Tuesday newspaper round-up: Social media regulation, Huawei, Labour leadership, TSB, JD Sports

Social media executives will face fines and the threat of criminal prosecution for failing to protect people who use their services under plans to regulate tech giants in Britain for the first time. The government is to publish next month its response to a consultation on policing social media companies such as Facebook and Google after Britain leaves the European Union. - The Times

Huawei has said that "survival" is its top priority after announcing its 2019 sales were expected to fall short of projections because of United States sanctions. The Chinese telecommunications giant has been effectively banned by the US from working with American firms on the grounds that it poses a national security threat - an accusation the Chinese company has consistently denied. - Telegraph

Almost 3 million workers in Britain are to receive a pay rise of more than four times the rate of inflation from April, after the government said it would increase the official minimum wage. In an announcement designed to woo low-paid workers in the immediate aftermath of Boris Johnson’s election victory earlier this month, the government said the national living wage for over-25s would increase from £8.21 an hour to £8.72 from the start of April. - Guardian

Around £33trillion could be wiped off the value of global stock markets because of climate change, according to one of Britain's largest fund managers. Aviva Investors, which looks after £350billion of pensions and savings, said shares could fall by as much as 30 per cent if global warming is not controlled. Businesses in the firing line include oil firms whose operations would be hit as governments and consumers demand cleaner energy. - Daily Mail

Allies of Angela Rayner are warning the leading Labour MP not to endorse the leadership campaign of Rebecca Long Bailey — despite the pair being tipped to run on a joint ticket. Ms Long Bailey and Ms Rayner, who are flatmates, are widely expected to run for Labour’s leadership and deputy leadership respectively and had been expected to endorse each other. - The Times

Energy bills have increased by an inflation-busting 40pc in the past five years – saddling UK households with an average annual cost of £1,813, according to new research. If charges had risen in line with inflation, they would only be 11.6pc higher now than in 2015, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. - Telegraph

TSB staff whose own bank accounts were affected by an IT meltdown have been sacked for allegedly gaming the compensation system set up to help customers affected by the debacle. The Guardian understands that compensation claims lodged by a number of TSB workers after the IT collapse in April 2018 were re-assessed this year by TSB for signs that they may have used inside information to get the largest possible payout. - Guardian

JD Sports has been crowned the best blue-chip stock of the past decade. Shares in the chain, which calls itself the 'King of Trainers' and sells brands including Nike and Adidas, have risen 3,200 per cent from around 25p at the start of 2010 to 832.2p last night. A saver who bought £1,000 of JD Sports shares ten years ago would now be sitting on £33,000. - Daily Mail

Equitable Life will cease to exist at midnight, bringing down the curtain on the world’s oldest member-owned insurance group. Its 176,000 policyholders will transfer to a new company after most of them accepted an offer of £9,000 each on average in return for giving up guarantees on the value of their contracts. - The Times

Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan chairman who is on bail and awaiting trial in Japan on charges of financial misconduct, has confirmed he has fled to Lebanon and said he refuses to be "held hostage" by a "rigged" Japanese justice system. Mr Ghosn's abrupt departure is the latest dramatic twist in a saga that has shaken the global car industry, jeopardised the alliance of Nissan and its top shareholder Renault SA and put under scrutiny the fairness of Japan's judicial system. - Telegraph

Passengers on the South Western Railway franchise face a further wave of strikes in February, just as a month of walkouts on the busy commuter route comes to an end. The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union has started the process of balloting its members for new strikes in a dispute over the use of guards on trains, which has already resulted in a walkout that started on 2 December and ends shortly before midnight on 1 January. - Guardian

The average cost of a home across the country has swelled by more than £188,000 in the last 20 years, analysis has revealed. Buyers can now expect to pay around £279,997 for a home, compared to just over £91,000 at the end of 1999, marking an increase of more than 200 per cent since the new millennium dawned, Halifax said. - Daily Mail

Britain’s biggest private hospital chain has been sold to a smaller rival in one of the biggest industry deals in more than a decade, prompting a review by the competition regulator. BMI Healthcare, which operates 52 hospitals and cared for more than two million patients last year, has been acquired by Circle Health for an undisclosed sum. It creates a combined business with almost £1 billion in annual revenues. - The Times

Dominic Raab has expressed “serious concern” about the potential for a miscarriage of justice after a court in Cyprus convicted a British teenager of lying about being gang-raped on holiday. The Foreign Secretary will raise the case with the Cypriot authorities after the 19-year-old, who told police she was raped by up to 12 Israeli youths in her hotel room, was left facing up to a year in jail while her alleged attackers were allowed to return home. - Telegraph

Convenience stores are urging the operator of the UK’s largest cash machine network to scrap further cuts planned to the fees it charges for transactions in an attempt to stem the “torrent” of free-to-use ATM closures. The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) said previous cuts by Link to the so-called interchange fee – payments made by banks to cash machine operators every time money is withdrawn – led to thousands of free cash machines being closed across the UK. - Guardian

Thousands of people will be rescued by army helicopters after spending New Year's Eve stranded on the beach as a horrific bushfire engulfed the Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will help respond to fires raging in Victoria's East Gippsland where four people are missing in blazes that have destroyed at least 43 homes. Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters will join the Navy in rescuing thousands of stranded tourists and locals - and will provide vital supplies to those affected by the bushfires. - Daily Mail