Latest Stories

  • FTSE 100 LIVE: London stocks higher as pound drops

    The value of sterling has dropped after the UK economy shrank for a second month in a row in October.

  • Trump tariffs could intensify US trucking industry slump, experts say

    President-elect Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on top trade partners China, Mexico and Canada would deal a blow to the $1.7 trillion U.S. transportation industry and worsen a nearly three-year trucking recession, sector experts said. The industry that moves everything Americans make and buy is considered an economic bellwether, and will be among the first to signal any unintended consequences of trade policies that Trump says will help, not hurt, U.S. businesses.

  • Analysis-Earthquakes and blowouts undermine case for carbon storage in Texas

    Texas has seen surging interest from companies hoping to bury carbon dioxide in its oilfields, putting the state at the vanguard of a government-subsidized program to fight climate change. But pumping CO2 into the ground could exacerbate earthquakes and well blowouts already happening in the Permian Basin as Texas struggles to manage wastewater disposal, potentially undermining public support. "Without legitimate oversight of underground injection in Texas, we expect more geyser-like well blowouts, sinkholes, leaks from plugged and unplugged wells, and injection-induced earthquakes," said Virginia Palacios, executive director of Commission Shift, a Texas watchdog group pushing for tougher oversight of the oil and gas industry.

  • Royal Mail fined £10.5m after missing delivery targets

    Royal Mail has been fined £10.5m for missing postal delivery targets. Regulator Ofcom said 74.7% of first class mail and 92.7% of second class was delivered on time in 2023/24. The targets were 93% and 98.5%.

  • The seven types of travel influencer, and how to spot them (or avoid them)

    A quick glimpse at social media may confirm your long-held suspicions: everyone’s a travel influencer nowadays, with Gran and Grandad uploading photos of their latest cruise to Facebook, while the nieces transform a week on the Costas into a Kardashian-worthy reel for TikTok. Some people, however, do it so well that they’ve forged a career out of travelling the world and posting about it.

  • As cities crack down on homeless, L.A. offers them a hotel room

    While more and more cities urge police to crack down on homeless people sleeping in parks and streets, Los Angeles has resisted the rush to lead with law enforcement since the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled it constitutional. In the state with the most homeless people - some 186,000 across California, including 45,000 in Los Angeles - Mayor Karen Bass said the sheer volume demands a different approach to the most visible aspect of homelessness.

  • US data has Fed striding toward rate cut next week, and tip-toeing into 2025

    Investors view it as a near given that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its Dec. 17-18 meeting, with more attention focused on policymakers' new economic projections released alongside the decision. Those projections will include an updated look at how much further Fed officials think they will reduce rates in 2025 and perhaps into 2026, an exercise that will have to account for data in the meantime showing stickier-than-expected inflation, a healthy labor market, a U.S. election result that could shift the global trade and immigration landscape, and ongoing geopolitical risks. With so much to assess, a multitude of new risks, and a lot of uncertainty, many analysts expect the collective messaging from the central bank's policy statement on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference and the updated projections to be somewhat hawkish - with the Fed perhaps closer to a rate-cut stopping point, or at least very reluctant to commit to many more reductions in borrowing costs, than it was just a few months ago.

  • Christmas rail strikes suspended as union mulls new Avanti deal

    RMT members were due to take action on 22, 23 and 29 December, causing major disruption to rail services

  • Truck Burns Up At Gas Station

    Truck Burns Up At Gas Station

  • I loved to hate pop music, until Chappell Roan dragged me back

    Ragging on pop music was one of my favorite pastimes. Now I love Chappell Roan without shame or pretense.

  • Music lovers and mighty muscles: Africa's top shots

    A selection of the week's best photos from across the African continent and beyond.

  • Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight

    Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Hours before he escaped for Moscow, Assad assured a meeting of about 30 army and security chiefs at the defence ministry on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out, according to a commander who was present and requested anonymity to speak about the briefing. Assad told his presidential office manager on Saturday when he finished work he was going home but instead headed to the airport, according to an aide in his inner circle.

  • AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST

    Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

  • Josh Acheampong's long wait for his first Chelsea start may come at a greater cost than meets the eye

    An unfortunate opportunity missed, for player and club alike

  • Trending tickers: Uber, Broadcom, Costco, Royal Mail and Boohoo

    The latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Friday.

  • Harry Kane set to return for Bayern Munich next week after injury

    MUNICH (AP) — Harry Kane is set to make his return for Bayern Munich next week following a muscle injury, coach Vincent Kompany said Friday.

  • Morning Bid: Wall St near records as central banks end 2024 with rate cuts

    The stellar year for U.S. stock markets took a bit of a breather on Thursday, perhaps expected after a rally that has led the Nasdaq to 20,000 for the first time this week and the S&P 500 to another new record high. Gains have been driven by optimism over artificial intelligence and rate-cut expectations, with attention now turning to the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting of the year, beginning next Tuesday. The central bank is likely to follow up November's 25 basis point rate cut with another of the same magnitude, taking the fed funds rate to 4.25%-4.5%.

  • ‘Turbulence’: Olga Kurylenko, Jeremy Irvine, Hera Hilmar & Kelsey Grammer Lead Altitude Action-Thriller

    EXCLUSIVE: Filming has wrapped in the UK on under-the-radar action-thriller Turbulence, starring Olga Kurylenko (Oblivion), Jeremy Irvine (Treadstone), Hera Hilmar (See) and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier). The film reunites the team behind 2024 action film No Way Up, including director Claudio Faeh (Northmen: A Viking Saga) and writer Andy Mayson, who also produces. The synopsis reads: …

  • Watch a walk in the park with their kids become therapy for the Daddy Stroller Social Club

    This new dad created a safe space for men to talk about the stresses and strains of parenthood.

  • Tube and rail fares in London to rise by 4.6% in March

    Tram and bus fares will be frozen in 2025, London mayor Sadiq Khan also announced.