Body unveils plans to ban all gas imports from Russia by January 2028 – but faces backlash from Hungary, Slovakia and Austria
The European Commission has insisted there will be no return to Russian gas, as it published plans to phase out fossil fuel imports from its eastern neighbour by 2028.
The EU energy commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, said a proposed ban on Russian gas imports would remain, irrespective of whether there was peace in Ukraine.
Continue reading...The TV streamers are pooling their advertising services to make it easier for small companies to run campaigns
Sky, ITV and Channel 4 are to fight back against the social media companies Facebook and YouTube by pooling their streaming advertising services to make it easier and more affordable for millions of small businesses to run ad campaigns.
The project is an attempt to break big tech’s stranglehold over the UK’s £45bn ad market.
Continue reading...UK regulator expresses concern as vast majority of centres visited by the BBC did not properly implement scheme
Flaws in a scheme meant to help gamblers bar themselves from 24-hour slot machine shops have been described by the industry regulator as “very concerning”, following revelations in a BBC documentary.
The Guardian has previously revealed how gambling operators are exploiting favourable planning and licensing laws to flood UK high streets with “adult gaming centres” (AGCs), which are disproportionately concentrated in the poorest areas.
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Over at the Paris Air Show, a row has broken out after four Israeli company stands at the trade fair were shut down.
According to Reuters, French authorities ordered that the four stands should be closed for “displaying offensive weapons”, after not complying with an order from a French security agency to remove offensive or kinetic weapons from the stands.
“This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations.
“The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition - weapons that compete with French industries.”
Continue reading...Oil price increase likely to add 5p to petrol and diesel over the next couple of months, expert says
Britons are braced for higher prices at the pumps, after a rise in oil prices caused by the conflict between Israel and Iran in recent days.
Oil prices climbed again on Monday, as traders worried about the risks of a broader regional military conflict, which could disrupt supplies. Iran is a big oil producer, and accounts for about 3% of global supplies.
Continue reading...Shares in parent company Tata Motors fall as JLR says it will reallocate vehicles to ‘accessible markets’
The British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has warned of a hit to profits from Donald Trump’s tariffs, after the company temporarily paused deliveries to the US.
The carmaker, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, halted shipments to America in April after the US president imposed a 25% duty on all foreign-made vehicles, before resuming them last month. The country accounts for more than a quarter of JLR’s sales.
Continue reading...Concerns raised that section 899 could backfire and also undermine dollar’s safe haven status
Foreign investment into the US could be threatened by Donald Trump’s new “revenge” taxes, analysts have warned.
A provision within the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will allow the US to apply higher taxes on foreign individuals, businesses and investors connected to jurisdictions that impose “unfair foreign taxes” on US individuals and companies.
Continue reading...Albanese says he will meet with US president Donald Trump to discuss tariffs. Follow today’s news live
Good morning, and welcome to today’s blog. And if you were hoping to ease into it, apologies – there’s quite a bit going on.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has managed to shore up a meeting with US president Donald Trump. They’ll catch up on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday. Tariffs are top of the agenda, but the Aukus deal is now looking shaky so that will likely feature as well. Albanese said:
Obviously, there are issues that the US president is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement.
Continue reading...Telecoms group says it strongly refutes claim by 62 franchisees that it ‘unjustly enriched’ itself at their expense
Vodafone has terminated the contracts of 12 franchisees who have continued running the brand’s high street stores while also being part of a £120m high court claim against the telecoms group.
The legal case was launched in December, when 62 franchisees claimed Vodafone had “unjustly enriched” itself at the expense of scores of vulnerable small business owners by slashing commissions to franchisees operating the mobile phone company’s retail outlets.
Continue reading...Anonymous messages questioned judgment of senior managers in dealing with Greensill, says Swiss regulator
Bosses at Credit Suisse were warned against dealing with the Australian financier Lex Greensill’s eponymous company three years before the collapse of his Greensill Capital, which once employed the former UK prime minister David Cameron as an adviser.
The “character judgment” of senior Credit Suisse managers was challenged in anonymous messages they received as early as 2018, which raised concerns over the Swiss bank’s dealings with Greensill, according to a report by the Swiss regulator Finma, released under a London court order after a request by the Guardian and other media.
Continue reading...Dolphin Surf will start at £18,650 – among the cheapest new vehicles on sale in Britain
The Chinese manufacturer BYD has launched its cheapest model in the UK, in the latest stage of its efforts to overtake Tesla as the world’s biggest electric carmaker.
