Financial news

• Fury as Andrew Bailey hands BoE staff huge pay rise despite urging wage restraint

  08-03-2024 19:03 via express.co.uk
  
  Staff at the Bank of England will be handed a four percent pay rise along with a one percent salary top up for 2024-25.
  
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• Kristalina Georgieva wins backing to run for second term as IMF chief

  08-03-2024 18:00
  
  Bulgaria’s ‘eternal optimist’ in favour with European finance ministers after first five-year stint encompassing Covid and UkraineThe head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, will run for a second five-year term after being nominated by a string of European countries to lead the global lender.The Bulgarian economist and champion of policies to tackle the climate crisis will be given the support of her home country, which said she had accepted the nominatio
  
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• Instagram overtakes TikTok as world’s most downloaded app

  08-03-2024 17:44
  
  Copycat video feature Reels helps Meta app in fightback against Chinese-owned rivalInstagram has overtaken TikTok as the world’s most downloaded app after its copycat video feature Reels helped it recover ground lost to its Chinese-owned rival.The photo- and videosharing app soared in popularity after its launch in 2010 alongside reality royalty such as the Kardashians and is a cornerstone of the influencer phenomenon, but has faced stiff competition on its own territory in recent years fr
  
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• US adds 275,000 jobs in February as labor market continues to grow

  08-03-2024 16:41
  
  Layoffs climb sharply with last month’s rate the highest of any February since 2009 but expert says ‘job gains remain solid’Employers added 275,000 jobs across the US last month, as the labor market continues to grow at a clip in the face of the high interest rates.Job growth exceeded expectations of 200,000 on Wall Street in February and rose from the previous month’s revised rate of 229,000. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We definitely messed up’: why did Google AI tool make offensive historical images?

  08-03-2024 16:00
  
  Experts say Gemini was not thoroughly tested, after image generator depicted variety of historical figures as people of colourGoogle’s co-founder Sergey Brin has kept a low profile since quietly returning to work at the company. But the troubled launch of Google’s artificial intelligence model Gemini resulted in a rare public utterance recently: “We definitely messed up.”Brin’s comments, at an AI “hackathon” event on 2 March, follow a slew of social medi
  
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• Oil industry has sought to block state backing for green tech since 1960s

  08-03-2024 16:00
  
  Research shows industry lobbying against support for solar panels and electric cars while enjoying subsidies itselfThe oil industry has fought against government support for clean technologies for more than half a century, the Guardian can reveal, even as vast subsidies have propped up its polluting business model.It lobbied lawmakers to block support for low-carbon technologies such as solar panels, electric cars and heat pumps as far back as the 1960s, analysis shows. Trade associations in the
  
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• City financier Crispin Odey accused of rape in new civil lawsuit

  08-03-2024 15:41
  
  Allegation against hedge fund manager emerges in high court documents as three new claimants come forwardCrispin Odey has been accused of rape in a civil lawsuit in the latest and most serious claim to be made against the prominent City financier.The allegation came to light on Thursday when the high court in London heard an application to decide whether three women could join two others in a legal action alleging misconduct by the founder of Odey Asset Management. Continue reading...
  
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• Child benefit: budget changes mean more cash for families

  08-03-2024 15:20
  
  Shake-up of tax penalty means nearly half a million families will be able to keep more of the benefit, says HuntHigher earners with children were arguably the biggest winners from the budget after the chancellor announced a major shake-up of a tax penalty that affects many parents.The changes to the controversial high income child benefit charge mean nearly half a million families will now be better off by an average of £1,260 a year, while 170,000 families will be removed from the tax, th
  
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• Congratulations, Rupert Murdoch! Let’s hope this love match lasts longer than TalkTV | Marina Hyde

  08-03-2024 14:54
  
  This is the media mogul’s second proposal in 12 months. We mortals can only speculate about his mesmerising dating secretsAt last, some happy news. Rupert Murdoch is engaged – and for the second time in less than a year. I know! Despite being 93 next Monday, he’s getting engaged even more frequently than serial sex killers serving life sentences. Those betrothals, of course, tend to happen entirely by letter, but as far as we know, Murdoch’s latest love match is a real-wo
  
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• ‘In construction, it stands out’: how ‘& Daughters’ became a firm favourite

  08-03-2024 13:08
  
  The counterpart to the traditional ‘& Son(s)’ suffixis finding its way into more and more British company namesIt was the new van that gave Paul Major the idea of changing his “& Sons” construction business to “& Daughters”. “My wife had seen an ‘& Daughters’ coach driving along a motorway when she was younger and it had stuck in her head,” said Major, from Sevenoaks, Kent. “Years later when my dad had passed away
  
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• Spending on accidental subscriptions has doubled in a year in UK

  08-03-2024 12:24
  
  Citizens Advice says problem getting worse, after hard-to-cancel contracts trapped quarter of UK adults last year at cost of £688mThe amount consumers spent on accidental subscriptions that are easy to get into but hard to cancel has doubled in a year, Citizens Advice has warned, with customers shelling out millions.Research for the charity found that more than 13 million people (26% of UK adults) have accidentally taken out a subscription in the past 12 months. These covered services from
  
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• Luxury clothing brand Matchesfashion to enter administration

  08-03-2024 09:15
  
  More than half workforce face losing jobs after new owner Frasers says it is unwilling to fund turnaroundThe luxury clothing retailer Matchesfashion is cutting 273 jobs – more than half its workforce – after its new owner Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group called in administrators.Matches was acquired by Frasers three months ago for £52m in cash from the private equity firm Apax Partners. Frasers said it was not willing to fund a turnaround after the business had “consiste
  
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• Homes for sale with a wine cellar – in pictures

  08-03-2024 08:00
  
  From a grand Regency property with a vaulted cellar to a Californian-style house with a circular vault Continue reading...
  
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