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As the FCA warns over claims firms, here are the options if you've been a victim of motor loan mis-sellingAdverts claiming consumers could be entitled to compensation for mis-sold car finance are popping up everywhere. “You could be owed thousands … File your car finance claim today” is a typical call to action.With only weeks to go, however, until we find out whether there could be payouts for millions of people, there are warnings that signing up with a claims management company (CMC) could be a bad idea. Continue reading......

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days Continue reading......

As the US president's 9 July deadline came and went, the White House launched a range of new trade ultimatums at countries across the worldDonald Trump ramped up his trade rhetoric this week, firing off more than 20 letters to governments outlining new tariff rates if agreements aren't reached by 1 August.In April, Trump announced a 10% base tariff rate and additional duties ranging up to 50% for many other countries, although he later delayed the effective date for all but 10% duties until 9 July after market panic.Trump informed powerhouse suppliers Japan, South Korea and a number of other nations at the start of this week that they will face tariffs of at least 25% starting from August unless they can quickly negotiate deals.On Wednesday he announced more tariffs on countries like the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Algeria, as well as a 50% tariff on products from Brazil, tying the move to what he called the “witch-hunt” trial against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro. Trump criticised the trial B...

Preschool establishment asked for extra compulsory fee for 'consumables' – but it should have been freeA nursery has refunded a father almost £1,200 after an investigation found he had been charged mandatory “top-up” fees for hours of childcare that should have been free.Tiago Gomes's daughter was eligible for government-funded childcare at the Lake House day nursery and preschool in Bristol but he was told that he must pay an extra compulsory fee for “consumables”. Continue reading......

Campaigners condemn 'troubling' move that follows departure of six of largest US banks after Trump's electionHSBC has become the first UK bank to leave the global banking industry's net zero target-setting group, as campaigners warned it was a “troubling” sign over the lender's commitment to tackling the climate crisis.The move risks triggering further departures from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) by UK banks, in a fresh blow to international climate coordination efforts. Continue reading......

Experts suspect 'front loading' of activity may mask deeper impact of tariffs on the US economy“There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change,” Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform this week. “All money will be due and payable starting AUGUST 1, 2025 – no extensions will be granted.”There had, in fact, been a change. The 90-day “pause” on the highest tariffs threatened by Trump on his so-called “liberation day” in April elapsed on Wednesday. But with just three trade agreements in place, instead of the 300 once promised, the White House had switched one deadline for another. Continue reading......

Across the US, without soundbites or stunts, the president is building a police state and eroding democracyIn the global attention economy, one titan looms over all others. Donald Trump can command the gaze of the world at a click of those famously short fingers. When he stages a spectacular made-for-TV moment – say, that Oval Office showdown with Volodymyr Zelenskyy – the entire planet sits up and takes notice.But that dominance has a curious side-effect. When Trump does something awful and eye-catching, nations tremble and markets move. But when he does something awful but unflashy, it scarcely registers. So long as there's no jaw-dropping video, no expletive-ridden soundbite, no gimmick or stunt, it can slip by as if it hadn't happened. Especially now that our senses are dulled through over-stimulation. These days it requires ever more shocking behaviour by the US president to prompt a reaction; we are becoming inured to him. Yet the danger he poses is as sharp as ever.Jonathan Freedland is a Gua...

Lead brand of French luxury group LVMH reassures customers financial data such as bank details were not takenLouis Vuitton has said the data of some UK customers has been stolen, as it became the latest retailer targeted by cyber hackers.The retailer, the leading brand of the French luxury group LVMH, said an unauthorised third party had accessed its UK operation's systems and obtained information such as names, contact details and purchase history. Continue reading......

May's fall in GDP fuelled by sharp declines in manufacturing and constructionAnalysis: Fall in UK GDP puts focus back on expectations of tax rises in autumn budgetBusiness live – latest updatesBritain's economy unexpectedly shrank in May, fuelled by sharp declines in manufacturing and construction, in a blow for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, amid speculation over tax increases.The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product fell by 0.1% in May, missing City predictions of a 0.1% monthly expansion. Continue reading......

Leiweke, ex-president of Denver Nuggets and former CEO of MLSE, which owns Toronto's major sports franchises, indicted over $388m arenaA prominent sports executive has been criminally charged with organising a conspiracy to ensure his own company won the bid to build a $388m sports arena in Texas.Timothy Leiweke, the former president of the Denver Nuggets basketball team and former CEO of MLSE, which owns Toronto's major sports franchises including the Leafs and Raptors was charged on Wednesday by a federal grand jury. He resigned as chief executive of the company at the center of the case, Oak View Group (OVG), after the announcement. Continue reading......

Silicon Valley's final dream is a world without institutions. But what works for a startup doesn't work for democracyElon Musk has stepped away from Doge with very little “efficiency” to show for it. While it may have been more of a showpiece than real policy, this brutal and short experiment in Silicon Valley governance reveals a long-simmering battle between digital utopians and the institutional infrastructures critical to functioning democracies.Doge's website dubiously claims $190bn in savings. The receipts show that they are less about efficiency than they are aimed at effective dissolution, a fate met by USAID, the federal agency responsible for distributing foreign assistance. Continue reading......

