Complex web of data reveals large swathes of country controlled by small number of billionaires and large companies
Continue reading...Category Archives: Business
Eco investors turn up the heat on Shell over climate target
Voting at the oil giant’s annual meeting this week could see Follow This activists making trouble over emissions
Shell is braced for its largest climate rebellion this week as shareholders face the choice between backing the oil giant’s carbon-cutting plans or siding with an activist investor who is calling for tougher emissions targets.
With its annual meeting planned for Tuesday, the Anglo-Dutch company has called on its investors to vote against a shareholder resolution from campaign group Follow This in favour of its own plans to reduce its emissions to “net zero” by 2050.
Continue reading...Australia live news: NSW government in minority after MP moves to crossbench; Labor bets big on housing
The state’s Coalition has been forced further into minority after it lost its second MP to sexual assault allegations. Follow the latest updates
- NSW MP Gareth Ward steps down as minister over sexual violence allegations which he denies
- Anthony Albanese pledges $10bn social housing fund in Labor’s federal budget reply
More cold days ahead for south-eastern Australia.
You will feel the chill if you live in southern #SA, #NSW and all of #Vic and #Tas, as cold fronts move through from the Southern Ocean, bringing a 3-day wintery blast of cold, wet and windy weather.
Latest forecasts & warnings: https://t.co/YRNaGYP9ci pic.twitter.com/yaqsY43HpF
The Australian Signals Directorate refuses to say who was behind an attack on parliament’s IT systems in March, despite confirming it knows who it was.
The parliamentary services department confirmed an outage of the system that manages mobile devices was caused by the department shutting the system to prevent an attempted intrusion into the parliamentary computer network.
Continue reading...Spencer Silver, who helped invent the Post-it Note, dies at age 80
The corporate scientist discovered the unique adhesive that allowed notes to be easily attached to surfaces and removed
The inventor of the adhesive used on the Post-it Note has died, according to the company 3M, which produces the product, and his published obituary.
Spencer Silver was 80 and died May 8 at his home, the family’s obituary said.
Continue reading...Greensill lobbying leaves your reputation in tatters, Cameron told
MPs grill former prime minister for four hours about his text message and WhatsApp campaign
David Cameron was on Thursday told that his persistent lobbying of ministers, begging for favours on behalf of the controversial bank he worked for, had “demeaned” the position of the prime minister and left his “reputation in tatters”.
The former PM was forced to deny that his text message and WhatsApp lobbying campaign on behalf of Greensill Capital was driven by fears that an “opportunity to make a large amount of money was at risk”.
Continue reading...Campaigners lose court case to stop Ugandan forest clearance
Court ruling gives go-ahead for sugar plantation in Bugoma forest, home to endangered chimpanzees
Conservationists in Uganda have condemned as “shallow and absurd” a court ruling that authorised the government to allow swathes of a tropical forest to be cleared for a sugar-cane plantation.
Three environmental groups had taken the government to court over a decision to allow Hoima Sugar Ltd to build on 5,500 hectares (13,500 acres) in the Bugoma Forest Reserve.
Continue reading...Budget 2021 reaction: Josh Frydenberg delivers National Press Club address – Australia politics live updates
Coalition budget delivers $30bn in tax breaks and money for fossil fuel projects but no measures to help struggling universities or clean energy projects. Follow all the latest news and reaction to the 2021 federal budget as it happens
- The complete 2021 Australian budget: choose what matters to you
- ‘Team Australia’ is bouncing back, Josh Frydenberg declares
- Explore all of our 2021 Australia federal budget coverage
So not a lot new there. Which means question time is going to be a copy and paste affair.
The other question of note?
Why is the border closed for so long?
The key factor, the central factor, the only factor for us what keeps Australians safe. And it’s not simply the rollout of the vaccine, that is a factor for the Chief Medical Officer in making decisions around borders.
They also need to take into account, what is happening with the virus globally, its transmissibility, new variants of the virus, and what it would mean for Australians health and safety.
Continue reading...US airline chiefs add to pressure for transatlantic travel to restart
American, Delta and United bosses join BA and Virgin Atlantic in saying US-UK vaccination levels mean routes should reopen
Major US airlines have weighed in alongside UK carriers to urge the reopening of transatlantic travel, calling on governments in Washington and London to arrange a summit as soon as possible.
The airlines said safely reopening borders was essential for economic recovery and asked the nations’ leaders to meet before the G7, and take a decision with sufficient time for airlines to plan and restart services.
Continue reading...Goldman Sachs executive quits after making millions from Dogecoin
The crypto asset is down more than 30% this week but is still up by more than 1,000% from the start of 2021
A senior manager at Goldman Sachs in London has quit the US investment bank after making millions from investing in Dogecoin, the joke crypto asset which has risen by more than 1,000% in value this year.
City sources said Aziz McMahon, a managing director and head of emerging market sales, had resigned from the bank after making money from investing in the digital currency based on the Doge internet meme.
Continue reading...It’s not just racism and sexism. The Golden Globes have been sunk by sheer stupidity
The preposterous Hollywood Foreign Press Association gravy train might have chugged on for ever if its members had just swallowed their pride and done more for diversity
An investigative report by the Los Angeles Times into the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, that notoriously rackety organisation which administers the Golden Globes, has shown an eminently corruptible body drenched in antediluvian attitudes; this has resulted in NBC cancelling its TV coverage of next year’s ceremony and Tom Cruise handing back the three Globes he has personally won over the years.
Related: Golden Globes backlash: Tom Cruise hands back awards and NBC drops broadcast
Continue reading...Nearly 40% of AstraZeneca investors reject boss’s bonus rise
Covid vaccine maker passes its remuneration policy but suffers sizeable rebellion
AstraZeneca has suffered a substantial shareholder rebellion over proposals to hand its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, bigger bonus awards for the second consecutive year.
