Rabu, 30 November 2022

Musk says Twitter feud with Apple boss 'resolved' - BBC

Elon MuskReuters

Elon Musk has said he and Apple boss Tim Cook have "resolved the misunderstanding" over Twitter possibly being removed from the app store.

On Monday, Mr Musk accused Apple of threatening to cut the platform from its app store and said it had halted most of its advertising on the site.

But the Twitter boss tweeted on Wednesday that: "Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so."

He did not say if Apple's advertising was discussed at the meeting.

The meeting between the two tech leaders comes as many companies have halted spending on Twitter amid concerns about Mr Musk's content moderation plans for the site - a major blow to the company, which relies on such spending for most of its revenue.

Entering a feud on Monday, Mr Musk accused Apple of "censorship" and criticised its policies, including the charge it levies on purchases made on its app store.

"Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?" he said.

But he later told his followers he was meeting with Mr Cook at Apple's headquarters, adding: "Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so."

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

News of the meeting with Apple came after Mr Musk was told he faced "huge work ahead" to bring Twitter into compliance with new European Union rules on disinformation or face a possible ban.

EU commissioner Thierry Breton made the comments in a meeting with Mr Musk on Wednesday, saying the social media site would have to address issues such as content moderation, disinformation and targeted adverts.

Approved by the EU earlier this year, the Digital Services Act is seen as the biggest overhaul of rules governing online activity in decades, imposing new obligations on companies to prevent abuse of their platforms.

Major companies are expected to be in compliance with the law some time next year.

If firms are found to be violation, they face fines of up to 6% of global turnover - or a ban in the case of repeated serious breaches.

In a statement after the meeting, Mr Breton said he welcomed Mr Musk's assurances that he would get Twitter ready to comply.

"Let's also be clear that there is still huge work ahead, as Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising," he said.

"All of this requires sufficient AI [Artificial Intelligence] and human resources, both in volumes and skills. I look forward to progress in all these areas and we will come to assess Twitter's readiness on site."

The EU plans to conduct a "stress test" in 2023 ahead of a wider audit, his office said.

Since his $44bn takeover of Twitter last month, Mr Musk has fired thousands of staff, reinstated formerly banned users such as Donald Trump and stopped enforcing other policies, such as rules aimed at stopping misleading information on coronavirus.

The moves have alarmed some civil rights groups, who have accused the billionaire of taking steps that will increase hate speech, misinformation and abuse.

In a blog post on Wednesday, Twitter said none of its policies had changed, but that it was experimenting in an effort to improve the platform more quickly and would rely more on steps to limit the spread of material that violate its rules - offering "freedom of speech but not freedom of reach".

"Our trust & safety team continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter's rules," the company added.

"The team remains strong and well-resourced, and automated detection plays an increasingly important role in eliminating abuse," it said.

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2022-12-01 00:08:06Z
1675237125

Abrdn sneaks back into FTSE 100 with Weir - Daily Business

Abrdn
Abrdn: back in the big league

Scottish investment firm Abrdn defied earlier expectations that it would miss out on a return to the FTSE 100 by sneaking back in after a resurgent share price in recent weeks.

Glasgow-based engineering firm Weir Group has also been promoted to the blue chip index, after moving further into the mining technology sector during the pandemic and seeing its order book boosted.

Abrdn was relegated from the top index in September after the last quarterly review but its shares have risen strongly since then, raising its value from £3 billion to about £4bn.

Data from Refinitiv had suggested it would not make it into the list. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said in a note earlier today that it appeared Abrdn had “fallen short in a bid for index promotion”.

But the Edinburgh-based company managed to make the cut when the FTSE Russell Group’s quarterly review was announced.

The ranking of companies in the London Stock Exchange is reviewed every three months, with the latest changes based on market capitalisations on 29 November. The changes will come into effect for this quarter on 19 December.

Harbour, described as a “yo-yo stock” because it has already been demoted and promoted this year, once again returns to the FRTSE 250 ranks.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals and private equity firm Intermediate Capital Group have also been knocked off the FTSE 100 after seeing their shares sag in recent months.

Specialist insurer Beazley is another company to have enjoyed a promotion following the reshuffle.

Beazley, which provides insurance from commercial spaceflight to aviation war cover, has pursued a more cyber-focused business and is involved in the first rocket launch on UK soil at SpacePort Cornwall, analysts said.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Volatile markets and concerns about the prospects for global growth are the headwinds driving changes in the FTSE 100.

