The UK and US have an “unbreakable bond”, President Donald Trump has told at a meeting with business leaders at Chequers.

The US leader described his second state visit to Britain as an “exquisite honour”, adding: “The ties between our countries are priceless.”

Thursday’s talks at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s country residence are designed to focus firmly on global affairs rather than domestic political problems.

After a day of pomp and ceremony in which Trump rode in a carriage with King Charles and feasted at a state banquet, Trump and Starmer will celebrate the unveiling of a $US205 billion ($A309 billion) package of US investment into Britain.

The deals, covering areas such as technology, energy and life sciences, will offer a renewal of the so-called ‘special relationship’ between the two nations, something Starmer has worked hard to cultivate since Trump became leader in January.

Starmer said it was a “great day for the special relationship” as he praised “my friend, our friend, President Trump.”

“This is a great day for the special relationship: a celebration of what has gone before, of course, but more than that, a moment to deliver investments, jobs and deals which will improve people’s lives now and light up the special relationship for years to come,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump and his wife Melania were treated to the full array of British pageantry.

Britain rolled out the royal red carpet, giving Trump the largest military ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory. 

The president made little secret of his delight at being not just the first US leader, but the first elected politician to be invited for two state visits.

“This is truly one of the highest honours of my life,” he said.

Starmer hopes the trip will aid his government as it seeks to deepen economic ties, secure billions of dollars of investment, ease tariffs and allow him to press the president on Ukraine and Israel.

Companies including Microsoft, Nvidia, Google and OpenAI have already pledged STG31 billion pounds ($A64 billion) in British investments over the next few years, in AI, quantum computing and civil nuclear energy.

Starmer also wants further progress on trade, after Britain secured the first deal with Trump to lower some tariffs, a win that King Charles pointed to in his speech.

“The United Kingdom was your partner in the first trade deal of your administration, Mr President, bringing jobs and growth to both our countries,” the King said.

“And no doubt we can go even further as we build this new era of our partnership.” 

While there were many Trump supporters in crowds at Windsor in London, several thousand people marched to protest against the state visit.

Amongst the guests at Wednesday’s banquet was Rupert Murdoch, whose Wall Street Journal publication the president is currently suing in a $US10 billion ($A15 billion) defamation case over an article linking the president with Epstein. 

Trump and Melania joined Charles, his wife Queen Camilla and other royals and dignitaries for a carriage procession, with the route lined by 1300 British service personnel.

Later, the Trumps viewed historical items from the Royal Collection relating to the US, and then visited St George’s Chapel, the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth, who hosted Trump for his first state visit in 2019, to lay a wreath on her tomb. She died in September 2022.

There was a further military parade and a flypast by Britain’s Red Arrows aerobatics team, but poor weather meant British and US F-35 military jets – a symbol of bilateral defence collaboration – could not join. 

The Trumps also found time for a private meeting with the King’s elder son Prince William and the heir’s wife Kate, which was described by the prince’s spokesperson as “warm and friendly”.

With AP and PA

Australia’s pledge to cut emissions by more than 62 per cent but up to 70 per cent hits the “sweet spot” between credibility and ambition, the prime minister has declared.

Unveiling the long-awaited 2035 climate targets, Anthony Albanese described the commitment as responsible and “backed by a practical plan to get there”.

The biggest cuts to greenhouse gas emissions would occur in transport, energy and industry, he said on Thursday.

The roadmap included a $5 billion carve out from an existing fund for decarbonising heavy industry.

The Safeguard Mechanism, aimed at big polluters, and the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, which targets car emissions, could both be tightened and are subject to review.

Thursday’s commitment builds on Australia’s existing 2030 target to cut emissions by 43 per cent on 2005 levels.

Interim targets are a requirement under the main international climate pact and serve as a stepping stone on the way to net zero by 2050.

Mr Albanese pre-empted critiques of the 62-70 per cent range.

