Hammond: No decision yet on single market

Image copyright PA Image caption Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond (centre) meeting Gerry Mallon, CEO of Ulster Bank (left) and Patrick Walsh, MD of Dogpatch Labs during a visit to Dublin. Britain has not made any decision on whether or not to stay in the European single market after Brexit, says the UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond.
The chancellor made his comments in an interview with the Irish broadcaster RTE.
“We haven"t made any decision on which structures would best support our aspirations,” he said.
“Whether it is being in or out of the customs union, in or out of the single market,” he added.
His comments came just a day after the Prime Minister, Theresa May, appeared to downplay the importance of the UK retaining any residual membership privileges from the European Union"s single economic market.
First objectiveMr Hammond rejected the idea that the Brexit process had been badly handled so far, pointing out that it had barely started and that the UK government..

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Ruth Davidson calls for single market access

Media captionRuth Davidson says she wants the “largest amount of access to the single market” after Brexit The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said she wants the UK to have the “largest amount of access” to the single market after Brexit.
Ruth Davidson was speaking the day after the prime minister said the UK could not hold on to “bits” of the EU.
The Brexit debate has largely focused on whether placing controls on the movement of EU citizens will mean the UK has to leave the single market.
But Ms Davidson said free trade was more important to her than immigration.
Ms Davidson was a vocal supporter of the Remain campaign ahead of June"s referendum, which saw the UK vote to leave the EU by 52% to 48%, while Scottish voters backed remain by 62% to 38%.
PM: UK cannot hold on to "bits" of EU Sturgeon: "I"m not bluffing" on indyref2 Brexit: All you need to know What are the Brexit options? Brexit talks with the EU are expected to begin as early as A..

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Richard Tice: Single market not the jewel in the British crown

Leaders of Open Britain and Leave Means Leave clash on the future of the single market

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Access to single market "not on sale"

Media captionThe single market “is not something that"s on sale”: Jonathan Faull Britain will not be able to buy access to the European single market after it leaves the EU, according to one of the most senior UK officials to have worked in Brussels.
Jonathan Faull, who retired last week, said that access to the single market “is not something that"s on sale”.
He also warned the UK should not assume it will be able to broker a deal with Angela Merkel if she wins re-election.
Theresa May plans to trigger the Brexit negotiations by the end of March.
But Mr Faull said that Britain has one important card to play in the EU negotiations – cooperation on European defence.
The warnings by Mr Faull, who served in the European Commission for 38 years, come as the government scrambles to assemble its Brexit negotiating team in the wake of the resignation of the UK"s EU ambassador, Sir Ivan Rogers.
He is to be replaced by Sir Tim Barrow, a former UK ambassador to Moscow.
Image c..

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Wales needs full access to single market says Carwyn Jones

First Minister Carwyn Jones says Wales needs “full and unfettered access” to the European single market, as he flies to Norway to learn more about its relationship with the EU.
The three-day visit comes as UK ministers prepare the way for Brexit negotiations.
Although not an EU member, Norway pays into the EU budget in return for full access to the European single market.
It also accepts most EU laws and allows EU citizens to live and work there.
Mr Jones said keeping Wales" “full and unfettered” access to the single market after Brexit was his top priority.
Norway is exempt from EU rules on agriculture, fisheries, justice and home affairs but has no say over how the rules of the single market are created.
Brexit: All you need to know Options for leaving the EU Carwyn Jones: Brexit will need immigration compromise Speaking before leaving Cardiff, Mr Jones said he would spend the next three days meeting Norwegian firms and ministers responsible for trade and relations with the EU..

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Brexit: Warning on migration if Britain stays in EU single market

Image copyright Reuters EU migration will not fall sharply if the UK stays in the single market, a pressure group has said.
If the UK kept market membership after Brexit, net migration from the EU was unlikely to drop below 155,000 a year in the medium term, compared to 189,000 now, Migration Watch said.
Market membership and migration control were incompatible, it claimed.
The government has not yet set out its negotiating objectives ahead of official Brexit talks.
Record numberTrade and migration are likely to be key sticking points when talks begin – expected to be in the spring.
Prime Minister Theresa May has indicated she wants limits on existing freedom of movement rules as part of the final deal.
This, ministers believe, would help the government in its broader objective of reducing net migration – the difference between the number of people settling in the UK and those leaving – to below 100,000 a year.
Overall net migration has been consistently higher than 300,000 in the la..

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Betting: Giggs drifts for Swansea job as Pardew leads the market

There was plenty of initial interest in the former Manchester United man but punters have been backing the recently departed Crystal Palace boss for an immediate return
Bob Bradley"s ill-fated spell in charge of Swansea City came to an abrupt end after just 85 days and 11 games in charge. The ..

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Samsung, Oppo shine in a weak phone market - CNET

Enlarge ImageGlobal shipments of smartphones barely budged last quarter.
Photo by CNET As smartphone shipments sputter and stall, an upstart is shooting forward from the back of the pack.
China"s Oppo saw shipments of its phones more than double — the precise gain: 137 percent — in the second quarter of 2016, ..

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Scottish minister calls for clarity over UK single market status

Image caption Ministers at Holyrood believe Scotland should continue to have full access to the EU"s single market Scotland"s economy secretary has said the Conservative government should indicate whether it wants the UK to stay in the single market after Brexit.
Keith Brown believes it is “untenable” to maintain silence on the issue.
He was speaking six months on from June"s referendum which saw UK voters back leaving the European Union.
In response to Mr Brown"s call, a UK government spokeswoman said the United Kingdom would “continue to be a global leader of free trade”.
She added that it would also remain the “best place in Europe to run and grow a business”.
What does the Scottish government"s Brexit plan say?Mr Brown would like to see assurances given that Scotland"s interests would be at the heart of Brexit negotiations.
He reckoned that coming out of the single market would “severely damage” the economy in Scotland.
Last week, Scotland"s Firs..

