Thanks for Gideon Rachman’s timely article “Strongman syndrome” (Life & Arts, April 2). I take issue, however, with the term “strongman”. These men in reality are weak as water, petrified of losing power and terrified of remotely credible opponents. They cower from any scrutiny and from people’s free opinions. Their worst nightmare is a little
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Capital’s shares are currently sitting at around their all-time high and are up by over 60 per cent over the past year. The mining equipment provider, based in Mauritius, saw its shares briefly retreat after releasing its latest full-year results in March, but they have since spiked. Those results — for the 2021 financial year
The German government has announced an aid package to support companies hit by the fallout of the Ukraine war and the sanctions against Russia, the leading energy supplier to the eurozone’s biggest economy. The measures include a new €100bn programme of short-term loans from state-owned KfW development bank for energy companies struggling to cover the
Good evening Global food prices have struck a new high, rising at the fastest monthly rate in 14 years as war in Ukraine hit the supply of grains and vegetable oils, in a shift likely to do the greatest harm in the world’s poorer countries. March’s food price index from the UN Food and Agricultural
The number of people who admitted not paying tax on their overseas assets to the UK tax authority jumped by more than a third last year, prompted by warning letters sent by HM Revenue & Customs. A freedom of information request revealed that 4,443 people confessed to not paying enough tax on their foreign assets
A US jury has convicted former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng in connection with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB embezzlement, handing prosecutors a high-profile victory in a scandal that has reverberated from Malaysia and Singapore to Wall Street. After a trial lasting nearly two months, and four days of deliberation, jurors on Friday found Ng, 49, guilty
UK home secretary Priti Patel apologised on Friday for “frustrating” delays in the processing of visas for tens of thousands of Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK since the Russian invasion of their country in February. Just over half of the 79,800 Ukrainians who have applied through the two UK schemes open to them have
BUY: Hilton Food (HFG) Acquisitions have expanded the company’s horizons and look set to define its growth prospects, writes Christopher Akers. It is a time of strategic progress and more diversification for Hilton Food. More than three-quarters of volumes were posted outside the UK in these results, as the food packing company made key acquisitions,
NatWest shareholders have been urged to vote against the group’s executive pay plan at this month’s annual general meeting by an influential proxy adviser, just days after the UK government reduced its stake in the bank to below 50 per cent. Glass Lewis, the consultant whose recommendations are widely followed by institutional investors and passive
When news broke this week that Roelof Botha was slipping into the top job at Sequoia Capital, it came with the low-key inevitability that has become a hallmark of what is considered by many to be Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firm. That the 48-year-old South African, who was already head of Sequoia’s US and
The writer is creative founder of Portas Agency and co-chair of the Better Business Act My career in business has been all about spotting trends, predicting the next big thing and helping brands to make some cash out of that. But my certainties, like everyone else’s, have been challenged lately. The pandemic brought tension and confusion,
Who doesn’t like a door wreath? At Christmas, it is the announcement to one and all that we are mince-pie ready and embracing festive fun. Come Easter, we are hopeful for a happy and sunshine-filled spring. Floral displays deliver on all this optimism, so why not garnish your front door with a spring wreath too?
Did you imagine lockdowns in Shanghai and Shenzhen would drive up the cost of transporting goods from China to Europe? If you did, then you’d be wrong. Here’s what’s happened to the price of taking a 40ft container’s-worth of goods from the Far East to Northern Europe on short notice: The data comes courtesy of
Fifty years ago the incoming head of the Metropolitan police, Robert Mark, defined a good police force as “one that catches more crooks than it employs”. The test is simple enough, but many Londoners are again wondering if the Met passes it. A serving officer killed Sarah Everard last year. Other policemen shared photos of
Dear reader, The sanctions offensive against Russia ran out of steam this week. One unscientific proof was that Chanel instructed its shop assistants to withhold fancy handbags from would-be purchasers who planned to use them in Russia. Had it occurred to the French fashion house that Russian customers might simply fib to counter staff in
Adelphi Capital, one of London’s oldest hedge funds, is to convert into a family office following a recent run of poor performance, in the latest sign that equity managers are struggling to navigate a sharp sell-off in markets. Adelphi, which was set up in 1997 and had been managing more than $4.5bn in assets as
Japan will ban Russian coal imports, joining EU and G7 allies to target the country’s energy sector for the first time following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I am banning imports of Russian coal. By gradually reducing the imports we will lower our energy dependence on Russia,” prime minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday, adding that
Hello from New York. Reports are starting to show it was a punishing start to the year for the environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment sector. Cash into ESG funds fell to $75bn, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2020, according to a report published by the Institute of International Finance on Thursday.
Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC), a conglomerate spanning fisheries to healthcare, is investing $2bn in companies belonging to Gautam Adani’s infrastructure empire, as India pursues ambitious green energy targets. IHC’s investment comes less than eight weeks after India and the UAE signed a trade deal and as Adani seeks to fund his sprawling ports-to-power
Ashmore and other emerging market fund managers face further hits to earnings and worsening outflows, as investors retreat over concerns about higher interest rates, the war in Ukraine and exposure to China. This year will be tougher for most investment managers across Europe as markets become more uncertain, say analysts at Bank of America. The
Two years ago, Sue and Phil Purver, both 63, realised they needed a new kind of rural living. The UK’s first lockdown had just started. Immediately, their quiet local woodland footpath became a thoroughfare for surrounding townies seeking the countryside for their hour of permitted daily exercise. The path was strewn with rubbish and the