Category Archives: Business

Green Day presale tickets for Australia tour as high as $500 under Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing

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Regulator says dynamic pricing is legal if consumers are not misled as fans considering giving the Saviors tour a miss

Tickets to Green Day’s Saviors tour in Australia were as high as $500 in the initial presale after Ticketmaster revealed dynamic pricing was in effect for the rock band’s upcoming shows.

The first presale for the March 2025 leg of the tour went on sale Monday for three locations – the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. The cheapest general admission tickets were capped at $200 plus booking fee, but those wanting seated tickets were informed at purchase point that the price was as high as $500 due to what Ticketmaster calls “In Demand” pricing.

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Planned Shein IPO needs closer scrutiny, says former Labour minister

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Trade committee head Liam Byrne wants checks on firm’s possible supply chain links to forced labour

A former minister has called on the government to closely scrutinise Shein for possible links to forced working as the China-founded fast-fashion retailer prepares for a stock market listing in London.

Liam Byrne, the Labour MP who heads parliament’s business and trade committee, said the UK should introduce new legislation to increase scrutiny of supply chains that may include products made in the Xinjiang region of north-western China.

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‘There’s something in the air’: UK airport expansion gears up for takeoff

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Lobbyists are increasingly confident about expansion plans as concerns for the economy start to deepen

The younger, tormented minister mulling his position before the Labour government granted Heathrow’s third runway in 2009 might have been greatly relieved to know that, 15 years later, not a shovel would have touched the ground.

But now, returning to power with a revamped energy and climate brief, Ed Miliband again finds himself in a cabinet which, many in aviation hope, may usher in bigger airports and more flights – as well as enough CO2 emissions to outweigh any new solar farms.

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What’s causing China’s economic downturn and what does it mean for Australia?

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Oversupply and deflation are spooking markets, while falling demand for coal and iron ore threatens to further hamper anaemic Australian growth

“Because most Chinese are satisfied with the economy’s performance, Beijing would probably resist major adjustments in savings, consumption and investment incentives that did not serve its industrial policy goals.

“Only the prospect of closed foreign markets or deep recession at home, neither of which Beijing believes is likely in the near term, would change this view.”

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Icelandic fishing giant Samherji sues art student for spoofing corporate website

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High court told ‘culture-jammed’ apology for high-profile corruption scandal ‘did not qualify as parody’

Iceland’s biggest fishing company is suing an art student at London’s high court for spoofing its website and issuing a fake public apology over a high profile corruption scandal.

The costly lawsuit, which will be heard this month, is feared by the student’s supporters to have a potentially chilling effect on artists engaging critically with large corporations, while also raising questions about the UK’s status as the go-to litigation jurisdiction for powerful businesses.

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Meta to push on with plan to use UK Facebook and Instagram posts to train AI

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Move to use shared posts follows information commissioner concerns and sets collision course with EU over privacy

Mark Zuckberg’s Meta is to go ahead with controversial plans to use millions of UK Facebook and Instagram posts to train its artificial intelligence (AI) technology, in a practice that is effectively outlawed under EU privacy laws.

Meta said it had “engaged positively” with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over the plan, after it paused similar proposals in June in the UK and EU. The pause came after the ICO warned tech firms to respect the privacy of users when building generative AI.

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Delayed air travellers may get compensation under rules Albanese government proposes

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Catherine King says new charter may force airlines to compensate you if they bump you off a flight, delay your flight, or cancel it

Airlines in Australia may yet be forced to compensate passengers for bumping them to other services because of overbooking, delaying or cancelling their flights, under the charter of aviation rights proposed by the Albanese government.

The transport minister, Catherine King, told Guardian Australia that, despite the aviation white paper not endorsing a standalone compensation provision, the government aims to have legally enforceable penalties included in the charter. It also wants powers granted to the proposed new aviation ombudsman to deal with how airlines treat passengers.

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‘We need to hear about hope’: unions greet Keir Starmer TUC speech with mixed emotions

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Enthusiasm for public sector pay awards tempered by concern over winter fuel payment cuts and job losses

“We’re hearing an awful lot about tough times: it’s like being in a Dickens novel. What comes after the tough times? We need to hear about hope.”

Onay Kasab, the national lead officer for the Unite trade union, was addressing a leftwing fringe meeting, but similar sentiments reverberated through the bars and coffee shops at this week’s TUC congress in Brighton.

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Boeing workers walk off the job after vote to strike and rejecting pay deal

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US Pacific north-west region workers voted 96% in favor of the strike and walked off the job early on Friday

Tens of thousands of Boeing workers walked off the job early on Friday after voting overwhelmingly to strike for higher pay, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet as it wrestles with chronic output delays and mounting debt.

The company said on Friday it was ready to talk and “get back to the table to reach a new agreement” as striking workers picketed.

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IMF plan to visit Russia to assess economy prompts dismay across Europe

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Protest letter sent to fund’s head over move to send staff to Moscow for first review since invasion of Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will send staff to Moscow next week to review the Russian economy for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, in a move that has prompted anger and dismay across European capitals.

Officials of the Washington-based organisation will travel to the Russian capital and meet “stakeholders” before publishing an assessment of the economy and providing recommendations about how the Kremlin might improve its economic handling and tackle issues such as the climate crisis.

