The 25% levies also include British knitwear and EU cheese and aircraft as White House retaliates for subsidies given to Airbus
The US is set to impose $7.5bn (£6.1bn) of tariffs on exports from the EU including scotch whisky, French wine and cheese and aircraft in retaliation for subsidies given to the aerospace group Airbus after a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling..
Related: Airbus on course to overtake Boeing as biggest planemaker
Continue reading...Exclusive: Whistleblower tells of links between Paola Cuneo, PM and US businesswoman
A Whitehall official who ran the scheme that granted Jennifer Arcuri a coveted entrepreneur visa had worked for Boris Johnson when he was mayor, the Guardian has learned.
The US businesswoman, who is at the centre of a conflict of interest row over her friendship with the prime minister, beat nearly 2,000 applicants to gain one of 200 sought-after tier 1 entrepreneur visas on the government’s Sirius programme after Johnson helped promote her firm, Innotech, by giving keynote speeches at her events.
Continue reading...Bank rules surveillance of outgoing head of wealth management Iqbal Khan was ‘wrong and disproportionate’
Credit Suisse has sacked its chief operating officer over an “extraordinary” James Bond-style corporate espionage scandal in which the bank hired private detectives to tail a senior executive and his wife through the streets of Zurich following a row with his boss at a cocktail party.
Switzerland’s second-biggest bank said on Tuesday that Pierre-Olivier Bouée had left with immediate effect after the board of directors ruled that the seven-day spying operation was “wrong and disproportionate and has resulted in severe reputational damage to the bank”.
Continue reading...Struggling empire is the latest bricks-and-mortar outfit to suffer as shopping moves online
Fashion retailer Forever 21 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, joining a growing list of bricks-and-mortar players who have failed to navigate the shift towards online shopping.
Since the start of 2017, more than 20 US retailers, including Sears Holdings Corp and Toys ‘R’ Us, have filed for bankruptcy as more customers shift to online retailers such as Amazon.
Continue reading...Richard Marles accuses PM of taking ‘pot shots against our largest trading partner’ amid US-China tensions
Labor’s shadow defence minister, Richard Marles, says Australia’s relationship with China is in a “terrible” state following Scott Morrison’s visit to the United States.
Speaking fresh from a visit to Beijing, Marles said that Morrison’s “megaphone diplomacy” alongside Donald Trump about China’s status as a developing country had inflamed tensions.
Continue reading...Staff from Thomas Cook are to hold protests at this week’s Tory party conference in Manchester and later at Downing Street over the government’s decision not to step in and save the company from liquidation.
Staff were due to get their monthly salaries on 30 September but are instead among Thomas Cook’s creditors, and it is now unclear when they will be paid. Some 150,000 UK holidaymakers are being repatriated at taxpayers’ expense following the demise of the world’s oldest tour operator. On 28 September, a further 16,700 customers were set to be flown home.
Continue reading...Report estimates up to £20bn a year in investment needed to build net-zero carbon economy
The UK will need investment worth billions of pounds every year to remove enough greenhouse gases from the air to meet its 2050 climate targets, according to a report commissioned by the government.
The report, by analysts at Vivid Economics, estimated that the UK would need as much as £20bn a year to remove up to 130m tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air.
Continue reading...Case involves possible conflict of interest when Boris Johnson was mayor of London
Boris Johnson has been formally referred for potential investigation into whether he committed the criminal offence of misconduct in public office, over allegations about a conflict of interest with a US businesswoman while he was mayor of London.
An official from the Greater London Authority, the city’s devolved government, has written to the prime minister noting claims he had “on more than one occasion” used his position as mayor to “benefit and reward” Jennifer Arcuri, a tech entrepreneur.
Continue reading...Australian PM Scott Morrison received a full-blown welcome from the US president. Katharine Murphy was on hand for an inside account
Scott Morrison has made his first visit to the United States as prime minister. It was a trip that included a close encounter with the unpredictability of the Trump White House, a foreign policy pivot, and a backlash about a lack of climate policy action. Guardian Australia’s political editor, Katharine Murphy, travelled, with the prime minister. Here is what she witnessed:
Continue reading...Tour giant’s collapse leaves big hotel debts and staff fearing for jobs just before winter season
Under a late September sun that blisters white northern European skin with ease, Playa de las Américas offers its visitors a bounteous blend of the familiar and the exotic.
On the palm-lined main thoroughfare of the Tenerife resort town, tourists have an array of choice, from buying a pint for €1.50 (£1.33) to watching football matches, taking jetski trips and even Harley-Davidson tours of the island.
Continue reading...Small-market test rolls out months after rival Burger King began testing the plant-based Impossible Foods burger
McDonald’s is finally taking a nibble of the plant-based burger.
