A Billy bookcase is made every three seconds. But with a third of people admitting to throwing away furniture that they could have sold or donated, does the cheap furniture boom have a heavy environmental price?
Jo Jackson remembers the day when it was clear that nothing was going to be the same for a while. It was mid-March and Made.com, an online purveyor of millennial-friendly furniture, had big plans for growth in the year of its 10th anniversary.
Continue reading...The world’s fifth largest weapons buyer is eating up its reserves - and its political clout
Saudi Arabia may be forced to forego new weapons contracts and delay already-agreed weapons purchases as a financial crisis grips the kingdom, experts predict.
The expected delay of new weapons deals could have long-term political repercussions for the country under the rule of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler who has waged a bloody war with neighbouring Yemen.
Continue reading...Aviation is struggling and seeking support, but there are demands for it to give something in return
“The political moment is now” to address the climate risks posed by the aviation industry, analysts, insiders and campaigners say, as governments across the world weigh up bailouts for airlines grounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rescue packages need to come with green strings, such as reduced carbon footprints and frequent flyer levies, they warn, or the sector will return to the path that has made it the fastest rising source of climate-wrecking carbon emissions over the past decade.
Continue reading...Green campaigners say giving subsidies to all cars would be missed opportunity
Carmakers are negotiating with the EU and UK for subsidies to help boost demand for new vehicles, but campaigners are concerned that the stimulus could end up paying for pollution unless emissions restrictions are imposed.
The carmakers argue that subsidies would help kickstart demand as lockdown measures ease and factories reopen, preventing tens of thousands of job losses amid a global slump in car orders.
Continue reading...Efforts to dilute world health assembly resolution on open licensing decried as ‘appalling’
Ministers and officials from every nation will meet via video link on Monday for the annual world health assembly, which is expected to be dominated by efforts to stop rich countries monopolising drugs and future vaccines against Covid-19.
As some countries buy up drugs thought to be useful against the coronavirus, causing global shortages, and the Trump administration does deals with vaccine companies to supply America first, there is dismay among public health experts and campaigners who believe it is vital to pull together to end the pandemic.
Continue reading...Premier Dan Andrews says the easing of restrictions is due to low numbers of new cases, but patrons will still have to abide by social distancing. Follow live
Hazzard warns people in New South Wales to still stay 1.5 metres apart, and to not see friends if they are sick, even if it is just a runny nose.
I would just like to warn everybody that we are still vulnerable. We have to temper it in a way that when we go out, we’re still exercising the social distancing.
The 1.5 metres is a magic figure – it can keep you safe! I’ve observed today, people at cafes and restaurants, and many of them do not appear to be exercising that 1.5 metres. I’ll just say to them – please be careful.
New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard is speaking now. He announces that as of 8pm last night, NSW only had one new case.
However, he says the source of that transmission is unknown, which means people should be on high alert.
Moving about Sydney this morning, I think it’s fair to say that there has been, in a sense, the great NSW bust-out.
People are rewarding themselves for many weeks of sacrifice and having themselves locked inside.
Continue reading...Australia reserves the right to take China to the WTO amid growing trade dispute, Simon Birmingham says
Simon Birmingham has warned China’s “unpredictable” trade interventions may force Australian producers to sell to other markets and diversification is to be encouraged given the “risk” of trade with China.
The trade minister told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday that Australia reserves its right to take China to the World Trade Organisation, and revealed he is still yet to hear back from his Chinese counterpart about the growing trade dispute. He said his call “ought to be returned”.
Continue reading...Video conferencing may have shown it can replace plenty of physical business gatherings over the past couple of months, but there are some occasions when it just doesn’t cut it.
Take this week’s easyJet general meeting, part of the latest in the series of sensational scraps between its founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, and the budget airline’s board. It is hard to see how something will not be lost with everyone out of lapel-grabbing reach.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson was hit by a growing revolt over his strategy for easing the Covid-19 lockdown last night as council leaders across the north of England joined unions in vowing to resist plans to reopen schools on 1 June.
Related: Are we all in this together? It doesn't look like it from the regions
Continue reading...Bank files its defence to an Austrac lawsuit that accuses it of more than 23m breaches of anti-money laundering laws
Westpac has admitted to breaking the law by failing to monitor whether a dozen customers were making transactions consistent with child exploitation.
