Latest Stories

  • Stock market today: World shares are mostly lower ahead of key US inflation data

    Japan's core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, rose 2.7% year-on-year, surpassing expectations. The data followed the Bank of Japan's decision on Thursday to keep its benchmark rate at 0.25%, which pushed the dollar higher against the Japanese yen.

  • UK retail sales improve despite weaker trading at clothing stores

    Economists said growth among supermarkets helped to offset a weaker period for the clothing sector.

  • Migrant kidnapping verdict looms for Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini

    PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) -A court in Palermo is expected to deliver a verdict on Friday in a trial involving Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, who risks a six-year prison term for kidnapping for holding a boat full of migrants offshore for almost three weeks in 2019. Salvini, who was interior minister at the time, tried to prevent the Spanish charity Open Arms bringing 147 asylum seekers to Italy as part of his policy to close the ports to migrant boats and curb irregular arrivals.

  • Starbucks workers plan strikes that could spread to hundreds of US stores by Christmas Eve

    Workers at Starbucks stores plan to go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned U.S. stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. The union noted that Starbucks' new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who started in September, could make more than $100 million in his first year on the job.

  • Taiwan lawmakers clash after party members break into legislature to occupy speaker's chair

    Lawmakers clashed in Taiwan's legislature Friday when members of a leading political party who had broken into the building overnight to occupy the speaker's chair tussled with members of another major party who forced their way in to evict them. At issue are three bills being pushed by the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, including one that critics say would paralyze the Constitutional Court. Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party removed windows to get into the building Thursday night and take over the speaker's area, piling up a wall of chairs to block access, Taiwan's Central News Agency said.

  • TotalEnergies to operate two Danish offshore wind projects

    TotalEnergies said on Friday it had completed a planned purchase of majority stakes in two offshore wind projects in Denmark that recently obtained construction permits. The French energy firm now holds an 85% share in the 240-megawatt (MW) offshore wind park in the Bay of Jammerland and a 72.2% stake in the 165-MW Lillebaelt Syd offshore wind farm. European Energy and SONFOR will retain minority ownership in Lillebaelt Syd, while European Energy will continue to be a minority owner of the offshore wind park in the Bay of Jammerland.

  • Kaia Gerber’s coquettish nightdress is so romantic

    The model made a case for nightwear à la mode - see photos

  • 10 amazing shows to watch on Disney+ over Christmas: from The Bear to Shogun

    Disney+ is about more than just Marvel shows

  • Yes to tinsel, no to cranberry sauce: Henry Conway on how not to have a very common Christmas

    It’s a season full of social landmines, do at least try not to step on all of them, writes Henry Conway

  • Malaysia to resume search for missing flight MH370 a decade after disappearance

    Malaysia has agreed to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Flight MH370 after a new analysis of data in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

  • Zoe Ball breaks down in tears as she presents final Radio 2 Breakfast show

    ‘I can’t see the buttons through my giddy tears,’ said presenter during last broadcast

  • Zoe Ball signs off from final Radio 2 breakfast show

    Ball says it's time "to step away from the very early mornings and focus on family" after six years.

  • Britain’s wind turbines break new generation record for second time in a week

    Britain’s wind turbines have set a new record for electricity generation, just days after the record was last broken, data shows.Onshore and offshore wind farms set a record of more than 22.5 gigawatts (GW) of power on Wednesday, providing 68.3% of the country’s electricity.

  • Julian Lennon undergoes emergency surgery after skin cancer diagnosis

    The English musician-photographer, the son of late Beatles member John Lennon, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a series of "disturbing" images showing a lesion and stitches on his arm. In the accompanying caption, Julian recalled how he had been travelling to New York City for a press tour to promote his new book Life's Fragile Moments earlier this month, when he received a call from Dr. Tess Mauricio confirming that he had a melanoma on his skin. The dermatologist recommended he make an appointment with Dr. Tim Neavin immediately,...

  • This Instagram influencer just met King Charles and looked exactly like Princess Kate

    Lydia Millen met King Charles at Highgrove and looked very like Kate Middleton, wearing the wife of Prince Williams favourite fashion brands.

  • "I spent £600 transforming my damp council home with charity shop bargains"

    A mum transformed her "damp" council home for just £600 - by teaching herself DIY and upcycling charity shop bargains. Becki Foster, 31, and her husband Adam, 32, didn't have much time to look for a new home when he was medically discharged from the army. The mum-of-four was heavily pregnant and were only able to view photos of their new home before moving in September 2023. The couple were shocked to find the three-bed home near Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, was "damp" and "smelly". Becki hired a tradesman but after being left with a botched job and £2.5k out of pocket she set about doing it herself.

  • Q3 2024 Soho House & Co Inc Earnings Call

    Q3 2024 Soho House & Co Inc Earnings Call

  • European stocks slide as Trump's warning to EU spooks investors

    European shares were on course to post their worst week in three months on Friday, as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's comments about potential tariffs on the European Union spooked investors already worried about the U.S. rate outlook. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.1% to its lowest in nearly a month and was on course for its biggest weekly decline since early September. Trump said that the EU must purchase U.S. oil and gas to make up for its "tremendous deficit" with the world's largest economy, or face tariffs.

  • ASEAN will want inclusive Myanmar election, Thailand says

    Thailand has told Myanmar's junta that ASEAN members would want all stakeholders included in an election the military government plans to hold next year, even as the regional bloc seeks a common position on the polls, Thai officials said on Friday. "If there is an election, ASEAN would want an inclusive process that included all stakeholders," Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said in a group interview in Bangkok, after meetings with counterparts and senior diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping.

  • Bank of England warns economy will stagnate after Budget

    Bleak forecast comes at Bank leaves interest rates on hold