Glencore fined £582m by US court for bribing African and South American officials March 1, 2023 Glencore has been fined $700m (£582m) over the corruption scandal that saw the company’s execs pay more than $100m in bribes to officials in Africa and South America. A New York court has ordered Glencore to pay a $428.5m fine and forfeit a further $272m, after the commodities giant agreed a plea deal last May. [...]
PMQs: Sunak escapes Brexit grilling amid Hancock WhatsApp row March 1, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has escaped a major Brexit grilling over the Windsor Framework amid a row over former health secretary Matt Hancock’s leaked Covid-19 WhatsApp messages. The PM – whose latest EU trade agreement is widely hoped to end the power-sharing deadlock in Northern Ireland – dodged intense scrutiny over the deal in the [...]
‘Shame on them’: Skipton Group boss slams banks for not passing on rate hikes to savers March 1, 2023 Skipton Group today criticised rival high street lenders for failing to pass on higher interest rates to savers. Britain’s banks have seen their income boosted by the Bank of England’s attempt to stave off inflation with a succession of ten straight interest rate hikes. The base rate now stands at four per cent – the [...]
Revolut auditor flags concern over £477m of revenue in long-delayed 2021 accounts March 1, 2023 Revolut’s auditor BDO was not able to independently verify three-quarters of the £636m total revenue reported by the fintech firm in its long-delayed 2021 accounts, Revolut’s annual report showed. The 2021 accounts were signed off this week after months of delays, following a revamp of Revolut’s internal accounting systems and heavy regulatory scrutiny. But BDO [...]
London to be crippled by fresh tube strike on budget day as RMT joins Aslef walkout March 1, 2023 Further London Underground Tube strikes are set to hit the capital on Budget Day this month. Underground workers will walkout on March 15, when chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce the government’s financial plans for the next year, amid a row over pensions, jobs and pay. It comes after Tube drivers with the Aslef union announced [...]
Ukraine army could pull back from key eastern stronghold of Bakhmut amid relentless Kremlin offensive March 1, 2023 Ukraine’s military could pull back from the key eastern stronghold of Bakhmut, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said on Wednesday, amid a relentless Russian offensive. “Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back,” Alexander Rodnyansky, an [...]
Greta Thunberg wind farm protest forces Norway energy minister to abandon UK trip March 1, 2023 Norway’s energy minister cancelled a trip to Britain on Wednesday because of a protest against a wind farm that campaigners say hinders the rights of the Sami indigenous people to raise reindeer in Arctic Norway. The activists, mainly teenagers, have been blocking the entrance to several ministries in the Norwegian capital since Monday. They are [...]
Durex and Lysol owner Reckitt sees revenue top £14bn as consumers continue to choose branded medicine over generic ‘cheaper’ drugs March 1, 2023 Durex owner Reckitt Benckiser has said it was entering the year as a “strengthened business” after reporting a strong sales increase for the year led by its nutrition business. The UK company, which also owns other brands including Dettol, saw net revenue growth for the year up 9.2 per cent to £14.45bn. Revenues in its [...]
Beleaguered estate agent Purplebricks has ‘several credible expressions’ to buy firm March 1, 2023 Bosses at struggling online estate agent Purplebricks launched a formal process to sell the business after several potential buyers expressed an interest in recent weeks. The company said it had received the approaches after saying in mid-February that it would review its future. Then, the business said “the potential of the group may be better [...]
Cost of living crisis has forced families to take on £1.1bn debt and dig into savings, says Bank of England March 1, 2023 Families are saving far less than they did over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and maxing on credit cards to maintain spending amid the cost of living crisis, official figures have revealed. Brits set aside £3.5bn in January in savings accounts, a slight increase from December, but below the pre-pandemic monthly average increase of [...]
