Category Archives: Business

Macron’s mini-summit in Paris is a snub to Trump’s trade policy | Larry Elliott

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European leaders and China’s Xi Jinping put on a show of unity in the face of US tariffs

Donald Trump was not on the guest list for Emmanuel Macron’s mini-summit in Paris, but the presence of the US president was still very much felt as Europe’s leaders sat down to talk trade, business deals and geopolitics with China’s Xi Jinping.

At one level, the message from the meeting of China’s leader with Macron, the German chancellor Angela Merkel and the European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was obvious: this was a show of unity in the face of Trump’s tariffs aimed across both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

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Asian stocks slump as US recession fears grip markets

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Australian treasury yields hit a record low in a grim portent for the economy, while the Nikkei falls 3% in wider share selloff

Shares in Asia Pacific have slumped after a key market indicator flashed an “amber warning” that the United States is heading for a recession.

Bond yields also continued to fall across the world with Australian 10-year treasury yields falling to a record low on Monday of 1.756% in what analysts see as a strong indicator of a downturn hitting the resource-rich country.

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Indonesian airline Garuda cancels order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets

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Company blames loss of passenger trust after Ethiopia Airlines and Lion Air disasters involving the aircraft

Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda has cancelled a multibillion-dollar order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after two fatal crashes involving the plane, the company said, blaming passengers’ loss of trust in the aircraft.

In what is thought to be the first formal cancellation for the model, Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said: “We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled.

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Top oil firms spending millions lobbying to block climate change policies, says report

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Ad campaigns hide investment in a huge expansion of oil and gas extraction, says InfluenceMap

The largest five stock market listed oil and gas companies spend nearly $200m (£153m) a year lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change, according to a new report.

Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil were the main companies leading the field in direct lobbying to push against a climate policy to tackle global warming, the report said.

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Climate change could make insurance too expensive for most people – report

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Munich Re, world’s largest reinsurance firm, warns premium rises could become social issue

Insurers have warned that climate change could make cover for ordinary people unaffordable after the world’s largest reinsurance firm blamed global warming for $24bn (£18bn) of losses in the Californian wildfires.

Ernst Rauch, Munich Re’s chief climatologist, told the Guardian that the costs could soon be widely felt, with premium rises already under discussion with clients holding asset concentrations in vulnerable parts of the state.

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US judge halts hundreds of drilling projects in groundbreaking climate change ruling

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In a rebuke of the Trump administration’s ‘energy-first’ agenda, a judge rules greenhouse gas emissions must be considered

In the first significant check on the Trump administration’s “energy-first” agenda, a US judge has temporarily halted hundreds of drilling projects for failing to take climate change into account.

Drilling had been stalled on more than 300,000 acres of public land in Wyoming after it was ruled the Trump administration violated environmental laws by failing to consider greenhouse gas emissions. The federal judge has ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages US public lands and issues leases to the energy industry, to redo its analysis.

The decision stems from an environmental lawsuit. WildEarth Guardians, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Western Environmental Law Center sued the BLM in 2016 for failing to calculate and limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from future oil and gas projects.

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Amsterdam to ban ‘disrespectful’ tours of red-light district

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Move is just one of measures taken to limit impact of mass tourism on historic city centre

Amsterdam is to ban guided tours of its red-light district as part of an effort to restrict the increasing throngs of visitors in its historic city centre, and because “they are not respectful” to sex workers.

“It is no longer acceptable in this age to see sex workers as a tourist attraction,” city councillor Udo Kock said. A survey has shown that 80% of sex workers say gawping tourists are bad for their business and councillors last year suggested moving the red light district to another part of the city.

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Global stock markets gain as investors predict cautious Federal Reserve – business live

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Central banks in spotlight amid Brexit uncertainty and growth concerns

The Bank’s reticence to raise rates has been hinted at by Gertjan Vlieghe and Silvana Tenreyro, two of the nine-member monetary policy committee.

Weaker growth prospects have come on top of concerns about Brexit, according to Martin Beck, lead UK economist at Oxford Economics, a consultancy. He expects a 9-0 vote to keep policy unchanged, saying:

The economy’s recent performance has been broadly in line with the MPC’s expectations. But public pronouncements by some committee members on downside risks have indicated a dovish shift around the pace of future rate hikes.

In light of the continued failure to get a Brexit deal through Parliament, Brexit uncertainty remains a key block on action by the MPC.

The Bank of England will also be in action later this week, with a monetary policy announcement on Thursday at midday.

Anything other than a unanimous vote to keep interest rates on hold would be a shock, for fairly obvious reasons.

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Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank confirm merger talks

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Unions warn merger of two German lenders could put up to 30,000 jobs at risk

Deutsche Bank has confirmed it is in merger talks with rival Commerzbank, putting an end to months of speculation over a potential tie-up that stands to unsettle the German banking landscape.

While the move has been touted as a route to greater profitability for the troubled lenders, unions have warned that the merger could put up to 30,000 jobs at risk.

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Buyer beware: Amsterdam seeks to ban buy-to-let on newbuild homes

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London and others will be watching closely as Dutch city tries to tackle housing shortage

Amsterdam has drawn up plans to ban the rental of new-build homes on city land, as part of a spate of policies to combat spiralling house prices, housing shortages and over-saturation of tourism.

The plan from its housing chief states: “Investors are buying Amsterdam homes more and more frequently, intending to rent them out. This means that ‘normal’ house-buyers have less of a chance in the housing market, and Amsterdam is not happy with this.”

