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With a North American licensing deal under its belt, the reinvented high-street giant is growing again under new owners and a global strategyFrench Connection is back on the trail of global expansion with the aid of its cheeky initials-based slogan that made it so popular in the late 1990s.The label once known for clothes bearing FCUK is seeking to reinvent itself again under the ownership of a group of British entrepreneurs based in the north of England who rescued it in 2021. Continue reading......

Bar owners say they struggle to dissuade people from forming a line as behavioural experts point to post-pandemic 'new norms'“I'm not sure what else we can do to be honest,” Paul Loebenberg said, of the people lined up at his bar. “Maybe there's something I've missed, but we've tried everything.”To anybody who frequents pubs and dislikes feeling as if they are waiting at a bank, Loebenberg's exasperation is all too familiar. Continue reading......

Putin critic says plants in China, India and Turkey are funnelling up to $1bn a day to KremlinBill Browder's fight against Vladimir Putin has seen him face threats, lawsuits, false accusations of murder and Interpol arrest warrants. A disinformation-laden film was even made about him.But 16 years after the death of his friend and lawyer Sergei Magnitsky at the hands of Putin's regime, Browder is unrelenting in his fight for justice. It is an endeavour that, by his estimation, has cost Putin and his cronies billions of dollars already, via asset freezes and sanctions. Hence the considerable risk to his safety. Continue reading......

Trump's wounding of the US economy offers Beijing an unparalleled opportunity – if it dials back its overbearing trade tacticsWhen the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, took to the podium at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week to lament how “great economic powers” were dismantling the international order, it seemed clear that he was talking about the United States. He might have been talking about China as well.Not a week earlier, Beijing had revealed that China's trade surplus ballooned by 20% in 2025, to $1.2tn. Despite Donald Trump's wall of tariffs that crashed Chinese sales to the US, its overall exports expanded more than 5%. Sales to the 11 countries in Asia's Asean bloc increased more than 13%. Exports to the European Union rose over 8%. Chinese imports, by contrast, were flat. Continue reading......

Earn money and other rewards by linking friends and family up to companies you use, from banks to energy firmsHow much do you love your energy company – enough to recommend it to a friend? How about if £50 was up for grabs?Richard from Suffolk is a customer of Octopus Energy, and now eight of his family and friends are, too, after he recommended the provider to them all through its referral scheme. “I really think [referral schemes] are a good idea. It's an incentive to swap – without it, I think people wouldn't bother switching and would carry on as they were,” he says. Continue reading......

TUC urges ministers to bring forward changes to protect workers amid concerns over apps such as TemperThe fashion retailer Urban Outfitters, the bed specialist Dreams and the operator of several Royal Parks cafes have been criticised for the use of the gig economy app Temper to take on staff – some of whom can end up earning below minimum wage.The TUC is urging the government to bring forward promised reforms to protect gig economy workers amid concerns that those hired by apps such as Temper are missing out on significant employment rights including sick pay, rest breaks, holiday pay and a minimum hourly rate. Continue reading......

City of London Corporation accused of lack of transparency in retendering process that handed contracts to Daisy GreenA couple who run three cafes at north London beauty spots including Hampstead Heath and Queen's Park have claimed a small victory in their battle to overturn the decision by their landlord, the City of London Corporation, to evict them.Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez have run the cafes at Parliament Hill Lido, Queen's Park and Highgate Wood for several years, but were told just before Christmas they had been unsuccessful in a retendering process. Continue reading......

The brutal handling of immigration raids and the killing of Alex Pretti have tested the reticence of the corporate classDuring Donald Trump's first term, the US's corporate titans were prepared to literally turn their backs on the president when they disagreed with them. Weeks of growing national anger over deadly immigration crackdowns in the US have highlighted how much has changed.Publicly, the US's top CEOs have stayed – mostly – quiet during Trump's second term, even as his administration has undermined free trade policies, cracked down on the immigration that many businesses relied on, and attacked the Federal Reserve – a pillar of the US's financial hegemony. Continue reading......

Hundreds of claims still arriving each month, raising fears eligible operators will lose out on redressThe Post Office is to close the largest compensation scheme for post office operators affected by the Horizon scandal this weekend, leaving potentially thousands of claimants out of pocket for losses produced by the faulty IT system.The Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), which will close for new applicants at 11.59pm on Saturday, has received more than 9,500 submissions, according to the latest public data to 19 December. Continue reading......

Trump nominated Kevin Warsh, an ex-Fed governor, for the role as the White House continues to attack Jerome PowellThe US Federal Reserve requires “strong, sound and steady leadership”, according to Donald Trump. The president found a man to lead the central bank who would “provide exactly that type of leadership”, he declared.“He's strong, he's committed and he's smart.”This is not how Trump described Kevin Warsh, the former Fed governor whom he unveiled as his new nominee to chair the central bank on Friday – but how he hailed Jerome Powell, the current Fed chair, when nominating him for the job about eight years ago. Continue reading......

