Category Archives: Business

EU may as well be ‘province of China’ due to reliance on imports, says industrialist

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Stefan Scherer, boss of AMG Lithium, says Europe must become more self-sufficient in critical raw materials and new technologies

The EU may as well “apply to be a province of China” such is its inability to wean itself off that country’s supply of critical raw materials used in everything from electric vehicles to smartphones and wind turbines, a leading German industrialist has said.

As chief executive of AMG Lithium, the EU’s first factory to make the lithium hydroxide used in many car batteries, Stefan Scherer sits at the centre of what has been dubbed a new gold rush.

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Australia news live: some Central Coast residents told ‘evacuate now’ amid coastal erosion threat; children’s commissioner says child safety ‘not a priority in this country’

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NSW braces for damaging winds and heavy rain from coastal low. Follow the latest updates live

Gas market review will ‘drive efficiencies in the system’, King says

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says a review into gas market regulations will drive efficiencies into the system.

Our existing policy has made sure that that gas is available. So that’s that combination of existing policies brings in that extra 600 petajoules. So indeed, that work is already happening.

What we’re trying to do and will endeavour to do, and the industry is very supportive of, is to make that more coherent, and how we can make sure we learn from the whole system, reduce duplication in some of the regulation, some of the reporting factors, simply how we can make it work better for consumers, for industrial users, and for the Gas industry itself. And that drives efficiencies in the system, which we expect will help with pricing.

We were honest with the public from day one: the toll situation would get worse before it got better. That’s the reality of the infrastructure pipeline locked in by our predecessors.

And now, the most recent NSW Budget reflects that – with toll revenue projected to rise from $180m to $283m in the 2028–29 financial year.

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White House says Canadian PM ‘caved’ to Trump demand to scrap tech tax

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Trump officials hail U-turn as Mark Carney says decision to rescind digital services tax means revival of trade talks

The United States has said that Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney “caved” to demands from the White House after his government abruptly scrapped their digital services tax on US technology companies, which was set to go into effect on Monday.

“It’s very simple. Prime minister Carney and Canada caved to president [Donald] Trump and the United States of America,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a daily briefing.

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UK economic growth confirmed at 0.7% in first quarter; Lincolnshire oil refinery calls in administrators – business live

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UK-US trade deal kicks in today, lowering tariffs for British carmakers and aerospace sector

UK households hit by squeeze on living standards despite fastest growth in G7

Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at KPMG, said:

May’s uptick in mortgage approvals bucks the downward trend we’ve seen throughout the year so far. The gradual easing of interest rates could be helping to boost confidence and demand amongst mortgage borrowers.

The cost of living remains high, but a drop in consumer borrowing in May signals that rising incomes are starting to feed through to the cost of day-to-day expenses.

It is incredibly positive news to see an increased number of mortgage applications approved. It is one of the loudest signals of them all regarding consumer affordability, and it is also a massive vote of confidence from lenders in the longer-term prospects of the economy too.

As we head into the summer months, we have witnessed on average the number of viewings per property available see an uplift of around 30% compared to the month previous. On top of this, we have also seen the UK Government make a pledge to create a National Housing Bank which could bring significant investment to help build 500,000 new homes, enabling a potential greater degree of flexibility for those who aspire to buy.

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Lindsey oil refinery owner Prax falls into administration as ministers urged to intervene

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Fears over fuel supplies and jobs as Lincolnshire facility handles nearly a tenth of total UK capacity

One of the UK’s largest oil refineries – and the only big one owned by a British company – has collapsed into administration, prompting calls for the government to intervene urgently to protect fuel supplies and jobs.

State Oil, which owns the Prax Lindsey refinery in north Lincolnshire, called in administrators on Monday, Sky News reported first, prompting concern from the trade union Unite.

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Lifetime Isas ‘could lead to savers making poor investment choices’, MPs say

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Committee says products may not be best use of public money and may have been mis-sold to people on certain benefits

Lifetime Isas could lead to savers making poor investment decisions and may not be the best use of public money, a cross-party committee of MPs has said.

In a report published on Monday, the Treasury select committee described rules which penalise benefit claimants as “nonsensical” and concluded that lifetime Isas, known as Lisas, may have been mis-sold to savers eligible for universal credit or housing benefit.

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Business secretary to meet Lotus chiefs amid doubts over future of operations

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Jonathan Reynolds to hold talks with carmaker after reports suggested its UK factory could close

The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will hold talks with Lotus after the carmaker appeared to shelve plans to shut its UK operations.

After reports that Chinese owner Geely was planning to stop manufacturing at the Hethel plant in Norfolk, putting 1,300 jobs at risk, Lotus issued a statement saying it had “no plans” to close the factory.

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From mochi ice cream to strawberry sandos, Japanese sweet treats are tickling UK tastebuds

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These small, joyful indulgences are ‘an antidote to life’s uncertainties’, food trend watchers say

If you said to a friend that you fancied Japanese food this weekend, they might be forgiven for thinking you meant sushi. But lately a new culinary export from Japan is catching up with fish and rice in the hearts and tastebuds of British foodies.

Soft, sweet and full of character, Japanese-style desserts – from mochi ice cream to matcha cookies – have been steadily gaining ground on UK shelves.

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Zopa launches current account with cashback and 7.1% on savings

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Digital bank hopes to tempt switchers with package including in-credit interest and fee-free travel spending

The battle for bank customers intensified this week, with a new player entering the UK current account market and offering cashback on bills and access to a savings account paying 7.1%.