“There will be criticism from some who say it’s too high, there’s some who will say that it’s too low,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

“We’ve got the sweet spot.”

The federal opposition, which has been struggling to maintain internal unity as key members lobby to quit net zero entirely, was unimpressed by the announcement.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley said it failed on cost and credibility.

Environmental groups were gunning for at least a 75 per cent emissions reduction and were broadly disappointed by the range delivered, with the Australian Conservation Foundation describing the pledge as “timid”.

Greens leader Larissa Waters slammed the target as a “betrayal of the community” and urged the Labor government to reconsider.

The Business Council of Australia, representing big corporates, welcomed the target but stressed even the bottom of the range would require a sizeable injection of capital.

Under the Paris Agreement signed a decade ago, members must increase their emissions reduction targets every five years and cannot water them down.

Nations that signed up must submit their new targets by the end of September.

Treasury modelling released alongside the 2035 target found Australia’s economy would be $2.2 trillion bigger were the nation to pursue an orderly transition to net zero, with the opportunities even bigger if it leaned in to green export industries. 

“An orderly transition to net zero is a golden economic opportunity for Australia,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

The announcement of the climate target follows the release of the first National Climate Risk Assessment, which laid out a catastrophic vision of Australia’s future if global warming goes unchecked.

Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean said he hoped Australia would be able to “over-achieve” on the target.

“Our range positions Australia as a global leader on climate ambition. In fact, we are presenting a higher ambition than most other advanced economies,” he said.

“It’s ambitious, but it’s absolutely feasible.”

The 2035 targets were based on the independent authority’s final advice.

Retail giant Kmart has been called out for “playing fast and loose” with customers’ privacy by scanning the faces of unwitting shoppers at dozens of stores.

Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind found the company in breach after it collected people’s personal and sensitive information through a facial-recognition technology (FRT) system designed to tackle refund fraud.

Between June 2020 and July 2022, Kmart used the technology at 28 stores to capture every person who entered and again when they lined up at a returns counter.

The pilot program included stores within all Australian states and territories, except the Northern Territory and Tasmania.

“Relevant to a technology like facial recognition is also the public interest in protecting privacy,” the commissioner said on Thursday.

“I do not consider that (Kmart) could have reasonably believed that the benefits of the FRT system in addressing refund fraud proportionately outweighed the impact on individuals’ privacy.”

Kmart, which has millions of Australian shoppers every month, argued it was not required to obtain customer consent because of an exemption in the Privacy Act that allowed for information to be collected to tackle unlawful activity or serious misconduct.

But after a three-year investigation, the commissioner found the facial-recognition system “indiscriminately collected” sensitive biometric information of every individual who entered a store.

Ms Kind said other, less-intrusive methods were available to Kmart to address refund fraud.

The volumes of biometric data collected on thousands of individuals without their knowledge showed “a disproportionate interference with privacy”, the commissioner said.

Roy Morgan in 2019 found one-in-five Australians shopping for home products went to Kmart, underlining its huge customer base across more than 300 stores.

Digital Rights Watch commended the landmark determination for putting businesses on notice.

It called facial surveillance a “shady practice”.

“This isn’t the first time a large retailer has been caught playing fast and loose with Australians’ privacy,” head of policy Tom Sulston said.

“We need to be able to go to the shops without having our biometric information collected by big corporations.”

Kmart has been ordered not to use the facial-recognition technology again and will have to publish an apology to customers in stores and on its website within 30 days.

The Wesfarmers-owned company said it was disappointed with the decision about its “limited trial” of the technology and was reviewing appeal options.

Controls to protect customers’ privacy had been put in place during the scheme, which aimed to tackle a growing problem of refund fraud, it said in a statement.

“Images were only retained if they matched an image of a person of interest reasonably suspected or known to have engaged in refund fraud,” Kmart said.

The company said it paused the trial when the privacy commissioner began the investigation.

The determination is the second issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on the use of facial recognition in retail settings.

