Financial news

• Bitcoin Cash price SKYROCKETS over 50% in a week as crypto expert issues VITAL warning

  21-04-2018 04:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN Cash’s price has skyrocketed over 50 per cent in a week as a cryptocurrency expert issued the virtual money with a market warning that could see its values decline in the future, it has emerged.
  
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• UK credit card borrowing rises at fastest annual rate in almost two years

  06-01-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Bank of England says individuals borrowed extra £2.1bn in consumer credit in NovemberCredit card borrowing rose at the fastest annual rate for almost two years in November, according to the Bank of England, as households took on debt to finance the rising cost of Christmas.In a snapshot covering the month of Rachel Reeves’s highly anticipated autumn budget, the central bank said individuals borrowed an additional £2.1bn in consumer credit, up from a £1.7bn increase in Oct
  
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• UK car sales top 2m in 2025 as Chinese brands boom

  06-01-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Electric car sales rose by nearly a quarter to a record 473,000, or 23.4% of the overall market, says SMMTA rise in the popularity of Chinese brands pushed total car sales in the UK above the 2m mark last year for the first time since 2019, figures reveal.Chinese companies accounted for 9.7% of the 2m new car registrations in the UK in 2025, or 196,000 vehicles, according to preliminary figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. That was nearly double the
  
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• 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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• Increase tax-free Personal Allowance to £18,570 with HMRC loophole

  04-01-2026 21:51 via express.co.uk
  Your Personal Allowance could be increased to £18,570 with an HMRC loophole.
  
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• State pensioners issued warning over £10,000 savings limit

  04-01-2026 19:38 via express.co.uk
  State pensioners will start to lose a key benefit if they have more than £10,000 in savings.
  
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• British Gas hands £2,000 to state pensioners this winter

  04-01-2026 18:00 via express.co.uk
  State pensioners in need can get up to £2,000 for their energy bills debt, as can others in need of a helping hand.
  
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• Starmer says closer ties with EU single market preferable to a customs union

  04-01-2026 17:05 via theguardian.com
  Prime minister gives clearest sign yet that government is seeking to further deepen Britain’s links with BrusselsCloser ties with the EU single market are preferable to a customs union, Keir Starmer has said, in his clearest sign yet that the government is seeking to further deepen links with Brussels.The prime minister said the UK should consider “even closer alignment” with the single market. “If it’s in our national interest … then we should consider that,
  
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• HMRC explains tax rules if you are selling unwanted Christmas presents

  04-01-2026 17:02 via express.co.uk
  There are several tax rules to consider when selling items online
  
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• HSBC becomes first big UK lender to cut its mortgage rates in 2026

  04-01-2026 16:54 via theguardian.com
  Reduction follows Bank of England’s base cut in December, with further cuts expected this yearHSBC has become the first major lender to cut mortgage rates this year, a move that could spark a price war over the coming months.The banking group, which is one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders, has cut rates across a range of residential and landlord buy-to-let mortgage products. The new rates come into effect on Monday. Continue reading...
  
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• HMRC issues tax update over payslip change

  04-01-2026 16:10 via express.co.uk
  You can check what your tax code is through several ways
  
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• Battery electric cars will overtake diesels in Great Britain by 2030, analysis suggests

  04-01-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  London predicted to be the first UK city to go diesel-free, largely because of the ultra-low emission zoneBattery electric cars are poised to overtake diesels on Great Britain’s roads by 2030, according to analysis that suggests London will be the first UK city to go diesel-free.The number of diesel cars on Great Britain’s roads in June had fallen to 9.9m in June last year, 21% below its peak of 12.4m vehicles, according to analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank focused on the trans
  
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• World ‘may not have time’ to prepare for AI safety risks, says leading researcher

  04-01-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  AI safety expert David Dalrymple said rapid advances could outpace efforts to control powerful systemsThe world “may not have time” to prepare for the safety risks posed by cutting-edge AI systems, according to a leading figure at the UK government’s scientific research agency.David Dalrymple, a programme director and AI safety expert at the Aria agency, told the Guardian people should be concerned about the growing capability of the technology. Continue reading...
  
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• Households handed £300 vouchers to spend in 9 supermarkets from January

  04-01-2026 14:55 via express.co.uk
  Eligible households can get up to £300 to help with essential living costs.
  
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• State pensioners urged to make phone call for £150 boost in January

  04-01-2026 14:05 via express.co.uk
  Eligible pensioners can get a one-off boost this winter.
  
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• The cost of AI slop could cause a rethink that shakes the global economy in 2026

  04-01-2026 13:18 via theguardian.com
  Revenues may be rising rapidly, but not by nearly enough to cover the wild levels of investment under wayThe US dictionary Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2025 was “slop”, which it defines as “digital content of low quality that is produced, usually in quantity, by means of artificial intelligence”. The choice underlined the fact that while AI is being widely embraced, not least by corporate bosses keen to cut payroll costs, its downsides are also becoming ob
  
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