Image source, Getty Images

Johnson & Johnson has fired back over claims by Reuters that the company knew for decades about cancer risks in some talcum powder.

Reuters says that in an email to the news agency, Ernie Knewitz, J&J's vice president of global media relations, wrote: "Plaintiffs' attorneys out for personal financial gain are distorting historical documents and intentionally creating confusion in the courtroom and in the media.

"This is all a calculated attempt to distract from the fact that thousands of independent tests prove our talc does not contain asbestos or cause cancer. Any suggestion that Johnson & Johnson knew or hid information about the safety of talc is false."

Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 for breaching pensions law when the firm collapsed with the loss of thousands of jobs.

The 52-year-old ex-racing driver was found guilty in January of three counts of failing to provide The Pensions Regulator with vital documents about the company's pension scheme after it went into administration in 2016.

Chappell was re-sentenced at Hove Crown Court this afternoon after losing an appeal against his conviction earlier this year.

Judge Christine Henson QC criticised Chappell for showing a "complete lack of remorse" in relation to his offences, that represented a "blatant" refusal to comply with pension law.

Shares in Johnson & Johnson have reacted badly to a Reuters news agency exclusive that the company knew for decades about asbestos in baby talcum powder. The stock is down more than 4% at the start of trading.

Reuters claims that J&J knew there could be a problem as far back as the 1970s.

You can read Reuters' investigation here., external

Wall Street has opened sharply lower as weak economic data from China and Europe exacerbated global growth fears and added to nerves over the US-China trade talks.

The Dow Jones fell 189.3 points, or 0.77%, at the open to 24,408. The S&P 500 opened lower by 20.8 points, or 0.79%, at 2,629.6. The Nasdaq dropped 83.9 points, or 1.19%, to 6,986.3.

Traffic lights.

They've been keeping road crossings safe for over a century.

They make the firms that manufacture them over a billion dollars a year.

But the first one was a positive menace. Aaron Heslehurst tells the story of their creation.

Video journalist: Jeremy Howell

Image source, AFP

French luxury giant LVMH is to buy upscale hotel group Belmond, whose properties include the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro and Cipriani in Venice. The deal is worth $3.2bn (£2.5bn).

The firms said they expect the transaction to be completed in the first half of next year, subject to approval by Belmond's shareholders and approval by the relevant competition authorities.

Belmond began more than 40 years ago with the acquisition of Hotel Cipriani. It now owns and operates a collection of high-end hotels around the world as well as offering rail and river cruises.

"This acquisition will significantly increase LVMH's presence in the ultimate hospitality world," said the company's chief executive Bernard Arnault.

Image source, PA

Wages are still worth a third less in some parts of the country than a decade ago, according to the TUC.

The union claims the average worker is £11,800 worse off in real earnings since the 2008 financial crisis.

The biggest losses have been in areas including the London borough of Redbridge, Epsom and Waverley, in Surrey, Selby in North Yorkshire, and Anglesey in North Wales, the study suggested.

"While pay packets have recovered in most leading economies, wage growth in the UK is stuck in the slow lane," says TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady.

Image source, Getty Images

Today is officially Christmas Jumper Day. Set up by Save the Children, the charity urges participants to wear their "daftest woollies" and donate £2 each.

But with the cheapest shop-bought jumper costing at least five times that - who is the real winner, the retailers or the charity?

Read here to find out

Image source, PA

Former Chancellor George Osborne has added another role to his bulging portfolio of post-politics jobs.

The London Evening Standard editor has joined his brother’s San Francisco-based venture capital firm, according to the Financial Times.

Advising 9yards Capital is Mr Osborne's ninth job since he left the government, it says.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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There are going to be new rules introduced to help people get a better deal on their broadband.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom says half of UK homes could get faster broadband that they do now, and may not have to pay more to get it.

Under proposed new rules the firms will have to tell customers when their initial contract is up, and offer them their cheapest deal.

Ofcom chief executive Sharon White says most people get good deals for their broadband, "but we've found there maybe four million customers who could get both faster broadband... but also save money."

Ofcom has a "boost your broadband, external" campaign to help people get a better deal, she added.

Financial Times

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Bank of England

Just a few hours remain for the public to nominate a worthy scientist to feature on the next version of the £50 note.

The Bank of England has set a deadline of midnight tonight for names to be suggested. The rules state the nominated person must be real, deceased, and have contributed to the field of science in the UK.

Hundreds of names have already been put forward, including computing pioneers Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, and black holes expert Stephen Hawking.

The long-list will be finalised by the Bank of England in the coming days, from which an expert panel will select a shortlist. The final decision will be made by the Bank's governor, Mark Carney, next year.

Image source, Getty Images

Britons will have to pay €7 (£6.30) every three years to travel to EU countries, as a consequence of Brexit.

The European Commission has confirmed that while UK travellerswill not need a visa, external, they will need to apply for and buy another document from 2021.

It is called an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) and although not launched yet, is expected to come into force in 2021.

The travel requirement is not just for the UK but for many non-EU countries.

Read more here

The FTSE 100's fortunes haven't picked up.

It's currently 0.8% lower at 6,820.77 with mining stocks proving the biggest drag on the index. Antofagasta and Rio Tinto are 2.5% and 2% lower respectively.

Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, and Barratt Developments are also lower with investors concerned over Theresa May's ability to secure tweaks to her Brexit deal from EU leaders.

Image source, Getty Images

Shares in the Restaurant Group, the owners of the Frankie & Benny and Garfunkel's chains, are down almost 2%.

The drop - which is deeper than that of the wider market - comes after the firm said it had secured the backing of 92% of shareholders for its £315m rights issue to fund its takeover of Asian chain Wagamama.

Those shareholders who refused to buy the new shares will have their stake in the company diluted.

Bob Cooper
Political reporter, BBC Cumbria

One aspect of Britain's departure from the EU could put business opportunities worth £100m at risk, according to the boss of a Workington engineering firm.

John Coughlan, pictured left, is the chief executive at TSP engineering in Workington, and he says that as part of Brexit Britain will leave the European body, Euratom, which governs every aspect of civil nuclear research, trade and transport in the EU.

The UK's problem with Euratom is that it is governed by the European court which the government is committed to escaping, but a spokesman for the business ministry said the UK had already concluded three new nuclear cooperation agreements to ensure continuity for civil nuclear trade after Brexit.

Image source, Getty Images

Tesla has cut prices on its Model S and Model X vehicles in China after Beijing suspended additional tariffs on US-made cars.

According to the electric carmaker's Chinese website, the price of certain Model S cars was cut by up to 105,000 yuan (£12,000), and Model Xs by up to 65,000 yuan.

China's finance ministry said on Friday it would suspend additional tariffs on US-made vehicles and car parts for three months starting from the beginning of 2019.

Image source, Getty Images

With Theresa May on the ropes, Jeremy Corbyn is coming under pressure from other opposition parties - and some of his own MPs - to finish her off with the knockout blow of a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons.

Unlike the vote she has just survived this would give all 650 MPs - not just 317 Conservatives - a say over whether she should remain in power.

A no-confidence vote - won by a single vote - was how Margaret Thatcher removed Labour from power in 1979, triggering a general election that she won.

Read more here.