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In the papers - Google to put Android into cars; AstraZeneca gets thumbs up for cancer drug

Published: 07:00 19 Dec 2014 GMT

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The Times                     

Woodford criticises reliance on wind farms: One of Britain’s most influential fund managers has warned that the lights could go out because ministers’ “love affair” with wind farms hurts cheaper, more reliable forms of clean energy.

Arctic push on hold as oil collapse hits margins: A push by oil companies to open up the Arctic has been dealt another blow after Chevron scrapped plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea, blaming “economic uncertainty in the industry” over future crude prices.

We can’t cut our output, insists Saudi oil Minister: The Saudi oil Minister has admitted that his country would find it “difficult, if not impossible” to give up market share by cutting crude production despite the slump in oil prices.

Bionic-leg maker hit by slow sales: A pioneering developer of robotic legs that floated only seven months ago has warned that its sales disappointed, leading its shares to fall by half .

US plots its revenge against hackers who humiliated Sony: The United States is considering whether to strike back against the perpetrators of a devastating cyberattack that has crippled one of Hollywood’s biggest film studios. A massive hack of Sony Pictures is being treated by President Obama as a “serious national security matter”, the White House said.

Russians are priced out of London: Wealthy Russian homebuyers are abandoning the London property market as their homeland’s economy nosedives amid western sanctions and a plunging oil price.

John Laing builds head of steam to be first big 2015 London float: John Laing is on the verge of being brought back to the stock market seven years after it was taken private.

Bet on shoppers putting us back in the money: Markets are betting that Britain could shop its way to economic recovery after better-than-expected retail figures showing that high street sales last month reached the highest level in more than a decade.

Weaker Euro helps boost Germany: German business morale has risen for the second month running in a sign that Europe’s largest economy is picking up after narrowly avoiding recession in the summer.

The Independent

Clash of the Irish titans as BA Owner launches Aer Lingus bid: Three of Ireland’s biggest businessmen and the country’s government had the future of Aer Lingus in their hands as British Airways’ Owner IAG launched a bid for the £1 billion airline.

Passengers protest about delays 13 weeks into flagship rail deal: One of the Government’s biggest franchises under its flagship rail contracting scheme, the Thameslink line into St Pancras, ran just over half of its trains on time in the past month – triggering commuters to petition for change.

Switzerland cuts rates to fend off Russian cash: Switzerland slashed interest rates into negative territory as its central bank sought to ward off a flood of safe-haven cash from the collapsing Russian rouble.

Shoppers in £7.9 billion spree as Christmas comes early: Britons spent a collective £7.9 billion every week last month as price slashing inspired by “Black Friday” helped drive the biggest shopping frenzy for more than a decade, official figures showed.

Virgin’s wristband checks if you’ve fallen asleep and starts recording your TV: Virgin Media has made a new wristband that will monitor its wearers body, pausing and playing their TV to ensure that they don’t miss anything.

The Daily Telegraph

Google ‘to put Android directly into cars’: Google is planning a version of Android that would be built directly into cars, allowing drivers to enjoy all the benefits of the internet without needing to use their smartphones.

Defiant Vladimir Putin digs in for two-year slump, dismisses talk of palace coup: Russian President Vladimir Putin has lashed out at the Western powers for imposing a new “Berlin Wall” across Europe and warned the Russian people to brace for two years of hardship, admitting that sanctions are doing more damage than originally thought.

New gas plants ‘to be shelved after failing to win subsidies’: A raft of proposed new gas-fired power plants will be shelved for at least a year after failing to win Government subsidies, experts have predicted.

UK government recovers £1.36 billion of money used to bail out savers in Icelandic bank: The Government has now recovered 85% of the money it spent bailing out hundreds of thousands of British consumers who risked seeing their savings wiped out when Icesave collapsed.

Lord Myners calls for more transparency after Royal Mail sale: More flexibility and transparency is needed when carrying out privatisations of public companies to avoid the kind of controversy that followed the flotation of Royal Mail, a former City Minister has said.

EE focuses on business market with acquisition of Mainline Communications: EE, the mobile operator that BT is planning to take over for £12.5 billion, has made an acquisition of its own, albeit on a much smaller scale. The company has bought Mainline Communications, a telecoms reseller which targets the business market, in a deal thought to be worth high single-digit millions.

The Guardian

I feel no responsibility for rouble’s collapse, says Putin: Vladimir Putin has promised that Russia will weather the rouble crisis, adding that he feels no responsibility for the currency’s fall.

Consumers face £750 million subsidy scheme bill for generators to keep lights on: Energy consumers look set to pay at least £750 million a year extra after a government-run auction finished with some power companies winning subsidies of between £15 and £20 per kilowatt of generating plant.

Royal Mail sell-off undervalued firm by £180 million, report finds: The government could have made £180 million more from the £2 billion sale of Royal Mail last year but this would have involved “considerable risk”, a report commissioned by business secretary Vince Cable concluded.