In October, Wesfarmers-owned hardware chain Bunnings was found to have contravened the privacy of shoppers across 62 stores. It is also appealing the finding.

Australia’s labour market shows signs of cooling with a surprise fall in employment, raising the case for more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts.

Although the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent in August, 5400 jobs were lost from the economy, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday.

Forecasters had pencilled in a rise in employment of more than 20,000.

Despite the fall, Australia’s relatively low unemployment rate was unchanged because the number of unemployed people fell by 900, head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.

“This meant that the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 per cent whilst the participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 66.8 per cent,” he said.

IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the fall in employment and participation indicates Australia’s jobs market was cooling faster than expected.

A lower participation rate was a sign more working-age people were giving up on looking for work, which might reflect “growing pessimism” among jobseekers after high-profile layoffs in multiple sectors.

“Despite resilient labour market data until now supporting the RBA’s cautious easing of monetary policy, today’s jobs report suggests downside risks are mounting,” Mr Sycamore said.

“The RBA’s forecast of a 4.3 per cent unemployment rate by December 2026 may now face upward pressure.”

Australia’s central bank is expected to leave interest rates on hold at its meeting at the end of September, but the surprise employment result raises the chance of a cut at the RBA board’s following meeting on Melbourne Cup day.

The amount of full-time jobs in the economy dropped by 41,000, but that was partly offset by a rise in part-time employment of 36,000.

Women accounted for most of the loss in full-time jobs.

Employment as a proportion of Australia’s total population fell by 0.1 percentage points to 64 per cent.

Strong population growth means the employment-to-population ratio remains around the same level as two years ago, despite a rise in job creation.

The ABS reported on Thursday that net overseas migration added 316,000 people to the population in the 12 months to March.

While lower than the 335,000 increase in 2024, the figure is still significantly higher than the pre-COVID average of less than 220,000.

Housing Industry Association chief economist Tim Reardon said the influx of migrants had contributed to the demand for homes outpacing supply.

“Volatile migration flows lead to undesirable economic, social and business outcomes,” he said.

“The goal of stable and reliable migration pathways has not been balanced with the removal of restrictions on new home building necessary to meet demand.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the labour market had been a source of genuine strength, with more than 1.1 million jobs created under the Albanese government.

“All Australians should be proud that while the global economy has been uncertain and volatile and unpredictable, we have been able to keep unemployment low and we see that again in the figures today,” he said.

Thursday’s labour force readout came after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates rates for the first time in 2025 overnight following weakness in the US jobs market.

Shares in a major Australian gas producer have dropped by double digits following the collapse of what would have been the biggest all-cash transaction in Australia’s corporate history.

Santos shares were down 11 per cent to a three-month low of $6.81 on Thursday morning, after a consortium led by the United Arab Emirate’s state-owned oil company walked away from months of takeover talks.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s foreign investment arm XRG, alongside Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ and private equity firm Carlyle, had in June floated a figure of $US5.262 ($7.92) per share, or $30 billion.

But the acquisition talks dragged on for months and finally broke down this week, the third time in the past seven years a transaction involving Santos has fallen through.

“While the consortium maintains a positive view of the Santos business, a combination of factors, when considered collectively, have impacted the consortium’s assessment of its indicative offer,” the group said on Wednesday evening.

“While disappointed not to move forward, XRG, and its consortium partners, are responsible, disciplined investors with a clear focus on creating value for our shareholders and driving long-term growth.”

E&P analyst Adam Martin said the coalition may have realised that Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board was unlikely to approve the transaction given the political commentary that appeared to be growing around the deal, which would have put Santos’ critical gas assets in WA and on the east coast in foreign hands.

“There will be speculation that XRG has ‘found things’ during due diligence,” Mr Martin added. That was likely, he said, but he doubted they were material.

“Either way, another failed transaction creates doubt in the market,” he said.

A year and a half ago, $80 billion merger talks with Perth-based Woodside Energy broke down, reportedly after the two sides could not agree on a valuation level.