Nearly 40% voted against the policy, which could hand him pay and perks of nearly £18m for 2021.
Continue reading...‘More than a job’: the meal delivery co-ops making the gig economy fairer
Across Europe, worker-led delivery collectives are springing up to reclaim control from corporate platforms
Cristina González did a lot of waiting in 2018. Back then, the 29-year-old was a courier for the Spanish food delivery platform Glovo in her Basque home town, Vitoria-Gasteiz. She talks about feeling as if she was on standby the whole time: “You’re effectively having to be working constantly.”
While Glovo serves restaurants, customers can also order from supermarkets. This, Gonzalez says, was “a complete shitshow: supermarket orders are really easy to screw up”. If the supermarket did not have an item in stock and González completed the order, she might get a poor rating from the customer because of the missing item. If she turned down the order, González worried that it might affect her score on the platform. “It was very, very stressful.”
Continue reading...The Hut Group strikes complex joint venture deal with SoftBank
Deal values ‘yet to be formed’ technology division of THG at $6.3bn
The Hut Group (THG), the online retailer empire run by billionaire Matthew Moulding, has struck a complex joint venture deal with Japanese investment giant SoftBank that values a “yet to be formed” technology division of THG at $6.3bn (£4.5bn).
The deal, announced on Monday, values THG Ingenuity, which Moulding described as a “social media influencer platform” used to promote products, at about the same amount that the whole company floated at last year.
Continue reading...US invokes emergency powers after cyberattack shuts crucial fuel pipeline
Biden administration scrambles to avoid shortages after Colonial Pipeline targeted in worst-ever attack on US infrastructure
The Biden administration has invoked emergency powers as part of an “all-hands-on-deck” effort to avoid fuel shortages after the worst-ever cyber-attack on US infrastructure shut down a crucial pipeline supplying the east coast.
The federal transport department issued an emergency declaration on Sunday to relax regulations for drivers carrying gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products in 17 states and the District of Columbia. It lets them work extra or more flexible hours to make up for any fuel shortage related to the pipeline outage.
Continue reading...Cyber-attack forces shutdown of one of the US’s largest pipelines
Colonial Pipeline said it shut down 5,500 miles of pipeline, which carries 45% of the east coast’s fuel supplies
One of the largest pipelines in the US has been shut down after an apparent cyber-attack, its operator has said.
Colonial Pipeline said it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which carries 45% of the east coast’s fuel supplies and travels through 14 southern and eastern US states, after the breach of its computer networks.
Continue reading...‘We’re piggy in the middle’: Brexit has made life impossible, say Jersey fishers
Their families have been fishing here for decades but despite promises of frictionless trade, the market for their fish is disappearing
Steph Noel, who has been fishing the waters off Jersey for almost four decades, could not see the point of chugging out to sea in his 8.5-metre boat, Belle Bird, this weekend.
“There’s no value in it for me,” he said. “It’ll cost me in bait and diesel but even if I have a good day there’s no market there for what I bring back.”
Continue reading...James Packer’s ties with Israeli PM and spy chief became ‘national risk’ – report
Australian tycoon was obsessed with Israel’s elite, once kissing feet of an ex-president, local media reports
James Packer’s entanglement with Israel’s elite, including a close personal relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu and the now Mossad chief, was considered a “national risk”, according to an Israeli report, quoting testimony from witnesses in Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
The Australian casino mogul, 53, developed an obsession with the Jewish state over the past few years, once kissing the feet of the former president Shimon Peres when he came for a dinner, according to “a person who was close” to Peres. He also considering converting to Judaism, Haaretz newspaper reported.
Continue reading...French fishers’ protest over Jersey rights is over but the dispute will go on
New restrictions and deep cuts to allowances mean both French and Jersey boat owners feel betrayed by Brexit
Dawn was still four hours away and the small Normandy port of Carteret was alive, some boats hurriedly unloading their catch for a rapid turnaround, others turning on their lights and firing up their engines for the first time that night.
Minutes after 3am on Thursday they had left the quayside and, in pitch darkness and a gentle swell, were pushing smartly out to sea to join a growing armada of 60-odd boats from Cherbourg right the way round to St-Malo.
Continue reading...EU wants to mass produce three ‘course-changing’ Covid drugs from October
Health commissioner says plan is to reduce hospitalisation and tackle long-term impact of Covid
Three Covid medicines with the potential to “change the course” of the pandemic will be authorised for mass production and use in the EU by October under a European Commission plan.
Stella Kyriakides, the commissioner for health, said such a move would reduce hospitalisation and tackle the long-term impact of Covid, with one in 10 people reporting symptoms 12 weeks after infection.
Continue reading...US support for Covid vaccine patent waivers puts pressure on EU and UK
Analysis: Joe Biden’s support for idea is vital but it won’t happen without backing of other rich nations
It was a “seismic decision” by Joe Biden, the US president, say campaigners who have fought for the demolition of patent protection on vaccines and drugs for decades. The US administration has amazed supporters and critics alike by throwing its considerable weight behind the pleas of South Africa, India and about 100 developing countries at the World Trade Organization to overturn patents on Covid vaccines in the interests of getting more of them, more cheaply and faster, to huge populations in need.
Patents preserve the profits of the multinational companies that make drugs and vaccines. They make it illegal for up to 20 years for manufacturers of generic medicines to turn out cheap copycat versions. In this pandemic where, as the World Health Organization says, no one is safe until everyone is safe, there is a powerful moral case for ditching them.
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