Retailer says underwear that could become male equivalent of push-up bra is intended to ‘help men feel their most confident’
For men who lament the decline of the codpiece, or who lack confidence at the office when their pants are not pushing up their genitals all day, Marks & Spencer is riding to the rescue.
The retailer, the UK market leader in selling underwear, has launched what could be considered the male equivalent of the push-up bra.
Continue reading...Dutch-controlled company informs customers about suspension but is said to want to de-escalate trade war
Nexperia, the EU-based automotive chipmaker at the centre of a geopolitical dispute, has suspended supplies to its Chinese factory, stepping up a trade war that threatens to halt production at carmakers around the world.
The company wrote to customers this week informing them all supplies to a Chinese plant had been suspended.
Continue reading...Bank says it alerted US of ‘suspicious’ transactions just weeks after paedophile was found dead in New York jail cell
JP Morgan warned the US government about more than $1bn in transactions linked to Jeffrey Epstein that were possibly related to reports of human trafficking, new documents confirm.
The largest bank in the US filed a suspicious activity report (SAR) in 2019, just weeks after Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell, about transactions linked to the paedophile financier and prominent business figures. It also flagged wire transfers made by Epstein to Russian banks.
Continue reading...Exclusive: No cyber-attack assistance cash has gone into carmaker’s accounts or to struggling suppliers
Jaguar Land Rover has not drawn down any of a £1.5bn loan facility guaranteed by the government, with suppliers expressing anger over ministers’ claims to have supported the carmaker’s supply chain after a crippling hack.
Britain’s biggest automotive employer was forced to shut down all of its wholly owned factories from 1 September for more than a month, after cyber-attackers compromised key computer systems.
Continue reading...UK rail regulator approves Richard Branson firm’s application to use Temple Mills site in London
Richard Branson’s train company is a step closer to challenging Eurostar’s monopoly on transporting passengers across the Channel after the UK rail regulator approved Virgin Train’s application to use a key depot in east London.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) approved Virgin’s application to use the Temple Mills depot in Leyton – which is used for maintaining and storing trains. It said the move would unlock £700m of investment in new services and create 400 jobs.
Continue reading...Tech giant reports earnings of $3.72 per share day after deal with OpenAI pushed value of company to more than $4tn
Microsoft blew off concerns of overspending on AI on Wednesday, reporting elevated earnings even as it faced an outage of its cloud computing service, Azure, and its office software suite, 365. The strong earnings report comes a day after a deal with OpenAI pushed the value of tech giant to more than $4tn.
After its Xbox and investor relations pages went down, the company issued a statement that said: “We are working to address an issue affecting Azure Front Door that is impacting the availability of some services.”
Continue reading...Tech company brings in record quarterly revenue but major tax bill dampens earnings per share
Meta reported mixed financial results for the third quarter of 2025. The company brought in record quarterly revenue but reported a major tax bill that dampened earnings per share, the company announced on Wednesday. The financial results come as Meta ends a multibillion-dollar hiring spree focused on artificial intelligence talent.
The tech giant earned $51.24bn in quarterly revenue, beating Wall Street expectations and the company’s own projections for third-quarter sales. However, it reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, far below Wall Street expectations of $6.70 in EPS. The major drop was due to a one-time non-cash income tax charge of $15.93bn. The EPS would have been $7.25 without this one-time charge, the company said.
Continue reading...Strong demand for ads and cloud services powered tech giant’s growth as it makes multibillion-dollar AI investment
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, displayed steady growth in its core advertising business and cloud computing division as it reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street estimates as it reported its first quarter of $100bn in revenue.
The company thrilled Wall Street – shares rose in after-hours trading – even as it announced that it would spend billions more than previously predicted. Alphabet raised its capital expenditure guidance in financial filings, declaring it would spend between $91bn and $93bn in the upcoming year, nearly all of it on infrastructure like datacenters to support artificial intelligence products, which are becoming an integral part of the company’s business. That estimate is up from an original declaration of $75bn in February and a revised figure of $85bn announced in July.
Continue reading...Central bank sets rates at range between 3.75% and 4% amid turbulence from government shutdown and Trump’s tariffs
The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, the second rate cut this year amid economic turbulence from the federal government shutdown and Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The decision to cut the Fed’s benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4% comes at an extraordinary moment for the central bank. The Fed has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to cut rates despite persistent inflation.
Continue reading...Shares jump on higher profits as Emma Walmsley is ‘hopeful’ standoff with NHS can be resolved
GSK’s outgoing chief executive, Emma Walmsley, has said Britain will struggle to be a “life sciences superpower” unless it overhauls drug pricing.
