Author: LoveWorld UK

Microsoft Corp said it will push ahead with talks to acquire the U.S. operations of Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok, a potential blockbuster deal that could re-shape the social media industry and further inflame crumbling U.S.-China relations. The U.S. tech giant formally declared its interest on Sunday after President Donald Trump reversed course on a planned ban of Tiktok and gave the two firms to 45 days to come to a deal. The proposed acquisition of parts of TikTok, which boasts 100 million U.S. users, would offer Microsoft a rare opportunity to become a major competitor to social media giants such…

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Britain’s central bank will shed more light next week on how fast it expects the economy to rebound from the financial damage wrought by COVID-19, but is unlikely to add to the 100 billion pounds of stimulus it announced in June. The world’s sixth-largest economy shrank by almost a quarter between February and May, and some economists think it could be years before it returns to its previous size. Back in May the Bank of England (BoE) said its best guess was that the economy would return to its previous size in the second half of 2021, but since then…

British house prices jumped the highest in 11 years this month, adding to signs that parts of the economy are rebounding rapidly as coronavirus restrictions are eased. Mortgage lender Nationwide said average house prices leapt by 1.7% in July, above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists and the biggest monthly increase since August 2009, when the market was recovering from the financial crisis. “The bounce back in prices reflects the unexpectedly rapid recovery in housing market activity since the easing of lockdown restrictions,” Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said. The Bank of England reported that mortgage approvals -…

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Newcastle United fans say they have been treated with contempt after a 300 million-pound takeover bid from a Saudi-backed consortium collapsed on Thursday. The group, which included Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, PCP Capital Partners and Reuben Brothers, announced they were ending their interest in the deal which had been delayed by the Premier League’s owners and directors test. The end of the Saudi bid left the North East club still in the hands of British businessman Mike Ashley, who has long faced protests and opposition from the fans. Many Newcastle fans had welcomed the…

President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the idea of delaying the Nov. 3 U.S. elections, an idea immediately rejected by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress – the sole branch of government with the authority to make such a change. Critics and even Trump’s allies dismissed the notion as an unserious attempt to distract from devastating economic news, but some legal experts warned that his repeated attacks could undermine his supporters’ faith in the election process. Trump’s statement on Twitter comes as the United States is enduring a multi-pronged, once-in-a-generation crisis: a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more…

Facebook Inc has completed a series of deals for the right to show music videos on its platform, raising the prospect of its competing more with Alphabet Co’s video platform YouTube in the area, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The social media giant is expected to announce partnerships with three of music world’s biggest labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, the report said (here), citing people familiar with the matter. Universal as a group is home to Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, among others, while Sony’s big names include Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keyes.…

The introduction of mandatory face masks in most enclosed spaces across Britain was designed to protect people during the pandemic but has made life very difficult for the deaf community. Face coverings prevent lip reading and hide facial expressions, making it virtually impossible for the 12 million people who are either deaf or suffering with hearing loss in Britain to communicate and forcing many to stay at home. Mangai Sutharsan, director of Empowering Deaf Society, said she understood why masks were important to help counter the spread of COVID-19 but the introduction had increased her anxiety about going into public…

Roughly one in three furloughed workers in Britain returned to their jobs during the first two weeks of July as the hospitality industry reopened to the public, an official survey suggested on Thursday. Some 7% of workers at businesses surveyed by the Office for National Statistics between June 29 and July 12 had returned to work within the previous two weeks, reducing the proportion who remained on furlough to 17%. The sector with the largest number of workers returning was accommodation and food services businesses – which reopened to guests on July 4 – where 18% returned to work, though…

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) swung to a rare pretax loss in the first half of 2020, after setting aside a bigger than expected 2.4 billion pounds second-quarter provision to cover a potential hike in bad loans due to the coronavirus. The hefty provision, which was 60% higher than an average of analyst estimates, came as it drastically revised its models for the worst-case scenario for Britain’s economy as it grapples with the fallout from the pandemic. The United Kingdom’s biggest domestic bank, seen as a bellwether for the wider economy, said it had adopted a gloomier outlook and estimated the…