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Many of the old challenges remain but there are a number of reasons why this time a deal of some kind could be possibleMining firms Rio Tinto and Glencore restart $260bn merger talksHere we go again. A combination of Rio Tinto and Glencore has been talked about for years and the duo held aborted negotiations at the end of 2024. With the global mining industry in deal-making mode – frenzies come along every 15 years or so – the idea of RioGlen or GlenTinto was due another whirl. On Friday, the two FTSE 100 companies said they were in “preliminary discussions” about a “possible combination of some or all of their businesses”. A full-blown tie-up would be worth about $260bn (£120bn), including debt.Many of the old challenges to a deal haven't gone away. Glencore's roots lie in trading commodities; Rio is a traditional pure miner, so the fit is culturally imperfect. Does Rio, which got out of coal as long ago as 2018 under investor pressure, really want to go back in by adding Glencore's signi...

White House is meanwhile facing questions about an apparent embargo breach over Trump's social media postHiring held firm in the US last month, official data showed, amid uncertainty over the strength and direction of the world's largest economy.Employers added 50,000 jobs to the US labor force last month, capping the weakest year of growth since the pandemic, according to data released from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. Continue reading......

Agreement after 25 years of negotiations prompts farmers to block roads in Paris, Brussels and WarsawEurope live – latest updatesEuropean Union member states have backed the biggest ever free trade agreement with a group of Latin American countries, ending 25 years of negotiations but stoking further tensions with farmers and environmentalists around the bloc.The contentious Mercosur deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, prompted immediate protests in Poland, France, Greece and Belgium, with farmers blocking key roads in Paris, Brussels and Warsaw. Continue reading......

Bosses at body that trained chef Jamie Oliver were awarded million-pound bonuses after sale to private firmBusiness live – latest updatesThe Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into City & Guilds' sale of its qualification awards business to a private company last year.The announcement has been made after the Guardian revealed last month how City & Guilds bosses were handed million-pound bonuses after the charity privatised its business arm. Continue reading......

The Olina, seized in the Caribbean, was falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, according to a public shipping databaseUS politics live – latest updatesThe US is in the process of seizing the Olina tanker in the Caribbean near Trinidad in the fifth such interdiction of ships in recent weeks as part of Washington's efforts to control Venezuelan oil exports, two US officials said on Friday.The Olina, according to public shipping database Equasis, was falsely flying the flag of the tiny south-east Asian nation of Timor Leste. The vessel had previously sailed from Venezuela and had returned to the region, said an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter. Continue reading......

Robot vacuums that can climb stairs and device for BlackBerry lovers also on display at annual Las Vegas tech showThis year will be filled with robots that can fold your laundry, pick up objects and climb stairs, fridges that you can command to open by voice, laptops with screens that can follow you around the room on motorised hinges and the reimagining of the BlackBerry phone.Those are the predictions from the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas that took place this week. The sprawling event aims to showcase cutting-edge technology developed by startups and big brands. Continue reading......

City firms welcome clarity as government signals it will not reopen Brussels-era rules, despite closer cooperation elsewhereBusiness live – latest updatesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer will exclude financial services from negotiations on closer alignment with the EU, prompting a sigh of relief from Brexit-weary City lobbyists.A government spokesperson said officials would continue to explore cooperation “where it is in our economy's interest”, but it is understood there will be no push for City firms to return to the Brussels rulebook. Continue reading......

Analysis estimates Trump administration 'wasted' billions to compensate over 154,000 federal employees on leaveThe Trump administration “wasted” $10bn on paid leave, or paying workers to stay home, as part of the “department of government efficiency's” assault on the federal workforce, a new analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) estimates.In a letter sent to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Peer estimates that more than 154,000 employees were put on paid leave in 2025, making up nearly 7% of the federal civilian workforce. That costs taxpayers approximately $10bn in compensation for workers who were staying home and not working. Continue reading......

Social media site's profits plunge as image creation on AI tool Grok is turned off after outcry over sexualised usageUK revenues at Elon Musk's X fell by almost 60% in a year as advertisers pulled spend over concerns about the social media platform's content.News of the plummeting financial performance comes as X switched off the image creation function on its AI tool Grok for the vast majority of users after a widespread outcry about its use to create sexually explicit and violent imagery. Continue reading......

The ad campaign ended in late 2025, the Swedish streaming giant confirmed, having previously said, despite protests, that it did not violate advertising policiesSpotify is no long running advertisements for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the streaming service has confirmed, after the Trump administration campaign ended in late 2025.“There are currently no ICE ads running on Spotify,” the Swedish company said in a statement. “The advertisements mentioned were part of a US government recruitment campaign that ran across all major media and platforms.” Continue reading......

