Tuesday newspaper round-up: Boeing, gender equality, superyachts
Boeing is temporarily halting production of its grounded 737 Max after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week it would not approve the plane’s return to service before 2020. The decision came after the US planemaker’s board held a regular two-day meeting in Chicago, which started on Sunday. – Guardian
The UK has fallen six places down the global rankings for gender equality. Despite successive prime ministers pledging to take decisive action to tackle the gender imbalances in politics and wider British society, the UK has dropped from the 15th most equal nation in world to 21st. The World Economic Forum (WEF) said Albania, Canada, Costa Rica, Latvia, Switzerland, South Africa and Spain had all leapfrogged the UK in closing the gender gap across politics, economics, health and education since the last audit in 2018. – Guardian
Bigger is always better when it comes to superyachts, as the world's richest people order ever larger and more luxurious ocean-going palaces worth billions. A record 21 vessels each more than 100m (328ft) long are under construction around the world, including REV, a 182m leviathan. When REV is finished next year after being outfitted at Norwegian shipyard Vard following basic construction in Romania, it will become the world's largest superyacht. It will pip United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who owns the 180m Azzam. – Telegraph
Investors in property funds may be blocked from withdrawing their cash immediately or forced to take a hit on the money they pull out under plans being considered by City regulators in the wake of the Neil Woodford crisis. The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority yesterday said that they were considering new rules that would change the way open-ended funds assessed their liquidity. The reforms could stop some investment vehicles that hold illiquid assets from offering investors daily redemptions. – The Times
Boris Johnson’s new government has no room left for tax cuts or extra public service spending, figures from its independent fiscal watchdog show. Forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, restated after adjusting for changes to student loan accounting and corporation tax errors, reveal the space to the new fiscal rule has shrunk from £36.8 billion to £18.6 billion. - The Times