Why on earth does Barbara Mullarney think “we, the ordinary public, [are] helpless as we face a terrible climate crisis” (“It’s the ordinary public who are tricked by Big Oil”, Letters, May 9)? The whole point of a liberal capitalist society is that the system seeks to respond to the needs and wants of individual
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While venture capital funds are leaving it to Elon Musk to figure out what to do with Twitter, presumably to gain a return on their investment, they apparently don’t have any suggestions as to what he might do. Here is one from the days when Eric Schmidt was chief executive of Novell, then dominant in
The EU’s infectious-disease agency is to recommend that member states prepare strategies for possible vaccination programmes to counter rising monkeypox cases, amid mounting evidence of community transmission of the disease. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in response to questions on Sunday that it would make the recommendation in a risk
The Liberal Democrats have urged Downing Street to clarify whether Boris Johnson — who is resisting the idea of an energy windfall tax — has discussed the issue with his informal political adviser Sir Lynton Crosby, whose companies represent various clients in the oil and gas industry. The UK prime minister has been holding off
Just when the disruption of the pandemic seemed to be easing after two painful years, Vladimir Putin triggered a fresh existential threat to the world with his war against Ukraine. He also inadvertently delivered lessons for businesses and executive education providers everywhere. The fighting has caused tragic loss of life, widespread damage to infrastructure and
Hello and welcome to the working week. Democracy can be a messy business, as several events coming up this week will show. There has been much excitement in the British media about the publication of the partygate report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into how prime minister Boris Johnson and members of his government
I am a long way from home, which is Oklahoma City. Now, I live in Munich, in Germany. By moving internationally, I also found myself detached from my core mission, which is working with technologies that are good for the climate and society. I started my career in Washington DC, working with tech that advances
Saudi Arabia has signalled it will stand by Russia as a member of the Opec+ group of oil producers despite tightening western sanctions on Moscow and a potential EU ban on Russian oil imports. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister, told the Financial Times that Riyadh was hoping “to work out an agreement with
Has inflation slowed US consumer spending? EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco says the US has already reached peak inflation, but the big factor for consumers will be the pace at which price growth cools, and what level it eventually reaches. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, a measure that strips out food and energy
Where is Paris Hilton when you need her? After boosting non-fungible token investments on late night US chat shows, the reality star has gone quiet. NFTs, the most speculative of speculative assets, are crashing. The value of an index developed by cryptocurrency researchers is down 78 per cent from its high point last October. That
Italian oil major Eni plans to spend at least €2.5bn in the UK over the next four years as the government demands oil and gas companies significantly increase investment in Britain’s energy system or face a windfall tax on their soaring profits. The commitment by the group — the ninth-largest gas producer in the North
Big Pharma is offering to reserve vaccines, medicines and tests for low-income nations in preparation for the next pandemic in exchange for a fee and a commitment that governments not impose restrictions on trade. Ahead of talks on pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization next week, the industry is lobbying to win a slice
The opening of the world’s first metro system in London in 1863 was a chaotic event: steam in the tunnels obscured signals and choked drivers, the gas lighting frightened travellers — and “there were so many anxious passengers trying to get on board, that there were fights for seats”, according to the Penny Gazette. Nearly
Britain’s opposition Labour party has called on Boris Johnson to consider sanctions on Alexander Lebedev after the former KGB officer, whose son sits in the House of Lords, was placed under sanctions by Canada. The move by the Canadian government is politically challenging for the prime minister, given his close links to the Lebedev family.
The world’s biggest funds focused on ethically-minded investments have been battered this year as their heavy weightings towards technology stocks has left them at the centre of a market squall. Parnassus Core Equity Fund, with $25.9bn under management, has fallen by over 18 per cent in 2022 while Vanguard’s $14.3bn FTSE Social Index fund is
“It’s so toxic at the moment. It’s like Guess Who — with everyone trying to figure out the next harasser,” said one senior Conservative MP. “This place is like a university frat house.” The Palace of Westminster, which for centuries has represented law, order and integrity, has of late become synonymous with sexism and sleaze. From
Vacation rental companies are scrambling to secure accommodation as a burst of pent-up summer demand and a drop in the number of holiday lets during the pandemic prompts fears of a supply squeeze. Henrik Kjellberg, chief executive of Awaze, which operates across the UK and Europe, said the company was going “gangbusters” recruiting new homes
It has been said that 2022 will be the year of revenge travel as people starved of foreign exploration seize the opportunity to traverse a less restricted world. Last year was a dry run – this year it’s serious, and while not all countries have lifted their embargoes there can be no denying that the
The family of one of Egypt’s best-known regime critics fears for his health after almost seven weeks of hunger strike mostly spent in prison conditions labelled “inhumane” by British lawmakers. Alaa Abdel Fattah, a dual Egyptian and British national who has spent eight of the past 10 years behind bars, rose to prominence during the 2011
China is intensifying its drive for influence in the Pacific by negotiating security deals with two additional island nations following a pact with the Solomon Islands, according to officials in the US and allied countries. Beijing’s talks with Kiribati, a Pacific island nation 3,000km from Hawaii where US Indo-Pacific Command is based, are the most