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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Rail strikes, air fares, John Lewis

(Sharecast News) - The RMT union has called off a strike at Network Rail next week, fuelling hopes of a significant breakthrough in the long-running dispute. The union said it was suspending the strike planned for Thursday 16 March and all other industrial action, which was to include an overtime ban, after it received a fresh offer from Network Rail. - Guardian Jeremy Hunt's tax raid on airlines means passengers will have to pay higher air fares, bosses have warned. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Ryanair and easyJet are among a coalition of airlines urging the Chancellor not to increase air passenger duty (APD) in line with the retail prices index (RPI) next month. - Telegraph

Mortgaged homeowners in the UK are more at risk of falling into arrears than in any other major developed country, a leading credit ratings agency has warned. The share of homeowners missing more than three months of mortgage payments will double in 2023 to 1.5pc as high rates hit borrowers, according to Fitch Ratings. Based on the current number of residential mortgages in the UK, this means 135,000 households will be in arrears. - Telegraph

John Lewis is running into resistance over its first build-to-rent project, with the leader of the local council accusing the retailer of "bullying" and raising concerns about the height of its planned tower blocks and the lack of affordable housing. The trailblazing plan to build 430 flats in towers up to 19 storeys high in the west London suburb of Ealing above a Waitrose supermarket is already months behind schedule, according to local residents. - The Times

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(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
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(Sharecast News) - An increasingly complex tax system is burdening the government and businesses with hundreds of millions of pounds more in administration costs, Whitehall's spending watchdog has warned. The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) also said "poor levels of service" meant some taxpayers and their representatives were "finding it more difficult to deal with their tax matters and are losing trust in HM Revenue & Customs [HMRC]". - 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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