President Hassan Rouhani signals approval of firing of national security adviser
Iran’s president has urged the US to “put warmongers aside” as tensions roil the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between Washington and Tehran after the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
Hassan Rouhani’s remarks signalled approval of Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of John Bolton as national security adviser. Bolton had been hawkish on Iran and other global challenges.
Continue reading...Proposal to LSE board will only proceed if deal for Refinitiv is terminated or voted down
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has made a surprise £32bn bid approach to take over the London Stock Exchange Group.
It comes weeks after LSE agreed a $27bn (£22bn) all-share deal to take control of Refinitiv, a move the company said would transform it into a UK-headquartered, global rival to Michael Bloomberg’s financial news and data business.
Continue reading...Teoh, who despite running one of Australia’s largest telcos has managed to maintain anonymity, runs gauntlet of media
Finally, the reclusive billionaire emerged. David Teoh, estimated to be worth $3bn, made his debut before the cameras on a fine spring day outside the federal court in Melbourne on Wednesday.
As he stepped into the witness stand shortly after 3pm, Teoh gave away the extraordinary level of anonymity he’d been able to maintain even while running one of Australia’s biggest telecommunications companies, TPG.
Continue reading...Law would make it more difficult for firms such as Uber to deny workers are employees
Lawmakers in California have passed a landmark bill that would make it much more difficult for companies such as Uber and Lyft to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees.
The bill, which paves the way for workers in the so-called gig economy to get holiday and sick pay, has garnered attention across the US and beyond, largely owing to the size of California’s workforce. Several Democratic presidential candidates have supported the measure, including the US senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Kamala Harris of California.
Continue reading...President tweeted about the firing after reports emerged Bolton opposed Trump plan to hold peace talks with the Taliban at Camp David
Trump has taken the stage at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference and appears to (so far) be sticking to the teleprompter.
He has touted the importance of HBCUs and celebrated his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, as a champion for the institutions.
Trump is expected to soon start speaking at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference. The president was scheduled to take the podium at 2:15 p.m. E.T. but is apparently running behind.
Continue reading...Emissions rose 20-30% in Paris when temperatures topped 30C, raising urgent questions as the climate gets hotter
Emissions from diesel cars – even newer and supposedly cleaner models – increase on hot days, a new study has found, raising questions over how cities suffering from air pollution can deal with urban heat islands and the climate crisis.
Research in Paris by The Real Urban Emissions (True) initiative found that diesel car emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) rose by 20% to 30% when temperatures topped 30C – a common event this summer.
Continue reading...French economist’s Capital and Ideology expands on themes in Capital in the 21st Century, which sold 2m copies
Six years after being catapulted to fame with a blockbuster about the concentration of wealth, the French economist Thomas Piketty has returned with an epic new book on capitalism.
Abiding by the rule that every bestseller demands a follow-up, Capital and Ideology expands on the themes sketched out in Capital in the 21st Century, which sold 2m copies worldwide after its publication in 2013.
Continue reading...Balpa union calls 48-hour walkout with further action planned for 27 September
The first-ever strike by British Airways pilots is set to start at midnight on Sunday night, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and travel disruption for thousands of passengers.
Members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) have said they will walk out for 48 hours in a long-running dispute over pay, with a further strike set for 27 September if the row remains unresolved.
Continue reading...Door of new model reportedly exploded outwards during ground-based stress testing
Boeing has suspended load testing of its new widebody 777X aircraft as media reports said a cargo door failed in a ground stress test.
“During final load testing on the 777X static test airplane, the team encountered an issue that required suspension of the test,” Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said in a statement on Saturday.
Continue reading...Prices are at record levels and demand is growing for fishermen north of the border after China imposed tariffs on live lobsters
Long hours, rolling ocean swells, and the occasional spring snowstorm are all part of the job for Francis Morrissey.
“It’s bred into you from the time you’re a child: you either like the ocean or you don’t,” said the fisherman and business owner from the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. “Even when I’m in the office, I wish I was out there.”
Continue reading...Abdulaziz bin Salman becomes first Saudi royal to head energy ministry, one of the country’s most vital roles
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has replaced the country’s energy minister with one of his sons, naming Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to one of the most important positions in the kingdom.
