Headlines

French President Emmanuel Macron is ready to call timeout on his signature pension overhaul to save what remains of his presidency, the Wall Street Journal reported. Macron’s newly reappointed prime minister on Tuesday proposed suspending increases in France’s retirement age until after the next presidential election in 2027, a bid to calm a political storm that threatens to take down France’s fourth government in less than a year.

Vijay Mallya, wanted in India to face trial on fraud and money laundering charges, has discontinued an application to annul a UK bankruptcy order ahead of a planned hearing in London on Monday, IndiaToday.com reported. It means the "Trustee in Bankruptcy" can continue to pursue assets to help a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) realise the repayment of an estimated judgment debt of around 1.05 billion pounds owed by the 69-year-old's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

German wind turbine manufacturer eno energy has filed for bankruptcy, ReNews.biz reported. Documents published last week by the Rostock District Court in Germany’s Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state show that that eno energy and its service and maintenance subsidiary, eno energy systems, have started the bankruptcy proceedings. The court has appointed Christoph Morgen from Hamburg law firm Brinkmann and Partner and the provisional insolvency administrator. Rerik-based eno energy produces onshore units in the 2MW-6MW range.

Closed is in the clear. After filing bankruptcy proceedings in August, the German denim brand’s two-month investor process has come to an end. Fashion executives Dieter Holzer and the Böck family—sole shareholder of contemporary lifestyle label Marc O’Polo—are the new owners of Closed, SourcingJournal.com reported. “The investor consortium of the Böck and Holzer entrepreneurial families has presented a convincing offer and business concept,” said Stefan Denkhaus, the insolvency administrator.

A union representing workers at the Lindsey oil refinery has expressed “grave concerns” about efforts to preserve jobs and production at the site, The Independent reported. Unite said that it had been contacted by several bidders for the refinery in North Lincolnshire who want to protect jobs and ensure that the refinery continues to function, complaining they were not being allowed to lay out their proposals.

Birmingham City Council said that it was “progressing at pace” in tackling its equal pay problems amid the risk of “instability and potential insolvency,” Birmingham Live reported. The Labour-run authority is trying to recover from a financial crisis which saw it declare itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023. It triggered an unprecedented wave of cuts to services and ‘savings’ alongside hikes in council tax.

Indonesian shrimp packer Panca Mitra Multi Perdana (PMMP) has agreed to pay outstanding wages and severance to hundreds of laid-off staff after the local government said that it would declare the business bankrupt, reports Antara reported. PMMP was under scrutiny in September after more than 200 former employees reported not receiving wages, severance pay and other entitlements following layoffs, as Undercurrent News reported.

Mexican lawmakers will pause until late November the discussion of a government proposal to impose tariffs of as much as 50% on cars, steel and other products imported from China and several Asian nations that don’t have a trade deal with the country, according to a top congressman, Bloomberg News reported. Ricardo Monreal, leader of the ruling Morena party in the lower house of Congress, said that lawmakers must be careful with the proposal and review it “very seriously.” “We’re going to put it on hold,” Monreal told journalists.

Orsted, the Danish renewable energy developer, said on Thursday that it would cut about 2,000 jobs, or around 25 percent of its work force, over the next two years, the New York Times reported. The move was the latest sign of the diminished prospects for offshore wind, a low-emissions technology that Orsted helped pioneer. “We’ll be saying goodbye to many skilled and valued colleagues,” Rasmus Errboe, Orsted’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Former senator Linda Reynolds has launched bankruptcy proceedings in the Australian Federal Court against her ex-staffer Brittany Higgins as she tries to recover damages awarded to her for defamation, ABC.net.au reported. In August Ms Higgins was ordered to pay Ms Reynolds $315,000 plus $26,000 in interest after she and her husband David Sharaz were found to have defamed the former senator in a series of social media posts. Ms Higgins was also ordered to pay 80 per cent of Ms Reynolds's legal costs.