‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups

Simon Squibb plans to provide small businesses with rent-free space after bidding £25,000 for disused stairs

An entrepreneur who woke up homeless in a stairwell at the age of 15 with his first business idea has spent £25,000 on a disused stairwell to provide a rent-free space in London for small businesses to fulfil their dreams.

Simon Squibb, who retired at 40 after selling Fluid, his marketing agency, to PricewaterhouseCoopers, hopes the stairwell in Twickenham, south-west London, will provide a showcase for owners of small businesses.

Continue reading...

Bloomsbury USA president dies in speedboat collision in Italy

Adrienne Vaughan was on family holiday and reportedly fell overboard when speedboat collided with a sailboat

Adrienne Vaughan, the 45-year-old president of the US branch of the Bloomsbury publishing house, has been killed after a collision between a speedboat and a 45-metre sailboat on Italy’s Amalfi coast.

Vaughan was on holiday in Italy with her husband and two children when the collision happened on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Competition watchdog blocks ANZ $4.9bn takeover of Suncorp over ‘oligopoly’ fears

ACCC says second-tier banks such as Suncorp are important competitors against major banks which dominate market

The competition regulator has declined to give ANZ permission to acquire Suncorp’s banking arm in a $4.9bn transaction that would have shaken up the banking industry.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said on Friday the proposed acquisition would “further entrench an oligopoly” in a sector already dominated by the four major banks.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt requests inquiry into ‘debanking’ of politicians

Chancellor wants Financial Conduct Authority to investigate whether practice is ‘widespread’

Jeremy Hunt has asked the financial regulator to urgently investigate whether banks are barring politicians from accounts on a “widespread” basis, after Nigel Farage had his account shut down by private bank Coutts.

The chancellor said everyone must be able to express their opinions and people must have access to banking.

Continue reading...

Nintendo jumps to £1bn profits powered by Super Mario film

Movie drives sales of Switch gaming consoles as well as Super Mario title as Legend of Zelda also does well

The success of The Super Mario Bros Movie and the new Zelda video game helped to boost Nintendo’s bottom line on Thursday as the Japanese gaming company reported an 82% increase in profits.

It said its operating profit in the three months to 30 June rose to 185.4bn yen (£1bn), with the April release of the film – currently the biggest box office hit of 2023 – driving sales of Super Mario titles and the latest Legend of Zelda game also doing well.

Continue reading...

US healthcare workers focus on pay and understaffing in fight for new contracts

Over 85,000 workers hold pickets at 50 facilities across US as union contracts set to expire on 30 September

Unions representing more than 85,000 healthcare workers have held pickets at 50 facilities across California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado amid new contract negotiations as their current union contracts are set to expire on 30 September.

The negotiations at Kaiser Permanente are the third largest set of contract negotiations in the US in 2023, behind the 340,000 workers at UPS who will be voting on a tentative agreement this month that was reached days before planned strike action, and 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis whose contracts are set to expire on 14 September.

Continue reading...

More pain in store – tough-talking Bank raises UK interest rates and a few eyebrows

Rise to 5.25% comes as no surprise but Bank of England’s language will frighten many

If it isn’t hurting it isn’t working. That was the message from John Major, then chancellor, in 1989 during a previous period when interest rates were being used to combat high inflation. And it was the message rammed home by the Bank of England on Thursday.

Any hard-pressed households or struggling business looking for comfort from Threadneedle Street would have been disappointed by news that the pain will continue and is likely to intensify. Interest rates may not yet have peaked.

Continue reading...

Budget retailer Wilko set to call in administrators, risking 12,000 jobs

Household goods retailer with about 400 stores files notice of intention as it tries to secure finances

Budget retailer Wilko has said it plans to appoint administrators in a move that could put 12,000 jobs at risk.

The household and garden products retailer, which has about 400 stores, said in a notice of intention filed at the high court on Thursday that it had appointed the advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in recent months to try to find a buyer in an attempt to secure additional cash needed to keep trading.

Continue reading...

Bank of England warns interest rates will remain high for at least two years

Policymakers vote for quarter-point rise to 5.25% – the 14th hike in a row – but BoE rules out prospect of recession

The Bank of England has warned businesses and households that the cost of borrowing will remain high for at least the next two years as it raised interest rates for the 14th consecutive time to 5.25%.

Ruling out the likelihood of a recession over the next two years, policymakers blamed strong wages growth in recent months for the need to increase interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to the highest level for 15 years.

Continue reading...

Kenya halts Worldcoin data collection over privacy and security concerns

Issues raised include use of eye scans to prove ‘humanness’ and financial inducements to sign up

The Kenyan government has barred the eyeball-scanning Worldcoin cryptocurrency project from recruiting new customers as it investigates data privacy and security concerns.

Kenya’s interior ministry said the venture must stop collecting user data after raising a number of issues including: concerns over the secure storage of data that includes scans of a user’s iris; that offering crypto in exchange for data “borders on inducement”; inadequate information on cybersecurity safeguards; and placing large amounts of private data in the hands of a private business.

Continue reading...

Energy bosses at No 10 summit warn investor confidence is waning

Chiefs say UK’s troubled economy and political uncertainty is dampening enthusiasm for clean energy rollout

The bosses behind Britain’s multibillion-pound clean energy rollout have warned the government that the UK’s difficult economic circumstances and political uncertainty have taken a toll on investor confidence.

