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Thursday newspaper round-up: Pensions gap, access to cash, energy industry

(Sharecast News) - Unions have called on the government to take urgent action to fix a "whopping pensions gap", as research showed women working in many industries have half the retirement savings of men. The TUC said Thursday was "gender pensions gap day", when female pensioners in Great Britain start getting paid after effectively going four and a half months without retirement income. - Guardian The City watchdog will be handed powers to ensure local communities across the UK have access to cash and could ultimately fine banks that fail to comply. Under the government's pending financial services bill, the Financial Conduct Authority will be in charge of making sure the UK's largest banking and building societies give consumers access to withdrawal and deposit facilities such as ATMs within a "reasonable" distance from their community. - Guardian

Brussels has told European Union countries that they should consider telling drivers to cut their motorway speed in the battle to ditch Russian fossil fuel. The European Commission says saving energy is the "quickest way" to tackle the energy crisis.It has published a list of changes in behaviour which it argues could cut oil and gas demand by 5pc. - Telegraph

The energy industry believes it will soon fall victim to cyberattacks so severe that they will result in deaths as well as damage to critical infrastructure and the environment, a report has found. Such an attack is expected within the next two years, according to a survey of global energy executives for DNV, a risk management group. - The Times

The professional body for chartered accountants is facing questions from parliament over why it has pocketed tens of millions of pounds in fine money for auditor misconduct rather than hand over any of it to victims. Darren Jones, chairman of the Commons' business, energy and industrial strategy committee, is writing to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for an explanation, as it emerged that the professional body has scooped £123.4 million in fines since 2004, according to its own figures. - The Times

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Tuesday newspaper round-up: Trump tariffs, European insurers, high streets
(Sharecast News) - Donald Trump announced a new 50% tariff on automobiles and crucial raw materials from Canada, the latest deterioration in trade relations between the two neighbours with historically strong economic ties. The US president said that the increased tariffs would start on 1 January 2027 on all cars, trucks, automobile parts and steel. He also derided the nation's tariffs on American farmers, writing on social media that Canada has been "ripping off" the US "for years". - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: UK productivity, Shein, Poundland
(Sharecast News) - Productivity in the UK - a vital measure of economic health - is growing more strongly than official figures suggest, according to analysis from the Resolution Foundation. The thinktank suggests the chancellor, John Healey, may have inherited an economy finally starting to emerge from the long shadow of the 2008 global financial crisis. Productivity measures the economic output produced by each worker, and is a crucial determinant of growth. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Cash stocks, Specsavers, TfL
(Sharecast News) - The number of banknotes in circulation in the EU is increasing despite widespread smartphone payments, new data shows, with wildfires ripping through parts of Europe fuelling demand for an emergency stash of cash. While cash plays second fiddle to contactless payments in many cities across Europe, the amount in circulation is actually going up, Philip Lane, the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), said at the MacGill summer school conference in Ireland. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: US debt, Oxfam, Mark Zuckerberg, KPMG
(Sharecast News) - US debt reached $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, the US treasury department said, after the government deficit doubled over the last decade. The treasury's latest debt balance showed $40.047tn on Tuesday afternoon, the highest in US history. The milestone marks years of government spending that grew under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. During his first term, Trump approved $8.4tn worth of debt, with a huge chunk going to Covid-19 relief spending, while Biden approved $4.3tn worth of debt, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. - Guardian

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