Category Archives: Business

Sydney trains delayed due to ‘communication issue’ – as it happened

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Facing up to financial distress

It is not just academic though – there have been increased reports of people feeling distressed because of financial pressures.

When people are under extreme financial pressure, that has implications for their wellbeing more broadly. I mean, I think that is understood. And I’m sure that the governor in accepting that meeting understands that.

What we want to do as government is make life a little bit easier for people where we can, whether it’s with energy bills, whether it’s with cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, trying to get wages moving again, financial security is a big part of what we’re focused on, particularly when these cost-of-living pressures are so acute.

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Officials believe pro-Ukraine group may have sabotaged Nord Stream – reports

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Kremlin dismisses tentative intelligence from European and US agencies as a bid by the perpetrators to divert attention

European and US intelligence officials have obtained tentative intelligence to suggest a pro-Ukrainian saboteur group may have been behind the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, according to reports in the New York Times and German newspaper Die Zeit.

German investigators believe the attack on the pipelines was carried out by a team of six people, using a yacht that had been hired by a company registered in Poland and owned by two Ukrainian citizens, according to Die Zeit.

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Starbucks CEO to testify before Senate over opposition to stores unionizing

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Bernie Sanders had threatened to subpoena Howard Schultz if he refused to appear while workers file unfair labor practice charges

The Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, has agreed to testify before a Senate committee investigating the company’s intense opposition to national efforts to unionize its stores.

Senator Bernie Sanders had threatened to subpoena Schultz if he refused to appear before the US Senate health, education, labor and pensions (Help) committee. Sanders said Schultz had “refused to answer any of the serious questions we have asked” for over a year.

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China to set up new financial watchdog as part of reforms

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New body will replace banking and insurance regulators after concerns over creaking property market

China will set up a new financial watchdog to replace its banking and insurance regulators as part of an overhaul of state institutions after concern about exposure to its creaking property market.

The new body, which does not have an official name yet, would bring oversight of China’s financial system under direct control of the State Council, the top government body. There are also reports that the president, Xi Jinping, who will in all likelihood be granted a third presidential term on Friday, will revive the Central Financial Work Commission, an organisation that would supervise the financial system on behalf of the Chinese Communist party, although this has yet to be announced publicly.

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Greggs to open 150 new stores despite rising staff and energy costs

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Britain’s biggest bakery chain says it expects cost inflation of between 9% and 10% this year

Greggs has said higher wage and energy bills are weighing on its profits but it plans to push ahead with opening 150 new stores this year as well as trialling a 24-hour drive-through outlet.

Britain’s biggest bakery chain, known for its sausage rolls and steak bakes, said costs had risen by 9% last year and would continue to be a challenge in the year ahead.

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Spain approves draft law for gender quotas in business and politics

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Legislation aims to increase number of women in decision-making roles such as in company boardrooms

Spain’s government has approved a draft law that aims to bolster the presence of women in decision-making spheres by setting out quotas for women in politics, business and professional associations.

“This is useful policy that changes people’s lives,” the country’s finance minister, Nadia Calviño, said on Tuesday. “It’s clear that we’ve come a long way … but there is still a lot to do.”

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Philip Lowe leaves clues his rate-rising work may be done – bar an Easter finale | Peter Hannam

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The RBA governor has ditched his hawkish tone and the odds now seem to favour just one more rise, probably in April – but that could change

There are, as Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe reminded us as he announced a record 10th consecutive interest rate rise, “a range of potential scenarios for the Australian economy”.

One scenario, it seems, involves interest rates not rising much further. In fact, the RBA’s pre-Easter gathering on 4 April may mark the final rate hike in this cycle.

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Women earn $1m less than men over lifetime and retire with $136,000 less super, study finds

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Research adds to growing calls to pay more parental leave and for superannuation on paid parental leave

Women in Australia earn $1m less on average over their lifetimes than men and retire with $136,000 less in superannuation, according to research released on International Women’s Day.