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‘Democrats are losing’: a battle on EVs could cost Kamala Harris votes in Michigan

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Trump promises to end electric vehicle mandate. Harris has been silent, risking swing state autoworkers’ critical votes

As the critical swing state of Michigan hangs in the balance, experts warn that Democrats’ poor messaging over the shift to electric vehicles could lose them the state in November’s election.

“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one, thereby saving the US auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now,” Donald Trump told the Republican national convention in a speech this summer that would reach tens of millions of people.

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China gives PwC record £47m fine and six-month ban over Evergrande

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Accountancy firm accused of issuing false audits says it has sacked six partners and five other staff have left

The China arm of the accountancy firm PwC has been banned for six months and fined a record 441m yuan (£47m) over its audit of the collapsed property developer Evergrande, according to Chinese authorities.

Beijing’s ministry of finance imposed a six-month business suspension on PwC Zhong Tian, the accounting firm’s main division in mainland China, along with a 116m yuan penalty.

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Keir Starmer ready to face down ‘nanny state’ jibes in radical public health drive

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Junk food ad ban, age limit on energy drinks and expanded water fluoridation among measures planned to help NHS

Plans to ban junk food ads and to stop children buying high-caffeine energy drinks are among radical public health measures being drawn up by ministers to prevent illness and so ease pressure on the NHS.

The government made clear it would face down “predictable cries of ‘nanny state’” because Keir Starmer was convinced this was the way to fix the service.

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Diane Abbott says Tories paying ‘lip service’ to fighting racism after further Hester donation

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Party took £5m after Rishi Sunak condemned businessman for saying Abbott made you ‘want to hate all black women’

Diane Abbott has said the Conservatives are “only paying lip service to fighting racism” after it emerged their controversial donor Frank Hester had given a further £5m to the party before the election.

The donation, made by his company the Phoenix Partnership, brings his total funding to the Tories to more than £20m, cementing his status as their single biggest donor.

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Moscow importing western aircraft tyres despite ban, says Ukraine agency

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Exclusive: Michelin, Dunlop, Goodyear and Bridgestone products have found way to Russia via intermediaries

More than $30m (£23m) worth of aircraft tyres made by western manufacturers including the French firm Michelin and Britain’s Dunlop were imported into Russia last year via intermediaries despite attempts to ban the trade, according to a Ukrainian government agency.

Russian aviation is critically dependent on foreign-made tyres and, according to the available customs records, the vast majority imported into the country in 2023 were produced by companies headquartered in France, Britain, the US and Japan.

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Australian politics live: Labor confirms aged care deal; AEC abolishes Kylea Tink’s electorate; parliamentary standards bill passes Senate

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Helen Haines condemns ‘stitch up’ over Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission bill

Independent MP Helen Haines is furious at what she calls a “stitch up” between Labor and the Coalition that “weakens the transparency of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission”.

The bill as currently drafted means serious findings could be made about an MP, but they could face no sanction and the public could never know.

I want to see more transparency around this process.

The government made two last-minute changes to its own legislation that would reinforce the major party duopoly, ensuring no member of the crossbench can be deputy chair of the parliamentary standards oversight committee. What a stitch up!”

We’re going to have the same people on the joint select committee as on the privileges committee, meaning the people who are meant to make sure the whole system is working are the same people who are part of it.

I’m really staggered by this, and it isn’t right.

We’re taking a stand against the unchecked greed that’s fuelling the cost-of-living crisis, and we’re urging the parliament to support this critical reform.

Our bill will put an end to corporate price gouging by making it illegal for corporations with substantial market power to charge excessive prices for goods and services.

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Surge in larger homes for sale amid capital gains tax fears, Rightmove says

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Speculation Rachel Reeves to raise tax in budget thought one reason for some homeowners cashing out

Growing speculation about a capital gains tax (CGT) raid in October’s budget appears to have prompted a surge in the number of larger homes being put up for sale, the UK’s biggest property website says.

Rightmove said in the week ending 9 September there had been “a flurry of activity at the top end” of the market. The number of larger homes – defined as four-bedroom detached houses and all five-bedroom and larger properties – being listed for sale in Great Britain was 15% more than in the same period last year. And in the east and south-west of England, which include some of the UK’s most popular coastal and countryside hotspots, the percentage was over 20%.

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Campbell’s to drop soup from company name after 102 years

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Plan to rename group the Campbell’s Company part of shift in focus to other food it sells

Bosses at Campbell Soup Company, whose cans feature in one of Andy Warhol’s best known 1960s pop artworks, have announced plans to drop ‘soup’ from its name after more than 100 years.

Its chief executive, Mark Clouse, said the decision to rename the group the Campbell’s Company was part of a shift in focus to the other snack foods and jarred sauces it sold.

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Rupert Murdoch-owned firm REA makes £5.6bn offer for Rightmove

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Board rejects non-binding indicative proposal of 705p a share for UK’s biggest online real-estate portal

REA, the Australian property company majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has made a £5.6bn offer for Rightmove, the UK’s biggest online real-estate portal.

The Rightmove board rejected the 705p a share offer, worth 18.6% of the enlarged company post-deal, which comes a week after REA confirmed it was considering a cash and share offer for Rightmove.

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UK economy unexpectedly flatlines for second month in row

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Pre-election slowdown continues in July despite economists predicting growth of 0.2%

The anticipated post-election bounceback in the UK economy failed to materialise as activity flatlined in July for a second month, , according to the latest official data.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the pre-election stalling of activity in June was followed by another month in which gross domestic product remained unchanged.

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