Category Archives: Business

Reeves’s growth plans ‘exactly what economy needs’ say UK business groups – as it happened

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Reeves says the supply side of the economy has been held back.

Politicians have lacked the courage to confront the factors holding back growth.

They have accepted the status quo. They have been the barrier, not the enablers, of change.

Without economic growth, we cannot improve the living standards of ordinary working people, because growth isn’t simply about lines on a graph. It’s about the pounds in people’s pockets, the vibrancy of our high streets and the thriving businesses that create wealth, jobs and new opportunities for us, for our children and grandchildren.

We will have succeeded in our mission when working people are better off.

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EU launches ‘simplification’ agenda in effort to keep up with US and China

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Ursula von der Leyen announces plans to cut red tape and boost innovation in second term as head of European Commission

The EU executive has announced “an unprecedented simplification effort” to cut regulations and boost innovation in an attempt to reverse Europe’s economic decline and better compete with China and the US.

In her first major policy announcement since starting a second term as the European Commission president last month, Ursula von der Leyen outlined policy proposals intended to boost Europe’s flagging economy.

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Australia news live: Angus Taylor says cost-of-living pain ‘far from over’ despite inflation falling to three-year low

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Labor adds homelessness focus to disability strategy

Australians with disabilities experiencing homelessness will be prioritised as the government commits to disability reforms, months after a scathing royal commission into the sector, AAP reports.

For the first time, they also include a number of national actions that all governments will work on together, with the disability community, to ensure people with disability right across Australia experience the benefits.

Some students, especially those in our cities, can see a career in agriculture as something that’s only for those who live in the regions or for those whose family own land that can be used to operate an agribusiness.

AgConnections aims to break down these misconceptions and build on the diversity of the industry, by highlighting and encouraging women and Indigenous Australians wanting to pursue a career in agriculture.

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Origin Energy fined $1.6m after sharing private details of family violence victims

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Company apologises over disclosure of information and collection of debts from vulnerable people

Human error has been blamed after a major energy retailer shared family violence victims’ private details without their consent and for chasing other survivors for unpaid power bills.

Origin Energy has coughed up $1.6m after it was served penalty notices by Victoria’s Essential Services Commission for breaching rules designed to protect the vulnerable cohort.

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How Trump tariffs could upend car markets in Europe, the US and China

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Levies threaten exporters to US market, while scrapping of subsidies will hit EV sales – and Tesla could gain

The internal combustion engine appears to hold a special place in Donald Trump’s psyche. During his inauguration speech last week, he made a “sacred pledge” to raise US car production to “a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago”.

Car making and the oil industry – not AI, computer chips, or even cryptocurrencies – were the only two industries the new US president highlighted as he promised to make America a “manufacturing nation once again”.

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AllBright, London’s women-only members’ club, enters administration

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The networking and events business struggled with ‘rising rents’ and the aftermath of the pandemic

AllBright, the women-only members’ club with a five-storey townhouse in Mayfair, London, has entered administration, the Guardian can reveal.

The networking and events business – which was co-founded by the Telegraph Media Group’s chief executive, Anna Jones, and the co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, Debbie Wosskow – emailed members last week to say it was closing the doors of its building just off Regent Street.

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US tech stocks partly recover after Trump says DeepSeek AI chatbot is ‘wake-up call’

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Tentative rise comes after emergence of cheaper Chinese rival wiped $1tn off the value of leading US tech companies

US tech stocks tentatively recovered on Tuesday after Donald Trump described the launch of a chatbot by China’s DeepSeek as a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley in the global race to dominate artificial intelligence.

The emergence of DeepSeek, which has built its R1 model chatbot at a fraction of the cost of competitors such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, wiped $1tn (£800bn) in value from the leading US tech index on Monday.

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AI-linked stocks make modest gains after DeepSeek rout; Boeing posts its second-biggest annual loss on record – business live

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Donald Trump says China’s DeepSeek is a ‘wake-up call’ for American AI firms

Donald Trump has suggested that Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a bidding war over the app.

When asked if Microsoft was in talks to buy the app, the US president said “I would say yes”, adding “A lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok.”

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New CMA chair will have to assess curbs on his former employer Amazon

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Doug Gurr will lead board as watchdog rules on Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of cloud computing market

The new chair of the UK competition watchdog will have to assess whether to curb the position of his former employer, Amazon, after an independent inquiry found that a lack of competition in the £9bn cloud computing market could mean British businesses are overpaying for services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which last week announced the surprise appointment of former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr as its interim chair, said that Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of the cloud computing market could mean that British businesses are paying as much as £430m more annually for services than in a “well-functioning market”.

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Cult London film venue Prince Charles cinema under threat of closure

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Much loved for its screenings of hard-to-find films, the venue claims its landlord wants to alter lease, leaving it able to shut down the business

The Prince Charles cinema in central London, long a site of pilgrimage for those interested in cult and hard-to-find films, has launched a petition saying its existence is under threat from its property developer landlords.

In a statement on petitions website 38degrees.org.uk, the cinema says that Zedwell LSQ Ltd (who are owned by developers Criterion Capital) are demanding a “break clause” in the building’s lease, which is currently being negotiated as the current lease ends in September. The cinema says this means they would be on six months’ notice to leave if Zedwell decides to redevelop the site.

