Category Archives: Business

Up to 6,000 tradies to get free qualifications under Labor scheme – as it happened

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Duniam targets ‘frivolous’ asylum seeker claims

The opposition is “very close” to “having a full migration package”, Duniam says. He says they’re willing to work with the government and that illegal overstayers must be deported.

We spend more per student per year than we ever have before and we’ve got declining standards across the board, and the problem with the curriculum is we have left foundations behind.

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Deadly escalation in Black Sea attacks prompts fears of even higher food prices

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Russian and Ukrainian strikes in July killed more crew than in whole war to that month, preventing grain exports

A summer of hostilities in the Black Sea proved deadly for seafarers, as Russia and Ukraine attacked each other’s ships and port infrastructure, preventing vital grain exports and prompting concerns that the conflict will push global food prices even higher.

More crew were killed in the Black Sea in July than during the entirety of the war before that month as the conflict has intensified, making the body of water the most dangerous in the world for commercial shipping. This is despite the conflict between the US and Iran, with vessels still being targeted in the strait of Hormuz, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

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EV sales outpace petrol cars for first time as Australians dodge soaring fuel costs

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New record for Australia as more than 27,000 EVs sold in August, driven by the rising cost of fuel and new government policy

Electric vehicle sales in Australia exceeded petrol cars for the first time last month as a transformation driven by high fuel prices and government policy encouraging clean car uptake accelerated.

More than 27,000 EVs were sold in August, a new record for a single month and representing 24.9% of new cars sold. The climate-friendly technology surpassed both petrol vehicles (nearly 26,000 sold) and diesel cars (23,600).

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UK mortgage borrowers brace for rate jump amid global bond sell-off

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Swap rates rise to three-year high as increase in oil prices leads to fears of higher inflation

Homeowners in the UK are braced for a jump in mortgage rates, driven by higher inflation and interest rate increase expectations amid turmoil in the global bond markets.

UK swap rates, which lenders use to price mortgages, have risen to a three-year high, as this week’s global bond market sell-off ripples through the economy.

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John Lewis to launch YouTube chatshow to improve AI search results

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Department store chain’s Gift List ‘vodcast’ will be hosted by TV presenter Angela Scanlon

John Lewis is launching an online chatshow and social media studio to help make itself and its products more visible to chatbots and more prominent in AI search results.

The department store chain’s Gift List “vodcast” hosted by the TV presenter Angela Scanlon will air on YouTube with clips disseminated via other social media channels and comes after the success of its sister chain Waitrose’s Dish podcast.

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Dutch central bank moves 86 tonnes of gold to UK from US and Canada, citing ‘geopolitical unrest’

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Bank says gold reserves held in London could be traded more easily and the move will allow it to respond more rapidly in a ‘crisis situation’

The Dutch central bank says it has moved 86 tonnes of its gold reserves out of the US and Canada to London, citing “increasing geopolitical unrest”.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said gold reserves held in London could be traded more easily than those held in New York and Ottawa.

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Burnham beware, the bond markets will demand proper answers in the budget | Nils Pratley

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Fair to say the current sell-off is international, but the PM has said little yet to make investors rethink the UK’s status

It’s too soon to say the bond markets have turned on Andy Burnham. Tuesday’s spike in gilt yields, taking the UK’s 30-year borrowing costs to their highest level since 1998, was part of an international sell-off of government debt.

The main contributors are well known. The Iran war, by increasing the cost of energy, has overturned the comforting start-of-the-year thesis of falling global inflation and interest rates. A plunging Japanese yen has kicked away another assumed source of financial stability. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, hasn’t calmed nerves with his solo, and so far futile, attempt to bring down US yields. Meanwhile, the early stage of the AI revolution is an exercise in issuing squillions of debt before long-term returns on capital can possibly be assessed meaningfully.

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Barclays faces complaint over backing for power plant near world’s largest mangrove forest

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Bangladeshi complainants allege Rampal power station’s pollution and climate risks threaten the Sunderbans, a world heritage site

Barclays Bank is facing a formal complaint over its financial links to a coal-fired power station near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to millions of people in Bangladesh and India.

Three complainants from the region have submitted a case to the UK government’s Office for Responsible Business Conduct, alleging that the British bank breached international guidelines by underwriting companies involved in the emission-heavy Maitree super thermal power project, also known as the Rampal power plant.

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Dyson launches £420 toothbrush that films ‘live cleaning footage’ inside your mouth

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James Dyson says ‘complete dental system’ will also include toothpaste and mouth rinse that each cost £8.50

It is the live stream you never wanted to see but may find impossible to resist: rolling footage beamed live from inside your mouth while you are cleaning your teeth.

Dyson, the home appliance maker that made its name inventing bagless vacuums and bladeless fans, has turned its attention to oral hygiene with a £420 all-singing, all-dancing toothbrush that can clean, floss and even spray tiny jets of mouthwash.

