Category Archives: Business

Democrat running for Texas AG claims $110m in grants for Starlink ‘sure looks’ like corruption

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Nathan Johnson says if elected he’ll investigate state’s deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide rural internet

A Texas Democrat running to become the state’s attorney general has said he will investigate Elon Musk’s SpaceX company if elected, saying it “sure looks like” corruption was involved in a deal he said handed the world’s richest man $110m of taxpayers’ money.

Nathan Johnson made the comment in an interview with the Dallas News on Friday, in which he called for greater legislative scrutiny of state grants funneled to SpaceX for its Starlink satellite program, which provides fast internet access for customers in remote areas.

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Ryanair passenger almost sucked out of shattered window during flight

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Serbian man reportedly saved by wife hanging on to his legs after window shattered on journey from Greece

A passenger on a Ryanair flight was reportedly almost sucked out of a window after it shattered in mid-air during a journey from Greece.

The man was said to have been lifted out of his seat into the plane’s slipstream and hung headfirst out of the window after an engine failure resulted in parts smashing the acrylic window, according to local reports.

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Licensed to drill? How a Trump-linked Texas oil company is elbowing its way into Greenland

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Greenland Energy says billions of barrels of crude could lie beneath territory and claims it has permission to bring drilling kit ashore – a claim denied by Nuuk

On 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. “So,” Robert Price said via an interpreter, “we have a project to drill for oil here.”

The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers of drilling kit.

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Taylor defends Sarah Henderson’s triple-zero calls amid questions about claimed Telstra-outage death in SA

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South Australian police say they’re unaware of death despite claim by Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle

Angus Taylor says his shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson was “doing her job” when she “tested” the triple-zero system by making unnecessary calls to it during Telstra’s nationwide outage.

The opposition leader has also dismissed concerns about Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle’s claim that an elderly person died as a result of the outage, after South Australian police said they were unaware of any such death.

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Search under way after Boeing 737 cargo plane goes missing off Pakistan coast

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Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of Karachi

Pakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing.

The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).

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Oil prices rise sharply after Iran launches attacks on tankers near strait of Hormuz

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Brent crude benchmark rose to more than $80 a barrel, its steepest increase since ceasefire began

Oil markets have recorded their sharpest price rise in nearly two months after a series of attacks on fossil fuel tankers near the strait of Hormuz led Donald Trump to declare that the ceasefire deal with Iran was over.

At the same time, UK short-dated bonds suffered their worst day since the end of March as the prospect grew of a Bank of England rate rise to cope with the renewed inflationary pressures.

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Treasury yet to do due diligence on finding extra money for UK’s Nato spend

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How to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise would be a matter for ‘the next prime minister’, MPs told

The Treasury has as yet carried out no analysis of the trade-offs necessary for the UK to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise made to Nato, the department’s chief secretary has said.

Under robust questioning in a joint session of the Treasury and defence select committees on Wednesday, Lucy Rigby repeatedly said that how to fund additional defence spending would be a matter for “the next prime minister”.

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IMF upgrades UK growth forecast as fears over impact of Iran war diminish

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July update projects GDP growth of 1% this year, making UK the third fastest-growing economy in the G7

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth forecast for the UK, while leaving those for other G7 countries weaker or unchanged, amid hopes the economic impact of the Iran war may be less severe than feared.

In a July update of its World Economic Outlook, which was finalised before the latest outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, the Washington-based organisation projected UK gross domestic product to grow by 1% this year – up 0.2 percentage points from its April forecast.

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Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns

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Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection

The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.

The disclosure will put further pressure on the Reform UK leader, who is awaiting a decision by the standards commissioner over whether his failure to declare the money breached parliamentary rules.

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Bank of England plans to ease capital rules despite AI stability fears

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Central bank’s financial policy committee members voice concern on trimming big lenders’ financial buffers

The Bank of England is planning to loosen capital requirements for major UK lenders, even as policymakers expressed concern about the threat to financial stability from rapid AI developments and debt-fuelled stock investments.

The central bank said on Tuesday it was looking to remove and loosen some rules introduced after the 2008 financial crisis that determine the size of the financial cushion required to absorb losses and protect consumers and taxpayers when things go wrong.

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Thames Water creditors ‘will bid for company even if it is nationalised’

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Group of 100 investors still discussing £10bn rescue proposal with officials from regulator Ofwat, says report

Thames Water’s creditors are willing to pursue their bid for the debt-laden company even if the probable next prime minister, Andy Burnham, brings it into temporary nationalisation.

The group of 100 institutional investors, which hold about £14bn of Thames’s senior debt, are still discussing a £10bn rescue proposal for the struggling company with officials from the regulator Ofwat, and they have held meetings in recent days.

