Customer says slogan could be seen as referencing Charlie Hebdo massacre, though design is understood to predate it
The fashion retailer TK Maxx has launched an internal review after a customer complained that one of its T-shirts could be seen as mocking the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.
The black T-shirt printed with the slogan “Je suis over it” was spotted by shopper Tom Young at a branch in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Latest statistics show EU nationals account for 55% of net jobs growth, but it is too simple to say this is to blame for rise in UK unemployment
Coming three months after a general election in which an avowed anti-migrant party won 3.8m votes, there was inevitably going to be a debate about employment figures showing that EU nationals accounted for about 55% of the net jobs growth in Britain over the past year.
The figures for the three months to June will add fuel to Ukip’s fire. They show the weakening labour market has hit UK-born workers hardest. The number of them employed fell by 170,000. By contrast, the employment of people born abroad but within the EU rose by 85,000, and other foreign workers by 30,000.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Western central banks advised to resist raising interest rates and told to prepare to ward off deflationary slump in face of cheaper Chinese exports
“Make no mistake, this is the start of something big, something ugly.” City economist Albert Edwards rarely minces his words, but his reaction to China’s devaluation, which sent shockwaves through global markets, underlined how powerfully Beijing’s move may be felt thousands of miles away.
Edwards, of the bank Société Générale, argues that as well as creating a challenge for China’s Asian rivals, by making its exports more competitive, a cheaper yuan will send “a tidal wave of deflation” breaking over the world economy.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Amid passenger revolt retailers are understood to be speaking to staff reminding them customers are not obliged to show boarding cards
Boots and Dixons are to issue new guidance to airport staff about checking customers’ boarding passes following a consumer revolt over “rip-off” VAT charges.
Customers of Boots and Dixons and other prominent stores including WH Smith pledged not to show their boarding passes at airports after it emerged that retailers were benefiting from VAT savings without lowering prices.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
1.11pm BST
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras said a deal with its lenders would end economic uncertainty in the country, but warned some people were trying to put obstacles in the way (now who could that be?). Reuters reports:
“Despite the obstacles that some are trying to put into our path, I’m optimistic we will get to an agreement, loan support from the European mechanism, which will put a final end to economic uncertainty,” Tsipras said during a visit to the Greek infrastructure ministry in Athens.
It was the leftist leader’s first comments after lenders and Greece reached a deal on Tuesday in a new bailout accord worth up to €86bn. He did not specify who was attempting to scupper the accord.
#Tsipras says that it is a political pledge for the govt to institutionalize new rules for transparency & new mechanisms to fight red tape.
#Tsipras says that the fines & penalties will be extremely hard on whatever entities are found to be tax-evading. #Greece
#Tsipras talks about a new ‘code of values’ that the Greek society needs, and the former status quo refrained from creating. #Greece
12.54pm BST
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has disappointed investors with its first-quarter results, sending its US shares down 6% in premarket trading.
The company’s net income more than doubled to 12.34m yuan, while revenues rose 28% to 20.25m yuan ($3.27bn), compared to expectations of $3.32bn.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Alex Chesterman commits to future at property website with £11m share sale windfall plus long-term bonus deal worth up to £20m over four years
Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman on Wednesday lined up an £11m share sale windfall together with a long-term bonus deal worth up to £20m over four years after committing his future to the property website group.
Mr Chesterman’s new pay arrangements were disclosed as the group’s latest trading update showed it bouncing back from a sharp loss of customers to rivals. Shares in the FTSE 250 listed company rose 5%.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Niall Booker said any financial penalty on the bank needed to be weighed against the impact it would have on financial stability
The boss of the Co-operative Bank has described the decision by City regulators to waive a £120m fine on the loss-making institution as “a pragmatic solution”. Niall Booker, the chief executive of the bank, said that any financial penalty needed to be weighed against the impact it would have on financial stability.
He said the Financial Conduct Authority had not discussed the size of any potential fine. The FCA publicly censured the bank for misleading investors about its financial strength in 2012 and for failing to provide details of changes to senior management.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Number of people in work was 63,000 lower and while employment rose most of the jobs went to non-UK citizens
Fears that the improvement in Britain’s labour market has stalled have been fuelled by a second successive month of job losses.
Official data showed that the number of people in work was 63,000 lower in the three months to June than in the previous quarter, while the number unemployed rose by 25,000.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Parliament to reconvene for emergency session to ratify bailout text amid uncertainty over whether €85bn deal has backing of all EU member states
Greece’s parliament will convene for an emergency session to ratify the text of a new multibillion-euro bailout, according to the parliament website, but the timing of the crucial vote remained uncertain and doubts persisted about whether the deal enjoyed the full support of all EU capitals.
It was not clear when MPs, recalled from their summer recess on Tuesday by prime minister Alexis Tsipras, would begin discussing the 400-page bill at committee level, with reports suggesting that parliamentary committees would probably not meet until Thursday morning, hours before the plenary debate and a vote now likely to take place in the early hours of Friday.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS
Stocks, currencies and commodities fall sharply across region as investors fear a stalling China economy and possible currency war despite Beijing’s assurances
China stunned the world’s financial markets on Wednesday by devaluing the yuan for the second consecutive day, triggering fears the world’s second largest economy is in worse shape than investors believed.
The move sent fresh shockwaves through global markets, pushing shares sharply lower and sending commodity prices further into reverse as traders feared the move could ignite a currency war that would destabilise the world economy.
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Source: The Guardian Circular Economy RSS