Dash to beat the taxman: The end of the tax year on April 5 - Five minute guide

Dash to beat the taxman: The end of the tax year on April 5 - Five minute guide


THE CLOCK is ticking, the end of the 2017/18 financial year is upon us, so now is the time to make one final check to see if you can shrink your tax bill. With a little effort, you and your partner may be able to save hundreds or even thousands of pounds in tax payments, but you will have to act fast.

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Can K-pop bring the two Koreas closer together?

Can K-pop bring the two Koreas closer together?
K-POP is a serious business, especially when put to the service of peace, mutual understanding and denuclearisation. So the three-day visit beginning on April 1st that will bring some of South Korea’s biggest stars to Pyongyang to play a joint concert with North Korean colleagues needed careful preparation. Before southern officials went to check out the venues, an advance party of South Korean performers discussed line-up, staging and the delicate question of costumes with their northern counterparts. Both sides were keen to avoid the hiccups at similar previous events. In 2003, the last time a southern songster delegation went north, the bare skin they displayed left northern officials nonplussed. This time the task is to “make sure nothing is awkward”, said Yoon Sang, a musician and producer who is leading the southern jamboree. 
 
Awkwardness is the last thing the government of President Moon Jae-in, which has been angling for the visit since a troupe of North Korean artists performed at the...Continue reading

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PENSION SCAMMERS: Growing number of workers being TARGETED before they retire

PENSION SCAMMERS: Growing number of workers being TARGETED before they retire


A GROWING number of workers are being targeted by pensioner scammers before they retire, new research reveals. As many as 14 per cent of over-50s still working and saving into a Defined Contribution pension have been approached by phone, text or email in the last three months by companies offering free pension advice or investment opportunities.

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Israel has killed over a dozen Palestinians in Gaza

Israel has killed over a dozen Palestinians in Gaza

IT WAS billed as the “Great Return March”, the first step in the return of Palestinians in Gaza to the homes their grandparents lived in before Israel’s establishment in 1948. But there was little marching. Most of the estimated 30,000 Palestinians who showed up on March 30th set up tents about half a kilometre from a border fence erected by Israel. They remained there, on the Gaza side, listening to Palestinian politicians make impassioned speeches. Some protesters played football.

Israel warned the Palestinians not to get within 300 metres of the fence and said that it would see any attempt to cut through it as an act of violence. Small groups of Palestinians nevertheless moved closer. When some tried to dart all the way to the fence, the Israeli army dropped tear-gas grenades from small drones and Israeli snipers opened fire. According to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, at least 13 people were killed and hundreds hurt.

This was meant to be the first in a series of marches over the next six and a half weeks. They are...Continue reading

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Germany secures €9.5bn gas deal with Russia at same time it expels diplomats

Germany secures €9.5bn gas deal with Russia at same time it expels diplomats


GERMANY may has shown solidarity with the UK over the poisoning of Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, by expelling four Russian diplomats. However, just a day later the country also agreed to giving Russia’s energy giant Gazprom the green light to build a €9.5billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline through its waters.

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Car hire sites forced to provide clear costs upfront after complaints surge

Car hire sites forced to provide clear costs upfront after complaints surge


CAR rental websites that hit customers with hidden charges are facing a crackdown by regulator the Competition and Markets Authority . This follows a year-long review which found many UK sites were advertising low prices then leaving customers to pay more than they expected at check out. In the year to February complaints increased by 35.6 per cent.

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GKN takeover fight: Company lose £8 billion independence battle with Melrose Industries

GKN takeover fight: Company lose £8 billion independence battle with Melrose Industries


GKN has lost its battle for independence after the engineering giant’s investors backed an £8 billion takeover by Melrose Industries. Britain’s biggest hostile takeover since Kraft swallowed Cadbury nearly a decade ago went to the wire more than two months after turnaround specialist Melrose made its initial unsolicited move.

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Has the compensation culture gone mad? NO, says CHRIS KEATES

Has the compensation culture gone mad? NO, says CHRIS KEATES


Chris Keates is General Secretary of The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers . He gives his take on the benefit of compensation for workers, and its importance for those who have been discriminated against.

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