International
UK manufacturing industry shrinks at fastest rate in 11 months
Concerns remain about the outlook for global trade in 2025, with Donald Trump assuming the US presidency later this month having promised a slew of trade tariffs.
Yahoo!finance: British factory output contracted at the fastest rate in 11 months in December, amid a swathe of job losses, growing concerns about rising business taxes and a worsening global economy.
The S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey, watched closely by economists, recorded a reading of 47.0 in December, from 48.0 in November.
Any reading above 50 indicates activity is growing while any score below means it is contracting.
The rate of job cuts hit a 10-month high, the survey found, with firms saying weak market conditions caused many to reduce their headcounts.
Company confidence fell to a two-year low, meanwhile, amid concerns about inflationary pressures, rising business costs and potential weaker economic growth this year.
Manufacturers said they were concerned about future cost increases, partly driven by rising taxes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year.
Companies will pay more in national insurance contributions (NICs) from April, while the minimum wage is also set to rise, which will make it more expensive to employ people.
Firms also cited a weakening global economic outlook, as exports fell due to lower demand in Europe, Asia and the UK.
Concerns remain about the outlook for global trade in 2025, with Donald Trump assuming the US presidency later this month having promised a slew of trade tariffs.
Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “A stalling domestic economy, weak export sales and concerns about future cost increases led to the steepest contraction of UK manufacturing production for almost a year in December.
“Manufacturers are facing an increasingly downbeat backdrop. Business sentiment is now at its lowest for two years as the new Government’s rhetoric and announced policy changes dampen confidence and raise costs at UK factories and their clients alike.
SMEs are being especially hard hit during the latest downturn.
“This is sending a winter chill through the labour market. December saw the sharpest cuts to staffing levels since February.
Some companies are acting now to restructure operations in advance of the rises in employer national insurance and minimum wage levels in 2025.”
International
Man jailed for keeping dead mother in freezer to claim £78,000 in benefits
Passing sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips repeatedly deceived medical professionals to hide the fact that his mother had died.
•Christopher Phillips
A 60-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison after keeping his late mother’s body in a chest freezer for nearly three years while fraudulently collecting more than £78,000 in her pension and benefits.
Christopher Phillips was jailed by Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court after admitting to preventing the lawful and decent burial of his 89-year-old mother, Silvia Phillips, and pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.
The court heard that Phillips concealed his mother’s death after she died on March 8, 2023, by storing her body in a chest freezer in the living room of their home in Porthcawl, Wales.
Prosecutors said he failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions and Bridgend County Borough Council of her death, allowing her pension and benefits to continue being paid into bank accounts he could access.
Passing sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips repeatedly deceived medical professionals to hide the fact that his mother had died.
“You continued to collect her prescriptions and misled medical professionals about her whereabouts, lying when enquiries were made about your mother, repeatedly telling medical staff that she did not wish to attend appointments or undergo tests,” the judge said.
(Source: Tribune)
International
Russia Issues International Wanted on Telegram Founder Durov
Russian-born Durov — a serial tech founder who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and United Arab Emirates passports — has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet.
•Telegram founder Pavel Durov
Russia announced on Wednesday that it was seeking the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov over accusations of “complicity in terrorism”, alleging he had let the platform be used for recruitment by Ukraine’s security services.
Russian-born Durov — a serial tech founder who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and United Arab Emirates passports — has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet.
His Telegram messenger is one of the country’s main communications platforms and officials have repeatedly tried to block access or thwart its success in a bid to pressure Durov to hand over user data or push Russians to use an unencrypted state-backed alternative.
The FSB security service said it had launched international search proceedings for Durov, who is also Telegram’s CEO.
“An international wanted notice has been issued… for the head of the Telegram administration, P. Durov,” it said in a statement.
International
Just In: People trapped in Japanese mall hit by earthquake, with others missing after factory chimney collapse
Reports in Japan say 20 to 30 shopping centre staff may be missing – but the figure has not been confirmed.
Image credit : BBC
Many people are trapped inside a Japanese shopping centre after an earthquake, the fire service says.
One witness reported the second floor of the mall in Kumamoto collapsing – BBC Verify has looked at some of the images from the site.
Reports in Japan say 20 to 30 shopping centre staff may be missing – but the figure has not been confirmed
Elsewhere in the Kumamoto prefecture, people are reported missing at a paper factory after a chimney collapsed
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit inland on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT), causing power cuts, damaged roads, a collapsed castle wall, and a destroyed footbridge.
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