Leaders of the G7 leading western economies will on Sunday back a western rival to China’s “belt and road” initiative, in a plan to mobilise billions of dollars to help developing countries tackle climate change. Joe Biden has been leading calls to offer poor countries a new source of infrastructure finance, providing a “democratic” alternative
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Emmanuel Macron, French president, has warned Boris Johnson that efforts to reset relations between Paris and London will fail unless the UK prime minister keeps his word over the Brexit deal in Northern Ireland. At a breakfast meeting on the margins of the G7 summit in Cornwall, Macron made it clear he expected Johnson to
Leaders of the G7 economies convening in the UK will announce a pledge to provide 1bn coronavirus doses to poorer countries as part of a plan to “vaccinate the world” by the end of 2022. The move, to be outlined at the start of the three-day summit on Friday, is designed to address criticism that
Joe Biden will meet Boris Johnson in person for the first time on Thursday, with hopes over a new US-UK ‘Atlantic Charter’ undermined by “deep” concerns in Washington over the post-Brexit situation in Northern Ireland. Biden’s anxiety was conveyed directly to London earlier this month by America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, who warned the
Royal Dutch Shell is to accelerate its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions after an order by a court in the Netherlands, with the oil major saying it would “rise to the challenge”. Last month, the District Court in The Hague ruled that Shell must reduce its net carbon emissions by 45 per cent by
Europe risks falling behind the US and China in efforts to decarbonise unless it legislates for a radical expansion of renewable energy, said leaders of the bloc’s chemicals and wind power industries. This would require a shake-up of national planning rules, and greater coherence in energy investment across the EU, according to Martin Brudermüller, chair
The global chip shortage disrupting the car industry and threatening the supply of consumer technology products will last for at least another year, one of the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturers has warned. The forecast from Flex, the world’s third-biggest such manufacturer, is one of the gloomiest yet for a crisis that is forcing car and
The US will donate 750,000 Covid-19 vaccines to Taiwan, signalling its support for the country after Taipei accused Beijing of interfering in its efforts to secure jabs. The announcement by a group of US senators during a high-profile visit to Taipei on Sunday came just days after Japan donated 1.2m jabs as Taiwan grapples with
The leading advanced economies are set to agree a common position on taxing multinational companies on Saturday in a bid to end a three-decade race to the bottom in corporate taxation which would raise extra revenue for governments around the world. Finance ministers from the G7 group of nations were still haggling over details of
Some of the biggest Japanese sponsors of the Tokyo Olympics want organisers to postpone the Games for several months to allow more spectators to attend. The proposal was made privately over recent weeks, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The request follows growing frustration among some of the 47 Japanese companies that collectively
Israel’s opposition leaders have agreed to form a government that could potentially end Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign as prime minister of the Jewish state. The coalition, which straddles the political spectrum — from the far-left Meretz party to the ultranationalist Yamina, anchored by centrists Yesh Atid — hammered out a deal on Wednesday after days
Credit Suisse is preparing for litigation against SoftBank after the collapse of Greensill Capital soured the relationship between the Swiss bank and one of the world’s largest tech investors, according to people briefed on the plans. The move comes as the Swiss lender scrambles to appease angry clients who stand to lose as much as
Accountancy group EY is to centralise power in a new European executive team, pooling resources across the region but raising concern that any financial hit from the Wirecard scandal might also be shared. The overhaul breaks from the federated business model of the Big Four firms in an attempt to cut management costs by half
US financial authorities are preparing to take a more active role in regulating the $1.5tn cryptocurrency market, amid growing concern that a lack of proper oversight risks harming savers and investors. The new efforts reflect a break with the Trump administration, which in some cases encouraged the use of cryptocurrencies in the financial system. But
Russia has agreed to release $500m in credit to Belarus and look to increase the number of flights between the two countries as the Kremlin doubled down on its support for Alexander Lukashenko after his forced landing of a passenger flight that has sparked western condemnation. Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted Lukashenko in Sochi on
The US has moved to punish Belarus for the forced landing of a Ryanair flight last weekend by announcing that it would reimpose sanctions on nine of the country’s state-owned companies and would join the EU in developing a list of additional targets. In a statement late on Friday, Jen Psaki, the White House press
The market for special purpose acquisition companies has become an unexpected casualty of the Archegos Capital Management scandal, as banks rein in lending to hedge funds that had invested heavily in blank-cheque companies. Banks across Wall Street have become more wary of how much leverage they can extend to their clients following the collapse of
Tesla is set to take the unusual step of paying in advance for chips to secure its supply of the crucial materials and is also exploring buying a plant as part of efforts to overcome the global shortage, according to people familiar with the matter. The US electric-car maker is discussing the proposals to secure
The Biden administration has renewed US calls for a fuller investigation into the origins of Covid-19, after a report last weekend bolstered the theory that the disease was released accidentally from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Andy Slavitt, one of the US president’s coronavirus advisers, on Tuesday said the investigation carried out
EU leaders are weighing a range of sanctions to punish Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarusian regime after what Brussels branded the “hijacking” of a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania to arrest a dissident on board. Options to be explored by the bloc’s 27 leaders at a meeting today include banning Belarus’s national carrier, Belavia, from landing