Friday newspaper round-up: BAE Systems, National Grid, Wilko

The British defence company BAE Systems is setting up a local entity in Ukraine and has signed deals with its government to help ramp up its supply of weapons and equipment. BAE said it would work directly with Kyiv to explore potential partners for a plan to ultimately produce 105mm light artillery guns in Ukraine and to better understand Ukraine’s requirements. – Guardian

The National Grid has confirmed it will pay households to cut their electricity usage again this winter as part of efforts to keep Britain’s lights on. From November to March, households and businesses will be called on to curb their power usage – by signing up to the so-called demand flexibility service – when the grid is particularly stretched. – Telegraph

Emmanuel Macron’s Government has accused Unilever, Nestle and Pepsico of refusing to pass lower costs on to families as Paris battles to control double-digit food inflation. Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, singled out the multinationals for criticism as he promised measures to “definitively break the price spiral”. – Telegraph

The Canadian tycoon behind HMV was last night finalising a deal to buy the majority of Wilko, the collapsed British homewares retailer. Administrators confirmed that Doug Putman, 39, whose family also owns Toys ‘R’ Us in Canada, had made an offer for 300 of Wilko’s 400 stores, which would secure between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs out of the 12,500 total. – The Times

Potential bidders for the Telegraph newspapers plan to question Goldman Sachs, which is overseeing an auction of the business, over the ownership of a website name seen as crucial to plans for expansion overseas. Telegraph Media Group is understood to have been seeking for years to buy the domain name Telegraph.com, which at present redirects to a page hosting links to various news and advertising sites. It has no connection to the newspapers’ official site, Telegraph.co.uk. – The Times