Oil has fallen to its lowest level since June’s conflict began, while stock markets have jumped across Asia and Europe
Travel and leisure stocks across Europe are rallying too.
This has pushed up the STOXX Europe travel and leisure index by 4.1% in early trading, which Reuters reports it the biggest one-day jump since 10 April.
Continue reading...CMA proposes tightening regulation, which could lead to site giving users option to choose alternative services
Google could be forced to make a series of changes to its search business, including giving internet users an option to choose an alternative service, after the UK competition watchdog proposed tightening regulation of the company.
The Competition and Market Authority is preparing to give the world’s largest search engine the designation “strategic market status”, a term for tech companies deemed to have considerable market heft that enables the watchdog to use extra powers to regulate them.
Continue reading...RTS meters in 300,000 homes to be phased out rather than turned off on 30 June deadline
As the temperature climbed towards 30C the peril of turning off a system that could leave people with their heating stuck on full must have looked like an avoidable disaster.
On Thursday ministers confirmed the “widespread switch-off” of the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS), which controls an old type of electricity meter, “will not happen” on 30 June.
Continue reading...US strikes on Iran are adding to the pressure on carriers, which are having to avoid war-torn regions, lengthening routes and pushing up costs
With barely 48 hours elapsed since the US launched strikes against Iran, the swift resumption of near-normal service circumnavigating the war zone underlines that few crises, short of the global pandemic, have stopped airlines and their passengers flying for long.
British Airways had been planning to restart flights to the Middle East cities of Doha and Dubai again, after cancelling departures from Heathrow at the weekend. However, on Monday evening Qatar temporarily closed its airspace again as Iran launched a missile attack on US bases in the country.
Continue reading...Crude oil prices dropped by 7% on hopes that the conflict would not immediately disrupt region’s oil supplies
Oil prices dropped sharply after Iran’s retaliatory missile strike on a US airbase reduced concern that the country was poised to strain energy markets by closing off a vital trade route.
Crude oil prices sank by 7% on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropping to $68.51, as the Iranian action on the Al Udeid base in Qatar raised hopes that the conflict would not immediately disrupt oil supplies from the region.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
The strait of Hormuz: what is it, and why does it matter to global trade?
Price of oil could spike after Iran’s parliament votes to close key shipping route
The eurozone economy has continued to flirt with stagnation this month, with little growth in its key sectors.
The latest survey of purchasing managers across the euro area, just released by S&P Global, shows that the eurozone services sector is stalling this month, while factory growth slowed.
“The eurozone economy is struggling to gain momentum. For six months now, growth has been minimal, with activity in the service sector stagnating and manufacturing output rising only moderately.
In Germany, there are signs of a cautious improvement in the situation, but France continues to drag its feet. The momentum evident in the official growth figure of 0.6 percent for the first quarter is unlikely to have carried over into the second quarter, especially since special factors such as Ireland’s unusual jump in growth inflated this figure.
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‘We’re not just a vassal state’
Hastie says he would be reluctant to commit Australian troops to any conflict with Iran that the US elects to join, but said any decision about logistical support would be “a decision for the government”.
We need greater transparency. Secretary Hegseth appeared before the arms committee this week, last week, he talked about the Indo-Pacific and named communist China as the Pacific threat – his words and he talked about the US building up its forward posture in the Indo-Pacific. He spoke specifically of Australia, Japan and the Philippines. We’re very much part of the integrated deterrence that the US is building in the region.
We need greater transparency, to talk about operationalising the alliance, building guardrails for combat operations and defining our sovereignty. This will make things clearer for us, so we can better preserve our national interests. We’re not just a vassal state, we’re an ally, partner and it’s time we had a discussion about what that looks like.
One thing is clear. If you are Iran and you survive this conflict with your regime intact and a nuclear program intact, I think you will move at best speed to build a bomb, to put yourself in the strongest position the, in time this happens.
They will use it.
Continue reading...Labour makes funding centrepiece of its industrial strategy in bid to counter Reform’s surge in so-called red wall
The government will present a £275m investment in technical training and apprenticeships as the centrepiece of its long-awaited industrial strategy, in a direct challenge to Nigel Farage’s growing influence in England’s manufacturing heartlands.
The package, announced by the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, on Sunday, includes funding for new technical excellence colleges, short courses in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital manufacturing, and major capital upgrades to training providers across England.
Continue reading...Budget retailer had a pre-tax loss of more than £51m last year and is struggling to lure back customers amid stiff competition from rivals
“It’s not actually that cheap any more. It’s kind of lost its appeal because everything is not a pound.”
Samantha, a shopper outside Poundland’s Luton retail park outlet who is heading off to B&M to find some better deals, sums up the feelings of many of her fellow bargain hunters and a central problem facing the new owner of the budget retailer.
Continue reading...The last in a series of increases to employers’ minimum contribution from 9% over more than a decade will come into effect on 1 July
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Australian workers can look forward to a bigger nest egg, with an increase to the superannuation guarantee to add tens of thousands of dollars to the average super account.
From 1 July, employers’ minimum required contribution to employees’ superannuation accounts will rise from 11.5% to 12%.