“Harbour Energy has been sideswiped by the rumours and then confirmation of an increase in a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers.

“Pleas from Linda Cook, chief executive of the company, for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to look again at taxing profits went unanswered.

“Opportunities in the cyber world and the burgeoning space race look ripe for the picking for specialist insurer Beazeley which is set to enter the FTSE 100.”

Elsewhere, the FTSE Russell confirmed that Digital 9 Infrastructure and European Smaller Companies Trust were promoted to the FTSE 250 after recent strong performances.

They will replace Home REIT and Petrofac which have been relegated from the index.


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2022-11-30 19:26:12Z
1667178763

Eurostar security staff to strike in run-up to Christmas - BBC

Eurostar staffGetty Images

Security staff who work on the Eurostar train service are to strike for four days in the run-up to Christmas in a dispute over pay.

The walkouts are planned to take place on 16, 18, 22 and 23 December.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, employed by a private contractor, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the action.

Eurostar said it would update customers as soon as possible if there was any impact on services.

However, the union said the strike would "severely affect" passengers.

More than 100 security staff employed by facilities management company Mitie are due to walk out, following a 4-1 vote in favour of strike action.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the security staff were "essential" to the running of Eurostar, and "it is disgraceful they are not being paid a decent wage".

"They work long, unsocial hours and a multimillion-pound company like Mitie can easily afford to pay them decently for the essential work they do."

However, Mitie said that on Tuesday it had offered staff a "significant" 10% pay increase, and that it was "disappointed" that RMT had decided to take strike action.

"As always, our priority is to ensure that exceptional services are delivered as normal so that passengers are able to continue their journeys with minimal disruption," a Mitie spokesperson said.

A wave of strikes have hit the UK's railways in the past few months as workers demand better pay deals and try to stop job cuts and changes to working conditions.

More action is planned in the coming weeks.

The RMT has announced strikes at Network Rail and 14 train companies on 13-14 December, 16-17 December, 3-4 January and 6-7 January.

The train drivers' union Aslef has also staged walkouts in a dispute over pay, although no further strikes are planned at the moment.

Workers in other sectors of the economy have also either taken industrial action or planned it, in protest about working conditions, pensions and pay.

Royal Mail staff, members of the University and College Union and airline ground handlers are among those who have already been on strike, while nurses and paramedics are planning walkouts in the future.

The industrial action has been prompted by soaring prices - inflation is running at more than 11% a year - meaning workers are being squeezed as living costs rise faster than wages.

Many workers are now calling for pay increases in line with the higher cost of living.

Energy and food prices have been rising since last year because of the war in Ukraine and the impact of the Covid pandemic.

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2022-11-30 14:53:12Z
CBMiLGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2J1c2luZXNzLTYzODA4Njg10gEwaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYnVzaW5lc3MtNjM4MDg2ODUuYW1w

Food prices have risen at a record rate - and these items are hardest hit - Sky News

Food prices increased at the greatest rate since records began - spurred on by accelerated inflation in the price of meat, eggs and dairy.

Food inflation reached 12.4% in the year up to November, the highest rate in the food category since records began in 2005 and up from 11.6% in October.

The figures come from the latest BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index, which looks at baskets of food and non-food items and measures the change in price over time.

Meat, eggs and dairy became more expensive as production prices increased due to high energy costs which in turn impacted animal feed and transport costs.

Coffee prices "shot up" last month due to high input costs, according to the British Retail Consortium's chief executive Helen Dickinson.

Inflation also hit a record high across overall shop prices. They increased 7.4% in the year up to November, up from 6.6% in October and above the three-month average rate of 6.5%.

As a result, Christmas is to become more expensive than previous years, Ms Dickinson said, as sports and recreation equipment have especially high price increases.

More on Inflation

Households are cutting back on seasonal spending in order to prioritise the essentials, Ms Dickinson added.

Many retailers are offering seasonal savings and price cuts and are hopeful of an uptick of shopper spending as we enter December, Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at information services company NielsenIQ, said.

As consumers face a cost of living crisis, business sentiment, continued to deteriorate for the third consecutive quarter across the service sector, according to the Confederation of British Industry.

The decline was particularly sharp in business and professional services where sentiment fell at the fastest pace since May 2020, the CBI survey showed.

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Business volumes were mixed in the sector with unchanged activity in business and professional services while consumer services saw a further fall in volumes. Profitability continued to drop in the three months to November as cost and price growth remained well above average in both sub-sectors.