As ministers draw up proposals to increase the amount the NHS spends on new medicines by up to 25%, Walmsley said she was “hopeful and ambitious” that the standoff with the pharma industry could be resolved.
Continue reading...High on agenda for the leaders of the US and China will be rare earths and tariffs, with a chance of a relationship reset
Ahead of Thursday’s long-awaited first meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping since the US president’s return to office, officials from both sides have been hammering out the contours of what a trade deal between Washington and Beijing might look like, an agreement that could bring an end to months of global economic chaos caused by the US-China trade war.
The two leaders have not met in person since 2019. Since then, the war in Ukraine and increasing concern in Washington about China’s technological advances, as well as longstanding issues about the imbalanced US-China trade relationship, have strained the bonds between the two superpowers.
Continue reading...Move into budget market could involve creating new brand in-house or buying virtual network operator
BT is reportedly considering the launch of new a low-cost mobile brand, as the telecoms group explores ways to compete with new rivals in the market including the fintech companies Revolut and Monzo.
The group is exploring options to enter the budget market, which could involve creating a new brand in-house or buying an existing virtual network operator, according to the Financial Times.
Continue reading...Consultation over future pathway with employees as smelter struggles with high power prices
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Rio Tinto says it is contemplating ceasing operations at its New South Wales-based Tomago aluminium smelter at the end of its current electricity supply contract.
The Tomago aluminium smelter, Australia’s largest, had been struggling with high power prices. It had started a consultation process with employees on the potential future of its operations, but was yet to reach a decision and is weighing a possible closure.
Continue reading...Oil firm asks court to block enforcement of laws that would require disclosure of planet-heating carbon emissions
Exxon, an oil firm consistently ranked among the world’s top contributors to global carbon emissions, is suing the state of California over two climate-focused state laws, arguing that the rules infringe upon the corporation’s right to free speech.
The 2023 laws, known collectively as the California Climate Accountability Package, will require large companies doing business in the state to disclose both their planet-heating carbon emissions and their climate-related financial risks, or face annual penalties.
Continue reading...Nearly three-month strike includes 3,200 machinists at plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed
Boeing workers at three midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed voted Sunday to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago.
The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in Mascoutah, Illinois, and the Missouri cities of St Louis and St Charles is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners but threatens to complicate the aerospace company’s progress in regaining its financial footing.
Continue reading...Analysts say president’s war on Russia’s fossil fuel revenues is a chance to bring peace to Ukraine and profit to US
Donald Trump’s stated mission to broker peace in Ukraine could come down to this simple question: can the US president convince the world to stop buying Russia’s fossil fuels?
Last week, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to damage Moscow’s ability to fund its war machine.
Continue reading...Argentina is counting the cost of its turn to Javier Milei. Politicians from Donald Trump to Giorgia Meloni and Nigel Farage will be closely watching what happens next
“Cambio, cambio.” Under the blazing sun, dozens of money changers are hawking US dollars along Florida Street, a bustling pedestrian strip in Buenos Aires. Known as arbolitos (“little trees”), they are thriving ahead of the 26 October midterm elections in a country long used to saving in the greenback.
“The best time to buy is now,” says one arbolito, declining to give her name. “[The dollar] went down a little but it is a fake-out – it’ll rise again.”
Continue reading...Increase was largely driven by a 4.1% increase in gasoline prices despite Trump’s campaign pledge to ‘end inflation’
Prices continued to rise in September, increasing at an annual rate of 3%, according to the latest government inflation report.
The September 2025 consumer price index (CPI) was published approximately two weeks later than usual due to the federal government shutdown, which halted all Bureau of Labor Statistics operations.
Continue reading...CEO says fiscal discipline should be balanced with ‘policies that create stability, consistency and support growth’
NatWest Group’s chief executive has warned the government against increasing taxes on banks in the autumn budget as the high street lender reported a 30% jump in profits.
Paul Thwaite said he understood the “difficult choices” that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had to make in order to help close a potential £30bn shortfall in the public finances but argued she needed to “balance fiscal discipline” with “policies that create stability, consistency and support growth”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: In the year they announced record profits, Britain’s arms maker has revoked licence to fly for planes taking supplies of food to starving people in South Sudan, Somalia and DRC
Britain’s biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, has quietly scrapped support for a fleet of aircraft providing “life-saving” humanitarian aid to some of the world’s poorest countries.
The decision further reduces the distribution of vital aid to countries facing serious humanitarian crises, including South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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