Australian consumer spending has held up in the face of the Middle East conflict and the resulting surge in oil prices, the nation’s top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia said. Total spending on CBA cards held up in nominal terms in the week ending March 27, in part due to higher fuel expenditure, the bank said in a research note on Wednesday. Spending on transport as a proportion of total con...
Australian consumer spending has held up in the face of the Middle East conflict and the resulting surge in oil prices, the nation’s top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia said. Total spending on CBA cards held up in nominal terms in the week ending March 27, in part due to higher fuel expenditure, the bank said in a research note on Wednesday. Spending on transport as a proportion of total consumption increased sharply in recent weeks, it added. “The Easter weekend and school holidays are coming up, where spending typically spikes. The next few weeks will be a key watch point for us,” economists led by Belinda Allen said. She pointed out that household goods spending has been soft this year so far. “This is potentially an early sign that discretionary spending has been softening in 2026.” Weekly salary transaction data through March 27 continued to show “decent income growth” flowing through to CBA bank accounts, Allen added. The figures show Australia’s economy was on a strong footing before the central bank began raising interest rates in an effort to tame stubborn inflation. The ongoing Middle East conflict is complicating the task for the Reserve Bank which is expected to deliver a third consecutive hike in May, taking the cash rate to 4.35%, from 4.1% now. Australia PM to Address Nation as Iran War Pushes Oil Higher Australia Manufacturing Slips to Contraction on War Disruptions RBA Says Not Possible to Predict Cash Rate Path With Confidence
Earnings Call Insights: KULR Technology Group (KULR) Q4 2025 Management View "2025 was a difficult year for our shareholders and for our company. Share price declined significantly, and we recorded a net loss of approximately $62 million." (Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO Michael Mo) Mo added that "the majority of this loss was driven by onetime and noncash items" and said the 2026 focus is execution: ...
Earnings Call Insights: KULR Technology Group (KULR) Q4 2025 Management View "2025 was a difficult year for our shareholders and for our company. Share price declined significantly, and we recorded a net loss of approximately $62 million." (Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO Michael Mo) Mo added that "the majority of this loss was driven by onetime and noncash items" and said the 2026 focus is execution: "Our singular focus is to build and sell more KULR ONE batteries." Mo highlighted 2025 items affecting reported results, including: "Under GAAP accounting, KULR recognized an unrealized mark-to-market adjustment of $13.8 million on its Bitcoin holdings for 2025" and "We have maintained our Bitcoin treasury of approximately 1,082 Bitcoins without selling any coins." He also said KULR "took the full write-off of approximately $6.9 million" tied to an exoskeleton investment after the private company "filed for insolvency," adding, "Clearly, this investment did not work out." On growth priorities, Mo said 2026 performance will be judged by "core battery revenue growth and improvements in gross margin as volume and automation increase" and described steps to address "product sales gross margin of 1% in 2025," including: "we're installing an automated production line in second half of 2026" and more programs shifting from prototype to production. Mo framed the commercial baseline for scaling: "Battery platform revenue, which is product sales plus contract services was $7.3 million in 2025." He contrasted that with total company revenue: "Revenue was $16.1 million, up 51%. Most of that growth came from Bitcoin mining and battery research grant dollars," while emphasizing "the number that matters most to us in 2026 is the battery platform revenue." "KULR generated over $16 million in revenue in 2025. This is a 51% increase over the prior year." (CFO & Director Shawn Canter) Canter added mix shift detail: "Product revenue was up 39%, while service was down 50%." Outlook Mo pointed t...
Coca-Cola Co. and its two authorized bottling partners in South Africa plan to invest 17.6 billion rand ($1 billion) in domestic operations through 2030 to expand capacity and bolster distribution. The drinks producer, together with Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa and Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, also wants to use the funds to “accelerate innovation,” it said in a statement Tuesday. The investm...
Coca-Cola Co. and its two authorized bottling partners in South Africa plan to invest 17.6 billion rand ($1 billion) in domestic operations through 2030 to expand capacity and bolster distribution. The drinks producer, together with Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa and Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, also wants to use the funds to “accelerate innovation,” it said in a statement Tuesday. The investment comes five months after Coca-Cola HBC AG said it would buy 75% of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa from Coca-Cola Co. and its other holder, Gutsche Family Investments, creating the second-largest bottling partner for the caffeinated soft drink by volume in a transaction valued at about $2.6 billion. Read more: Two Coca-Cola Bottlers to Combine in $2.6 Billion Deal The Coca-Cola system in South Africa, the continent’s biggest and most industrialized economy, employs about 7,800 people directly and a further 79,300 through supplies partners and customers, according to a study by consulting firm Steward Redqueen. Coca-Cola first made the announcement at an investment conference where President Cyril Ramaphosa pitched the country as a reform-driven investment haven. He set a target of attracting 3 trillion rand of capital to the country over the next five years. Read more: Ramaphosa Courts Investors as War Jolts South Africa Outlook Sign up here for the daily Next Africa newsletter, and subscribe to the Next Africa podcast on Apple , Spotify or anywhere you listen .
A new biography puts Baldwin’s sexuality – and the men he loved – front and centre Today, James Baldwin’s legacy seems assured, but this wasn’t always the case. His critical reputation, already on the wane in his lifetime, declined after his death in 1987. On the publication of the Library of America’s Collected Essays and Early Novels & Stories a decade later, Michael Anderson, writing in the New...
A new biography puts Baldwin’s sexuality – and the men he loved – front and centre Today, James Baldwin’s legacy seems assured, but this wasn’t always the case. His critical reputation, already on the wane in his lifetime, declined after his death in 1987. On the publication of the Library of America’s Collected Essays and Early Novels & Stories a decade later, Michael Anderson, writing in the New York Times , complained of his “intellectual flaccidity”. He also dismissed The Fire Next Time – Baldwin’s searing 1963 essay diptych on the US’s legacy of racial injustice – as an overly emotional “period piece”. If such a verdict was out of touch then, six years after the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King, it seems, now, pitifully shortsighted. An inflection point in the Baldwin revival arrived in the form of Raoul Peck’s documentary I Am Not Your Negro (2016), which juxtaposes footage of modern-day protest and racist police violence with clips of Baldwin’s civil rights-era speechmaking. It’s an effective technique, capturing Baldwin’s prescience as well as reasserting his rightful place as a key witness to that bloody era (“witness” was Baldwin’s preferred name for the writer-spokesperson-celebrity mantle he had assumed by the mid-60s; a title that captures something of its moral obligation and frustrating passivity). Continue reading...
Government keen to avoid panic as oil price surges, but perhaps households need advice on reducing consumption Labour ministers sent out in recent days to respond to the looming energy crisis sparked by the Iran war have essentially stuck to that reassuring wartime slogan: keep calm and carry on. “I think people should go about their lives as normal, knowing that the government is taking action to...
Government keen to avoid panic as oil price surges, but perhaps households need advice on reducing consumption Labour ministers sent out in recent days to respond to the looming energy crisis sparked by the Iran war have essentially stuck to that reassuring wartime slogan: keep calm and carry on. “I think people should go about their lives as normal, knowing that the government is taking action to bring energy bills down,” James Murray, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Review finds no ‘meaningful impact’ five years after race action plan launched, amid calls for government to step in Promises by police chiefs to tackle racial bias failed owing to “a lack of clear national leadership”, an independent police report has found. The promises were made five years ago in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and led police bosses in England and Wales to launch a ...
Review finds no ‘meaningful impact’ five years after race action plan launched, amid calls for government to step in Promises by police chiefs to tackle racial bias failed owing to “a lack of clear national leadership”, an independent police report has found. The promises were made five years ago in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and led police bosses in England and Wales to launch a race action plan promising to tackle the “stigmatising and humiliating” experiences of Black people at the hands of officers. Continue reading...
Ivorian artist Laetitia Ky creates sculptural hairstyles, usually with her own hair, but in a rare departure she involves her younger sibling to illustrate their bond This image represents the strong bond I have with my little sister Florencia. We grew up with a very deep connection, and I consider her my best friend. I create sculptural hairstyles using my natural hair as a material. I add some e...
Ivorian artist Laetitia Ky creates sculptural hairstyles, usually with her own hair, but in a rare departure she involves her younger sibling to illustrate their bond This image represents the strong bond I have with my little sister Florencia. We grew up with a very deep connection, and I consider her my best friend. I create sculptural hairstyles using my natural hair as a material. I add some extensions, and shape it with thread and wire. A sculpture can take me from 30 minutes to more than six hours. Each hairstyle is based on an idea or message I want to convey, then I construct it step by step before photographing it myself with my camera and tripod. My book, Love and Justice, combines images of these sculptures with my reflections on feminism, identity and women’s experiences. Continue reading...
Only way to avoid missing a flight because of EES rules: squeeze everything into a cabin bag and skip luggage check-in Travellers to the EU risk missing their flights because bag drop-off times don’t allow for the long queues to get through a new security system. My family of four missed our easyJet flight home from Málaga because, although we followed advice from the airport and arrived three hou...
Only way to avoid missing a flight because of EES rules: squeeze everything into a cabin bag and skip luggage check-in Travellers to the EU risk missing their flights because bag drop-off times don’t allow for the long queues to get through a new security system. My family of four missed our easyJet flight home from Málaga because, although we followed advice from the airport and arrived three hours before departure, the bag drop-off didn’t open until two hours before. Continue reading...
With its never-ending street theatre and labyrinthine medina, this timeless city swallows you whole – and reveals new secrets with each visit The rising sun sets fire to the snow-covered caps of the Atlas mountains. Within moments, the shadowy gorges are gleaming with warm terracotta hues. I turn my back on north Africa’s highest peaks and look north where Marrakech – nicknamed the Red City – rest...
With its never-ending street theatre and labyrinthine medina, this timeless city swallows you whole – and reveals new secrets with each visit The rising sun sets fire to the snow-covered caps of the Atlas mountains. Within moments, the shadowy gorges are gleaming with warm terracotta hues. I turn my back on north Africa’s highest peaks and look north where Marrakech – nicknamed the Red City – rests like a jagged ruby amid the jade swathes of palms and the silvery sheen of olive groves. Swinging 800 metres (2,625ft) above the stony desert in a giant wicker basket, I try to imagine what this scene would have looked like when camel trains trooped this way, loaded with salt, spices and enslaved humans bound for Marrakech’s souks. Continue reading...