Ivan Espinosa says UK plant will not be hit by cost cuts as Japanese firm reveals seven factories to close
Nissan’s new chief executive has said the Japanese carmaker would be open to building cars for a Chinese partner at its factory in Sunderland after he confirmed it would not be closed in a round of deep cost cuts.
This week Nissan revealed plans to close seven factories and cut 20,000 jobs after sustaining heavy losses.
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The Reserve Bank is watching closely as the last data domino falls before a pivotal rates meeting.
The RBA’s preferred measure of inflation – the trimmed mean – fell back into target at 2.9% in April, but tightness in the labour market remains a concern for the central bank.
Continue reading...Cap of 15% could allow US firm RedBird Capital to finalise deal to buy titles after two years of uncertainty
The government will allow foreign states to own stakes of up to 15% in British newspapers in a move that could finally end two years of uncertainty over the ownership of the Telegraph titles.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is to announce the limit on Thursday through the introduction of a new statutory instrument in parliament, ending a months-long consultation involving intensive lobbying by newspaper owners.
Continue reading...Sutton Trust ‘opportunity index’ measured factors such as children on free school meals passing key GCSEs
The top 20 constituencies with the best social mobility in England are all in London, according to research from a leading education charity that underscores the stark regional divide in children’s life chances.
In a report published on Thursday, the Sutton Trust has put together an “opportunity index” by analysing six measures of mobility. These include the share of children on free school meals who achieve passes in GCSE maths and English; who complete a degree by age 22; and who make it into the top 20% of earners by age 28.
Continue reading...Government to analyse potential benefits of new generation of reactors
Denmark is reconsidering its 40-year ban on nuclear power in a major policy shift for the renewables-heavy country.
The Danish government will analyse the potential benefits of a new generation of nuclear power technologies after banning traditional nuclear reactors in 1985, its energy minister said.
Continue reading...Survey from consumer advocacy group finds some customers confused by bright stickers and tags not necessarily advertising actual discounts
Promotional price tags used by major chemists may be enticing shoppers towards products that are not discounted at all, with new research finding bright labels are confusing one in three customers.
Consumer advocacy organisation Choice found that some pharmacies said they were offering discounts from the recommended retail price (RRP) despite having never charged the higher rate, which is a suggestion from the manufacturer.
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Continue reading...Bank of England’s Catherine Mann wary of firms looking to rebuild profit margins after a squeeze
Businesses will need to show they are keeping a lid on prices before there can be further interest rate cuts, according to the Bank of England interest rate-setter Catherine Mann.
In a warning to retailers and consumer goods companies to resist pushing up prices by more than the increase in their costs, Mann said she was wary of firms looking to rebuild their profit margins after a squeeze in recent years.
“I need to see the loss of pricing power, I need to see that firms are starting to be much more moderate in setting their prices,” she said.
UK accused of aligning with US in move that could compel firms to exclude Chinese products from supply chains
China has warned the UK over its new trade deal with the US, accusing Britain of aligning with the US in a move that could compel British companies to exclude Chinese products from their supply chains.
The UK-US trade deal, signed last week, offers Britain limited relief from US tariffs on car and steel exports, but only if it complies with strict American security requirements. These conditions include scrutinising supply chains and ownership structures – a move widely interpreted as targeting Chinese involvement.
Continue reading...Cuts follow push to slim management ranks, despite headcount still being up year-on-year in March
Microsoft says it is laying off nearly 3% of its entire workforce.
The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs, but it will amount to about 6,000 people. Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. About 55% of those workers were in the U.S.
Continue reading...Lawyers tell high court the founder of Greensill Group made misrepresentations to insurers and investors that led to big losses
The government is seeking to disqualify the Australian financier Lex Greensill from managing a UK company for 12 years, the high court has heard.
Greensill, a former Australian sugar farmer, is the founder and chief executive officer of Greensill Group – which specialised in supply-chain finance – the UK wing of which entered into administration in March 2021.
Continue reading...Andrew Witty exits for personal reasons as largest US health insurer responds to higher-than-expected medical costs
The UnitedHealth CEO, Andrew Witty, is stepping down for personal reasons and the nation’s largest health insurer suspended its full-year financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs.