Campaigners criticise use of 'vulnerable' devices at Salisbury Cathedral and Parthenon despite their removal from sensitive UK government sitesSecurity cameras guarding Magna Carta are provided by a Chinese CCTV company whose technology has allegedly aided the Uyghur “genocide” and been exploited by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine, it has emerged.In letters seen by the Guardian, campaigners called on Salisbury Cathedral, which houses one of four surviving copies of the “powerful symbol of social justice”, to rip out cameras made by Dahua Technology, based in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. Continue reading......

Motorists benefit as industry offers deals of up to 18% off to attract buyers for petrol, diesel and electric modelsIf you are considering buying a new car, now might be the time to act as new data shows manufacturers and dealers slashing prices by more than 10%, with the average discount close to £6,000.The typical discount available across all petrol, diesel and electric cars sold in the UK is 11.4% of the on-the-road price – the equivalent of £5,911 – according to Insider Car Deals, which sells discount data to people looking to buy. Continue reading......

Exclusive: Formal validation for claret reflects hotter conditions, falling consumption and shift towards chillable redsBordeaux's wine industry has historically adapted to consumer habits. In the 1970s the region leaned towards white, but by the 2000s was famed for powerful oak-aged reds.Now it's turning to a much older form of red with a name familiar to anglophones: claret. With origins in the 12th century, when it was first shipped to Britain, claret was soon our favoured wine, an unofficial byword for bordeaux red, which in recent decades has become increasingly full-bodied. Continue reading......

Nestlé has already recalled several batches due to concerns they may trigger nausea and vomitingThe Food Standards Agency (FSA) has confirmed the presence of a toxin that can cause food poisoning in some Nestlé baby formula products.At the start of this month, the Swiss food and drink company recalled several batches of its SMA infant formula and follow-on formula due to concerns they contained cereulide, which can trigger nausea and vomiting when consumed. Continue reading......

Launch of R&D centre could pave way for deal for UK's Jaguar Land Rover to build cars for Omoda and Jaecoo ownerChinese carmaker Chery is to open a research and development headquarters in Liverpool, in a move that could pave the way for a deal for the British manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover to build its cars.State-owned Chery's commercial vehicle arm will base the headquarters for its European operations in Merseyside, including research, engineering, and commercial functions. Continue reading......

Pick of former Fed governor to replace Jerome Powell comes as White House seeks to tighten grip on central bank• Business live – latest updatesDonald Trump has announced Kevin Warsh as his nomination for the next chair of the Federal Reserve, selecting a candidate who has been an outspoken critic of the US central bank.The move ends months of speculation about who the president would pick to replace Jerome Powell, as he waged an extraordinary campaign to influence policymaking at the Fed by repeatedly calling for interest rate cuts. Powell's second term as chair is due to end in May. Continue reading......

Panama's president says strategic waterway will operate as normal after ruling that advances US policy aimsPanama's president said ports at each end of the Panama canal would operate as usual after the country's supreme court ruled the concession held by a subsidiary of a Chinese company was unconstitutional.The court's decision on Thursday, which helps US attempts to block any Chinese influence over the strategic waterway, immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing. Continue reading......

Law will give private companies more control but experts unsure whether changes go far enough for USVenezuela's acting president has signed into law a bill making significant changes to the country's oil sector after pressure from the US to open it up to foreign private investment.The new hydrocarbons law promises to give private companies control over oil production and sales, ease taxes and allow for independent arbitration of disputes, while largely maintaining state control over oil production. Continue reading......

Government to lend up to £10,000 to worst-affected new retirees as minister admits there is 'unacceptable' backlogNewly retired civil servants say they are struggling to pay bills and buy food because delays at their pension scheme have left them without an income for months.Pensioners have reported being forced to borrow money from family to pay for food and heating, with some saying they feared losing their homes because they could not afford their rent or mortgage. Continue reading......

A ground rent cap is a good start, but ministers need to go further in reforming an unjust systemChanges to lease agreements, leading to steeply increasing ground rents over recent years, are an outrage. An estimated 18% of leaseholders in England and Wales – around 1m households – have a so-called “modern ground rent” lease, with escalating charges that make it impossible in many cases to remortgage or sell. Cost-of-living pressures, including food and energy price rises, make it all the more urgent that their situation is addressed. Angela Rayner was right to argue in the Guardian last week that ministers must pick a side.This market should never have been allowed to develop in the way that it has. An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority found no evidence that leaseholders get anything for these annual fees – which are separate from service charges that pay for the maintenance of common areas. Campaigners for leasehold abolition are right that the rent-seeking behaviour of fr...