Pound sterling plummets as UK inflation slows to less than economists predicted

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The value of the pound retreated to $1.4176 – down 0.76 per cent on the day
Sterling has fallen three quarters of a percent against the dollar in the wake of official data showing a surprise fall in inflation.
Read more Sterling falls back from post-Brexit referendum high Warning of imminent slump for sterling against euro and dollar Sterling rises as Mark Carney signals hawkish stance on rates The value of the pound retreated to $1.4176 – down 0.76 per cent on the day – in the wake of the ONS’s report earlier on Wednesday that inflation in March was just 2.5 per cent, below the 2.7 per cent estimate of City of London analysts.
Against the euro the pound was off 0.67 per cent on the day at €1.1470.
Traders had been expecting the Bank of England to hike interest rates again to 0.75 per cent next month, following the first increase in a decade last November.
But weaker than anticipated inflation could put that in doubt and the decline in sterling reflects a pull back of their bets..

UK inflation slips back unexpectedly to 2.5% in March

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The news sent the value of the pound down sharply as traders pulled back their bets on a May rate rise from the central bank
Inflation fell back unexpectedly to just 2.5 per cent in March – the lowest rate in a year – casting doubt on the Bank of England raising interest rates again next month.
City of London analysts had expected a reading of 2.7 per cent from the Office for National Statistics, equal to the reading in February.
The news sent the value of the pound down sharply to $1.4210, down 0.5 per cent on the day, as traders pulled back their bets on a May rate rise from the central bank.
The ONS said that the inflation rate had been pushed down by slower rises in the price of women’s clothing as well as easing pressures on the price of alcohol and tobacco.
Analysts had been expecting the Bank to raise the cost of borrowing again next month in order to dampen what members of the Monetary Policy Committee had identified as building inflationary pressures in the economy, follo..

Shares in funeral provider Dignity soar as death numbers increase in first quarter

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Group had warned of volatile trading after making price changes
Shares in funeral provider Dignity soared on Wednesday morning after the company raised its expectations for trading this year, based on an increased number of deaths in the first quarter.
The stock was up more than 20 per cent in early trading, after the group said the absolute number of deaths in the first seven weeks of 2018 was approximately 7 per cent higher than the prior year. Deaths in the quarter were up around 8 per cent compared to the same period of last year, rising from 167,000 to 181,000.
Read more The crisis for Britain’s poorest that begins the day a loved one dies As a result, revenue in the quarter was £95m, up from £93m this time last year, and earnings of £37.5m were “significantly ahead of the board’s expectations”.
Dignity previously said it expects trading over the full year to be volatile after its decision to reduce some funeral prices but hold others, “as the relationship between funeral..

Clydesdale Bank owner says PPI issues will cost an extra £350m

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Company said review of complaints was more complicated than expected
CYBG, the owner of Clydesdale Bank, revealed on Wednesday that it has set aside an extra £350m for PPI-related costs.
Shares in the group, which also owns Yorkshire Bank and digital banking service B, dropped more than 6 per cent in early trading after the announcement was made.
The company said the addition £350m would go towards “legacy PPI costs”, and would result in a £202m pre-tax charge on its balance sheet for the first half, as £148m is covered by a conduct indemnity deed with National Australia Bank.
Read more Banks are partly to blame for Ombudsman PPI mistakes Mis-sold PPI tops FCA list of complaints in first half of 2017 Arnie to front FCA PPI deadline campaign, but why is there a deadline? CYBG said it has been operating two PPI programmes concurrently over the past six months: a “proactive customer contact remediation exercise” and a customer-initiated new complaints handling process.
The group s..

A 10-Minute Trial, a Death Sentence: Iraqi Justice for ISIS Suspects

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A 10-Minute Trial, a Death Sentence: Iraqi Justice for ISIS Suspects Photo People fleeing clashes between Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State in Mosul last year. Iraq captured thousands of fighters, functionaries and their families in the battle with the Islamic State. Credit Ivor Prickett for The New York Times BAGHDAD — The 42-year-old housewife had two minutes to defend herself against charges of supporting the Islamic State.
Amina Hassan, a Turkish woman in a flowing black abaya, told the Iraqi judge that she and her family had entered Syria and Iraq illegally and lived in the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate for more than two years. But, she added: “I never took money from Islamic State. I brought my own money from Turkey.”
The whole trial lasted 10 minutes before the judge sentenced her to death by hanging.
Another accused Turkish woman entered the courtroom. Then another, and another.
Within two hours, 14 women had been tried, convicted and sentenced to die.
Iraq’s ju..

California Lawmakers Kill Housing Bill After Fierce Debate

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California Lawmakers Kill Housing Bill After Fierce Debate Photo A bill considered by a California State Senate committee aimed to create increased housing density near rail and ferry stops, overriding local zoning codes. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times SACRAMENTO — Just before a committee of California state senators voted on a landmark bill to ramp up housing production by overriding local resistance, legislator after legislator talked about a dire affordable-housing crisis that demanded bold action and a marked increase in new building.
Then they killed the bill.
The vote here on Tuesday evening highlighted the emergence of California’s housing and homeless problem — and the fraught question of how to address it — as a potent election-year issue that promises to dominate the state’s politics for years.
The ferocity of that debate was on display throughout a meeting of the State Senate’s Transportation and Housing Committee, which met to vote on a divisive bill that would force ..