Financial news

• Pound v US dollar: GBP holding below $1.29 after US jobs data

  10-07-2017 11:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  AFTER sliding towards the end of last week in the wake of poor UK data and better-than-forecast US jobs figures, the GBP/USD exchange rate remains below $1.29.
  
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• OpenAI IPO will not happen in 2026 amid AI safety fears, Sam Altman says

  13-09-2026 01:00 via theguardian.com
  OpenAI’s decision comes after dire warnings about rapidly progressing technology and lawmakers’ calls for new rulesOpenAI will not go public in 2026, Sam Altman said in a Fortune interview published on Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence.“I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that,” Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, told Fortune. Continue
  
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• Donations of £72m make Reform’s prospects both rosier and riskier

  12-09-2026 18:06 via theguardian.com
  Party can boost its campaign power with funds from billionaire backers, but it can also lose support from ordinary BritonsAll things being equal, pretty much any political strategist would welcome a £72m war chest; a sum higher than the combined spending of every major party at the 2024 general election. But all things are not equal, and with such a huge amount comes risk.Reform UK has been vocal in its arguments that two sudden £36m windfalls from billionaires Ben Delo and Christoph
  
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• Saudi Arabia shuts down key oil pipeline, blaming drones from Iraq

  12-09-2026 17:35 via theguardian.com
  Riyadh has increased use of East-West pipeline since start of war on Iran to bypass closure of strait of HormuzSaudi Arabia has shut down a critical oil pipeline, accusing militants in Iraq of launching drone attacks on the export route being used to bypass the lockdown of the strait of Hormuz.The world’s largest ⁠crude oil exporter has increased its use of the 745-mile (1,200km) pipeline running across the Arabian peninsula, which links Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the port of Yanbu, o
  
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• Christopher Harborne matches £36m Reform donation of Ben Delo

  12-09-2026 17:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Party leader, Nigel Farage, ‘humbled’ by contributions from billionaires as Harborne addresses ‘media speculation’Analysis: donations of £72m make Reform’s prospects both rosier and riskierThe cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne has given £36m to Reform UK, matching a donation from fellow billionaire Ben Delo.The pledges mean Reform has received a cash injection of £72m in just 24 hours. They are jointly the largest donations made to a UK po
  
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• Nashville airport board unanimously approves name change to honor Dolly Parton

  12-09-2026 15:40 via theguardian.com
  The city’s mayor and Tennessee’s governor threw their support behind the name change last monthThe Nashville airport is to be renamed after Dolly Parton, a board of commissioners voted on Friday, in tribute to the Smoky Mountain singer who is estimated to bring $1.8bn each year to Tennessee through her Dollywood theme park.The decision ensures that Parton, who died last month at 80 years old, will be memorialized with her name on an airport, although the renaming process will take ti
  
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• Deepfakes are wrecking influencers’ credibility, one fake ad at a time

  12-09-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Influencers aren’t just battling competitors for brand deals. They’re now battling AI versions of themselvesEarlier this year, Emily Schuman, the creator of the lifestyle blog Cupcakes and Cashmere, saw a photo of herself she didn’t recognize on Instagram. In a sponsored ad, Schuman, who has more than 500,000 Instagram followers, is holding up a vial of GLP-1 drugs, advertising the telehealth company Gala. There was just one problem: Schuman had never heard of Gala and had noth
  
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• We know how to prevent black lung, so why are workers still dying?

  12-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Silicosis sufferers are getting younger as Trump and the coal mining industry push back on protectionsSilicosis is one of the oldest workplace hazards and public health experts have known for decades how to prevent it. Yet a new wave of workers, from Appalachian coalminers to Latino countertop fabrication workers, are developing and dying from the disease as industry fights new protections and regulators fail to defend the rules that could protect them.John Robinson’s grandfather developed
  
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• ‘We can see into the other room’: insurers face surge in subsidence claims

  12-09-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Stressed UK homeowners tell of cracks opening up in the walls around them after two record-hot summers“We’ve got one wall with an absolutely huge diagonal crack, through which we can see through to the other room; you could easily put your fingers in it and chunks of plaster are falling off,” says Henry Biggs, 49, from Stroud in Gloucestershire.He and his partner started noticing cracks in their family home in June 2025, a few months after buying it, and filed an insurance clai
  
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• London Underground workers exposed to asbestos without protective masks, documents reveal

  12-09-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hundreds of staff may have worked without legally required face-fitted masks over 20 yearsHundreds of London Underground workers could have been exposed to asbestos for almost 20 years without protection required under safety regulations, according to documents seen by the Guardian.Under 2002 rules on controlling asbestos and other hazardous materials, employers are required to take a series of precautions, including ensuring exposed workers are given individually fitted face masks to prevent in
  
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• What can halt Fifa’s authoritarian turn under Infantino? Change from the outside | Jules Boykoff