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UK long-term borrowing costs could halve chancellor’s budget headroom

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Yield on 30-year gilts highest since 1998 as rout triggered by global factors underlines tricky backdrop John Healey faces

The chancellor’s headroom against Labour’s fiscal rules could be almost halved at his first budget if the current global bond sell-off persists into the autumn, economists say.

The UK’s long-term borrowing costs jumped to their highest level since early 1998 on Tuesday as investors dumped government bonds, betting on higher inflation.

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Shein shares slide on fast-fashion retailer’s stock market debut

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Hong Kong flotation at $26bn by firm once valued at $100bn follows failure to list in US and UK

Shares in the fast-fashion brand Shein slumped by as much as 10% as the China-founded company made its long-anticipated trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The Singapore-headquartered company, once valued at almost $100bn (£74bn), went public on Tuesday pricing shares at HK$48.56, valuing the business at just over $26bn.

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UK houses near top state secondary schools cost £40,000 more, research reveals

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Premium of nearly 10% paid by housebuyers comparable with cost of a cheaper private school over seven years

A house near a top state secondary school costs an extra £40,000 on average, according to research that reveals education premiums that rank alongside some private school fees.

The average property in a postcode district that includes a top 50 state secondary commands a price tag of £415,791, compared with £375,217 across the wider local authority areas in which those schools are located, a UK-wide analysis by the estate agent Yopa found.

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Iran’s economy in crisis as US launches new sanctions campaign

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Trump’s Operation Economic Outcast is expected to push many Iranians into deeper poverty as food inflation soars

For many Iranians, the new US sanctions campaign, called Operation Economic Outcast, seems superfluous given the grim economic situation in their country.

Iranians are facing runaway food inflation, closed petrol stations and a seemingly never-ending depreciation of the nation’s currency caused by a lack of foreign exchange reserves.

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Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez defends ‘endless’ benefits of her oil deal with Trump

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Deal that will reportedly see US take control of 65bn barrels of Venezuelan oil has provoked outrage in her country

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has defended her government’s highly controversial energy deal with Donald Trump, insisting the South American country will maintain ownership and sovereignty over its massive oil reserves.

Rodríguez, who assumed power in January after Trump ordered the abduction of the president, Nicolás Maduro, took to the airwaves on Saturday to push back against criticism of what the US president has called “the biggest oil deal in world history”.

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Cash settlements on home insurance claims leaving vulnerable Australians short-changed, Asic says

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Corporate regulator finds insurers settling most claims with cash rather than by managing repairs or rebuilding, warning of ‘unfair outcomes’ for homeowners

Home insurers are overwhelmingly paying cash to settle claims, leaving Australians to foot blowouts in repair costs for their cyclone-damaged homes.

The corporate regulator is calling for “realistic” bigger payouts, warning the practice could cause “unfair outcomes” for people already in vulnerable positions.

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Recruiter places ‘phoenix’ firm into liquidation just months after repurchase erased millions in debt

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New company reportedly quickly fell behind with promised repayments to administrator

A recruitment executive who was allowed to buy back the assets of his bust company in instalments, despite it accumulating almost £3m of debt, has placed his new business into liquidation after falling behind with promised payments to the administrator.

The news is the latest event to raise questions about the practice of “phoenixism”, accounting’s controversial art of liquidating companies to allow directors to return with a new entity, free of debts.

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UK asks banks for feelgood stories about keeping out dirty money

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City firms tapped for case studies to try to convince global watchdog that London has cleaned up its act

The government is asking bankers and lawyers to provide feelgood stories about how they blocked dirty money from entering the UK, as ministers try to prove the UK’s money-laundering controls are working.

The Treasury’s call for evidence is meant to illustrate that the UK has upped its game when it comes to preventing financial crime, particularly since its last dismal assessment by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) global crime watchdog in 2018, which fuelled allegations that London had become a hub for “dirty money”.

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Train drivers secure 3.6% pay rise after threat of strikes on busy UK routes

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Deal agreed between Avanti West Coast and Aslef is first to be approved by Burnham government

Train drivers have secured a significant pay rise after the threat of strike action was floated on busy routes across the UK, including on the busy London-Manchester line.

The deal, which was agreed on Saturday between Avanti West Coast and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) union, is the first to be approved by Andy Burnham in his premiership.

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AA could face £5bn takeover move by German insurer Allianz, reports claim

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Breakdown recovery group’s private equity owners reportedly in talks with various suitors to sell company

The German-based financial services company ⁠Allianz is considering a £5bn takeover swoop for AA, ⁠the breakdown ⁠recovery ​group, Sky News has reported.

Allianz was ‌one of a small number of parties holding talks with advisers to AA about a deal, Sky News said, adding that ‌the private equity outfit EQT was another bidder.

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‘Winter panic’: EU gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years

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As one of Europe’s biggest consumers of gas the UK may be particularly exposed to heightened price volatility

Europe is on course to enter the cooler months with gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years, which has triggered “winter panic” among energy traders, experts have warned.

The EU’s gas stocks were 63% full in the last week of August, well below the 80% average for late August over recent years and among the lowest levels ever recorded for this time of year.

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