Financial news

• What do you use a microwave for?

  08-10-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I really want one, my wife does not. Help me convince her they’re greatEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
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• Trump threatens ‘more powerful and obnoxious’ tariffs, amid confusion in UK and EU; Wall Street drops – business live

  23-02-2026 18:23 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsThe London stock market has dipped slightly in early trading.The FTSE 100 index is down 19 points, or 0.18%, at 10,668 points. Continue reading...
  
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• No business like snow business: blizzard shuts down the north-east US – in pictures

  23-02-2026 17:52 via theguardian.com
  As another major storm brings to the area up to 2ft of snow, people brave the weather to commute and shovel Continue reading...
  
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• Telegraph suitor considers legal action against UK government over rival bid

  23-02-2026 17:14 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Figures led by New York Sun owner may seek judicial review after restrictions lifted on DMGT offerFigures involved in a rival bid for the Telegraph are drawing up legal action against the government, after ministers gave the owner of the Daily Mail permission to take a significant step towards clinching its £500m takeover.The Telegraph titles, which include the daily and Sunday editions, have been in limbo for three years after previous owners, the Barclay family, lost control o
  
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• US supreme court takes up fossil fuel firms’ climate accountability case

  23-02-2026 17:04 via theguardian.com
  Judgment in city of Boulder’s lawsuit against Suncor Energy USA and ExxonMobil could affect wave of climate litigationThe US supreme court has decided to hear arguments in a climate accountability lawsuit, marking the first time the high court has weighed in on such a case. The decision could potentially hinder the wave of climate litigation the US has seen in recent years.“It’s not a good sign,” said Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law and Grad
  
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• Yorkshire Water fined over £700,000 for repeated sewage releases

  23-02-2026 17:03 via theguardian.com
  Company admits three pollution events that killed fish and insects in Pools Brook country park near ChesterfieldA water company has been fined more than £700,000 for repeatedly releasing sewage into a stream.Yorkshire Water was issued with the penalty after pleading guilty to three offences of sewage pollution in Pools Brook country park near Chesterfield. Continue reading...
  
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• New datacentres risk doubling UK electricity use, regulator says

  23-02-2026 16:58 via theguardian.com
  Ofgem says about 140 proposed projects, driven by AI use, could require more power than current peak demandThe amount of power being sought by new datacentre projects in the UK would exceed the country’s current peak electricity consumption, according to an industry watchdog.Ofgem said about 140 proposed datacentre schemes, driven by use of artificial intelligence, could require 50 gigawatts of electricity – 5GW more than the country’s current peak demand. Continue reading...
  
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• Unlicensed gambling firms could be barred from sponsoring Premier League clubs

  23-02-2026 16:53 via theguardian.com
  Top clubs agree not to have gambling sponsors on front of shirts, but government is consulting on total banUnlicensed gambling firms could be barred from sponsoring Premier League football clubs, after a string of controversies involving pornographic videos, failures in anti-money laundering rules and concerns about links to organised crime.Shirts worn by players for several major English football teams, including Everton, Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers, feature the logos of unlicensed onlin
  
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• Wegovy and Ozempic owner dealt blow as next-gen weight-loss drug is branded ‘obsolete’

  23-02-2026 15:26 via theguardian.com
  Novo Nordisk’s shares fall sharply after testing of CagriSema falls short of investors’ expectationsBusiness live – latest updatesThe owner of Wegovy and Ozempic has suffered a significant setback, as its highly anticipated new weight-loss treatment was labelled “obsolete” after disappointing clinical trials.Novo Nordisk’s shares fell sharply on Monday after the results from testing the Danish company’s CagriSema drug fell short of investors’ expec
  
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• ‘Progressive membership’: Ukraine’s economic resilience shows future for EU business tie-ups

  23-02-2026 14:47 via theguardian.com
  Joint ventures on defence, green energy and telecoms suggest how country could join bloc in stages rather than wait for full statusWhen the first Ukrainian-designed drone to be made in a German factory rolled off the production line last month, Volodymyr Zelenskyy knew it marked a turning point for the economy.With drone-making joint ventures also well advanced in Finland and Denmark, war-torn Ukraine has shown how its businesses can adapt and break out of their bomb-threatened domestic confines
  
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• ‘Tinderbox’ UK may be one shock away from food riots, experts say

  23-02-2026 14:29 via theguardian.com
  Weakened food security could tip into unrest after a cyber-attack, extreme weather or conflict, analysis findsOne shock could spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK, according to dozens of the country’s top food experts, because chronic issues have left the food system a “tinderbox”.The group first identified a series of issues that are making access to food vulnerable in the UK, including the climate crisis, low incomes, poor farming policy and fragile just-in-time
  