McDonald’s said Thursday that will sell the PLT, or the plant, lettuce and tomato burger for 12 weeks in 28 restaurants in south-western Ontario by the end of the month.
Continue reading...Senate committee says investigation into former ministers Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne was flawed and should be reopened
A Senate inquiry has called for the reopening of an investigation into the former ministers Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne taking industry jobs connected with their portfolios, saying the initial probe had failed to ask “crucial questions”.
The Senate inquiry into Bishop and Pyne’s post-political appointments delivered its report on Thursday, urging that the incoming secretary of the department of prime minister and cabinet reopen an investigation into whether ministerial standards were breached.
Continue reading...Failure of world’s oldest travel company leaves bosses facing tough questions over their pay and performance
A lot of people face losses because of Thomas Cook’s collapse.
The companies suppliers could be left with unpaid bills, while employees need to submit claims to obtain the redundancy payments and wages they’re entitled to.
If you are an employee or creditor affected by #ThomasCook, we have useful information about how to make claims in the liquidation https://t.co/UpfHpctze5 pic.twitter.com/E8RfjuVpve
Here’s our news story about the accountancy watchdog sniffing around Thomas Cook’s collapse:
Related: Thomas Cook collapse: accounting watchdog weighs up investigation
Continue reading...Questions over rise in funds to ministries outside Department for International Development, with little clarity on value for money
MPs have criticised a “dramatic increase” in aid spending in ministries outside the Department for International Development, because they have not put in place adequate measures to assess value for money.
A report, by the House of Commons public accounts committee, questioned the doubling of the Newton Fund, managed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to £735m, despite the department’s “weak understanding” of how funds were spent, where and with what results.
Continue reading...Only a fifth of the companies will remain on track, according to analysis of their disclosures
More than four fifths of the world’s largest companies are unlikely to meet the targets set out in the Paris climate agreement by 2050, according to fresh analysis of their climate disclosures.
A study of almost 3,000 publicly listed companies found that just 18% have disclosed plans that are aligned with goals to limit rising temperatures to 1.5C of pre-industrialised levels by the middle of the century.
Continue reading...Governments are in crisis-planning mode over efforts to repatriate 500,000 tourists
The collapse of Thomas Cook has plunged governments across Europe and Africa into crisis-planning mode as they help with the repatriation of more than 500,000 stranded tourists and begin to count the cost of the holiday company’s demise on already-battered economies.
About 50,000 holidaymakers are stranded in Greece, 21,000 in Turkey, 15,000 in Cyprus and 4,500 in Tunisia. Thousands of tourists are also stuck in the US and dozens of other countries. Most of the tourists are from the UK with an estimated 150,000 people, followed by Germany with about 140,000 holidaymakers.
Continue reading...Offers from Spain and Turkey to save firm reportedly had no support from Westminster
The government has been accused of sealing Thomas Cook’s fate, as claims emerged that the Spanish and Turkish governments had offered to help save the stricken tour operator, only for the deal to disintegrate due to a lack of support in Westminster.
As recriminations flew, government-chartered aircraft began flying 150,000 stranded Thomas Cook customers back to the UK after the 178-year-old tour operator collapsed into liquidation in the early hours of Monday under the weight of its debts.
Continue reading...A huge repatriation effort has begun after company ceases trading with immediate effect, causing flights to be cancelled
I’m going to hand over to my colleague Graeme Wearden now. Thanks for following along through the early hours.
A few reports have come through that Thomas Cook staff were not notified by the company of the trouble that the company was in. One said he found out the company had gone bust by reading media reports today. Another, whose family member worked for Thomas Cook, said the company had been telling staff up until yesterday that reports of financial distress had been inflated by the press.
If you know more, please get in touch: kate.lyons@theguardian.com
Continue reading...Carmakers fear disorderly exit would cripple the just-in-time supply chain, investment and lead to tariff barriers
The European car industry has warned of catastrophic effects of a no-deal Brexit, saying it would have a “seismic” impact on making cars in Europe.
In a rare joint statement, chiefs from 23 automotive business associations across Europe joined forces to caution against a brutal exit from the bloc by Britain, where auto giants BMW, Peugeot PSA and Japan’s Nissan have factories.
Continue reading...Up to 150,000 UK holidaymakers affected with 9,000 British jobs at risk as firm looks for £200m in funds
Thomas Cook is holding last-ditch talks with key players on Sunday in a bid to avert a collapse that will affect 150,000 UK holidaymakers abroad and put 9,000 British jobs at risk.
The travel company is at risk of falling into administration imminently unless it finds £200m in extra funds. The government and the UK aviation watchdog are preparing to launch a rescue plan codenamed Operation Matterhorn.
Continue reading...