Finance

The case is the first mass consumer claim brought under the new collective action regime introduced by Parliament in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The decision, which could see nearly every adult in the United Kingdom land a £300 payout, gives the green-light to what could be Britain's first mass consumer claim.

The boards of the two companies agreed on an offer of $60 in cash and $115 in AstraZeneca shares for each Alexion share - nearly half again the market value for the firm, which makes Soliris, reputedly the world's most expensive therapy. Astrazeneca shares have risen around 7% this year, and by nearly 70% over the past three years, giving the firm a market value of £107bn. Alexion shares closed at around $121 per share on Friday.

The pair discussed "major unresolved topics" during their call. "... We thought this would be the moment". They won't accept that Brexit means setting our own rules. Johnson insisted the European Union needed to make a "big change" over the main sticking points, while Ursula von der Leyen said a no deal was the looming outcome of "difficult" talks.

Both of those shots were found to be about 95 per cent effective in successful large-scale trials. It also underscores why governments have spread their bets by securing shots from different developers. "We have identified the path forward and remain confident and committed to bringing a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine", said Thomas Triomphe, head of Sanofi's vaccine unit.

The US gave the final go-ahead on Friday to the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed almost 300,000 Americans. We also believe that we can use our technology to remove transportation barriers faced by individuals who will need to travel to their vaccination appointments, especially those in higher-risk groups and in communities of color, which have borne the disproportionate brunt of this pandemic.

The federal government has scrapped a deal to buy more than 50 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed in Australia. It said the vaccine candidate has shown that it elicits a robust response towards the novel coronavirus and has a strong safety profile.

Overall prices are up a modest 1.2% over the past year while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy, has increased 1.6% over the past 12 months. Core prices increased 1.6% on the year. The average consumer price inflation over the last 12 months was 2.8%, compared to the previous 12 months. "Inflation remains in check and high frequency data suggests that households are still hesitant to spen at pre-virus levels, signalling that price dynamics will continue to undershoot ...

Britain and the European Union have set a deadline of Sunday to find an agreement, ahead of January 1, when the United Kingdom finally exits the bloc's orbit. "The hope is that Congress would by now have reached an agreement on a spending package to brace and bridge the gap for American households and businesses to when the majority of the population gets inoculated", said Axi analyst Stephen Innes.

U.K. Major Ports Group, which represents the nation's container ports, said a recent survey showed the situation was improving, though ports remained "very busy". Problems at the UK's container ports have been building up for weeks. There are also tailbacks to the Channel Tunnel with hauliers saying they have not seen such high volumes in 30 years.

Ratcliffe's ardent support for Brexit raised a few eye-brows in 2019 when he announced that he was moving to Monaco , the renowned tax-haven principality on the Côte d'Azur, effectively avoiding United Kingdom taxes. "Today, we can see his claims are as hollow as his promises". Less than a year later and it was confirmed production would instead be based in a former Mercedes-Benz factory in Hambach, France, which presents " unique opportunity".

However, the ADB in its latest report did not mention the growth number for Pakistan - the second largest economy in South Asia after India . With improved prospects for India, South Asia's growth forecast for 2020 is revised up to from 6.8% contraction to 6.1%.

The meeting comes after Boris Johnson flew to Belgium on Wednesday evening to discuss with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen the remaining divergences keeping the United Kingdom and the EU from agreeing to a trade deal.

The deal signing between Britain's trade minister Liz Truss and her Singaporean counterpart comes as leaders from Britain and the European Union tried to seal a new trade pact and avert what some fear will be a chaotic end to the five-year Brexit process.

Johnson & Johnson rose 1.73% to help lift both the Dow and S&P 500 after the company said it could obtain late-stage trial results of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine it is developing in January, earlier than expected. The company raised US$3.4 billion (S$4.5 billion) in the stock offering amid a feverish rush for new shares in companies adapting to lifestyle changes imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate was shown to be over 90 percent effective in preventing infection from SARS-CoV-2 in participants without prior evidence of novel coronavirus infection in the first interim efficacy analysis.

The European Central Bank (ECB ) said on Thursday that it chose to expand the pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) by another 500 billion euros (605 billion US dollars) and extend the duration of the program to at least the end of March 2022, as part of a fresh stimulus package to bolster the economy.

They said: "One guest aboard Quantum of the Seas tested positive for coronavirus after checking in with our medical team". Royal Caribbean's "cruise-to-nowhere" is open only to Singapore residents, makes no stops and sails just off the city-state.

The deal, expected to close during the first quarter, also guarantees that when Aurora releases its self-driving vehicles, they'll launch on Uber's network. With little experience in the development of self-driving vehicles, Uber used its cash to poach dozens of robotics engineers and computer scientists from nearby Carnegie Mellon University to jumpstart its efforts.

The recovery in pork supply has driven consumer prices in China lower for the first time since 2009, according to new data from the country's statistics agency. The so-called core CPI which excludes food and energy prices rose 0 .5% in November from a year ago. "Negative inflation (year over year) does not mean deflation for China", he said.

The US sanction will apply to the 14 individuals and their immediate family members. Three were detained on suspicion of inciting secession, which can carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. China's rubber-stamp parliament pushed through the draconian new security law in June despite global warnings that it was violating a promise to allow a separate system in Hong Kong made before Britain handed over its colony in 1997.

Britain says the bill, which gives the government power to override parts of the withdrawal agreement relating to trade with Northern Ireland, is needed as an "insurance policy" to protect the flow of goods within the U.K.in the event of a no-deal Brexit .

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.23% as gold miners rose on strong bullion prices, though gains were capped by losses in energy stocks triggered by an overnight slump in oil prices. Promising vaccine updates from major drug makers have raised investor hopes for an economic recovery next year and eased worries over a surge in USA infections, powering Wall Street's main indexes to record highs recently.

At their 2016 peak, 200 million copies in 32 different languages were distributed worldwide. "Media consumption and customer behaviors have changed, and IKEA is already increasing digital investments while volumes and interest in the catalog have decreased".

However, this news wasn't strong enough to trigger a rebound rally as traders continued to worry about the sharp rise in coronavirus cases globally and the string of renewed lockdowns and the implementation of strict measures in California, Germany and South Korea.

The digital allowance will be valid until 27 December. On 5 Dec, E-commerce giant JD.com became the first China's online platform to accept digital Yuan currency. The latest announcement of this came on Saturday, where the country revealed another major real-world trial for this digital yuan by way of pushing into Suzhou, yet another major city of China.