Category Archives: Business

Iran sanctions scandal: Australian company offloads $15m cargo it says it was duped into carrying

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Quantum Fertiliser, part of ASX-listed Incitec Pivot, says it is reviewing its operations to avoid a recurrence

The Australian multinational at the centre of an Iran sanctions scandal has offloaded a $15m shipment of Iranian cargo it says it was duped into taking, and is reviewing its operations to avoid a repeat.

A subsidiary of ASX-listed company Incitec Pivot took hold of a cargo shipment of fertiliser from Iran late last month, potentially risking a contravention of strict United States sanctions.

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Here are the reasons for Trump’s economic war with China

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On Friday the US president ‘hereby ordered’ companies to halt business with China, among other attacks – how did we get here?

Even by Donald Trump’s standards his Twitter rant attacking China on Friday was extraordinary. In a series of outbursts Trump “hereby ordered” US companies to stop doing business with China, accused the country of killing 100,000 Americans a year with imported fentanyl and stealing hundred of billions in intellectual property.

The attack marked a new low in Sino-US relations and looks certain to escalate a trade war already worrying investors, manufacturers and economists who are concerned that the dispute between the two economic superpowers could trigger a recession.

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China puts $75bn of retaliatory tariffs on US goods

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Move puts additional 5% and 10% on imports in latest tit-for-tat between top two economies

China has unveiled retaliatory tariffs against about $75bn (£60bn) worth of US goods, putting up to 10% on top of existing rates in the latest tit-for-tat in the dispute between the world’s top two economies.

The salvo from China on Friday comes after the US unveiled tariffs on an additional $300bn of Chinese goods, including consumer electronics, scheduled to go into effect in two stages on 1 September and 15 December.

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France and Ireland declare opposition to trade deal over Amazon fires

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Brazil’s handling of forest fires set to top agenda of G7 countries at meeting in Biarritz this weekend

Amazon fires: what is happening and is there anything we can do?

France and Ireland have said they will oppose an EU trade deal with South American countries unless Brazil takes action to stop the burning of the Amazon.

On the eve of a meeting of the G7 nations in Biarritz, an Élysée source said Emmanuel Macron thought Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, “lied” to him at the G20 meeting in Osaka in June about his climate commitments and therefore France would oppose the Mercosur treaty.

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Deutsche Bank to pay $16m to settle US ‘princelings’ case

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Regulator had said it corruptly hired unqualified relatives of foreign officials to win business

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay a $16m (£13m) fine to US authorities overallegations that it hired unqualified relatives of powerful Russian and Chinese government officials to win business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that Germany’s largest lender had used false books to record the hirings, which meant the relatives – known in China as “princelings” – did not have to go through rigorous interview processes.

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French wine-makers hope for G7 detente with Trump over tariffs

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Trump has threatened high tariffs on French wine in response to Macron’s tech tax

French wine-makers are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s threats to introduce high tariffs on French wine in retaliation for Emmanuel Macron’s tax on global technology companies, as world leaders gather for the Biarritz G7 summit this weekend.

A new front in Trump’s international trade wars could open up across France’s vineyards, damaging the livelihoods and jobs of small producers, if the US president decides to substantially increase tariffs on French wine as punishment for what he has called the “foolishness” of the new levy on the annual revenues of technology companies.

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Robodebt could target pensioners and ‘sensitive’ groups, leaked documents show

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Exclusive: Coalition needs to include over 65s and other disadvantaged welfare recipients to hit $600m budget plan

The Morrison government could target thousands of pensioners and other “sensitive” welfare recipients under a proposed expansion of the controversial robodebt scheme needed to achieve a promised $2.1bn in budget savings, according to confidential documents seen by Guardian Australia.

The documents, stamped “PROTECTED CABINET”, show the scheme would fall $600m short of its required budget savings unless it is expanded to hit “sensitive” groups originally quarantined from data matching.

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The murky life and death of Robert Maxwell – and how it shaped his daughter Ghislaine

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Was it murder? Suicide? Or just an accident? Almost 30 years before Jeffrey Epstein’s demise, Ghislaine Maxwell was caught up in another shocking and scandal-ridden mystery

At one time, everyone knew where to find Ghislaine Maxwell. The former aide-de-camp of the disgraced, now deceased, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was a fixture in Manhattan’s most fashionable salons. With an impressive list of contacts, including Prince Andrew and Chelsea Clinton, she was a regular at fundraisers, book launches and society weddings.

The last place anyone would have expected to see her was a Los Angeles shopping mall, where the 57-year-old was photographed in a burger joint last week, just days after Epstein’s suicide in a New York jail, where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking underage girls.

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Montara oil spill: site’s new operator rejects suggestion it couldn’t afford second clean-up

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Jadestone CEO says it could cover the cost of cleaning up a major spill, even though company has never made a profit

The new operator of the site of Australia’s worst ever oil spill has dismissed concerns it might not have the financial capacity to clean up should disaster strike again.

Ten years ago on Wednesday an estimated 40 million litres of oil leaked from a faulty rig in the Montara field, in the Timor Sea, and for 10 weeks spread over tens of thousands of square kilometres of ocean.

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What’s in our water? Report warns of growing ‘invisible’ crisis of pollution

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Climate emergency and population growth blamed for deteriorating water quality, with ‘cocktail of chemicals’ changing as countries become richer

The planet is facing a mounting and “invisible” water pollution crisis, according to a hard-hitting World Bank report, which claims the issue is responsible for a one-third reduction in potential economic growth in the most heavily affected areas.

