NMC.L Share News (NMC)

(Sharecast News) - Twelve more people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the UK, with one of the patients having no known travel to any of the affected countries. The new cases were announced as Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters that he was "very, very confident" that the NHS could cope with an outbreak and urged the public to do their bit by following public health advice. - The Daily Telegraph
Dogfights raged in the skies over northwest Syria today, with two Assad regime fighter jets shot down by Turkey and Turkish drones targeted in return. President Erdogan threatened a full-blown invasion of Syria and indicated he was determined to set up a Turkish-run "safe zone", after trying earlier to involve Europe and Nato by sending thousands of refugees to the border with Greece, where they are now trapped in no-man's land. - Sunday Times

Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala may invest in NMC Health, the troubled hospital operator at the centre of an accounting scandal. The state-owned fund could also push for a board seat, in a sign the emirate may be keen to address the worsening crisis in the group. - Sunday Times

The Sanders campaign and Latino activists in the Inland Empire, a region straddling two counties about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, have banded together against a shared enemy - Amazon. The retail giant has been rapidly expanding its local warehouses, in the processing worsening truck pollution and offering jobs that critics say can be hazardous and exploitative. Some workers and community organizers fighting for better labor conditions and environmental protections are also canvassing for Sanders, energized by his campaign's presence in their neighborhoods. - The Guardian

Travel agent TUI is on track to lose its blue-chip status after the sell-off triggered by the coronavirus outbreak knocked it below the FTSE 100 relegation threshold. The Hanover-headquartered group's share price dropped by almost a third over five sessions last week as fears mounted that the virus will force families to scrap travel plans. - The Daily Telegraph

If bosses at Prudential thought they could easily shake off their new activist stalkers, they should think again. Third Point, the powerful American firm run by Dan Loeb, took a $2billion stake in Britain's largest insurer on Monday and urged the board to split its Asian and US businesses. The US raiders will fly to London after the Pru unveils its annual results on March 11 to demand backing for Third Point's plan to spin off the American annuities business, Jackson Life. But if they don't see eye to eye, the US hedge fund will demand a seat on the board to push through its changes.- The Daily Mail

A swath of highly indebted companies face an incipient funding shock and risk being shut out of the capital markets as the COVID-19 epidemic mushrooms into global crisis, Standard & Poor's has warned. There are mounting risks of a credit crunch in vulnerable sectors of the corporate bond market, potentially rocking an unstable financial edifice with record levels of debt and set off a dangerous chain reaction. - The Daily Telegraph

The chancellor is planning to scrap a ?3bn tax relief that mainly benefits the wealthy in a bid to raise cash for an expected increase in public spending in the budget on 11 March. Rishi Sunak is expected to target entrepreneurs' relief, a tax break which halves the capital gains tax paid when people sell their businesses. Under current rules, sellers pay only 10% on lifetime gains of up to ?10m, compared with the 20% capital gains tax paid by higher-rate taxpayers. - The Guardian