Next quarter, volumes and profitability are expected to fall across the service sector with strong cost and price pressures expected to continue, according to the survey, based on responses from 297 service firms contacted between 28 October and 16 November.

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2022-11-30 03:40:47Z
1676191999

Selasa, 29 November 2022

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey lays bare the behind-the-scenes dysfunction of Liz Truss government - Sky News

The degree of behind-the-scenes dysfunction in government ahead of September's mini-budget has come into clearer focus as the Bank of England governor described a near total breakdown in communications in the days running up to the event.

Appearing before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, Andrew Bailey said that the Bank, whose Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) took a critical interest decision less than 24 hours before the mini-budget of 23 September, was given little indication of the contents of the fiscal statement.

Mr Bailey's comments are significant since the Bank was forced, in the wake of the event, to intervene in government bond markets following a sharp fall in long-dated UK bond prices (and consequent rise in their interest rates) which could have created a market breakdown within a matter of hours.

Quizzed by former Bank governor Lord Mervyn King about the degree of information the Bank was given by the Treasury, Mr Bailey said:

"It was just not known. It was not clear what was going to be in this statement."

"In normal circumstances, we have channels of communication. It wasn't happening in this case."

He described it as "a most extraordinary process", adding that part of the problem was the government's determination not to involve the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in the event.

More on Bank Of England

"By not involving the OBR in the process, that took away a good deal of the substance that we rely upon to go with a budget, from the point of view of forecasting and understanding the measures that were in it," he said.

"That was just not there. There was nothing."

He added that the Bank was not given any detail about the measures or the detail on the scale of the event, which also triggered a sharp fall in the pound.

He said: "The abolition of the top rate of tax... was something we certainly had no idea was going to happen."

The governor added that while a Treasury representative was present for the MPC meeting, "I don't think Treasury officials were clear what was going to be in [the mini-budget]."

The governor also said that while government bond yields had dropped back down following the period of stress, the market was "not back to normal at the moment."

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2022-11-29 18:03:49Z
1669969570

China bought out of Sizewell C as UK confirms £700m stake in nuclear project - Sky News

China has been forced out of the Sizewell C nuclear power venture in Suffolk following a £700m investment of taxpayer cash.

The government is spending an initial £679 to help get the long-awaited project going, and confirmed on Tuesday that part of this will go to state-owned China General Nuclear (CGN) under an exit deal.

Downing Street refused to say how much it cost to buy the CGN out, but a government spokesperson said the payment covered China's "exit from the project, including buy-out costs (and) any tax due and commercial arrangements".

Politics hub: Row as government unveils changes to key online safety legislation

Business Secretary Grant Shapps told the Commons: "I can confirm that China has now been bought out of the deal on Sizewell and the money ensured they are no longer involved in the future development."

The announcement comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the "golden era" between the UK and China is over amid rising geopolitical tensions.

It means control will now be shared 50-50 between the UK government and the French energy giant EDF, who intend to build the plant.

More on Suffolk

Mr Shapps visited the proposed site on Monday, just weeks after the Chancellor confirmed the government's commitment to Sizewell during his Autumn Statement.

Funding for the project was signed off by Boris Johnson at the start of September in one of his last acts as prime minister.

Sizewell C aims to generate enough low-carbon electricity to supply six million homes and help protect the UK from energy market volatility.

The government's investment is for the early stage development of the plans, with the plant expected to take a decade to build at the cost of between £20-£30bn.

While Sizewell C has the backing of the Labour Party and unions, critics say it is too expensive and the new power source will take too long to come online.

Speaking to reporters at the site, Mr Shapps said he "queried" estimates that the costs could wrack up to as much as £30bn, as he was pressed on where the rest of the funding was coming from.

Grant Shapps Sizewell
Image: Grant Shapps speaks to reporters

The cabinet minister said he was confident money could be raised to build it from private investors.

"We're very confident actually, because we've been speaking to potential investors," he said.

"We've got no concerns at all about people investing in Britain."

Mr Shapps blamed rising global gas prices on Vladimir Putin's "illegal march on Ukraine".

"We need more clean, affordable power generated within our borders - British energy for British homes," he said.

But the Stop Sizewell C campaign group claim the plant "can neither lower energy bills nor give the UK energy independence".

"Despite the government's paltry £700m, there is still a huge amount of money to find, and no one is prepared to come clean about what the ultimate cost will be," they said.

'New nuclear neither great nor British'

Greenpeace UK also criticised the project, saying the expected launch of Great British Nuclear to assist it "is clearly ironic as new nuclear is neither great nor British".

