EU to investigate Shein over sale of childlike sex dolls and weapons

The EU is to open a formal investigation into the Chinese retailer Shein over multiple suspected breaches of European laws including the sale of childlike sex dolls and weapons.The European Commission said on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after demanding information from the fast-growing company last year.A senior EU official also pointed to reports of clothes, cosmetics, electronic products that were not compliant with EU law.The investigation will examine three areas of Shein’s service that have given cause for concern.Apart from the sale of illegal products, it will also look at the “addictive design of the service Shein is providing”, an EU official said, including bonus points programmes, gamification and rewards “that may lead to a risk of users’ mental well being”

UK unemployment rate hits five-year high of 5.2% as wage growth cools

Unemployment in the UK has risen to 5.2%, the highest level in nearly five years, while wage growth continues to slow, raising the prospect of another cut to interest rates in the spring.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment was 5.2% in the three months to the end of December, the highest rate since the quarter to January 2021. This was in line with what economists had been expecting and was up from 5

Gloom for UK workers as incomes flatline and jobs market falters

Private sector pay increased on average by just 3.4% in December, according to the latest official labour market data released on Tuesday, the same as the rise in inflation at the end of last year.No wonder the vast majority of workers are feeling the winter blues. Their incomes, adjusted for rising shop prices, have flatlined, leaving them no better off than they were a year earlier.The most recent surveys of consumer confidence reveal a dismal picture of households worried about growing debts and shrinking savings now that their incomes have flatlined

Coles tells court its Down Down promotions were ‘fair dinkum’ and did not mislead shoppers

Coles has defended its promotional prices in a high-profile court case brought by the consumer watchdog, arguing that shoppers would understand the supermarket’s well-known “Down Down” promotion to be “fair dinkum”.The federal court battle between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Coles began this week, testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering “illusory” discounts on many everyday products.The legal argument will turn, in part, on what consumers understand Coles’ “Down Down” promotion to be, with the supermarket arguing that an ordinary consumer would perceive the promotion as a general, long-term discount.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailJohn Sheahan KC, representing Coles, said on Tuesday that consumers would accept the promotion as a real drop in price.“What they would be concerned with when they’re walking down the aisle trying to work out what to buy today for their shopping is whether the claimed discount … was fair dinkum,” Sheahan said

Car dealership tycoon ousted from his Kent company in ‘coup’, high court hears

A multimillionaire used-car salesman was ousted from his £300m company as part of an orchestrated “coup” involving business rivals and private equity investors, the high court has heard.Peter Waddell, 59, claims he was forced out as the chief executive of the Kent-based dealership Big Motoring World by “conspirators” who designed a “plan” to ensure that an investigation into allegations of gross misconduct “reached the conclusion that one or more [sackable events] had occurred”.Waddell, who remains the majority shareholder in the business, is alleged to have made a series of racist and sexist remarks, including referring to a Hindu colleague as “Hyundai”, the court was told.The tycoon, whose backstory involves a childhood spent in care and then a spell of homelessness before finding success in business, either denies making the remarks or says they were taken out of context.He had created a company with 525 employees, revenues of £371m and profits of £6

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears

UK bank bosses will hold their first meeting to establish a national alternative to Visa and Mastercard, amid growing fears over Donald Trump’s ability to turn off US-owned payment systems.The meeting, chaired by Barclays’ UK chief executive, Vim Maru, will take place this Thursday and bring together a group of City funders that will front the costs of a new payments company to keep the UK economy running if problems were to occur.The City-funded, but government-backed, initiative has been under discussion for years. However, Trump’s recent threats against Nato allies over Greenland have amplified concerns that an over-reliance on US companies could put UK payments – and the wider economy – at risk.About 95% of UK card transactions are made using payment systems owned by Mastercard and Visa, according to a 2025 report by the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator