24 h. ago Days of severe storms leave 18 dead as rising rivers threaten US south and midwest

Power and gas shut off in regions as flooding worsens, threatening waterlogged and badly damaged communities After days of intense rain and wind killed at least 18 people in the US south and midwest, rivers rose and flooding worsened on Sunday in those regions, threatening waterlogged and badly damaged communities.Utility companies scrambled to shut off power and gas from Texas to Ohio while cities closed roads and deployed sandbags to protect homes and businesses. Continue reading...

Events

25 h. ago Trump officials claim 50 nations want to start US trade talks as Starmer vows to protect UK businesses

Back in Britain, the Prime Minister has pledged to ‘turbocharge plans that will improve our domestic competitiveness’ in the wake of Trump’s tariffs and fears of a global trade war

Politics

26 h. ago Trump officials struggle to explain tariff strategy but claim Americans won’t feel ‘big effect’

Agriculture secretary dodges questions about Heard and McDonald Islands but tells Americans not to fear tariff effects

Politics

35 h. ago Trump tariffs live: Starmer vows to protect UK businesses from ‘storm’ US tariffs will bring

Donald Trump admits tariffs plan ‘won’t be easy’ but calls on Americans to ‘hang tough’

Politics

45 h. ago Starmer pledges to ‘do everything necessary’ to protect UK amid tariffs fallout

The Prime Minister pledged to ‘turbocharge plans that will improve our domestic competitiveness’.

Politics

4 d. ago Trump tariffs are 'not good news' and 'damaging' for Scots, says John Swinney

The First Minister said in Holyrood that he would work with the UK Government "to protect Scottish business."

Politics

4 d. ago Trump hits UK with 10% tariff and sets blanket 25% rate for foreign cars

US president Donald Trump believes putting the levies on imports of foreign goods will protect American businesses.

Politics

7 d. ago More than 1,000 flood schemes to be built or repaired across England

The projects comes as part of the Government’s £2.65 billion investment to protect homes and businesses from flooding.

Events

1 week ago China’s Xi urges global CEOs to protect trade supply chains; UK’s 2024 growth revised higher – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsToday’s UK national accounts data also shows that people stashed away more of their money into savings at the end of last year.The household saving ratio, which measure the proportion of income that is saved, rose to 12% in October-December 2024, up from 10.3% in the third quarter of last year.One bright spot was the impressive 1.9% q/q (CE forecast 0.7% q/q) rise in consumers’ real incomes in Q4. The 4.2% rise in 2024 as a whole suggests households experienced the strongest real income growth in nine years.With consumer spending hardly rising, at 12.0% in Q4 (up from 10.3% in Q3), the saving rate remains unusually high, suggesting households are choosing to save rather than spend the bulk of those gains.Non-food stores – the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores – rose by 3.1% over the month. This put monthly sales volumes at their highest level since March 2022.“The exceptional volatility in rec...

Economics

1 week ago China’s Xi urges global CEOs to protect trade supply chains; WH Smith sells high street stores – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsShares in WH Smith have dropped by 2.4% in early stock market trading in London, as traders digest the sale of its high street stores for £76m.Less encouragingly, the UK’s trade deficit has widened.finished manufactured goods (£1.8bn)semi-manufactured goods (£1.2bn)oil (£0.6bn)other fuels (£0.3bn)“The UK’s current account deficit with the rest of the world widened slightly in the latest quarter, driven by falling exports of goods.Our balance of payments statistics for recent years have been updated to incorporate improved measurement of foreign direct investment and corrected trade data.” Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Gen Z will protect gym membership as fitness ‘part of their identity’

Will Orr, chief executive of The Gym Group, said young people were increasingly seeing gyms as a place to socialise.

Politics

3 w. ago Indonesia's cocoa farmers work with businesses to fight the bitter impact of climate change

Thousands of cocoa farmers across Indonesia are working with businesses and other organizations to protect their crops against the bitter impacts of climate change

Society

3 w. ago Webinar set to help NHS innovators protect their unique ideas

A free to join webinar taking place this month will highlight the importance of healthcare innovators understanding fresh intellectual property (IP) developments which are set to impact how they protect their ideas.

Politics