Financial news

• US sues TikTok and ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy

  02-08-2024 20:10
  
  Lawsuit says TikTok violated law that prohibits collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under 13 without parental consentThe US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy on the social media app.The government said TikTok violated a law that prohibits collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. Co
  
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• For crying out loud, turn down the volume! | Letters

  02-08-2024 18:42
  
  Readers share their experiences of noisy fellow travellers and neighboursThank you to Hannah Ewens for her article (‘Do you mind listening to that with headphones?’ How one little phrase revolutionised my commute, 27 July). I agree 100%. The situation has become intolerable and travel on public transport is hell. Bus companies already ask people not to smoke, drink alcohol or carry on e-scooters. Can’t they add “No phones on speaker”? I have often felt like thr
  
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• Don’t be fooled by the interest rate cut – higher rates are here to stay

  02-08-2024 18:33
  
  Mortgage payers and business owners vainly hope cut to 5% signals return to pre-pandemic era of cheap borrowingMortgage payers and business owners will be hopeful that a cut in interest rates to 5% by the Bank of England this week signals a return to the pre-pandemic era of low borrowing costs.Unless much lower interest bills arrive soon, thousands of homeowners and businesses could be forced to sell up. Continue reading...
  
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• Not in the minister’s back yard: is Starmer’s cabinet onboard with housebuilding plans?

  02-08-2024 17:23
  
  The manifesto promises 1.5m homes – but some on the PM’s frontbench have had their own nimby momentsKeir Starmer came to power promising national renewal in the Labour party manifesto, which would come about by the “rebuilding of our country, so that it once again serves the interests of working people”.Starmer could have hardly dreamed of such a comfortable landslide victory, but even with it there may still be pushback against his pledges from members of his own frontbe
  
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• Warm Septembers lead Iceland to delay launch of autumn foods

  02-08-2024 16:47
  Supermarket says unpredictable weather makes planning difficult but other grocers stick to scheduleThe budget grocery chain Iceland is to delay launching its autumn range, including an expanded choice of pies and pastries, this year in response to increasingly warm September weather.Richard Walker, the executive chair of the Deeside-based retailer, said Iceland had decided to push back its seasonal shift towards increasing the range of pies, pastries and other cool-weather favourites available i
  
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• ‘I can’t stand being cold’: older people on losing winter fuel payments

  02-08-2024 15:09
  
  Some pensioners plan to cut back on heating after government removes benefit entitlement for nearly 10 million people Preston Cox, 70, is worried about fuel debt this winter. After checking his entitlement to benefits, he learned that he is among the 9.9 million pensioners who no longer qualify for the winter fuel payment after the government announced it was restricting it in England and Wales.Campaigners have warned that this figure includes up to 2 million struggling older people who could lo
  
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• Presenteeism: what is causing Britain’s working-while-sick epidemic?

  02-08-2024 14:19
  
  Insecure work is widely acknowledged as a key cause but high workloads and management culture also play a roleFor a nation that Rishi Sunak has accused of having a “sicknote culture”, and one previously derided by Conservative ministers as being filled with shirkers, Britons really do go into work a lot when under the weather.Forget the stereotype of the sickie taken to sit in front of the TV or enjoy the sun, the much more accurate tableau is that of someone sneezing and coughing in
  
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• Rolls-Royce to hand £700 in shares to all staff as it bounces back

  02-08-2024 14:06
  Aircraft engine maker’s share price hits record high as it restores dividend for first time in five yearsBusiness live – latest updatesRolls-Royce intends to hand £700 worth of shares to all employees after the company reported a bounceback in its business, raised its profit forecasts and restored dividend payments to shareholders.The aircraft engine maker’s chief executive, Tufan Erginbilgiç, told staff in an internal message on Thursday that the FTSE 100 group wo
  
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• Fear of US recession rattles global markets as tech shares fall

  02-08-2024 13:56
  
  Europe’s main indices all decline and Japanese equities suffer worst day since 2020 while gold hits fresh recordStock markets in Europe, Asia and New York tumbled on Friday as fears of a US economic slump grew and technology shares were hit by underwhelming earnings.Concerns that the US could be sliding towards a recession spurred a global sell-off, which accelerated after a poor employment report on Friday showed that the US jobs market was cooling fast, pushing up the unemployment rate.
  
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• Insurance boss issues warning over using pensions to drive UK growth

  02-08-2024 12:45
  
  Government must defuse ‘ticking timebomb’ of people not saving enough for retirement, says Royal London CEO The boss of Royal London, the UK’s biggest insurance group owned by its members, has expressed caution about Labour’s ambition to use pensions to drive economic growth, as he warned of a “ticking timebomb” and urged the government to make greater saving for retirement a priority.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is launching a landmark pensions review, and
  
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• UK shelves £1.3bn of funding for technology and AI projects

  02-08-2024 12:15
  
  Britain’s first next-generation supercomputer, planned by Tories, in doubt after Labour government moveThe Labour government has shelved £1.3bn of funding promised by the Conservatives for technology and artificial intelligence projects, putting the future of the UK’s first next-generation supercomputer in doubt.The projects, announced last year, include £800m for the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and a further £500m for the AI
  
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• Labour is right to ditch the winter fuel allowance – it isn’t ‘robbing’ old people | Polly Toynbee

  02-08-2024 11:00
  
  Scrapping the so far universal benefit for millions of pensioners means money can be diverted to those who need it mostThat sounded like a totemic cut, one that everyone could understand. She cut old folk’s winter fuel allowance! Is it like Margaret Thatcher, milk snatcher, abolishing free school milk? No, not at all. In the budget, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will need to make sure that poorer pensioners are better protected with improvements to pension credit, but the winter fuel paym
  
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• Writer retreats for sale in England, Scotland and Wales – in pictures

  02-08-2024 08:00
  
  From a 16th-century cottage with an inglenook fireplace to a turf-roofed home in the wilds of the Hebrides Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Ultra-cheap energy for every household’: could a different kind of tariff change everything?

  02-08-2024 08:00
  
  Rising block tariffs and national energy guarantee systems are almost unknown in Europe – but are flourishing elsewhereMore than half of the world’s population lives under an energy system that its advocates say can tackle fuel poverty, improve crumbling housing stock and reduce energy demand. And to cap it off – when properly designed – it would not cost the taxpayer anything.The so-called rising block tariff or national energy guarantee system (NEG) are almost unknown i
  
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• Apple beats earnings forecast despite decline in iPhone sales

  02-08-2024 00:12
  
  Tech giant’s revenue rises 4.9% to $85.78bn despite phone sales falling 0.9% and trend of decline in key China marketApple reported better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter of 2024, with buzz about its new AI features offsetting a continuing decline in its key China market.Earnings exceeded analyst predictions despite a year-over-year decline in iPhone sales, with revenue rising 4.9% to $85.78bn in the three months ending 29 June, beating the average analyst estimate of $84.53bn.
  
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