Pipeline flows from Russia have fallen to historic lows, but shipments of LNG from all over the world have surged
EU imports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) have increased by 40% since the invasion of Ukraine despite efforts to cut down supplies.
Member states have bought more than half of Russia’s LNG on the market in the first seven months of this year, according to analysis of data by Kpler, which tracks marine and tanker traffic.
Continue reading...Demand for travel results in 41% rise but air traffic control industrial action across Europe affects timings
Passenger numbers at Gatwick airport soared to 19 million during the first six months of the year, according to its operator, although air traffic control strikes across Europe contributed to an increase in delayed departures and landings.
Demand for travel resulted in 41% more passengers travelling through the airport between January and June compared with 2022 – when Covid restrictions were still in place – Gatwick said as it released half-year results.
Continue reading...Labor bill gives Fair Work Commission power to set minimum standards for hundreds of thousands of ‘employee-like workers’ on digital platforms
Gig economy workers in Australia including ride-share drivers and food delivery riders could soon benefit from minimum pay and protection against “unfair deactivation”.
Under a bill to be introduced by the Albanese government next week, the Fair Work Commission will be given the power to set minimum standards for hundreds of thousands of “employee-like workers” on digital platforms from 1 July 2024.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Report says optics of western firms organising Xinjiang tours amid ‘crimes against humanity are disastrous’
Uyghur advocates have called on western tourism companies to stop selling package holidays that take visitors through Xinjiang, where human rights abuses by authorities have been called a genocide by some governments.
The request comes as China reopens to foreign visitors after the pandemic, and as its leader, Xi Jinping, calls for more tourism to the region.
Continue reading...Larger than expected fall reduces likelihood Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates again
Australia’s inflation rate eased last month to its lowest level in 17 months, led by falling prices for fresh produce and automotive fuel, reducing the likelihood the Reserve Bank will need to raise interest rates again.
The consumer price index for July came in at an annual rate of 4.9%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday. That rate was slower than the 5.4% pace in June and compared with economists’ forecast for CPI to drop to 5.2%.
Continue reading...Interest rate rises on mortgages are weakening demand, property website says
The number of UK homes sold this year is expected to fall to the lowest level in more than a decade, as the soaring cost of mortgages puts off homebuyers.
House sales reaching completion are expected to fall 21% year-on-year to about 1m in 2023, the lowest level since 2012, according to a report from the property website Zoopla.
Continue reading...Slowdown in household spending is finally flowing through to Australia’s jobs market, according to the latest forecasts from Deloitte Access Economics
Australia’s dream run with near record low unemployment is tipped to end due to weaker household consumption, with the jobless rate expected to increase from 3.7% to 4.5% by mid next year.
That is the conclusion of the latest Deloitte Access Economics employment forecasts, which attribute economic slowdown in part to the delayed effect of faster-than-expected rate rises by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Continue reading...Move is likely to further sour relations after months of industrial action over pay dispute
Network Rail has withheld annual bonuses from its union members who took part in strikes, in a move that threatens to further sour industrial relations.
The state-owned railway infrastructure manager settled the pay dispute with its workforce in March this year, after RMT members voted to accept a rise worth 9% over two years.
Continue reading...World’s biggest carbon emitter approving equivalent of two new coal plants a week, analysis shows
China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets.
The government has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, and in 2021 the president, Xi Jinping, promised to stop building coal powered plants.
Continue reading...PM weighs in on expiring credits but government defends blocking Qatar airways from increasing its flights to Australia
The Australian government has defended its decision to block Qatar airways from almost doubling its flights to Australia, but has distanced itself from Qantas by insisting the national airline should compensate customers for pandemic flight credits.
On Tuesday Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to consumer anger about $470m of unclaimed Qantas and Jetstar flight credits, and the assistant minister for competition, Andrew Leigh, called for the introduction of more low-cost carriers to bring prices down.
Continue reading...Property developer’s value fell by more than $2bn as stock resumed trading after 17-month suspension
Shares in Evergrande fell a further 13% on Tuesday after more than $2bn was wiped off the Chinese property developer’s market value when it resumed trading for the first time in almost 18 months on Monday.
Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property firm with liabilities of $328bn (£260bn), has lost more than 99% of its share market value over the past three years.
Continue reading...Transport minister rules out cyber-attack after hundreds of flights to and from the UK cancelled
Flight passengers will be affected by UK air traffic control failures for days, the transport secretary has warned as he urged airlines to step up and fulfil their responsibilities to passengers.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mark Harper said National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which provides the air traffic control systems in the UK, had apologised for the disruption, adding: “I’d like to add my apology to that.”
Continue reading...Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones blames ‘failure of planning and oversight’ by previous Coalition government
The Albanese government is abandoning an attempt to modernise the way businesses record public information such as the identity of company directors, after a review found the Coalition-era project would run more than $2bn over budget.
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, is now considering the review’s call to instead spend a further $515m returning registry functions to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and investing to improve data integrity in other ways.
Continue reading...Last-minute white knight bid worth £90m from M2 Capital follows earlier offer from owner of HMV
Wilko’s administrators are facing pressure to accept a rescue deal for the ailing budget retailer after a second last-minute white knight bid worth £90m emerged from an Anglo-Canadian private equity firm.
The gardening to beauty retailer, which has 400 stores and employs almost 12,500 people, called in administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this month after running short of cash. Shops are expected to close within weeks, with thousands of job losses unless a buyout can be secured.
Continue reading...The Yindjibarndi people say WA and Andrew Forrest’s mining company must pay for the destruction of sacred country and community
In the heart of the Pilbara, two cultures and two systems of law have collided in the red dirt – and in a bitterly contested native title case being fought in the federal court.
To the Fortescue Metals Group – the mining company founded and chaired by billionaire Andrew Forrest – and the state of Western Australia, that red dirt means one thing: iron ore.
Continue reading...The firm joined the other big four consultancies in calling for the world-leading regime to be postponed or watered down
PwC, the other big four consultancies and the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia were among the entities that urged the federal government to delay and water down proposed multinational tax transparency laws.
Australia’s proposed country-by-country reporting would make it a world leader in tax transparency, compelling multinationals to publish detailed location-specific information about their revenue, expenses and effective tax rate to deter profit shifting and tax avoidance.
Continue reading...Dutch multinational brewer takes €300m loss from transfer of assets to Russia’s Arnest Group
Heineken has completed its lengthy exit from Russia with the sale of its operations there for a symbolic €1, after Moscow clamped down on asset sales in retaliation for western sanctions.
The Dutch brewer, which also owns the Amstel, Birra Moretti and Tiger brands, said it would be taking a €300m loss as a result of the sale, which will see it transfer all of its remaining assets, including seven breweries, to Russia’s Arnest Group.
Continue reading...Jay Powell tells symposium in Wyoming that inflation is still too high but that US central bank will ‘keep at it until the job is done’
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell used a closely watched speech on Friday to warn that the fight against inflation in the US is not over.
Speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said inflation was still too high and that interest rates may have to rise further to tamp it down.
Continue reading...Fund aims to help struggling winemakers as they adjust to consumers’ changing habits
The French government has announced it is to set aside €200m to fund the destruction of surplus wine production in an attempt to support struggling producers and shore up prices.
Several major wine-producing regions in France, particularly the Bordeaux area, are struggling because of a cocktail of problems including changes in consumption habits, the cost of living crisis and the after-effects of Covid-19.
Continue reading...UK agency also shuts other high-profile cases including Rio Tinto investigation
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has abandoned a criminal investigation into the Kazakh mining group ENRC, ending a decade-long corruption inquiry mired in controversy.
The SFO updated its website on Thursday with a notice that it had closed the case after concluding there was “insufficient admissible evidence” to prosecute the company.
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