The Guardian Nachrichten

 

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Trump says countries doing business with Iran face 25% tariff on US tradeSpeaking of tariffs…. Donald Trump has also claimed that the US would be “screwed” if the supreme court does not uphold his trade levies.In a post last night, Trump claimed the US would have to repay “many Hundreds of Billions of Dollars” if the US highest court rules against the White House, plus the “payback” which companies building factories in America to avoid tariffs would – he argues - demand.When these Investments are added, we are talking about Trillions of Dollars! It would be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our Country to pay. Anybody who says that it can be quickly and easily done would be making a false, inaccurate, or totally misunderstood answer to this very large and complex question.Remember, when America shines brightly, the World shines brightly. In other words, if the Supreme Court rules against the United States of America o...

President posts online as US weighs response to situation in Iran, which is major facing anti-government protestsDonald Trump has said any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the US, as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran, which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” the US president said in a post on Truth Social on Monday. Tariffs are paid by US importers of goods from those countries. Iran has been heavily sanctioned by Washington for years. Continue reading......

Sales of clothes and computers fall, but discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl enjoy bumper tradingRetailers suffered a “drab Christmas”, ending the year with disappointing sales in their most important month, according to new data underlining the difficulties facing Britain's high streets.Overall retail sales grew by just 1.2% in December compared with a year earlier, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said. That was below the 12-month average of 2.3%. Continue reading......

Delhi is world's second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle EastRussia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts.Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world's second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions. Continue reading......

Ørsted and other wind developers have faced repeated disruptions to multibillion dollar projects under TrumpA federal judge on Monday cleared Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which Donald Trump's administration halted along with four other projects last month.The ruling by US district judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has sought to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters. Continue reading......

Ballot proposes one-time, 5% tax on anyone in state worth more than $1bn and grant a five-year period for paymentPalantir co-founder Peter Thiel has donated $3m to a California lobbying group advocating against a proposed wealth tax that would target billionaires in the state. The seven-figure contribution comes as several ultra-wealthy tech moguls have left or threatened to leave California over the tax.Thiel, worth some $26bn, made the donation last month to the California Business Roundtable's political action committee, according to a public disclosure filing which was first reported by the New York Times. A representative for Thiel did not respond to requests for comment. Continue reading......

'Historic' moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a “historic” moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis.The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world's biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects. Continue reading......

Powell publicly denounced the inquiry as punishment for not bowing to the president's wishes on interest ratesThe US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, as Donald Trump's White House escalates its campaign against the central bank's independence.In a video posted on Sunday, a typically reticent Powell took the extraordinary step of denouncing the investigation as punishment for not setting interest rates in accordance with the US president's wishes. Continue reading......

The tumultuous start to 2026 should force a reckoning in Brussels and European capitals, and a recognition of the power the EU can exertAnother week, another set of dilemmas for Europe's beleaguered political class to deal with. On Wednesday Brussels is due to outline the terms of the €90bn loan it has promised to Ukraine, amid internal tensions over whether Kyiv can use the money to buy US as well as EU weapons. On the same day, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is due to meet ministers from Denmark and Greenland, as Donald Trump continues to insist that the US will take ownership of the latter “one way or another”. And as the body count of protesters rises in Iran, the EU is under mounting pressure to do more than merely “monitor” the situation, as the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, somewhat feebly put it over the weekend.Beyond the crisis management, a deeper reckoning is overdue after a tumultuous beginning to 2026. It has long been a truism that t...

A flood of non-consensual deepfake bikini shots on X is putting the UK's Online Safety Act to the testThe unleashing on X (formerly Twitter) of a torrent of AI-generated images of women and children wearing bikinis, some in sexualised poses or with injuries, has rightly prompted a strong reaction from UK politicians and regulators. Monday's announcement that X is being investigated was Ofcom's most combative move since key provisions in the Online Safety Act came into force. None of the other businesses it has challenged or fined have anything like the global reach or political clout of Elon Musk's social media giant. Whatever happens next, this is a defining moment. What is being defined is the extent to which some of the wealthiest companies on the planet are under democratic control.But the announcement is only a first step. Ofcom has given no indication of how long its investigation will take. On Friday Downing Street described as insulting the decision to limit the use of the ...

