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Health secretary Sajid Javid on Monday confirmed that community transmission of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus was occurring in England, as the number of cases climbed to 336 across the UK. Javid told the House of Commons there remained many unknowns in relation to the variant first identified in South Africa, but said the

What Is a Currency War? A currency war is an escalation of deliberate currency devaluation policies among two or more nations, each of which is trying to stimulate its own economy. Currency prices fluctuate constantly in the foreign exchange market. However, a currency war is marked by a number of nations simultaneously engaged in policy

SoftBank Group shares fell sharply today as part of a broad regional sell-off in Asia that included Alibaba, the ecommerce company founded by Jack Ma, and Evergrande Real Estate Group, the world’s most indebted developer. SoftBank’s shares fell for a seventh consecutive day to touch their lowest level since June 2020 as mounting problems at

Now that you’re finally taking withdrawals from that 401(k) you’ve been contributing to for decades, how are 401(k) withdrawals taxed? Withdrawals—distributions, in retirement-plan speak—require you to pay taxes on what you take out, in most cases, effectively reducing your nest egg. What do you do? Here are several ways to minimize taxes on withdrawals. Key

Taiwanese diplomats are on a rollercoaster. While they revel in avowals of support from Japan and the west, they worry over Honduras’s allegiance — one of the few countries to maintain diplomatic ties with Taipei in defiance of China. Xiomara Castro, the leftist politician elected president of the central American country last week, pledged during

Shares in China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, fell to an 11-year low on Monday after the company said it would “actively engage” to formulate a restructuring plan and the group’s chair was summoned by regulators. Shares in the company fell as much as 12 per cent from their close on Friday to

There’s no disputing the fact that Google (GOOGL) reinvented the way the world accesses information. The company has a whole host of apps and tools that many consumers use on a daily basis, from its search engine and Gmail to Google Drive, its file storage service. The market now knows Google’s parent company as Alphabet.

CNN fired Chris Cuomo after a sexual misconduct allegation was made against him at the same time he was under investigation by the network for helping his brother, the former New York governor, defend against his own harassment claims. On Sunday, Debra Katz, a prominent US employment lawyer, said that her client had reported sexual

This article picked by a teacher with suggested questions is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration here. Specification:  Demand, supply, consumer surplus, producer surplus Click to read the article below and then answer the questions: Opec+ sticks with oil supply increase after US overture to Saudi Arabia Define the terms: i) Demand

What Are Solvency Ratios? Solvency ratios are primarily used to measure a company’s ability to meet its long-term obligations. In general, a solvency ratio measures the size of a company’s profitability and compares it to its obligations. By interpreting a solvency ratio, an analyst or investor can gain insight into how likely a company will

Several of Toshiba’s biggest shareholders are accusing the Japanese conglomerate of failing to fully pursue talks with private equity buyers, and say they will ratchet up pressure on the board to revive discussions on a full buyout of the company. The investors said that despite Toshiba’s claim it had not received convincing indications of a

Environmentalists protesting against development of the Cambo oilfield north-west of the Shetland Isles may cheer Shell’s decision last week to pull out of the controversial project. To some extent, the pressure that campaigners brought to bear on the company and on the UK government, which is yet to greenlight the project, has worked. While Shell

Porter’s Five Forces Model is a helpful tool prospective investors use to help analyze the industry in which a certain company operates. The model, developed by Harvard Business School professor, Michael E. Porter in 1979, is used to analyze and identify five competitive forces that shape every industry while determining its strengths and weaknesses. The

Singapore’s financial regulator has suspended a prominent digital currency exchange at the centre of a row involving a crypto pension scheme claiming links to South Korea’s biggest boy band BTS. Singapore’s move to suspend the local operations of Bitget, a shirt sponsor of Italian football team Juventus, comes as the city-state seeks to establish itself

Chinese mining groups are scouting opportunities in Afghanistan to access the country’s lithium and copper deposits, as Beijing steps into the void left by the US and its allies just months after the Taliban seized power. A group of mining industry representatives has visited Afghanistan in recent weeks, according to a senior official in Kabul

