Category Archives: Business

Revealed: one in five peers advise private business while serving in parliament

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Analysis finds 169 peers working as advisers and 15 paid by foreign governments

One in five members of the House of Lords are working as consultants or advisers to private businesses at the same time as serving in parliament, the Guardian can reveal.

An analysis of the Register of Lords’ Interests shows 169 peers reported working as advisers earlier this year, with more than a dozen registering that they were also paid by foreign governments on top of the expenses they are entitled to as peers.

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Donald Trump defends tariffs on Mexico as stock markets reel

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After 5% tariff announced, president tweets ‘Mexico has taken advantage of the US for decades’

Donald Trump has defended his decision to impose new tariffs on Mexico as stock markets worldwide were rattled by fears of an escalation in trade tensions.

“Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades,” Trump tweeted. “Because of the Dems, our Immigration Laws are BAD. Mexico makes a FORTUNE from the U.S., have for decades, they can easily fix this problem. Time for them to finally do what must be done!”

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‘I had pain all over my body’: Italy’s tainted tobacco industry

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Migrants working in areas supplying Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands allege abuses including low pay and illegal contracts

Three of the world’s largest tobacco manufacturers, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands, are buying leaves that could have been picked by exploited African migrants working in Italy’s multi-million euro industry.

Workers including children, said they were forced to work up to 12 hours a day without contracts or sufficient health and safety equipment in Campania, a region that produces more than a third of Italy’s tobacco. Some workers said they were paid about three euros an hour.

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Queensland signs off Adani’s plan for endangered black-throated finch

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Coordinator general releases decision to approve the coal mine’s management plan for bird

The Queensland government has signed off on Adani’s black-throated finch management plan, one of two state approvals the company needs to begin preparatory construction for its Adani coalmine.

Queensland’s coordinator general published the decision on Friday morning.

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China tells US provoking trade disputes is ‘naked economic terrorism’

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Senior official says China is ‘not afraid’ of a trade war as Beijing signals potential restrictions on rare-earth exports

Provoking trade disputes is “naked economic terrorism“, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday, ramping up the rhetoric against the US amid a bitter trade war that shows no signs of ending soon.

Zhang Hanhui, China’s vice foreign minister told reporters in Beijing China opposed the use of “big sticks” such as trade sanctions, tariffs and protectionism.

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Global markets fall as China prepares to hit back at US in trade war

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Dow Jones slumps after Beijing signals readiness to restrict exports of rare-earth elements

Financial markets around the world have sold off sharply after Beijing signalled a readiness to strike back at Washington in their escalating trade war by restricting exports of rare-earth elements.

Wall Street recorded steep losses on Wednesday as the Dow Jones slumped to the lowest level in almost four months, losing about 200 points to trade at 25,149. The S&P 500 index also fell to a two-month low, sliding by 18 points to 2,784.

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MacKenzie Bezos pledges at least half her wealth to charity

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Jeff Bezos’ former wife, known as world’s 22nd richest person with $36.6bn fortune, signs up to the Giving Pledge

MacKenzie Bezos, who recently became the world’s fourth richest woman after her divorce from Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, has promised to give away at least half her $36.6bn (£28.4bn) fortune.

The 49 year-old novelist and founder of the anti-bullying group Bystander Revolution said on Tuesday that she had “a disproportionate amount of money to share” and promised to work hard at giving it away “until the safe is empty”.

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A sweet tale: the son who reinvented sugar to help diabetic dad

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The natural substitute helps diabetics, combats obesity and tackles climate change

Javier Larragoiti was 18 when his father was diagnosed with diabetes. The teenager had just started a degree in chemical engineering in Mexico City. So he dedicated his studies to a side project: creating an acceptable alternative to help his father and millions of Mexicans like him avoid sugar.

“It’s only when you know someone with this sickness that you realise how common it is and how sugar intake plays a huge role,” he says. “My dad tried to use stevia and sucralose, just hated the taste, and kept cheating on his diet.”

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Fiat Chrysler proposes merger with Renault to reshape car industry

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Deal would create world’s third-largest automaker and ‘save €5bn a year’ by sharing research

Fiat Chrysler has proposed a merger with France’s Renault that would create the world’s third-largest carmaker and save billions needed to invest in the race to make electric and autonomous vehicles.

The merged company would produce 8.7m vehicles annually and save €5bn ($5.6bn or £4.4bn) each year by sharing research, purchasing and other activities, according to a statement released by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). It said the deal would involve no plant closures but did not address potential job cuts.