About 20 industry bosses representing companies from across the sector attended a summit at No 10 to discuss their plans to invest more than £100bn in the UK economy.

Continue reading...

Asda publishes daily petrol prices online after pressure from watchdog

Other retailers say they are working with government on implementing industry-wide comparison service

Asda has begun publishing local fuel prices at its forecourts online, becoming the first retailer to launch the service following pressure from the competition watchdog and MPs over widened profit margins at the pump.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called on the government to introduce legislation to ensure fuel retailers provide up-to-date pricing for a new industry-wide comparison service.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: NSW to review ‘red flags’ systems after child abuse charges; premier calls for urgent meeting of state agencies

Chris Minns calls meeting of state government agencies after Queensland childcare worker was charged with 1,623 child abuse offences. Follow live news updates today

In a back and forth between Patricia Karvelas and prime minister Anthony Albanese on whether he supports a federal treaty, he says the no voice to parliament campaign is trying to muddy the waters:

What the no campaign want to do is to focus on everything that’s not happening.

What is happening is a vote in the last quarter of this year for a voice to parliament. And what that is about is recognising First Nations people in our constitution and then listening to Indigenous Australians so as to get better results. That’s what the focus is on. And what I find, I think, very enlightening, is … the no campaign want to talk about everything except for the question.

Well, where does it say that? It doesn’t even say that in the Uluru statement. It doesn’t say that, it doesn’t speak about the commonwealth negotiating treaties. It doesn’t say that Patricia. So don’t get sucked into it.

Today, the Greens need to vote for this legislation. You can’t say that you’re supporting housing, supply, public housing and then vote against it.

I’m not prepared to negotiate on Radio National, Patricia. People talk all the time across the parliament all the time.

Continue reading...

TUC urges Bank of England to halt ‘reckless’ interest rate increases

Unions say widespread job losses in recent months have left UK ‘teetering on the brink of recession’

The TUC has urged the Bank of England to call a halt to interest rate increases after warning that widespread job losses in recent months have left the UK “teetering on the brink of recession”.

Employment had fallen in more than half of Britain’s 20 industrial sectors in the three months to June, the union body said as it predicted a fresh increase in the cost of borrowing would put tens of thousands more livelihoods at risk.

Continue reading...

Armed robbers escape with up to €15m in jewellery from Piaget store in Paris

Investigation under way after theft at Swiss luxury watch shop on Rue de la Paix in high-end Place Vendôme area

Armed robbers have raided a store of the luxury Swiss watch brand Piaget in central Paris, escaping with between €10m to €15m ( £8.5m to 12.8m) worth of jewellery, the Paris prosecutors office said.

The robbery took place around lunchtime on Tuesday at the store on the Rue de la Paix in the high-end Place Vendôme area, home to several jewellers, watchmakers and luxury brands. The area has seen a spate of armed robberies in recent years.

Continue reading...

Billionaire investor threatens to pull out of UK amid global outcry at new oil rush

Australian mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest criticises ‘clickbait’ fossil fuel plans as others say Britain has lost credibility

The billionaire Australian mining tycoon and investor Andrew Forrest has led international condemnation of the UK’s new oil rush, saying he would pull his major investment from the country if the prime minister pursued “clickbait” fossil fuel policies.

The iron ore magnate, who also runs the Minderoo Foundation philanthropic organisation, threatened to move his investments out of the UK over Rishi Sunak’s swivel towards new oil and gas drilling.

Continue reading...

Climate activists target Woodside CEO’s home in protest, company claims

Meg O’Neill says protesters trespassed at her Perth home on Tuesday amid climate backlash over Burrup Hub expansion

Climate activists have targeted the family home of Woodside Energy’s boss in what the company claimed was the escalation of protests over its gas business.

The firm’s chief executive, Meg O’Neill, said “extremist” protesters accompanied by camera crews trespassed on Tuesday morning at her Perth home in the affluent suburb of City Beach.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Royal Mail uses drones to deliver post in the Orkney islands

Service between Stromness to Hoy and Graemsay is Royal Mail’s first permanent drone delivery service

Royal Mail has begun using drones to deliver post in the Orkney islands, helping pave the way for drone deliveries to islands around the UK and on the mainland during emergencies.

The service between the village of Stromness on Orkney’s main island to the nearby islands of Hoy and Graemsay, using aircraft able to carry up to 6kg, is Royal Mail’s first permanent drone delivery service.

Continue reading...

HSBC more than doubles profits as interest rates soar

Bank says it earned £17bn in first half and will hand more money back to shareholders

HSBC more than doubled its profits in the first half of the year, as rising interest rates increased returns for the London-headquartered lender.

The bank reported pre-tax profits of $21.7bn (£17bn) in the first six months of 2023, up from $8.8bn during the same period last year, despiteputting aside more money to protect against potential defaults, as rising living costs put pressure on customers’ finances.

Continue reading...

Leak reveals ‘touchy’ issues for UAE’s presidency of UN climate summit

Exclusive: Long list of ‘sensitive’ topics for petrostate include oil and gas production, emissions and Yemen war crimes

A comprehensive list of “touchy and sensitive issues” for the United Arab Emirates, which is running the next UN climate summit, has been revealed in a document leaked to the Guardian.

The document sets out the government-approved “strategic messages” to be used in response to media requests about the issues, which range from the UAE’s increasing production of oil and gas to people trafficking.

Continue reading...