Stephen Hemsley, the company’s chairman, will become CEO effective immediately, the Minnesota company said.
Continue reading...State media editorial says talks mark ‘step toward resolving differences’ but Xi again criticises US ‘bullying’
A 90-day pause in the US-China tariff war has been cautiously welcomed in China but tensions remain high, with Xi Jinping again accusing the US of “bullying”.
After two days of talks between officials in Geneva over the weekend, China and the US agreed to substantially lower for the next 90 days the high tariffs each had imposed on the other in a tit-for-tat trade war.
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Labor’s Tanya Plibersek has avoided comment about her ministerial desires or expectations, offering little other than general remarks when pressed this morning on the issue of the forthcoming cabinet announcement from Anthony Albanese.
Plibersek, who previously held the environment portfolio, told Sunrise this morning that cabinet decisions were “completely a matter for the prime minister” and that she was just “very grateful” to be on the front bench, and to have won the election, and to get to do “a good job for the government and for the people of Australia” again … and, well, you get the idea.
Continue reading...Kingdom Services boss says retailers seeing ‘different sort of shoplifter’ with more theft by people ‘who just can’t afford food’
Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living.
John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”.
Continue reading...US treasury secretary’s remarks on second day of meetings come after Trump hails ‘total reset’ in America-China ties
The US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has reported “substantial progress” in talks with China’s top economic officials to avoid a damaging trade war, but offered no details of an agreement reached as two days of negotiations wrapped up in Geneva.
Bessent said that details would be announced on Monday and that Donald Trump was fully aware of the results of the “productive talks”.
Continue reading...Workers at farm owned by UK’s biggest pig meat producer Cranswick filmed killing piglets by banned ‘blunt force trauma’
• Warning: graphic content
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have suspended supplies from a Lincolnshire pig farm linked to abuse against pigs.
Secretly filmed footage has shown farm workers at Northmoor Farm appearing to grab piglets by their hind legs and smashing them on to the hard floor – a banned method of killing known as blunt force trauma or “piglet thumping”.
Continue reading...US president praises ‘very good’ discussions as top US and Chinese officials meet over trade war triggered by Trump’s tariff blitz
Donald Trump has hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations after the first day of talks between top American and Chinese officials in Geneva aimed at defusing a trade war sparked by his tariff rollout.
The US president praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.
Continue reading...World Trade Organization hails ‘constructive step’ as senior figures come together to discuss tariffs
Senior US and Chinese officials held talks early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and people close to the talks.
China’s vice-premier, He Lifeng, and the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met after weeks of growing tensions as duties on imports between the world’s two largest economies have risen above 100%.
Continue reading...The specifics of the administration’s economic masterplan – from strollers to movies to China – change by the day
Decades of economic orthodoxy failed millions of Americans, according to Donald Trump, who marched back into the White House promising to shred the status quo. But the specifics of his alternative – exactly how his administration claims it will make America great again – change by the day.
The US president declared this week to be a key milestone of his second term, as he unveiled his first major trade deal since returning to office following accelerated talks with the UK.
Continue reading...Erin Patterson’s daughter’s pre-recorded video evidence is being played to the jury in Patterson’s triple murder trial. Follow today’s news live
‘I want to harness all the talent in my team’
“We do need to reflect a modern Liberal party,” Sussan Ley says. She is speaking on Sunrise before the Liberals’ party room meeting on Tuesday, when they will select a new leader:
It’s about making sure that I am listening to my colleagues and … demonstrate to them we want a strong approach that includes everyone. I want to harness all of the talent in my team, take it forward under my leadership and meet the Australian people where they are because, clearly we didn’t do that at the last election. But we do need to reflect a modern Liberal party, meeting modern Australians in every single walk of life across the country.
On the weekend, we suffered a significant election defeat and since then, I have been having many conversations with my colleagues, members of the community, with members of the party, indeed the Coalition, with everyday Australians. I have listened. We got it wrong. We need to do things differently, going forward, and we do need a fresh approach. So, on Tuesday morning when the Liberal party room meets in Canberra, I will be putting myself forward for the position of leader of the federal party.
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