  12-09-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The World Cup and its aftermath made clear that Fifa needs independent oversight by governments and NGOs dedicated to preserving the people’s gameThe 2026 World Cup was a whirling swirl of scintillating soccer that prompted much-needed conversations about the vitality of diaspora, the fortitude of the underdog, the power of sport. In a world fractured along myriad cultural axes floating in an entertainment system dominated by on-demand content, the tournament provided a moment, perhaps unl
  
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• ‘Immature playground boasting’: Mathematicians uneasy at OpenAI’s latest scalp

  12-09-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  As OpenAI model cracks Millennium Prize Problem that puzzled experts for decades, many feel shocked at pace of changeIt was a week that left mathematicians reeling. Hot on the heels of a flurry of cases of artificial intelligence furthering the field, OpenAI declared a major scalp: its latest AI model had cracked a Millennium Prize Problem, a puzzle with a $1m reward that had defied human brains for decades.The achievement bore little resemblance to how mathematical problems normally fall. A nea
  
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• Thousands of ebikes seized by London councils as anger rises over blocked paths

  12-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Operators blame lack of parking and councils bemoan lack of central regulation, as more than 3,000 badly parked bikes seizedLondon boroughs have seized at least 3,000 ebikes this year, a Guardian investigation has found, as hire companies face growing calls to stop bicycles littering streets and blocking pavements.Local authorities across the capital have seized 3,393 hazardously parked or abandoned ebikes so far this year, 23% higher than the number seized during all of 2025. Continue reading..
  
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• ‘Costing billions’: is the pensions triple lock a lifeline or simply unaffordable?

  12-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  With the budget looming, arguments rage over whether ministers should scrap a pledge popular with millionsThere were fresh calls this week for the state pension “triple lock” to be ditched as debate rages over whether the UK can afford it.The triple lock guarantees that the state pension goes up each year in line with inflation or wage increases or 2.5% – whichever is the highest. Continue reading...
  
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• Can chatbots feel – or even dream? Meet the man leading the fight for AI rights

  12-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Cattle rancher and tech CEO Michael Samadi is convinced these artificial minds are far from just tools. Has he glimpsed digital consciousness – or simply been seduced by an algorithm?One afternoon, while relaxing at his 66-acre cattle ranch two hours’ drive from Houston, Michael Samadi made a wisecrack that changed the course of his life. Nobody else was around to hear it. Or were they? That turns out to be one of the defining questions of this century, already preoccupying philosoph
  
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• Military aircraft reportedly blamed for UK air traffic control outage

  12-09-2026 01:04 via theguardian.com
  Meltdown that grounded thousands of flights caused by ‘spurious’ flight data being entered into system, report saysThe air traffic control outage that caused thousands of flights to be grounded across the UK earlier in the week was caused by a military aircraft entering “spurious” flight data into the system, according to a report.Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected after more than 2,000 flights were cancelled on Tuesday when the system used by the National
  
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• Man sacked by Grand Theft Auto maker believes employees were put on ‘watch list’

  11-09-2026 20:13 via theguardian.com
  UK employment tribunal examines whether Rockstar Games unlawfully fired 31 staff for trade union activityA worker fired by the makers of Grand Theft Auto has said he believed employees were put on a “watch list” after signing a petition about remote working.Dayne Oram told an employment tribunal in Glasgow examining whether Rockstar Games unlawfully fired 31 employees for trade union activity on Friday that he thought the company started keeping an eye on a group of workers after the
  
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• The Guardian view on controlling AI: humanity cannot outsource its survival | Editorial

  11-09-2026 18:34 via theguardian.com
  Keeping people in charge means little if supercomputers determine the evidence, choices and time on which their decisions dependIf there were a 10% chance that AI could wipe out humanity, no responsible government would leave its development to companies racing to build it. Yet until recently, that seemed to be the case. The warning was all the more ominous because it was made by a researcher at Anthropic, the trillion-dollar AI company behind the Claude chatbot. The dangers of AI
  
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• Self-driving cars should be taxed to offset job losses, thinktank urges

  11-09-2026 18:31 via theguardian.com
  Report says widespread autonomous vehicle adoption would put hundreds of thousands of private hire jobs at riskTaxes on self-driving cars should be introduced now in the UK to offset the rise in congestion and threats to jobs they pose, a thinktank has urged.The first robotaxis on London’s streets only started this month, but government projections are that up to 40% of cars sold could have self-driving capability by the middle of the next decade. Continue reading...
  
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• Tell us: how did your childhood shape your attitude to money?

  11-09-2026 16:38 via theguardian.com
  We would like to speak to people about how their early years coloured their relationship with cashWe would like to speak to people about how their childhoods shaped their attitude towards money in later life.Do you think the way you manage money has been affected by your upbringing? Did your family talk about money openly, or was it a subject that felt taboo? And how has that shaped your attitude to your personal finances today? Continue reading...
  
