Category Archives: Business

‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts

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Move would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to potentially profit from seeing president’s posts first

Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets.

The move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news first from top Truth Social contributors so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates.

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China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with nationalisation of British Steel

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Move dealt ‘severe blow to Chinese companies’ confidence in investing in the UK’, says Ministry of Commerce

China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.

On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced.

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‘How’s this joker got my details?’: BrewDog founder faces complaints over emails to ‘equity punks’

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Exclusive: Watchdog asked to look into how James Watt got data of ex-crowdfunders he invited to join buy-back bid

James Watt, the BrewDog founder who sold the debt-laden “punk” brewer earlier this year, is the subject of complaints to the UK’s data privacy watchdog linked to his surprise bid to buy the company back, the Guardian has learned.

BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars were sold to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray in March for £33m, in a deal that rendered the shares of more than 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless.

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EU border chaos feared at Dover crossing as busiest summer weekend looms

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British domestic holidays are being pushed to their highest levels since Covid

The start of the peak summer season is set to bring millions of drivers on to British roads, with concerns of traffic chaos as the port of Dover faces its biggest test yet of new EU border controls.

The semi-functioning entry-exit system (EES) is credited, along with the heatwaves and fears about flights after the war in Iran, with helping push British domestic holidays to its highest levels since Covid halted international travel.

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Vodafone settles legal claim brought by 62 former franchisees

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Agreement, without admission of liability, ends 19-month high court dispute that small-business owners said left them with large debts

Vodafone has settled a long-running legal claim filed by 62 of its former franchisees who alleged the mobile phone group “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense by up to £85m.

The small-business owners – some of whom said they had suffered suicidal thoughts because of the pressure exerted by the telecoms group – launched the high court claim in 2024 after running up large personal debts they said had been caused by their deals with the company.

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Australia news live: Barnaby Joyce defends Pauline Hanson’s meeting with Tommy Robinson; police make arrest after man dies in Sydney house fire

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One Nation MP says the media should be prepared to interview far-right activist. Follow today’s news live

Michelle Rowland says mandatory minimum standards for datacentres don’t apply to existing developments

The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, told ABC News that mandatory minimum standards for datacentres would apply to new developments, not existing ones.

The scope and the timing of those is something that I think will be properly determined by national cabinet.

This is an issue that not only state governments but local councils have been dealing with as well.

It goes from being this hunched-over ball of fluff at the top of a tree looking down at you, to suddenly spreading out its limbs and flying over your head like a magical flying carpet, or this weird stingray-UFO thing in the sky.

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Bank of England governor would have put off Farage meeting had £5m gift been under investigation

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Exclusive: Andrew Bailey says he does not regret meeting Reform UK leader to discuss cryptocurrency regulation

The Bank of England governor has said he would have put off a meeting with Nigel Farage last autumn had the Reform UK leader’s £5m gift from a crypto billionaire been under investigation at the time.

Andrew Bailey said he did not regret meeting Farage to discuss the Bank’s plans for cryptocurrency regulation last September, months before the controversial donation from the Thailand-based investor Christopher Harborne was revealed by the Guardian in April.

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China’s economy grows at 4.3%, one of its lowest rates on record

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Worse-than-expected figures for three months to June come amid concerns over lopsided economy

China has posted worse-than-expected growth figures for the three months to June as its economy expanded by just 4.3% – one of its lowest quarterly readings on record.

The rate, which came in under the government’s target of 4.5% to 5%, was one of the weakest since reporting on official quarterly GDP figures began in the early 1990s.

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Thames Water has funds to survive until end of year but warns of uncertainty over future

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Annual results show struggling firm’s net debt has risen to £18.5bn, up from £16.8bn a year earlier

Thames Water has said it has sufficient funding to survive until the end of the year but warned of “material uncertainty” over its future as it scrambles to recapitalise to avoid nationalisation.

The UK’s largest water company, which serves 16 million customers in London and the south of England, said it continued to work with creditors, regulators and the government on a recapitalisation plan.

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Australia news live: NT police still seek answers over 25 year-old murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio

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Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of 28-year-old’s murder but remains were never found

Northern Territory Police have opened evidence boxes to uncover several previously unseen photographs from the investigation of the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio and attempted abduction of his girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous outback disappearance.

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Struggling pub landlords given a lifeline by England’s World Cup heroes

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One manager expects takings to treble during England’s semi-final with Argentina on Wednesday; while national sales are up 10%

The beleaguered pub sector is getting a boost from England’s World Cup run, with some landlords reporting roaring sales as anticipation builds for a bumper night on Wednesday for the semi-final clash with Argentina.