Airbnb agrees to collect Amsterdam tourist tax: Airbnb has agreed to collect Amsterdam’s tourist tax from customers of its apartment rental website after hotels, which already collect the tax on the city’s behalf, complained of an unfair advantage.

Black Friday sparks biggest retail sales boost in a decade: Black Friday spurred retail sales to the strongest year-on-year rise in 10 years, according to official figures that show a 6.4% jump last month on the previous November.

Daily Mail

Janet Yellen rings in Christmas spirit as Fed Boss kickstarts belated Santa Rally in world stock markets: Buyers chased oversold quality blue chip stocks sharply higher as they responded to the clearest sign yet from the Federal Reserve Boss that U.S. interest rates will rise by mid-2015, taking the view that the world’s biggest economy must be in fine fettle.

KPMG pretax profits fall as U.K. Chairman Simon Collins is paid £2.5 million: The Chairman of accountancy giant KPMG has had an inflation-busting pay rise to £2.5 million despite a fall in pretax profits.

London Stock Exchange sees the most floats for 7 years after companies £14.8 billion in first 11 months of the year: The London Stock Exchange has seen the highest number of stock market floats since 2007 after firms raised £14.8billion in the first 11 months of the year.

Ex-lottery Boss Dianne Thompson tries her luck at clothing giant Next: Next has hired former lottery Boss Dianne Thompson as a Non-Executive Director.

North Sea oil industry ‘close to collapse’: Experts’ warning that oil price plunge is not all good news for UK economy: North Sea oil and gas tycoon and government adviser Sir Ian Wood has said around 10% of jobs may go, while Robin Allan, Chairman of the independent explorers’ association Brindex and Premier Oil executive, said that at current oil prices it is ‘almost impossible to make money’.

Arch deal-maker Sir Nigel Rudd takes Meggitt hot seat: Meggitt has appointed arch deal-maker Sir Nigel Rudd as its Chairman in a move that will be seen as the aerospace engineer effectively hoisting the ‘for sale’ sign.

Daily Express

British carmakers gear up for growth in new year despite fall from emerging markets: British carmakers are gearing up for growth next year despite a drop-off in demand from emerging markets putting the brakes on recent sales.

Advertising giant WWP lines up industrialist Roberto Quarta as Chairman: Advertising giant WPP has lined up industrialist Roberto Quarta as its new Chairman after an extensive search for a replacement for long-¬serving Philip Lader.

British taxpayer lost out on £180 million from Royal Mail sale: U.K. taxpayers lost out by up to £180 million from the sale of Royal Mail, a report Lord Myners is expected to conclude.

Babcock International scoops deal to maintain and repair British Army vehicles: Blue-chip government contractor Babcock International has scooped a deal to maintain and repair the British Army’s vehicles and light weapons over the next decade.

U.S. merger talks send insurer Catlin soaring: Shares in Lloyd’s insurer Catlin jumped 10% after a £2.5billion takeover approach from New York’s XL Group.

Fashion chain Jigsaw thank online and overseas demand for smarter sales: Fashion chain Jigsaw says sales have got smarter with demand online and overseas.

City A.M.

New exec role for O’Connor: The former Chairman of Irish Allied Bank, Dan O’Connor, is to join the board of International Personal Finance as a Non-Executive Director at the start of next year.

Phil Cox to give Drax a boost: Embattled energy group Drax has reached for a boost from former International Power Chief Phil Cox, taking him on as Chairman as its share price continues to dwindle.

Consumer confidence edges down from its soaring highs: Confidence among U.K. consumers has dipped in December, according to two new sets of survey data.

Banks tell small firms to borrow more to grow: Productivity in the U.K. is being held back by small firms’ reluctance to borrow, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) argued.

Europe to follow major central banks by publishing minutes: The European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed it would publish minutes of its monetary policy meetings from January’s meeting onwards.

Eurozone lift in construction: Construction output in the Eurozone increased by 1.3% month-on-month in October.

Apax offloads Swiss mobile firm for £1.8 billion: NJJ Capital, the private holdings firm of French telephone tycoon Xavier Niel, agreed to buy mobile operator Orange Switzerland from private equity firm Apax Partners in a SFr2.8 billion (£1.8 billion) deal.

AstraZeneca receives thumbs up for drug: Drug maker AstraZeneca rewarded the faith of investors in the company after its pioneering ovarian cancer drug was approved for use across Europe.

Shell sells Norwegian units and enters joint venture in Scandinavia: Shell announced the sale of parts of its Norwegian operations to Finnish energy firm St1 for an undisclosed fee, further divesting its downstream activities.

Debt Manager ordered to pay compensation: Debt management firm Harrington Brooks agreed to pay customers £185,000 after its sluggish services added fees and interest costs to vulnerable borrowers.

LondonMetric buys new shed: LondonMetric is hoping to tap into the booming online retail market after agreeing to buy a warehouse let to The Hut Group for £47.5 million.

NewRiver bags £20 million bargain: U.K. Reit NewRiver Retail said it has bought a portfolio of retail properties and a Lancashire shopping centre for £19 million as it continues on its acquisition spree.

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