Kicking under-16s off the social platforms is tempting, but it ignores the root of the problem: the older generations who made them so toxic in the first placeKemi Badenoch is evolving into one of those politicians who, whatever she says, it's not just likely to be wrong, it's likely to be the opposite of what's right. She says Greenland is not a big deal (a “second-order issue” is how she described it to the BBC) – it is a big deal. She says net zero is too expensive – the opposite is true: net-anything-but-zero is a cost we can't afford.But her promise to ban under-16s from using social media, echoing Australia's recent move, is hard to write off completely; people across the spectrum, including Andy Burnham, agree with it. Nobody who has ever met a teenager, or read the news, will be completely at ease with the role of social media in young lives. There are horrific effects, which have been well documented and inadequately addressed ever since the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who to...

It was hard for me to quit Elon Musk's poisoned platform, but I urge others to do the same, especially in light of Grok's imagery of women and childrenSome wars can't be won. It can be hard to come to terms with this fact when you're still on the battlefield, but if somehow you manage to step out for a moment, then the truth will become obvious. You have lost, the people on your side have lost, the villains have won and, if anything, you should have run away a long time ago.My own sad epiphany about Twitter, now known as X, came in the immediate aftermath of the US election in 2024. I'd spent a lot of that year lying to myself, ignoring the increasing volume of abuse I'd been receiving and the fact that no one ever read my linked pieces any more, but that week I realised I had to stop. I had to leave X for good. Continue reading......

It is a perilous time to mess with the principle that rate-setters under an independent system should be free of political pressureEx-Fed chairs condemn Trump's bid to weaken central bank's independenceTrump's attempts to influence Fed risk '70's-style inflation and global backlash'Well said, Jerome Powell. The chair of the US Federal Reserve responded to news of a subpoena from the US Department of Justice with a statement that was extraordinary, necessary and stark.A criminal investigation into the Fed, and him personally, over the renovation of the central bank's headquarters is an attempt to bully officials into setting policy according to the president's whims, said Powell: “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.” Continue reading......

After Apple chose Gemini to power Siri, Alphabet surpassed Apple to become second-most valuable company in worldGoogle's parent company hit a major financial milestone on Monday, reaching a $4tn valuation for the first time and surpassing Apple to become the second-most valuable company in the world.Alphabet is the fourth company to hit the $4tn milestone after Nvidia, which later hit $5tn, Microsoft and Apple. Continue reading......

Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastropheUS plans to exploit Venezuela's oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world's remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation's oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the globe further into climate catastrophe. Continue reading......

Analysts warn that White House pressure on US central bank to cut interest rates could put economy in dangerBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump's attempts to influence the US Federal Reserve could risk plunging America into a period of 1970s-style inflation and trigger a global backlash in financial markets, economists have warned.After the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, the current Fed chair, investors said efforts by the White House to pressure the US central bank to cut interest rates would put the world economy at risk. Continue reading......

Statement signed by 13 former senior officials condemns 'unprecedented' assault on Fed's independence Every living former head of the Federal Reserve condemned an “unprecedented” attempt by the Trump administration to weaken the central bank's independence, after the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into its chair, Jerome Powell.Ex-Fed chairs Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen warned similar prosecutorial attacks in other countries had led to “highly negative consequences” for the cost of living – and argued they had “no place” in the US. Continue reading......

Daytime gigs where parents can bring their infants without fear of judgment are proving a sellout successWhen Nick Page saw the exhaustion of the new mothers arriving at his comedy gig, he suggested turning the hour-long set into a sleepover. He had been joking – but the women enthusiastically agreed.In any other room, a comedian asking the audience to fall asleep would have been career ruining. In the world of baby-friendly comedy clubs, however, it was a masterstroke. Continue reading......

Paramount also files lawsuit seeking disclosure of financial information related to $82.7bn agreementParamount Skydance plans to nominate directors to Warner Bros Discovery's (WBD) board to vote against the approval of its deal with Netflix, and filed a lawsuit seeking disclosure of financial information related to the $82.7bn (£61.4bn) agreement.In a letter sent to WBD investors on Monday, Paramount said it will nominate directors for election at the company's annual meeting, which is usually held in June, to try to derail the deal with Netflix, which was agreed in December. Continue reading......

US president says company is 'playing too cute' after CEO responds sceptically to his push for oil investment after deposing Nicolás MaduroDonald Trump has said he might block ExxonMobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil company's chief executive called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.Darren Woods told the US president that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during the high-profile meeting on Friday with at least 17 other oil executives. Continue reading......