Six years before that, in May 2018, Santos rejected a $14.4 billion final offer to be taken private by US private equity group Harbour Energy and terminated discussions.

Mr Martin said it was unlikely Santos would remain in its current form with investors and management looking for ways to create value.

Some institutional investors advocate Santos split itself, breaking its liquefied natural gas assets into a separate company.

Santos on Thursday highlighted that the XRG consortium had confirmed it maintained a positive view of its business and “respect for its management team”.

The XRG consortium wouldn’t agree to an appropriate allocation of risk between itself and Santos shareholders to finalise a scheme of implementation agreement, it added.

“This included the obligation of the XRG consortium to secure regulatory approvals and the provision of a reasonable commitment to the development and supply of domestic gas.”

Santos chair Keith Spence emphasised the group’s “low-cost operating model” and strong free cashflow.

“Our strategy is clear: generate cash, reward shareholders, reinvest to backfill and sustain our infrastructure, and build and grow our production, while continuing to operate safely and reliably,” he said.

with Reuters

New Zealand’s economy has contracted more than expected in the second quarter as construction remains in decline and global uncertainty weighs, increasing expectations of a steeper rate cut in October.

Official data out on Thursday shows gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.9 per cent in the second quarter from the prior quarter, worse than analysts’ and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s forecasts of a 0.3 per cent fall.

New Zealand’s economy has contracted in three of the last five quarters.

Annual GDP decreased 0.6 per cent, Statistics New Zealand data showed. The market had expected it to remain unchanged.

Following the weaker-than-expected data, two-year swap rates slid 10 basis points to 2.7290 per cent, their lowest since early 2022. The kiwi dollar fell 0.5 per cent to $0.5932, well off an overnight peak of $0.6007.

The market is now pricing in a further 58 basis points of cuts to the official cash rate (OCR), up from 48 basis points before the GDP data was released and a 20 per cent chance the central bank will cut by 50 basis points in October.

In August, the central bank flagged two more rate cuts in 2025 as it noted spending by households and businesses has been constrained by uncertainty, falling employment, higher prices for some essentials and declining house prices.

“The weaker-than-expected GDP outcome will no doubt encourage the RBNZ in its intentions to cut the OCR further this year,” Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said in a note.

Westpac is now expecting the central bank to cut by 50 basis points in October and by a further 25 basis points in November.

Weakness in the economy was across the board with the construction sector remaining in decline, manufacturing hurt by slowing goods exports and the service sector remaining weak as tourism stagnates.

The economy has been further hurt by a decision by the United States in April to levy import tariffs on products from a range of nations including New Zealand.

The tariff has since been set at 15 per cent, above the 10 per cent rate for goods from neighbouring Australia.

New Zealand’s Finance Minister Nicola Willis said international turmoil and uncertainty relating to tariffs clearly had an impact on firms’ and households’ willingness to make investment decisions.

But there are indications the economy has begun to turn the corner in the third quarter, with manufacturing and services indexes along with monthly employment and card spending data improving slightly.

ANZ senior economist Matthew Galt said in a note that signs growth has returned in the third quarter, albeit in a muted manner, suggest the nation will avoid another technical recession.

Galt added that while the bar was higher at the end of a monetary policy cycle for outsized moves if data remained lacklustre over coming weeks, a 50 basis point cut was absolutely a possibility.

Retail giant Kmart has been pinged for breaching shoppers’ privacy by scanning the faces of unwitting customers returning products at dozens of its stores.

Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind found the company in breach after it collected people’s personal and sensitive information through a facial-recognition technology (FRT) system designed to tackle refund fraud.

Between June 2020 and July 2022, Kmart used the technology at 28 of its stores to capture every person who lined up at a returns counter.

“Relevant to a technology like facial recognition, is also the public interest in protecting privacy,” the commissioner said on Thursday.