Four out of five councils controlled by party have proposed 5% council tax rises, the maximum permitted by lawNigel Farage's Reform UK has been accused of “betraying” election promises to cut council tax after several councils it controls said they planned to increase rates close to the maximum allowed.They include Kent county council – the party's flagship local authority and one viewed by it as the “shop window” for what a Reform-led government would look like – which has proposed an increase of 3.99%. Continue reading......

Exclusive: SIK leader Jess Berthelsen rejects Trump claim that the US needs Greenland for 'national security'Greenland “will not be annexed”, the longtime leader of its largest labor union has declared, refuting Donald Trump's claims that the Arctic territory's current status poses a national security threat to the US.In an interview with the Guardian, Jess Berthelsen, chair of SIK, Greenland's national trade union confederation, said people in the territory do not recognize the US president's allegations that Russian and Chinese ships are scattered throughout its waters. “We can't see it, we can't recognize it and we can't understand it,” he said. Continue reading......

If this reform succeeds it will be a blueprint for African self-reliance. But the state has failed to deliver the most basic services for decades. No wonder Nigerians are suspiciousLet's not mince words. Nigeria's new tax regime, which landed on our heads this January, is the most ambitious attempt to reshape the state since, well, since the last time someone had a “bright idea” in Abuja. They're calling it a “generational reset”.From where I sit, and from where millions of Nigerians actually sit – in traffic, in market stalls, in offices – wondering how to make ends meet, it feels more like a grand, high-stakes gamble. Continue reading......

Deal would create world's largest mining company and come almost a year after previous discussions failedBusiness live – latest updatesRio Tinto and Glencore have restarted talks over a merger that would create the world's largest mining company.The talks come almost a year after previous discussions between the two mining companies collapsed. If a deal is agreed, it would create a global mining business with an enterprise value of more than $260bn (£193bn). Continue reading......

Online competition and weak consumer confidence behind fall, although sales at group's supermarkets roseBusiness live – latest updatesSainsbury's has blamed “significant headwinds” from weak consumer confidence, heavy online competition and widespread discounting for a fall in sales at its Argos chain over the all-important Christmas quarter.The UK's second-largest grocer said its supermarkets increased sales by 3.4% at established stores in the three months to 3 January but Argos sales fell 1% in the period. Continue reading......

X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory actionGrok, Elon Musk's AI tool, has switched off its image creation function for the vast majority of users after widespread outcry over its use to create sexually explicit and violent imagery.The move comes after Musk was threatened with fines, regulatory action and reports of a possible ban on X in the UK. Continue reading......

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsCoal could be a potential stumbling block in these latest Rio Tinto/Glencore talks.Rio divested itself of the dirty, polluting fossil fuel in the last decade; in 2018 it became the only major global mining company to have no coal assets.“This is Simon's first test as CEO and I would expect his disciplined approach to be carried through to M&A. Continue reading......

Investment firm that also bought WH Smith's high street business has reputation for rapid and hard-nosed restructuringThe expected collapse of the high street retailers Claire's and The Original Factory Shop, with 2,550 jobs at risk, has put the previously little-known investment firm Modella Capital in the spotlight.The UK-based firm, which bought the two troubled chains within the last year, was set up by a group of restructuring professionals four years ago and has risen to prominence. Continue reading......

For much of the last 30 years, the rest of the world has been forced to persevere with climate action in the face of US intransigenceOutrage as Trump withdraws from key UN climate treaty along with dozens of international organisationsDonald Trump's latest attack on climate action takes place amid rapidly rising temperatures, rising sea levels, still-rising greenhouse gas emissions, burgeoning costs from extreme weather and the imminent danger that the world will trigger “tipping points” in the climate system that will lead to catastrophic and irreversible changes.The US president's decision to withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the world's leading body of climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will not alter any of those scientific realities. Continue reading......

Cyclists and others voice frustration as transport infrastructure descends into chaos amid increasingly rare cold snapA week-long winter cold snap that would once have been normal in the Netherlands has caused more than 20,000 flight cancellations, chaos on roads and railways, buildings to partially collapse, and a stream of angry cyclists asking why roads seem better gritted than cycle lanes.Since Saturday, up to 15cm of snow has fallen across the country, with temperatures of -10C (14F) including wind chill, sparking angry commentary over how some nations manage months of snow but the Netherlands, no longer used to it, appears paralysed. Continue reading......