Category Archives: Business

Trump says he won’t return to witness stand in $250m New York fraud trial

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Former president, who was expected to take the stand, announced on Truth Social on Sunday that he already testified to everything

Donald Trump announced he would not take the witness stand for a second time at his fraud trial in New York on Monday, the former US president’s last chance to make his case as he combats a potential $250m fine that hangs over his family business.

Trump had been expected to take the stand again as the hearings draw to a close. But on Sunday he announced on the Truth Social site that he would no longer be making an appearance.

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Saudi Arabia could take ‘effective majority control’ of London Heathrow

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Investors may sell shares to oil-rich state’s Public Investment Fund, which already owns a stake, report says

Saudi Arabia could take effective majority control of London Heathrow, the UK’s major airport, with other investors considering selling their stakes, according to reports.

The oil-rich state’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) allied with private equity investor Ardian to announce the purchase of a 25% stake in the airport last month from Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure giant that had been the primary owner of Heathrow for 17 years.

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‘The optics are terrible’: how Rishi Sunak’s 2020 ‘eat out to help out’ scheme backfired

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The then chancellor’s plan proved to be of no economic benefit and was decried by scientists – but it clearly set out the political aims of ‘Dishy Rishi’

There is no blue heritage plaque above the stainless-steel open kitchen at the branch of Wagamama at London’s Festival Hall – but the restaurant might have claims to one. It was here, in delivering a couple of plates of katsu curry – one chicken, one vegan – on 8 July 2020, that our current prime minister in effect launched his campaign for the country’s leadership.

During that lockdown spring as pandemic chancellor, Rishi Sunak had one of the few enviable public roles: he was cast as the man who saved the economy by giving money away. By the time he pitched up at Wagamama that lunchtime, his various Covid-help schemes had dished out £176bn in furlough payments and loans and deferred taxes. In those efforts Sunak, little known before the crisis, had sometimes looked like the only sober and responsible member of her majesty’s government. The headline act of his summer budget statement, “eat out to help out”, changed that narrative.

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Bank of England, Fed and ECB poised to leave interest rates on hold

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Stubbornly high inflation forces central banks to avoid cuts, but markets expect falls next year

The western world’s largest central banks are poised to keep interest rates on hold this week amid concerns over stubbornly high inflation, despite growing expectations for sharp cuts in borrowing costs next year.

In a crunch week for the global economy, the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank are expected to keep interest rates at their current restrictively high levels to ensure inflation continues to fall back from the highest levels in decades.

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Top US betting firm lobbied against rules to protect young people and problem gamblers

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Exclusive: documents show FanDuel fought crackdown on ads near college campuses and ‘deceptive’ marketing

One of the United States’ largest online gambling operators tried to water down rules designed to help problem gamblers and protect young and vulnerable people, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

FanDuel lobbied for New York to rethink a proposed ban on gambling platforms from using certain words and phrases to attract people “who are or may be” problem gamblers to their websites.

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Trump expert witness paid nearly $900,000 for testimony in fraud case

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Court hears Eli Bartov, professor at NYU, has worked about 650 hours on New York fraud case at rate of $1,350 per hour

An accounting expert who came to Donald Trump’s defense in his $250m fraud has racked up nearly $900,000 in fees for his testimony, a court heard on Friday.

New York University Stern School of Business research professor Eli Bartov testified on Thursday that he had found “no evidence here of concealment” in his review of the financial statements at the heart of the case.

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Watchdog calls for investigation after thousands trapped in trains in London

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Network Rail’s chief executive, on board one of the stranded trains, describes it as a ‘painful experience’

London’s passenger watchdog has called for an investigation after thousand of people were trapped on trains on Thursday evening when power lines were damaged.

Passengers, who were given little information during the ordeal, were stuck for more than three hours on dark, cold trains – including on Elizabeth line trains, which have no toilets and rely on the overhead lines for power.

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EU agrees plan to enable member states to end all gas imports from Russia

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New power to allow importers to sever ties would help to end Europe’s reliance on Russian supplies

EU countries may soon be able to halt their last remaining Russian gas imports under plans to ban Russian energy companies from their pipelines and terminals.

The European Council and parliament have agreed new rules that could empower the EU’s member states to crack down on companies from Russia and Belarus that have continued to import Russian gas into Europe since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by buying import capacity at key EU import terminals and pipelines.

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Paris mayor plans to triple SUV parking tariffs to cut air pollution

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‘It’s a form of social justice,’ says Anne Hidalgo of move to target richest drivers to tackle climate breakdown

Paris intends to triple parking charges for large sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in order to push them out of the city and limit emissions and air pollution, the mayor has said.

“It is a form of social justice,” Anne Hidalgo announced on Friday of the plan to deliberately target the richest drivers to tackle the climate breakdown and air pollution. “This is about very expensive cars, driven by people who today have not yet made the changes to their behaviour that have to be made [for the climate].”

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No 10 team arrives in Delhi to revive talks over free trade deal

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Exclusive: Pre-election agreement would provide a major boost to Narendra Modi and Rishi Sunak

Senior Downing Street officials have flown to Delhi to kickstart talks over a multibillion pound free trade agreement, with the government of Narendra Modi having indicated it is keen to finalise a deal in the next three months.

UK trade negotiators are in the Indian capital talking to their Indian counterparts as they look to revive a deal that looked a distant prospect just a few months ago.

