Category Archives: Business

St Pancras and Channel tunnel plan rail routes to Germany and Switzerland

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Partnership comes as London station looks at ways to almost triple passenger numbers

St Pancras railway station in London and the Channel tunnel operator have agreed to work together to open up more trains from Britain to France, and routes to Germany and Switzerland.

The agreement is the latest sign of growing momentum for new passenger rail links from England across the Channel, after Great Britain’s only international station announced plans to triple the number of people who can travel through every hour.

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Australia news live: NSW health system ‘catastrophically let down’ toddler’s family, minister admits

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Two-year-old waited in emergency department for three hours before suffering a cardiac arrest and dying. Follow today’s news headlines live

Victoria to offer contactless public transport tickets from next year

Victorians will be able to use their phones, bank cards or smartwatches to pay for public transport travel from “early next year in a staged approach”, according to reports.

Following a successful start of a ticketless bus trial in Wangaratta, the Allan Labor Government will begin switching on tap-and-go technology across Victoria’s public transport network from early next year in a staged approach – meaning some passengers will soon be able to use their bank cards, phones and smart watches to travel on full fare tickets.

The new ticketing system will continue to be underpinned by extensive technical testing and will be carefully rolled out starting with rail from the beginning early next year – allowing full fare passengers more ways to pay for their travel.

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UK hiring on the rise as confidence lifts, research suggests

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Companies increase hiring for first time since June, and households more optimistic about their finances

Companies have ramped up hiring in recent weeks while consumer confidence has started to rise, research suggests, in a boost for Rachel Reeves as the government looks for signs of economic growth.

The chancellor has received a fillip after the market research company GfK’s consumer index improved from -22 in January to -20 in February as households said they were more optimistic about their personal finances and the economic outlook.

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Nearly 500 cat figurines stolen from Gordon Ramsay’s London restaurant

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By Ramsay’s own estimate, he has lost more than £2,000 during one week in stolen maneki-neko cat models

Nearly 500 cat figurines were stolen in one week from Gordon Ramsay’s new London restaurant, the TV chef has said.

The restaurateur, 58, recently launched Lucky Cat 22 Bishopsgate by Gordon Ramsay in one of London’s tallest buildings, which features the beckoning Japanese cat models called maneki-neko.

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Anglo American writes down value of diamond firm De Beers by $2.9bn

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Sale of the miner, which is now valued at $4bn, may be delayed following ‘really, really difficult’ market

The world’s biggest diamond miner, De Beers, cost its parent company almost $3bn last year as the growth in lab-grown stones continues to take the shine off the industry.

Anglo American was forced to write down the value of the renowned gem producer for a second consecutive year as its chief executive admitted the diamond markets had proved “really, really difficult for the company”.

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‘Misleading’: Gina Rinehart’s mining firm breached environmental code with ‘clean gas’ job ad, panel rules

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Ad Standards Community Panel upholds complaint over Hancock Prospecting’s promotion in the Weekend Australian

The advertising regulator has found that Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting misled consumers with an unsubstantiated claim that gas was clean, in an online advertisement in The Australian last year.

Ads for Hancock Prospecting’s recruitment webpage futureaustralianjobs.com ran in the digital edition of the Weekend Australian in October 2024.

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Energy network owners have made £3.9bn from higher bills, says report

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Citizens Advice believes Ofgem made flawed interest rate calculation for companies in Great Britain

The companies behind Great Britain’s gas pipes and power lines have pocketed a windfall of nearly £4bn from household bills during the energy and cost crisis, according to a report.

The analysis, by Citizens Advice, argued that energy network owners were able to make the “excess profits” over the past four years after the industry regulator misjudged their costs.

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Meta and Google opt out of Sydney Mardi Gras amid move away from DEI in US

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Former sponsors walk away from 2025 event – while organisers say they do not meet partnership requirements

Google and Meta do not meet the requirements to partner with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the organisation has said, after the two tech giants ended their official involvement and ditched diversity obligations in the US.

At the 47th annual Mardi Gras parade up Oxford Street next Saturday, a notable absence will be the two tech firms, previously event sponsors.

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Troubled Whyalla steelworks gets $2.4bn government bailout as hunt for new owner begins

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GFG chair Sanjeev Gupta says SA government is on the ‘wrong course’ after it forced the operation into administration

A support package of $2.4bn will be poured into the Whyalla steelworks to protect thousands of jobs and “invest in the nation”, the prime minister says.

The federal and South Australian governments would “combine dollar for dollar on administration” to ensure the steelworks kept operating, and staff and creditors were paid, while a new owner was found, Anthony Albanese told steelworkers.

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Troubled electric vehicle maker Nikola files for bankruptcy protection

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After becoming embroiled in scandal, formerly hot startup and Wall Street star had said it would likely run out of cash

Troubled electric vehicle maker Nikola has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection months after saying that it would likely run out of cash early this year.

