Closing post
Time to recap…
The EU has launched a formal investigation into whether TikTok has broken online content rules, including the safeguarding of children.
The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, said it had opened official proceedings against the Chinese-owned short video platform over a potential breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
It said the investigation was looking at areas including protection of minors, maintaining records of its advertising content and whether its algorithms led users down damaging content “rabbit holes”.
The Bank of England risks making the UK’s recession worse unless it cuts interest rates soon to ease the pressure on households amid the cost of living crisis, its former chief economist has warned.
Andy Haldane, who had been a leading advocate of raising interest rates before leaving the central bank in 2021, said there was a danger that the Bank could “crush the economy” by keeping borrowing costs at the highest level in 16 years.
The prices of homes being put up for sale in Britain have risen by around £3,000 this month, according to Rightmove data that suggests momentum is building in the housing market.
Germany’s Bundesbank has predicted that its economy will shrink again this quarter, putting it in a technical recession.
Israel is on the brink of a recession after its economy shrank sharply after the war with Hamas began.
A Chinese e-commerce company has said it is considering making an offer for Currys, sending the electronics retailer’s shares soaring amid hopes of a bidding war with private equity investor Elliott.
The share price of Currys surged by a third on Monday morning after JD.com revealed it was “in the very preliminary stages” of a cash takeover bid.
Apple is reportedly facing a €500m fine from the EU over restrictions on access to music streaming services, in what would be a landmark blow to the US tech company.
Chef Salt Bae’s London restaurant has been forced to turn off the heating amid soaring energy bills.
Nusr-Et steakhouse, the outlet at the Park Tower hotel in Knightsbridge known for expensive dishes such as £680 wagyu striploin or £630 giant tomahawk steak, said it had made an effort to cut costs despite recording a jump in profits.
The world’s five largest listed oil companies have made profits of more than a quarter of a trillion dollars since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to dramatic increases in energy prices and household bills.
The amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, marking the second-biggest year for scams in the last two decades.
Ministers have been urged by Citizens Advice to protect consumers from a hike in household energy bills to pay for the proposed Sizewell C power station, amid international tensions over the rising costs of nuclear projects.
The platinum arm of Anglo American is to cut 3,700 jobs in South Africa as the British mining company attempts to improve performance in the troubled division.
And Tesco is starting to show pricing per unit, such as gramme or millilitre, on Clubcard discounts, after pressure to make its offers clearer.
Tesco starts showing unit pricing on Clubcard discounts
Tesco has quietly begun putting clearer labels on its loyalty card offers amid an investigation by the competition watchdog and pressure from the Which? consumer group.
The supermarket has now begun pricing per unit, such as gram or millilitre, on Clubcard discounts making it easier for shoppers to compare prices between different sized packs.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said:
“The lack of unit pricing on Tesco’s Clubcard offers was a glaring omission and we warned that this approach could be breaking the law last summer, so it’s good to see the nation’s largest supermarket stepping up to do the right thing by making this important change.
We look forward to seeing this rolled out quickly across all stores and online so shoppers can benefit as soon as possible. The government also needs to now update outdated pricing rules so all shoppers can easily compare value.”
In a blog on Tesco’s website, UK boss Jason Tarry said Tesco had begun laying out Clubcard deals by weight and volume in stores and planned to do this online as well.
He said:
“This is something that we have been planning to do for some time, and I am really pleased that we are ready to make the change. Over the coming weeks these changes will appear in all our stores, as our colleagues update millions of price labels on the shelf edge.”
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