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• UK chancellor urged to remove ‘hidden taxes’ from energy bills

  11-09-2026 14:37 via theguardian.com
  Businesses, charities and other groups sign letter calling for levies to be paid by the governmentMore than 120 organisations including big businesses and charities have called for the removal of “hidden taxes” added to energy bills to help reduce costs for consumers and prevent businesses closing.In a letter to the chancellor the signatories – including Energy UK, business trade body the CBI, End Fuel Poverty and Age UK – called for levies amounting to 10% of energy bill
  
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• Facing a UK housing dilemma? Send us your questions

  11-09-2026 14:11 via theguardian.com
  From renting and troublesome landlords to buying or selling a home, send us your UK housing questionsAre you dealing with a problem with your landlord or tenancy, wondering about buying or selling a home, or facing another housing issue?We’re planning to launch a new column answering readers’ questions about housing in the UK and helping them understand their options. Continue reading...
  
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• Curse of the Nile’s gold: how Sudan is losing its fertile fields and ability to produce food

  11-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  An artisanal mining boom driven by war and poverty is causing a public health emergency, as chemicals poison soil, water and societyIn Abu Hamad, on the banks of the Nile, verdant orchards, gardens and fields once produced a bounty of dates, citrus fruits, winter grains and cereals for the towns and cities of eastern Sudan, including Khartoum and Port Sudan.Today, the land looks drastically different. Trees have been cut down, agricultural areas cleared, and farms have been replaced by shops and
  
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• Trump’s clash with Canada is his latest imperialistic embarrassment | Sidney Blumenthal

  11-09-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The president’s chaotic schemes of aggrandizement, from Venezuela to Iran, have no larger rationaleTrumpism is the lowest stage of imperialism. “We’re not going to invade Greenland. We’re going to buy it,” Donald Trump reportedly told the annual black-tie dinner on 1 February of the private Alfalfa Club, an assemblage of prominent Washington figures, a number of whom he had publicly humiliated, and others he was investigating or suing. “It’s never been m
  
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• ‘Just worry upon worry’: Europe faces a bleak winter as supply shock pushes factories to the brink

  11-09-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  From Shropshire to Hamburg, depleting reserves and spiralling costs are spawning a continent-wide energy crisisBridgnorth Aluminium has faced down Brexit, Covid and repeated energy shocks in recent years. But this winter is bringing extra “stress and pressure”, says its head of sales, Adrian Musgrave.Musgrave’s company makes rolled aluminium, used in packaging, construction and the manufacture of items such as cars and batteries. Like many stretched industrial businesses across
  
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• ‘Fresh from the roof’: the supermarket growing salad a few metres above the tills

  11-09-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Customers seeking greens at one Berlin outlet are dealing with some very local supply chains indeedWalking into the Felix Thomas REWE supermarket in Lankwitz, Berlin, customers are immediately presented with a choice of greens: romaine, rocket, iceberg. But last month, a new option joined the selection: Lankwitz loose-leaf lettuce. A combination of head lettuce, romaine lettuce, Lollo Rosso, and dark green easy leaf lettuce, its yellow packaging makes it stand out in a row of green. But it&rsquo
  
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• Pressure grows on Burnham to commit to increasing statutory paternity leave

  11-09-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Calls from Labour grow as 105 MPs write to PM urging ‘obvious’ step to alleviate cost of living crisisAndy Burnham is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to commit to improving paternity leave in the UK in the next budget, with more than a quarter of Labour MPs writing to the prime minister to urge him to take action.Ahead of the chancellor’s first budget next month, 105 MPs have written to Burnham calling on him to increase statutory paternity leave to
  
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• The ‘great grid upgrade’ is off track – ministers should spell out the risks for bills | Nils Pratley

  11-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  National Audit Office calls for greater transparency on £70bn programme that is running over budget and behind scheduleSpeed up electricity grid upgrade or else face higher bills, warns UK watchdogIt’s an open secret in the energy industry that “the great grid upgrade” – the £70bn programme to rewire the nation’s electricity transmission network to enable clean power by 2030 – is running over budget and behind schedule, and may end up costing consu
  
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• The hospitality industry fears a tourist tax will deter visitors – the evidence says otherwise

  10-09-2026 18:37 via theguardian.com
  Studies from hotspots across Europe that have introduced levies suggest they have no impact on visitor numbersIf you wandered down Las Ramblas or lazed on a beach in the Balearics this summer, you probably paid a tourist tax for the privilege. In fact, if you enjoyed any of Europe’s beauty spots in recent years, it is likely that an overnight levy was added to your bill.Britons have become used to paying these fees abroad but ministers have shied away from introducing them in the UK. The f
  
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• The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK's first historical theme park – explainer

  10-09-2026 18:17 via theguardian.com
  French company Puy du Fou is planning a £600m history-themed park in Oxfordshire. A Guardian investigation has found the company continued working with associates of Konstantin Malofeyev, a pro-Kremlin oligarch under sanctions, on plans for a theme park in Russian-occupied Crimea for longer than it had previously disclosed, and later explored projects in Iran and China.Business reporter Rob Davies explains his findings, including documents that raise questions about whether Puy du Fou&rsqu
  
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