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Health-centred approaches that help individuals stay in or return to work are needed, says Nick PahlThe alarming rise in economic inactivity highlighted in your report (UK sleepwalking into joblessness epidemic, Tesco boss warns, 10 February) underlines a public health issue as much as an economic one. It is increasingly clear that millions of working-age people are drifting out of the labour market not through choice but because of long-term health problems and inadequate support systems around them.Tackling worklessness requires proactive, health-centred approaches that help individuals stay in or return to work. We also know that time out of work is corrosive. Good-quality work improves physical and mental wellbeing, providing income, social connection and purpose, and protects against social exclusion. Continue reading......

Swanky eateries are attracting an influx of influencers - whereas those that produce less varied and photogenic fare are strugglingName: Food porn.Age: Entered common parlance around the 1980s – Rosalind Coward used the term in her 1984 book Female Desire (one of its earliest documented uses). Continue reading......

A new Guardian series explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping jobs, expectations and worker power across industriesHello, and welcome to TechScape. I'm your host, Blake Montgomery, The Guardian's US tech editor, writing to you while cheering on Team USA in the Winter Olympics.Epstein engineered intimate relationship for Tesla's Kimbal Musk, emails showElon Musk posted about race almost every day in JanuaryMusk changes course on Mars quest and shoots for moon – again'A different set of rules': thermal drone footage shows Musk's AI power plant flouting clean air regulationsElon Musk's xAI faces second lawsuit over toxic pollutants from datacenterShares in trucking and logistics firms plunge after AI freight tool launchRussia attempted to 'fully block' WhatsApp, Meta-owned company saysInstagram CEO dismisses idea of social media addiction in landmark trialSalesforce workers outraged after CEO makes joke about ICE watching themCalifornia's billionaires pour cash into elections as big tec...

Readers respond to the billionaire Manchester United co-owner's remark that 'the UK is being colonised by immigrants'In response to the billionaire industrialist and Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe's historically, economically and culturally illiterate and deeply offensive remark that “the UK is being colonised by immigrants”, it was fitting that he should be rebuked, albeit only implicitly, in a statement issued by the football club amid a tsunami of condemnation from politicians, club supporters and anti-racist groups (Jim Ratcliffe apologises for 'choice of language' after saying immigrants 'colonising' UK, 12 February).Quite rightly, Ratcliffe's words are now being investigated by the Football Association. As a lifelong Manchester United fan, I have no doubt that Ratcliffe has brought the game into disrepute and sullied the club's reputation. His vile comments constitute a failure of moral leadership and a betrayal of the club's proud and pivotal role in the anti-racism work of...

Jon Reeds on low-density developments, plus a letter from Richard EltringhamIt is disappointing to see the huge urban sprawl at Gilston, north of Harlow, described as rejecting “car‑centric models” (A new town for the 21st century?, 9 February).Big, ultra-low-density developments like this, far from rail-transit networks, are inevitably car-dependent, despite claims by their promoters. It takes more than building the primary schools necessitated by such schemes to get people out of their cars, especially as walks to school are extended by the very low densities secured by huge consumption of productive farmland. Continue reading......

'Eight-figure agreement' made to supply new line between Ankara and İzmir – but questions over plant's future remainBritish Steel has secured an order worth tens of millions of pounds to supply rail for a high-speed electric railway in Turkey, amid continuing uncertainty over the long-term future of the government-controlled steelworks in Scunthorpe.The site will supply 36,000 tonnes of rail to ERG International Group, the company announced, in what it called an “eight-figure agreement”. Continue reading......

Chair of UK government review says dramatic changes in labour market risks creating 'a generation on the scrap heap'On any given day, Poppy Blackman is engaged in the “soul-crushing” process of applying for a new job, and rarely ever hearing anything back.The 22-year-old has been unemployed since January 2025 and says she applies to an average of 50 roles a month, using one of four different CVs she has written for different types of jobs and sectors. Continue reading......

The move follows pressure from an activist shareholder group seeking end to DEI requirementsGoldman Sachs is removing race, gender and other diversity-related considerations when evaluating prospective candidates for its executive board after pressure from an activist shareholder group to remove the criteria.The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a small Goldman shareholder, quietly submitted a request to the company last September asking the bank to eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) board criteria. Continue reading......

ONS figures raise the prospect of a further interest rate cut by Bank of England in the springGloom for UK workers as incomes flatline and jobs market faltersBusiness live – latest updatesUnemployment in the UK has risen to 5.2%, the highest level in nearly five years, while wage growth continues to slow, raising the prospect of another cut to interest rates in the spring.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment was 5.2% in the three months to the end of December, the highest rate since the quarter to January 2021. This was in line with what economists had been expecting and was up from 5.1% in the three months to November. Continue reading......

Waiver from Netflix allows film company to engage with rival bidder if it could lead to a 'reasonably superior offer'Business live – latest updatesWarner Bros Discovery (WBD) has reopened talks with Paramount Skydance, giving the company seven days to table its best and final offer and top an existing agreement with Netflix.WBD has so far stuck to its binding agreement with Netflix and rejected a series of sweetened offers from Paramount, resulting in the company pursuing a hostile $108.4bn (£76.8bn) takeover directly with shareholders Continue reading......

