EU agrees three-euro small parcel tax to tackle China flood
EU finance ministers agreed Friday to impose a three-euro duty on low-value imports into the bloc from July 2026 to help tackle a flood of small parcels ordered via the likes of Shein and Temu. Last year, 4.6 billion small retail packages entered the European Union — more than 145 per second — with 91 […]
Spain fines Airbnb 64 mn euros for posting banned properties
Spain’s leftist government said Monday it had fined Airbnb more than 64 million euros ($75 million), notably for posting listings for banned rental properties, at a time the country faces a housing crisis. The fine is final, the consumer affairs ministry said in a statement, adding the US holiday-rental giant must “correct the violations by […]
Home sellers are giving up at ‘unusually high rate,’ says new Realtor report
Late fall tends to be the time when the most homes come off the market, as so-far unsuccessful sellers would rather not sit through the slowest winter months. In October, however, delistings, which are reported with a one-month lag, were up 45.5% year to date and rose nearly 38% from October 2024, according to a […]
Prada completes acquisition of flashy rival Versace
Italian fashion group Prada announced on Tuesday it had completed its acquisition of smaller rival Versace, announced earlier this year for 1.25 billion euros (now $1.45 billion). Prada Group said in a statement that the deal with Capri Holdings, the US group which owned Versace, had “received all required regulatory clearances”. Lorenzo Bertelli — the […]
Toyota Reshuffles Its Board, Adding Auditors and Outsiders
Toyota announced plans to restructure its board on Tuesday in what it described as an attempt to bring in more diverse views and give a larger roles to auditors. Among six appointments is Christopher Reynolds, now an executive in the automaker’s North American operations. As a lawyer, and son of a Ford worker, he brings […]
Innovate Mississippi Startup Accelerator Wants to Create New Jobs and Opportunities
Mississippi has bemoaned its lack of technology startups and venture capital since the first dot-com boom in the mid 1990s. Innovate Mississippi believes it might have a solution. It is providing funding and training to seven Mississippi tech startups through a 12-week program. Alex Bucklew and Johnathan McAdory had an idea for a product that would find […]
G20 summit opens in South Africa without Trump
A US-European rift over the future of Ukraine is set to overshadow a G20 summit starting in South Africa on Saturday further marked by Donald Trump’s pointed absence. The Johannesburg gathering is being attended by a host of world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Brazilian […]
Asian stocks rise as US rate hopes soothe nerves after torrid week
Asian markets mostly rose Monday as fresh hopes for a US interest rate cut provided some calm after last week’s rollercoaster ride fuelled by worries of a tech bubble. The scramble to snap up all things AI has helped propel equities skywards this year, pushing several companies to records — with chip titan Nvidia last […]
Return to bad days of hyperinflation looms in Venezuela
Venezuelans are grappling with political and economic chaos, a mass population exodus and fears of a US military attack. Now, their wallets are ever thinner as a return to hyperinflation looms. Increasingly, people live hand to mouth, buying a tomato here, a few onions there as they manage to scrape together enough bolivars for just […]
Guinness maker Diageo picks new CEO after US tariffs cloud
Diageo, the maker of Guinness beer and Smirnoff vodka, announced Monday a new chief executive as it seeks to improve performance hit partly by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Dave Lewis, presently chairman of consumer healthcare firm Haleon, will become CEO in January, replacing Debra Crew after her resignation in July. “The market faces some […]
