Bloomberg UK pension deficits surged by 100 billion pounds ($131.4 billion) in August, as the gap between company set-asides and their obligations to retirees ballooned by more than 16 percent in a month. So-called defined benefit pensions, which pay retirees fixed amounts based on service, were underfunded by 710 billion pounds as of August 29, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s ...

  AFP Apple chief Tim Cook on Thursday slammed a European Commission ruling demanding the US tech behemoth pay Ireland €13 billion in back-taxes as “political crap”, urging the Irish government to launch an appeal. “It’s total political crap,” Cook told the Irish Independent newspaper, of European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s assertion that the company had paid a tax rate ...

  London / AFP Britain’s manufacturing activity hit a 10-month high in August, rebounding strongly from a slump triggered by the country’s vote in favour of exiting the European Union, data showed Thursday. A slump in the pound caused by longer-term Brexit fears lifted export orders last month, according to the closely watched IHS Markit UK Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index. ...