The research by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, released on Wednesday, suggests that the biggest driver of the gap in retirement savings is still the gender pay gap.

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UK shoppers slash spending as price rises and energy bills bite

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February figures from BRC highlight impact of cost of living crisis on British economy before budget

UK consumers sharply cut back their spending in February as soaring living costs damaged household finances, retailers have warned, despite strong sales of jewellery and fragrances for Valentine’s Day.

Highlighting the impact of the cost of living crisis on the economy before Jeremy Hunt’s budget next week, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sky-high energy bills and the rising cost of a weekly shop were forcing shoppers to cut back.

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Opposition demand funding for yes and no campaigns – as it happened

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The RBA board will meet tomorrow to make its decision about raising interest rates (which, if it does so, will be the 10th increase in a row). The board has said it won’t hesitate to raise interest rates again and again to get inflation down to its target band (between 2 and 3%), but the data shows whatever savings buffer some people had after the pandemic is diminishing.

David Pocock told ABC Breakfast TV it might be time to look at how we deal with inflation:

I mean, this is a big question. There’s so many Australians doing it tough. My understanding is that they are simply implementing the rules. I’d like to maybe see some discussion about the rules.

If – you know, to reduce inflation, is the best way just to give money to the banks? You know, there’s surely a better way of locking up some of the cash in the economy, whether it’s putting it into super, raising the GST, I don’t know – but to have politicians criticise what seems to be just the process that has been set up by politicians is one thing.

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How retrofitting the UK’s old buildings can generate an extra £35bn in new money

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Heritage and property groups outline plan to boost energy efficiency at historical sites to create jobs, cut emissions and meet net-zero targets

Retrofitting the UK’s historicsl buildings, from Georgian townhouses to the mills and factories that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, could generate £35bn of economic output a year, create jobs and play a crucial role in achieving climate targets, research has found.

Improving the energy efficiency of historical properties – those built before 1919 – could reduce carbon emissions from the UK’s buildings by 5% each year and make older homes warmer and cheaper to run, according to a report commissioned by the National Trust, Historic England and leading property organisations.

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New Brexit trading rules could take more than two years to bed in fully

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No 10 says UK is giving firms in Northern Ireland time to prepare with phased introduction

The new Brexit trading arrangements in Rishi Sunak’s revised Northern Ireland protocol could take more than two years to be fully implemented, government sources have confirmed.

Businesses in Northern Ireland say they expect a mass educational campaign to be launched across the country by HMRC and other government departments to help them put the deal announced in Windsor last Monday into operation if it is approved by parliament.

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Cost of first class stamp to rise above £1 for first time, Royal Mail announces

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First class stamp £1.10 from April and second class 75p as firm predicts £450m operating loss

The cost of a first class stamp will rise to £1.10 early next month, Royal Mail has announced, breaking the £1 barrier for the first time.

The company said it would increase the price of a first class stamp by 15p from 3 April, a year after it went up by 10p to 95p. The price of a second class stamp is also going up, by 7p to 75p.

The secondary headline on an earlier version of this article gave the incorrect price for second class stamps. This has now been corrected.

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UK chip designer Arm chooses US-only listing in blow to Rishi Sunak

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PM had held talks with firm’s owner SoftBank in effort to make London first choice for tech flotations

The Cambridge-based chip designer Arm is to pursue a US-only listing this year, dealing a major blow to Rishi Sunak’s ambitions to make London the first choice for tech company flotations.

The company, which is owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, confirmed its preferred plan of seeking a US-only main listing later this year, spurning the UK despite heavy lobbying by successive prime ministers.

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Philippines oil tanker spill prompts fears for protected marine areas

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Authorities scramble to contain leak from sunken tanker that was carrying about 800,000 litres of oil

Authorities in the Philippines are scrambling to contain an oil leak from a sunken tanker that could threaten the rich biodiversity of more than 20 marine protected areas.

