Headlines

Recent research from the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) has unveiled a jump in personal insolvencies during December 2025, with a total of 1,063 new personal insolvencies being recorded over the month, AccountantsDaily.com.au reported. This was noted to be a rise from 992 in November 2025 and a rise from 828 in December 2024, with the most common employment industries entering personal insolvency being construction, health care and social assistance.

Tongaat Hulett, a 134-year-old South African sugar maker, is on the brink of collapse again as its administrators prepare to place the firm into provisional liquidation, MoneyWab.co.za reported. The joint practitioners for business rescue have applied to the High Court to discontinue their proceedings and place Tongaat into provisional liquidation after exhausting all reasonable options, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The move follows the collapse of the approved rescue plan after the sale agreements with its strategic partner Vision Group lapsed, it said.

The central Alberta community of Gibbons’ status as a town hangs in the balance as a series of bad financial decisions have jeopardized its future and left it hurtling towards insolvency, according to the town’s mayor and council, CBC.ca reported. Town officials, including interim chief administrative officer Tim Duhamel, presented information about the town’s financial situation to Sturgeon County’s mayor and council on Tuesday morning. “We're in a terrible situation right now, unprecedented for sure,” Gibbons Mayor Rick Henderson said.

The U.K. economy recorded another year of tempered economic growth in 2025 as consumers stayed cautious, unemployment rose and borrowing costs remained high, the Wall Street Journal reported. The country’s center-left Labour government took office in July 2024, having pledged to lift the U.K. out of a long period of stagnation, but 2025 instead saw a rebound in inflation and the imposition of higher U.S. tariffs on imports from the country, which hampered growth. Economists don’t expect to see a big acceleration this year, although inflation is set to cool.

Australia's labour market has stabilised from a slowdown and remains tight, consistent with stubborn inflationary pressures in the economy, a senior central bank official said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Sarah Hunter, assistant governor at the Reserve Bank of Australia, said the central bank was closely monitoring conditions in the labour market to help assess how much the pick-up in inflation could be temporary.

China released new guidelines to regulate pricing behaviour for the automotive sector and outlined draft safety standards on Thursday, marking the latest effort to curb price wars and safeguard the industry's value and quality, Reuters reported. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) introduced guidelines targeting practices such as failure to display prices transparently and deceptive promotions by automakers, parts suppliers, and dealers involved in car production and sales.

China's chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang met Mexico's Deputy Economy Minister Vidal Llerenas in Beijing on Monday, in the first face-to-face talks since Mexico imposed higher tariffs on Chinese imports, drawing warnings from Beijing, Reuters reported. The two countries conducted in-depth exchanges on bilateral economic and trade relations and other issues, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Mexico announced in December steep tariff increases on China and other countries without free trade agreements with Mexico - most up to 35%.

The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on Wednesday designed to roll back President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, as a half-dozen Republicans joined Democrats in rebuking the administration’s signature economic policy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The House voted 219-211 to approve a Democratic resolution that would invalidate the emergency declaration that underpins Trump’s tariffs on Canada.

More than 180 survivors of abuse by the former Harrods owner Mohammed Al Fayed are currently "engaged" in its compensation scheme, the company has said, BBC.com reported. The luxury retailer said it has already paid out compensation to more than 50 women. The scheme, which was opened last March, will close to new submissions on 31 March. In October, Harrods said it had set aside more than £60m in its plan to compensate victims of alleged historical abuse.