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Hans van Leeuwen

Today

Lex Greensill in London in 2018.

Lex Greensill scores a rare win in the British courts

The businessman and his failed financing empire is at the centre of a series of legal claims that has drawn in IAG and creditors who lost billions of dollars.

Yesterday

US Vice-President JD Vance gives a keynote speech at the AI Summit in Paris.

‘We have to cut red tape and we will’: Europe talks big on AI

At a summit in Paris, Donald Trump’s vice president lays bare growing global divisions over promoting and policing AI while Europe looks to back winners.

  • Updated
Sam Kerr celebrates scoring for Chelsea.

Justified or double standard? Sam Kerr loses the culture war

A jury unanimously decided Kerr was not guilty of a racial offence. But the court of public opinion remains divided: is it racist to use “white” as an insult?

Sam Kerr arriving at Kingston Crown Court, earlier in the trial.

Sam Kerr found not guilty of racist slur

The jury was unanimous, but the judge said the soccer star’s behaviour “contributed significantly to the bringing of this allegation”.

This Month

Matildas captain and Chelsea striker Sam Kerr leaves Kingston Crown Court on Monday.

Jury mulls Sam Kerr’s fate as her lawyer calls police ‘indefensible’

The defence argued to jurors that the Matildas captain’s “f---ing stupid and white” comment was a poor attempt to express a justified frustration.

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IFM Investors has pursued a bigger stake in Naturgy, the Spanish utilities giant, with limited success.

IFM faces barrage of bad press as it moves on Spanish energy utility

The asset manager backed by Australia’s biggest superannuation funds wants more of a say on Naturgy’s board, upsetting some of the company’s other investors.

American soccer player Kristie Mewis and Sam Kerr.

Sam Kerr ‘spoke her truth’ to white police officer, fiancee says

US soccer star Kristie Mewis tried to explain Sam Kerr’s behaviour towards the officer, as more body cam footage of the Australian on that night is released.

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Sam Kerr arrives at Kingston Crown Court, south London, on the third day of her jury trial.

Schoolyard racism and serial killings: Sam Kerr defends her outburst

The Perth-born soccer star, defending a charge that she racially harassed a London policeman, told the court why she had been “triggered” by him and a taxi driver.

Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr arrives at Kingston Crown Court where she is charged with alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, in London, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.

‘Humiliated’ police officer denies engineering Kerr racial charge

The cop says he did not ignore the soccer star’s fears about her taxi driver and add to his own statement to get the accusation to stick.

  • Updated
London calling… IFM Investors CEO David Neal on one of his regular trips to the UK.

IFM lands British pension giant as its first overseas shareholder

Nest will take a significant stake in the fund manager that, so far, has been owned by Australia’s largest superannuation funds and manages $230 billion.

Bodycam footage played to a UK court showing Matildas star Sam Kerr in a London police station.

‘F---ing stupid and white’: Sam Kerr in the dock

Bodycam footage of an emotional Matildas captain, shown in court, has captured the moment she allegedly racially harassed a police officer.

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January

Heathrow Airport’s $28bn proposal for a third runway and fifth terminal has long been controversial.

The mega-airport everyone loves to hate is set to get a lot bigger

Heathrow is already four times the size of Sydney’s CBD, but the British government is ready to let a controversial expansion plan go through.

  • Updated
Nigel Bennett at the Barbican, London.

This star British gardener has big plans for Melbourne

Horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett is about to embark on his first project outside Britain – the Laak Boorndap garden in the new Melbourne Arts Precinct.

World leaders and survivors mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

110,000 shoes, 3800 suitcases, 2 tonnes of hair: the pain of Auschwitz

On the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation, a dwindling band of survivors was asked to keep the flame of memory burning in these dark times.

Jillian Broadbent, Macquarie director.

‘You would be tone-deaf’ to ignore Trump’s ESG backlash

Macquarie Group director Jillian Broadbent says companies need to be sensible about their push for greater diversity, particularly when faced with immediate challenges such as a cost of living crisis.

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Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

Stop ‘grotesque’ politicising of antisemitism: Dreyfus at Auschwitz

In Poland for a Holocaust remembrance service, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus took aim at those he says are politicising attacks on the Jewish community.

Sanjeev Gupta is fighting to save his global steel empire following the collapse of main financier Greensill Capital.

Gupta surprises Davos crowd with a rare appearance. Here’s why

The industrialist has been promising for years to repay creditors owed hundreds of millions. In an interview, he says he is “in the last furlong now”.

Sir Frank Lowy at his house in Tel Aviv.

International ‘dark forces’ at work in antisemitic attacks, Lowy warns

The Westfield founder says it’s hard to find another explanation for the suddenness and scale of the recent spate of incidents in Australia.

Argentinian president Javier Milei lays out his vision of geopolitics in Davos.

Argentina’s Milei tells West: Join Trump’s anti-woke alliance

The firebrand, chainsaw-wielding libertarian says a new axis is forming that wants to stamp out bloated bureaucracy and politically correct ideology.

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People in Davos following Mr Trump’s virtual speech.

Trump slams Europe, threatens ‘trillions’ in tariffs

The president lambasted Canada’s trade surplus with the US and also fired a verbal volley at the European Union’s restrictions on his country.

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/hans-van-leeuwen-h159q1