Economy could be 9% weaker under no-deal Brexit, government says

Latest no-deal notice forecasts Northern Ireland to be hit hard and food prices likely to rise

The government has issued a bleak warning over a no-deal Brexit, estimating the UK economy could be 9% weaker in the long run, businesses in Northern Ireland might go bust and food prices will increase.

In an official document only published after repeated demands by the former Conservative MP Anna Soubry, the government also revealed it was behind on contingency planning for a third of “critical projects” in relation to business and trade.

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‘Centuries of entitlement’: Emma Thompson on why she quit Lasseter film

In her resignation letter from the film Luck, the actor questions whether any company should work with disgraced film executive John Lasseter

When the actor Emma Thompson left the forthcoming animated film Luck last month while it was still in production, it was done without public fanfare, and was only confirmed when film-industry publications such as Variety magazine picked up on it. Now Thompson has put herself firmly above the MeToo parapet with the publication publishing her incendiary letter of resignation addressed to the film’s backers, Skydance Media, one of Hollywood’s most prestigious studios.

It was known that Thompson was unhappy with the arrival in January of former head of Pixar John Lasseter as the new head of Skydance Animation. But the letter goes into extraordinary detail about her disquiet over the appointment of a studio executive whose downfall had been one of the key landmarks of the Me Too and Times Up campaigns.

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Britons face five-hour airport queues in Spain with no-deal Brexit

Alicante airport is likely to be worst affected, says consumer group Which?

British tourists to Spain could face airport queues of five hours or more after a no-deal Brexit, according to analysis by Which?, and the consumer group suggests travellers should take food, water and even nappies to survive prolonged delays.

Alicante airport, which serves Benidorm and other Costa Blanca resorts, is likely to be the worst-affected airport, and Which? said visitors to Tenerife, Lanzarote and Málaga were also facing “life in the slow lane”.

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Beny Steinmetz settles dispute with Guinea over iron ore project

Mining group agrees to walk away from Simandou project, with all legal actions ceasing

The mining group controlled by the controversial tycoon Beny Steinmetz is to walk away from a massive iron ore project in Guinea as part of an agreement that settles a long-running corruption dispute with the west African nation.

Development of Simandou – one of the world’s biggest iron deposits, containing billions of tonnes of high-grade ore – has been hindered by years of legal wrangling as well as the enormous cost of the required infrastructure, estimated at more than $20bn (£15bn).

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Nord Stream 2 Russian gas pipeline likely to go ahead after EU deal

Concerns had been raised over project increasing German reliance on Russian energy

Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, called it a mistake, while the US president, Donald Trump, has branded it very inappropriate and a “very bad thing for Nato”.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take Russian gas to Germany is arguably Europe’s most controversial energy project, drawing opposition from Ukraine, which it will bypass, and uniting the US, eastern EU states, and the European Commission which fears it will undermine the bloc’s ‘energy union’ plans.

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Cyprus: likely gas field find raises prospect of tension with Turkey

Expected announcement by ExxonMobil of discovery off island’s south coast seen as potential game changer

Tensions between Cyprus and Turkey over energy could soon come to a head, with ExxonMobil apparently poised to announce a significant natural gas find off the divided island’s southern coast.

After more than three months of deep-water exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, the US firm is expected to unveil findings this week in what is being described as a seminal moment in the race to tap potentially profitable underwater resources.

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Donald Trump delays tariff hike on Chinese goods after ‘great’ trade talks

The US president says he will hold a summit with Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement to end the year-long standoff

Donald Trump has said he will delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods that had been scheduled for Friday, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with China over the weekend.

Related: When multilateralism crumbles, so does our rules-based order | Mark Medish

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From bean to bar in Ivory Coast, a country built on cocoa

On the eve of Fairtrade Fortnight, we meet the female farmers fighting for trade justice who face an uncertain future

Asking about the importance of cocoa in Ivory Coast feels a little like making enquiries about the value of grapes in Burgundy. When I put the question to N’Zi Kanga Rémi, who has for the last 18 years beengovernor of the rural department of Adzopé, north-east of the sprawling port city of Abidjan, he leaned forward in his chair and fixed me with an amused stare.

His booming voice went up a decibel to fill the administrative offices on whose walls his own portrait alternated with that of his nation’s president. “It doesn’t make sense to ask an Ivorian what cocoa means to him!” he said. “It means everything! It’s his first source of income! My education was funded by cocoa! Our houses are built with cocoa! The foundations of our roads, our schools, our hospitals is cocoa! Our government runs on cocoa! All our policy focuses on sustaining cocoa!”

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Canada’s Saputo to buy Dairy Crest in near-£1bn deal

British maker of Cathedral City cheddar employs more than 1,100 people in seven locations

The British owners of Cathedral City cheddar and Clover margarine have agreed a near-£1bn takeover from the Canadian dairy company Saputo.

On Friday Dairy Crest recommended shareholders accept an offer from Saputo that values the FTSE 250 company at £975m.