Lisa Mayall, the manager of the British Oak in Kingswinford near Dudley in the West Midlands, was jubilant after England’s 2-1 win against Norway on Saturday night and brisk takings at the pub’s till. She expects hundreds more customers for the team’s next game at 8pm BST.

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Britons give classic round tomato the red card as coloured and vine varieties score

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Premium cherry-on-the-vine are poised to take top spot in Britain’s £1bn-a-year tomato market

For a long time the classic round, red tomato has dominated British salads and sandwiches, but its supremacy is coming under threat as sales of rainbow colours and the upmarket rival “cherry on the vine” take off.

“Non-red tomatoes” sales are up 21% this year, a growth rate that far exceeds the overall market, according to Paul Faulkner, of Evesham Vale Growers.

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EU accused of dragging its feet over ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements

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Foreign ministers will discuss options on Monday but decision on imports is not expected for months

The EU has been accused of dragging its feet over upholding international law, on the eve of a long-awaited debate about banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday will discuss a possible ban on imports from the settlements, against an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where a UN inquiry found Israel to be committing a genocide, and surging state-backed violence in the occupied West Bank, which has killed at least 235 children.

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‘Death sentence’: Trump’s EPA to open habitats of endangered species to logging and mining

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Habitat destruction strongest driver of species loss, with legislation keeping 99% of listed species from going extinct

The Trump administration repealed a crucial part of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Friday, finalizing a new rule that will open habitats of imperiled wildlife to development, logging, mining and other uses.

For the last 50 years, the landmark environmental law included a broader understanding of the word “harm”, which ensured that not just the plants and animals themselves were protected but also the places that are critical to their survival. The inclusion of habitat in the “harm” definition was upheld by the supreme court in 1995, which ruled in support of old-growth forest protections relied on by endangered spotted owls.

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High court rejects most of ‘dieselgate’ claims brought by 1.6m UK car owners

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Carmakers welcome ruling against suit claiming manufacturers including Nissan, Ford and Peugeot fitted devices to defeat emission tests

Car manufacturers have welcomed a high court verdict that rejected most of the allegations in a “dieselgate” claim brought on behalf of 1.6 million UK owners of polluting cars.

In her judgment, Lady Justice Cockerill said that “in the majority of instances, the court found that the relevant strategy did not constitute a prohibited defeat device” – software that enables the engine to behave differently in tests.

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Democrat running for Texas AG claims $110m in grants for Starlink ‘sure looks’ like corruption

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Nathan Johnson says if elected he’ll investigate state’s deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide rural internet

A Texas Democrat running to become the state’s attorney general has said he will investigate Elon Musk’s SpaceX company if elected, saying it “sure looks like” corruption was involved in a deal he said handed the world’s richest man $110m of taxpayers’ money.

Nathan Johnson made the comment in an interview with the Dallas News on Friday, in which he called for greater legislative scrutiny of state grants funneled to SpaceX for its Starlink satellite program, which provides fast internet access for customers in remote areas.

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Ryanair passenger almost sucked out of shattered window during flight

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Serbian man reportedly saved by wife hanging on to his legs after window shattered on journey from Greece

A passenger on a Ryanair flight was reportedly almost sucked out of a window after it shattered in mid-air during a journey from Greece.

The man was said to have been lifted out of his seat into the plane’s slipstream and hung headfirst out of the window after an engine failure resulted in parts smashing the acrylic window, according to local reports.

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Licensed to drill? How a Trump-linked Texas oil company is elbowing its way into Greenland

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Greenland Energy says billions of barrels of crude could lie beneath territory and claims it has permission to bring drilling kit ashore – a claim denied by Nuuk

On 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. “So,” Robert Price said via an interpreter, “we have a project to drill for oil here.”

The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers of drilling kit.

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Taylor defends Sarah Henderson’s triple-zero calls amid questions about claimed Telstra-outage death in SA

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South Australian police say they’re unaware of death despite claim by Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle

Angus Taylor says his shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson was “doing her job” when she “tested” the triple-zero system by making unnecessary calls to it during Telstra’s nationwide outage.

The opposition leader has also dismissed concerns about Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle’s claim that an elderly person died as a result of the outage, after South Australian police said they were unaware of any such death.

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Search under way after Boeing 737 cargo plane goes missing off Pakistan coast

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Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of Karachi

Pakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing.

The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).

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