Financial news

• The Guardian view on the junk food advertising ban: shaping tastes is a job for government | Editorial

  05-01-2026 20:04 via theguardian.com
  Weight-loss drugs cannot solve the problem of poor diet. Ministers are right to demand healthier food and promotionsAfter years of wrangling, from this week new rules shield children in the UK from junk food advertisements. Those featuring processed food and drink products in 13 categories – including soft drinks with added sugar, crisps, chocolate and sweets – are now banned online, and can only be shown on broadcast TV after 9pm. In a month already strongly associated with the givi
  
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• Grok AI still being used to digitally undress women and children despite suspension pledge

  05-01-2026 19:45 via theguardian.com
  Degrading pictures being posted on Elon Musk’s site despite the platform pledging to suspend people who generate themDegrading images of children and women with their clothes digitally removed by Grok AI continue to be shared on Elon Musk’s X, despite the platform’s commitment to suspend users who generate them.After days of concern over use of the chatbot to alter photographs to create sexualised pictures of real women and children stripped to their underwear without their con
  
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• Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop near collapse, putting 2,550 jobs at risk

  05-01-2026 19:18 via theguardian.com
  Owner Modella starts insolvency proceedings for both chains, saying trading is ‘extremely challenging’The retailers Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop are on the brink of administration, putting 2,550 jobs at risk.Both chains are owned by Modella Capital, a private equity firm, which recently bought the high street arm of WH Smith – renamed TG Jones. Modella said in a statement that the climate on UK high streets was “extremely challenging” and data sugges
  
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• Crude appeal: why Trump wants Venezuela’s oil – podcast

  05-01-2026 18:57 via theguardian.com
  The US capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday left many people wondering why? Donald Trump hinted at an answer when he claimed the Venezuelan regime had stolen US oil rights and that American oil companies would help to run Venezuela going forward.Jillian Ambrose, the Guardian energy correspondent, explains to Ian Sample the appeal of Venezuelan oil to the US, how easy it is to extract and what the latest action tells us about Trump’s energy strategyClips:
  
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• Novo Nordisk launches Wegovy weight-loss pill in US, triggering price war

  05-01-2026 17:33 via theguardian.com
  First and only GLP-1 pill on the market costs significantly less than injectable versionsThe first pill version of the blockbuster GLP-1 weight loss drugs has been launched in the US by Novo Nordisk at a lower cost than jab varieties, accelerating a price war in the sector.The Danish pharmaceutical company said on Monday that its once-a-day Wegovy pill, which received approval from the US regulator just before Christmas, was now available in the country. Continue reading...
  
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• Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries

  05-01-2026 17:27 via theguardian.com
  South American nation’s tar-like oil is what many Gulf coast facilities were built for but ramping up production to 3m barrels a day will be a long gameClustered along the US Gulf coast are some of the largest and most complex heavy-oil refineries in the world. These sprawling industrial hubs, owned by major US oil companies, stand ready to emerge as some of the major victors of Donald Trump’s swoop on Venezuela.In some ways, these refineries are a relic of another time; built to pro
  
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• Prax Lindsey oil refinery bought out of administration by US rival

  05-01-2026 16:24 via theguardian.com
  Insolvency Service says 250 staff remaining at Lincolnshire site will be guaranteed jobs until the end of MarchBusiness live – latest updatesThe Prax Lindsey oil refinery in north Lincolnshire is to merge with a neighbouring former rival after the US energy company Phillips 66 bought the site, which collapsed into administration last summer.The US company plans to integrate the Prax operations with the nearby Humber refinery, which it already owns. It said it would not restart “stand
  
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• US energy stocks rise as Trump vows to unlock Venezuela’s oil

  05-01-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Oil price rises despite fears US president’s pledge could deepen global supply glutBig oil will be wary of rushing back to VenezuelaVenezuela crisis – latest updatesUS energy stocks rose on Monday, briefly hitting an all-time high, after Donald Trump promised to unlock Venezuela’s vast crude oil reserves following the US capture of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.Shares in Chevron, which already operates in Venezuela under a special licence provided by the
  
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• Aldi reports record Christmas sales after shoppers moved to cut festive grocery bills

  05-01-2026 11:16 via theguardian.com
  UK’s fourth-largest supermarket’s sales rose 3% with 5.5m bottles of fizz and 500,000 turkeys soldBusiness live – latest updatesAldi has reported record Christmas sales as cost-conscious shoppers aimed to cut their festive grocery spending.The UK arm of the German discounter said sales rose by 3% year-on-year in the four weeks to 24 December to £1.65bn, with a 5% surge of £500m in the final week. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Our minerals could be used to annex us’: why Canada doesn’t want US mining

  05-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Opposition to a controversial graphite mine in Quebec strengthened once the Pentagon became involvedThe Outaouais region on the western edge of Quebec is home to thousands of lakes, vast forests and extensive wetlands. It is also the setting of a swathe of wooded land known as La Petite-Nation, which, although not far from the cities of Montreal and Ottawa, remains relatively untouched.That, however, is to change with the arrival of a controversial graphite mine with financing from the Pentagon.
  
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• From tourism to wine, Syrian businesses flounder in post-Assad cultural flux

  05-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Shop owners report fewer travellers while bars and wineries hope for legal clarity on alcohol saleAbu Ali spent the first hours after the toppling of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad boxing up his merchandise. Old-regime bumper stickers, mugs with Assad’s face, T-shirts on which Russian and Syrian flags faded into each other – it all had to go.A year later, the weathered tourist shop on the boardwalk of the Syrian coastal city of Tartous has entirely new products. The shelves are
  
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• Are UK buy-to-let landlords dying out – and should we care?

  05-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Higher taxes and tougher regulations have led to the disappearance of tens of thousands of rental propertiesAs a buy-to-let landlord of 15 years, Neil France had a feeling things were about to get worse for him and his sector.“You’ll never lose votes for hammering a landlord. That’s the reality,” France, 68, said. “It used to be estate agents and bankers; now it’s landlords.” Continue reading...
  
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• HMRC insists I am dead. How do I convince it I’m not?

  05-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It allocated my NI number to a stranger who has died, and will not process my pension top-up request as a resultHM Revenue and Customs allocated my national insurance (NI) number to a stranger who has since died. It therefore now insists that I am dead and so will not process my pension top-up request.I’ve had this number since 1991 when I moved to the UK for six years to work. Continue reading...
  
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• Ban on TV junk food advertising before 9pm comes into force in UK

  05-01-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Watchdog will also monitor online ban for high fat and sugar products as part of wider effort to tackle childhood obesityA ban on junk food advertising on TV before 9pm and a total ban online has come into force as the government attempts to tackle the childhood obesity crisis.Under the rules, which will be enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) 13 categories of products can no longer be advertised on TV before the watershed or at any time online. The banned products are high in f
  
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• Collapse of ‘zombie’ UK firms forecast to fuel unemployment in 2026

  05-01-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Businesses being hit by rising cost of interest rates, energy costs and wages, says Resolution FoundationThe UK is poised for a rise in unemployment in 2026 fuelled by the collapse of “zombie” companies that have struggled to adapt to a rise in business costs, according to a report.At the start of what could be a pivotal year for the economy, the Resolution Foundation said businesses were grappling with a “triple whammy” of multiyear increases in interest rates, energy pr
  
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