“I do not consider that (Kmart) could have reasonably believed that the benefits of the FRT system in addressing refund fraud proportionately outweighed the impact on individuals’ privacy.”

Kmart argued that it was not required to obtain customer consent because of an exemption in the Privacy Act that allowed for information to be collected to tackle unlawful activity or serious misconduct. 

But after a three-year investigation, the commissioner found sensitive biometric information of every individual who entered a store was “indiscriminately collected” by the facial-recognition system.

She said other, less-intrusive methods were available to Kmart to address refund fraud.

The volumes of biometric data collected on thousands of individuals without their knowledge showed “a disproportionate interference with privacy”, the commissioner said.

Kmart has been ordered not to use the facial-recognition technology again and will have to publish an apology to customers in stores and on its website within 30 days.

The Wesfarmers-owned company said it was disappointed with the decision about its “limited trial” of facial-recognition technology and it was reviewing appeal options.

Controls to protect customers’ privacy had been put in place during the scheme, it said in a statement.

“Images were only retained if they matched an image of a person of interest reasonably suspected or known to have engaged in refund fraud,” Kmart said.

The determination is the second issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on the use of facial recognition in retail settings. 

In October, Wesfarmers-owned hardware chain Bunnings was found to have contravened the privacy of its shoppers across 62 of its stores. It is also appealing the finding.

A major Australian gas producer rejects any suggestion the withdrawal of a suitor signals valuation issues, saying the bidder was positive about the group.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company late on Wednesday pulled back its indicative proposed $US18.7 billion ($A28 billion) cash takeover for Santos at $US5.262 per share.

The decision by the bidder’s foreign investment arm XRG, alongside Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ and private equity firm Carlyle, not to proceed to a binding offer caps off a months-long takeover saga.

“While the consortium maintains a positive view of the Santos business, a combination of factors, when considered collectively, have impacted the consortium’s assessment of its indicative offer,” it said.

“While disappointed not to move forward, XRG, and its consortium partners, are responsible, disciplined investors with a clear focus on creating value for our shareholders and driving long-term growth.”

On Thursday, Santos highlighted that the XRG consortium had confirmed it maintained a positive view of its business and “respect for its management team”.

The XRG consortium wouldn’t agree to an appropriate allocation of risk between itself and Santos shareholders to finalise a scheme of implementation agreement, it added.

“This included the obligation of the XRG consortium to secure regulatory approvals and the provision of a reasonable commitment to the development and supply of domestic gas.”

Santos chair Keith Spence emphasised the group’s “low-cost operating model” and strong free cashflow.

“Our strategy is clear: generate cash, reward shareholders, reinvest to backfill and sustain our infrastructure, and build and grow our production, while continuing to operate safely and reliably,” he said.

with Reuters

US President Donald Trump has hailed the special relationship between his nation and Britain as he paid a gushing tribute to King Charles during his historic second state visit, calling it one of the highest honours of his life.

It was a day of unprecedented pomp for a foreign leader.

Trump and his wife Melania were treated to the full array of British pageantry. Then, the president sang the praises of his nation’s close ally.

“The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal. It’s irreplaceable and unbreakable,” Trump said in a speech during a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle, family home to British monarchs for almost 1000 years.

Referring to the so-called special relationship between the two nations, Trump said: “Seen from American eyes, the word special does not begin to do it justice.”

Britain rolled out the royal red carpet, giving Trump the largest military ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory. 

Trump made little secret of his delight at being not just the first US leader, but the first elected politician to be invited for two state visits.

“This is truly one of the highest honours of my life,” he said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes the trip will aid his government as it seeks to deepen economic ties, secure billions of dollars of investment, ease tariffs and allow him to press the president on Ukraine and Israel.

Companies including Microsoft, Nvidia, Google and OpenAI have already pledged STG31 billion pounds ($A64 billion) in British investments over the next few years, in AI, quantum computing and civil nuclear energy.

Starmer also wants further progress on trade, after Britain secured the first deal with Trump to lower some tariffs, a win that King Charles pointed to in his speech.

