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Exclusive: Amazon, Meta and X among firms holding hundreds of meetings with people at heart of government, data showsTech companies have been meeting government ministers at a rate of more than once per working day, enjoying high-level political access that dwarfs that of child safety and copyright campaigners, who called the pattern “shocking” and “disturbing”.Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Elon Musk's X, whose Grok AI image generator has sparked outrage with its sexualised images of women and children, were among the US tech companies holding hundreds of meetings with people at the heart of government, a Guardian investigation has found. Continue reading......

President said 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland will begin on 1 February and increase to 25% on 1 JuneDonald Trump said he will impose a 25% tariff on a slew of European countries including Denmark, Germany and the UK – until the US is allowed to purchase Greenland, in an escalation of the US president's bid to claim the autonomous Danish territory.In a lengthy post on Saturday on Truth Social, Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland beginning 1 February, “on any and all goods sent to the United States of America”. Continue reading......

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland will face tariffs from 1 FebruaryWhat do people in Greenland think of Donald Trump and his threats to take over the island? The Guardian's Miranda Bryant and Lauren Hurrell take a look.Reuters estimated that thousands of protesters attended the “Hands Off Greenland” rallies around Denmark on Saturday, chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and waving Greenland's red and white “Erfalasorput” flag. Continue reading......

The cost of producing milk is higher than that being paid by milk processors, leaving farmers operating at a loss“Every morning that I roll out of bed at 4.40am, I know I'm losing £1,800 that day, just by getting up.” This is the stark daily reality for Paul Tompkins, as he and his fellow dairy farmers struggle in the face of plummeting milk prices.Tompkins, who is the third generation to run his family's 234-hectare (600-acre) farm in the Vale of York, can produce milk for about 40p a litre from his 500-strong herd of black and white Holstein cows. However, he is being paid only 29p a litre by his milk processor, leaving him operating at a loss, despite trying to run his business as efficiently as possible. Continue reading......

Guardian analysis shows electricity bills were up 6.7% last year, and much higher in some states, and gas bills up 5.2%Trump's failed energy bill pledge leaves US households struggling: 'It's obscene'Donald Trump has comprehensively failed to meet a key election promise to slash Americans' energy bills in half within the first year of his presidency, with power prices instead surging across the US.The average household electricity bill in the US was 6.7% more expensive in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to a Guardian analysis of data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Department of Energy's statistical arm. The increases meant that, on average, US households paid nearly $116 more across 2025 than they did in 2024. Continue reading......

M&S, Morrisons and Ocado among retailers bringing out ranges targeting shoppers taking Wegovy or similarVeganuary and dry January are among the new year health kicks enthusiastically endorsed by supermarkets, but this year the buzz is around “Jab-uary” as pricey diet foods aimed at people on weight-loss drugs hit the shelves.Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Asda, Ocado and the Co-op are among the big names targeting shoppers who use weight-loss injections, known as GLP-1 agonists, but better known by brand names such as Wegovy and Mounjaro. Continue reading......

Progress of artificial general intelligence could stall, which may lead to a financial crash, says Yoshua Bengio, one of the 'godfathers' of modern AIWill the race to artificial general intelligence (AGI) lead us to a land of financial plenty – or will it end in a 2008-style bust? Trillions of dollars rest on the answer.The figures are staggering: an estimated $2.9tn (£2.2tn) being spent on datacentres, the central nervous systems of AI tools; the more than $4tn stock market capitalisation of Nvidia, the company that makes the chips powering cutting-edge AI systems; and the $100m signing-on bonuses offered by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta to top engineers at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Continue reading......

Chocolate treats reduced in size or weight as higher price of cocoa drives new wave of 'shrinkflation'Chocolate eggs are looking smaller than ever this year and it is not just because Easter is still so far away.Many of the Easter eggs already out on supermarket shelves this month not only cost more, but have been reduced in size or weight as the price of cocoa has driven a new wave of shrinkflation. Continue reading......

Parts suppliers 'put production on hold' amid mounting confusion as China restricts purchase of the chips and US puts 25% roundabout tariff on their saleSuppliers of parts for Nvidia's H200 have paused production after Chinese customs officials blocked shipments of the newly approved artificial intelligence processors from entering China, according to a report.Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which appeared in the Financial Times citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment made outside regular business hours. Continue reading......

US president's increasingly bellicose demands for control of the island may force the EU to draw a line in the snow Greenland: new shipping routes, hidden minerals – and a frontline between the US and Russia?The crisis over Greenland may deliver the moment when Europe must stand up to Donald Trump, as officials have said a US attempt to annex the territory could shatter the Nato transatlantic alliance.European leaders have entertained Trump's demands for nearly a year as he has pushed Nato countries to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP, and threatened to pull US support from Ukraine as part of a peace process that appears to favour Russia. They have also given a muted response to US adventurism abroad including the capture and rendition of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro. Continue reading......

