Reuters UK/EU

LONDON (Reuters) – British consumer spending over the Christmas period has so far held up better-than-expected, providing some relief to retailers who had feared an escalating cost-of-living crisis would hit the key holiday sales period. Only a small number of retailers have so far reported their Christmas sales. Some of the country’s biggest names, including …

Factbox-How British retailers fared over cost-of-living crisis Christmas Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) -British government plans to scale back energy subsidies for businesses will see the cost of support fall by 85% during the next financial year, limiting the cost to 5 billion pounds ($6 billion), the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday. Britain’s finance ministry said on Wednesday that the government would announce to parliament next …

UK to cut business energy subsidies by 85% – Telegraph Read More »

By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) – Earnings from Shell’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading operations are likely to have been significantly higher in the fourth quarter of last year despite an output drop caused by plant outages, it said on Friday. Europe’s largest oil and gas company’s update ahead of its full-year results on Feb. …

Shell LNG trading to lift quarterly profits despite output drop Read More »

PARIS (Reuters) – TotalEnergies on Friday announced it was prepared to review power contracts signed between its local French supplier arm and small businesses after President Emmanuel Macron urged energy companies to do more to help clients in the face of rising inflation. “TotalEnergies Electricity and Gaz France will publish on Monday an update to …

TotalEnergies: willing to help small French businesses cope with high energy bills Read More »

PARIS (Reuters) – The struggles of France’s health system will probably get worse before things improve, President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged on Friday, as he pledged to improve working conditions and hire more medical assistants for administrative tasks. France, like many other European countries, is facing a shortage of healthcare staff, particularly in rural areas, with …

Macron warns of more healthcare woes as he flags reforms Read More »

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany strongly condemns the “politically motivated show trial” of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski and two other activists in Belarus and calls for the release of all political prisoners in the country, the foreign ministry said on Friday. “The German government demands the release of all of the more than 1,400 …

Germany calls for release of all political prisoners in Belarus Read More »

By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – A European Union ban on inducements for recommending sales of financial products could cut costs for retail customers by more than a third, the bloc’s financial services chief Mairead McGuinness has said. Inducements, already banned in Britain and the Netherlands, refer to payments, such as in the form of …

EU financial services chief favours banning sales inducements on investment products Read More »

BERLIN/BREVIK, Norway (Reuters) – Germany said on Friday it wants to deliver around 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine before the end of March, and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Berlin could ultimately send its entire functioning fleet of the weapons. Germany announced on Thursday it would provide Marders to Ukraine, ramping up military …

Germany wants to deliver around 40 Marder vehicles to Ukraine in Q1 Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Around 3% of people in England and Wales aged 16 or over identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to 2021 census data released on Friday. The census in 2021 was the first in Britain to ask about people’s sexual orientation, and the results are broadly in line with previous, smaller-scale surveys. …

Three percent in England and Wales identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual -census Read More »

By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) – Thousands of junior doctors in England will stage a full walk out for 72 hours in March, including a refusal to provide emergency care, if a ballot for industrial action is successful, their trade union said on Friday. The British Medical Association (BMA) will begin balloting its more than …

Junior doctors in England threaten 72-hour strike in March Read More »