Read More:
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station delayed again and at further £3bn cost
Unprecedented protests break out in China and the ruling party will be watching

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Boris Johnson gives green light to nuclear plant funding

"Projects have been plagued by massive delays and ballooning costs while the government is seeking to have Sizewell C - a French-designed and built reactor - funded by foreign investment funds," said policy director Doug Parr.

He called for a move towards a "100% renewable system that would be cheaper than those based on nuclear or fossil fuels".

"Why are ministers still obsessing about astronomically expensive, delay-plagued nuclear plants when we have much better options available?"

French-owned EDF Energy is already building two new nuclear reactors, known as Hinkley Point C, in Somerset - but the project has been beset by delays and rising costs.

The investment into Sizewell comes on top of a new £1bn scheme to insulate middle-income homes in a bid to reduce energy dependence by 15% by 2030.

The government is also facing pressure to U-turn on keeping the ban on new onshore wind to improve the UK's energy security as Russia's invasion of Ukraine squeezes supplies.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said of Sizewell: "This is the first State backing for a nuclear power project in over 30 years.

"Once complete, Sizewell C will power millions of homes with clean, affordable, home-grown energy for decades to come."

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2022-11-29 15:00:00Z
1668698764

UK mortgage approvals drop more than expected as borrowing costs rise - Financial Times

UK mortgage approvals have dropped to their lowest level since the stringent lockdown of June 2020 as borrowing rates soared to an eight-year high.

Approvals for house purchases fell more than expected to 59,000 in October, compared with 66,000 in September, and came below the previous six-month average of 66,000, the Bank of England said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 60,200. Mortgage approvals were at their lowest level since spring 2020, the central bank said.

Its data showed the “effective” interest rate — the actual interest rate paid — on newly drawn mortgages had increased by 25 basis points to 3.09 per cent in October, the highest since 2014.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the rise was based on completed housing transactions, relating to mortgages agreed with lenders a few months ago and not incorporating the full extent of the recent increase in offered mortgage rates.

He said the average mortgage rate would probably soar to 6 per cent at the start of 2023 and that mortgage approvals would continue to fall as the squeeze on real incomes intensified. He forecast that UK house prices would, as a result, fall 8 per cent in the next 12 months.

Line chart showing UK mortgage approvals fell more than expected in October

Ashley Webb, UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, agreed. “Given we still think mortgage rates will average 5 per cent in 2023, we expect a 12 per cent peak-to-trough fall in house prices,” he said.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at estate agent Knight Frank, said he expected house prices to drop about 10 per cent over the next two years “as a new lending landscape emerges after 13 years of ultra-low rates”.

The property market is already showing many signs of weaknesses, with the average UK house price flatlining in September for the first time in almost a year. Newer data from the mortgage provider Halifax showed house prices falling between September and October, the first drop since July 2021.

BoE data also showed that net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals declined month on month from £5.9bn to £4bn, the lowest level since November 2021 and well below analysts’ forecasts.

Mortgage rates, by contrast, are on the rise, pegging interest rate increases as the UK faces record-high inflation. The rise in borrowing costs was exacerbated by the market turmoil sparked by Liz Truss’s ill-fated “mini” Budget on September 23.

Line chart of the effective interest rate  on newly drawn mortgages (%) showing UK mortgage rates soared following the mini-Budget

“Average mortgage rates surged during October amid the chaotic days following the “mini” Budget,” said Simon Gammon, managing partner at Knight Frank Finance.

“It wasn’t until very recently that lenders began dropping rates following the BoE’s intervention and subsequent scrapping of the government’s most controversial proposals,” he added.

However, markets expect the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee to raise the base rate, now at 3 per cent, by another 50 basis points when it meets in December, and to continue increasing it to 4.6 per cent next spring.

With high inflation and further rate rises set to add to the squeeze on household finances, Webb predicted that “housing market activity will fall sharply from here and real GDP will decline by 2 per cent during a recession”.

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2022-11-29 12:08:46Z
1654479631

BlockFi sues Sam Bankman-Fried over Robinhood shares - Financial Times

Bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi is suing Sam Bankman-Fried to seize shares in Robinhood that the FTX founder allegedly pledged as collateral just days before his exchange collapsed.

The lawsuit on Monday came just hours after BlockFi filed for bankruptcy protection having suffered “a severe liquidity crunch” triggered by the failure of Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.

