87 minutes ago Wall Street hits record high after Scott Bessent nominated as US Treasury secretary – business live

Bonds rally and dollar dips as investors welcome choice of billionaire hedge fund manager Bessent as next Treasury secretaryNewsflash: A deputy governor at the Bank of England has warned that it is “too early to declare victory” in the fight against inflation.Clare Lombardelli has told a conference organised by King’s Business School this morning that inflation has fallen steeply over the past two years. But, she is concerned that there are signs that the process of “wage disinflation” may be slowing, which would keep the cost of living rising faster than the Bank’s target.The outlook for wages and services prices is unclear from here.We need to see more evidence that wage growth and services inflation will continue their journey down to target-consistent rates.The UK economy has made g...

Society

2 hours ago Former Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian rushed to hospital after heartbreaking cancer diagnosis

The mum-of-two was taken to A&E over the weekend

Science

2 hours ago Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian rushed to hospital after heartbreaking cancer diagnosis

Ali Bastian, who is best known for playing Becca Dean in Hollyoaks, was rushed to hospital over the weekend, weeks after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Science

2 hours ago Ding Liren beats Gukesh Dommaraju in World Chess Championship 2024 Game 1 – as it happened

Ding wins Game 1 when Gukesh resigns after 42 movesExplainer: all your pre-match questions, answeredOur Leonard Barden has filed his final dispatch ahead of today’s opening game. Barden, who’s written the Guardian’s chess column every week since September 1955, doesn’t divert from the general consensus in his assessment of the match.The preliminaries are nearly over: who will win? I expect Gukesh to be cautious in the first few games, then to probe and push hard in the middle of the match. Ding’s 2024 form has been so wretched that it is difficult to see how he can keep his title. A 7.5-4.5 margin for Gukesh looks about right. Continue reading...

Sport

2 hours ago Hollyoaks' Ali Bastain rushed to hospital after heartbreaking cancer diagnosis

Hollyoaks star, Ali Bastian, who played Becca Dean in the Channel 4 soap, ended up in A&E on the weekend amid her ongoing battle with breast cancer

Science

3 hours ago ITV I'm A Celeb Alan Halsall's 'romance' addressed as Corrie pal weighs in

Coronation Street star Andy Whyment has spoken about his co-star Alan Halsall's journey on I'm A Celebrity since the ITV show kicked off last week.

Culture

4 hours ago Moana 2 UK release date: are you allowed to sing in the cinema during the movie?

Moana 2 star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson encourages fans to sing while watching the movie, which hits UK cinemas this week

Culture

7 hours ago Wicked director fumes fans are not seeing film as intended due to cinema complaint

New film Wicked, which adapts the musical into a two-part movie, was released last week and stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, with the second part scheduled for next year

Culture

7 hours ago Ding Liren v Gukesh Dommaraju: World Chess Championship 2024 Game 1 – live updates

Ding and Gukesh face off for $2.5m in SingaporeExplainer: all your pre-match questions, answeredBluesky Bryan at @BryanAGraham or email himOur Leonard Barden has filed his final dispatch ahead of today’s opening game. Barden, who’s written the Guardian’s chess column every week since September 1955, doesn’t divert from the general consensus in his assessment of the match.The preliminaries are nearly over: who will win? I expect Gukesh to be cautious in the first few games, then to probe and push hard in the middle of the match. Ding’s 2024 form has been so wretched that it is difficult to see how he can keep his title. A 7.5-4.5 margin for Gukesh looks about right. Continue reading...

Sport

8 hours ago Defiant Reeves to tell firms ‘we had no choice’ amid fierce Budget backlash

CBI boss will say measures announced by government have made it harder for firms to ‘take a chance’ on hiring new people

Economics