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Accused double murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon’s mother granted bail – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Richard Marles said he doubted China tested the long-range weapon yesterday in response to Anthony Albanese being in the Pacific to sign a new defence alliance with Fiji but said Australia remained deeply concerned by the development. He told ABC News:

At the end of the day, what we’re seeing here is a long-range missile test from China, which China itself has said is nuclear-capable … This is China demonstrating a much greater range in terms of being able to deploy a nuclear weapon.

And ultimately what that is, is deeply destabilising.

Our fundamental issue in relation to China is that we have seen a very dramatic military buildup by China without that strategic reassurance [to our neighbours].

There really isn’t an explanation as to why they are building the capabilities that they are and that is fundamentally destabilising.

I think the system is handling the matter as it should … I think it’s appropriate that the legal process takes its course.

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Higher-earning Australians flocking to 5% first home deposit scheme with some borrowers earning over $200,000

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Exclusive: Economists warn Labor’s removal of caps could be pushing up prices as support flows to people in better financial positions

Most Australian first home buyers are using the government’s 5% deposit scheme, with one in three new participants earning more than the scheme’s previous cap for high income earners.

The influx of high income earners into the first home guarantee program, economists warn, has pushed up property prices by increasing buying capacity for people who would have bought anyway.

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Trump rings New York Stock Exchange bell to mark first trading day for ‘Trump accounts’

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US president rings bell from White House and showcases initiative that gives children a $1,000 investment account

Donald Trump rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the White House to mark the first trading day for Trump accounts, a government initiative that provides children with a $1,000 investment account.

The US president hosted leaders from the NYSE and the Nasdaq stock exchange at the Oval Office for a press conference on Monday morning. It is the first joint opening of the exchanges, and the first time the bell had been rung at the White House.

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Wegovy weight-loss pill goes on sale on UK high street and online pharmacies

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Thousands of people begin receiving their first deliveries of once-a-day medication made by Novo Nordisk

A once-a-day Wegovy weight-loss pill has gone on sale at high street and online pharmacies in the UK, but is not yet available on the NHS.

Thousands of people began receiving their first deliveries of the pill, made by the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, on Monday. It contains the same active GLP-1 ingredient as the Wegovy jab, semaglutide, and is similarly effective, according to studies.

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‘Smart operator’: how BT’s first female CEO helped turn company around

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The firm’s share price has risen 80% under Allison Kirkby’s leadership – but pressure remains for her to deliver further growth

If timing is everything, then Allison Kirkby may have judged it perfectly.

Since becoming BT’s first female chief executive more than two years ago the company’s share price has climbed 80%, an investor-pleasing turnaround that has seen Kirkby well-rewarded with a pay and bonus package of £5.6m last year, the largest for a boss of the telecoms company in well over a decade. However, there are questions over how much credit Kirkby can take for the apparent revival of the business.

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Mobile internet coverage in UK worse than any EU or G7 country, Which? says

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Analysis finds services cheaper but country ranks 57th in network performance and 70th for download speeds

British holidaymakers watching online videos while they sit on a European beach this summer are likely to be pleasantly surprised: the signal should be better than at home.

Mobile coverage in the UK is worse than in any of the 27 EU member countries, and every other member of the G7 group of large economies, according to analysis by consumer group Which? of data from Opensignal.

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Coal is back in AustralianSuper’s portfolio. What happened to that net zero pledge?

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In 2020 Australia’s biggest super fund dumped its Whitehaven shares. Fast forward to 2026 and it is now the coalminer’s single biggest investor

Almost six years ago, the country’s biggest superannuation fund announced a major policy update: AustralianSuper’s investment portfolio would be subject to a net zero carbon emissions target in line with the Paris agreement.

To make the point, the fund dumped its holdings in the large thermal and metallurgical coalminer Whitehaven Coal.

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Fears Queenslanders could be forced to pay for mine cleanup as LNP reviews environmental ‘red tape’

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Mining minister Dale Last says the state has an ‘enormous opportunity’ to become a global leader in critical minerals

Queenslanders are being warned they could be left to pay for the clean up of abandoned mines if rehabilitation laws are weakened, after the state government announced a bid to cut environmental “red tape” for resources companies.

The state’s treasurer, David Janetzki, and the mining minister, Dale Last, this week announced a review of a scheme that requires resources companies to provide surety to cover remediation and rehabilitation costs when mines close.

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London has lost ‘catastrophic’ 89% of car club vehicles since Zipcar exit

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Only 330 car club vehicles available for rent after big provider left British market, data reveals

The number of car club vehicles in London has fallen by a “catastrophic” 89% since Zipcar ended its service in late 2025, with former users being pushed to consider buying or leasing.

Car clubs allow drivers to use vehicles parked around a city, using apps to book and unlock them. Zipcar dominated London’s car club market before the US company’s shock decision to pull out in December 2025. That left a gap that has yet to be filled for Londoners without a car.

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