Financial news

• US debt ceiling talks continue into weekend amid signs deal is close

  27-05-2023 21:35
  
  Default deadline pushed to 5 June as work requirements for food aid recipients reportedly emerge as final sticking pointNegotiations over America’s looming debt crisis pushed into Saturday amid signs that a deal between Joe Biden’s administration and Republicans was close to being struck even as the deadline for a potentially catastrophic US default was nudged by a few days.The Associated Press reported that work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final st
  
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• Travellers faced long queues at major UK airports after electronic passport gates failed

  27-05-2023 20:39
  
  Hours-long delays were reported as IT problems also caused disruption on Dover-Calais ferriesPassengers arriving at major airports in the UK at the start of the bank holiday weekend faced long delays after problems with electronic passport gates.Travellers expressed their anger on social media over queues of several hours at a number of airports including Heathrow and Gatwick as arrivals had their passports checked by hand instead of the automated machines. Continue reading...
  
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• Videos show long queues and closed e-gates at Gatwick airport after IT issues – video

  27-05-2023 19:54
  
  Videos shared by travellers online showed long queues at Gatwick airport after a number of UK airports faced problems with electronic passport gates. Passengers arriving in the UK had their passports checked by hand instead of the automated machines due to IT problems, causing hours-long delays. A Gatwick spokesperson said the problem started on Friday evening but that queues had eased on Saturday morning. The disruption comes at the start of a bank holiday weekend, when millions are expected to
  
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• NHS data breach: trusts shared patient details with Facebook without consent

  27-05-2023 19:34
  
  Observer investigation reveals Meta Pixel tool passed on private details of web browsing on medical sitesNHS trusts are sharing intimate details about patients’ medical conditions, appointments and treatments with Facebook without consent and despite promising never to do so.An Observer investigation has uncovered a covert tracking tool in the websites of 20 NHS trusts which has for years collected browsing information and shared it with the tech giant in a major breach of privacy. Continu
  
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• Just Stop Oil protesters stop play at Twickenham rugby final – video

  27-05-2023 18:12
  
  Just Stop Oil protesters forced a stoppage in play during the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham. Two men invaded the pitch midway through the first half of the match between Saracens and Sale, throwing orange powder on to the field. Fans jeered the duo before cheering as stewards escorted them from the stadium. Twickenham Stadium later confirmed two men had been arrested and that the incident is now a police matter.Just Stop Oil protesters invade pitch and stop play at Twickenham rugby f
  
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• Insurance giant halts sale of new home policies in California due to wildfires

  27-05-2023 17:18
  
  State Farm also cites inflation of construction costs in statement which comes after increasing wildfires in stateThe insurance giant State Farm, America’s biggest car and home insurer by premium volume, will halt the sale of new home insurance policies in California, citing wildfire risk and inflation of construction costs.Starting on Saturday, the company will not accept insurance applications for business and personal lines property and casualty insurance. The company will still accept
  
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• Static buildup: Hull’s caravan makers enjoy a British holiday boom

  27-05-2023 17:00
  
  Hull has a strong claim to being the centre of the UK mobile home industry, but while the pandemic boosted sales, there are now fears of a glutWhen the David Attenborough nature series Wild Isles was documenting the UK and Ireland’s coastal beauty, Peter Munk noticed it not because of the rave reviews, but because traffic to his website surged. The business he runs makes caravans, and a pleasant Sunday-evening advertisement for the islands of Britain and Ireland provided a welcome boost.Bu
  
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• ‘I was burnt out’ – the joys and fears of economic inactivity

  27-05-2023 17:00
  
  Readers reveal how they have spent their time since retiring – be it helping with childcare, renting property, gardening or worrying about the futureBarbara was 59 when she decided she’d had enough of working. The former chief executive of a multi-academy trust, now 63, had always wanted to retire early, but didn’t think she could afford to.“I was quite burnt out and desperate to change my lifestyle. I worked 70 hours a week for years – it was just exhausting,&rdquo
  
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• AI will indeed be, but its rise will be mundane not apocalyptic | John Naughton

  27-05-2023 17:00
  
  To understand how ChatGPT will infiltrate the world, cast your mind back to Google’s decision to map the entire planetCheered by the news that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, had released a free iPhone app for the language model, I went to the Apple app store to download it, only to find that it was nowhere to be found. This is because – as I belatedly discovered – it’s currently only available via the US app store and will be rolled out to other jurisdictions in due
  
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• CCTV shows black bear taking 60 cupcakes from Connecticut bakery – video

