Breaking - News
Jacinda Ardern says she ‘did a little dance’ when she heard there were no cases of coronavirus left in the country
New Zealand’s government will lift all Covid-19 restrictions except stringent border controls almost immediately, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said, as the nation’s health officials declared that there were no longer any known, active cases of the coronavirus remaining. “We are ready,” said Ardern at a news conference in Wellington, adding that New Zealanders had “united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus.” Read more HERE.
Criminals are seizing on a surge in job losses to steal unemployment benefits from Americans nationwide. This complicates an already tough situation for millions of financially strapped Americans and overwhelmed state unemployment offices.
While there’s no exact measure of how many fraudulent claims have been made, states from Washington to Maine say they’ve seen an increase and numerous federal agencies are working to fight it.
“About 10% of (unemployment insurance) payments are improper under the best of times, and we are in the worst of times,” Scott Dahl, the inspector general for the U.S. Labor Department, told the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. Dahl estimated that at least $26 billion in benefits could be wasted, with the bulk of that going to fraudsters. Read more HERE.
The company behind thousands of the UK’s fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) is offering gambling-style apps on Facebook without age checks, prompting allegations that children are being exposed to the risk of addiction.
Earlier this month, the industry watchdog warned that more than 60,000 children were either gambling addicts or were in danger of becoming hooked. Experts have warned that games mimicking real-life gambling are the “number one risk factor” for developing a problem later in life. Read more HERE
Price cutting by homeowners desperate to shift their property in a slowing market has reached the highest levels in six years, according to an analysis by website Zoopla.
Just over 35% of the homes marketed on the site have marked down their price in the hope of achieving a sale, with the biggest discounts in the London property market. The 35% figure compares with 29% just before the EU referendum in 2016, although it is below the levels recorded in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Read more HERE.
Businesses & bankers urged the government to make urgent progress on trade talks after Theresa May secured a “hard won” agreement with the European commission to allow the government to move to the second stage of Brexit negotiations. Sterling was higher against the euro, up 0.2% at €1.1468.
The British Chambers of Commerce also called for more detail early in the new year about the UK’s future trade relationship with the EU. Read more HERE.