Category Archives: Business

Key details behind Nord Stream pipeline blasts revealed by scientists

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Researchers in Norway reveal further analysis of 2022 explosions as well as a detailed timeline of events

Scientists investigating the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines have revealed key new details of explosions linked to the event, which remains unsolved on its first anniversary.

Researchers in Norway shared with the Guardian seismic evidence of the four explosions, becoming the first national body to publicly confirm the second two detonations, as well as revealing a detailed timeline of events.

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Everton owner received £400m from Alisher Usmanov companies, documents suggest

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Exclusive: Questions mount over ties between Farhad Moshiri and tycoon, before he was put under sanctions

The Everton Football Club owner, Farhad Moshiri, received more than £400m from Alisher Usmanov companies in the run-up to the Russian billionaire being placed under sanctions, documents suggest, raising fresh questions about the financial ties between the two men.

Records seen by the Guardian appear to show that Moshiri borrowed £145m from a company wholly owned by the Russian-Uzbek tycoon from about 2020.

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Water firms in England and Wales ordered to cut £114m from bills

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Fewer than half of companies meeting their targets on leaks, says the regulator, Ofwat

Water companies in England and Wales have been ordered to return £114m to customers through lower bills next year because progress on leakage and sewage spills has been “too slow”.

In its annual water company performance report, the regulator, Ofwat, said the majority of water and wastewater companies were underperforming on targets set for 2020-25 to deliver better outcomes, for customers and the environment.

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Joe Biden’s visit to the UAW picket line is historic – and may pay off politically

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The president standing ‘in solidarity’ with striking autoworkers is a powerful gesture that could resonate with key blue-collar voters

In the more than 150 years since workers first formed labor unions in the United States, no American president has ever stood “in solidarity” with workers on a picket line. Joe Biden has vowed to do exactly that with striking autoworkers in Michigan on Tuesday.

“This is genuinely new – I don’t think it’s ever happened before, a president on a picket line,” said Nelson Lichtenstein, a longtime labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “Candidates do it frequently and prominent senators, but not a president.”

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Asos cuts profit forecast after wet summer hit sales

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Online fashion retailer says it has reduced its stock levels by 30% amid fall in customer numbers

The online fashion retailer Asos said sales in July and August were hit by wet weather, prompting it to cut its estimate for annual profits.

Asos said the poor weather compounded weaker online demand for clothing. Total sales declined by 15% in the quarter to 3 September, with the UK down 16%. The sales washout resulted in a £60m hit to cashflow. July was the wettest such month in England since 2009.

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Europe’s banks helped fossil fuel firms raise more than €1tn from global bond markets

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Exclusive: Pan-European investigation looked at thousands of transactions since Paris climate agreement in 2016

Banks including some of Europe’s largest lenders have helped fossil fuel companies to raise more than €1tn (£869bn) from the global bond markets since the Paris climate agreement, according to an investigation by the Guardian and its reporting partners.

In the push to zero carbon, Europe’s biggest lenders face growing pressure to limit their financial support for fossil fuel companies through direct loans and other financing facilities.

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‘Exceptional’: Hollywood writers hail tentative deal to end strike

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Writers Guild of America says agreement on pay and conditions ‘due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power’

The tentative deal reached between Hollywood and studio executives has been received well by those on strike and others within the industry.

Members from the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who took on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) with demands that included better pay and residuals, and safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence, shared their collective relief.

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Gatwick restricts flight numbers for week amid air traffic control problems

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Airport will share 164 cancellations between airlines until Sunday as it seeks to avoid diversions

Thousands of passengers flying to and from Gatwick this week will have their flights cancelled after the airport announced a cap on movements because of a shortage of staff in air traffic control.

Gatwick imposed an immediate cap on Monday of 800 flights taking off or landing a day.

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Australia’s corporate watchdog launches ‘confidential proceedings’ against Deloitte partner

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The partner has been referred to a disciplinary panel for investigation, the firm tells a NSW parliamentary inquiry

A Deloitte partner is facing “confidential proceedings” launched by the corporate watchdog after being referred to a disciplinary panel for investigation.

The big four accounting firm told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry the partner was still employed but would not be performing audit work until the investigation was finalised.

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Petrostate windfall tax would help poor countries in climate crisis, says Brown

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Former British PM calls for 3% levy on oil and gas export revenues of biggest producers to generate $25bn a year for global south

Petrostates should pay a small percentage of their soaring oil and gas revenues to help poor countries cope with the climate crisis, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has urged.

Countries with large oil and gas deposits have enjoyed a record bonanza in the last two years, amounting to about $4tn (£3.3tn) last year for the industry globally. Levying a 3% windfall tax on the oil and gas export revenues of the biggest-producing countries would yield about $25bn a year.

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Unilever to make payments to Kenyan tea pickers over 2007 plantation attacks

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UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack

Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.

The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.

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Great British slowdown has hamstrung our economy – thinktank

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Country needs successful firms to grow and struggling ones to shrink, says Resolution Foundation

The UK needs more businesses to fail, or at least shrink, to solve the economy’s long-running productivity crisis, a study has argued.

The country’s lack of “economic dynamism”, whereby weaker firms or lower productivity sectors shrink, and more productive ones grow, has caused GDP to be 4% lower between 2008 and 2019 than it would otherwise have been, according to a paper published on Monday by the Resolution Foundation.

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Carmakers call on EU to delay 10% tariff on electric vehicle exports

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Manufacturers expect levy agreed in Brexit deal to hand chunk of market to global firms, including China

Car giants including Renault, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have called on EU leaders to “act now” and delay plans for a 10% tariff on electric car exports from Europe.

Renault’s chief, Luca de Meo, led the calls, saying that if the EU did not take action then policymakers would simply be “handing a chunk of the market to global manufacturers” including Chinese companies, which are making significant inroads.

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Albanese government pledges $41m for six Tafe centres of excellence and more higher apprenticeships

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White paper to be released on Monday promises new policy initiatives including national skills passport

The Albanese government will spend an extra $41m in a bid to double higher apprenticeships in the care economy, digitisation and net zero, three priorities identified by the employment white paper.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will release the white paper on Monday, promising nine new policy initiatives including a national skills passport and the bid to boost Tafe with six new centres of excellence around Australia.

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Lachlan Murdoch ‘doubling down’ on right-wing strategy with Tony Abbott’s nomination to Fox board, say critics

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Endorsement of former Australian prime minister revealed a day after Rupert Murdoch retired as chair of Fox and News Corp

The endorsement of former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott for a position on Fox Corporation’s board by Lachlan Murdoch shows he is “doubling down” on the company’s “right-wing crusading”, critics say.

Murdoch welcomed the nomination in one of his first moves since being announced as sole chair of both Fox and News Corp this week following the retirement of his father, Rupert Murdoch, at the age of 92.

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The vast majority of NFTs are now worthless, new report shows

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Two years after tech trend that swept up artists and celebrities, researchers estimate 23 million people hold worthless investments

Tens of thousands of NFTs that were once deemed the newest rage in tech and dragged in celebrities, artists and even Melania Trump have now been declared virtually worthless.

According to a new report by dappGambl that reviewed data from NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap, 69,795 out of 73,257 NFT collections have a market cap of 0 Ether, leaving 95% of those holding NFT collections – or 23 million people – with worthless investments.

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Sainsbury’s launches bridal collection with £22 Tu wedding dress

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The supermarket hopes its new range will see cash-conscious brides stepping from one aisle to another

Milk, bread, eggs … wedding dress? Brides-to-be can usually be found browsing in chic boutiques or stuffy department stores but now Sainsbury’s is hoping it can persuade them to hit the supermarket aisle instead as they go in pursuit of the perfect wedding dress.

This week its mass market fashion brand, Tu clothing, launched its first bridal collection.

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Rupert Murdoch’s last move? The Spectator is in his sights

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Rightwing magazine is said to be a favourite of the billionaire and is considered a ‘trophy prize’

Rupert Murdoch may have officially stood aside as chair of his media businesses but he’s still eyeing up what could be his last major UK deal: the purchase of the Spectator magazine.

The rightwing magazine, which is due to be auctioned off next month, is said to be a favourite of the billionaire, who used his resignation statement to claim much of the media is “in cahoots” with elites who have “open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class”.

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Coming up for heir: News Corp in uncharted waters with Lachlan Murdoch at the helm

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Murdoch Jr does not have the same love for print as father Rupert but newspapers’ influence remains a drawcard for the new boss

Lachlan Murdoch started his leadership training at News Corp more than three decades ago, but exactly how he will steer the media empire remains largely unknown after the decision by his father to step aside.

There have been times when Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son and nominated successor has forged his own path in business – and the record is patchy.

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Greens want superannuation theft made a crime in Labor’s workplace bill

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Senator Barbara Pocock says unpaid super is costing workers at least $3.3bn a year, while wage theft losses are about $1.3bn

The Greens have urged the Albanese government to make superannuation theft a crime, after failure to pay super was not included in the proposed wage theft offence in Labor’s closing loopholes bill.

The Greens’ employment spokesperson, Senator Barbara Pocock, has warned that unpaid super is costing workers at least $3.3bn a year, more than double the amount estimated to be lost through wage theft ($1.3bn).

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