The admission is contained in Westpac’s defence to a lawsuit brought by Australia’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac, in which the bank is accused of more than 23m breaches of anti-money laundering laws.
Continue reading...French drugmaker criticised for giving US priority; Gordon Brown says Covid-19 solution is global
More than 140 world leaders and experts have called for future Covid-19 vaccines to be made available to everyone free of charge, amid growing tensions between drug companies and governments and a boycott of vaccine summits by the US.
Vaccines and treatments for the virus should not be patented, say the signatories to an open letter published in the run-up to next week’s meeting of the World Health Assembly, the policy-setting body of the UN’s World Health Organization. Instead, scientific breakthroughs must be shared across borders, they urge.
Continue reading...World’s largest cruise company declines to give details for extent of redundancies
Cruise ship company Carnival has announced a wide-ranging programme of job losses and pay cuts as it desperately seeks to cut costs in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The world’s largest cruise company said it would save “hundreds of millions of dollars” over the course of a year after making the cuts but declined to give details of the extent of redundancies and furloughs.
Continue reading...Two former chief executives and four police officials among 15 individuals charged in case
Ikea’s French subsidiary and 15 individuals including former executives and police officials are to go on trial on charges of spying on employees and customers, prosecutors have announced.
Two former Ikea France CEOs are among those charged in a case dating back to 2012 when the Swedish-based home furnishings firm was accused of paying for illegal access to police files.
Continue reading...Each will liaise over safely reopening businesses and places such as churches and libraries
The government has unveiled five new taskforces devoted to vulnerable sectors of the economy, intended to liaise with unions and others to see how soon each sector can safely resume work with coronavirus distancing measures.
The five areas covered are all ones that have to wait before even limited reopening efforts can begin, in most cases until at least July. They are pubs and restaurants; non-essential shops; recreation and leisure; places of worship; and international air travel.
Continue reading...The government’s revised lockdown advice is muddled and rife with contradictions, but their priorities are crystal clear
Boris Johnson has urged the public to rely on their “British common sense” as lockdown restrictions are progressively eased over the coming months.
But as estate agents joined nannies and cleaners on the list of workers allowed to enter people’s homes, while friends and family can’t come round for a cup of tea or to visit their grandchildren, questions are being raised about whether the latest rules make any sense, British or otherwise.
Continue reading...More evidence of how the coronavirus pandemic is widening income inequality has emerged after the Federal Reserve announced 40% of households earning less than $40,000 included someone who has lost a job since February.
Related: Coronavirus US live: gap grows between White House and experts over safety of reopening
Continue reading...Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou seeks ‘whistleblower’ to help scupper airline’s £4.5bn, 107-plane deal
EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is offering £5m to any “whistleblower” providing him with information that scuppers the budget airline’s 107-plane order from Airbus.
Haji-Ioannou, who has been attempting to force easyJet’s board to cancel the order for months, says the £4.5bn deal will leave the carrier without enough cash to survive the coronavirus crisis.
Continue reading...Lockdowns are starting to ease but travel and migration will be disrupted for longer
Our globalised world has been brought to a crashing halt by coronavirus.
By April, over 90% of the world’s population – 7.1 billion people – lived in countries with coronavirus-related travel restrictions on people arriving from abroad, a Pew study found.
Continue reading...Billionaire puts more than fifth of stake up for sale to help prop up airline and rest of group
Sir Richard Branson is to sell $500m (£405m) in Virgin Galactic shares in order to prop up his airline and leisure interests, which have been ravaged by the coronavirus crisis.
In a statement to the New York Stock Exchange, Branson’s Virgin Group said it intended to sell 25m shares via a series of transactions, prompting a 5% fall in the share price of Virgin Galactic during pre-market trading.
Continue reading...European commission has warned of possible legal action over constitutional court ruling
Angela Merkel has stepped in to try to find a way out of a damaging clash between Germany and Brussels after the EU threatened to bring infringement proceedings over a ruling by the country’s constitutional court.
The German chancellor stressed that the dispute was solvable, after the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, issued an unusual statement on Sunday warning of possible legal action against Berlin.
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