Fastest expansion in three months as Chinese factories return to growth as new orders rise
China’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in three months in February, despite the looming threat that Donald Trump will impose tariffs this week.
Production at China’s factories returned to growth last month, an official survey showed, thanks to higher new orders and purchase volumes.
Continue reading...One HSBC banker was paid up to £16.6m in 2024 while figure at Barclays was £14.8m after loosening of pay rules
The demise of the UK banker bonus cap has sent pay soaring at Barclays and HSBC where the highest paid bankers have received their biggest payouts since at least 2014.
Analysis of pay documents released this month shows payouts for their most expensive staff surged more than 50% to nearly €20m (£16.6m) last year, after the banks took advantage of looser pay rules and allowed staff to be paid bonuses worth 10 times their salary.
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Safety net for laid off fashion group workers
Workers out of a job after the collapse of fashion retailer Mosiac Group will be guaranteed their entitlements after the federal government fast-tracked access to its worker safety net scheme.
Staff are largely women, many balancing part-time employment with care responsibilities, and highly reliant on their pay, so we want to ensure they have as much certainty as possible around their finances going forward.
Continue reading...Scathing committee report lambasts DfT and HS2 for failing to work together effectively
HS2 has become “a casebook example of how not to run a major project”, according to the latest scathing report on the high-speed rail line from MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC).
The PAC lambasted the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd for failing to work together effectively, and told them not to waste the opportunity to get a grip on costs during the project’s latest “reset”.
Continue reading...US president’s plan could prove to be an economic shock to both blocs, German thinktank says
Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariffs on EU imports could trigger “economic turmoil”, sharply push down growth and send inflation soaring, according to a German thinktank.
The Kiel Institute said the US president’s promise on Wednesday that he would impose the levies “very soon” was a profound moment in the postwar relationship between Washington and Brussels and could prove to be an economic shock to both parties.
Continue reading...US president also insists delayed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will go into effect on 4 March
Donald Trump has threatened China with an additional 10% tariff on its exports to the US, setting the stage for another significant escalation in his trade war with Beijing.
The US president also claimed that he plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting next Tuesday, having delayed their imposition last month following talks with his counterparts.
Continue reading...European reconstruction bank will help rebuild country if peace is agreed but a lasting end to conflict is needed
The war-torn Ukrainian economy could expand by 5% next year if a ceasefire is agreed, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has predicted – but prospects for reconstruction depend on a lasting peace.
The London-based lender has invested $6.2bn (£4.9bn) in projects in Ukraine over the course of the three-year conflict.
Continue reading...Capital’s mayor wants return to productivity growth, which has struggled to recover from 2008 financial crisis
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has announced an ambitious plan to add more than £100bn to the capital’s economy within a decade.
Unveiling what he is calling the London growth plan, Khan said he was allocating hundreds of millions of pounds in devolved funding in an attempt to return the annual productivity growth of the London economy to the levels seen before the 2008 financial crisis.
Continue reading...Firm will be selective about investing in low-carbon options, slashing more than $5bn from previous green plan
BP is almost doubling its target for oil and gas production by the end of the decade and slashing its spending on low-carbon energy as part of a fundamental reset of the troubled company away from previous green goals.
The FTSE 100 fossil fuel company has promised shareholders it will increase its planned oil and gas production by 2030 to the equivalent of about 2.4m barrels a day – almost twice the figure in its net zero plan set out five years ago.
Continue reading...Possible action comes as ministers announce plans to improve building safety and strengthen accountability
Seven organisations involved in the Grenfell Tower disaster face possible debarment from government contracts as ministers set out plans to improve building safety and strengthen accountability.
The government has accepted the findings of the final Grenfell Tower inquiry report and pledged to take action on all the recommendations.
Consulting on a new college of fire and rescue later in 2025 to improve training and professionalism of firefighters.
Stopping unqualified individuals from making critical fire safety decisions, by legally requiring fire risk assessors to have their competence certified.
Continuing implementation of a new residential personal emergency evacuation plan policy to improve the fire safety and evacuation of disabled and vulnerable residents in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings, engaging with relevant stakeholders on the implementation.
Continue reading...Tech company blames ‘phonetic overlap’ for problem where US president’s name appears
Apple has promised to fix a bug in its iPhone automatic dictation tool after some users reported it had suggested to them “Trump” when they said the word “racist”.
The glitch was first highlighted in a viral post on TikTok, when the speech-to-text tool sometimes briefly flashed up the word “Trump” when they said “racist”, and was later repeated by others on social media.
Continue reading...Shadow defence minister told ABC RN China is testing US allies as Trump ‘resets relationships in Europe’. Follow today’s news live
ABC pays tribute to Antony Green as he announces upcoming election will be his last on-air
Continuing from our last post: the ABC’s director of news, Justin Stevens, has paid tribute to Antony Green as he announces the upcoming election would be his last on-air with the national broadcaster.
