Tuesday newspaper round-up: Russian sanctions, energy prices, Shell scandal

Theresa May threw her weight behind efforts to impose sanctions on Russia over its backing for President Assad last night in the face of European opposition. Her intervention will dismay European allies, who were resisting plans set out by Boris Johnson for sanctions against Russian military officials. - The Times

Britain’s retailers suffered a third consecutive month of falling sales in March, according to industry figures that add to evidence that a post-referendum rise in living costs is denting consumer spending. In advance of official inflation figures on Tuesday, expected to confirm sharper price rises in the shops, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said takings were down 1% compared with March last year. - Guardian

UK energy suppliers have shouldered the highest wholesale market costs in two years and face further cost hikes ahead alongside a political crackdown on rising bills. The energy sector is braced for a political blow as the Government mulls stepping in to cap prices after a flurry of energy tariff increases from some of the largest suppliers raised prices for millions of households. - Telegraph

Britain generated more electricity from wind farms in the first three months of this year than ever before, as “exceptionally windy” weather boosted output, analysis suggests. More than 11.3 terawatt-hours of electricity were produced in the first quarter, accounting for an estimated 14 per cent of the generation mix, according to Enappsys, the energy data analysts. - The Times

British banks and finance firms should still be able to access EU markets after Brexit as long as regulators are prepared to cooperate with each other, preventing a cliff-edge collapse in cross-border trading, an advisory body has said. Global rules are already in place and should be used as a template by the UK and EU authorities to avoid shutting London’s financiers off from the Continent, the City of London Corporation’s International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG) has urged. - Telegraph

Shell was last night accused of taking part in 'one of the worst corruption scandals the industry has ever seen' after buying an oil field in Nigeria. The Anglo-Dutch giant joined forces with Italian rival Eni to acquire the site off the coast of the West African country for £1billion – giving it access to 9bn barrels of oil, worth nearly half a trillion dollars at today's prices. - Mail

The cost of renting office space in the skyscrapers of Sydney and Melbourne is rising faster than in any other major global city, as a lack of space and the disruption of a new rail line push up charges. Knight Frank, the estate agent, said that the cost of renting space in the upper floors of skyscrapers in Melbourne had risen by 11 per cent in the six months to the end of last year, while those in Sydney had risen 10.1 per cent. - The Times

Tesco's offer of compensation to investors who claim they lost out in its £326m accounting scandal is just a 'drop in the ocean', according to lawyers. Southwark Crown Court yesterday approved a £129m fine imposed by the Serious Fraud Office, under a deferred prosecution agreement, but the grocer still faces a civil lawsuit for hundreds of millions of pounds from investors. - Mail

One of world’s biggest miners has called for a cut in corporate tax rates in Australia and the United States, warning that it might otherwise have to cut investment and jobs. Rio Tinto paid $4 billion in taxes and mining royalties last year, $2.9 billion in Australia. - The Times

Talktalk has won an appeal against the pricing of BT’s high-speed internet access for businesses. Yesterday the Competition and Markets Authority ruled that Ofcom had made an error in the methodology it used for calculating the price for “dark fibre” access and told the regulator to amend its pricing models, a move that will almost certainly cut prices. - The Times

The giant food business behind Canada’s Tim Hortons doughnut and coffee chain will open the brand’s first UK site as part of a planned year-long roll-out. Glasgow’s Argyle Street will host the first UK Tim Hortons site later this spring with a nationwide expansion in the next 12 months for the business, which claims to serve eight out of every 10 cups of coffee in Canada. - Telegraph