More than 20 foods recalled over peanut fears, says UK watchdog
More than 20 dips and seasonings, including Domino’s Pizza’s BBQ dip, have been recalled over fears that may they contain undeclared peanuts, the food watchdog has said.The Food Standards Authority (FSA) has called on consumers to return a range of dips, curry powders and seasonings produced by the company FGS Ingredients over concerns that they may contain the allergen when it was not listed on their labels.The products include Domino’s BBQ Dip but also a number of seasonings and curry powders with the Favourit and Dunnes Store labels, as well as some Westmorland Family Butchery sausages and burgers.It is the second recall of items from the Leicester-based company in recent weeks: 70 of its products were recalled in September over concerns that those containing mustard could also include undeclared nuts.FGS said following the recall that it had carried out additional testing and had “not detected any presence of peanut content or residue”, but advised retailers to remove products from sale containing the mustard ingredients
Volkswagen fined £5.4m for mistreating customers; UK interest rates ‘to fall to 2.75%’ next year – as it happened
German carmaker Volkswagen’s financial services arm has been fined by UK competition regulators for mistreating customers in financial difficulties.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited £5,397,600 for failing to treat its over 100,000 customers in financial difficulty fairly.VWFS has agreed to pay over £21.5m in redress to around 110,000 customers who may have suffered harm because of its failings.VWFS is one of the UK’s largest motor finance providers, and provides a range of products to help customers buy several well-known motor brands, including Volkswagen, Skoda and Porsche
VW fined £5.4m for mistreating vulnerable UK car finance customers
Volkswagen has been forced to pay customers £21.5m in compensation on top of a fine of £5.4m for failing to treat struggling customers fairly, including repossessing vehicles from people who had attempted suicide or were caring for sick relatives.The UK financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said 110,000 customers had suffered detriment because of the unfair actions of Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS), which is wholly owned by the German carmaker.The vast majority of new cars in the UK are bought using some form of finance, and much of it is offered through “captive” companies owned by carmakers
France warns US buyer of Sanofi division of penalties for shifting production abroad
The French government has warned a US private equity firm buying the consumer healthcare arm of the drugmaker Sanofi that it faces penalties of more than €100m if it does not keep production and jobs in France.Sanofi is splitting off Opella, which makes the paracetamol brand Doliprane, the laxative Dulcolax and other over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. However, news of talks with the New York-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on 11 October prompted fears about French jobs and the loss of control to a foreign company.On Monday, Sanofi announced that it had entered exclusive negotiations with CD&R for the sale of a 50% stake in the consumer business, valuing it at €16bn. However, France’s state-owned investment bank, Bpifrance, will also take a 2% stake and a seat on Opella’s board
Serial returners send back £6.6bn of online purchases a year in UK, report finds
Shoppers with a habit of returning goods bought online to retailers will send back £1,400 of products each this year, totalling £6.6bn, a UK report has found.Serial returners account for 11% of shoppers, but are on course to account for almost a quarter of the £27bn forecast returns this year, according to the report by the return logistics company ZigZag and the research company Retail Economics.Serial and slow returners, who are considered to be more impulsive shoppers, often making returns out of buyer’s remorse, account for almost half of total returns.The increase in online sales in recent years has become a costly headache for retailers, while delays in goods being returned can also make it difficult for them to manage stock levels
Qantas ordered to pay $170,000 to three workers illegally sacked at start of pandemic
Qantas is facing a hefty compensation bill expected to exceed $100m as it braces for the fallout of its decision to illegally sack almost 1,700 baggage handlers in 2020.Justice Michael Lee ruled on Monday that three test cases should receive $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000. They suffered varying amounts of “non-economic loss”, the court ruled, which refers to hardship and distress caused by the airline.Many workers will also be able to claim economic losses, linked to lost wages.Lee ordered Qantas and the Transport Workers’ Union into mediation using the test-case amounts to inform a total payout, with the parties due to report back early next month
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Disney says it will name CEO Bob Iger’s second successor in 2026
