Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air France and Lufthansa among carriers pausing services to and from Beirut
International airlines have suspended more flights to Lebanon amid an Israeli bombardment that authorities said had killed almost 560 people since Monday.
The United Arab Emirates-based airline Emirates announced the temporary suspension of its flights to Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday. Its sister airline flydubai also cancelled flights to Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Continue reading...Decision angers environment groups with Australian Conservation Foundation saying Albanese government ‘continues to disappoint’
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, approved three coalmine expansions on Tuesday in a step described by conservationists as reckless and “the opposite of climate action”.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said the three projects, all in New South Wales, would generate more than 1.3bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in their lifetime.
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Continue reading...Trading relationships at ‘breaking point’ because of delays and costs, garden centres and nurseries warn
Exporters of plants and flowers from mainland Europe are turning their backs on supplying Britain as “painful” new Brexit border checks are putting some trading relationships at “breaking point”, garden centres and nurseries have warned.
The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), which represents garden retailers and growers, said long-held links between British nurseries and EU suppliers were now being put under strain because of the delays and costs associated with the new border processes.
Continue reading...Reserve Bank leaves interest rate on hold for seventh meeting in a row. Follow all the days’s headlines live
Tony Armstrong is leaving ABC News Breakfast for a new show screening in 2025. He told viewers this morning:
I just want to thank Brekky and the broader ABC News team for welcoming me in with open arms and helping me grow over the past few years. I love live TV and those moments that are unplanned and unpredictable where anything can happen. I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by an incredible team and it’s those friendships that I’m going to cherish the most.
How blessed we’ve been to have Tone on our screens every morning, bringing the sparkle, joy and heart that only Tony can! Tony is a wonderful friend and everyone at News Breakfast is going to miss his infectious and caring nature. I know it’s meant so much to me and to thousands upon thousands of First Nations viewers waking up to see Tony representing us on the daily. Can’t wait to see what you do next, Tone! Maybe sleep?!
Continue reading...The People’s Bank of China announces a host of policy support measures but some experts fear they may not be enough
China’s central bank unveiled its strongest suite of economic stimulus measures since the start of the Covid pandemic, underlining the difficulty it faces in reviving an economy grappling with a prolonged property crisis and strong deflationary pressures.
Governor Pan Gongsheng said the People’s Bank of China will cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves – known as reserve requirement ratios (RRR) – by 50 basis points. The People’s Bank of China will also cut a key policy rate by 0.2 percentage points to 1.5%.
Continue reading...Chancellor says £22bn gap in current spending budget and state pension rise meant she had to make decision on means-testing fuel payments
In interview this morning Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, defended her own decision to accept clothing donations worth £7,500 when she was in opposition.
Speaking on the Today programme, she said:
I can understand why people find it a little bit odd that politicians get support for things like buying clothes.
Now, when I was an opposition MP, when I was shadow chancellor of the exchequer, a friend of mine who I’ve known for years [Juliet Rosenfeld] – she’s a good personal friend – wanted to support me as shadow chancellor and the way she wanted to support me was to finance my office to be able to buy clothes for the campaign trail and for big events and speeches that I made as shadow chancellor.
It’s never something that I planned to do as a government minister, but it did help me in opposition.
It’s rightly the case that we don’t ask taxpayers to fund the bulk of the campaigning work and the research work that politicians do, but that does require, then, donations – from small donations, from party members and supporters, from larger contributions, from people who have been very successful in life and want to give something back.
We appreciate that support. It’s part of the reason why we are in government today, because we were able to do that research work, and we were able to do that campaigning.
Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have put forward motions which were due to be debated on Monday afternoon, with strong support expected from other unions.
Sources said unions were told late on Sunday that the debate is being moved to Wednesday morning.
Continue reading...Agents and critics claim business practices and pricing structure of REA Group - which owns realestate.com.au - stifle competition in market
The assistant competition minister, Andrew Leigh, says he is “concerned” Australians are paying the highest costs in the world to advertise their homes for sale online.
After a Guardian Australia investigation into the market power of the Murdoch-controlled REA Group – which owns realestate.com.au – Leigh said he wanted to see costs in the property market come down.
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Continue reading...Economic activity was ‘a little bit softer’ than central bank had predicted, one expert notes, but a rate cut still seems unlikely
How soon the Reserve Bank might cut interest rates will be the focus for borrowers and economists alike when the central bank wraps up its latest meeting on Tuesday.
Governor Michele Bullock is expected to keep the RBA’s key rate unchanged for a seventh meeting in a row, according to a survey of 45 economists by Reuters. The bank lifted the rate 13 times between May 2022 and last November.
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Continue reading...Company owned by Bamford family benefits from strong US sales offsetting end of exports to Russia
JCB has reported an increase in profits last year as strong US sales made up for its exports to Russia ending and faltering demand in the UK and Germany.
The company, one of the largest manufacturers in Britain, said that pre-tax profits rose 44% to £806m last year, up from £558m in 2022, according to a summary of its accounts published on Monday.
