Shipments fell nearly 10% last year with French firms blaming economic and political anxiety, and cheaper drinks
Changing habits and the gloomy state of the world are taking the fizz out of French champagne sales, the producers’ association has said, with shipments down nearly 10% last year.
Consumers in crucial markets such as the US and home country France cut down on the luxury beverage, as economic and political anxiety dampened the party mood.
Continue reading...Lab-grown diamonds sell for one-quarter of the price of traditional ones and an Australian wholesale broker says he can’t tell the difference
When Steve Richards, a gemologist trained to identify grades of precious jewels, was considering a Christmas present for his wife, he settled on a pair of diamond earrings.
These diamonds, however, were not formed deep in the Earth over millions or billions of years and brought to the surface through volcanic eruptions. They were grown in a lab over a matter of weeks and bought for a fraction of the price.
Continue reading...United Utilities has dropped legal fight to block access to data on the discharge of treated sewage in Lake District
The water company United Utilities has conceded defeat in its legal battle to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere in the Lake District.
Company officials initially claimed that data from phosphorus monitors at a main sewage treatment works at the lake was not environmental information. The company also wanted to block access to data from Cunsey Beck, a site of special scientific interest, which flows into Windermere.
Continue reading...Government plans to renationalise railways will establish new public body to improve the network
Sunday train services will be as reliable as those on weekdays under plans to renationalise the railways, the new transport secretary will claim in a keynote speech on Monday.
Issuing a series of pledges on which the government will be judged by millions of passengers – as well as its political opponents – Heidi Alexander will cite the creation of a network “where Sunday services are as reliable as Monday’s” as one of her key priorities.
Continue reading...Julie Su, acting labor secretary, fears many of Biden’s pro-worker policies will be undone by the new administration
Even as Donald Trump says he will battle for America’s workers, the acting secretary of labor, Julie Su, is voicing fears that Trump will undo many of Joe Biden’s pro-worker policies, which include protecting workers from extreme heat and extending overtime pay to millions more workers.
In an interview with the Guardian, Su said that Trump might fall far short on delivering for workers considering the first Trump administration’s many anti-worker policies and in light of his having Elon Musk and other billionaires advising him. “It’s one thing to say you’re pro-worker, and it’s quite another thing to do it,” Su said. “You can’t be pro-billionaire and pro-working class. You can’t be pro-Elon Musk and pro-worker.”
Continue reading...Macsween working to circumvent food regulations that have banned traditional recipe in US for more than 50 years
Scotland’s largest haggis maker is creating a “compliant” recipe of the nation’s most famous dish to circumvent strict American food regulations after more than 50 years in exile.
The decision by Macsween of Edinburgh comes after traditional haggis was banned by the US authorities in 1971, taking issue with the sheep’s-lung component of the recipe, which was then prohibited for use as human food by federal regulation.
Continue reading...Unusually late migration season means poultry operations may continue to see H5N1 outbreaks, officials say
Maryland has detected bird flu among three different commercial poultry flocks in the past week, marking the state’s first outbreak in more than a year. The discoveries come shortly after the establishment of a joint command with Delaware following the latter state’s detection of H5N1 in two other poultry operations.
Although the deadly bird flu has circulated in North America since 2022, the past few months have been especially brutal for the poultry industry. More than 20 million egg-laying hens died in the fall, the worst rates since the outbreak began, and egg prices have risen as a result.
Continue reading...Nearly every share on index rose after fall in value of pound helped multinationals listed in London
The UK’s blue-chip stock index has hit a record high, as hopes of interest rate cuts this year drove down government borrowing costs.
Almost every share on the FTSE 100 rose on Friday, the fall in the value of the pound bolstering multinationals listed in London and propelling the index above 8,500 points for the first time.
Continue reading...FCA also aims to change law to try to prevent a repeat of mass compensation schemes for consumers such as PPI
Mortgage rules could be loosened by the City regulator as it comes under government pressure to increase economic growth and home ownership across the UK.
The move to “simplify responsible lending” for property purchases is part of a range of proposals put forward by the Financial Conduct Authority in an attempt to prove that the watchdog is not standing in the way of the Labour cabinet’s “growth mission”.
Continue reading...Latter part of 2024 ‘recovered remarkably’ after stimulus measures, says National Bureau of Statistics
China’s economy grew by 5% in 2024, in line with government targets but at the slowest rate since 1990 outside the Covid pandemic, according to official data.