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• Millions face road travel bans as snow blankets New York and north-east US

  23-02-2026 14:05 via theguardian.com
  Blizzard warnings issued as some areas receive over a foot of snow, creating whiteout conditionsMillions of people in New York City and a large swath of the north-eastern US were stuck at home under road travel bans and blizzard warnings on Monday as heavy snow and strong winds intensified, creating whiteout conditions in the densely populated region.Snow fell at a rate of 2-3in (5-7.6cm) an hour early on Monday from New York through Massachusetts. Some areas have received well over a foot (30cm
  
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• Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged massages to taxpayer while trade envoy, say reports

  23-02-2026 11:44 via theguardian.com
  Former senior civil servants say culture of deference meant excessive expenses claims were waved throughAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged taxpayers for the cost of massages and excessive travel expenses while he was the UK’s trade envoy, it has been reported.Former senior civil servants said they were shocked to see the claims, and that there was a culture of deference towards the former prince within Whitehall that allowed them to proceed. Continue reading...
  
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• Drives me crazy: Mumbai residents plead for respite from ‘musical road’

  23-02-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Motorway stretch plays music as a safety feature but those close to it say ‘intrusive’ noise is constant and distressingResidents of one of India’s most upmarket neighbourhoods say the country’s first “musical road” has turned their daily lives into a nightmare soundtrack.A stretch of Mumbai’s recently opened Coastal Road seafront expressway has been engineered to play the pulsating Oscar-winning tune Jai Ho from the movie Slumdog Millionaire when vehicl
  
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• ‘We’re hungry, there are no jobs’: a South African township’s desperate gold rush

  23-02-2026 08:18 via theguardian.com
  A rumour on social media brought dozens of fortune seekers to a field on the outskirts of mining town SpringsIn a township 30 miles east of Johannesburg, a mechanical digger filled in holes in the dark brown earth, bringing to an end a brief but intense gold rush that saw dozens of fortune seekers descend on what was once a cattle field.Less than two weeks ago, a rumour spread like wildfire on social media: someone had found gold while digging a hole for a fence post in a field on the edge of Gu
  
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• Wickes kitchen fitting was a recipe for disaster

  23-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  I’ve been without a hob in my new kitchen for three months after an emergency engineer was forced to disconnect itWhen Wickes installed my new kitchen, I noticed an odd, worsening smell that I put down to the ongoing works.It was nearly two months later that I realised it was gas. My supplier dispatched an emergency engineer, who discovered a leak in the newly fitted hob and categorised it as an immediate danger. The gas supply to the hob was disconnected and Wickes sent a replacement, but
  
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• Meet the Australian farmer planning to get the US hooked on camel milk – video

  23-02-2026 07:16 via theguardian.com
  After a decade of supplying the domestic camel milk market from a 130-hectare (320 acre) farm in south-east Queensland’s Scenic Rim, owner Paul Martin wants to start supplying the product to the United States. He hopes to export 60,000 litres this year – the first shipment in what he believes could one day become a major new commodity for the country. Guardian Australia's Joe Hinchliffe visited Martin's farm – one of the first commercial camel dairies in Australia – to le
  
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• Go to university! No, get a trade! How can young people survive when all the paths are landmined? | Jason Okundaye

  23-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Is it to be a degree and heavy debt when graduate jobs are shrinking? Or forgoing a degree, knowing society still worships them? Confused, angry: who wouldn’t beSome months ago, I was at my old university, speaking to prospective sixth-form and college students about taking a degree in the arts and what future careers they could expect. It was a cohort of teenagers from underrepresented backgrounds: all of them had that glint of ambition in their eyes, a desire to better their circumstance
  
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• Why are homegrown apples in the UK more expensive than imported bananas?

  23-02-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  From flooding in Peru to the fight for fair wages, a lot more goes into the price of fruit than what supermarkets charge consumers forWhy have apples increased so much in price in the UK? They seem much more expensive than bananas, even though many are homegrown, and so don’t have to travel halfway around the world.It seems bananas (sorry) that fruit grown in the country where it is being sold costs more than produce which has been shipped thousands of miles. But, unlike other goods, such
  
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• UK job vacancies ‘fall to lowest level since pandemic’

  23-02-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Advertised roles dropped 3% last month to 695,000 – first dip below 700,000 since January 2021, job site Adzuna saysThe number of job vacancies in the UK has tumbled to the lowest level in five years, research suggests, falling to levels not seen since the pandemic.The number of jobs being advertised slid by 3% in January to 695,000, according to the job search site Adzuna, marking the first time advertised vacancies have dropped below 700,000 since January 2021. Continue reading...
  