BlockFi’s complaint, which was filed in the same New Jersey court where it initiated bankruptcy proceedings, targeted Bankman-Fried’s Emergent Fidelity Technologies vehicle and demanded it turn over unspecified collateral.

The collateral at issue is Bankman-Fried’s stake in Robinhood, the online trading company, according to loan documents seen by the Financial Times. He bought 7.6 per cent of Robinhood earlier this year.

The dispute underscores the close links between crypto ventures and the messy untangling process that is beginning as bankruptcy lawyers sift through the wreckage of FTX and other businesses hit by its collapse.

The industry has suffered a series of rippling insolvencies this year as a major crisis in confidence has swept crypto markets, driving down tokens such as bitcoin and ethereum to their lowest price since 2020.

Bankman-Fried had styled himself as a saviour for failing crypto ventures in June and had provided emergency financing for BlockFi that gave him an option to buy the lender at a fire-sale price.

But on Monday BlockFi said its exposure to Bankman-Fried was ultimately its downfall, noting that his Alameda Research trading firm had defaulted on $680mn of collateralised loans in early November.

BlockFi’s complaint claims that around the same time, on November 9, it and Emergent entered into an agreement to guarantee the payment obligations of an unnamed borrower by pledging certain “common stock” as security. Legal correspondence included in the case identify the borrower as Alameda.

The dispute is a sign of the intense pressure on Bankman-Fried, whose paper fortune vanished almost overnight with the collapse of his $32bn FTX empire. Authorities in the US and the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered, have launched investigations.

In the days leading up to FTX’s bankruptcy filing on November 11, Bankman-Fried had been rushing to raise billions of dollars in fresh financing. Spreadsheets he shared with investors listed his Robinhood shares as an asset.

Earlier in November, the FT reported that Bankman-Fried had been privately attempting to sell the Robinhood shares using the secure messaging app Signal in the days leading up to FTX’s bankruptcy filing on November 11.

Bankman-Fried had continued to negotiate selling his Robinhood shares even after entering into the pledge agreement, according to two people familiar with the matter.

According to messages seen by the FT, Bankman-Fried was still negotiating those sales on the evening of November 10.

BlockFi also named ED&F Man Capital Markets in the lawsuit as Emergent’s broker, claiming the London-based brokerage had “refused to transfer the Collateral to BlockFi”.

Legal correspondence filed along with the complaint shows that ED&F Man had declined to transfer the assets “absent an order from the Bankruptcy Court” in the FTX proceedings in Delaware.

BlockFi and Bankman-Fried did not immediately return requests for comment. ED&F Man declined to comment beyond the correspondence included in the filings.

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2022-11-28 22:59:42Z
1675899958

Major energy supplier to pay thousands of customers up to £100 to use less energy this winter – how to get... - The Sun

A MAJOR energy supplier is the latest to announce it will pay customers to use less energy this winter.

Households will be paid up to £100 to turn off their appliances during peak times to help prevent blackouts.

OVO Energy is the latest to join the suppliers signing up to the National Grid scheme
OVO Energy is the latest to join the suppliers signing up to the National Grid schemeCredit: Alamy

OVO Energy has announced today that it will be joining the National Grid's "demand flexibility service".

It is launching a new trial which rewards customers for shifting their energy usage away from peak times.

OVO says it will offer a competitive rewards system through its exclusive high demand day/time notifications.

Running from December 8 to March 31, 2023, the trial could see customers earning up to £100. 

READ MORE IN MONEY

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It will see three types of notification, two of which will be exclusive to OVO customers and the other will be the standard National Grid notification for those signed up.

They will be issued to participants via email at various times, encouraging them to shift their non-essential electricity usage outside of peak periods.

These exclusive notifications will alert participants of the days the grid is most likely to see demand, as well as the time of day.

Customers can make a minimum of £1 for every kWh shifted below their personal target - the more electricity shifted, the more the money they'll make.

Most read in Money

Each month a credit bill will be shared with all the notification rewards collated.

An average home could earn around £50 in total, but it could be up to £100 depending on usage and participation in more events.

Initially, the scheme is open to 15,000 OVO customers, with this figure planned to increase after the first month.

Customers will need to opt-in to receiving email notifications by 11.59pm on that same day in order to be eligible for the reward the following day, and opt-ins after this time will not count.

Eligibility is based on:

  • being an existing OVO Energy customer
  • have a working electricity smart meter installed
  • opt in to daily or half-hourly meter reads
  • be supplied by OVO Energy throughout the trial
  • not be part of the Power Move promotion
  • not be registered for the Demand Flexibility Service with another provider

Those eligible will be invited to sign up via email.