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Trump will not be ‘meteor’ blow to Irish economy, says employers’ group

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Businesses should avoid panic amid fears US will attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes, says Danny McCoy

Donald Trump will not be a knockout “meteor” to Ireland’s economy despite its heavy reliance on US multinationals, the head of the country’s business trade organisation has said.

While the US president told world leaders gathered at Davos last week that “Europe treats us very, very unfairly” there is a heightened sense of nervousness in Ireland that this could translate to an attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes from the 950 US companies there.

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Third arrest after alleged assault on police officers in Sydney – as it happened

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AFP warns parents over rise in AI-generated child abuse material

There has been an increase in the use of AI-generated child abuse material in the past year, including students creating material like deepfakes to harass or embarrass classmates, the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation has said.

Children and young people are curious by nature, however, anything that depicts the abuse of someone under the age of 18 – whether that’s videos, images, drawings or stories – is child abuse material, irrespective of whether it is ‘real’ or not.

The AFP encourages all parents and guardians to have open and honest conversations with their child on this topic, particularly as AI technology continues to become increasingly accessible and integrated into platforms and products.

As a society, I think that it demonstrates the need for us to place a high value collectively on a civil political discourse, rather than an extreme one.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that of the 16 arrests, only one person was from South Australia and the rest were scattered from all over the country and for whatever reason, decided to convene in Adelaide.

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Water companies in England ‘use greenwashing playbook to hide environmental harm’

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Researchers say companies have prolonged injustice and exaggerated cost of solving infrastructure problems

Water companies are adopting disinformation tactics similar to those used by the fossil fuel and tobacco industries with the widespread use of greenwashing to downplay the environmental harm they cause, a study says.

Environmental scientists analysed the communications of the nine main water and sewerage companies in England, and compared them with a framework of 28 greenwashing tactics employed, researchers say, by the tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels and chemical industries.

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Tesla takes EU to court over tariffs on EVs made in China

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Elon Musk’s company still imports large number of cars into Europe from its Shanghai factory

Tesla has filed a complaint against the European Commission after the imposition of tariffs by the bloc on its Chinese-made electric vehicles.

The EU announced its decision to impose tariffs on all imports of Chinese electric cars in June, alleging that the Chinese government had provided unfair state subsidies to manufacturers in order to win a dominant position in the emerging industry. EU leaders approved the tariffs in October.

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Good Energy agrees near-£100m takeover by UAE-linked firm

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Esyasoft to acquire UK company, which supplies renewable power to about 245,000 households and businesses

A British green electricity supplier, Good Energy, has agreed a near-£100m takeover by a company controlled by a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.

The retail energy company said on Monday it had agreed a deal with the Dubai-headquartered Esyasoft for a cash offer of £4.90 a share, valuing it at £99.4m.

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Government under pressure on economy as British households anticipate worsening finances

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CBI says businesses plan to cut jobs and raise prices while debt charity says millions are ‘facing worries’

The government is under growing pressure to get momentum back into the economy amid warnings that businesses plan to cut jobs and raise prices, while millions of families believe their finances will worsen this year.

Before a major speech this week by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, designed to restate Labour’s commitment to improving the economy, the CBI said private sector firms were urgently assessing their budgets to offset measures announced in last October’s budget.

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Reeves: third Heathrow runway would be hard decision but good for growth

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Chancellor expected to unveil new building projects and revise planning rules to stimulate UK economy

Rachel Reeves has given her strongest hint yet that she will back a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that she is willing to make difficult decisions while pursuing economic growth.

The chancellor is poised to make a significant speech this week where she will outline her plans to boost the British economy by radically altering planning rules and accelerating building projects.

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Protests by fruit pickers and farmers put spotlight on price of cheap food in UK

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In two actions, migrant workers claim exploitation while farmers demonstrate against inheritance tax plan

This is a tale of two countrysides. One was featured prominently on Saturday by broadcasters as farmers held demonstrations throughout the UK against inheritance tax plans they believe will cripple family farms.

A smaller protest staged a day earlier outside the Home Office received almost no attention. A small band of fruit and vegetable pickers, mainly from Latin America, were highlighting their battle against what they call the exploitation of migrant workers.

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Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk rebuked by watchdog over failure to disclose payments to UK health groups

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Danish drug giant found to have failed to accurately report spending even after admitting to errors

The pharmaceutical watchdog has reprimanded Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk for failing to correctly disclose dozens of payments to the UK health sector as it sought to boost sales of its slimming drugs.

The Danish drug giant – Europe’s most valuable listed company – systematically misreported, under-reported or did not disclose funding given over seven years to pharmacy firms, obesity charities, training providers, professional bodies and patient groups.

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‘Move closer to Europe – not Trump’ voters tell Starmer in major UK poll

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Pressure growing on Labour to improve trade with EU as Rachel Reeves admits Brexit damaged UK

Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to forge closer economic links with Europe five years on from Brexit, as a major new poll shows voters clearly favour prioritising more trade with the EU over the US.

The MRP survey of almost 15,000 people by YouGov for the Best for Britain thinktank shows more people in every constituency in England, Scotland and Wales back closer arrangements with the EU rather than more transatlantic trade with Washington. MRP polls use large data samples to estimate opinion at a local level

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