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• Employers should contribute to universities | Letters

  22-02-2026 18:55 via theguardian.com
  Johnny Rich proposes a sustainable funding model for higher education. Plus letters from Henry Malt and David GleaveOn the subject of student debts (Student debt is a generational injustice. Why are we squeezing graduates harder than the super-rich?, 16 February), Gaby Hinsliff writes: “If the government has better options, then let’s hear them sooner rather than later.” Any better option must address the problem that the courses that universities offer – brilliant t
  
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• Tories would scrap ‘debt trap’ of high interest student loans, says Kemi Badenoch

  22-02-2026 18:46 via theguardian.com
  Education secretary Bridget Phillipson suggests priority is grants for poorer students rather than cutting interestKemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives would scrap the “unfair debt trap” of high interest rates on student loans, piling pressure on Labour ministers to tackle the growing outrage over the high costs.The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, admitted the system of plan 2 loans had “problems” but suggested the government’s priority would be mainten
  
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• The Guardian view on the funding crisis at the National Gallery: the public should not pay the price | Editorial

  22-02-2026 18:25 via theguardian.com
  Financial difficulties at one of the UK’s most prestigious institutions are a sign of the times. But maintaining free access to great art must be a priority“The National Gallery is doing a great job isn’t it?” David Hockney reflected in 2024. “Everything in the collection is good, every single picture is good.” Judging by recent performance, the artist would seem to be right. The gallery’s blockbuster Van Gogh exhibition closed in January last year after
  
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• Lamborghini pulls plug on plans to launch all-electric supercar

  22-02-2026 16:03 via theguardian.com
  Company will shift focus to hybrids, citing drop-off in EV demand among sports car lovers who ‘miss the noise’The Italian supercar manufacturer Lamborghini has abandoned plans to make all-electric vehicles, and will instead focus on making plug-in hybrid cars, after a drop-off in demand for EVs among its wealthy clientele.Lamborghini unveiled its first all-electric concept car, the Lanzador, in 2023, but it is no longer planning to put it into production. Continue reading...
  
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• The world order we’re leaving behind may be replaced by no order at all | Eduardo Porter

  22-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  In the world being ushered in by Trump, power will prevail over cooperation. We will come to rue having taken this pathThe Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, inspired a wave of enthusiastic nodding among the cosmopolitan crowd gathered in Davos last month when he took to the podium and proclaimed that the world order underwritten by the United States, which prevailed in the west throughout the postwar era, was over.The organizing principle that emerged from the ashes of the second world war,
  
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• Readers reply: what would be the most socially useful way to spend a billion dollars?

  22-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts• This week’s question: what would happen to the world if computer said yes?I’ve always thought it would be good to acquire an old warehouse in every town throughout the land and convert it into low-rent community workspaces for artists, local charities and small businesses getting off the ground. A kind
  
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• ‘Beyond worried’: the families waiting to hear how Send overhaul will change their lives

  22-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Already struggling to get help, families with children with special needs are concerned changes could make things worseAt the age of 12, May Race’s son Joseph spends almost all of his time in his bedroom, too anxious, burnt out and – she says – traumatised even to join his parents and older brother downstairs most days. Joseph no longer leaves the house at all.He is autistic and has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). His autism is of a type known as p
  
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• ‘We want to rebuild trust’: fired CDC workers form group to combat Trump’s war on science

  22-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Former employees stepped up to create the National Public Health Coalition to advocate for public health after Trump’s cuts to the agencyAbby Tighe thought she had landed her forever job. She joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in December 2023, managing a national youth substance abuse prevention program. The project focused on rural communities, and Tighe, whose family is from Appalachia, was proud to be using her public health training to support often-overlooked
  
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• Trump’s trade war risks undermining his hopes of hefty US interest rate cuts | Graeme Wearden

  22-02-2026 12:58 via theguardian.com
  Upping tariffs may have lifted the president’s mood but it is a headache for the Federal Reserve and its next chairDonald Trump and Denis Healey don’t have much in common. One of the greatest prime ministers Britain never had shares little of his famous hinterland with what some historians see as one of the worst occupants of the White House.But Trump would be well advised to remember Healey’s first law of holes – when you’re in one, stop digging Continue reading...
  
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• China overtakes US as Germany’s top trading partner

  22-02-2026 11:51 via theguardian.com
  Friedrich Merz to meet Xi Jinping in Beijing, with goods worth €251bn traded between two countries in 2025China has overtaken the US as Germany’s top trading partner, figures have shown, as the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, prepares for his first visit to Beijing since taking office.Merz will head to China on Tuesday and will be welcomed with military honours on Wednesday in Beijing by the prime minister, Li Qiang, before later meeting the president, Xi Jinping, for talks over dinner, h
  
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