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Video shows lorry racing into Berlin market

Video: Taxi dash cam shows Berlin lorry attack Footage has emerged showing the moment a lorry ploughed into a busy Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.
In the video, the hijacked truck appears from the left-hand side of the screen as it races towards the crowded scene.
Seconds later, panicked shoppers run from the area.
The dashcam footage was tak..

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At least 32 die in blast at fireworks market

Video: A video of the fireworks explosion from the Facebook page of Jose Luis Tolentino At least 32 people have been killed in an explosion that ripped through a large fireworks market in Mexico, a chief state prosecutor says.
Footage shows a massive plume of smoke in the sky above the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico, just ou..

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At least 29 die in blast at fireworks market

Video: A video of the fireworks explosion from the Facebook page of Jose Luis Tolentino At least 29 people have been killed in an explosion that ripped through a large fireworks market in Mexico, a chief state prosecutor says.
Footage shows a massive plume of smoke in the sky above the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico, just ou..

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At least 29 die in fireworks market explosion

Video: A video of the fireworks explosion from the Facebook page of Jose Luis Tolentino At least 29 people have been killed in an explosion that ripped through a large fireworks market in Mexico, a chief state prosecutor says.
Footage shows a massive plume of smoke in the sky above the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico, just ou..

Read More

At least 29 die in explosion at fireworks market

Video: A video of the fireworks explosion from the Facebook page of Jose Luis Tolentino At least 29 people have been killed in an explosion that ripped through a large fireworks market in Mexico, a chief state prosecutor says.
Footage shows a massive plume of smoke in the sky above the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico, just ou..

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The Motorola Moto M reaches the European market

The Motorola Moto M will cost €279 ($290) in Europe
It was revealed earlier this week that the Moto M will soon be treated to Android 7.0 Nougat, which is a real boost for owners and would-be owners of the device. It"s not uncommon for mid-range handsets to be quickly forgotten when it comes t..

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Samsung, Oppo shine in a weak phone market - CNET

Enlarge ImageGlobal shipments of smartphones barely budged last quarter.
Photo by CNET As smartphone shipments sputter and stall, an upstart is shooting forward from the back of the pack.
China"s Oppo saw shipments of its phones more than double — the precise gain: 137 percent — in the second quarter of 2016, ..

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Klopp: We have our eyes open in the transfer market

The German boss has been limited in his options to change a game with attacking substitutions, but is aware it would be hard to bring in the kind of player he wants next month
Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool’s squad depth has been diminished due to injuries over the last few weeks, with the club mo..

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Android distribution numbers for December show Nougat at 0.4% of the market

Today Google has updated the Android platform distribution chart, as it does every month. So we now know how much market share each version of the company"s mobile operating system had over the past week.
Let"s start with 7.0 Nougat, the latest iteration of Android before today. It"s now at 0.4%, a 0.1% jump compared to where it was in November"s chart. Today Google has outed Android 7.1.1 Nougat for Pixel and Nexus devices, so we"ll probably see that release in January"s chart. At the moment there"s still only one version of Android that has less devices running it than Nougat, and that"s Froyo, which is more than six years old.
Marshmallow is now at 26.3% of the pie, up from 24% a month ago. Lollipop has 34% market share, down 0.1%. KitKat has dropped to 24% (from 25.2%), while Jelly Bean now makes up 12.8% of the market, down from 13.7%. Ice Cream Sandwich went from 1.3% to 1.2%, as did Gingerbread.
Hopefully we"ll see more Nougat upda..

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David Davis: UK may pay for access to EU single market

The UK would consider making payments to the EU after it leaves the bloc to secure the best possible access to the EU single market, Brexit Secretary David Davis has said.
Mr Davis told MPs the “major criterion” was getting the best access for goods and services to the European market.
“And if that is included… then of course we would consider it.”
He said reports Boris Johnson backed freedom of movement were “at odds” with what he knew of Mr Johnson"s views.
According to Sky News the foreign secretary privately told four EU ambassadors he backed free movement.
Brexit: All you need to know What are the UK"s Brexit options? But Mr Davis said: “What I"ve seen.. strikes me completely at odds with what I know about my right honourable friend"s approach to this matter.
“He believes very clearly – and he made this very clear in the Leave campaign because he was a much more major part of it than I was. – that some immigration is useful. We all agree on that.
“That"..

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IDC"s forecast: Android"s 2016 market share to be 85%, iOS" 14.3%

In its latest report, market research firm IDC has revealed its numbers on the smartphone landscape in 2016. According to the firm, Android"s market share for this year will stand at 85%, after achieving an year-on-year growth of 5.2%. iOS, on the other hand, will claim 14.3% of the market, having seen its shipments decrease by 11%.
In total, Google"s and Apple"s mobile operating systems will claim over 99% of the market, leaving just 0.4% share for Windows Phone and 0.3% for others. The combined share for Android and iOS will reach nearly 100% by 2020, the report notes.
“It is no secret that Google"s Android OS has been and will remain the majority share platform in smartphones for the foreseeable future,” the report says. “It will also be at the core of the aforementioned 4G growth expected in emerging markets as low-cost Android players are not using newer, faster low-cost chips.”
“All signs point to 2016 being the first full year of declining shipments for Ap..

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