The Nazi meltdown of the tech billionaire's bot Grok leaves me asking: is this post-truth rock bottom, or have we further to go?Grok, Elon Musk's X-integrated AI bot, had a Nazi meltdown on Tuesday. It's useful to recap it fully, not because the content is varied – antisemitic fascism is very one-note – but because its various techniques are so visible. It all started on X, formerly Twitter, when Grok was asked to describe a now-deleted account called @Rad_reflections, which Grok claimed “gleefully celebrated the tragic deaths of white kids in the recent Texas flash floods”, and then “traced” the real name of the account as a Cindy Steinberg, concluding: “classic case of hate dressed as activism – and that surname? Every damn time, as they say.”There are things we can say for certain, which is that Grok is antisemitic – an impression, in case we had somehow missed it, the bot was careful to underline with its subsequent assertions that leftist accounts spewing “anti-white hate …...

Exclusive: Plan could lead to job losses at broadcaster's hubs, the Guardian understandsThe BBC is examining a significant outsourcing drive that could put thousands of jobs at risk as it desperately searches for savings, the Guardian understands.The plans being considered include the offshoring of jobs currently carried out in the UK, with the BBC understood to be talking to US tech giants as potential partners. It is said to include the outsourcing of recommendation algorithms, which direct users to content. Continue reading......

Union, to which deputy PM may not belong, also votes to reconsider ties with Labour if council forces through redundanciesUK politics live – latest updatesUnite has voted to suspend the membership of the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and reconsider its ties with Labour over their approach to the Birmingham bin workers' strike.Labour's biggest union donor passed the motion at its policy conference on Friday, despite party sources saying Rayner had resigned her membership of Unite months ago. Continue reading......

Chancellor, who had been expected to announce changes next week, faced backlash over moveRachel Reeves has put plans to reduce the amount savers can put into tax-efficient cash Isas on hold, after lobbying from banks, building societies and consumer groups.The chancellor had been expected to announce changes to the accounts in her Mansion House speech next Tuesday, with cuts to the £20,000 savings limit thought to be at the heart of the plans. Continue reading......

Pfas-laden pesticides and sewage sludge used as fertilizer move into crops and nearby water sourcesThe Trump administration has killed nearly $15m in research into Pfas contamination of US farmland, bringing to a close studies that public health advocates say are essential for understanding a worrying source of widespread food contamination.Researchers in recent years have begun to understand that Pfas-laden pesticides and sewage sludge spread on cropland as a fertilizer contaminate the soil with the chemicals, which then move into crops and nearby water sources. Continue reading......

The measure exposes the most elaborate charade in recent US political history. But betrayal is Trump's operating principleDonald Trump's so-called “big, beautiful bill”, which will eviscerate the living standards, healthcare and aspirations of his white, working-class base, conclusively draws the curtain down on his Maga populist conceit, the most elaborate charade in recent American political history.The price will be staggering: $1tn in cuts to Medicaid; throwing 17 million people off health coverage closing rural hospitals and women's health clinics; battering food assistance for families, children and veterans; the virtual destruction of US solar and wind energy manufacturing; limiting access to financial aid for college; and, according to the Yale Budget Lab, adding $3tn to the national debt over the next decade, inexorably leading to raised interest rates, which will depress the housing market. These are the harsh, brutal and undeniable realities of Trumpism in the glare of day as opposed to ...

Exclusive: Charity hit by increase in employer national insurance and minimum wage and aims to save £26mThe National Trust is to cut at least 550 jobs in a cost-cutting drive that aims to save £26m after changes made in the chancellor Rachel Reeves's debut budget pushed up labour costs.The conservation charity, which looks after 500 historic houses, castles, parks and gardens, said a more than £10m rise in costs in employer's national insurance and the legal minimum wage in April had outstripped an increase in income from welcoming more visitors. Continue reading......

Exclusive: 110 of 117 bodies of water tested by Environment Agency would fail standards, with levels in fish 322 times the planned limitNearly all rivers, lakes and ponds in England tested for a range of Pfas, known as “forever chemicals”, exceed proposed new safety limits and 85% contain levels at least five times higher, analysis of official data reveals.Out of 117 water bodies tested by the Environment Agency for multiple types of Pfas, 110 would fail the safety standard, according to analysis by Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Rivers Trust. Continue reading......

Depressing data comes as Rachel Reeves and her team were daring to hope business confidence was recoveringUK economy shrinks unexpectedly in blow to ReevesBusiness live – latest updatesMay's unexpected 0.1% decline in GDP will make depressing reading for Rachel Reeves before a tough budget in the autumn.Stronger-than-expected growth would have helped to alleviate the squeeze on the public finances – but there is nothing in this latest data pointing to an upturn. Continue reading......