Betting exchange appeared to miss multiple opportunities to stop 'VIP' customer betting with stolen money Betfair is under pressure to hand tens of thousands of pounds to the victim of a fraudster and gambling addict, after appearing to miss multiple opportunities to stop the “VIP” customer betting with stolen money.Andrew Morford, a former finance manager, was given a two-year suspended sentence on Wednesday, after admitting a £340,000 fraud against his former employer, carried out between May 2019 and February 2024. Continue reading......

Ads to be placed alongside answers as OpenAI looks to beef up revenue for flagship AI productChatGPT will start including advertisements beside answers for US users as OpenAI seeks a new revenue stream.The ads will be tested first in ChatGPT for US users only, the company announced on Friday, after increasing speculation that the San Francisco firm would turn to a potential cashflow model on top of its current subscriptions. Continue reading......

Company says TB testing carried out as 'precaution' after small number of workers contracted lung diseaseAmazon is testing workers at its Coventry warehouse for tuberculosis amid fears it is at the centre of an outbreak of the lung disease.A handful of workers from the site were found to have contagious tuberculosis (TB) last year, prompting the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to begin running a screening programme in September. Continue reading......

President raises pressure on European allies as US envoy says deal to take island 'should and will be made'Fear in Greenland as threat of invasion loomsDonald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex Greenland, increasing pressure on European allies who have opposed his effort to take over the Arctic territory.After a tense week in which Nato allies deployed troops to the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom, the US president announced he might punish countries that do not support his plans to take over Greenland, using force if necessary. Continue reading......

Experts say central banks are increasingly stuffing their vaults as an insurance policy in a volatile worldFifteen minutes after takeoff, the call came for Serbia's central bank governor: millions of dollars' worth of gold bars, destined for a high-security Belgrade vault, had been left on the runway of a Swiss airport.In air freight – despite the extraordinary value of bullion – fresh flowers, food and other perishables still take priority. “We learned this the hard way,” Jorgovanka Tabaković told a conference late last year. Continue reading......

Andrew Bailey says he and heads of other institutions have responsibility to 'challenge back' populist narrativesBusiness live – latest updatesThe governor of the Bank of England has urged the world's leading global institutions to fight back against the rise of populism, warning that it represents one of the biggest threats to improvements in living standards.In a thinly veiled response to Donald Trump's attempts to interfere with the independence of the US Federal Reserve, Andrew Bailey said that he and the heads of other institutions had a duty to “challenge back” populist narratives. Continue reading......

Trend of mini-me dressing – wearing same clothes as one's children – has extended to four-legged friendsBeyoncé and Kim Kardashian are some of the many who have long indulged in mini-me dressing – wearing the same clothes as their children – but now the trend is being extended to people's four-legged companions, too. The dog clothing market is soaring and this winter it is coats that are topping the most in-demand list.Bestsellers at Pawelier, a London-based luxury pet accessories shop include a £135 four-leg puffer coat complete with a fuzzy hood and toggle detailing, and a £110 reversible down-filled jumpsuit in cornflower blue and cappuccino brown that wouldn't look out of place on a designer catwalk. The Italian greyhounds and whippets pictured bundled up in them appear to be prepped for an Alpine adventure rather than a lap around the park. Continue reading......

Moderators accuse social media firm of unfair dismissal after it fired hundreds in UK just before vote to form unionTikTok moderators have accused the social media company of “oppressive and intimidating” union busting after it fired hundreds of workers in the UK, beginning the process just before they were due to vote on forming a union.The moderators wanted to establish a collective bargaining unit to protect themselves from the personal costs of checking extreme and violent content, and have claimed TikTok is guilty of unfair dismissal and breaching trade union laws. Continue reading......

Tourists keen to see island where couple exchanged vows, seven-star hotel where they stayed and paths trodden by their celebrity guestsFor the residents of Venice who travel daily through the city's waterways, the small wooden floating jetty outside the Gritti Palace hotel is nothing special, “no different to a London underground stop,” as Igor Scomparin, a tour guide, puts it.But for a certain type of tourist it is a must-see spot. In June last year, Kim Kardashian disembarked from a water taxi here and navigated its planks during the five-day wedding of the billionaire Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist. Continue reading......

Todolí foundation produces varieties from Buddha's hands to sudachi and hopes to help citrus survive climate changeIt was on a trip with a friend to the east coast of Spain that the chef Matthew Slotover came across the “Garden of Eden”, an organic farm growing citrus varieties he had never heard of. The Todolí Citrus Foundation is a nonprofit venture and the largest private collection of citrus in the world with more than 500 varieties, and its owners think the rare fruit could hold the genetic secrets to growing citrus groves that can deal with climate change.The farm yields far more interesting fruit than oranges and lemons for Slotover's menu, including kumquat, finger lime, sudachi and bergamot. Continue reading......