Continue reading...Move comes after weeks of uncertainty over reports of financial problems as green vehicle sector struggles
The Swedish batterymaker Northvolt is to cut 1,600 jobs, in response to “headwinds” blowing through the electric car industry.
The battery company announced redundancies across three of its sites on Monday, including 1,000 in Skellefteå, in northern Sweden, where it is suspending the expansion of Northvolt Ett, Europe’s first homegrown battery gigafactory.
Continue reading...Competition watchdog alleges supermarkets briefly increased prices on hundreds of products before placing them in discount promotions
The competition regulator is suing Coles and Woolworths over allegations they misled shoppers by engaging in “illusory” discounts on hundreds of common supermarket products.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claimed on Monday that the major chains derived significant revenue from the sale of tens of millions of products sold through promotions that the regulator says breached consumer law.
Continue reading...Simon Baker says REA Group’s property portal is viewed ‘jealously’ by others around the world because the home-sellers pay the bills
A former chief executive of the News Corp-controlled realestate.com.au says the company views real estate agents as its “outsourced sales force”, outlining how home sellers have been targeted with ever-rising advertising costs.
Simon Baker, who was chief executive of REA Group from 2001 to 2008 and now works as a consultant in the property tech industry, says the “vendor-paid” advertising market operating in Australian real estate is rare globally.
Continue reading...Exclusive: £100bn-a-year cost of obesity to UK makes clear economic case for use of drugs such as Ozempic, says report
Spiralling healthcare costs and productivity losses from the global obesity crisis far outstrip the cost of new weight-loss drugs, according to a report, which also calls on governments to prioritise prevention by promoting a healthy diet and exercise.
In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, there is a clear economic case for these medications, the report says, as the annual cost of the diabetes drug Ozempic is lower than the cost of additional healthcare needed by people with obesity. The cost of the weight-loss injection Wegovy is higher, but still dwarfed by the overall economic cost to society of obesity, according to the research by ING Bank, shared with the Guardian.
Continue reading...Rodent posed risk to electrical wiring on Scandinavian Airlines flight from Oslo to Málaga
Airline meals hardly carry high expectations but this week a passenger faced more than just a disappointing supper after a mouse crawled out of their meal, forcing their flight to make an unscheduled landing.
The incident occurred during a Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight from Oslo to Málaga on Wednesday, forcing the plane to land in Copenhagen, the company said on Friday.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Australia’s ‘sex report card’ released
The latest Australian Study of Health and Relationships was revealed at a conference in Sydney this week held by the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Rent assistance went up by $25 and … average rents have gone up by more than $100. What might look like a big percentage increase is, frankly, fuck all, and that’s one of the reasons that this is so upsetting.
When CRA is indexed, the amount of rent that you have to pay before you get any rent assistance increases. So the proportion of your rent, where you qualify for it, reduces if you aren’t receiving the maximum payment.
Continue reading...London-listed Evoke, which owns William Hill, apologises for post on Israeli Facebook page linking to job ads
The gambling company that owns the William Hill, 888 and Mr Green brands has apologised after one of its social media accounts appeared to make light of the pager explosions in Lebanon that killed 12 people and injured thousands.
The explosions on Tuesday were followed by walkie-talkies exploding on Wednesday, killing another 20 people.
Continue reading...Greens say the price hikes arising from REA Group’s dominance underscore need for new price-gouging laws
Rod Sims, the former chair of Australia’s competition law enforcer, says he believes the regulator should consider investigating the behaviour of the market’s leading real estate property portal, realestate.com.au, for potential anti-competitive behaviour.
The Greens have also hit out at what they say is an alleged “outrageous abuse of market power”, saying the price hikes arising from REA Group’s dominance underscored the need for new price-gouging laws.
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Continue reading...Policymakers vote 8-1 against back-to-back cuts in borrowing costs after inflation stayed above Bank target
The Bank of England has kept interest rates unchanged at 5% as it put its efforts to ease the pressure on household budgets on hold.
The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by a majority of eight to one against launching a back-to-back reduction in borrowing costs amid concerns over lingering inflationary pressures.
Continue reading...Shift supervisors unable to unionize are left in limbo, despite workers claiming low pay and lack of authority
The largest cannabis delivery service in the US faces a growing backlash in southern California from shift supervisors who said they are paid less than the workers they supervise, struggle to make ends meet on low and stagnant wages, and are at odds with the company over their right to form a union.
Nearly 600 delivery drivers at Eaze in California voted to unionize in 2023 with the United Food and Commercial Workers, and secured a first contract earlier this year after threatening to strike in April.
Continue reading...Union members ‘frustrated’ that company was allegedly unwilling to discuss wages and pensions in negotiations
Union officials have accused Boeing of being “unprepared” after talks resumed to end the US’s largest strike.
Boeing workers will be joined on picket lines by the president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Brian Bryant on Thursday a day after the company announced plans to furlough “large numbers” of employees.
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