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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Climate crisis deal, fuel duty cut, EY

(Sharecast News) - EU countries clinched deals on proposed laws to combat the climate crisis in the early hours of Wednesday, backing a 2035 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car sales and a multibillion-euro fund to shield poorer citizens from the costs of carbon dioxide emissions. After more than 16 hours of negotiations, environment ministers from the 27 member states agreed their joint positions on five laws, part of a broader package of measures to slash planet-heating emissions this decade. - Guardian Rishi Sunak has promised to consider another cut to fuel duty amid claims that prices at forecourts are "pump fiction" as they fail to reflect wholesale costs. The chancellor said on Tuesday that he would examine whether to reduce the levy further after cutting it by 5p a litre in March. Sunak is under pressure to help motorists paying record prices at the pump while the cost of other household goods has also jumped. - Guardian

Electric cars face being fitted with tracking devices under proposals for a pay-per-mile road taxation system put forward by the Government's own climate advisers. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says the Government needs to find ways to cover the "significant hole" in the public finances left by the loss of fuel duty and other taxes when petrol and diesel cars are replaced by electric models. - Telegraph

EY is to pay a record $100 million fine to the US financial regulator after it found that the Big Four accountancy firm's audit staff had cheated in ethics exams by sharing answers. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also said the EY had hindered its investigation by telling inspectors that there had been no cheating, despite the issue having previously been raised with bosses. - The Times

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, says there is a "strong argument" for supporting the steel industry amid expectations that the government will extend import tariffs despite the risk of breaking international law. Yesterday he told the business, energy and industrial strategy committee that "free trade is all very well but if everyone else is supporting a strategic industry, I think there is a strong argument for us in this country to do so". - The Times

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(Sharecast News) - Young people in Britain are bearing the brunt of a "low-gear economy" as employers hold back from hiring amid the fallout from the war in the Middle East, a deputy governor of the Bank of England has warned. Clare Lombardelli, the Bank's deputy governor for monetary policy, said the unfolding conflict, which has triggered a surge in energy prices and clouded the outlook for the economy, was contributing to an increase in youth unemployment. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Youth jobs crisis, 79th Group, Hargreaves Lansdown owners
(Sharecast News) - Fixing Britain's youth jobs crisis will require ministers to drastically increase investment in employment support while avoiding arbitrary cuts to benefits, the head of the trade union movement has said. Before an important official report expected next week, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Paul Nowak, said the government had a "once in a generation chance" to secure young people's futures. - Guardian
Friday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, National Lottery owner, FCA
(Sharecast News) - An energy minister has told the bosses of Great Britain's biggest energy suppliers to do more to help households get on top of their unpaid energy bills this winter, before the government spends almost £2.5bn to help write off the country's record high debts. Energy bosses were summoned to a roundtable meeting on Thursday to discuss the government's plan to pay down the energy debts of about 2.4m of the hardest-hit households. - Guardian
Thursday newspaper round-up: North Sea drilling, Poundland, ESG funds
(Sharecast News) - The UK is "dangerously" dependent on China for critical raw materials needed for the military, renewable energy infrastructure and AI, a parliamentary investigation has found. MPs on the business select committee called for an urgent centralised policy and the creation of a "critical minerals finance facility" to help fund rare earth and other critical mineral mines, and deploy grants, equity and debt to accelerate a diversification programme. - Guardian

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