Five of the UK’s largest pension schemes, which together oversee £244bn in assets, will vote against the reappointment of BP’s chair Helge Lund in a growing revolt among key shareholders over the oil company’s decision to slow planned cuts in fossil fuel production and carbon emissions. Nest, which is the UK largest workplace pension scheme,
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Morgan Stanley boss James Gorman has warned that investment banking revenues may not recover until next year after the Wall Street group’s net profits fell almost a fifth in the first quarter. A prolonged slowdown in investment banking activity has hit Morgan Stanley and its rivals as financial turmoil following the collapse of US regional
In a featureless function suite in Derby, less than 30 miles from the geographic centre of England, about 800 political activists gathered at the weekend for what they see as an uprising from the heart of the nation. Reform UK is the successor to Nigel Farage’s Brexit party. Shorn of its primary political goal, it
If you like time warps, read Bill Clinton’s 2000 speech urging Congress to admit China into the World Trade Organization. China’s entry would enrich Americans and help convert China to freedom, he said. “There’s no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet,” Clinton conceded to laughter. “Good luck! That’s sort of
The CBI president has described as “selective” the first public comments of ousted director-general Tony Danker, who claimed on Wednesday that he was made the “fall guy” for the wide-ranging scandal at the employers’ organisation. Danker told the BBC his reputation had been “totally destroyed” because his name had appeared alongside a set of allegations,
European stocks slipped on Wednesday ahead of the latest eurozone inflation figures and a fresh batch of US corporate earnings, with investors on the lookout for signs of slowing growth and the impact of higher interest rates. The region-wide Stoxx 600 fell 0.2 per cent, though Germany’s Dax rose 0.4 per cent and France’s CAC
India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous country, according to UN data released on Wednesday, marking a historic crossover moment for the two Asian neighbours and geopolitical rivals. According to the UN’s Population Dashboard, India’s population has surpassed 1.428bn, just overtaking China’s more than 1.425bn people. The update in the population estimates came
UK inflation remained in double digits in March with annual price rises of 10.1 per cent, raising the chances of further interest rate rises from the Bank of England. Consumer price inflation had been 10.4 per cent in February and was expected to drop to 9.8 per cent last month. Although petrol and diesel prices
Immunocore is a success story for the UK’s ambitions in biotechnology. Spun out of Oxford university in 1999, it is pioneering a new generation of medicines to treat cancers, viral infections and autoimmune diseases from the leafy market town of Abingdon-on-Thames. But for Sir John Bell, the Canadian-British chair of the company and one of
Ukraine will plead for urgent shipments of surface-to-air missiles at a meeting of its western allies this week, fearful that an acute shortage could allow Russia to launch widespread bombing attacks. Kyiv will press allies to bolster their dwindling stocks at the so-called Ramstein military co-ordination group on Friday, according to three officials briefed on
Squinting in the late afternoon sun on a square in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, lawyer Justin Nelson told the world’s media there would finally be “vindication and accountability” for lies spread about election fraud following former US president Donald Trump’s defeat almost 30 months earlier. A last-minute $787.5mn settlement from Fox, accused of airing
Imagine for a moment that Danco Laboratories made widgets, instead of mifepristone, the abortion drug now on the front lines of the US culture wars. Strip away the angry rhetoric about bodily integrity and unborn babies and focus on what has happened to this New York-based company’s basic livelihood over the past two weeks. A
Rising “population anxiety” is leading governments to adopt ineffective and harmful fertility policies that damage human rights and gender equality, the UN has warned. Climate change, mass displacement, the Covid pandemic and economic uncertainty have fuelled a widespread fear of both overpopulation and underpopulation across the globe in recent years, according to research by the
Central London property prices dropped almost 5 per cent in the 12 months to March, the largest annual fall in three and a half years, as the UK’s poor economic outlook and fears of a further decline in the housing market stopped wealthy buyers from committing to deals. The price of property in prime areas
United Airlines reported an adjusted net loss of $207mn in the firstquarter, a smaller shortfall than investors expected. The Chicago company reported an adjusted loss on Tuesday of 59 cents per share compared to Wall Street’s anticipated 73 cent per share loss. The company said in March it would lose at least 60 cents per
The future of Richard Sharp as BBC chair hung in the balance on Tuesday night after it emerged he had been shown the “grim” draft conclusions of a report into his appointment. One person briefed on the draft findings by Adam Heppinstall KC said the criticisms made it “probable but not certain” that Sharp would
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox has agreed to pay $787.5mn to settle a landmark defamation case in which it was accused of broadcasting false accusations of US election fraud, according to a lawyer for voting machine maker Dominion. A judge on Tuesday announced the “parties [had] resolved their case” following a last-minute deal reached on the cusp
The EU is storing record levels of natural gas after a milder than anticipated winter, bolstering hopes that the bloc can wean itself off imports from Russia. The bloc’s storage totalled 55.7 per cent of capacity at the start of the month according to the industry body Gas Infrastructure Europe — the highest level for
Rishi Sunak will launch a charm offensive with business leaders next week, in an attempt to galvanise his growth agenda and counter Labour’s growing success in wooing corporate Britain. The prime minister has told his cabinet to strengthen links with senior business leaders and “embed practical business insights into policymaking”, ahead of a big event
The return of inflation has surprised many, including central bankers. So has the resulting rise in nominal interest rates. These surprises have brought others with them, notably a mini-shock to banking. The question, then, is: “What next?” Will inflation subside to ultra-low pre-Covid levels or will it be a lasting problem, as in the 1970s
Bank of America on Tuesday announced plans to cut as many as 4,000 positions before the end of June even after it reported first-quarter profits that beat expectations. The job cuts represent 2 per cent of BofA’s overall workforce, which topped 217,000 at the end of the first quarter after the lender had ramped up