From Sir Mike Rake, John Dixon and Martin Wheatley’s shock departures to Apple Pay: Here’s what got us talking this week

There was some golf. There was cheese (with our burgers) in London. And throughout the country's railway stations, there was a quiz that got us scratching our heads. 

 

 

Fresh from Antony Jenkins' sacking last week, this week it was the turn of Sir Mike Rake's surprise exit to be revealed – a little earlier than Barclays press team would have liked.  The move suggested to us and others that John “Mack the Knife” McFarlane was on a roll. Barclays bankers beware. 

 

It's not just Barclays that lost its head. Marks & Spencer's clothing boss John Dixon is also out the door, a surprise exit that leaves the struggling retailer with not one but two headaches to overcome.

 

But it was the departure of FCA boss Martin Wheatley that really got us talking, not least when it transpired he'd been ousted by chancellor George Osborne. Still, when we looked back at all the bungles and blunders, the move suddenly made sense.  

 

 

We'd like to think we were more Mary Poppins (“sweet, responsible drinkers”) or even a Hemingway (“can drink hells any amount of whiskey without getting drunk) but almost a quarter of us are Mr Hydes (“less responsible, less intellectual and more hostile”). Sound familiar? If not, that'll just be the blackouts. 

 

 

Will it change your life? Almost certainly not. But it might at least make your commute a bit smoother. That is, unless your battery runs out mid-journey in which case it turns out you could be fined.  But is there any point trying to resist? Again, almost certainly not.

 

 

At the very least it got its bridge loan sorted. George Osborne started the week by saying absolutely, categorically, there was no way the UK would be footing the bill. But, of course, he backtracked on the proviso the UK's cash will be returned. And while there was some relief in the markets and among some of the negotiators, it seemed that in general, everyone everywhere (including more than half of Germany, most of Twitter, German finance minister Wolfgang Shaeuble and all of Greece) was unhappy.

 

 

On the week the Trade Union Bill was introduced to parliament, the transport unions flexed their muscles yet again, reuniting all too soon over the soon-to-launch Night Tube. The action has been roundly condemned by business groups claiming it could cost London's economy millions more. 

 

Experts have warned that these new rules would run the risk of inflaming industrial relations and we discovered that the number of days lost to strike action have doubled in the last two years.

 

 

This week the world's leading powers agreed a historic deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, which led to the unusual scenario of David Cameron and Barack Obama agreeing on something with Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad. But there were much wider repercussions for the whole world.  

 

This piece explores the impact it could have on the oil sector, while this piece looks back at how sanctions have affected Iran over the years.

 

Feel obliged to shop ethically to avoid sweatshops and child labour? Perhaps uo shouldn't. This Huffington Post article examines the myth of the ethical shopper.

 

The old saying goes that money can't buy you happiness, but in Silicon Valley they're not taking no for an answer. This article on SF Weekly looks at the rising trend of tech workers turning to mystics for advice.  

 

Lastly, if you're a lover of Pixar films, you might have noticed the animation studio appears to have a fixation with work. This article from The Awl considers its obsession with our corporate life and how it has turned it into highly lucrative entertainment. 

 

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