Category Archives: Business

Bank of England raises interest rates to 4%, the first increase for more than three years

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Base rate increases from 3.75% and Bank governor signals another rise in near future to combat rising inflation

The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the first time in three years and warned of another increase to combat inflationary pressure unleashed by the Iran war.

Eight members of the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted for the rise, which takes the base rate from 3.75% to 4%. The ninth member, Catherine Mann, preferred a more dramatic half-point increase.

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Burnham says US midterm results have created ‘opportunity’ for world to focus on cost of living and ending Iran war – UK politics live

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‘I think people want to see the world coming together and focusing on the things that matter to people,’ PM says

Louise Haigh starts by saying she is standing in for Andy Burnham.

She says this weekend the whole country will fall silent to mark Remembrance Sunday.

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US stocks rise, dollar slides as investors digest Democrats’ midterm victories

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Government bond yields fall while initial fears ease over impact of election results on world’s biggest economy

US stocks have surged as investors digest the Democrats’ victories in the midterm elections, lifted by hopes that Donald Trump’s turbulent policymaking would be restrained and shaking off initial fears about the impact on growth in the world’s largest economy.

The Dow Jones rose 2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 gained more than 1% each, turning around overnight falls in US stock futures after the news that the Democratic party won control of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

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CVS Health to split pharmacy chain from health insurance

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CVS Pharmacy will be separate from CVS Health, housing major insurer Aetna and benefits manager Caremark

CVS Health, the largest US healthcare conglomerate valued at $117bn, has announced its plans split off its pharmacy chain from its health insurance and benefits businesses, ending an era in which healthcare companies grew into vast conglomerates.

In their announcement on Wednesday, CVS Health said they will split off its 9,000 pharmacies, in-store clinics and mail order prescription business into a business named CVS Pharmacy.

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Choice Shonky awards 2026: From ticket sellers and Virgin flight credits to a 25-hour laundry cycle

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Australia’s worst products and services for the year have been named by consumer advocacy group Choice

Concert tickets that surge to $1,650, an airline pocketing $75m of unused flight credits and a washer/dryer cycle that takes 25 hours have all made the dishonour roll in consumer advocacy group Choice’s annual Shonky awards.

Now in their 21st year, the Shonkys spotlight Australia’s worst products and services as decided by Choice.

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Oil price falls amid hope of a breakthrough to end Iran war

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Brent crude drops by more than 6% to $105.55 a barrel, the lowest level in more than two weeks

The oil price has fallen to its lowest level in more two weeks amid new hopes of a breakthrough to end the Iran war.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped by more than 6.5% to as low as $105.55 a barrel on Monday, the lowest since 16 October, sending shares in airline companies higher and pushing down government borrowing costs.

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Shop fridges and freezers across Europe hit by fresh suspected cyber-attack

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Chains in seven countries say cooling unit temperatures rose overnight in incident similar to hack of French shops

Supermarket chains in at least seven European countries have said the temperatures of refrigerators and freezers in some of their shops soared overnight to as high as 50C (122F), echoing a cyber-attack last month that caused millions of euros of damage in France.

Retailers in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden reported problems with their refrigeration systems on Monday, and several companies confirmed they had been hacked.

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Ryanair faces clash with unions as it mulls pay freezes amid soaring fuel costs

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Airline also weighs up reducing crew on flights and increasing use of AI as part of cost-cutting measures

Ryanair has said it is considering implementing pay freezes, setting the scene for a confrontation with unions as the airline tries to offset soaring fuel costs driven by the Middle East conflict.

The airline is also considering reducing crew numbers on flights and increasing the use of AI, in a cost-cutting drive.

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High street ‘slot farms’ could avoid budget tax rise through bingo hall loophole

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Hundreds of adult gaming centres in England have bingo licences that still qualify them for discounted business rates

Hundreds of high street “slot farms” could continue claiming a discount on their business rates, unless the government closes a loophole that allows them to pose as bingo halls.

John Healey singled out adult gaming centres (AGCs) in his first budget this week, in which he increased duty on slot machine takings from 20% to 25%, claiming he was “raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street”.

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Avanti West Coast paid out £20m in ‘delay repay’ passenger refunds this summer

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Intercity train operator’s compensation bill likely to top £70m this financial year amid rise in claims across network

Avanti West Coast paid out more than £20m to passengers in just three months this summer in refunds for disrupted journeys on Britain’s main intercity rail network.

The intercity operator paid out almost as much in a four-week period to 25 July – £9.3m – as its annual profits for each of the past two years. It repaid a further £12.2m in the subsequent eight weeks.