At least 20 federal suits filed against companies like Kalshi and Polymarket as lawmakers call it 'loophole' for gamblingState lawmakers and gaming regulators across the US are escalating their fight against prediction markets, arguing that the fast-growing platforms are “basically gambling but with another name”.At least 20 federal lawsuits have been filed nationwide, disputing whether companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket should be treated as federally regulated financial exchanges, as they maintain, or as gambling operations that should be regulated like state-licensed sportsbooks. Continue reading......

Company, which also owns Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen, to use cash to cut debts and fund turnaroundBusiness live – latest updatesThe owner of Boohoo and Debenhams is raising £35m from shareholders in a move that could open a fresh conflict with Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley.The company, which also owns Oasis, Warehouse, Pretty Little Thing and Karen Millen, said on Tuesday that the new cash would help reduce debts and fund its turnaround plans. These involve slashing costs, selling off a distribution centre and operating Debenhams as an online marketplace for other brands. Continue reading......

Bloc also examines 'addictive design' of shopping site, including rewards, and its recommender systemsBusiness live – latest updatesThe EU is to open a formal investigation into the Chinese retailer Shein over multiple suspected breaches of European laws including the sale of childlike sex dolls and weapons.The European Commission said on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after demanding information from the fast-growing company last year. Continue reading......

Billionaire says he exercised 'terrible judgment' in maintaining contact with sex offender and Ghislaine MaxwellThe billionaire Thomas Pritzker has stepped down as executive chair of the hotel chain Hyatt, after revelations over his ties with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Pritzker said he had exercised “terrible judgment” in maintaining contact with the sex offender and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls. Continue reading......

Falls in inflation and interest rates could leave Britain better off this year, but at the cost of high unemploymentUK unemployment rate hits five-year highPrivate sector pay increased on average by just 3.4% in December, according to the latest official labour market data released on Tuesday, the same as the rise in inflation at the end of last year.No wonder the vast majority of workers are feeling the winter blues. Their incomes, adjusted for rising shop prices, have flatlined, leaving them no better off than they were a year earlier. Continue reading......

Programme launched by last Tory government was worked on by Deloitte and IBM but was paused in 2024Business live – latest updatesThe UK government has shelved a project to simplify trade border processes post-Brexit, after spending £110m on a contract with Deloitte and IBM for it, according to reports.The last Conservative government promised in 2020 to create the “world's most effective border” by 2025 as part of their plan for a new trade system after Britain left the EU. Continue reading......

Civil society groups and individuals from around world are working to aid Ukraine by damaging Moscow's war machineIn August 2022, Olena Yurchenko stumbled across a heated discussion on a Russian-language online forum – and made a discovery that would ultimately affect US and European sanctions policy on the Ukraine war.The war had begun six months earlier. Yurchenko, 22, had been forced to leave Ukraine for Latvia after Russian strikes on her home town in the north. She had joined a nascent effort to pressure western companies to move their operations out of Russia. But the “name and blame” tactic only went so far, she said. Continue reading......

Messages from ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to sex offender, sent after his conviction, came to light last monthSix companies linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, are being wound down in the wake of revelations about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.According to Companies House, an application to strike off each company was filed after new details about Ferguson's contact with Epstein came to light in the millions of documents released by US authorities as part of the Epstein files. Continue reading......

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsGood morning. Unemployment across the UK has hit a near five-year high, and wage growth has slowed.The latest labour market data, just released this morning, shows that the UK jobless rate rose to 5.2% in the October-December quarter.“The number of workers on payroll fell further in the final quarter of the year, reflecting weak hiring activity, although it is largely unchanged in the latest month. Over the same period the unemployment rate increased, with data showing that more people who were out of work are now actively looking for a job.“The number of vacancies has remained broadly stable since the middle of last year. Alongside rising unemployment this means that the number of unemployed people per vacancy has increased, reaching a new post-pandemic high. Meanwhile, redundancies are also showing an upward trend.7am GMT: UK labour force data7am GMT: German inflation report9.30am GMT: UK productivity data for Q4 202510am GMT: ZEW's eurozone...

By trusting the US, we handed Trump a kill switch. Yet Europe's digital sovereignty is an achievable goalThe French judge Nicolas Guillou knows exactly how deep Europe's dependence on US tech is. Guillou and his colleagues at the international criminal court are under US sanctions. They can no longer use e-commerce, book hotels online or hire a car. Their home smart devices ignore them. Credit cards from European banks no longer function, because Europe has still not developed its own EU-wide payments system, so most electronic purchases go through Visa and Mastercard. Converting euros to foreign currencies is extraordinarily difficult because everything passes through dollars. Living in Europe is no protection against Donald Trump bricking your digital life.This dependence is not limited to mod-cons. Last year, the chairman of the Danish parliament's defence committee said that he regretted his part in Denmark's decision to buy US-made F-35 fighter jets: “I can easily imagine a situation where the ...