Category Archives: Business

Almost a third of household smart meters not working properly, says Citizens Advice

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Charity says tech problems and poor customer service mean millions in Great Britain missing out on promised benefits

The number of gas and electricity smart meters that are not working properly is likely to be higher than government figures suggest – possibly 20% to 30% of the total – according to research from Citizens Advice.

The charity said millions of households were missing out on the promised benefits from smart meters due to “problems with technology” and poor supplier customer service.

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News Corp’s Rebekah Brooks joins Lachlan Murdoch in Sydney ahead of major Australian newspaper restructure

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Staff brace for significant cuts as media company prepares to make moves to counter decline of print and slow advertising market

Lachlan Murdoch has been joined in Sydney by the News Corp UK boss, Rebekah Brooks, and global chief, Robert Thomson, ahead of the announcement of a major restructure of the Australian newspapers next week.

Guardian Australia understands Rupert Murdoch’s right-hand man, Thomson, Lachlan and Brooks held meetings in Sydney on Tuesday with News Corp’s local chief, Michael Miller, and others to sign off on the transformation of the company.

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Federal Reserve concerned over ‘lack of further progress’ in bid to tame inflation

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While price growth has fallen sharply, with April’s 3.4% lower than March’s 3.5%, it is still higher than Fed’s medium-term goal of 2%

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have expressed concern over stalling progress in their fight to bring down inflation.

Although price growth has fallen sharply since peaking at its highest levels in a generation two years ago, it has remained stubbornly above where officials want it to be.

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Know your rights: what to do if you receive a call from a debt collector

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As the cost-of-living crisis drives more people to financial stress, it helps to understand the rules that cover debt collecting

If you have ever received a call from a private debt collector, perhaps demanding payment for an overdue bill you barely remember, you will know that it can feel daunting and rife with potentially serious consequences.

The best way to protect yourself in such a situation, particularly with the cost-of-living crisis driving more and more Australians to financial stress, is to understand your rights and the rules governing the way debt collectors can behave.

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Use, or threaten to use, violence or physical force against a debtor.

Adopt an aggressive, threatening or intimidating manner.

Use abusive, offensive, obscene or discriminatory language.

Comment on a debtor’s position, physical appearance, intelligence or other characteristics or circumstances.

Embarrass or shame a debtor.

Make disrespectful or demeaning remarks about a debtor’s character or financial situation in life.

Mislead a debtor about the nature or extent of a debt, or the consequences of non-payment.

Pressure a debtor by misleading, harassing, threatening or putting pressure on a debtor’s spouse or partner, or a member of a debtor’s family.

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‘I have no sense there was any conspiracy at all’, Paul Vennells tells Horizon inquiry – live

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Former chief executive of the Post Office says she does not think there was a conspiracy but that mistakes were made

Paula Vennells has made an opening statement at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry where she apologised to the victims of the scandal and offered to stand outside the old Post Office of one of the victims with them to explain to people what happened and what they went through. She said she had been deeply affected by victim impact statements heard by the inquiry.

She said:

I would just like to say, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do this, how sorry I am for all that subpostmasters and their families and others who suffered as a result of all of the matters that the inquiry has been looking into for so long.

I followed and listened to all of the human impact statements, and I was very affected by them. I remember listening to one subpostmaster whose name I noted, who said that he would like somebody to go and stand outside his old Post Office with him so he could tell them exactly what he’d been through. I would do that.

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Majority of Americans wrongly believe US is in recession – and most blame Biden

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Exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian shows 55% believe economy is shrinking, in troubling sign for president’s re-election bid

Nearly three in five Americans wrongly believe the US is in an economic recession, and the majority blame the Biden administration, according to a Harris poll conducted exclusively for the Guardian. The survey found persistent pessimism about the economy as election day draws closer.

The poll highlighted many misconceptions people have about the economy, including:

55% believe the economy is shrinking, and 56% think the US is experiencing a recession, though the broadest measure of the economy, gross domestic product (GDP), has been growing.

49% believe the S&P 500 stock market index is down for the year, though the index went up about 24% in 2023 and is up more than 12% this year.

49% believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high, though the unemployment rate has been under 4%, a near 50-year low.

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Big drop in UK inflation rate disguises more disappointing details

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Service sector inflation, monitored closely by Bank of England, barely budged in April

The annual inflation rate fell sharply in April. Prices are rising more slowly than at any time in almost three years. Inflation is lower in the UK than it is in the EU.

Even so, the latest bulletin on the cost of living from the Office for National Statistics was mildly disappointing. April’s inflation figure was always going to be good, with a sharp fall guaranteed by the fact the energy price increases of a year earlier were not repeated.

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Dutton won’t rule out a Coalition government quitting ICC – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Chris Bowen says nuclear energy is ‘slow, expensive and risky’

Chris Bowen is also asked about the latest CSIRO report released today, showing electricity from nuclear power in Australia would be at least 50% more expensive than solar and wind.

CSIRO and Aemo have looked at large-scale nuclear for the first time. It finds that that would be far more expensive than renewables, despite claims from the opposition – quite inappropriate attacks on CSIRO and Aemo from the opposition, that they hadn’t counted the cost of transmission. The cost of transmission and storage is counted, and still renewables comes out as the cheapest.

And of course, CSIRO points out that nuclear will be … very slow to build. So nuclear is slow and expensive and is risky when it comes to the reliability of Australia’s energy system.

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Marks & Spencer plans to step up cost cuts despite 41% jump in annual profits

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Pre-tax profits increased to £672.5m but retailer says it will reduce costs further as part of five-year plan

Marks & Spencer has said it will step up cost cuts in the year ahead despite increasing annual profits by a better-than-expected 41%.

Stuart Machin, the chief executive of the clothing, homeware and food retailer, said it was “at the beginnings of a new M&S” with “wind in our sails, and confidence that our plan is working” as pre-tax profits rose to £672.5m in the year to 30 March. Sales rose 9.4% to £13bn.

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UK inflation falls by less than expected to 2.3%, reducing chance of June rate cut

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Drop in April is smaller than forecast but level is still lowest in almost three years

UK inflation fell to 2.3% in April – its lowest level for almost three years – but the decline was smaller than expected, denting hopes of an early interest rate cut.

City analysts had forecast the annual increase in the cost of goods and services would fall to 2.1%, close to the Bank of England’s 2% target.

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Popular car uses 31% more fuel than advertised while other makes fare poorly in Australian efficiency test

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Eight of 21 cars tested underperformed against their marketed efficiency rates, Australian Automobile Association says

Cars driven by Australians are consistently consuming more fuel than their marketed efficiencies, investigations have found, with the latest tranche of “real-world” testing finding one car used 31% more petrol than its advertised rate.

The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) testing – funded by the federal government – found that eight of the 21 cars examined in its latest round of testing consumed more petrol in real road driving conditions compared with the efficiency rates calculated by their manufacturers in laboratories.

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Australia news live: Telstra announces 2,800 job cuts; mediation talks in Reynolds and Higgins defamation case

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Liberal senator, and former political staffer expected to attempt again to resolve a pair of high-profile defamation cases. Follow today’s news headlines live

A High Court decision in Britain to allow Julian Assange to appeal his extradition to the US is a “small win” for the WikiLeaks founder but he should be freed now, the union for Australia’s journalists says.

As AAP reports, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance remains concerned there is no certainty an appeal will be successful, which would mean Assange could still be tried for espionage in the US.

Tonight’s decision by the High Court is a small win for Julian Assange and for the cause of media freedom worldwide.

MEAA welcomes the decision of the High Court, but we remain concerned that there is no guarantee of success.

We call on the Australian government to keep up the pressure on the US to drop the charges so Julian Assange can be reunited with his family.

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Productivity soars in sectors of global economy most exposed to AI, says report

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Employers in UK, one of 15 countries studied, willing to pay 14% wage premium for jobs requiring AI skills

The sectors of the global economy most heavily exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are witnessing a marked productivity increase and command a significant wage premium, according to a report.

Boosting hopes that AI might help lift the global economy out of a 15-year, low-growth trough, a PwC study found productivity growth was almost five times as rapid in parts of the economy where AI penetration was highest than in less exposed sectors.