  27-05-2023 16:14
  
  Surveillance footage shared on social media shows a black bear entering a bakery's garage in Connecticut, taking a box of 60 cupcakes and eating them. Workers at Taste by Spellbound, in the town of Avon, are seen trying to scare the bear and then running away moments later, scared themselves. Police officers were called and no one was injured. There are 1,000 to 1,200 black bears living in Connecticut, the state environmental agency says, with sightings recorded last year in 158 of the state&rsq
  
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• ‘You wake up wondering where your next meal is coming from’: UK food bank crisis is only getting worse

  27-05-2023 16:00
  
  Last time the Observer visited St Andrew’s church in London, we heard how paying bills was difficult. Now, even with the warmer weather, nothing has got easierAt 7.40am, when Charlotte White, the Earlsfield food bank manager, arrives for work, people are already waiting outside the redbrick building of St Andrew’s church in south-west London.When she opens the doors a couple of hours later, many of the faces in the queue snaking out of the gate and down the road are new since the Obs
  
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• Squirrel haggis and Japanese knotweed reach UK menus as invasive species trend grows

  27-05-2023 16:00
  
  The rise of ‘invasivorism’ has introduced a range of unusual eating choices as diners strive for a more ethical dietIt can be grilled like asparagus, mixed into a sweet-sour ripple ice-cream or even turned into a beer. When guests arrive at Silo, a “zero-waste” restaurant in east London, next month they’ll be treated to a series of dishes from an unlikely source. It is more famous as the scourge of homeowners, but for some, the solution to the Japanese knotweed cris
  
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• ‘One morning, I found a customer asleep by the toilets’: my life as a pub manager in badly behaved Britain

  27-05-2023 16:00
  
  From karaoke wars to complaints about prices, I’ve seen it all. But nothing could have prepared us for the pandemicThis is my first job out of university. I didn’t have any interest in working in hospitality; I needed to pay back my student loans while I looked for work that was more relevant to my degree. But I have found that I really enjoy it.I work in what you might describe as an old-fashioned pub. It hasn’t really changed for years. We serve reasonably cheap food and drin
  
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• Broccoli ‘super soup’ may help keep type 2 diabetes at bay

  27-05-2023 13:00
  
  Smarter Food ramps up production of its GRextra plant strain that helps lower elevated blood glucose levelsImagine eating a bowl of soup once a week that could help bring down your blood sugar levels and so reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.This may sound like wishful thinking or the latest fad, but Smarter Food says this is already a reality for its customers. Continue reading...
  
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• UK mortgages: ‘How did a £42,500 loan turn into a £477,000 debt?’

  27-05-2023 09:00
  
  A Bank of Scotland offshoot faces questions over loans that shared in the rise in a home’s value. We talk to one of hundreds of families affectedBritain’s biggest mortgage lender is facing questions about how it allowed a £42,500 loan taken out by an older couple to turn into a debt estimated at £477,000.Gary Cooper discovered that in 1997 his parents took out a type of mortgage that entitled the lender to 75% of any house price rises over the life of the loan. Continue r
  
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• There’s another invisible injustice for working women – the gender pension gap | Rajiv Prabhakar

  27-05-2023 09:00
  
  It’s partly the inevitable result of the gender pay gap, but the sums are much bigger. This urgently needs to be fixedThe reality of a gender pay gap – where women are paid less than men for similar work – is well known. Much less well known is the gender pension gap – a gap in retirement outcomes between men and women.Outside the state pension, pensions come in roughly two forms, private and workplace, and women are being let down in both areas. The trade union Prospect
  
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• ‘Shops will close’: soaring cost of potatoes batters British chippies

  27-05-2023 08:00
  
  The once humble, low-cost staple more than doubles in price, putting many fish and chip shops at riskWhether it’s fried, baked or mashed, potatoes have traditionally been a low-cost staple food in the UK – but not any more.A surge in costs is clobbering high street chippies, while in the supermarket, oven chips and the once humble baking potato are casualties of soaring grocery prices. Continue reading...
  
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• Covid pandemic blamed for UK rise in cracked tyres

  27-05-2023 08:00
  
  Motorists urged to carry out safety check as rubber on cars left idle for long periods can deteriorateThere has been a sharp rise in the number of cars with cracked tyres – which can result in an MOT failure – because of vehicles lying idle during the coronavirus pandemic.Figures from Kwik Fit, the car maintenance chain, show that its mechanics saw almost twice as many cars with premature cracking last year compared with before the lockdowns. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s a massive ask’: is Binance capable of being regulated?

  27-05-2023 07:00
  
  Crypto exchange says it will do everything possible to change UK watchdog’s mind but opacity remains an issue for US as wellIn 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority was adamant: Binance is not capable of being regulated in the UK.Executives at the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange are not taking no for an answer. This month, Binance vowed to do “everything” it possibly could to change the City regulator’s mind, against a backdrop of deepening scepticism about
  
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