Raman Bhatia, CEO of OVO, said: “We’re pleased to be joining the National Grid Electricity System Operator’s Demand Flexibility Scheme and launching another trial which rewards customers for their efforts in making small but significant changes to the way they consume energy.

"We know that winter is going to be a challenging time for many, so relieving that pressure where we can, and supporting our customers has never been more important.”

The trial is part of the national effort by energy providers to make the electricity grid more stable this winter.

The hope is that it will reduce the chances of needing nationwide energy blackouts, which were nearly activated today.

The National Grid was set to trigger an emergency blackout plan which would have involved asking Brits to turn off their appliances to avoid power cuts.

It comes after the National Grid cancelled a warning about Britain's electricity supply just six days ago.

The system which pays households to cut their usage at peak times has been tested twice since it was launched a month ago.

But suppliers don't have to take part in the scheme and so far only four have confirmed they are running the offer.

Exactly how much you can earn will also vary from supplier to supplier.

Among those taking part already are British Gas, EDF, EON and Octopus.

A spokesperson for British Gas confirmed to The Sun that it is working with the National Grid on what the offer to customers will look like.

EDF has now said it'll offer SOME customers the £100 grant but only those it invites personally.

While EON said it would be taking part in the Demand Flexibility Scheme and would be outlining details of the offer to customers soon.

Octopus Energy says its 1.4million customers on smart meters and 5,000 of its business customers can save £100 by signing up to the scheme.

The supplier has already said that more than 350,000 customers have signed up for its flexibility service called Saving Sessions.

For the full list of offers and details see here.

A number of suppliers have still not confirmed whether they will sign up for the demand flexibility scheme.

Read More on The Sun

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Bulb confirmed that it wouldn't be taking part.

Check with your supplier to see if they'll let you sign up for the scheme.

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2022-11-29 00:01:00Z
CAIiENrThuYClExKsQcplDiRH-UqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow0Ij8CjCRwIgDMMCBzAU

Elon Musk hits out at Apple - and claims tech giant threatened to block Twitter from App Store - Sky News

New Twitter owner Elon Musk has hit out at Apple - claiming it has threatened to block his social network from its app store without explanation.

The world's richest man, who took the company private last month for $44bn (£36.7bn), also said the iPhone maker has "mostly stopped advertising" on his platform.

Musk wrote in a tweet: "Do they hate free speech in America?"

And he also said in a message that tagged Apple's chief executive Tim Cook: "What's going on here?"

Apple was Twitter's biggest advertiser in the first quarter of this year - spending $48m (£40m) on ads on the social network.

This accounted for 4% of the company's revenue in that period, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal Twitter document.

The world's most valuable firm spent an estimated $131,600 (£110,000) on Twitter ads between 10 and 16 November - down from $220,800 (£184,000) between 16 and 22 October, the week before Musk closed the Twitter deal, according to ad measurement firm Pathmatics.

More on Apple

If the company was to block Twitter from its app store, new users would not be able to download the Twitter app on their iPhones and iPads, and existing users would be unable to access updates.

Among the list of grievances tweeted by Musk was the 30% fee that Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, with Musk posting a meme suggesting he was willing to "go to war" with the tech giant rather than paying the commission.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment following Musk's outspoken comments.

The commission fee could affect his attempts to increase subscription revenue at Twitter, in part to make up for the exodus of advertisers over content moderation concerns.

Read more:
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Musk to 'unlock doors to Twitter jail' with amnesty for suspended accounts

Musk earlier this month said his company had seen a "massive" drop in revenue.

Companies including food firm General Mills and car maker Audi of America have stopped or paused advertising on Twitter since the acquisition.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook
Image: Apple chief executive Tim Cook

Musk has laid off thousands of workers, with cuts expected to have a significant impact on content moderation.

The billionaire boss of Twitter and Tesla claimed Apple was pressuring Twitter over moderation demands.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

The alleged action, not confirmed by Apple, wouldn't be unusual as the company has routinely enforced its rules and previously removed apps such as Parler.

Parler, which is popular with US conservatives, was restored by Apple in 2021 after the app updated its content and moderation practices.

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2022-11-29 03:14:59Z
1675237125

Senin, 28 November 2022

Elon Musk clashes with Apple over Twitter - Financial Times

Elon Musk has claimed that Apple is curbing advertising on Twitter and threatening to “withhold” the social media platform from its App Store, as the world’s richest man locks horns with the most valuable tech company.