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Australia news live: Daniel Andrews fires up over ‘Dictator Dan’ moniker; festival-goers warned about heatwave conditions

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Former Victorian premier gives first interview after resignation, saying ‘the haters hate and the rest vote Labor’. Follow the day’s news live

James Ashby to stand for One Nation in Queensland seat

James Ashby, the chief of staff to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, will stand for the party in the seat of Keppel at next year’s Queensland state election, AAP reports.

The Nationals are dead in Queensland’s parliament while the Liberals are lurching further left in their attempts to secure inner-Brisbane seats.

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UK employers limit hiring permanent staff amid economic stresses

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Vacancies declining as growth falters, recruiters’ body tells Bank of England

Britain’s largest recruiters have warned the Bank of England that demand for permanent hiring among UK businesses has plunged at the second fastest rate since the pandemic, amid worsening headwinds for the UK economy.

Ahead of the central bank’s decision on interest rates on 14 December, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) trade body said lingering economic uncertainty and hesitancy to commit to new hires had weighed on activity in November.

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Jeremy Hunt’s post-Brexit City shake-up is ‘damp squib’, say MPs

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Treasury select committee says Edinburgh reforms launched a year ago have had little impact on UK economy

Jeremy Hunt’s post-Brexit City shake-up has been dismissed as a “damp squib” that has had little impact on the UK economy a year after its launch.

The chancellor announced the “bold collection” of policy changes known as the Edinburgh reforms in December 2022 with the claim they would “create jobs, support businesses and power growth across all four nations of the UK”.

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UK’s top mobile firms face £3.3bn class action lawsuit over ‘loyalty penalties’

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Campaigner Justin Gutmann alleges EE, Vodafone, Three and O2 have ‘systematically exploited millions of loyal customers’

The UK’s biggest mobile phone companies face a £3.3bn class action lawsuit alleging that long-standing customers are being ripped off by “loyalty penalties”, under which the same services are offered to new customers at a better price to lure them from rivals.

The legal action, which has been brought by the campaigner Justin Gutmann and the law firm Charles Lyndon, targets BT-owned EE, Vodafone, Three and O2, which is part of Virgin Media O2.

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Tesla loses legal action in Sweden as dispute with Nordic unions escalates

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Court decides postal service does not have to deliver licence plates, for now, in latest twist in row over collective bargaining

Tesla has lost a legal action against Sweden’s postal service as a dispute with Nordic trade unions escalates.

A Swedish court said on Thursday that PostNord did not, for the time being, need to deliver licence plates to the electric carmaker that were being blocked by the postal service’s workers, in the latest twist in a battle over collective bargaining agreements.

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TransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over summer

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Regulator says figures show much of Britain’s railway is ‘still not delivering reliable journeys’

TransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over the summer, according to figures that show much of Britain’s railway is “still not delivering reliable journeys”.

Nationally, fewer than seven in 10 trains ran on time and 3.5% of trains were cancelled on the day between 1 July and 30 September, which was slightly better than the same period last year, figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) showed.

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South East Water paid £2.25m to shareholders despite £18m losses

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Cost of debt rises for firm that left thousands of customers without running water in summer

South East Water, which left thousands of customers without running water this summer, has paid out dividends of £2.25m over six months while overseeing increased losses of £18.1m before tax.

The water company, which serves customers in Kent, Sussex, Berkshire and Surrey, made the payout to shareholders despite facing huge rises in the costs of its £1.4bn debt mountain, its half-year report showed on Thursday. In the six months to 30 September, the cost of serving the debt rose by £7.4m to £54.8m, as inflation and higher interest rates bit.

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McDonald’s to take on Starbucks with retro-style stores called CosMc’s

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New restaurants – serving more complex, customisable drinks – will be trialled in the US

McDonald’s is launching a new kind of restaurant, CosMc’s, a retro-style store with treats and customisable drinks including “s’mores cold brew”, “churro frappes” and “turmeric latte” that could rival chains such as Starbucks.

The fast food company said it would open its first pilot site in a Chicago suburb near its headquarters this month, as part of efforts to “solve the 3pm slump”, when it gets fewer customers between the lunch and dinner rush.

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Nuclear Leaks: what is the UK nuclear site Sellafield and why is it so important?

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A Guardian investigation has revealed hacking, radioactive leaks and toxic workplace culture at Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site

Nuclear Leaks, a year-long Guardian investigation, has uncovered problems with cyber hacking, radioactive leaks and toxic workplace culture at Sellafield, the UK’s most hazardous nuclear site.

It has also revealed how a small corner of the UK has an outsized influence on its special relationship with the US, with the countries bound by the shared history of nuclear weapons development. Britain’s neighbours in Europe, particularly Norway and Ireland, also keep a sharp eye on the site, from where previous pollution incidents and radioactivity as a result of a fire have made it to their shores.

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Eric Trump will not testify at fraud trial after father claims he told him not to

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Donald Trump claims he told his son not to testify since ‘His young life has already been unfairly disturbed and disrupted enough’

Eric Trump will not testify at his father’s fraud trial against the Trump Organization Wednesday despite being scheduled to take the stand for over a week.

“I told my wonderful son, Eric, not to testify tomorrow at the RIGGED TRIAL,” Donald Trump wrote late on Tuesday night in a rant against the trial. Trump said that his son “already testified PERFECTLY”.

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