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Monday newspaper round-up: Russian debts, BrewDog, Virgin Atlantic

(Sharecast News) - A Russian default on its debts after western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine is no longer "improbable", but would not trigger a global financial crisis, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday. The Washington-based fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said the sanctions imposed by the United States and other nations were already having a "severe" impact on the Russian economy and would trigger a deep recession there this year. The war in Ukraine will also drive up food and energy prices, leading to hunger in Africa, she added. - Guardian The boss of BrewDog, James Watt, hired private investigators to obtain information about people whom he believed were taking part in a smear campaign against him and repeatedly accused one woman of being involved until she blocked him on social media. According to multiple sources and evidence seen by the Guardian, private investigators who said they were working for Watt approached people to gather evidence about those who he appeared to believe had maligned him. - Guardian

Virgin Atlantic will reignite its decades-long dogfight with British Airways after a fortuitous bet that oil prices would rocket paid off following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a departure from previous years, Sir Richard Branson's airline has locked in fuel prices for 2022 at $90 a barrel, saving the carrier tens of millions of pounds, The Telegraph can disclose. - Telegraph

The government is exploring whether old coal-fired power stations that are due to close this year could be kept open to ease the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Officials have approached EDF to find out if its West Burton A plant in Nottinghamshire could continue generating beyond its planned September closure date, The Times can reveal. - The Times

Companies face fresh pressure to pull out of Russia after Rishi Sunak told them to "think very carefully" about investments there. The chancellor warned yesterday that there was "no case for new investment in Russia". He also welcomed announcements by businesses including BP and Shell that they were offloading Russian assets. Sunak said: "The government supports further signals of intent." His intervention escalates government efforts to urge companies to sever links with Russia. - The Times

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Thursday newspaper round-up: UK vets, Sizewell B, Terry Smith
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(Sharecast News) - The Scottish government is about to consider a sweeping moratorium on building new datacentres, putting a key plank of the UK's AI strategy at risk. Last Sunday the Scottish National party (SNP)'s national council passed a motion to freeze all new datacentres in Scotland. That motion has been sent to the Scottish government to consider. It could apply to all datacentre projects that have not yet received planning permission - although its exact implementation is up to the Scottish government to decide. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Affordable housing, mobile coverage, unemployment
(Sharecast News) - Half of all affordable housing supply in rural England could be under threat under plans being considered by ministers to relax regulations for private housing developers, according to analysis. The government has proposed ending affordable housing quotas - known as section 106 agreements - for new developments of between 10 and 49 houses in an effort to jumpstart sluggish housebuilding rates. Ministers are due to make a final decision within weeks on whether developers should be allowed to make cash payments to local authorities instead. - Guardian

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