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Company reports second-quarter revenues of $81.27bn but posts slowing growth in key cloud computing businessInvestor interest in Microsoft's shares may have weakened in recent months, but the company posted strong financial results on Wednesday that yet again demonstrated that the AI boom is roaring on.Microsoft reported earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year that are likely to keep the party going for Wall Street, despite slowing growth in its key cloud computing business. Continue reading......

Readers respond to an article on people getting trapped by debt they can never seem to repayThanks for your article (Student loans: 'My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I'm paying', 23 January). I began my studies in 1999, part of the New Labour push to widen access to university. Had I known then that I would still be repaying this “loan” for the rest of my working life, I might have thought twice.The original premise was that student loans were a small, manageable contribution, easily cleared once you entered work. At the time, it was routine for more privileged families to take the low-interest loan even if it wasn't needed, park it in savings and repay it later in a lump sum. For those of us who relied on the loan simply to live, that option never existed. Continue reading......

With almost one in five firms breaching targets, the watchdog's new get-tough approach on capital levels seems to be anything butWhen half the nation's retail energy suppliers, including Bulb with 1.7 million customers, failed during the gas crisis of 2021-22, the embarrassed regulator, Ofgem, decided it should probably pay more attention to companies' balance sheets. Better late than never.The cost of mopping up the corporate calamities added up to £2.7bn, or £94 on every household's energy bill, calculated the National Audit Office. Continue reading......

UK technology secretary also announced plans to train up to 10 million Britons in AI skills to help workforce adapt Increasing deployment of artificial intelligence will cause job losses, the UK technology secretary has warned, saying: “I want to level with the public. Some jobs will go.”In a speech on government plans to handle the impact of AI on the British economy, Liz Kendall declined to say how many redundancies the technology might cause but said: “We know people are worried about graduate entry jobs in places like law and finance.” Continue reading......

Fed voted to pause cuts to interest rate, which currently sits between 3.5% and 3.75%, after slashing it three times in fallThe US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged after its first rate-setting meeting of the year on Wednesday, resisting enormous pressure from the White House to lower rates.A majority of members in the Fed's federal open market committee (FOMC) voted to pause interest rate cuts after slashing rates three times in the fall. Rates currently sit at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Continue reading......

Campaigners pushing for 2030 deadline said deferral was 'denying renters the most basic standards in our homes'UK politics live – latest updatesThe government's promise to make private rented homes fit for habitation will not be enforced for almost a decade, a decision campaigners describe as “absurd”.The timeline means landlords will have until 2035 to implement a decent homes standard (DHS) in their properties, despite ministers promising to introduce “robust standards” to combat disrepair, damp and energy inefficiency. Continue reading......

Director in charge of investing in programming outside London will take over Tim Davie's role while corporation seeks permanent replacementThe BBC has named senior executive Rhodri Talfan Davies as its interim general director, as the corporation continues the search for a permanent replacement for Tim Davie.Davie, who resigned in November after the row over the BBC's editing of a Donald Trump speech, will remain in the role until the start of April. Talfan Davies will then take over. Continue reading......

Crisis on UK high street deepens as private equity owners of homeware chain with 137 stores pins collapse on 'extremely challenging' climateHow has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcodeStudy: 'Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves high streets'The Original Factory Shop homeware chain has called in administrators, putting 1,200 jobs at risk, putting the decision partly down to higher costs from government policies.Administrators from Interpath have been appointed at the 137-store discount retailer, which was bought by private equity firm Modella Capital less than a year ago. Continue reading......

Dollar drops against basket of currencies after Donald Trump brushed off concerns over slideBusiness live – latest updatesThe US dollar has fallen to its lowest level in four years after Donald Trump brushed off concerns over the currency's fall, sending investors fleeing to traditional havens including gold and the Swiss franc.The dollar dropped by 1.3% against a basket of currencies after the president's comments on Tuesday, marking its fourth day of declines, then slipped by a further 0.2% on Wednesday morning. Continue reading......

It's just not cool to be wasted any more. But for a country shaped by booze, it does pose questions about what comes nextIt's November 2024 and my puritanical American children are attending their first autumn fair at their new English primary school. There's a laser show and hotdogs and a raffle. There's also a bar for the parents, which makes my two pull up short. Newcomers to this country experience many cultural differences but perhaps none as striking as this: “Is that alcohol?” says my child, scowling up at me like a tiny member of the Taliban. “At a school thing?” I'm two Baileys hot chocolates in at this point and give her a smile 10% broader than necessary. Yes, my darlings; welcome to Britain.Or at least, welcome, possibly, to the last vestiges of how Britain once was. For a while now we've known anecdotally that people in this country are drinking less than they were. My own generation X is deep into middle age and many of us – save for the odd life-saver at a school event and t...

Owner Google moves to block Barb data access months after allowing 200 channels to be monitoredYouTube has been criticised by the TV and advertising industry after suspending its participation in a key measurement system that compares viewership on the social media site with other streamers such as Netflix and TV broadcasters.YouTube owner Google has sent “cease and desist” letters to Barb, which publishes audience figures that are used as the UK industry standard, and Kantar Media, its research partner in the service. Continue reading......

