European governments are increasingly turning to windfall taxes to balance their books and tackle public uproar over companies making high profits during the worst cost of living crisis in decades. The Italian government’s surprise levy on banks on August 8 was the latest example of a trend that began when power prices surged in the
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In London this month, it is possible to pay up to £195 for a ticket to a two and a half-hour play about the importance of washing your hands. It is called Dr Semmelweis after Ignaz Semmelweis, a prickly Hungarian doctor who died without being recognised for groundbreaking discoveries he made in the 1800s about
In July, the search to find the world’s next top-tier copper reserve led a Silicon Valley start-up to the doorstep of a faded mining powerhouse. Late one morning, hard-hatted dignitaries watched keenly as a drill rig bit deep into rock in Chililabombwe, a town in Copperbelt province just inside Zambia’s border with the Democratic Republic
Some of the world’s biggest companies are turning to artificial intelligence to navigate increasingly complex supply chains as they face the impact of geopolitical tensions and pressure to eliminate links to environmental and human rights abuses. Unilever, Siemens and Maersk are among those using AI to negotiate contracts, find new suppliers, or help identify those
Less than 12 per cent of the sewage network in England and Wales was built in the 19th century, undermining water industry claims that outflows of raw effluent and storm water are a result of antiquated Victorian infrastructure. The majority of the network was instead built in the years before privatisation, with approximately a fifth constructed
Demand for pawnbroking has hit “record levels” in Britain because of high inflation and a shortage of alternatives, according to the boss of the UK’s biggest operator. H&T Group said pre-tax profit rose 31 per cent to £8.8mn in the first half of the year compared with 2022, while its “pledge book” — loans against
In a miraculous, parting-of-the-Red-Sea moment, Japan’s bookshops have set aside shelf space for a genre of literature that has, appropriately, generated roughly zero demand for the past three decades: inflation and what to do about it. Titles such as Inflation Japan: the Coming Era of Endless High Prices and A World of Inescapable Inflation, strike
At least six people have died after a boat carrying about 65 migrants seeking to reach the UK capsized in the English Channel on Saturday, according to French authorities. Two people remained missing as search efforts by both nations’ coastguards continued, while several others were treated for injuries at local hospitals. A French prosecutor told
The era of cheap streaming is ending, as Hollywood’s largest studios turn the screws on customers with price rises that rival the expensive cable television “bundle” consumers began ditching for Netflix 15 years ago. A basket of the top US streaming services will cost $87 this autumn, compared with $73 a year ago, as Disney,
Stacey Fox came to the Iowa State Fair this year with her golfing friends — a group of ladies who call themselves the Fairway Queens. And on Thursday evening she said she still had a preference for Ron DeSantis in the race for the White House. “I think he has strength. I think he has
The heads of Europe’s largest insurers have warned that a growing political backlash in the US has jeopardised their ability to join forces to combat climate change. The industry’s effort to tackle carbon emissions collectively culminated two years ago in the establishment of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, a UN-backed group of insurers that promised to
Trend-following hedge funds have piled into global equities as market volatility has fallen and stocks climb on investors’ hopes that interest rate rises are close to their peak. Commodity trading advisers — hedge funds that rely on pattern-detecting algorithms and statistical models to direct trading across markets — have in recent weeks increased their exposure
The boy looked dead. He was no older than 19, with modelesque features and dressed in designer clothes, sat on a bench on the Lungomare esplanade under pink dusklight. When we tried to shake him awake, his head flopped backwards. Someone called for help. Taupe bicycles with wicker baskets slow-motioned past us and women with
Sly, Soviet-style jokes are enjoying a subtle revival on Chinese social media platforms. Their art resides in being too obscure for censors to understand yet clear enough for cynics to chuckle at their mockery. Some are so esoteric that their satire is confirmed only by the censors’ decision to delete them — echoing the cat-and-mouse
Sam Bankman-Fried has been taken into custody after a federal judge found that the FTX founder probably attempted to tamper with witnesses on two occasions while awaiting trial on fraud charges stemming from the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. In a brief written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Friday, Judge Lewis
Senior partners at the accounting firm BDO USA are in line for a big windfall after the arrangement of a $1.3bn debt deal with Apollo Global Management, according to people familiar with the situation. The private capital group is to provide $1.3bn in debt financing for a employee-owned vehicle, which will use the money to
Long before Charles III became King, people close to him were trailing the prospect of a “slimmed-down, modernised” British monarchy once he acceded to the throne. It was something of an about turn, therefore, when the Treasury announced last month that far from cutting the royal cloth to match the times, the monarchy would instead
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered the sacking of all the country’s regional army recruitment chiefs after investigators discovered officials had been taking bribes to allow people to avoid the military draft on medical grounds. Despite the patriotic fervour that has gripped the country 18 months into Russia’s full-scale invasion, some men are desperate to
Bond investors have been on the rack in recent days and weeks. So much so that you have to ask why economists and professional investors continue to refer to government bonds as safe and risk-free investments, relative to supposedly riskier equities. The charge against these government IOUs is pretty damning. Take the US treasury market,
The recovery in business travel has stalled this year amid record price rises for premium flights and growing pressure on big companies to cut their carbon emissions. Europe’s three major airline groups reported a drop in the rate of recovery in corporate travel in their most recent earnings, while bookings at US airlines have flatlined
The owner of Center Parcs is racing to fashion a consortium out of the remaining bidders for the UK holiday resorts chain after a final bid deadline passed without any formal offers being made, according to people familiar with the matter. Canadian private equity group Brookfield put Center Parcs up for sale earlier this year,