In a flurry of more than a dozen tweets on Monday focused on the iPhone maker, Musk wrote that Apple had “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter”, adding: “Do they hate free speech in America?”

Musk added in another tweet: “Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.”

He also tapped into concerns from critics of Apple that the company does not give enough information about why certain apps and content are blocked from the App Store. He posted a poll to his 119mn followers asking whether “Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers”, asking in another tweet: “Who else has Apple censored?”

Responding to one developer who said they were compelled to remove some content related to Covid-19, Musk wrote: “Secret suppression of free speech by Apple. Customers were never told. What the hell is going on here?”

The tirade against Apple comes as a growing number of big brands have quietly pulled spending from the social media platform since Musk closed his deal to buy it for $44bn, amid concerns that his relaxation of Twitter’s content moderation policies will cause toxic content to proliferate.

According to data from advertising intelligence group MediaRadar, Apple has spent nearly $40mn advertising on Twitter so far this year, accounting for more than 80 per cent of its social ad spend. Other brands including Mondelez, Carlsberg, United Airlines and General Motors have also suspended advertising on the platform.

Musk, a self-declared “free speech absolutist”, has said that he would allow all speech on the platform as long as it is legal, although “negative/hate speech” will be “deboosted”.

As part of this, the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive is restoring most Twitter accounts that were previously banned, with Donald Trump’s account now reactivated — although the former US president has not tweeted since his account was restored.

The approach has fuelled speculation that Musk’s approach to content moderation could result in violations of the App Store’s guidelines, which requires social media apps to “block abusive users”, let users “report offensive content” and to filter “objectionable material from being posted”. 

Last year, Apple and Google temporarily banned Parler, a small app popular among conservatives and some members of the far-right, from their stores after the US Capitol riots for hosting rule-breaking content.

Earlier this month, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, wrote in an opinion article in The New York Times that Twitter had started to receive calls from the Apple and Google app store teams since Musk took the helm.

For now, Twitter remains available to download on Apple’s App Store and is labelled “Editor’s Choice” for users.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

Multiple top advertising agencies and media buyers told the Financial Times last week that nearly all of the big brands they represent have paused spending on Twitter, in a blow to its $5bn-a-year business.

Musk has been antagonistic to some brands who have opted to pull spending, for example calling their chief executives to admonish them, one senior advertising agency executive said.

Apple and Musk have clashed several times over the years. In 2015, Musk called Apple the “Tesla graveyard” for underperforming employees, after the iPhone maker lured dozens of the electric vehicle pioneer’s executives with salary increases and signing bonuses as it tried to staff its secretive automotive project.

According to Tim Higgins’ history of Tesla, Power Play, Cook once enquired about Apple purchasing Tesla, with Musk responding that he was open to it as long as he became Apple chief executive. Cook hung up, according to the book. Apple declined to comment and Musk refuted it, saying he had never spoken directly with Cook.

Also in his tweets on Monday, Musk echoed concerns from Apple critics about its “in-app purchase” policy, in which it takes a 15 to 30 per cent cut of digital purchases made on the iPhone, and claims that the company abuses its market power.

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2022-11-28 21:06:14Z
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BT workers to get £1,500 pay rise after agreement reached following strikes - Sky News

The union representing BT workers has reached an agreement with the company to permanently increase pay.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), whose executive negotiated the deal, is urging its BT members to accept the proposal, which is now being put before members to vote on.

BT workers, including those taking 999 calls, engineers and call centre workers, had begun strikes in the summer seeking pay increases as inflation and the cost of living crisis hit workers.

Under the agreement workers will get a pay rise of between 6% and 16% depending on their pay grade.

From 1 April, pay is to permanently increase by £3,000, the union said, with a review taking place from 1 September 2023 to further negotiate pay, grading and structuring issues.

BT said all those earning £50,000 or less would get a £1,500 pay rise from 1 January as part of their salary rather than a one-off payment. Combined with the £1,500 April increase, the total pay rise for the lowest paid workers will be more than 15% compared to the same time period last year, the former telecoms monopoly said.

Strike action was taken by some 40,000 BT workers in opposition to the company's offer of a flat-rate pay rise of £1,500 which the union had rejected and said was a real terms pay cut as struggling workers turned towards food banks.

More on Strikes

The offer would not have been made were it not for those strikes that preceded weeks of negotiations the CWU deputy general secretary said.

