Campaigners say bank should rush to rescue countries facing recession – but can it do so without resulting in mass debt write-offs?
Not since the early 1990s has the world faced such a period of low growth.
Discounting the havoc caused by the financial crash of 2008 and the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank says that by the end of 2024 it will have been 30 years since the global economy grew at an average of less than 2% a year.
Continue reading...Warhammer achieves record sales of £200m in half-year but says figures for US are flat
The two companies behind Warhammer miniature figures and Scalextric racing sets have enjoyed a good Christmas, while warning about the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Games Workshop – which last month struck a deal with Amazon to create a series based on Warhammer – achieved record sales of more than £200m in the six months to 31 December, its first half.
Continue reading...Talks on rescue deal for battery startup led by DeaLab, which has been involved in fossil fuel transactions
The battery startup Britishvolt is in talks with an Indonesia-linked oil and gas investor for a £160m rescue deal that would almost wipe out the value of existing shareholders’ stakes.
The investor consortium is led by DeaLab Group, a UK-based private equity investor that has been involved in several fossil fuel and renewable energy transactions in Indonesia, and an associated metals business, Barracuda Group.
Continue reading...Matthew Taylor says PM has delayed putting in place many of measures from 2019 manifesto
The Conservatives’ former employment tsar has accused Rishi Sunak of abandoning the party’s commitment to improving workers’ rights after the business minister said many of the policies in the 2019 manifesto would not be implemented imminently.
Matthew Taylor, who was recruited by Theresa May to conduct a wide-ranging review of Britain’s employment laws, said the government had delayed putting in place many of the measures he recommended in 2017.
Continue reading...Plan that is key to Albanese government’s 2030 target will focus on emissions intensity to encourage cleaner practices rather than cutting production
Australia’s big polluting sites will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 5% a year but will face no limits on the use of carbon offsets under the Albanese government’s plan to deal with industrial emitters.
The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, on Tuesday released the government’s plan to revamp the safeguard mechanism, a Coalition policy that was promised to limit emissions from more than 200 industrial facilities, but in practice has failed.
Continue reading...Virgin Orbit’s Start Me Up mission heralded as start of new space era as Boeing 747 to deliver rocket carrying satellites into orbit
A historic rocket mission has set off from Cornwall as a specially converted Boeing 747 heads out over the Atlantic carrying a payload of nine satellites that it will propel into orbit.
Virgin Orbit’s Start Me Up mission is the first launch of satellites from European soil and is being heralded as the start of a new space era for the UK.
Continue reading...Immigration expert says the policy amounts to selling a visa ‘very cheaply’ without a good return on investment
The Australia China Business Council has urged Labor to retain the “golden ticket” significant investor visa after the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, signalled it could be axed.
The council made the call in a submission to the home affairs department’s migration review, which has also reignited debate between business and unions about the level of migration and raising the pay floor for temporary skilled migrants.
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Continue reading...Egyptian authority says vessel was towed away for repairs after briefly disrupting traffic in vital waterway
A Norwegian-owned cargo ship briefly ran aground in the Suez canal before being refloated and towed away, according to the Egyptian authority running the vital waterway.
The vessel, which had experienced a sudden technical failure, was being removed by tugboats for repairs, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief, Osama Rabie, said on Monday. Maritime traffic was normal, he added.
Continue reading...Redundancies expected to be concentrated in investment banking division and consumer arm
Goldman Sachs is expected to start one of the biggest rounds of redundancies in its history this week, with as many as 3,200 jobs to go as it looks to cut costs.
The bank is expected to begin informing people that they will lose their jobs on Wednesday.
Continue reading...New scheme for companies, charities and public sector organisations to offer discount on wholesale prices
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is poised to announce a cut to the financial support offered to businesses to help with their energy bills.
A new scheme to provide support for businesses, charities and public sector organisations at a less generous level than the current scheme is expected to be presented in the House of Commons on Monday.
Continue reading...Discount supermarket’s sales rise by a quarter year on year in four weeks to 25 December
Lidl gained 1.3 million British shoppers in the Christmas period compared with a year earlier as the supermarket benefited from people cutting back on spending.
The German-owned chain said the Friday before Christmas was its busiest ever day as sales rose by a quarter compared with the previous year as shoppers switched from other supermarkets in greater numbers.
