Wednesday newspaper round-up: Avon, AstraZeneca, Google

14th Aug 2024 07:26

(Sharecast News) - Anti-sewage campaigners have warned of "extreme anger" if the Labour government does not radically reform the water regulator. Sources at the Environment Agency (EA) and in the Labour party have told the Guardian that while Labour had spent time considering reforms of the EA and Ofwat in order to fix the sewage crisis, some stricter options that had been proposed were now off the table. -Guardian

The owner of the beauty brand Avon in the UK, Europe and Latin America has filed for bankruptcy as it tries to off-load more than $1bn of debt, including millions of dollars in liabilities linked to lawsuits alleging that talc in its products caused cancer. Avon Products Inc (API), a subsidiary of Brazil's Natura which bought Avon's non-North American trading businesses in 2020, has filed for Chapter 11, the American version of administration. - Guardian

AstraZeneca has become Britain's first £200bn company following a 20pc rally in its share price since the start of the year. Shares in the pharmaceutical business rose 1.1pc yesterday to value the company at £200.3bn. AstraZeneca's stock has surged so far this year amid strong sales of its roster of cancer and rare disease ­medicines. The drug company jumped ahead of Shell in April to become the most valuable business on the FTSE 100. - Telegraph

A growing number of people have cut corners on their travel insurance since the start of the cost of living crisis, research suggests. Some withhold information to obtain cheaper cover, while others are selective about the medical information that they declare, according to AllClear Travel Insurance. - The Times

Google could be ordered to break up its operations after a judge ruled that the company has an illegal monopoly over online search, according to a report. The US Department of Justice is considering ordering Alphabet, Google's owner, to divest parts of the search business, which could include the Android operating system and Google's web browser Chrome, Bloomberg reported. - The Times