For more than three decades he has performed one of the ABC’s most important roles with precision, impartiality, dedication and unprecedented expertise.
He has the ABC’s immense gratitude and respect. I’m sure our audience joins me in thanking him and wishing him well as he prepares for his final federal election broadcast.
It’s time to retire. I turn 65 this coming weekend. I work on a three-year election cycle with federal elections, I won’t be presenting elections in three years’ time when I’m 68, so this will be my last on-camera election for the ABC.
I’ll stay on for a couple of years, handing over work and doing other things, but essentially I’m deciding to retire and work less.
There are 80 or 90 of them, a book on every election since 1990, state and federal … I [also] redesigned computer system. When I first started this, you had to be in the tally room to get the numbers. It was the only way to get data from the Electoral Commission to the ABC computer, so you had to be there. It’s a completely different world now.
Continue reading...Australia’s largest oil and gas producer has doubled its profits to $5.6bn. Follow today’s news live
Senate estimates will be back under way today, and AAP has flagged a little of what we can expect:
Creative Australia bosses, including the chief executive, Adrian Collette, will front an estimates hearing and it’s expected they’ll be questioned about the selection body’s shock decision to ditch the Venice Biennale team.
Continue reading...New high tempered by dip in number of female CEOs at 100 biggest listed firms to fewer than 10 last year
Women occupy more than two in five seats on the boards of Britain’s biggest listed companies after further progress was made last year, but the number of female FTSE 100 chief executives dipped for a time to fewer than 10, according to a report.
The proportion of board positions held by women at FTSE 350 companies rose to a new all-time high of 43.4% last year, up from 42.1% in 2023, according to the government-backed annual FTSE Women Leaders Review. Among the 100 biggest listed companies, the proportion of women in the boardroom was even higher, at 44.7% versus 42.6% in 2023.
Continue reading...Food delivery group’s board approves takeover by investor in German rival Delivery Hero
The food delivery business Just Eat Takeaway.com has been snapped up by an investor in its German rival Delivery Hero for €4.1bn (£3.4bn), two months after it left the London Stock Exchange.
Just Eat’s board has unanimously approved the takeover by the South African-owned internet investor Prosus, in an all-cash deal six years after Prosusmade its first effort to buy the British part of the business.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Court documents obtained by Guardian Australia show appeal argues judge was wrong to decide penalty was needed to ‘provoke’ leadership attention
Energy giant AGL is disputing a “manifestly excessive” $25m fine for using the Centrepay debit system to wrongly take welfare money from hundreds of vulnerable Australians. It argues that a judge should not have used the massive financial penalty to try to “provoke some attention” from the company’s board and executive leadership.
Late last year, the federal court imposed the hefty fine and excoriated AGL for wrongly taking money from 483 welfare recipients via Centrepay, the scandal-plagued, government-run system that allows automatic diversion of social security payments to essential services, like electricity bills and rent.
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Continue reading...UK food producers plan more protests over inheritance tax changes ahead of this week’s NFU conference in London
The suits and black cabs which typically dot the streets around Westminster have been frequently replaced by the wellies, tweed jackets and tractors of aggrieved farmers of late. The next protest in London by the nation’s food producers is expected on Tuesday morning, ahead of the annual get-together of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
Farmers have regularly swapped their fields for the city since October, when changes to inheritance tax (IHT) for agricultural businesses were announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, angrily protesting and waving banners.
Continue reading...The prospects of peace and the return of Russian gas looks likely to serve the interests of Donald Trump
The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago has reverberated through the global energy industry; unravelling Europe’s decades-long reliance on gas imported via pipelines from Russia, and triggering a global squeeze on gas markets that unleashed a cost of living crisis still felt today.
The prospect of a peace deal has many wondering whether the energy industry could be upended once again; this time giving way to a market serving the interests of the US president hoping to broker the deal.
Continue reading...Super Members Council says summit may sway US president on tariffs on Australian industry after seeing scale of investment in US
Australia’s $2.8tn superannuation industry will bolster the Albanese government’s bid to secure an exemption from the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports this week.
A delegation of Australia’s largest funds will meet with US government officials from Monday, as part of a four-day summit designed to improve awareness of the industry’s long-term contributions to the US economy and its plans to more than double investment.
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Continue reading...An independent standards authority says the industry must learn from recent scandals and create safer working environments
New guidelines will be issued this week for the UK’s creative industries after a series of scandals including reports of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace and Gino d’Acampo, and bullying allegations on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will set new standards with the aim of stamping out bullying, harassment and discrimination, and address “power imbalances”.
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