The MT Princess Empress, which was carrying a cargo of about 800,000 litres of industrial oil, sank on Tuesday off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro province, after it experienced problems with its engine and began to drift due to rough seas. A passing cargo ship rescued the 20 crew onboard.

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Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections as Ohio crash prompts scrutiny to industry

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Exclusive: employee says manager told her to stop marking cars for repair, as Ohio derailment brings hard look at industry’s record of blocking safety rules

In leaked audio heard by the Guardian, a manager for one of the US’s largest rail companies can be heard explaining to a former carman that they should stop tagging railcars for broken bearings. The manager says doing so delays other cargo.

The disclosure comes as federal agencies investigate the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A wheel-bearing failure was cited as the cause of the crash in a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board.

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ECB looking out for price gouging as fears grow over ‘greedflation’

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Concerns that a big driver of price rises may be firms using inflation as excuse to increase profit margins

Fears that Europe’s companies are exploiting high inflation to increase their profit margins have prompted a warning from the European Central Bank that it is closely monitoring potential price gouging of consumers.

Policymakers have repeatedly called for wage restraint but concerns are mounting that a bigger driver of the wave of price rises may be companies using inflation as an excuse to increase profit margins, a trend unions have described as “greedflation”.

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Starbucks condemned for ‘intimidation’ of US union organizers

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Bernie Sanders moves to summon chief executive Howard Schultz to Senate committee to explain repeated anti-union violations

Starbucks is under fire over the company’s response to unionization efforts as senator Bernie Sanders threatens to call its chief executive before his committee on alleged labor violations and staff petition for it to end “intimidation” of organizers.

Sanders, chairman of the Senate health, education, labor and pensions (Help) committee, announced on Wednesday that the committee will be voting on whether to issue a subpoena to compel the Starbucks chief, Howard Schultz, to testify about Starbuck’s federal labor law violations, and to authorize a committee investigation into labor-law violations committed by major corporations.

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Australia news live: mediation fails in Sally Rugg’s legal dispute with Monique Ryan; Sticky Fingers axed from Bluesfest

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Ley and Dutton express support for Bridget Archer after rumours Liberal party could dump her

Yesterday our political editor Katharine Murphy brought you the story that a veteran party insider suggested that the Liberal party could dump outspoken moderate Bridget Archer ahead of the next federal election.

Bridget is a friend, a colleague and a terrific member for the seat of Bass. I visited her not that long ago, and she’s doing great work and she’s an amazing woman, amazing woman. And you know, Patricia how much I respond well to amazing women.

Do you think 80,000 people who’ve got more than $3m are really doing it tough?

Well, that $3 million is not indexed. That will change over time. And the principle is the thing that Australians will note.

But are they doing it tough?

I’m not here to say who’s doing it tough and who’s not doing it tough.

Australians are doing it tough, though, aren’t they? And some are obviously not doing it tough.

Well, people are doing it tough for the government that hasn’t got the fiscal policy settings right. And doesn’t understand how to manage money and doesn’t have spending constraints anywhere within its programs. In all of this conversation, we have not heard anyone say that we’re going to save money. I mean, that seems to be just a passing comment from the government. Yes, of course. People are doing tough. They’re doing it tough because they can’t pay their electricity bills. They’re doing it tough because their mortgages are going up.

But they’re not the people with more than $3 million in their super accounts.

I’m not going to comment on what individual people might be experiencing in their family budgets. The direction this government is going is one that breaks faith with the Australian people and misunderstands the sound fundamental basis, which is: it’s your money, you deserve to keep more of it.

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Drugmaker Eli Lilly says it will cut insulin prices by 70%

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Move comes amid criticism of healthcare companies over rising costs of insulin, as CEO says cuts ‘should be the new standard’

Eli Lilly will cut list prices by 70% for its most commonly prescribed forms of insulin, Humalog and Humulin, beginning from the fourth quarter of this year, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

The move comes amid criticism of healthcare companies by US lawmakers over rising costs of insulin, with Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act including a $35 cap on insulin for those enrolled in Medicare health insurance plans.

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