Cuomo says he has been talking to Amazon executives as 80 political and industry leaders take out New York Times ad
New York’s governor and prominent business leaders are making a last-ditch effort to lure Amazon back to the Big Apple after the company abruptly abandoned plans for a new headquarters there following some loud local opposition.
Related: 'Abuse of corporate power': Bill de Blasio slams Amazon for cancelling HQ2 deal
Continue reading...Sweden and France among states found by the World Bank to enshrine gender equality in laws, but implementation haphazard
If you’re a woman and want to be on an equal footing with men, it’s best to live and work in Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg or Sweden. The World Bank, which has tracked legal changes for the past decade, found these were the only countries in the world to enshrine gender equality in laws affecting work.
The bank’s women, business and the law 2019 report, published this week, measured gender discrimination in 187 countries. It found that, a decade ago, no country gave women and men equal legal rights.
Continue reading...Elon Musk says move means electric vehicle manufacturer can sell Model 3 for $35,000
Tesla is closing all of its stores in a cost-cutting measure, so it can lower the starting price of its Model 3 to $35,000 (£26,400).
Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of the electric car and technology company, said that a shift to selling online only was essential to make it financially viable to lower the current starting price of $42,900.
Continue reading...Over 100 workers claim to have been sacked after protesting about low wages at factory that makes ‘girl power’ T-shirts
Charity “girl power” T-shirts sold in the UK are made at a Bangladeshi factory where more than 100 impoverished workers claim to have been sacked after striking in protest at low wages, it can be revealed.
The £28 garments are sold online by F=, which claims to be “all about inspiring and empowering girls”, with £10 from each T-shirt donated to Worldreader, a charity that supplies digital books to poverty-stricken children in Africa. Television presenter Holly Willoughby recently reposted a 2017 picture of her and Spice Girl Emma Bunton wearing the T-shirts.
Continue reading...America’s economy cooled last quarter, but not as much as feared, as consumer spending slowed
Earlier:
Kay Daniel Neufeld, managing economist at the CEBR thinktank, is relieved that America avoided an abrupt slowdown in the last quarter.
However, he also expects growth will be slower in 2019 - averaging 2.3% (again, below that 3% target).
Contrary to most other large economies, the US has bucked the trend and recorded faster GDP growth in 2018 than in the previous year. The weak retail sales recorded for December alarmed analysts fearing an abrupt slowdown to the US expansion in the final quarter of last year, but today’s stronger than expected GDP data suggest the December figures might have been a blip.
Nevertheless, there is little room for complacency. With the world economy slowing and the US –China trade conflict merely on hold, there are plenty of pitfalls to avoid if the US wants to achieve another stellar performance in 2019.”
The US has “proved the doubters wrong” by growing faster than expected in the last quarter of 2018, says James Knightley, ING’s chief international economist.
Here’s his take:
The details show a partial slowdown in consumer spending growth (2.8% versus 3.5% in 3Q18), but it continues to make a strong contribution. In fact, given the equity market turmoil at the time and the poor official retail sales figure for December, this isn’t a bad outcome at all.
Non-residential investment spending actually posted a decent performance, recording growth of 6.2% despite the concerns about what escalating trade tensions could mean in terms of supply chains and corporate profitability.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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).
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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!”
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...