News organisations hope proposals will increase leverage to get paid if content is used in AI summariesWeb publishers and news organisations could be given the power to stop Google scraping their content for its AI Overviews, under measures announced by the UK competition watchdog to loosen its grip on online search.Media organisations have experienced a drop in click-through traffic to their websites – and therefore their revenue – since Google started posting AI summaries at the top of search results, which many people read without clicking through to the original journalism. Continue reading......

Newton Aycliffe was meant to be a model town for a fairer postwar Britain. But unaffordable rents on a high street amounting to 0.12% of its property tycoon owner's holdings have made it a symbol of decline – and a warning for LabourHow has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcodeLabour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain's high streetsUnder blue skies and bunting, the whole of County Durham seemed to turn out for the young Queen Elizabeth II. They lined the streets in their thousands, waving flags and marvelling at the grand royal procession weaving past their newly built homes.It was 27 May 1960 and the recently crowned queen was officially opening the town of Newton Aycliffe on her first provincial tour after the birth of her third child, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, three months earlier. A 16-page commemorative pamphlet, priced at two shillings and sixpence, records the local Light Infantry buglers playing to the giddy crowd. Continue reading......

The makeup of Great Britain's high streets has changed dramatically. See what the data says about where you liveFrom department stores to discount shops, bookmakers to beauty salons, the makeup of Britain's high streets has shifted dramatically since 2019. Shopping-led town centres are giving way to areas increasingly dominated by services, food, and leisure – but the scale and shape of that change varies widely from place to place.The last six years have coincided with a series of shocks to the economy. Lockdowns during the Covid pandemic disrupted footfall and accelerated online retail, while Brexit, energy bill hikes, a cost of living crisis and national changes to wages and employer tax contributions have piled further pressure on both independent businesses and national chains. What remains on Britain's high streets – and what has disappeared – offers a snapshot of how the country shops, eats and spends its time. Continue reading......

Virginia 'Ginny' Oliver, had entered the business when she was eight and liked 'being along the water'Maine's governor has hailed the life of a woman who spent nearly 100 years fishing for lobsters as “amazing” and expressed hopes that her memory inspires “the next century of hardworking” fishers in the state.The subject of Governor Janet Mills' tribute, Virginia “Ginny” Oliver, died on 21 January at age 105, according to an obituary published on Monday by her family. Continue reading......

World's richest person targeting symbolic date in June for flotation of rocket companyElon Musk's SpaceX is considering a flotation valuing the rocket company at $1.5tn (£1.1tn) that will reportedly be timed for early summer to coincide with a planetary alignment and the multibillionaire's birthday.The world's richest person is targeting a symbolic date of mid-June for the initial public offering, according to the Financial Times. This would be around the same time as Jupiter and Venus appear in close proximity to each other and shortly before Musk turns 55 on 28 June. Continue reading......

Message erroneously said affected employees in the US, Canada and Costa Rica had already been informedBusiness live – latest updatesAmazon has told workers of a fresh round of global job cuts in an email that appears to have been sent in error.Workers at Amazon Web Services (AWS) received a meeting invitation from a top executive on Tuesday for the following day – subsequently cancelled – that also contained a draft email. Continue reading......

Cisco chief executive says technology 'will be bigger than the internet' but current market is probably a bubble; dollar selling intensifies, gold climbs through $5,200 an ounce to new record highGood morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.The artificial intelligence (AI) will create winners but there will be “carnage along the way,” the boss of a US technology company has warned.It shows there's a crisis of confidence in the US dollar. It would appear that while the Trump administration sticks with its erratic trade, foreign and economic policy, this weakness could persist.2.45pm GMT: Bank of Canada interest rate decision (no change expected)7pm GMT: US Federal Reserve interest rate decision (no change expected)7.30pm GMT: Fed press conference Continue reading......

In the Caribbean and Latin America, the lived reality of these measures – presented in the language of diplomacy – is starkAcross borders, cultures and faiths, most ordinary people want the same things: the ability to earn a living, put a roof over their heads, feed their families and watch their children grow up with a future. These are not radical ideas, but they are today routinely sacrificed on the altar of geopolitics.When power and profit take precedence, governments abandon the everyday realities of those they claim to protect and serve, especially when domination of another country's resources, markets or political direction is at stake. Continue reading......

'No light at the end of the tunnel for consumers' as 2025 figure is 50% higher than previous year, says Citizens AdviceRoyal Mail has been criticised for offering an “unacceptable” performance over the crucial Christmas period after it failed to deliver letters and cards on time to about 16 million people, Citizens Advice found.The consumer watchdog, which carried out research into Christmas deliveries, said that figure was 50% higher than in 2024, and the highest level over the festive period in five years, excluding when Royal Mail was hit by strike action in the run-up to Christmas four years ago. Continue reading......