6:32 am, March 26, 2024
UK and US accuse China of ‘malicious’ global cyber attacks
The UK and United States have accused China of a global campaign of ‘malicious’ cyber attacks in an unprecedented joint operation to reveal Beijing’s espionage.
Britain has publicly blamed China for targeting the Electoral Commission watchdog and for being behind a campaign of online ‘reconnaissance’ aimed at the email accounts of MPs and peers.
Chinese spies are likely to use the stolen details to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinping’s government in the UK, British intelligence services believe.
Hovis to keep prices stable as losses narrow
Hovis has said it is holding bread prices largely firm this year after hikes of up to 30% in the aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine as wheat and energy costs were sent soaring.
Chief executive Jon Jenkins told the PA news agency that Hovis prices were now ‘relatively stable’ thanks to easing costs for the group. The bread and bakery brand hiked prices by 15% to 30% in its financial year to September 30, 2023 after seeing up to a six-fold surge in some commodity prices, while energy and distribution costs also rocketed.
The latest set of available accounts for Hovis show it narrowed pre-tax losses in the 53 weeks to September 30 last year to £3.6m, versus losses of £28.6m in the previous 38 weeks to September 24, 2022.
Whistleblowing portal launched for water industry workers
The Environment Agency has launched a whistleblowing portal for workers in the water industry in a bid to crack down on issues such as sewage pollution.
People working in the sector are being encouraged to alert the watchdog to any concerns of serious environmental wrongdoing by their organisations.
As well as water companies, people in the waste, nuclear, fishing, agricultural, and chemical sectors can also use the portal to report concerns. Their identities will be protected as confidential sources.
UK airdrops food aid into Gaza for first time
The UK has airdropped food supplies into Gaza for the first time.
The RAF parachuted more than 10 tonnes of aid – including water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula – to Gaza civilians along its northern coastline yesterday.
Defence secretary Grant Shapps authorised the drop after an assessed reduction in threat to the military mission and risk to civilians.
Tories delete attack ad showing New York instead of London
The Conservative party has deleted an attack ad on Labour featuring scenes from New York despite the video being about London.
The clip posted on X attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan used footage of a stampede in a New York subway station.
The ad in support of Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall was quickly withdrawn and replaced with a video where the New York scenes had been cut. A source close to Khan said: ‘It’s true to form for the Tory campaign. It’s a deeply misleading attack intentionally talking down London.’
Japan approves plan to sell fighter jets to other nations
Japan’s cabinet today approved a plan to sell next-generation fighter jets it is developing with Britain and Italy to other countries.
It’s the latest move away from the country’s post-war pacifist principles.
The decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and is part of a move to build up the country’s arms industry and bolster its role in global security.
Trump’s social media company to start trading on Nasdaq
Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market today.
Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded shell company, approved a deal to merge with Donald Trump’s media business in a vote on Friday.
The former president is set to own most of the combined company, holding nearly 79m shares. Added to Digital World’s closing stock price Friday of $36.94 (circa £29.20), the total value of his stake could be nearly $3bn (£2.37bn).
Nissan to launch 30 new models by 2026
Nissan says it intends introducing 30 new models by 2026 as part of a major new business initiative.
The Arc Business Plan was unveiled yesterday by Nissan president and CEO Makoto Uchida, pictured, to help boost profits while improving competitiveness.
Of the 30 new models to be released by 2026, 16 of them will be electrified and 14 will use traditional internal combustion engines.
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Hyundai to cut number of UK dealers it works with as it looks to ‘future-proof’ network
- Used car sales slipped by over 4% in February for UK’s Top 200 dealers
- Bahrain completes McLaren takeover with Polestar and Tesla linked to potential investment
- Aftersales manager Amy leads the way as Trenton Nissan Grimsby scoops four dealership awards
- Customers adopting ‘in it to win it’ approach to making claims as part of FCA probe into car finance
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 13.35 points down yesterday to end the day on 7,917.57. The Cac 40 was down 0.32 points at 8,151.60, the Dax was up 55.37 points at 18,261.31, and the Dow Jones was down 162.26 points at 39,313.64.
Weather outlook
It’ll be largely cloudy, damp and drizzly today with rain developing across much of the south, says BBC Weather, but northern Scotland will have brighter spells and wintry showers. There’ll be some brightness in the south-west later.
Wednesday will see heavy and thundery rain spread north-eastwards from the south-west, followed by showers. Rain, sleet and hill snow will steadily clear into the far north of Scotland, and it’ll be generally windy.
