Game On: the Swiss sports brand using hi-tech and chutzpah to challenge Nike and Adidas

A robot leg whirs around in a complex ballet as an almost invisible spray of “flying fibre” builds a hi-tech £300 sports shoe at its foot.This nearly entirely automated process – like a sci-fi future brought to life – is part of the gameplan from On, the Swiss sports brand that is taking on the sector’s mighty champions Nike and Adidas with a mix of technology and chutzpah.The brand is expanding rapidly after teaming up with the former tennis pro Roger Federer to create shoes suitable for the Swiss star’s sport and a mix of fashion-led collaborations including with the luxury brand LOEWE, actor Zendaya and singers FKA twigs and Burna Boy. In China, sales have doubled year-on-year. Growth has been strong in the US and mainland Europe and this month On will open its fourth London store, in Kensington

Trump move for Venezuela’s resources likely to weaken economic might of US | Heather Stewart

The word “loot” entered the English language from Hindi in the late 18th century, as the rapacious East India Company plundered its way across the subcontinent.It was a trading company, not a state – but it had the imprimatur of the English crown and its own large private army, mingling commerce and military force and opening the way for British imperial dominance of India.Donald Trump’s dead-of-night raid on Venezuela last week was the act of a government, not a corporation. But it harked back to a more brazen age, when looting a continent for its resources at the point of a cannon was regarded as a legitimate activity for an English gentleman.The US president made no effort to disguise the fact that the main motivation for the snatching of Nicolás Maduro was taking control of Venezuelan oil reserves on behalf of the fossil fuel companies that helped bankroll Trump’s re-election

Lloyds CEO Charlie Nunn latest banking boss in line for huge bonus hike

Lloyds Banking Group boss, Charlie Nunn, could be in line for a maximum annual pay packet worth more than £13m, as he becomes the latest boss to benefit from the UK’s controversial decision to lift a cap on banker bonuses.The bank’s remuneration committee has begun drafting a new three-year executive pay policy that, for the first time, will take advantage of looser pay rules that have sent potential payouts soaring at rival banks.That includes Barclays, where chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, was handed a 45% rise in maximum pay last year, giving him the chance to be paid up to £14.3m if he hits important business targets. HSBC similarly offered a 43% increase to boss Georges Elhedery, for a maximum payout of about £15m

Cream of the crop: small brewers take on Guinness with rival ‘nitro’ stouts

Famously, according to the advertising slogan anyway, Guinness is good for you. But for the past couple of years, Guinness has been practically inescapable.Backed by its owner Diageo’s £2.7bn marketing war chest, the brand has shaken off its “old man” reputation, becoming a staple of gen Z pub culture, exploiting its Instagrammable colour scheme and social media trends such as the “splitting the G” drinking game.The resulting increase in younger drinkers and women catapulted its market share in pubs to a new high of 17

Why Russia’s economy is unlikely to collapse even if oil prices fall | Phillip Inman

Pacing inside the Kremlin last weekend, as news feeds churned out minute-by-minute reports of Donald’s Trump’s Venezuelan coup, Vladimir Putin may have been wondering what it would mean for the price of oil.Crude oil has lubricated the Russian economy for decades – far more than gas exports to Europe – and so the threat of falling oil prices, prompted by US plans for control of Venezuela’s rigs, will have been a source of concern.Opinion is divided on how quickly the South American country’s creaking oil industry can be revived. But some analysts believe that Venezuela, home to the world’s largest proven reserves, could be pumping millions of additional barrels as early as this year, hitting the global price and squeezing Russia’s income.US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil last year and a rise in the rouble, depressing income from oil sales in dollars, have already reduced receipts for Moscow

Wessex Water bosses handed £50,000 in extra pay despite Labour government’s bonus ban

The bosses of Wessex Water received £50,000 in previously undisclosed extra pay from a parent company, in the same year that the utility was banned from paying bonuses, the Guardian can reveal.Chief executive Ruth Jefferson and chief financial officer Andy Pymer were paid £24,000 and £27,000 respectively in the year to June 2025, according to a spokesperson for Wessex Water’s owner, the Malaysian YTL group.The payments came from Wessex Water Ltd, which is the parent company of Wessex Water Services Ltd, the regulated water supplier for 2.9 million customers in south-west England. YTL said the payments were not bonuses