March, says NationwideBusiness live updates: UK house prices in biggest fall since 2009UK house prices have fallen at their fastest annual rate since the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009, with experts at Nationwide warning that the squeeze on household budgets will make it hard to regain momentum soon.The price of an average property dropped 3.1% to £257,122 over the year to March, according to Nationwide Building Society&
  
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• '100% income tax!': Hunt onslaught hits new extremes as he takes 'every penny earned'

  31-03-2023 10:05 via express.co.uk
  
  In 1964, The Beatles were handing a staggering 98 percent on their earnings to the taxman. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would no doubt approve.
  
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• This gung-ho government says we have nothing to fear from AI. Are you scared yet? | Gaby Hinsliff

  31-03-2023 10:00
  
  A new white paper emphasises innovation over regulation. Unlike ChatGPT, we have learned nothing from our mistakesIt’s almost 20 years now since a socially awkward young computer science student set up a website for rating “hot” women.Facemash, as Mark Zuckerberg called his creation, was shut down within days. But this crass teenage experiment was still, in retrospect, the first faltering step down a road to something even he couldn’t possibly have foreseen at the time: a
  
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• Should we ban the purchase of cigarettes for life? A US town is trying

  31-03-2023 08:00
  
  Brookline, Massachusetts, is barring those born after 2000 from buying the products. Is a paternalistic approach always right?Mary Jo began smoking when she was 12 years old, sneaking behind her church and picking up cigarette butts off the ground. As she got a little older, she would steal cigarettes from her brother and, by 15, she was buying her own packs – a proud Marlboro smoker.“I smoked for 30 years,” she tells me. “I smoked when I was pregnant.” She was desp
  
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• In business: how brands like Nike, BlackBerry and Pop-Tarts became film’s hottest stars

  31-03-2023 08:00
  
  A slew of new movies celebrate the boardroom mavericks of the 1980s and 90s – as well as the products they flogged. What’s behind this corporate nostalgia?Steam trains, tuberculosis, sexual repression, the shadow of a coming war and Colin Firth: the stuff of a period piece was once unchanging. But history is not what it was. Now conjuring the past on screen means 8-bit graphics and Money for Nothing. And Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig will do a synchronised bop before the vintage logos
  
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• Homes for sale on or near high streets – in pictures

  31-03-2023 08:00
  
  From a grand London mansion block flat to a Grade II-listed cottage in a picturesque village on the Thames Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We live from month to month’: people in UK brace for April’s bill rises

  31-03-2023 07:00
  
  Five readers tell of how they will be affected by jump in council tax, energy, water and telecoms costsRising bills and tax hikes to make UK families hundreds of pounds worse off‘UK national price hike day’: what to expect and how to lessen blowHouseholds will be hit with a spate of bill hikes from April, with councils, water suppliers and telecoms companies among those raising their prices.While the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) will remain fixed until the end of J
  
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• ‘UK national price hike day’: what to expect and how to lessen blow

  31-03-2023 07:00
  
  From phone and broadband contracts to council tax to energy bills, a raft of increases come into effect in AprilRising bills and tax hikes to make UK families hundreds of pounds worse off‘We live from month to month’: people brace for April bill risesThe squeeze on household budgets will increase from this weekend when a raft of price and bill hikes take effect. These concern everything from mobile phone contracts and council tax to the cost of stamps, NHS prescriptions and going to
  
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• Rising bills and tax hikes to make UK families hundreds of pounds worse off

  31-03-2023 07:00
  
  Study commissioned by Guardian details scale of hit to household finances from April‘UK national price hike day’: what to expect‘We live from month to month’: people brace for April bill risesA wave of rising bills and tax hikes coming into effect in April will leave a family on a £50,000 annual income almost £700 a year worse off, according to a study of the damaging effects of the cost of living crisis.Unions have warned that an increase in the minimum wage
  
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• 10 years on, what did George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme really achieve?

  31-03-2023 07:00
  
  Osborne says the scheme, which closes Friday, ‘helped hundreds of thousands of families’, but critics argue it was ‘only a gimmick’George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme officially shuts this Friday, a little over a decade after the then chancellor launched it with the aim of revitalising what was a sluggish UK property market.The scheme granted 375,654 interest-free equity loans for the purchase of new-build properties, according to the latest figures which cover unti
  
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• How raising the retirement age set France on fire – podcast

  31-03-2023 04:00
  
  An attempt to force through an increase in the state pension age brought thousands of protesters out on to the streets and has left Emmanuel Macron facing his biggest crisis yetWhen Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as France’s president last year, it was with a promise to bring in economic reforms after the damage done by Covid and what he believed was decades of failure to modernise. His platform was enough to defeat the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, but she gained ground and a strong
  
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