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Seven oil tankers carrying 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel sail towards US

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Tankers, tracked by Greenpeace, are first phase of Trump-Putin deal – but there is uncertainty over whether they will unload

Seven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel are now sailing towards the US, though it is uncertain if the vessels will be able to unload amid a political row about the legality of the shipments.

The transport, tracked by the pressure group Greenpeace, is the first phase of a contentious supply deal negotiated between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this month, reversing years of sanctions on Russia oil.

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Europe’s central bank chief, Christine Lagarde, steps down for ‘freedom of speech’

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Possible candidate to run World Economic Forum departs ECB nine months early, saying she wants to speak her mind about world affairs

Christine Lagarde, the eurozone’s top central banker, has said she is stepping down nine months early to speak her mind about world affairs and confront the “misrepresentation of the truth”.

Ending months of speculation about her future at the European Central Bank, Lagarde said she would quit her role as president in March rather than October next year because the rules of neutrality that governed her job prevented her from influencing debate about financial and economics affairs.

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Utah files criminal charges against prediction market Kalshi and company co-founders

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Firm calls charges, which include violating state gambling ban and profiting from illegal activity, ‘crazy overreach’

Utah on Wednesday filed criminal charges against prediction market operator Kalshi and two of its executives, months after a federal judge rejected Kalshi’s effort to prevent Utah from enforcing its strict anti-gambling laws against the activity.

The felony charges could represent a new tactic in how states try to assert regulatory authority over the fast-expanding activity, a clash that appears headed to a showdown at the US supreme court.

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Budget 2026: £100 energy payment for millions and rise in bank tax as watchdog warns on stalling living standards – as it happened

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OBR says that living standards are forecast to rise by just 1% over the whole post-Covid decade

Martin Lewis said that, when he met John Healey this morning, the chancellor said that, having removed standing charges from gas bills, he would also like to get rid of them from electricity bills. Lewis said:

The chancellor said he will be talking to Ofgem about how they get rid of the charge on electricity as well, but that is ‘trickier’ apparently and will take longer.

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Trump says government to ‘terminate’ Biden-era methane emissions rules

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Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions

Donald Trump said his administration is “terminating” Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators. The change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210m barrels of oil, he said, which is equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption.

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Give UK workers right to know colleagues’ pay to prevent disparities, says watchdog

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EHRC says transparency needed to prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women

Workers should have a legal right to know their colleagues’ pay to help prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women, the UK’s human rights watchdog has said.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) made the recommendation in response to government proposals to overhaul equal pay laws, saying workers deserved a right to transparency if they suspected other staff were being paid more for similar work.

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Chinese markets lose trillions as race for AI supremacy with US takes its toll

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Lack of profits and the threat posed by western countries are raising concern about the sustainability of Beijing’s AI boom

Trillions of dollars have been wiped from China’s stock markets in recent months amid increasing anxiety about the future of artificial intelligence, as Beijing races against the United States for dominance in the sector.

The STAR 50 Index, which tracks technology and innovation companies on the Shanghai stock exchange, has plunged 40% since June. Other indexes of major companies dropped by about 20% over the same time period.

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Massachusetts lesbian bar makes frantic effort to find new owners after relaxing masking policy

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Last Ditch bar announced it would ‘soft close’ after it went viral following a story on its attempt to relax Covid rules

A Massachusetts lesbian bar that went viral for loosening its Covid mask policy last month announced plans to “soft close” on Monday as it seeks new ownership.

The Last Ditch bar, in the small city of Greenfield, said in an Instagram post that it was searching for co-owners, new owners or a full sale, and that it would “soft close effective immediately”, with “only booked events” continuing while it closes this winter. It had opened just last year as a bar for “dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends”.

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iPhone Duo owners report cracks in Apple’s first foldable handset

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Company says small number of devices affected by display glitch after posts appear on Reddit and social media

Owners of the new foldable iPhone are reporting cracks in the device’s screen, as Apple confirmed an issue with a “small number” of units.

Reports of cracks have emerged on Reddit and social media platforms since the handset went on general sale globally on Friday. Experts said there had been too few examples to determine whether there was a more serious problem with Apple’s first foldable device, which retails from $1,999 (£1,499).

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Audi boss under fire in Germany for Trump rally appearance

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Gernot Döllner criticised for in-person announcement of major investment in US days before midterm elections

The head of the luxury carmaker Audi is under fire in Germany for appearing at a rally with Donald Trump just days before the US midterm elections, to announce billions of dollars of investment in battleground state Georgia.

Gernot Döllner joined Trump on stage after the US president gave a speech criticised by the head of an elected body of employees at Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen, as being full of “racism, sexism, transphobia [and] contempt for democracy”.

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