Financial news

• BrewDog could be broken up as craft beer business put up for sale

  14-02-2026 21:58 via theguardian.com
  Brewer last month said it was closing its distilling brands, prompting concerns for jobs at its Scottish facilityThe beer-maker BrewDog could be broken up after consultants were called in to help find new investors.The Scotland-based brewer, which makes craft beer such as Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, has appointed consultants AlixPartners to oversee the sale process. Continue reading...
  
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• US military used Anthropic’s AI model Claude in Venezuela raid, report says

  14-02-2026 17:15 via theguardian.com
  Wall Street Journal says Claude used in operation via Anthropic’s partnership with Palantir TechnologiesClaude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was used by the US military during its operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal revealed on Saturday, a high-profile example of how the US defence department is using artificial intelligence in its operations.The US raid on Venezuela involved bombing across the capital, Caracas, and the killing of 83 pe
  
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• Record 1,000 UK taxpayers under 30 earned more than £1m last year

  14-02-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  HMRC figures show 11% rise in young million-pound earners, with influencers and tech pay cited as keyTheir generation is often derided for being work-shy, self-centred and overly sensitive. But when it comes to making money, people under 30 are proving they are something else entirely: successful.A record 1,000 taxpayers under 30 earned more than £1m last year, an 11% increase on the year before, HMRC records show. Continue reading...
  
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• Limited government shutdown likely to linger for at least 10 days as Congress takes break

  14-02-2026 15:57 via theguardian.com
  13% of federal civilian workforce is affected, although DHS – which spurred budget standoff – remains fundedA limited US government shutdown came into effect on Saturday – the third of Donald Trump’s second term – after negotiations between the White House and Democrats in Congress failed to agree on new restrictions for federal immigration agents.The shutdown affects about 13% of the federal civilian workforce and is confined to agencies under the umbrella of the D
  
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• Senior Reform UK figures attend launch of How to Launder Money book

  14-02-2026 15:33 via theguardian.com
  Co-author George Cottrell is close aide to party leader Nigel Farage and served several months in US prisonAs a choice for a book title, How to Launder Money certainly caught the eye. But then again, its co-author George Cottrell claims to know what he’s talking about.A close aide to Nigel Farage, Cottrell served several months in a US prison after being convicted there in 2017 for wire fraud – a chapter in his life he referred to at his book launch party on Thursday night. Continue
  
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• Starmer stresses ‘urgency’ of closer defence ties with Europe at Munich conference

  14-02-2026 13:17 via theguardian.com
  The UK prime minister says stronger security relies on greater cooperation and integration across the continentMunich Security Conference – live updatesKeir Starmer said there was an urgent need for a closer UK defence relationship with Europe, covering procurement and manufacturing, so that the UK would be at the centre of a stronger European defence setup.In a rare visit to the Munich Security Conference, the British prime minister told the audience, to applause, “we are 10 years o
  
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• UK migration could be negative this year – how will that hit the economy?

  14-02-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Universities, builders and health trusts are feeling the squeeze, as thinktank says effect of zero net migration could be similar to Brexit‘It’s been life-changing’: young Britons on why they left the UKWhen Greenwich and Kent universities said this month they would merge to save money, the heart of their financial difficulties could be found in the UK government’s crackdown on immigration.Tough restrictions on foreign students have sent the number of university applicati
  
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• Learn this from Bezos and the Washington Post: with hypercapitalists in charge, your news is not safe | Jane Martinson

  14-02-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  His shameful stewardship of a once great title highlights how much we lose when private interest eclipses the public goodNot long after being made Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999, Jeff Bezos told me: “They were not choosing me as much as they were choosing the internet, and me as a symbol.” A quarter of an increasingly dark century later, the Amazon founder is now a symbol of something else: how the ultra-rich can kill the news.Job cuts in an industry that has strugg
  
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• Pension annuity sales hit record as average pot exceeds £80,000

  14-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax changes encourage more people to invest in previously unloved product The government’s “inheritance tax raid” on pensions has helped drive sales of retirement annuities to new highs.Industry data this week revealed they enjoyed a “record-breaking” 2025, with sales growing by 4% to £7.4bn and the average amount invested in an annuity surpassing £80,000 for the first time. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘My husband burned down our house – then the bank threatened repossession’

  14-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A family struggled to rebuild their lives after an abusive marriage ended in tragedy and financial ruinFamily life ended for Francesca Onody on a late summer evening in 2022 when her abusive husband doused their cottage with petrol as police arrived to arrest him. She and her children escaped seconds before the building exploded. Her husband Malcolm Baker died in the blaze.That night, Onody lost her husband, her home, her pets and her possessions. Continue reading...
  
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• Race to find source of carcinogenic Pfas in Cumbria and Lancashire waters

  14-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: High levels of banned ‘forever chemical’ have been detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sitesA string of toxic pollution hotspots has been uncovered across Cumbria and Lancashire, with high levels of the banned cancer-causing “forever chemical” Pfos detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites.The contamination, spread across a large area, was uncovered by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian after a freedom of information request revealed high conce
  
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