Continue reading...Exclusive: 182 experts say only debt cancellation offers chance of recovery but private investors are playing hardball
Some of the world’s most powerful hedge funds and other investors are holding up vital help for crisis-hit Sri Lanka by their hardline stance in debt-relief negotiations after the Asian country’s $51bn (£42bn) default last year, according to 182 economists and development experts from around the world.
In a statement released to the Guardian on Sunday, the group said extensive debt cancellation was needed to give the economy a chance of recovery and that Sri Lanka would be a test case of the willingness of the international community to tackle a looming global debt crisis.
Continue reading...Firms such as Animals at Home offer range of care services and can step in when pets are in trouble
The day did not begin as expected for Verity Hope. She had been due to spend a wet November morning making a trip to a vet with a reactive dog, but the client phoned in sick. Then another job cropped up: taking a dead rabbit to a pet crematorium.
It may seem an eclectic set of requests, but for Verity and her animal ambulance it is the norm. Since the start of the pandemic, 4.7m households have acquired a new pet. Changes in work patterns and everyday pressures mean many need support.
Continue reading...Female workers tell of exploitation and sexual assault at frankincense warehouse supplying US essential oils company
“I’m not speaking metaphorically – a bottle of doTERRA essential oil can change the world,” says David Stirling, a mild, clean-cut, middle-aged man. His largely female audience cheers and whistles, as if for a celebrity. Stirling, then CEO and co-founder of doTERRA, a Utah-based multi-level marketing company that sells essential oils, is making his opening remarks in September 2021 to the packed Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.
In a setting reminiscent of a megachurch, Stirling’s soft-spoken voice echoes. He reminds the audience that the world needs healers more than ever – “and that’s you”, he says, to raucous applause. He quotes CS Lewis, speaks of miracles and says he’s seen people turn to doTERRA in their lowest moments. People cry.
Continue reading...Experts call for a multidisciplinary approach, with climate-related disasters to continue disrupting freight delivery
Western Australia’s “worst ever” flood has further highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s supply chains, experts say.
On Saturday, record levels of water were pouring down the Fitzroy River, which had created a 50km-wide inland sea. The water across the Kimberley region had shut down parts of the crucial Great Northern Highway, damaged the bridge at Fitzroy Crossing and inundated the airstrip. And 105 people had been relocated from the region, with more expected to be airlifted out in the coming days.
Continue reading...Billionaire Chinese businessman has rarely been seen in public since criticising regulators’ attitude to tech companies two years ago
Jack Ma will cede control of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, the company has announced, following a Communist party crackdown on the nation’s tech sector that targeted the charismatic billionaire.
One of China’s most recognisable entrepreneurs, Ma once exemplified a generation of Chinese technology moguls with his rags-to-riches personal tale and penchant for public showmanship.
Continue reading...Industrial action over pay and working conditions has caused almost four weeks of disruption
The last day in the latest stretch of railway strikes has begun, ending a run of almost four weeks of continuous disruption caused by industrial action over pay and working conditions.
Only about one in five trains across Great Britain will run on Saturday as a 48-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union concludes, with no early morning or evening services and a pared-back schedule on main intercity and urban lines.
Continue reading...AI-ovens, dual-display or 3D screen laptops and satellite SOS texting shine at Las Vegas tech show
From colour-changing cars, dual-screen laptops and satellite emergency texts to AI-ovens and a urine-scanning smart toilet upgrade, the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas had more concepts of the future on show than ever before.
The biggest consumer gadget show of the year was still quieter than pre-pandemic levels, with the global economic slowdown biting big tech along with everything else.
Continue reading...Figure of £281,272 comes as property values drop by 1.5% in December, after 2.4% decline in November
The average UK house price fell for the fourth month in a row in December, according to Halifax, with experts expecting a further slowdown amid a long recession.
Property values decreased by 1.5% in December, the lender’s monthly index revealed, after a 2.4% drop in November, a 0.4% decrease in October and a 0.1% dip in September.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Files raise questions about whether oligarch’s children were made beneficiaries to protect fortune from possible asset freezes
Trusts holding billions of dollars of assets for Roman Abramovich were amended to transfer beneficial ownership to his children shortly before sanctions were imposed on the Russian oligarch.
Leaked files seen by the Guardian suggest 10 secretive offshore trusts established to benefit Abramovich were rapidly reorganised in early February 2022, three weeks before the start of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
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