Starling pays out fivefold bonus sum despite FCA fine and Covid loan errors

Starling Bank has handed its staff an almost fivefold increase in bonus pay despite an embarrassing regulatory fine and losses on government-backed Covid loans that the digital lender has blamed on its own weak controls.The digital-only challenger bank paid out £24.6m in bonuses for the 2024-25 financial year, compared with £5.3m a year earlier.Starling’s annual report showed the bank’s remuneration committee approved a £600,000 bonus for its highest-paid director – believed to be the chief executive, Raman Bhatia – taking their total pay packet to £1

When are people too old to do their jobs?

Old people are making news. Just this past week in Denmark, the retirement age for collecting a government pension was increased to 70 years old, an issue that has caused much debate in that country. Here in the US, questions have been raised about Joe Biden’s mental acuity while he was still in office. Warren Buffett announced his retirement at the age of 94 from Berkshire Hathaway. Donald Trump’s behavior, at the age of 78, continues to raise concern, if not alarm

Natural disasters cost Australia’s economy $2.2bn in first half of 2025, new Treasury analysis shows

Six months of natural disasters in 2025 have cost the economy $2.2bn, largely in slower retail and household spending, according to new federal Treasury analysis.Wild weather has repeatedly battered the Australian east coast this year.The analysis period covers Cyclone Alfred, the first cyclone to hit south-east Queensland in 50 years, and associated flooding.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news emailIt also includes the impact of last month’s severe flooding in New South Wales’s Hunter and mid-north coast regions

Tory peer proposed delay on heated tobacco ban after Philip Morris visit

A Conservative peer proposed delaying the UK’s proposed ban on heated tobacco, weeks after a leading cigarette company paid for him to visit its research facility in Switzerland.The tobacco and vapes bill would gradually raise the age at which consumers can buy cigarettes and other tobacco products, making the UK the first major economy to chart a course towards phasing out tobacco altogether.But the timetable for heated tobacco could be disrupted after Lord Vaizey put forward an amendment that would require more research to be done into the “potential” harms that such products can cause relative to cigarettes.Vaizey’s proposal came six weeks after he was a guest of Philip Morris International (PMI), whose IQOS product is the world-leading heated tobacco brand, during a two-day visit to its research facility in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.PMI paid for Vaizey’s flights and accommodation, according to his own parliamentary disclosures, analysed by the Guardian and the Examination, a non-profit newsroom that investigates global health threats

French venues are in hot water for banning kids. Is adult-only a luxury or a necessity?

Hospitality venues in France such as hotels, restaurants and campsites that do not admit children could face prosecution under proposals for a crackdown that emerged this week.Laurence Rossignol, a socialist senator, plans to introduce a private member’s bill to make it illegal to ban children from such establishments, the Times reported, while the French high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Haïry, said government lawyers were looking into whether it would be possible to take legal action against places that exclude families.She told the French international radio station RFI that the move would address the “no kids trend”, which amounted to “violence against children”, adding: “A child shouts, laughs and moves … we are institutionalising the idea that silence is a luxury and the absence of children is a luxury.”Here, four people from across Europe share their thoughts on the idea.Emilie, who is a stay-at-home mother, thinks it’s “healthy” that French politicians want to stop the trend that “turns children into pariahs” but does not think a ban would deal with the root cause

Sweet dreams: dessert parlours help to revive UK’s high streets

Dessert cafes and ice-cream parlours are hoping to play a role in a revival of UK high streets and the night-time economy, as people seek an alternative to going to the pub or an expensive meal out.Their number has soared by almost 700 in the UK in the past decade, according to analysts at Green Street, formerly the Local Data Company, with outlets in places from Aberdeen to Plymouth.The market is thought to be worth more than £500m, including several national chains as well as much-loved independents from The Pudding Stop in St Albans to Cloud 9 in Brighton.“It’s a nice chit-chat place,” says Ria, 24, emerging from a lunchtime stop at a London outpost of one of the UK’s biggest chains, Creams, with two friends. “Especially if you are craving something sweet