Dutch to Invest $24 Billion in Economy Through Long-Delayed Fund

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The Netherlands is set to invest billions of euros in its economy, carrying out a plan announced several months before the coronavirus outbreak worsened the outlook.

The government plans to spend 20 billion euros ($24 billion) over five years to improve its infrastructure and spur research and development, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement Monday. This money, which will be allocated by a national investment fund, will help the country address its aging population, climate change and low productivity growth, the ministry said.

The move, which the government outlined a year ago, is another step away from an era of austerity in the Netherlands. To soften the impact of the pandemic, the government has helped prop up companies including Air France-KLM and by the end of July, it had earmarked 37 billion euros for this year to finance emergency measures.

New national elections will be held in the Netherlands in March 2021.

Jordan to Resume Iraqi Oil Imports Halted Due to Pandemic

Jordan will resume imports of crude oil from its Middle East neighbor Iraq this month after suspending shipments due to the coronavirus.

Imports of about 10,000 barrels a day will re-start this month, according to Hassan Hiari, director of the gas and oil department at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. Shipments halted for all of August as a result of the pandemic, he said in a phone interview.

Jordanian and Iraqi authorities have agreed to extend their oil-supply agreement through November and will soon discuss renewing it for an additional year beyond that, Hiari said.

Under an initial deal signed in February 2019, Jordan has imported 10,000 barrels daily from OPEC member Iraq, enough to meet 7% of its needs. Jordan has negligible oil resources of its own.

U.K. House Prices Continue to Climb on Tax Cut After Lockdown

U.K. house prices rose in August as buyers rushed to take advantage of a post-lockdown tax cut from the government.

Average house prices rose 1.6% from July to an average of 245,747 pounds ($325,000), mortgage lender Halifax said Monday. From a year earlier, prices gained 5.2%, the strongest since 2016.

The housing market’s emergence from the coronavirus doldrums has been given extra fuel from Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s decision to temporarily waive the tax on the first 500,000 pounds of any property purchase. The outlook remains uncertain, though, as the economic hit continues to take hold and joblessness expected to surge.

“It remains highly unlikely that this level of price inflation will be sustained,” said Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax. “With most economic commentators believing that unemployment will continue to rise, we do expect greater downward pressure on house prices.”

Sophy Ridge On Sunday: Brexit, protests… and dancing | Dominic Raab & Diane Abbott

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says this week is “the moment of reckoning” for a trade deal between the UK and EU.

He also defends new trade adviser Tony Abbott after previous comments about lowering standards to secure agreements.

And former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott defends Extinction Rebellion protesters – and reveals she was asked to appear on Strictly Come Dancing.

Ipswich major incident: Residents told to ‘stay indoors’ as police swarm scene in Kesgrave

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It is understood some residents have been told by officers to stay inside.

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Thai student protests: Boycotts force businesses to pick sides

Student-led protests against the government in Thailand force some companies to pull their commercials from TV.

Student-led demonstrations have been taking place in Thailand for months.

The young protest leaders are using new methods to make their message heard, taking their efforts online as well as on the street.

They recently targeted advertisers on a news network they say is pro-government, urging their supporters to boycott companies running advertisements on the network.

And big-name brands have responded, pulling their advertising from the network.

Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler reports from Bangkok, Thailand.

PayPal Launches ‘Pay In 4’ Installments Credit Options

PayPal Holdings Inc. has launched a short-term installment offering “Pay in 4” for customers in the U.S, as part of its “Buy Now Pay Later” product suite. It will be available to consumers on qualifying purchases in early the fourth-quarter of 2020.

The “Pay in 4” option enables merchants and partners to get paid upfront while enabling customers to pay for purchases between $30 and $600 over a six-week period, PayPal said in a statement.

The company said Pay in 4 is included in the merchant’s existing PayPal pricing, so that merchants don’t pay any additional fees to enable it for their customers. Consumers pay no fees or interest, and payments are seamless with automatic re-payments. Pay in 4 will also appear in the customer’s PayPal wallet, so they can manage their payments in the PayPal app.

PayPal said it also offers several other financing options. PayPal Credit is the most commonly used buy now pay later service. It is a reusable line of credit with various promotional offers built in like 6 months special financing and Easy Payments, available in the U.S. and U.K.

PayPal provides PayPal Ratenzahlung and Paiement en 4X- installment products in the German and French markets. It also offers Pay After Delivery, a buy now, pay later offering in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and UK.