Financial news

• Northern Ireland votes to continue Brexit arrangements for another four years

  10-12-2024 22:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Assembly votes to keep special trading arrangements despite long-held division with unionist opposition The Northern Ireland assembly has voted to continue with the special Brexit trading arrangements for another four years.It means Northern Ireland will retain some EU trade laws as a means of maintaining an invisible border on the island of Ireland, despite continued opposition in some unionist quarters. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on the EU-Mercosur trade deal: another farmer flashpoint approaches | Letters

  10-12-2024 19:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, has taken a political risk in signing off an agreement with Latin American countriesAnticipating the strong protectionist winds that will blow from Donald Trump’s White House, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has been responding by making her own economic weather. Last week, Ms von der Leyen flew to Montevideo, 5,000 miles south of Washington DC, to controversially conclude negotiations in one
  
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• Coffee drinkers face price rises as costs on global markets hit record high

  10-12-2024 19:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Price for arabica beans tops $3.44 a pound, while cost of robusta beans almost doubles this yearYour morning caffeine hit could become even pricier in the new year after the cost of coffee beans on international commodity markets soared to a record high.On Tuesday, the price for arabica beans, the world’s most popular variety, topped $3.44 (£2.70) a pound, having risen more than 80% this year. Meanwhile, the cost of cheaper robusta beans, used in instant coffee, has almost doubled th
  
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• The best scented candles: 16 affordable, genuinely great-smelling candles – tested

  10-12-2024 19:00
  
  From sea salt to ginger, soy wax to sustainable refills, these are the best, most nausea-free scented candles aroundWhile scented candles are a failsafe gift, they can be seen as a bit unimaginative. But they’re perfect for winter days at home and thoroughly festive. Lighting a candle is a ceremony, and the flickering flame can trigger something comfortingly primal in us.Retailers, from supermarkets to artisan independents, are developing huge ranges of scented candles, and it’s hard
  
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• Nigel Farage, man of the people, welcomes his latest billionaire to Reform | John Crace

  10-12-2024 18:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Like our Nige, Nick Candy doesn’t appear to have any solutions to anything … but he does have very deep pocketsSeveral Range Rovers with blacked out windows pulled up outside the TV studios in Westminster. Out stepped Theresa May. Awkward. If she’d known her arrival was going to coincide with a Reform party photo call, she’d have probably asked the driver to go round the block again. Just in case people jumped to conclusions. Not that there was much chance of anyone imag
  
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• Car finance scandal could be as big as PPI, City regulator says

  10-12-2024 17:28 via theguardian.com
  
  FCA lawyer admits scale of compensation could be larger than first thought, and as big as PPI, which cost banks £50bnBritain’s car finance scandal could end up being as big as the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling saga, which cost UK banks £50bn, the City regulator’s top lawyer has admitted.Stephen Braviner Roman, the Financial Conduct Authority’s general counsel and executive director in charge of legal affairs, said October’s shock court of appe
  
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• Revealed: how Vodafone ‘left store managers with huge debts and fines during pandemic’

  10-12-2024 17:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Franchise operators pursuing £120m legal claim say they feared losing their livelihoods or homes, with some having suicidal thoughts‘They left me in ruin’: Vodafone store operators tell of the impact of commission cutsVodafone “unjustly enriched” itself at the expense of scores of vulnerable small business owners by slashing commissions to franchisees running the mobile phone group’s high street stores, according to allegations filed on Tuesday in the high cou
  
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• Harrods workers vote to strike in Christmas week over pay and perks

  10-12-2024 16:52 via theguardian.com
  Three days of action include Boxing Day sales but union says no option as management ‘refuses to engage’Harrods workers from cleaners to shop floor and restaurant staff are set to strike in Christmas week, including during the upmarket department store’s key Boxing Day sales, in a dispute over pay and perks.The United Voice of the World (UVW) independent union said 95% of its members at the Knightsbridge store had voted in favour of the strikes on 21, 22 and 26 December. Contin
  
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• Crumbs! Why are mince pies so expensive this Christmas?

  10-12-2024 16:24
  
  Some supermarket varieties cost 40% more than last year. But they’re not the only festive favourites breaking the bankName: Mince pies.Appearance: Sugar-dusted flying saucers of pastry. Continue reading...
  
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• British Gas owner hands investors £300m as customers face soaring bills

  10-12-2024 14:29
  Campaigners criticise Centrica, saying it has made more than £7bn in profits since start of energy bills crisisBusiness live – latest updatesThe owner of British Gas has angered fuel poverty campaigners by offering its shareholders an extra £300m this year as millions of customers brace for rising energy bills through the winter.Centrica expects to buy back shares worth £300m before September, meaning it will have repurchased £1.5bn in shares since November last yea
  
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• I can afford my life. Why can’t I be less anxious about money?

  10-12-2024 14:00
  
  Being self-employed, I am familiar with my bank account’s ebbs and flows. My worries about money aren’t entirely rooted in realityBeing self-employed, I am familiar with my bank account’s ebbs and flows: the relief of invoices being paid, the dismay as bills drain it again. My vigilance, frequently verging on anxiety, never goes away.What I find in my bank app has the power to influence my day, and whether I feel a lightness of step or a cloud overhead. Continue reading...
  
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• Thames Water will run out of cash by March without £3bn emergency funding

  10-12-2024 12:39
  Britain’s biggest water supplier reports 40% increase in pollution incidents, blaming a wet spring and summerBusiness live – latest updatesThames Water has said it will run out of cash by next March if it fails to secure a £3bn financial lifeline, as it admitted its sewage spills had risen sharply.Britain’s biggest water supplier said on Tuesday that all of its funds may be “exhausted” if it failed to secure the emergency funding from its creditors, putting it
  
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• My daughter could have died. I blame US insurance companies | Melody Schreiber

  10-12-2024 12:00
  
  I asked my doctor for a shot to protect my premature daughter against RSV. Then we realized we didn’t qualify for insuranceSince Thursday morning, United Healthcare hasn’t left my thoughts – but not for the reason you might think.
  On Thursday, my pediatrician told me to take my 18-month-old daughter to the emergency room immediately. My baby needed breathing treatments she could only get at the hospital.
  But after hours in emergency, she wasn’t getting better. The only qu
  
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• Cost of average UK Christmas dinner up 6.5% as veg prices soar

  10-12-2024 11:00
  
  Shoppers will pay £32.57 for festive meal for four as potato and carrot prices leap, says KantarBusiness live – latest updatesThe cost of an average Christmas dinner has surged 6.5% on last year, pushed up by hefty price rises on potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and parsnips.UK shoppers will pay £32.57 for a festive meal for four, according to retail analysts at Kantar, spurred by a 16.3% jump in potato prices and a near 15% rise in the cost of carrots. Continue reading...
  
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• Dipping my toe into the murky waters of Facebook Marketplace, I find it filled with bots, time-wasters and inane questions | Eleanor Limprecht

  10-12-2024 01:55
  
  Is this still available? Can you hold it for my friend who is out of town? Do you deliver? Please, just turn up on time and give me the cashWith the cost of living hitting the roof, what better way to prepare for Christmas than selling unwanted items for extra cash? I decide to dip my toe into the murky waters of Facebook Marketplace. What could possibly go wrong?I’ve only experienced this platform as a buyer, which is straightforward: you see an item you like, contact the seller, agree on
  
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