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Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsJustice department opens investigation into Jerome Powell as Trump ramps up campaign against Federal ReserveGold has hit a new high around $4.600 an ounce; it's up over 1.5% today, pushed up by the weaker dollar.The US dollar has dropped on the foreign exchange markets since news of the investigation into Powell hit the wires.Powell highlighted that the key issue is whether the Fed can continue setting interest rates based on economic data and evidence, or whether monetary policy will be directed by political pressure.I'm afraid we may be moving toward the second scenario. If the Fed becomes a political tool, with its chair replaced by a government puppet, that could further weaken appetite for the U.S. dollar and U.S. bonds. Continue reading......

Company says doll is the latest expansion of its commitment to representation and inclusionWith an animated Barbie film in development, following the success of Greta Gerwig's 2023 blockbuster movie, Mattel Studios will certainly have a diverse range of characters to bring to life.On Monday, Mattel launches its first autistic Barbie. Coming barely six months after its first doll with type 1 diabetes, this newest addition to Barbie's Fashionistas range is designed so that more children “see themselves in Barbie” and to encourage all children to play with dolls that reflect the world around them. Continue reading......

Senior politicians have tabled bill that would force UK banks to make affordable finance more accessibleSenior Labour backbenchers are urging the government to introduce legislation forcing UK banks to expand affordable lending to small businesses and low-income neighbourhoods.The former minister Gareth Thomas has tabled a 10-minute rule bill – a type of private member's bill – echoing the US Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Continue reading......

Media bosses expect web referrals to plunge and want journalists to emulate content creators, report findsMedia companies expect web traffic to their sites from online searches to plummet over the next three years, as AI summaries and chatbots change the way consumers use the internet.An overwhelming majority are also planning to encourage their journalists to behave more like YouTube and TikTok content creators this year, as short-form video and audio content continues to boom. Continue reading......

Federal government issues recall notice for Volvo EX30 and urges owners to keep charge below 70%Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlmost 3,000 electric vehicle drivers will be asked to keep their car less than fully charged while the manufacturer develops a solution to a serious fire risk.The federal transport department has issued a recall notice for Volvo EX30 electric vehicles sold in Australia during 2024 in a move that will affect 2,815 motorists. Continue reading......

Rising costs and economic uncertainty take toll, in contrast to Keir Starmer saying Britain will start to feel richerUK business confidence weakened sharply at the end of 2025 and hiring fell amid rising costs and uncertainty about the economic outlook, according to key business surveys.Contrasting with the prime minister's optimistic new year message that the country was about to start feeling richer again, the jobs market weakened, with full-time and temporary appointments falling in December, according to a study by the accountants KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Continue reading......

Skilled workers at Leonardo Helicopters fear it will close Yeovil factory if Ministry of Defence delays awarding contractThe UK's last military helicopter factory must land a long-awaited order from the Ministry of Defence within the coming weeks to secure about 3,000 manufacturing jobs, industry sources suggest.Skilled workers at Leonardo Helicopters – the Italian owner of the former Westland factory in Yeovil, Somerset – fear the company will follow through on threats to close the facility at the end of March, if the UK military fails to place an order for new helicopters by that time. Continue reading......

The most romantic way to traverse the continent is environmentally friendly and popular with the public. But market challenges need addressingWhen the European Union made its 2020 commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century, there was a wave of excitement about what that might mean for the continent's most romantic form of travel. The golden era of night trains had, it was previously assumed, gone for good amid the rise of low-cost, short-haul flights. But the new environmental imperatives suggested that they could be a glamorous part of a greener future, delivering a climate impact that was 28 times less than flying. The European Commission enthusiastically identified a plethora of potential new routes that it judged could be economically viable.Sadly, due to a series of challenges that Brussels and national governments have done too little to address, the renaissance appears to be stalling. Last month, a two-year-old night service linking Paris with Vienna and Berlin ...

A globally unique programme allowed the poor to demand – and get – jobs, empowering rural women. Narendra Modi courts trouble by hollowing it outFew countries have attempted anything as ambitious as India's rural jobs guarantee. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, any adult in the countryside who demanded work was entitled to a job on local public works within 15 days, failing which the government had to pay an unemployment allowance. Enacted in 2005, MGNREGA created the world's most far-reaching legal right to employment. It generates 2bn person-days of work a year for about 50m households. Over half of all workers were women, and about 40% came from Dalit and tribal communities.For a country where vast numbers rely on seasonal farm work, the scheme mattered. It stabilised incomes, raised rural wages, expanded women's bargaining power and reduced internal migration. Households could demand up to 100 days of paid work at a statutory minimum wage, turning employment int...