Walt Disney said it would announce another replacement for CEO Bob Iger in early 2026 and named a veteran of Morgan Stanley as board chair on Monday, for the first time announcing a timetable for succession at the storied media and entertainment company.James Gorman will step down as executive chair of Morgan Stanley at the end of 2024 and take on the position at Disney in January. He had served as CEO of the Wall Street bank for 14 years and is credited with transforming it into a wealth management powerhouse.Iger stepped down as CEO of Disney in 2020 after 15 years there, serving as executive chair for another year. However, in late 2022, Disney’s board dismissed Iger’s appointed successor, Bob Chapek, and requested Iger return
UK interest rates to fall to 2.75% by next autumn, Goldman Sachs predicts
Interest rates are on course to fall to 2.75% by next autumn after the Bank of England reduces the cost of borrowing at each of its nine next meetings, a leading investment bank has predicted.Economists at Goldman Sachs said that, according to their assessment of the long-term level of interest rates consistent with achieving the government’s 2% inflation target, markets were underestimating the likely extent of the action by Threadneedle Street’s nine-strong monetary policy committee (MPC).“Our findings suggest that Bank rate remains notably restrictive and – together with rapidly falling inflation and dovish MPC commentary – reinforces our view that the Bank of England will ultimately lower rates more than priced,” the US lender said in a research note.“We remain comfortable with our forecast for consecutive 0
TikTok owner sacks intern for allegedly sabotaging AI project
The owner of TikTok has sacked an intern for allegedly sabotaging an internal artificial intelligence project.ByteDance said it had dismissed the person in August after they “maliciously interfered” with the training of artificial intelligence (AI) models used in a research project.Thanks to the video-sharing app TikTok and its Chinese counterpart, Douyin, which rank among the world’s most popular mobile apps, ByteDance has risen to become one of the world’s most important social media companies.Like other big players in the tech sector, ByteDance has raced to embrace generative AI. Its Doubao chatbot earlier this year took over from the competitor Baidu’s Ernie in the race to produce a Chinese rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT
Musk pledges $1m each day in apparent bid to galvanize Republican voters
Elon Musk said on Saturday that America Pac, the Donald Trump-allied political action committee he founded, will give $1m every day until the presidential election to someone who signs his petition that appears to be a way to incentivize Republicans in battleground states to register to vote.“We are going to be awarding $1m randomly to people who have signed the petition,” Musk said at a town hall event in Pennsylvania. “One of the challenges we’re having is how do we get the public to know about this petition because the legacy media won’t report on it.”“I figured, so how do we get people to know about it? I think this news will really fly. So every day between now and the election we will be awarding $1m, starting tonight,” Musk said, before presenting an oversized lottery-style check to the first winner of the prize draw
RFU warned schools crisis risks rugby becoming a ‘declining minority sport’
The Rugby Football Union has been warned it is facing an existential crisis and has been urged to make radical changes in schools rugby to avoid becoming a “declining minority sport” that could weaken Steve Borthwick’s England side amid a damaging decline in participation.According to an independently chaired review commissioned by the RFU, “rugby is not winning” in the schools marketplace because of “changing attitudes and values coupled with greater risk aversion in the part of society”. The review, entitled Changing the Game: the Future of Schools Rugby in England, also highlights fears over head injuries and an image problem of a sport for “posh white boys” as reasons behind the decline in participation numbers.In response the RFU has committed to the rollout over the next four years of a non-contact form of the sport called T1 Rugby, while the review also recommends introducing a third “reduced contact” variant of the game alongside the traditional model to ease parents’ fears over injuries and break down perceived barriers to entry into the sport.“In the schools ‘marketplace’, rugby is not winning,” the report, led by Sir Jon Coles, chief executive of national schools group United Learning, read
England turn to sixth captain of 2024 as Livingstone steps in for injured Buttler
Liam Livingstone will become the sixth man to captain England this year, taking the reins for the one-day international series against West Indies, after yet another setback for Jos Buttler in his return from a calf injury.Buttler, 34, has not played senior cricket since England’s failed defence of the T20 World Cup in June and the problem – a calf strain first picked up while running on the beach during a family holiday – is now proving a concern for the medical staff because of repeated relapses.Originally expected to return for the white-ball series at home against Australia in September, Buttler was forced to watch from the sidelines after reinjuring the muscle during rehabilitation. A second setback occurred while running last week, ruling Buttler out of three ODIs in the Caribbean that begin in Antigua on 31 October, and leaving him battling to be ready for the five-match Twenty20 international series that follows.Michael Pepper, the Essex wicketkeeper-batter, has been named as Buttler’s replacement in the ODIs, with Livingstone now confirmed to be leading that team
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