Digital bank Zopa is hoping the perks – which also include in-credit interest and fee-free spending abroad – will tempt switchers to its first day-to-day account.

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Barclays and Jes Staley face fresh lawsuit in US over Epstein link

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Judge rejects former CEO’s request to dismiss case, paving way for class action also against chair Nigel Higgins

Barclays and its former chief executive Jes Staley are facing a class action lawsuit in the US over claims they defrauded and misled investors over Staley’s relationship with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A judge in a Los Angeles court denied Staley’s request to dismiss the case this week, paving the way for a fresh hearing that continues a long-running legal saga emanating from Staley’s statements to regulators and investors over the nature of his ties to the disgraced financier.

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Superdrug to add 25 stores as demand for weight loss drugs soars

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Demand for beauty products by gen Alpha customer base also behind retailer’s expansion after tough times

An increase in demand for weight loss drugs, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, as well as demand among its generation Alpha customer base for beauty products is driving expansion at Superdrug.

The retailer plans to add 25 more stores to its 800-plus strong chain this year as well as extending existing outlets, despite troubles across the high street that have led to the closure of hundreds of stores at its rival Boots and downsizing at chains from Poundland to River Island.

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‘We don’t want to go’: Australian couple told to pay $3,500 to postpone flights amid Middle East volatility

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Experts say consumers are unlikely to have any legal rights to defer flights unless the airline’s fine print allows it

Sharon Latour and her husband are scheduled to fly through Abu Dhabi on an Etihad flight on Wednesday, just nine days after Iran launched a missile strike on a US base in nearby Qatar.

As of Friday, the Australian couple’s flight was still scheduled for takeoff despite the volatility in the region. Latour is upset that Etihad are insisting on charging her $3,500 to change their tickets if they want to postpone their trip until early next year.

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Rising poverty in conflict zones ‘causes a billion people to go hungry’

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In first assessment since pandemic in 2020, World Bank urges other countries to step up support

Extreme poverty is accelerating in 39 countries affected by war and conflict, leaving more than a billion people to go hungry, according to the World Bank.

Civil wars and confrontations between nations, mostly in Africa, have set back economic growth and reduced the incomes of more than a billion people, “driving up extreme poverty faster than anywhere else”, the Washington-based body said.

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EU retaliation against Trump drug tariffs would be bad idea, says industry

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European pharmaceutical body says it would be ‘negative for both sides’ if Brussels hits back on threatened US levies

The European pharmaceutical industry has urged Brussels not to retaliate if Donald Trump brings in threatened tariffs on imported drugs, amid fears he could impose the levies as early as next week.

The US president said last week that the sector-specific tariffs were coming “very soon”. There is concern in Brussels that he could impose them imminently to give himself further leverage ahead of his self-imposed 9 July deadline for trade deals with the EU and about 60 countries.

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Australia news live: Minns’ team asked why premier focused on possibility of ‘terrorism’ in NSW caravan plot announcement

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Follow the latest updates live

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, is expected to join a meeting of her Quad counterparts in Washington DC next week.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Friday he would host foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan on 1 July, with the meeting set to discuss geopolitical issues and China’s treatment of Indo-Pacific nations.

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US reaches deal with China to speed up rare earth shipments, White House says, amid efforts to end trade war

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US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick quoted as saying US countermeasures will be removed once US receives rare earths

The United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the US, a White House official has said, amid efforts to end a trade war between the world’s biggest economies.

President Donald Trump said earlier on Thursday that the US had signed a deal with China the previous day, without providing additional details, and that there might be a separate deal coming up that would “open up” India.

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People dying early of cancer costs UK economy £10.3bn a year, study finds

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Cancer Research UK says this is more than any other health condition and 350,000 years of productivity are lost

People dying early of cancer costs the UK economy £10.3bn a year, more than any other health condition, a study has revealed.

That is the total cost of the 350,000 years of lost productivity recorded across Britain every year because adults have died prematurely of the disease, according to Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

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Clothing prices rising in US as Trump tariffs kick in, H&M boss says

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Daniel Ervér cites ‘fast-moving situation’ as US administration has changed rules on several occasions

Clothing prices are beginning to rise in the US as Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods start to have an effect, according to the boss of H&M, one of the world’s biggest fashion retailers.

Daniel Ervér, the chief executive of the Swedish retailer, said: “In the US, we are starting to see some competitors increasing prices. Different competitors are acting in different ways. Some more aggressively and some more cautiously.”

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Shell has ‘no intention’ of making offer to buy BP after £60bn takeover rumours

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Statement to stock market follows media reports of early talks with BP to create a £200bn UK oil company

Shell has said it has “no intention” of making an offer for the rival fossil fuel company BP after speculation it had been planning a £60bn takeover, ruling out a formal approach for the next six months.

In an official statement to markets on Thursday, the company doubled down on the previous day’s denials that it was planning a bid, after media reports that it was in early talks with its competitor to create a £200bn UK oil supermajor.

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Adults in Great Britain now spending more time on mobiles than watching TV

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Daily average for watching all types of screen is now almost 7.5 hours, annual survey for IPA finds

The amount of time adults in Great Britain spend using their mobile phones has finally overtaken that spent watching TV, according to a report that calculates the daily average for watching all types of screen is now almost 7.5 hours.

For the first time a typical person aged 15 or over spends longer each day on their mobile (three hours and 21 minutes) than on watching a traditional set (three hours and 16 minutes), the annual TouchPoints survey found.

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