Continue reading...Residents of Bille and Ogale in Niger delta are suing Shell and subsidiary, but company denies liability
Residents of two Nigerian communities who are taking legal action against Shell over oil pollution are set to take their cases to trial at the high court in 2027.
Members of the Bille and Ogale communities in the Niger delta, which have a combined population of about 50,000, are suing Shell and a Nigerian-based subsidiary of the company, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, which is now the Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
Continue reading...May figure second highest for month on record amid fears chancellor is struggling to keep within spending rules
Higher tax receipts were unable to prevent a rise in public sector borrowing in May to £17.7bn, up from £17bn a year earlier and the second highest for the month on record.
A poll of City economists had forecast public sector net borrowing – the difference between public spending and income – would be £17.1bn.
Continue reading...Industry professionals gather at civil and military aircraft event further overshadowed by war between Israel and Iran
Every second summer more than 100,000 aviation industry professionals gather in Paris for an airshow – a flying display crossed with a vast conference. The mood at the latest gathering this week was more subdued than usual, after the deadly crash a week ago of a London-bound Air India flight in Ahmedabad.
Investigators have recovered the black box from the plane to try to work out the cause of the disaster. The aircraft maker Boeing, and GE Aerospace, which made the 787 Dreamliner’s engines, both cancelled many of their media-facing events out of respect for the families of the 241 passengers and crew who died, as well as at least 30 more people on the ground who were killed.
Continue reading...Food poisoning outbreak has killed three and resulted in one pregnancy loss across 13 states over past year
A listeria food poisoning outbreak that has killed three people and led to one pregnancy loss is linked to newly recalled heat-and-eat chicken fettuccine Alfredo products sold at Kroger and Walmart stores, federal health officials said late on Tuesday.
The outbreak, which includes at least 17 people in 13 states, began last July, officials said. At least 16 people have been hospitalized.
32.8oz trays of Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccine Tender Pasta with Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken and Shaved Parmesan Cheese with best-by dates of 27 June or earlier.
12.3oz trays of Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccine Tender Pasta with Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken, Broccoli and Shaved Parmesan Cheese with best-by dates of 26 June or earlier.
12.5oz trays of Home Chef Heat & Eat Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Pasta, Grilled White Meat Chicken and Parmesan Cheese, with best-by dates of 19 June or earlier.
Continue reading...Analysis shows local chiefs earning 55 times more than average workers in Australia amid call to keep watch for ‘egregious’ bonuses
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News Corp’s chief executive has become the highest-paid CEO of an Australian-listed company, a new analysis of CEO pay has found.
CEOs of ASX-listed companies are still being paid 55 times more than average workers in Australia but the gap is yet to widen to extremes seen overseas, according to the annual analysis from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).
Continue reading...ASA report finds many use negative stereotypes and highlights concerns about targeting of end-of-life services
An elderly man fires off a tirade at a child who has asked “grandad” to return a mud-covered football that has landed on his gleaming car. He is then seen eating a microwave dinner for one and chuckling, with the now-deflated ball pinned to the table next to him by a large kitchen knife.
The TV advert for the Scotland-based Strathmore Foods, maker of the McIntosh of Strathmore ready meals stocked by most big supermarket chains, has been identified in a report by the UK advertising watchdog as showing an “offensive” portrayal of older people – by stereotyping them as grumpy and intolerant, and implying many are lonely and isolated.
Continue reading...Exclusive: poll shows 62% of women and 47% of men across political spectrum say economy and inflation getting worse
Women across the political spectrum are more concerned about the state of the US economy and inflation under Donald Trump than men are, according to a new exclusive poll for the Guardian.
More Democrats than Republicans are now concerned about the economy following the president’s return to power. But pessimism was higher for women even among Republicans and independents, according to a new Harris poll.
More women said they are very worried about food prices (52% of women compared to 39% of men)
More women said they’re spending more time trying to find deals or go to more affordable stores (36% versus 26%)
More women said their financial security is getting worse because of their difficulty in affording essential goods and services (55% versus 46%)
Continue reading...Annual rate slows in May from 3.5% in April despite record increase in chocolate prices
Inflation in the UK eased slightly to 3.4% last month as a steep fall in air fares and petrol prices was offset by a jump in the cost of food.
May’s decline in the consumer prices index (CPI), down from the official figure of 3.5% for April, complicates the Bank of England’s interest rates decision on Thursday, although policymakers are still almost certain to hold interest rates at 4.25%.
Continue reading...Andrew Jassy tells white collar workers that such technology means fewer people will be needed for some jobs
The boss of Amazon has told white collar staff at the e-commerce company their jobs could be taken by artificial intelligence in the next few years.
Andrew Jassy told employees that AI agents – tools that carry out tasks autonomously – and generative AI systems such as chatbots would require fewer employees in certain areas.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Sources say US wants information on when importing of raw materials from abroad at Port Talbot site will stop
Donald Trump is threatening to keep 25% tariffs on some or all of its steel imports from the UK unless it gives specific guarantees over the Indian-owned steelmaking plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, sources have told the Guardian.
An agreement to reduce tariffs on UK car exports to the US and scrap them for the aerospace sector was signed off by the US president and Keir Starmer on Monday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.
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