Lord Kalms obituary

There can be relatively few householders in the UK who have not bought a television, laptop, hi-fi, fridge or washing machine from one of the companies overseen by Stanley Kalms, Lord Kalms, who has died aged 93. Working up from a single north London camera shop to a chain of 1,300 branches of Curry’s, Dixons, PC World and The Link by the time he retired in 2002, Kalms bestrode the high streets and shopping malls of Britain with a portfolio that made him the largest electronics retailer in Europe with a fortune of £300m.The white goods equipment, cameras and computers that Kalms sold interested him less than the act of selling: he could not use a computer and had difficulty operating a mobile phone. What mattered was the bottom line. “I get a buzz seeing people walking round my store and buying my products, walking up to a cash till and paying for them,” he told the Sunday Times in 2001

Bank of England says AI software could create market crisis for profit

Increasingly autonomous AI programs could end up manipulating markets and intentionally creating crises in order to boost profits for banks and traders, the Bank of England has warned.Artificial intelligence’s ability to “exploit profit-making opportunities” was among a wide range of risks cited in a report by the Bank of England’s financial policy committee (FPC), which has been monitoring the City’s growing use of the technology.The FPC said it was concerned about the potential for advanced AI models – which are deployed to act with more autonomy – to learn that periods of extreme volatility were beneficial for the firms they were trained to serve.Those AI programs may “identify and exploit weaknesses” of other trading firms in a way that triggers or amplifies big moves in bond prices or stock markets.“For example, models might learn that stress events increase their opportunity to make profit and so take actions actively to increase the likelihood of such events,” the FPC report said

Trump’s tariffs could push Australia into recession town. So why is the RBA waiting until May to meet? | Greg Jericho

In the past week, the global economy has changed, and not for the better. But apparently we will have to wait until after the election for the Reserve Bank of Australia to bother doing anything.In 2020, when the pandemic took hold in Australia, the Reserve Bank board met on 3 March to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 0.5%. Within a week it was clear this was not enough

Adani names two dead Australian war veterans in documents alleging protest conspiracy against it

Adani has named two dead Australian war veterans in court documents alleging they were part of a conspiracy against the coalmining company.The fourth version of Adani Mining’s claim against environmental activist Ben Pennings – which has been afoot for more than four years – now names Kokoda veteran and climate activist Bill Ryan as an alleged co-conspirator. Ryan died in 2019, aged 97.“Why the hell can’t Adani leave Dad to rest in peace rather than drag us through this bullshit?,” Ryan’s son, Colin, told Guardian Australia.The Queensland supreme court struck out substantial parts of Adani’s claim last year, describing some elements as “confused and embarrassing”

Royal Mail asks Ofcom to let it offer tracking for every parcel sent in UK

Royal Mail has asked Ofcom to allow it to offer tracking for all parcels sent first or second class around the UK, as the company raised concerns over the communications regulator’s planned shake-up of the postal service.Ofcom has been holding a consultation on a proposed overhaul of the universal service obligation (USO), the remit held by the 508-year-old Royal Mail to deliver nationwide at one price, six days a week, at a time when people are sending ever fewer letters.In its response to the consultation, which closes on Thursday, Royal Mail called on Ofcom to remove “unnecessary regulation” that prevents it from offering parcel tracking to customers using its standard services.In order to send a tracked letter or parcel, the USO requires Royal Mail’s customers to select and pay for a tracked service, rather than allowing the company to offer tracking for letters and parcels sent using normal first- and second-class services.The company said the ability to track parcels was a basic requirement in the competitive delivery market: “The current restriction does not reflect what customers want and renders the universal service unfit for the digital age,” it said

US against plan for levy on carbon emissions from ships, leak suggests

Plans for a levy on the carbon produced by ships are being opposed by the US government, on the apparent basis they would “impose substantial economic burdens” and “drive inflation”.There will be fierce debate in London this week on the future of global shipping over the proposals to charge up to $150 (£117) a tonne for the greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Those in support say the measure will be crucial to generating billions of dollars of climate finance a year to help poor countries cope with the impact of the climate crisis.But now the US appears to have joined China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and at least a dozen other states in opposing the levy at the International Maritime Organization negotiations. A leaked document seen by the Guardian, which has not yet been verified by the US government, purports to threaten countries with “reciprocal measures” if they agree to any levy