“The United Kingdom was your partner in the first trade deal of your administration, Mr President, bringing jobs and growth to both our countries,” the King said.

“And no doubt we can go even further as we build this new era of our partnership.” 

While there were many Trump supporters in crowds at Windsor in London, several thousand people marched to protest against the state visit.

“I quite simply dislike everything that Trump and his administration represent around the globe,” retiree Bryan Murray said.

Amongst the guests at Wednesday’s banquet was Rupert Murdoch, whose Wall Street Journal publication the president is currently suing in a $US10 billion ($A15 billion) defamation case over an article linking the president with Epstein. 

While the focus will now turn to geopolitics and trade when Starmer hosts Trump at his Chequers country residence, Wednesday was all about ceremony.

Trump and Melania joined Charles, his wife Queen Camilla and other royals and dignitaries for a carriage procession, with the route lined by 1300 British service personnel.

Later, the Trumps viewed historical items from the Royal Collection relating to the US, and then visited St George’s Chapel, the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth, who hosted Trump for his first state visit in 2019, to lay a wreath on her tomb. She died in September 2022.

There was a further military parade and a flypast by Britain’s Red Arrows aerobatics team, but poor weather meant British and US F-35 military jets – a symbol of bilateral defence collaboration – could not join. 

The Trumps also found time for a private meeting with the King’s elder son Prince William and the heir’s wife Kate, which was described by the prince’s spokesperson as “warm and friendly”. 

Trump later praised “beautiful” Kate and said William was “going to have unbelievable success in the future”.

As for Charles, the 76-year-old monarch, he was a “very, very special man”, the president said.

With AP

The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and indicated it will steadily lower borrowing costs for the rest of this year as it responds to concerns about weakness in the job market.

Only new governor Stephen Miran, who joined the Fed on Tuesday and is on leave as the head of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, dissented in favour of a half-percentage-point cut.

The rate cut, along with projections showing two more quarter-percentage-point reductions are anticipated at the remaining two policy meetings this year, indicate Fed officials have begun to downplay the risk that the administration’s voluble trade policies will stoke persistent inflation, and are now more concerned about weakening growth and the likelihood of rising unemployment.

The cut, the first move by the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee since December, moves the policy rate to the 4.00 per cent-4.25 per cent range.

“The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that downside risks to employment have risen,” the Fed said in its policy statement. 

“Job gains have slowed, and the unemployment rate has edged up.”

Fed chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference later in the day to elaborate on the latest statement and economic outlook.

New economic projections showed policymakers at the median still see inflation ending this year at three per cent, well above the central bank’s two per cent target, a projection unchanged from the Fed’s last set of forecasts published in June. 

The projection for unemployment was also unchanged at 4.5 per cent and economic growth slightly higher at 1.6 per cent versus 1.4 per cent.

Compared to the stagflationary risks contained in the last set of projections, with the Fed slowing rate cuts to head off inflation, the new projections show an emerging sense among officials that they can head off any rise in unemployment with a faster pace of rate cuts, while inflation eases slowly next year.

Fed officials have gradually warmed to the idea that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs would have only a temporary effect on inflation, and the latest forecasts are consistent with that view.

The move to a more consistent pace of cuts was backed by Fed governor Christopher Waller and Vice Chair of Supervision Michelle Bowman, Trump appointees who dissented over the policy decision in late July to hold rates steady.

Miran dissented on the latest cut and appears to have pencilled in the steepest rate cuts in projections issued after he joined the Board of Governors on Tuesday. 

In the newest “dot plot,” one rate projection of 2.875 per cent for the end of 2025 stands out as being three-quarters of a percentage point below the next lowest one. 

Trump has urged steep rate cuts.

Also voting in favour of the decision was Fed governor Lisa Cook, who attended the meeting despite Trump’s effort to fire her and after two courts supported her challenge of his attempted dismissal.