Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, low wages, rail strikes, Shell, Imagination Technologies

Theresa May was humiliated by European leaders late last night after they rejected pleas for any further concessions to get her Brexit deal through parliament. France and Ireland led a move to strike out a compromise agreement that would have given the prime minister “political and legal assurances” that Britain would not be trapped in an indefinite Irish backstop. - The Times

Businesses are in “despair” over Brexit and have already diverted hundreds of millions of pounds in investment out of the UK, the Confederation of British Industry has said. The CBI deputy director general Josh Hardie said companies around the country, who did not seek publicity, had already pressed the button on contingency plans for no deal. - Guardian

A National Audit Office report attacking Capita’s handling of the troubled army recruitment contract has been labelled the “final nail in the coffin” for the outsourcer retaining the work. The government spending watchdog said the Defence Recruiting System scheme which handed over signing up the almost 10,000 would-be soldiers the Army needs a year to the private company was “beset by problems”. - Telegraph

Wages are still worth a third less in some parts of the country than a decade ago, according to a report. Research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) found that the average worker has lost £11,800 in real earnings since 2008. - Guardian

More than 24,000 people in Britain will spend the festive period sleeping rough or in cars, trains, buses or tents, according to new estimates that throw light on the scale of so-called “hidden” homelessness. Research by the charity Crisis suggests 12,300 people are sleeping rough on the streets – the official figure is 4,751 – while a further 12,000 will spend the night in tents, cars, sheds, bins or night buses. - Guardian

Canadian companies exposed to China suffered further selling yesterday as diplomatic tension increased over the arrest of the finance director of Huawei. Investors sold shares in Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, and Canada Goose, a luxury clothing retailer, to deepen the companies’ losses since a row broke out on December 1 over the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. - The Times

Nigeria has filed a $1bn claim against Royal Dutch Shell in London’s High Court over a 2011 oil deal at the centre of long-standing allegations of fraud and corruption. The claim alleges that Shell made payments for a major oil block off the Nigerian coast to a company controlled by Nigeria’s former oil minister, Dan Etete, which was then used to pay “bribes and kickbacks”. - Telegraph

Imagination Technologies, the British microchip company bought by a Beijing-backed fund last year, has hired a new boss who was fired from his previous chief executive position for misconduct. Ron Black was terminated as the chief executive of Silicon Valley tech company Rambus in June after its board said his “conduct fell short of the company’s standards”. - Telegraph

The NHS is braced for “one of the bleakest winters yet” with hospitals already full and A&Es having suffered their worst November on record. One in ten hospitals had no free beds at times in the first week of December and eight had to turn away ambulances, NHS England figures showed. Beds were about 94 per cent full, well into the “red zone” where safety is at risk. - The Times

Sajid Javid has told police he expects more crimes to be solved as householders face an extra £24 on their council tax bills to pay for a £1billion cash boost for forces. The Home Secretary said the extra £970m was the biggest increase in police funding since 2010 and designed to answer their demands for extra frontline officers in the face of rising violence and crime. - Telegraph

Rail passengers face New Year’s Eve chaos after union leaders announced fresh strikes in a long-running row over responsibility for operating train doors. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out for 24 hours on December 31 targeting FirstGroup's South Western Railway, the busiest route in the country. - The Times

Less than five years after its stock market flotation, Game Digital is planning to seek demotion to the junior alternative investment market. The company said that it was seeking shareholder agreement to cancel its listings on the London stock exchange’s main market and the premium segment of the official list and would be applying for admission to AIM. - The Times

The French carmaker Renault has retained Carlos Ghosn as its chairman and chief executive after finding no irregularities in his pay packages, despite his arrest and continued detention in Japan. Renault said on Thursday that its board had reviewed payments to Ghosn between 2015 and 2018. All payments were “in compliance with applicable law” as well as the French corporate governance code, it said. - Guardian

Twitter must reveal the user behind a pair of parody accounts claiming to be run by pub chain JD Wetherspoon, the high court has ruled. The social network, which did not oppose the application, has until mid-January to comply. The parody accounts, @Wetherspoon__UK and @SpoonsTom, have tens of thousands of followers each on the social network, and tweet a mixture of fake updates about Wetherspoon’s pubs and replies to users who mistakenly believe they are contacting the real company. - Guardian

Have you ever wondered why some shops ask for your postcode or email address as you check out? They could be building a picture of you and your spending patterns to predict the value of your custom. This is known as Customer Lifetime Value, or CLV, and a high score could be the secret to unlocking better service and hidden perks. - Telegraph

Advertisements that perpetuate gender stereotypes, such as men struggling with household chores or women being less able to park, will be banned from next year. The advertising watchdog has confirmed that from June adverts must not include gender stereotypes likely to cause harm or serious or widespread offence, the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) has said. - The Times

The Conservative Party is facing an irrevocable split over Brexit, senior Tories said yesterday, as rival factions attacked each other in the face of Theresa May’s weakened leadership. The prime minister’s appeal for unity after she won a confidence vote appeared to fall on deaf ears as MPs traded insults and Brexiteers continued to insist that she should resign. - The Times