Financial news

• US business leaders set to break record on donations to Trump inaugural fund

  25-12-2024 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administrationUS business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term i
  
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• Sir James Walker obituary

  25-12-2024 16:37 via theguardian.com
  Director of his family firm Walker’s Shortbread who turned a simple product into an international brandJim Walker, who has died at the age of 80, was one of the UK’s master exporters, turning a simple product into an international brand. The ubiquity of Walker’s Shortbread in the world’s airports and delis has made it a leading brand of the food and drink industry and an exemplar as to how a family business can expand and still retain its independence.Jim himself was an u
  
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• Labour urged to lead global debt relief effort as cost of repayments soars

  25-12-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners call for action in 2025, as crippling repayments prevent spendingto cut poverty and tackle climate crisisCampaigners are urging Labour to lead the charge for global debt relief in 2025, as new analysis shows lower-income countries spent 15% of their revenue on repayments this year – the highest level for three decades.Calculations by the charity Debt Justice, based on data from the World Bank, show repayments from poorer countries bottomed out at 4.4% of income in 2011 but have
  
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• UK box office forecast to top £1bn in 2025 after year-on-year fall

  25-12-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research firm Omdia says dip to £931m due to Hollywood strikes but wave of blockbusters likely to renew recoveryThe UK box office is forecast to surpass £1bn next year for the first time in six years, but cinema bosses still say moviegoing will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2026.The pace of the hoped-for recovery at the box office was disrupted by the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes last summer, which delayed the release of a number of blockbusters. Conti
  
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• The rise and rise of Maye Musk: China’s love affair with Elon Musk’s mother

  25-12-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The 76-year-old is part of a trend of ‘silver influencers’ whose success in the face of adversity resonates strongly. Could she be Elon’s secret weapon in China?Maye Musk is a busy woman. As well as being the mother of the world’s richest man, she has been jetting between various glamorous events – many of them in China. In December alone, she attended a gala dinner in Hangzhou, walked the red carpet for a cosmetics company in Wuhan and signed copies of the Chinese
  
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• NS&I Premium Bonds holder scoops £25,000 prize from just £1

  25-12-2024 05:00 via express.co.uk
  
  The "bumper" win was celebrated in NS&I's list of achievements for 2024.
  
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