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Invest in childhood to unlock £45.5bn a year, says Princess of Wales’s taskforce

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Report from group set up by Catherine says business can improve early years and benefit all of society

Business investment in early childhood could unlock £45.5bn in value a year for the UK economy, according to a report by a taskforce created by the Princess of Wales.

In the report, CEOs from eight leading companies urged “businesses of all sizes across the UK, to join us and help build a healthy, happy society for everyone”.

The Co-operative Group creating a specific early childhood fund as part of its unique apprenticeship levy share scheme, and committing to raise £5m over the next five years, creating more than 600 apprenticeships.

Deloitte focusing its ongoing investment in Teach First to include the early years sector for the first time, supporting 366 early years professionals in 2024.

NatWest Group extending its lending target for the childcare sector to £100m, launching an early years accreditation scheme to its staff and producing a financial toolkit for childcare providers to help them grow and succeed.

Ikea UK and Ireland expanding its contribution of support, design expertise and products for babies and young children to six new locations across the UK to help families with young children experiencing the greatest disadvantage.

The Lego Group donating 3,000 LEGO® Education Build Me “Emotions” sets, supported by training materials, to early years providers in the UK.

Iceland Foods providing learning, awareness and support in all 1,000 Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores by featuring emoji posters at a child-friendly height – a practical tool to help customers with young children and to create a space of understanding and support in stores.

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Labour will aim to reveal new town sites within first year in power

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Angela Rayner to promise party will build homes on sites by end of its first term and support private developers

A Labour government would aim to announce the sites for a series of new towns within a year of taking office, with the promise that homes would be built in them by the end of a first term, Angela Rayner is to say in a speech.

Giving more detail to a plan first outlined in Keir Starmer’s party conference speech in October, Rayner will tell a housing conference that Labour will strongly support private developers who create high-quality and affordable housing.

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Trump’s Truth Social media company posts $327m first-quarter loss

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Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, says focus is ‘long-term product development’ rather than revenue

Trump Media and Technology Group, the owner of Donald Trump’s social networking site Truth Social, lost more than $300m last quarter, according to its first earnings report as a publicly traded company.

For the three-month period that ended 31 March, the company posted a loss of $327.6m, which it said included $311m in non-cash expenses related to its merger with a company called Digital World, which was essentially a pile of cash looking for a target to merge with.

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UK cannot afford to give ‘cold shoulder’ to China, says City minister

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Bim Afolami’s comments distance British government from protectionist moves by US

The UK cannot afford to give the “cold shoulder” to China, the City minister said on Monday, in comments that will distance the British government from the Biden administration’s protectionist crackdown.

Addressing financial services bosses at the City Week conference in London’s Guildhall, Bim Afolami said it was “crucial” to engage with strategic competitors such as Beijing, and that the UK risked losing control of its economic future if it failed to find common ground.

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Revealed: Meta approved political ads in India that incited violence

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Exclusive: Ads containing AI-manipulated images were submitted to Facebook by civil and corporate accountability groups

The Facebook and Instagram owner Meta approved a series of AI-manipulated political adverts during India’s election that spread disinformation and incited religious violence, according to a report shared exclusively with the Guardian.

Facebook approved adverts containing known slurs towards Muslims in India, such as “let’s burn this vermin” and “Hindu blood is spilling, these invaders must be burned”, as well as Hindu supremacist language and disinformation about political leaders.

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Average British house price hits record high of £375,000

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Pent-up demand from would-be buyers pausing their plans last year has led to price rise despite mortgage rates remaining elevated

The average British house price reached a record high of £375,131 in May, according to Rightmove. The average prices of properties coming to market rose 0.8%, or £2,807, month on month.

Pent-up demand from would-be buyers who paused their plans last year is a key driver behind increased home mover activity despite mortgage rates remaining elevated for longer than anticipated, the property website’s report said.

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Australian home lenders accused of ignoring mortgage customers in financial distress

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Some borrowers have been abandoned in a cost-of-living crisis and lenders must meet their obligations, the regulator says

Major Australian lenders are not doing enough to support mortgage customers in financial hardship, and in some cases they are ignoring requests for assistance altogether, the corporate regulator has found.

In a major report to be released on Monday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) found that more than one-in-three customers dropped out of a hardship application, a process designed to vary repayments while a borrower gets back on their feet, because of unnecessary barriers.

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