Nikola was a hot startup and rising star on Wall Street before becoming enmeshed in scandal and its founder was convicted in 2022 for misleading investors about the Arizona company’s technology.

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Nigeria sues crypto giant Binance for $81.5bn in economic losses and back tax

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Authorities blame crypto exchange, already facing four counts of tax evasion in the country, for currency woes

Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Binance to pay $79.5bn for economic losses the country’s government says were caused by the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations there and $2bn in back taxes, court documents showed on Wednesday.

Authorities blame Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for Nigeria’s currency woes and detained two of its executives in 2024 after crypto websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local naira currency.

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HSBC net zero goal delayed 20 years, as CEO offered 600% bonus

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Bank is criticised for pushing climate targets to 2050 and watering down environmental goals

HSBC has been criticised after it delayed key parts of its climate goals by 20 years, while watering down environmental targets in a new long-term bonus plan for its chief executive, Georges Elhedery, that could be worth up to 600% of his salary.

The London-headquartered lender said it was reviewing its net zero emissions policies and targets – which are split between its own operations and those of the clients it finances – after realising its clients and suppliers had “seen more challenges” in cutting their carbon footprint than expected.

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UK inflation jumps to 3%, reducing chance of early interest rate cut

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Annual CPI inflation rate hit 10-month high in January in blow to ministers amid rise in food bills and fuel costs

UK inflation accelerated faster than expected at the start of this year, eating into workers’ wages and reducing the chance of an interest rate cut next month.

The consumer prices index (CPI) measure rose to 3% in January, the Office for National Statistics reported, up from 2.5% in December.

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Miner Glencore considers ditching London Stock Exchange listing

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Group may move primary listing to New York or elsewhere – to get ‘optimal valuation’ – in fresh blow to UK market

Glencore is considering moving its primary share listing away from London, in what would be a fresh blow to the UK’s blue-chip stock exchange following a series of departures.

The chief executive of the mining group said it was studying whether a move would boost its shares – with New York top of the list of potential destinations.

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Record orders at BAE Systems as European defence spending rises

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Weapons maker’s full-year pre-tax profits top £3bn and it expects sales of more than £30bn next year

Britain’s biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, has reported record orders as the European defence industry gears up for increased spending sparked by the Ukraine war.

The company, a member of the FTSE 100, said it expected sales next year to top £30bn, as it reported annual profits before interest and tax of more than £3bn for the first time in 2024.

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Whyalla steelworks placed in administration after South Australia rushes legislation to secure its future

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Move allows government to act on millions of dollars in debts owed by GFG Alliance and secure future of mid-north operations

The Whyalla steelworks has been placed into administration after the South Australian government rushed legislation through parliament and pledged “one of the most comprehensive industry support packages that this nation has ever seen”.

Jim Chalmers, saying on Wednesday that securing the future for steel in Whyalla was important, said the federal government would have more to say on the matter “in due course”.

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Retailers to be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives

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New raft of measures labelled Ronan’s law include tougher sentences for those caught selling blades to under-18s

Retailers will be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives, and those caught selling blades to under-18s will face tougher sentences under a new raft of measures to clamp down on young people’s access to weapons labelled Ronan’s law.

Named after Ronan Kanda, the 16-year-old killed in Wolverhampton in 2022 by a teenager carrying a 22in ninja blade he had ordered online, the new laws are part of a raft of anti-knife crime plans announced by the government on Wednesday.

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Trump threatens 25% tariffs on foreign cars and semiconductor chips

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White House has raised threat of levies as a means to bolster US economy, ignoring warnings trade wars could derail it

Donald Trump stood firm against warnings that his threatened trade war risks derailing the US economy, claiming his administration could hit foreign cars with tariffs of around 25% within weeks.

Semiconductor chips and drugs are set to face higher duties, Trump told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.

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Thames Water wins court backing for £3bn debt package

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Deal approved at high court gives company £1.5bn in upfront cash to stave off collapse

Thames Water has won court approval for an emergency debt package worth up to £3bn that should stave off the collapse of Britain’s biggest water company for at least another few months.

London’s high court said on Tuesday that the deal could proceed, after hearing four days of complex arguments earlier this month over whether it should go ahead. The deal will allow the company to avoid special administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.

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Energy bills in Great Britain forecast to rise by 5% from April

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Households face greater than expected rise in Ofgem price cap after Europe’s gas storage levels slump, analysts say

Millions of households face a greater than expected increase to their energy bills of about 5% from April after a slump in Europe’s gas storage levels caused market prices to climb, according to analysts.

The average gas and electricity bill for a typical household in Great Britain is expected to rise by £85 from April to £1,823 a year under the energy regulator’s price cap.

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