The study, which assembled the world’s largest database of water pollution, assesses how a combination of bacteria, sewage, chemicals and plastics suck oxygen from water supplies and transform water into poison for people and ecosystems.

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Germany likely to head into recession, central bank warns

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Bundesbank says summer’s slump in exports is expected to continue into the autumn

Germany’s economy is heading into recession after the country’s central bank warned that a slump in exports during the summer was likely to continue into the autumn.

The Bundesbank said a downturn in orders for cars and industrial equipment in the second quarter of the year was likely to continue in the third quarter, leaving the economy on the brink of a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

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Why does Donald Trump want to buy Greenland?

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The US president’s talk of a ‘large real estate deal’ says a lot about his view of the world

Greenland, and more specifically its purchase by the US, is being actively discussed in Donald Trump’s Oval Office. But what exactly is it that makes one of the world’s most desolate places such an attractive proposition?

For the president, it is the real estate deal of a lifetime, one that would secure a land mass a quarter the size of the US and cement his place in US history alongside President Andrew Johnson, who bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, and Thomas Jefferson, who secured Louisiana from the French in 1803.

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Maths and tech specialists need Hippocratic oath, says academic

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Exclusive: Hannah Fry says ethical pledge needed in tech fields that will shape future

Mathematicians, computer engineers and scientists in related fields should take a Hippocratic oath to protect the public from powerful new technologies under development in laboratories and tech firms, a leading researcher has said.

The ethical pledge would commit scientists to think deeply about the possible applications of their work and compel them to pursue only those that, at the least, do no harm to society.

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Bosses force female workers making jeans for Levis and Wrangler into sex

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Women at factories in Lesotho owned by Taiwanese firm say jobs and promotions in jeopardy if they refuse advances, claims report

Women producing jeans for American brands including Levi Strauss, Wrangler and Lee have been forced to sleep with their managers to keep their jobs or gain promotion, an investigation into sexual harassment and coercion at garment factories in Lesotho has found.

Brands have responded to the “extensive” allegations by the the US-based Worker Rights Consortium by signing enforceable agreements with labour and women’s rights groups to eliminate gender-based violence for more than 10,000 workers at five factories owned by the Taiwanese company Nien Hsing, one of the southern African country’s largest employers.

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Markets jittery as trade war and recession worries spook investors -as it happened

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Beijing has alarmed investors by threatening counter-measures against the US, threatening to escalate the trade war

Earlier:

Update: Britain’s FTSE 100 has hit a new six-month closing low.

The blue-chip index just closed 80 points lower at 7,067, a drop of 1.1%.

Time for a quick recap

Financial markets remain volatile today, as fears of an economic downturn hit stock prices and drive bond prices to new record highs.

Related: Online shoppers and Amazon Prime Day lift UK retail sales

If President Xi would meet directly and personally with the protesters, there would be a happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem. I have no doubt! https://t.co/eFxMjgsG1K

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Dow Jones plunges 800 points as recession fears rattle markets

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  • Sharp declines come after Tuesday rally inspired by tariff delays
  • Trump urges Fed chief Powell to make further interest rate cuts

Signs of a global economic slowdown roiled the markets on Wednesday as shares dived and investors fled to bonds with such intensity that short-term yields rose above longer-term ones for the first time since the crisis of a decade ago – an inversion many market-watchers saw as a strong signal of an approaching recession.

Related: Inverted curve proves White House has won its battle with the Fed

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Branding cheese as feta and gruyere may be banned in Australia under EU deal

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The trade minister, Simon Birmingham, has released a list of food products the EU wants protected as ‘geographical indicators’

Australia is gearing up for a fight with the European Union over the naming of hundreds of products including feta, gruyere and scotch beef as negotiations continue over an “ambitious” free trade agreement.

The trade minister, Simon Birmingham, has released a list of names the EU wants protected as part of the new trade deal – known as “geographical indications” or GIs – which are aimed at protecting European products.

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Saudi Aramco ready for record $2tn IPO after first-half results

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Profits fell 12% but company still ahead of world’s six biggest listed oil producers combined

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil group is ready to move ahead with a record $2tn (£1.7tn) market float after revealing profits of $46.9bn for the first half of this year.

Saudi Aramco’s profits for the six months ending in June were down from $53.2bn in the first half of last year owing to lower oil prices, but were still well ahead of the world’s six biggest listed oil companies combined.

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Britons have spent £4bn stockpiling goods in case of no-deal Brexit

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Research suggests one in five people have a food, drinks and medicine hoard worth £380

Britons have spent £4bn stockpiling goods in preparation for a possible no-deal Brexit, new research suggests.

One in five people are already hoarding food, drinks and medicine, spending an extra £380 each, according to a survey by the finance provider Premium Credit. The survey found that about 800,000 people have spent more than £1,000 building up stockpiles before the 31 October Brexit deadline.

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Versace apologises after tops imply Hong Kong and Macau are countries

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One of China’s best-known actors, Yang Mi, ends contract over controversy

The luxury fashion label Versace and its artistic director, Donatella Versace, apologised to China on Sunday after one of its T-shirts was criticised for identifying the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau as countries.

Versace said on its Weibo account that it had made a mistake and had stopped selling and destroyed the T-shirts on 24 July.

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