PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Sept 30
The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. The Times ** Benefits will be frozen for two years should the Conservatives win the May general election, George Osborne announced today. The chancellor said that the move will save 3 billion pounds and make a "serious contribution to reducing the deficit". (http://thetim.es/1uXnZNP) ** Fee rises at leading independent schools will continue to outpace inflation for years to come to fund improvements aimed at attracting overseas pupils, headmasters said yesterday. Top private schools will continue to push up fees but also put more money aside to fund means-tested places for children from lower-income families, they said. (http://thetim.es/1xuZDjo) The Guardian ** Fresh waves of pro-democracy protesters have swept into the heart of Hong Kong, as a leader of the civil disobedience movement urged them to keep the momentum going until Wednesday's national holiday. Crowds blocked one of the city's main roads on Monday from the financial area of Central to the bar district of Wanchai in what appeared to be the largest demonstration yet. (http://bit.ly/1pmPg8Z) ** Hundreds of young women and girls are leaving their homes in western countries to join Islamic fighters in the Middle East, causing increasing concern among counter-terrorism investigators. Girls as young as 14 or 15 are travelling mainly to Syria to marry jihadis, bear their children and join communities of fighters, with a small number taking up arms. Many are recruited via social media. (http://bit.ly/1uWZvo3) The Telegraph ** Islamist terrorists have released a third video of John Cantlie, a British journalist held prisoner for two years, in which he delivers a scripted propaganda attack against Barack Obama's strategy in Iraq and Syria. Cantlie, wearing an orange Guantanamo-style jumpsuit, delivers the words directly to the camera using a sing-song tone as if to undermine the message. (http://bit.ly/1BxpkgR) ** Children as young as 11 are becoming victims of an alarming rise in so-called revenge pornography, new figures have revealed. The sinister practice, in which highly personal and sometimes explicit images are posted on the Internet, often by disgruntled ex-lovers, has become increasingly widespread in recent years. (http://bit.ly/1vqq717) Sky News ** The UK Foreign Office said it was "concerned" by the heavy response in its former colony Hong Kong, but China has warned the international community not to "interfere." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said: "Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong. Hong Kong is purely our internal affair." (http://bit.ly/1orLM4W) ** There is "immense fear among everybody" in Baghdad with some too frightened to leave their homes due to the threat from Islamic State, according to a vicar in the city. Canon Andrew White spoke to Sky News as IS militants were reportedly only a mile away from the capital amid clashes with Iraqi soldiers. (http://bit.ly/YDXkLP) The Independent ** The world's wildlife population is less than half the size it was just four decades ago, with unsustainable human consumption and damage from climate change destroying valuable habitats at a faster rate than previously thought, a new report has warned. (http://ind.pn/1xuY5py) ** Police were called to investigate an EU flag flying in a Northern Irish town, after a resident reportedly mistook the well-known emblem for an "Arabic flag." The flag was flying in celebration of the Ryder Cup outside a house in Holywood - the hometown of golfer Rory McIlrory who went on to help Europe win the trophy. (http://ind.pn/YI7hYl) (Compiled by Ankush Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