The Roth IRA has skyrocketed in popularity with Americans looking to stash money away for retirement. In mid-2020, Roth IRAs were held by 26.3 million U.S. households, or 20.5%, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA), passed in late 2017, also provided a boost for Roths: The

In this article ZEN Richard Drury | DigitalVision | Getty Images Company: Zendesk Inc. (ZEN) Business: Zendesk is a software development company that provides “software as a service” solutions for tracking, prioritizing, and solving customer support tickets across various channels. The company’s offerings include Zendesk Chat, a live chat software to connect with customers on

Valérie Pécresse, who heads the Ile-de-France region around Paris, has been chosen as the candidate of the conservative Les Républicains party in next year’s French presidential election. Pécresse — who will try to win back the support that switched towards Emmanuel Macron at the last election while seeing off challengers from the far right —

Emmanuel Macron brokered a call on Saturday between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon’s leaders in a bid to end a diplomatic dispute that led to the imposition of sanctions on Beirut by gulf states. The French president, the first western leader to visit the kingdom since the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pushed for

Have you already squeezed every last penny out of your budget? Maybe not. Thanks to free-market capitalism, consumers can choose from a wide variety of products at a wide range of prices pretty much any time they want to buy something. Unlike investing, saving money on purchases doesn’t require any specialized training, and is an

A friend treats me to an insider’s tour of LA’s Atwater Village. As with eye contact across a bar, it is possible to see a neighbourhood for a brief moment and just know. Craftsman bungalows, omakase chefs of unsmiling excellence, a Santiago-like backcloth of mountains: within hours, I arrange a month-long Airbnb here. I will

When Major League Baseball locked out its players as the clock struck midnight on Thursday, its ninth work stoppage in more than a century, it was as if the game’s biggest stars just disappeared. Stories about player trades and multimillion-dollar contracts were scrubbed from the MLB website. Photos of star sluggers such as Giancarlo Stanton

What Are Bitcoin Futures? Bitcoin futures enable investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin (BTCUSD) without having to hold the underlying cryptocurrency. They are similar to a futures contract for a commodity or stock index in that they allow investors to speculate on the cryptocurrency’s future price. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) offers monthly contracts for

Catherine Wood, chief executive officer of ARK Investment Management LLC, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images It’s been a dismal week for Cathie Wood’s flagship fund, Ark Innovation, that’s left nearly all of her holdings in bear market.

The US believes Russia is planning to invade Ukraine “as soon as early 2022” with an estimated 175,000 troops — in a sign of the escalating alarm in Washington about Moscow’s intentions towards its neighbour. A Biden administration official said on Friday night that Moscow’s plans “call for a military offensive against Ukraine as soon

Only a quarter of small British importers are ready for new border controls on imports from the EU that will be imposed in four weeks, a trade body has warned, sparking fears of further disruption to supply chains immediately after Christmas. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) also warned there was a lack of capacity

When it comes to filing taxes, getting the lowest tax liability is not all about skill—it’s about what you know. Unfortunately, many taxpayers miss out on deductions and credits simply because they aren’t aware of them. Several of the most overlooked deductions pertain to health and medical expenses, as well as to insurance premiums. Note

Investors retreated from US stocks on Friday, dumping shares in large technology companies and sending the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index sharply lower. The Nasdaq fell 2.4 per cent by early afternoon in New York, its biggest decline in more than two months, as a mixed US jobs report was seen as paving the way for

An aerial view of Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center shows where SpaceX had previously started work on a Starship launchpad (bottom right corner), captured during a flyover by the Inspiration4 crew on Sept. 13, 2021. John Kraus / Inspiration4 SpaceX has begun building a launchpad for its Starship rockets in Florida, CEO

The NHS outlined its long-awaited blueprint for an expansion of England’s Covid-19 booster jab programme on Friday, but it could still be up to 10 days before some qualifying for a top-up shot will be able to book an appointment. The government on Monday accepted a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation,