Category Archives: Business

Rishi Sunak prepares to confirm scrapping of Manchester leg of HS2

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Tory mayor of West Midlands says PM in danger of ‘cancelling the future’ as bitter row threatens to derail conference

Rishi Sunak has become embroiled in a bitter row with regional politicians, the transport industry and members of his own party as he prepared to announce the cancellation of the multibillion high speed rail line to Manchester.

The prime minister is set to call an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, where ministers are expected to give their approval to the biggest infrastructure climbdown in a generation.

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Trump attacks New York court for fraud trial that threatens his business career

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Ex-president rails against judge and prosecutors accusing him of years-long fraud they say inflated his wealth by as much as $2.2bn

Donald Trump attacked the judge and New York prosecutors who have charged him with orchestrating a years-long fraud on Monday as state prosecutors accused the former president of using the scam to inflate his wealth by as much as $2.2bn.

Trump arrived at a New York court just a few miles south of Trump Tower on Monday for the first day of a fraud trial that could see the former president and his family business paying hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and that has already threatened to end his business career in the city where it started.

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J-pop agency Johnny & Associates to change name amid sexual abuse scandal

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Japanese talent agency to create new firm to manage artists as it tries to distance itself from disgraced founder

The Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, whose late founder has been accused of sexually abusing hundreds of boys and young men, will change its name and establish a new firm to manage upcoming artists, as it struggles to repair its battered reputation.

The agency’s president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, told a televised press conference on Monday that the company would be renamed Smile-Up, as part of its attempts to distance itself from its disgraced founder, Johnny Kitagawa.

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Inflation uptick increases risk of another RBA interest rate rise, economists say

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First Reserve Bank meeting under new governor Michele Bullock has the potential to surprise after CPI spike

Australia’s inflation rate has picked up again, increasing the risk households will need to endure yet another rate rise before Christmas.

While most traders and economists expect the Reserve Bank board will keep the official cash rate steady at 4.1% when they gather on Tuesday, that outcome is not set in stone and the meeting has the potential to surprise.

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Tory swing voters switch to Labour after Sunak’s green retreat, poll finds

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Survey shows nearly 90% of 2019 Conservative voters say green industry is vital to UK’s economic growth

Almost nine in 10 voters who intend to switch their support from Conservative to Labour candidates in the next general election believe that “green growth” is important for the future of Britain’s economy, according to a poll.

Carried out by pollsters Opinium, the survey found that 82% of all respondents backed the growth of Britain’s green industry to boost the economy, in the same week that the prime minister announced a series of U-turns on the government’s green commitments in an attempt to create a dividing line with Labour before the election.

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Travel website Booking.com leaves hoteliers thousands of dollars out of pocket

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As the website boasts about increased revenue, some partners say they have not been paid for months

Travel website Booking.com has left many hotel operators and other partners across the globe thousands of dollars out of pocket for months on end, blaming the lack of payment on a “technical issue”.

The issue is widespread in Thailand, Indonesia and Europe among hoteliers who are venting their frustrations in Facebook groups as rumours swirl about the cause of the failure to pay.

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Rail passengers in England face further strike disruption

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Saturday train services halted as Aslef drivers begin industrial action in long-running pay dispute

Rail passengers are facing another day of disruption as a strike by train drivers halts virtually all national rail services in England.

Members of the Aslef union have started a 24-hour walkout in the long-running pay dispute, targeting the start of the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

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Sandwich price shocks but meal deal costs rise less than average food inflation

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Pret a Manger’s ‘posh’ cheese and pickle sandwich grabbed headlines for its £7.15 price tag, but it’s not all gloom

It’s not often that a cheese and pickle sandwich turns heads, but this week Pret a Manger’s “posh” version grabbed headlines after a tweet decrying its £7.15 price tag went viral.

Although that included VAT for eating in, the social media post shone a spotlight on the rising cost of lunch on the go, as the soaring cost of ingredients has been passed on to consumers.

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Head of Australia’s competition watchdog calls for new mandate to police airline industry

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Exclusive: Gina Cass-Gottlieb says ACCC needs greater powers to help new entrants compete with Qantas and Virgin

The head of the competition watchdog has called for a fresh mandate from the Albanese government to monitor the airline industry and help new entrants compete with established players Qantas and Virgin.

The chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said the regulator sees “a case” for a mandate to look into competition, prices and industry practices after an earlier direction expired in June.

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UK mortgage approvals hit six-month low as interest rates cool market

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Number of house sales also fell in August compared with a year earlier, says HMRC

UK mortgage approvals fell in August to their lowest level in six months, as high interest rates cooled the housing market.

The Bank of England said net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell from 49,500 in July to 45,400 in August and were down by a third from the same month last year.

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UK economy makes stronger recovery from pandemic than first thought

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Revisions to figures show stronger performance than Germany and France but momentum starts to stall

The UK economy made a faster recovery from the Covid pandemic than previously estimated, according to revisions to official figures revealing a stronger performance than Germany and France.