A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American publicDonald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America's largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday's House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration's influence and a potential merger's toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump's ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over what American...

Campaign groups argue online transactions 'present real risks to our democracy' as it is hard to trace their true sourceDowning Street has been urged to ban political donations in cryptocurrency by seven senior Labour MPs who chair parliamentary committees.The committee chairs – Liam Byrne, Emily Thornberry, Tan Dhesi, Florence Eshalomi, Andy Slaughter, Chi Onwurah and Matt Western – called on the government to introduce a full ban in the forthcoming elections bill amid concern that cryptocurrency could be used by foreign states to influence politics. Continue reading......

55-year-old worker died during overnight shiftTemperatures plunged to -12C in Cortina d'AmpezzoA guard at a construction site near a 2026 Winter Olympic venue in the mountain resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo died during a freezing overnight shift, authorities have confirmed. Italy's infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, called for a full investigation into the circumstances of the 55-year-old worker's death.Italian media reported that the death occurred on Thursday while the worker was on duty at a construction site near Cortina's ice arena. Temperatures that night plunged to -12C (10.4F). Continue reading......

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds AI Overviews provided inaccurate and false information when queried over blood testsGoogle has removed some of its artificial intelligence health summaries after a Guardian investigation found people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading information.The company has said its AI Overviews, which use generative AI to provide snapshots of essential information about a topic or question, are “helpful” and “reliable”. Continue reading......

Stirling Distillery project risks being viewed as heresy but it says it wants to make the industry more sustainableWhisky drinkers and tourists are often bewitched by the amber rows of malt whisky that line the shelves of Scotland's bars, restaurants and hotels.So proposals from one of Scotland's smallest distilleries could be viewed by many as heresy. Continue reading......

Termination clause is a stark reminder of EU's colossal fund to help member states cope with BrexitThe EU is reportedly demanding guarantees the UK will compensate the bloc if a future government reneges on the Brexit “reset” agreement Keir Starmer is currently negotiating.The termination clause is a stark reminder of the painful and costly divorce in which the EU set up a colossal €5.4bn (£4.7bn) fund to help its own member states cope with the disruption caused by the UK's exit in 2020. Continue reading......

Content creators are leverging their high follower counts to apply for the visa for 'individuals with extraordinary ability'Content creators and influencers in the US are now increasingly dominating requests for O-1 work visas. Astoundingly, the number of O-1 visas granted each year increased by 50% between 2014 and 2024, as noted by recent reporting in the Financial Times.These visas allow non-immigrants to work temporarily in the US. The O-1 category includes the O-1A, which is designated for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics and the O-1B, reserved for those with “extraordinary ability or achievement”. Continue reading......

Yes, the number of small businesses that filed for bankruptcy in 2025 increased from 2024. But only by 10Are mom-and-pop stores going bankrupt at historically high levels? That would seem to be the impression you'd get from recent news reports referencing data released from Epiq Bankruptcy Analytics, a provider of legal services that specializes in bankruptcy services.Uh-oh! Some have seen this as proof that Donald Trump's policies are bankrupting Main Street. Well, no, not quite. Continue reading......

Washington and Tehran step up war of words over Donald Trump's threat to intervene in response to unrestIranian authorities have arrested key members of the protest movement that has rocked the country over the last two weeks, the national police chief said, as Washington and Tehran threaten each other over the prospect of US intervention in the Islamic republic.“Last night, significant arrests were made of the main elements in the riots, who, God willing, will be punished after going through legal procedures,” the police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, told state TV on Sunday, without specifying the number of those arrested. Continue reading......

Unlike in food, there is no upper limit on the amount of pesticide residue levels in flowers. But after French officials linked the death of a florist's child to exposure in pregnancy, many in the industry are now raising the alarmOn a cold morning in December 2024, florist Madeline King was on a buying trip to her local wholesaler when a wave of dizziness nearly knocked her over. As rows of roses seemed to rush past her, she tried to focus. She quickly picked the blooms she needed and left.I'm not doing this any more, she thought. Continue reading......

Blocking immigration will not make Trump's America great again – for the US to shine, he must let it get brownerHere's one reason Donald Trump seems perennially in a bad mood: he has probably figured out that the America he fantasizes about is out of his reach.However many immigrants he manages to deport or prevent from entering the country, the white paradise he is promising his Maga base, free of Somalis, Mexican “rapists” and generally people from “shithole countries” – closer in hue to the America where he was born – is not his to offer. Continue reading......