The new energy minister is an older half-brother to the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and an experienced oil industry figure in Saudi Arabia. He has been minister of state for energy affairs since 2017. The two brothers are not known to be close.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of business, economics and markets as factories in Europe’s largest economy stutter
Eurozone growth came in unchanged on its third estimate: 0.2% growth in the second quarter of the year.
A minor beat on the headline year-on-year growth rate, remaining at 1.2% against 1.1% expectations, but otherwise no shocks.
Labour has confirmed that it will not vote for an election on Monday even if a bill intended to stop a no-deal Brexit passes before then.
If we vote to have a general election, then no matter what it is that Boris Johnson promises, it is up to him to advise the Queen when the general election should be. And given that he has shown himself to be a manifest liar, and someone who has said that he will die in a ditch rather than stop no deal, and indeed his adviser, [Dominic] Cummings, has been swearing and shouting at MPs saying they are leaving on 31 [October] no matter what, our first priority has to be that we must stop no deal and we must make sure that that is going to happen.
Related: Brexit: Labour confirms it will not vote on Monday for early election - live news
Continue reading...UK pair accused of defrauding German state through ‘cum-ex’ share trading scheme
Two British investment bankers have gone on trial in Bonn in what German media have called “the biggest financial fraud trial” in the country’s postwar history.
The two British citizens, Martin Shields, 41, and Nicholas Diable, 38, are accused of having defrauded the German state of €447.5m (£405m) from London’s banking district with so-called cum-ex trading schemes, a complex shell game of share transactions.
Continue reading...FTC has fined Google $136m and company will pay an additional $34m to New York state to resolve similar allegations
Google’s video site YouTube has been fined $170m to settle allegations it collected children’s personal data without their parents’ consent.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Google $136m and the company will pay an additional $34m to New York state to resolve similar allegations.
Continue reading...Chinese exports worth $125bn will face new taxes from 1 September, while China places levy on oil as agreement becomes more distant
China and the United States have begun imposing additional tariffs on each other’s goods in the latest escalation of their bruising trade war that has sent shockwaves through the global economy.
A new round of tariffs took effect from 0401 GMT on Sunday, with Beijing’s levy of 5% on US crude oil marking the first time the fuel has been targeted since the world’s two largest economies started their trade war more than a year ago.
Continue reading...As the Aramco listing is revived, crown prince appoints a businessman to lead the oil sector and gets a new gatekeeper
Saudi Arabia has announced the creation of a new natural resources ministry, separating it from the energy ministry, while replacing the head of the royal court in a wide-ranging shakeup of the government.
As plans for the massive $2 trillion stock market listing of the state-owned oil company Aramco are stepped up, the kingdom’s de facto ruler and crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has brought in a prominent businessman to head the new ministry of industry and mineral resources.
Continue reading...Asset managers, pension funds and companies halt deals and stop buying bonds
Financial pressure is growing on Brazil over fires in the Amazon and the far-right president’s belligerent response to them.
Asset managers, pension funds and companies have issued warnings, halted deals and stopped purchases of government bonds.
Continue reading...Decision to rule out UK and Hong Kong would be major blow to both financial centres
Saudi Arabia’s revived plans for a $2tn mega-listing of its state oil company may rule out the London Stock Exchange amid Britain’s rising political uncertainty, according to reports.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, may instead look to Japan’s Tokyo stock exchange to host the second phase of what would be the biggest public offering in history.
Continue reading...Former judge also asked to report on whether NSW gambling laws need to be overhauled
A public inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing at casinos run by Crown Resorts will decide whether the James Packer-dominated group is fit to hold a licence in New South Wales and whether the state’s gambling laws need to be overhauled.
Terms of reference, released by the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority on Thursday, show the inquiry, to be headed by former judge Patricia Bergin, will also investigate whether Packer’s decision to sell almost 20% of Crown to Hong Kong billionaire Lawrence Ho breached the gambling group’s licence to build a high-roller casino at Barangaroo in Sydney.
Continue reading...The fund browbeats poor countries into accepting neoliberal measures that exacerbate inequality and economic distress
When people think of the damage that wealthy countries – typically led by the US and its allies – cause to people in the rest of the world, they probably think of warfare. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died from the 2003 invasion, and then many more as the region became inflamed.
Related: Brexit: EU ‘would block trade deal if Britain reneged on bill’
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