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After two deadly disasters in five months, can Boeing survive?

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The global grounding of its bestselling model after 346 deaths has created a genuine crisis for the company and its clients

Within three minutes of takeoff, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 had accelerated to unusually high speeds. Captain Yared Getachew knew something was wrong as the aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, erratically dipped and climbed by hundreds of feet. He radioed air traffic control, requesting a return to Addis Ababa airport.

He was cleared to return and the aircraft began to turn right, climbing even higher. A minute later, flight 302 disappeared from the radar.

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Move over, McDonald’s: French taco poised for global expansion

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Pile-up of meats, fries and cheese sauce has become a fast-food phenomenon

At lunchtime on a street near the Gare du Nord in Paris, queues were forming at a fast-food restaurant. Construction workers jostled with schoolchildren for what has become a business phenomenon: the hefty, cheesy slab of indulgence known as the French taco.

France has always had a huge market for takeaways, from kebabs to McDonald’s, and fast food accounts for more than half the nation’s restaurants. Now the homegrown French taco is challenging the burger’s imperialist success and plotting its own global expansion.

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Boeing’s 737 Max fleet ‘will remain grounded for weeks’

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US politicians say ban will last through April, as data from Ethiopian Airlines flight arrives in France

Boeing’s 737 Max 8 and 9 planes will remain grounded for weeks at a minimum, US politicians said on Thursday, as flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane arrived in France.

After a briefing with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), congressman Rick Larsen said the planes, which have been involved in two fatal crashes in the last five months, would be banned from flying “at least through April” while new software is installed and investigations continue.

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MPs told to pass Brexit deal by next Wednesday or face long article 50 extension – as it happened

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MPs vote by 321 to 278 to rule out no deal despite government whipping Tory MPs against motion, following 312-308 win for Spelman amendment

Folks, it’s time to wrap up the blog for the night.

I’ll be back in a few hours to launch a new Politics live blog, bringing you all of Thursday’s Brexit and other political news. A reminder of what’s on the agenda for Thursday:

There have been some remarkable turns of phrase from commentators and politicians in their attempts to capture just what exactly has gone on in British politics in the last few days.

This is a turd of a deal, which has now been taken away and polished, and is now a polished turd. But it might be the best turd that we’ve got.

The House of Commons was a Benny Hill chase on acid, running through a Salvador Dali painting in a spaceship on its way to infinity.

A vague, and vain attempt to make sense of the great mad nights in British political history.

Sketch here.https://t.co/4zCw505yNv pic.twitter.com/ZENHV8wTnz

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Boeing and US under pressure to ground 737 Max as further bans brought in

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Federal Aviation Administration increasingly isolated in maintaining plane is safe as EU countries halt flights

Boeing and the US aviation authorities have come under increasing pressure to ground the 737 Max despite repeated reassurances as the European Union and numerous other countries halted flights and Donald Trump weighed in following a second fatal crash involving the plane in less than five months.

US regulators, airlines and the manufacturer have become increasingly isolated in maintaining that the plane is safe.

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Ethiopian flight 302: second new Boeing 737 to crash in four months

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Confidence that a newer plane inevitably means a safer plane in danger of being shaken

The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi is a tragedy that threatens to leave fresh questions hanging over the aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

Few details about the crash are yet available, but according to Ethiopian Airlines the pilot, who was experienced with an excellent flying record, reported difficulties and asked to turn back.

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Elizabeth Warren is right – we must break up Facebook, Google and Amazon | Robert Reich

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The titans of the new Gilded Age must be busted and the idea has bipartisan support. It’s time big tech was brought to heel

The presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren announced on Friday she wants to bust up giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon.

America’s first Gilded Age began in the late 19th century with a raft of innovations – railroads, steel production, oil extraction – but culminated in mammoth trusts run by “robber barons” like JP Morgan, John D Rockefeller, and William H “the public be damned” Vanderbilt.

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‘I hear it in my sleep’: CVS to update hold music that ‘haunted’ psychiatrist

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Pharmacy chain says plans were under way to change telephone system before doctor’s open letter sparked national debate

The US pharmacy giant CVS has said it will update the jingle it plays to telephone customers placed on hold, a tune which was the subject of a viral open letter from a Boston child psychiatrist who said it haunted him “day and night” and to an extent that was “not healthy”.

“I know,” Dr Steven Schlozman wrote. “I’m a doctor.”

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Hotel giant Accor accused of segregating Aboriginal guests into lower-quality rooms

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Australian government to investigate claims French-owned Ibis Styles in Alice Springs reserved poorest accommodation for Indigenous visitors

The international hotel giant Accor has launched an investigation into allegations that staff at one of its Australian hotels have been segregating Aboriginal guests in lower quality rooms.

The French multinational company said on Friday it was “extremely saddened and disappointed” at the revelations, which were reported by the ABC’s Background Briefing program.

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UK vulnerable to money laundering on a massive scale, find MPs

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‘Fragmented’ system inadequate to prevent influx of dirty money, says Treasury committee

Hundreds of billions of pounds could be being laundered through the UK every year, but the government is unable to give a precise figure of the scale of the problem, MPs have found.

In a report on economic crime, the Treasury committee said the scale of the problem in the UK was very uncertain, with estimates ranging from tens of billions of pounds upwards.

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