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Ireland steps up effort to shelter economy from no-deal Brexit

Bill readied amid concerns over impact on agriculture, food processing and transport

Ireland is accelerating preparations for a no-deal Brexit amid growing alarm that parts of the Irish economy could face severe disruption and even collapse – and that the UK hopes to leverage that prospect to wring concessions from the European Union.

Leo Varadkar’s government is due on Friday to publish a mammoth omnibus bill incorporating 16 pieces of legislation to try to shelter Ireland from the doomsday scenario of the UK crashing out of the EU.

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No-deal Brexit ‘could disrupt London commuter trains’

Buildup of freight at Channel tunnel might affect services into capital, operator warns

Rail passengers commuting into London could have services disrupted by freight trains if a no-deal Brexit causes logjams at the Channel tunnel, it has emerged.

Go-Ahead, the company behind the rail operator Southeastern, said it was working with the government to try to ensure commuters were not affected.

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Australian government security contractor Paladin breaks silence on corruption allegations

Company that was awarded $423m to provide services on Manus Island says reports linking it to bad debts are ‘offensive’ and ‘unsubstantiated’

Security contractor Paladin has broken its silence to attack suggestions of corruption as “offensive”, while rejecting reports linking it to a series of bad debts or failed contracts across Asia.

The firm said it is seeking legal advice about media articles it said had “failed to identify any evidence to sustain the damaging allegations being made against Paladin”.

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‘It was insensitive’: Burberry apologises for ‘noose’ hoodie after model complains

Liz Kennedy said the design at London Fashion Week evoked lynchings and suicide

The chief executive and chief creative officer of luxury fashion brand Burberry have apologised for putting a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose on its London Fashion Week runway.

The knotted strings surfaced after Sunday’s show when a model complained both before the show and on Instagram, saying the noose not only evoked lynchings but also suicide.

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Honda’s decision is a vote of no confidence in Britain’s future

There is a sense that while the Swindon plant’s days were numbered, Brexit tipped the balance

Honda claims Brexit had nothing to do with the decision to shutter its Swindon plant, but almost nobody seems to be buying it.

The consensus among industry pundits is that it suits Honda to avoid dipping its toe into the toxic pool of Brexit.

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Huawei founder: US cannot crush technology firm

Ren Zhengfei hits back at criminal indictments he calls politically motivated

The US cannot crush Huawei, the company’s founder has insisted, as he hit back against criminal indictments levelled at the firm and allegations that it poses a security threat.

Washington has warned allies off using Huawei products in recent weeks. But Ren Zhengfei, whose daughter Meng Wanzhou – a fellow senior Huawei executive – is among those charged by US prosecutors, told the BBC on Monday that the firm would survive the pressure.

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Facebook needs regulation to combat fake news, say MPs

Damian Collins warns of ‘deepfake films’ showing doctored footage of politicians

Online disinformation is only going to get more sophisticated, the chair of the committee investigating disinformation and fake news, Damian Collins, has warned.

Related: Facebook labelled 'digital gangsters' by report on fake news

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Oscars reverses plan for ad-break presentations after industry outcry

Decision to relegate four awards, including best cinematography and best editing overturned following protests by Martin Scorsese, Brad Pitt and others

Bowing to a backlash that had threatened to engulf an already blunder-plagued Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) reversed its decision to present four awards during the commercial breaks of this year’s Oscar broadcast.

Related: Who should win? Critic Peter Bradshaw's Oscars picks

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Donald Trump hints at extension to China trade talks

President said potential delay was justified as deal ‘must be the biggest in history’

President Donald Trump has conceded that he will delay planned increases in import duties on $200bn (£155bn) of Chinese goods if there is progress in trade talks in Washington next week.

Appearing to soften his demand for talks to conclude before 1 March, Trump said there could be a 30- or 60-day extension, should negotiators get closer to a deal. He said a delay was justified, based on the scope and scale of the talks. Speaking on the White House lawn, he said: “Trade with China – how big does that get? It must be the biggest deal in history.”

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Porsche asks UK buyers to commit to 10% no-deal Brexit surcharge

Company says move is a precaution in case WTO tariffs apply to EU-UK trade

Porsche is asking British customers to sign a contract committing them to pay a surcharge of up to 10% of their vehicles’ purchase price if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Cars made in Europe could attract tariffs of 10% if imported to the UK under the terms of the World Trade Organization, the default trading relationship if the UK and the EU are unable to agree a transition period before 29 March.

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Trump’s unseemly haste shows World Bank must no longer be in thrall to US

The race to head the World Bank opened with the US candidate already known. Other countries must stand up and be counted

With characteristic lack of restraint, the Trump administration last week jumped the gun on the World Bank presidential election process by naming David Malpass as its preferred candidate to succeed Jim Yong Kim.

The formal nomination process, which did not begin until the following day, is based on selection principles agreed in 2011 that put the emphasis on an “open, merit-based and transparent” appointment. It is high time those principles were put in practice.

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