Coles and Woolworths leverage their dominant position over smaller suppliers and consumers alike – and both groups are getting angry
Farmers are pressuring supermarkets to raise produce prices, and shoppers want shelf prices lowered. Can both win?
As inflation eases, supermarkets would typically lean on suppliers to cut prices, with some of those savings passed on to frustrated shoppers to dissuade them from buying less or switching grocery stores in search of a better deal.
Continue reading...Roadworks mean stretch between junctions 10 and 11 will be closed for first time, from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday
Drivers have been warned to steer well clear, turn off the satnav and stick to the official diversions as some of the biggest roadworks since the Romans results in part of the M25 motorway fully closed for the first time in its history this weekend.
Epic traffic jams are anticipated, with a five-mile stretch of Britain’s busiest motorway, the London orbital motorway, closed for engineering from 9pm on Friday.
Continue reading...Deal between Japanese carmakers involves components and software amid race to catch up with Chinese EV firms
Honda and Nissan have put aside the “traditional approach” of fierce rivalry to join forces and work together on electric vehicle technology as Japan’s carmakers try to catch up with Chinese competitors.
The Japanese manufacturers will work together on technology for EVs, including components and software, after signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday.
Continue reading...Fast food chain working to resolve problem but denies it has been hit by cybersecurity attack
McDonald’s restaurants in multiple countries including the UK and Australia have been hit by a “technology outage”, which the fast food chain denied had been caused by a cybersecurity attack.
Australia, the UK, Japan and China were among the markets where services were affected, with restaurant, drive-through and online orders hit.
Continue reading...UK telecoms group says some of proceeds will be returned to investors via share buybacks
Vodafone is selling its Italian business to Swisscom for €8bn (£6.8bn) cash and plans to return €4bn to shareholders.
The telecoms company said it had reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Italy as part of wider plans to streamline its European operations and that some of the proceeds would be returned to investors via share buy-backs. Vodafone will continue to provide certain services to Swisscom for up to five years as part of the transaction.
Continue reading...Ex-treasury secretary tells CNBC of plans a day after US House passes bill giving app’s owner six months to divest or face US ban
Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to try to buy TikTok, he told CNBC on Thursday.
The former US treasury secretary’s comment comes just a day after the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the short-video app’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets or face a ban. If it did not, app stores including the Apple App Store and Google Play would be legally barred from hosting TikTok or providing web-hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.
Continue reading...Move involving companies such as Google, Facebook and X comes after evidence of Russian online interference in polls
The EU is calling on eight major tech companies including Google, Facebook and X to detail how they identify and tackle deepfake material amid concerns about the use of the technology to influence elections.
In a world first, they will be using new laws on artificial intelligence to force companies to root out fake video, imagery and audio.
Continue reading...Analysis shows how jets and tanks are being kept fueled despite interim ICJ ruling warning Israel to prevent genocidal acts
Israeli jets and tanks bombarding Palestinians are being fueled by some of the world’s most profitable fossil fuel companies – and US tax-payers, according to research.
Israel relies on crude oil and refined products from overseas to run its large fleet of fighter jets, tanks and other military vehicles.
Continue reading...Two miners were pinned under a rockfall at the Mount Clear mine in Ballarat, Victoria, with one later rescued
A man has died and another is fighting for his life in hospital after a mine collapse in Victoria’s Goldfields region.
Thirty people were working about 3km from the entrance of the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear when the incident occurred about 4.50pm on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Train maker Alstom plans fast service skirting Birmingham as Ryan Reynolds’ football club takeover reaps in ever more benefits
Direct trains could next year connect Wrexham to London, with a new service capitalising on the town’s Hollywood-meets-football mini-boom.
The train manufacturer Alstom is bidding to set up the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway with a promise of cheaper, more comfortable trains straight to London.
Continue reading...New legislation could thwart planned £600m purchase of media group by UAE-backed consortium
The UK government plans to introduce legislation that would prevent foreign governments owning UK newspapers and news magazines in a significant move that could scupper the planned £600m sale of the Telegraph to a United Arab Emirates-backed consortium.
