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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Sunday newspaper round-up: Gaza, Ryanair, Pearson...

(Sharecast News) - Lord Cameron has joined forces with his German counterpart to call for a "sustainable ceasefire" in the Middle East and warn that "too many civilians have been killed" in the Hamas-Israel conflict. In a marked change of tone by the government which piles pressure on the Israeli government to end the bloodshed, the foreign secretary has united with Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, to demand "a sustainable ceasefire, leading to a sustainable peace". - The Sunday Times

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is on track to earn a €100mn bonus after the low-cost airline's shares hit a record high this week. Shares rose to €18.99 on Friday, bringing their gains for the year to more than 50 per cent and underlining Ryanair's position as by far the most valuable airline in Europe. Under a bonus scheme agreed in 2019, O'Leary can earn share options worth around €100mn if the airline's share price hits €21 for 28 days, or it reports €2.2bn in annual profits after tax. - Financial Times

Pearson's largest shareholder has called for the company to move its listing to the US, in another blow to the London stock market. Cevian Capital has singled out the FTSE 100 educational publisher as the next company in its portfolio that should make a move to New York. The activist investor argues that the shift would be better for the business and comes just months after it managed to convince Irish building products group CRH to move their primary listing across the Atlantic. - Mail on Sunday

Petrol prices have fallen to their lowest in more than two years, the RAC has said. A litre of unleaded petrol now costs 142.57p on average at the pumps, a price not seen since the end of October 2021. That is about 10p a litre cheaper than in the run-up to last Christmas and about 14p less than the litre price two months ago. Diesel prices have not fallen. - The Guardian

The £300,000-a-year boss of one of Britain's busiest railway lines has agreed to resign after a string of overhead power and track failures, including one that left thousands of passengers stranded on trains for hours. Michelle Handforth, Network Rail managing director for the Wales & Western region from Paddington, is stepping down after the rail regulator launched an investigation into "poor punctuality" caused by repeated faults and emergency closures. - The Independent

Campaigners are pressing for changes to a UK government scheme for would-be first-time buyers that "fines" people if they use it to buy a home costing more than £450,000. Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, is among those calling for an urgent revamp of the rules that apply to lifetime Isas, which let people save for a first home or for their retirement. Lewis told Guardian Money this week that the scheme was, in its current form, "broken" because it unfairly takes money off some young people and they get back less than their investment. - The Guardian

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Friday newspaper round-up: Barclays, BP, JPMorgan
(Sharecast News) - The UK government will "wait and see" whether tariffs announced by Donald Trump "actually come to pass", a senior minister said. The US president announced what he called "reciprocal tariffs" on all other countries on Thursday evening, claiming it was "fair to all". But it was unclear how this would apply to the UK, especially as Trump suggested his policy regarded VAT as a tariff. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: Solar panels, OBR, Chevron
(Sharecast News) - California's home-insurance safety net does not have enough money to pay all of the claims from damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires and has asked private insurers to contribute $1bn toward those claims. All private insurers operating in California are required to contribute to the Fair plan, a plan of last resort established so all Californians would have access to fire insurance. More than 450,000 California homeowners got their insurance through the Fair plan in 2024 - more than double the number in 2020. As of 4 February, the plan had received more than 4,700 claims from the Palisades and Eaton fires, almost half of which were for "total losses". - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: British economy, Heathrow, FOS
(Sharecast News) - The British economy is on course to expand by 1.5% this year after the budget gave a boost to public spending but could be blown off course if Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened tariffs, a leading economic thinktank has warned. In a boost to Rachel Reeves after a bruising month of negative economic figures, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) upped its annual growth prediction from 1.2% to 1.5%. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: OpenAI, EVs, gas prices
(Sharecast News) - Elon Musk escalated his feud with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on Monday. The billionaire is leading a consortium of investors that announced it had submitted a bid of $97.4bn for "all assets" of the artificial intelligence company to OpenAI's board of directors. The startup, which operates ChatGPT, has been working to restructure itself away from its original non-profit status. OpenAI also operates a for-profit subsidiary, and Musk's unsolicited offer could complicate the company's plans. The Wall Street Journal first reported the proposed bid. - Guardian

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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