"I wish to pay tribute to our members for coming out to strike in such serious numbers," Andy Kerr said.

"Their determination has moved BT into a position where they could no longer ignore the case for a consolidated pay rise - without such unity, the company would have offered a cost of living bung at the very best.

Read more:
Which industries are striking this winter and why?

The message was echoed CWU general secretary Dave Ward. "This pay deal would not have happened without the strike action taken by thousands of BT Group workers across this summer."

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2022-11-28 18:07:25Z
1675864806

National Grid decides against emergency winter blackout plan - The Times

National Grid has decided not to run its first real-life initiative to pay households to reduce their electricity use tomorrow evening.

Households were waiting to see if National Grid was going to activate its emergency winter plan for the first time as low temperatures and outages on the nuclear power fleet in France threatened to put pressure on energy supplies in Britain.

National Grid warned that it might need to use its new “demand flexibility service”, a contingency scheme aimed at reducing household consumption when supply is tight.

As in previous years, National Grid has counted on the French national energy provider EDF for supplies over winter. However, France relies on its nuclear reactors for 70 per cent of its energy and nearly half of

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2022-11-28 15:45:00Z
1667056484

UK property demand slides 44% after market-rocking mini-budget, study shows - CNBC

Estate agents "Sold" and "For Sale" signs outside residential properties in the Maida Vale district of London, UK, on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Demand for U.K. residential properties has nearly halved following September's government budget that spooked financial markets and toppled the prime minister, research Monday showed.

The fiscal package, announced Sept. 23, caused a sell-off in bonds and led to predictions of a potential housing market crash as interest rate expectations rose sharply. In the wake of the budget, a record number of mortgage deals were pulled and many lenders paused offerings as they assessed the volatility.

Buyer demand fell 44% year-on-year in the four weeks to Nov. 20, according to property website Zoopla, while new property sales declined 28%. The stock of homes for sale was up 40% over the same period.

Zoopla said demand had fallen to levels usually seen over Christmas — among the quietest time for property markets — as buyers waited to assess the outlook for mortgages, along with their own jobs and wages.

Richard Donnell, Zoopla's executive director for research, said the company expected house price falls of up to 5% in 2023.

"But the number of sales going through will remain buoyant for a range of structural, demographic and economic factors," he said, including ongoing housing scarcity, with the average number of homes on offer per estate agency still a fifth lower than before the pandemic.

Although a fall in house prices is widely predicted, the company's predictions are less bearish than others.

Economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics forecast a decline of 8% over the next year, while Nationwide, one of the U.K.'s largest mortgage providers, said earlier this month that house prices could collapse by up to 30% in its worst-case scenario.

In contrast, the U.K.'s Office for Budget Responsibility has said it expects house prices to drop 1.2% next year and by 5.7% in 2024.

It comes after a desire for different kinds of property during the pandemic, the suspension of a purchase tax on homes under $500,000 from July 2020 to July 2021 and ongoing supply shortages saw house prices rocket to record highs.

Zoopla said there was currently a "widespread" repricing of homes occurring, but that it was modest in size. It puts U.K. house price growth at 7.8% year-on-year.

Its report described market trends as a "shake-out rather than a pre-cursor to a housing crash" and said the mini budget had "delivered a shock" to sellers and buyers.

"All the leading supply and demand indicators we measure continue to point to a rapid slowdown from very strong market conditions. We do not see any evidence of forced sales or the need for a large, double digit reset in U.K. house prices in 2023," its report said.

Meanwhile, private rental costs in Britain have risen to record highs amid intense competition for properties, according to separate data published by the website Rightmove last month.

It found rents in London were up 16.1% year-on-year, the highest growth of any region on record.

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2022-11-28 08:33:41Z
1669275598

Minggu, 27 November 2022

Congleton shoppers 'alarmed' in Christmas market incident - BBC

Bridge StreetGoogle

Three men have been arrested after a car turned down a pedestrianised area of a town during a Christmas market.

The Volkswagen Golf turned down Bridge Street in Congleton where the market was taking place, police said.

It happened shortly after 16:00 GMT on Saturday, "causing alarm to shoppers and residents," said Cheshire Police.

No-one was hurt during the incident, which is not being treated as terror-related, the force said.

The car was later found abandoned, police added.

Three men remain in police custody.

Officers were at the scene on Saturday evening "providing a highly visible presence to reassure people".

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2022-11-27 09:28:16Z
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