RedBird IMI – a partnership between a fund backed by the UAE’s vice-president, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and a privately owned US investment firm – is seeking to acquire one of the UK’s most influential newspaper groups.
Continue reading...Legislation will overturn convictions of theft, fraud and false accounting during Horizon scandal
Ministers will publish legislation to quash the convictions of hundreds of post office operators who were prosecuted during the Horizon scandal, marking a significant victory for victims after decades of campaigning.
The legislation on Wednesday will automatically overturn convictions of theft, fraud and false accounting that were handed down in connection with Post Office business during that period. It will cover prosecutions brought by the Post Office and the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales between 1996 and 2018.
Continue reading...Tech such as laptops, tablets and instant messaging has more positive effect on wellbeing, says thinktank
Exposure to new technologies including trackers, robots and AI-based software at work is bad for people’s quality of life, according to a groundbreaking study from the the Institute for Work thinktank.
Based on a survey of more than 6,000 people, the study analysed the impact on wellbeing of four groups of technologies that are becoming increasingly prevalent across the economy.
Continue reading...Chief executive David Duffy would be biggest winner on £3.5m, with large paydays for about 12 other staff if deal goes through
Banking bosses at Virgin Money are in line for a £6m windfall if Nationwide Building Society pushes ahead with a proposed takeover of the lender, with more than half of that sum set to be pocketed by longtime chief executive David Duffy.
Public shareholder data suggests that 13 executives, board members and senior staff are poised for big paydays from the potential £3bn deal, after accumulating stock through years of service at Virgin Money, which was co-founded by billionaire Sir Richard Branson in 1995.
Continue reading...The sewage treatment works at Horley seem to be crumbling, much like owner Thames Water itself
The brochure boasts of a family-friendly community located in tranquil green space within easy reach of high-speed links to London.
However, the residents of a new development of 1,500 homes in Horley, Surrey, have recently set up a WhatsApp group, whose title illustrates a less attractive feature of the community: Stop the Poo.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Sarah Olney to press in parliament for details of scheme being drawn up in event of supplier’s collapse
Ministers must come clean on the secret details of an emergency plan for a taxpayer bailout in the event of Thames Water collapsing, a Liberal Democrat MP has said.
Sarah Olney will press in parliament this week for details of a behind-the-scenes rescue operation being drawn up for the biggest privatised water company in England. Olney said keeping the details of the contingency plan secret amounted to a cover-up.
Continue reading...John Barnett was one of several people who raised alarm in 2019 about concerns of safety lapses at Boeing’s North Charleston plant
A former quality manager at Boeing who became a prominent whistleblower and raised concerns over the planemaker’s production line has been found dead.
John Barnett died on Saturday from what appeared to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to officials in Charleston, South Carolina.
In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Directive aims to give taxi and delivery drivers such as those working for Uber and Deliveroo rights similar to those enjoyed by full employees
New laws designed to improve the rights of gig economy workers in the EU contracted to companies such as Uber have been saved from oblivion after they won the majority backing of member states.
The legislation had been blocked by a group of countries last month, when France said it could not support the text on the table and Germany abstained.
Continue reading...Cryptocurrency rises as UK financial regulator says it will allow trading of crypto-backed securities
Bitcoin has reached a new record price of almost $73,000 (£57,000), as the UK financial regulator said it would allow the trading of cryptocurrency-backed securities.
The cryptocurrency hit a fresh high of $72,720 as of Monday evening having last week overtaken its previous November 2021 high of nearly $69,000.
Continue reading...Strong sales of Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) help format make an impact, as air fryers also join list
Not since Simply Red’s album Stars topped the albums chart in 1992 have vinyl records been included in the basket of goods used to calculate annual inflation, but a rise in sales over recent years has brought them back as a marker of UK shop prices.
The Office for National Statistics said the “resurgence of popularity” in vinyl records meant they should be included among the 744 items used to calculate inflation each month, in its latest annual shake-up of the basket.
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