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Robocrop: world’s first raspberry-picking robot set to work

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Autonomous machine expected to pick more than 25,000 raspberries a day, outpacing human workers

Quivering and hesitant, like a spoon-wielding toddler trying to eat soup without spilling it, the world’s first raspberry-picking robot is attempting to harvest one of the fruits.

After sizing it up for an age, the robot plucks the fruit with its gripping arm and gingerly deposits it into a waiting punnet. The whole process takes about a minute for a single berry.

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Trump arrives in Japan for ceremonial visit and trade talks

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Visit will stress ties between the two countries as tensions over exports rise amid the US-China trade war

Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, landed in Japan on Saturday for a largely ceremonial visit meant to showcase strong ties with Tokyo even as trade tensions loom.

The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will treat Trump to an imperial banquet and front-row seats at a sumo tournament during the trip, which lasts until Tuesday.

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Global markets rocked as US-China trade and tech rift deepens

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Shares fall sharply in Asia, Europe and North America in intensifying war of words

The deepening trade and technology war between the US and China has sent global stock markets sharply lower and prompted a warning from the IMF of the increasing risks to the global economy.

Shares fell sharply in Asia, Europe and North America on a day that saw investors alarmed by the intensifying war of words between Washington and Beijing, poor news on the American economy, and political chaos in Britain.

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Uber to launch Jump bike hire scheme in Islington borough

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Ride-hailing company hopes to expand to other London boroughs if local trial goes well

Uber is to launch its electric bike hire scheme in the UK, trialling Jump bikes in London through its app.

The global ride-hailing firm will be battling with Lime for the e-bike market, after the retreat of dockless bicycle firms from the UK.

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UK negotiates loophole in Saudi export ban to sell planes to Yemen

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Government will continue to supply aircraft to be used in war, says Jeremy Hunt

The UK government has negotiated a loophole in a German arms export ban to Saudi Arabia that will ensure UK-supplied planes will continue to be used in the war in Yemen, the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed.

The news is contained in two unpublished letters from cabinet ministers to the parliamentary Committee on Arms Export Controls (CEAC). The aircraft, Tornado fighter bombers and Eurofighter Typhoons, are used in the Saudi bombing raids designed to push back the Houthi rebellion in the four-year civil war in Yemen. The aircraft were developed by consortiums of European companies and Germany supplies spares for them.

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McDonald’s investigated over racism and harassment claims in Brazil

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Federal prosecutors say complaint presents ‘worrying evidence’ of sexual harassment and discrimination

It was a busy day at a McDonald’s branch in São Paulo. Marcelo says he was struggling to keep up with demand while manning the chips and white meat stations when the shift boss called him a “damned stupid blackie”.

Marcelo protested and said he would pursue legal action for racism. The store manager fired him the next day, according to his statement in court documents seen by the Guardian.

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Trump’s China trade war risks damaging US economy, says OECD

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Intensification of tariff dispute also likely to knock almost $600bn off world economy

Donald Trump has been warned by the west’s most influential economics thinktank that further escalation of the US-China trade war would unleash significant damage for the American economy, as well as the rest of the world.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that an intensification of the dispute between Washington and Beijing would likely knock as much as 0.7% off the level of global GDP by 2021-22.

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Trump reacts angrily to New York Times report on Deutsche Bank transactions

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  • Paper detailed staff concerns over Trump and Kushner entities
  • President claims he doesn’t need banks or money from Russia

Donald Trump sought on Monday to discredit a New York Times report that Deutsche Bank employees flagged concerns over transactions involving legal entities controlled by the president and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Related: Deutsche Bank staff saw suspicious Trump and Kushner activity – report

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From bleak to bustling: how one French town beat the high street blues

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Mulhouse has turned around its image and now boasts more shops opening than closing, thanks to smart planning, investment and community efforts

On a lane in what was once considered eastern France’s grimmest town, a street artist is up a ladder finishing a mural, the independent bookshop has a queue at the till, the organic cooperative is full of customers and Séverine Liebold’s arty independent tea shop is doing a brisk trade.

When Liebold opened Tilvist in Mulhouse three years ago, in a space that had been vacant for years, friends tried to persuade her against it. “They said: ‘Not Mulhouse, look elsewhere,’” she recalls. “But I stuck with my instinct, and I was right.”

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Turkey insists on right to drill for energy reserves off Cyprus

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Dispute likely to escalate after Nicosia said it would seek to arrest anyone caught drilling

Tensions over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean have risen sharply after Turkey said it would “exercise its sovereign rights” to drill off Cyprus in flagrant defiance of warnings from western allies.

As the dispute over potential gas reserves intensified, Ankara insisted its state-of-the-art drilling ship, the Fatih, and its support vessels would begin operations in waters viewed by the EU as being within the island’s exclusive economic zone.

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