The Dolphin Surf will start at £18,650, a price that puts it among the cheapest new vehicles on sale in Britain.
Continue reading...Draft agreement may reassure top US military suppliers after president’s tariffs flip-flopping threatened production
The draft trade agreement with China announced by Donald Trump on Wednesday would ease concerns from top US military suppliers about rare-earth metals and magnets that, if cut off permanently, could hobble production of everything from smart bombs to fighter jets to submarines and other weapons in the US arsenal.
While the deal has not yet been finalised, it may reassure major defense companies such as Lockheed Martin, the largest US user of samarium – a rare-earth metal used in military-grade magnets – whose supply is entirely controlled by China.
Continue reading...Tesla share price rises as former head of president’s ‘efficiency’ drive seems to retreat from explosive falling out
Elon Musk has expressed contrition for some of his tweets about Donald Trump last week, in an apparent effort to retreat from an explosive falling out that has threatened to damage the Tesla boss’s business interests.
Musk was by far the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign, but tensions between the two erupted into public view last week and rapidly escalated, as the world’s richest man called for the president’s impeachment and mocked his connections to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a series of posts.
Continue reading...CMA to decide whether deal will substantially lessen competition in delivery market
The UK’s competition watchdog has announced an investigation into the proposed merger of the delivery company Evri with DHL’s UK e-commerce business, a deal set to create one of the biggest parcel couriers in Britain.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Wednesday it was investigating Evri’s purchase of DHL eCommerce UK, as well as the parent company DHL Group’s acquisition of a minority stake in Evri.
Continue reading...TalkTalk has been hit by financial difficulties and customer exodus but it is thought no approach has been made
BT is weighing up a potential takeover of the rival telecoms and broadband company TalkTalk, which is struggling amid financial difficulties and a customer exodus.
The UK’s biggest broadband provider is understood to have discussed the strategic possibility of buying TalkTalk. However, it is understood no approach has been made or talks held with TalkTalk, and that bankers have not been asked to draw up takeover plans.
Continue reading...US commerce secretary expresses optimism that deal will resolve concerns about rare earths and magnets
The US and China have extended the truce in their trade war after two days of talks in London that resulted in a “framework” deal over export restrictions on rare earths and semiconductors.
Negotiations to resolve the wider tariff war triggered by Donald Trump in April will continue but the truce settles, for now, growing tension between the two economic super-powers.
Continue reading...Grocers turning to Australia, Poland and Uruguay for meat, prompting claim they are undermining British farmers
Cheap chicken and beef from Australia, Poland and Uruguay is on the rise on UK supermarket shelves, according to the National Farmers’ Union, as supermarkets look for money-saving options.
The NFU regularly monitors supermarket shelves and notes that Morrisons is now selling raw chicken from Poland in its poultry aisle. Chicken in Poland is generally produced to different standards from those in the UK, and is cheaper as a result. Morrisons requires that for its UK chicken, poultry must be kept at a maximum stocking density of 30kg/m2, giving the chickens more space to roam. In Poland, this is up to 39kg/m2.
Continue reading...Other measures include greater restrictions on ‘shadow fleet’, banks and Nord Stream investment
The EU executive has called for lowering the price cap on Russian oil as it seeks to tighten energy and financial sanctions against the Kremlin’s ability to wage war.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed that western countries reduce the price at which Russian oil can be sold to $45 (£30) a barrel, down from the current $60.
Continue reading...Cross-Channel rail operator, which is trying to fend off rivals for its London depot space, regards early 2030s as feasible
Eurostar has vowed to run direct trains from the UK to Germany and Switzerland, as it attempts to fend off potential competitors eyeing its London depot space.
The cross-Channel rail operator’s chief executive, Gwendoline Cazenave, said she had no doubt the direct services would run in the early 2030s despite the failure of previous ventures to connect London and Frankfurt.
Continue reading...Financier tells court he travelled to Tokyo ‘often weekly’ for mentoring sessions with Masayoshi Son
The financier Lex Greensill has told a court that senior managers at SoftBank “felt threatened” by his relationship with Masayoshi Son, the founder of the Japanese tech investor that pumped hundreds of millions of dollars in his specialist lender before its collapse.
Greensill said he travelled to Tokyo “often weekly” for in-person mentoring sessions with the billionaire founder, who he dined with and referred to by the Japanese honorific “Son-san”. Greensill made the comments in his first public courtroom appearance since the devastating demise in 2021 of his company, which counted former prime minister David Cameron as an adviser.
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