In a boost for Rishi Sunak before the Conservative party conference in Manchester beginning this weekend, revised figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed gross domestic product was 1.8% above pre-pandemic levels at the end of the second quarter this year.

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Evergrande founder ‘being investigated for suspected crimes’

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Chinese group’s statement about chair Hui Ka Yan piles on the woe for once top-selling property developer

The founder of China’s Evergrande is being investigated over suspected “illegal crimes”, the group has said, as creditors become increasingly concerned about the prospects of the world’s most indebted property developer.

Evergrande Group, which has more than $300bn (£245bn) in total liabilities, did not say whether Hui Ka Yan was still in a position to run the company, or what crimes he was being investigated for.

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Investigation launched into killings and evictions on World Bank tourism project

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Tanzania government blamed for violence against villagers in national park, while thousands more people face losing their homes

The World Bank is investigating allegations of killings, rape and forced evictions made by villagers living near the site of a proposed tourism project it is funding in Tanzania.

The bank has been accused of “enabling” alleged violence by the Tanzanian government to make way for a $150m (£123m) project ministers say will protect the environment and attract more tourists to Ruaha national park.

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Europe’s olive oil supply running out after drought – and the odd hailstorm

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Heatwaves around Mediterranean have damaged harvests and forced producers to import from South America

Europe has almost run out of local olive oil supplies and is set for more shortages, after extreme weather damaged harvests for a second year.

The world’s largest producer has said it is having to import supplies from South America to keep up with demand.

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PwC tax leak scandal not isolated to Australia, senators claim

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Accounting firm says no evidence confidential information used by partners outside Australia for commercial gain

The politicians who exposed PwC’s leak of government secrets have claimed the scandal is not isolated to Australia, citing emails that reveal global partners knew they received confidential material and provided assistance.

Confirmation that PwC Australia partners shared confidential details about multinational tax plans triggered an internal investigation, released on Wednesday, which exposed a culture where “revenue is king” and profit is sometimes prioritised above ethics.

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Pakistan welcomes fast-fashion brand Boohoo despite poor staff safety claims

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Call to set up role comes as report alleges retailer uses factories that violate minimum-wage requirements and workers’ rights

Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, has reportedly asked the British fast-fashion brand Boohoo to increase its presence in the country, despite claims that it has failed to tackle poor conditions at its suppliers’ factories there.

In a meeting with Kakar this week, Mahmud Kamani, chairman of Boohoo Group, expressed an interest in establishing long-term buying linkages with Pakistan, according to Radio Pakistan.

Kakar pointed out Pakistan’s pro-investment policies and facilities, and invited Boohoo to open franchises in the country, which is in economic turmoil, with a record inflation rate of 36.4%.

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China lifts trade restrictions as relationship improves – as it happened

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Trade minister Don Farrell welcomes ‘positive step forward’ but says Australia pressing for all remaining restrictions to be lifted. This blog is now closed

Chalmers also declared the government is not “currently contemplating” a fuel subsidy, as prices continue to rise.

It comes after new data released yesterday showed cost of living is still increasing, with fuel costs jumping 9.1% in August, gas up 12.9% and electricity 12.7%.

It’s not something that we are currently contemplating. And one of the reasons for that is we’ve got I think, a much better way of providing cost of living help for people.

Historically, what the Reserve Bank tries to do is to understand the overall direction of travel.

And the direction of travel has been really clear, inflation is moderating overall, we’ll get these bumpy and lumpy figures month to month from time to time, but it’s moderating overall.

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Evergrande halts share trading as woes mount for China’ property giant

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Suspension comes a month after developer resumed trading and follows its chair reportedly being put under police surveillance

Embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande has suspended share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange only a month after it resumed trading after a 17-month suspension.

Trading in its two other units – the property services and electric vehicle groups – also stopped at 9am on Thursday, according to notices posted by the stock exchange.

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Tory peer cleared for second time of breaking lobbying rules over PPE contracts

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Watchdog says there is insufficient evidence Lord Chadlington breached rules over £50m in contracts

A Conservative peer has been cleared of breaking lobbying rules for a second time by the House of Lords watchdog over introducing a company that was awarded government PPE contracts worth £50m.

The watchdog had been asked to reopen his investigation into Lord Chadlington after it emerged that there was an exchange with the government that had not been fully provided to his first inquiry.

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UK go-ahead for North Sea oil and gas field angers environmental groups

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Campaigners including Greta Thunberg had called for halt to Rosebank project involving Oslo-listed Equinor

Britain has given the go-ahead to develop the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland, sparking outrage from environmental campaigners.

The UK oil and gas regulator’s decision to grant the Oslo-listed Equinor and the British firm Ithaca Energy permission to develop the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea was condemned by the Green party MP Caroline Lucas as “the greatest act of environmental vandalism in my lifetime”.

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