Venezuela to continue supplying oil to US ‘indefinitely’, White House says

The US plans to control Venezuela’s oil sales “indefinitely” after laying claim to 50m barrels of blockaded crude and seizing a Russian oil tanker linked to the South American country.The White House already plans to sell up to $3bn (£2.2bn) worth of Venezuelan crude stranded in tankers and storage facilities into the oversupplied global market after the American military’s capture of Nicolás Maduro.It confirmed on Wednesday that it also planned to retain control of all sales of future crude production from Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said the US would take payment for the oil and use the proceeds “to benefit the Venezuelan people”

‘We’re in limbo’: the garden centre ‘golden mile’ that may be lost to a new town

On the fringes of north London is an area of garden centres, green spaces and winding country lanes that feel a world away from the capital’s urban sprawl. Tucked just inside the M25, Crews Hill near Enfield has been home to a cluster of horticultural businesses for decades, leading to it being nicknamed the “golden mile”.Many of these small, family-run businesses – selling plants, fencing and paving – fear they will be closed down and forced to move if the government selects Crews Hill and nearby Chase Park as one of its next generation of new towns.This part of Enfield’s green belt is among a dozen locations across England recommended by the new towns taskforce. The housing secretary, Steve Reed, identified Crews Hill as one of the most promising sites, alongside the village of Tempsford in Bedfordshire and Leeds South Bank

Surprise dip in inflation a lightbulb moment – but RBA unlikely to deliver interest rate bargains | Greg Jericho

A new year and we are straight back into talk of inflation. But while the November inflation figures released on Wednesday were lower than expected, it is unlikely to do much to affect the outlook for interest rates.One of the impacts of having more of something is that each individual piece is less valuable, and so it is with inflation stats. Last year the Bureau of Statistics moved from putting out the official consumer price index figures every quarter to every month. And while that does provide us with more information, it means that each release is given less importance than used to be the case when we had to wait three months for each one

UK construction hit by worst run since global financial crisis

Britain’s construction sector has recorded its worst run since the financial crisis almost two decades ago, with housebuilding mired in the deepest slump since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.UK construction output shrank for the 12th month in a row in December, the longest unbroken run of declines since the global financial crash of 2007-09, although there were signs of optimism among companies, according to a monthly industry survey.The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from S&P Global and Cips had a headline reading of 40.1 in December, close to its five-and-a-half-year low of 39.4 in November

FCA fines two former Carillion directors for misleading investors before collapse

The UK’s financial regulator has fined two former executives at the government contractor Carillion for misleading investors before the construction company’s collapse eight years ago.Richard Adam and Zafar Khan knew about serious problems in the business but failed to alert investors, the board or the audit committee, the Financial Conduct Authority found.Adam and Khan have been fined £232,800 and £138,900 respectively, after both former directors dropped their appeal against the FCA findings.The fines come eight years after the demise of the major government contractor, which was one of the biggest construction and facilities management companies in the country.Carillion entered liquidation with £7bn of debts in January 2018, resulting in 3,000 job losses and causing chaos across 450 projects and public-sector schemes, including schools, roads, prisons and the expansion of Liverpool Football Club’s stadium

Australia Post apologises for losing Aboriginal artist’s painting worth $4,000

Just before Christmas, Aboriginal artist Bobbi Lockyer packed up a precious painting she had spent more than a hundred hours on and sent it to her client.What arrived at the other end was an empty package.“It’s heartbreaking,” Lockyer, a Ngarluma, Kariyarra, Nyulnyul and Yawuru woman says. The award-winning artist is also angry at what she described as a “cut and paste” response from Australia Post.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailShe says a staff member instructed her on how to pack the $4,000 canvas, and that she sent it express post, with tracking