Growth accelerated through the year, with an expansion of 5.4% in the final quarter, up from 4.6% in the third quarter, according to Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Continue reading...Inaccurate notices branded with broadcaster’s logo sent to iPhone users but tech firm works on improvements
Apple is suspending an artificial intelligence feature that made inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
The tech company received a complaint from the BBC after the AI-generated service issued a news alert branded with the corporation’s logo falsely telling some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had shot himself.
Continue reading...First charge by AFP’s Special Operation Avalite established in December. Follow today’s news headlines live
Richard Marles will become the first minister to visit Kiribati in almost two years, AAP reports.
The deputy prime minister and defence minister is travelling to Kiribati for high-level talks with the nation’s re-elected government, which closed its country’s borders in 2024 while national elections were held.
Continue reading...Duties remain unclear for the three actors, who are Trump supporters and are no strangers to controversy
Donald Trump has tapped three of his longstanding celebrity supporters – Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone – to purportedly make Hollywood “stronger than ever before” as “special ambassadors” to the movie capital.
The president-elect announced the new appointments, whose duties remain unclear, on Truth Social on Thursday, four days before his inauguration. “It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” he wrote.
Continue reading...President-elect ‘has warm spot’ for platform and wants political solution to ‘preserve app but protect data’
Donald Trump is considering suspending a TikTok ban in the US with an executive order when he enters the White House on 20 January, according to a report.
The president-elect is exploring an executive order that would postpone enforcement of a sale-or-ban law due to come into force on 19 January, said the Washington Post. The report added, however, that Trump’s legal grounds for suspending a law passed by Congress are questionable.
Continue reading...Letters seen by Guardian Australia focus on alleged pickets on 26 November outside warehouses that were not then on strike
Two workers have been dismissed and Woolworths has told dozens of warehouse employees it is investigating their alleged conduct during a recent 17-day strike that cost it more than $100m in sales.
In November 2024, about 1,500 warehouse staff across four of the company’s distribution centres in New South Wales and Victoria took industrial action over pay and workplace conditions.
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Continue reading...Surrey town saw 12.5% increase in asking prices last year with rest of UK rising just 1.4%, according to Rightmove
It’s very name conjures images of warmth, and now Sunbury-on-Thames has been named as a property hotspot. According to listings website Rightmove, the Surrey town recorded the biggest rise in asking prices in Great Britain last year, registering a 12.5% leap in the average, from £527,005 to £592,976.
The town has long been popular with commuters, as it takes less than an hour to travel into London Waterloo station, and is close to the recently expanded Shepperton Studios, which now claims to be the second biggest film studio in the world.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Newly uncovered documents reveal chemicals giant was aware ‘environmentally neutral’ products did not biodegrade
The multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as “forever chemicals” and banned in many countries including the UK, newly uncovered documents show.
From the 1960s until 2003, 3M made foams containing PFOS and PFOA (perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid), synthetic chemicals that can take tens of thousands of years to degrade in the environment and have been linked to cancers and a range of other health problems such as thyroid disease, high cholesterol, hormonal problems and fertility issues.
Continue reading...Owner highlights parcel deliveries performance as £3.6bn takeover by Czech billionaire nears completion
The owner of Royal Mail has said it received a fillip from parcel deliveries over Christmas, putting it on track to return to annual profit, as its £3.6bn takeover by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský nears completion.
International Distribution Services (IDS) said Royal Mail delivered more than 99% of items sent on or before the recommended last posting dates in time for Christmas.
Continue reading...First consecutive year of declining GDP since early 2000s highlights challenges facing next government
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Germany’s economy has shrunk for a second consecutive year for the first time in more than two decades, highlighting the challenges the next government will face after snap elections in February.
As voters prepare to head to the polls amid heightened political uncertainty in Europe’s largest economy, official figures showed gross domestic product fell by 0.2% last year after dropping by 0.3% in 2023.
Continue reading...World Economic Forum says responses from experts in business, politics and academia also highlight climate crisis
Global leaders have said that escalating armed conflict is the most urgent threat in 2025 but the climate emergency is expected to cause the greatest concern over the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum.
Ahead of its yearly gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos next week, the WEF asked more than 900 leaders from business, politics and academia about the risks that most concern them.
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