Thursday newspaper round-up: BA, Deliveroo, UK growth, AkzoNobel

The IT shutdown that led to chaos for British Airways was caused by an “uncontrolled return of power” following an outage that physically damaged servers at its data centre, the airline has said. About 75,000 passengers were affected as flights were cancelled following the incident on Saturday morning. The carrier was unable to resume a full schedule until Tuesday and many passengers are still without their luggage. – Guardian

The UK has slumped to the bottom of the league table of advanced economies after Canada registered stellar growth in the first three months of the year. Canada was the final member of the G7 to report its growth figures, which confirmed the UK as officially the joint worst performing member so far this year. The announcement marked a significant decline for the UK economy, which a year ago was outshining Germany, the US and Japan. In February it was announced that Germany had pipped the UK as the fastest-growing G7 nation during 2016 by 10 basis points. – Guardian

The Murdoch brothers have held secret talks with Ofcom in a bid to persuade the regulator to wave through 21st Century Fox’s planned £11.7bn takeover of Sky. It is understood that Sharon White, chief executive of Ofcom, has met James and Lachlan Murdoch in London in the last week to discuss the proposed deal. Rupert Murdoch, their father, was not present. Both sides have sought to keep the meeting out of the public eye amid swirling political controversy. – Telegraph

Takeaway technology firm Deliveroo is offering its drivers the option to be paid for each order they deliver, rather than per hour - a move which the company hopes will reinforce the riders’ status as self-employed contractors, rather than employees. Riders protested last year against a plan to impose a similar contract, and now the company is making it voluntary instead. – Telegraph

The Trump administration has given its strongest signal yet that it will restart free-trade talks with the European Union, with the US commerce secretary saying that such a move “makes sense”. Wilbur Ross said it was “no mistake” that America had withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal but not the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks with the EU. – The Times

The American paints and coatings group stalking Azko Nobel, the owner of Dulux paints, must make a formal takeover offer by the end of today or walk away. PPG Industries, which has been rebuffed by Azko Nobel three times, has failed to secure an extension to its June 1 deadline from the Dutch regulator. PPG had asked the regulator for an extension until June 14. – The Times