Current site is due to be demolished to make way for housing in new disruption to city’s long trading tradition Every week, 80-year-old Frank catches a train from Walsall to Birmingham. He threads through gleaming shopfronts in Grand Central station and past the Bullring before slipping into the fish-scented bustle on the ground floor of … Read more
Close-run vote raises hopes of rates cut in December, with inflation said to have peaked at 3.8% There were reasons to be cheerful contained within the Bank of England’s latest verdict on the outlook for the UK economy, released alongside its decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 4%. Inflation, it said, had peaked at … Read more
Policymakers keep borrowing costs at 4% before crucial budget while also warning of persistent weak growth The Bank of England has opened the door to a December interest rate cut after signalling that inflation had peaked, as it kept borrowing costs unchanged before Rachel Reeves’s make-or-break budget. With less than three weeks before the chancellor’s … Read more
Boss of supermarket urges Rachel Reeves not to fuel inflation with tax rises on retailers and suppliers The boss of Sainsbury’s has urged Rachel Reeves not to fuel inflation with tax rises on retailers and their suppliers and says shoppers are delaying spending in the lead-up to her budget later this month. Simon Roberts, the … Read more
Almost 3 million Australians will be eligible for a refund of the difference between the AI-powered Copilot and ‘classic’ versions of the 365 software Almost three million Australians will be offered refunds after Microsoft apologised for the way it charged customers to access its artificial intelligence tools. Microsoft Australia emailed the offer to software subscribers … Read more
ACIC report says total impact of illicit trade on economy amounted to $4bn in a year amid debate over cigarette excise The illegal tobacco market has left a $3.3bn hole in the federal government’s finances, with Australia’s national criminal intelligence agency warning organised crime’s dominance of the market is continuing to grow. The Australian Taxation … Read more
Budget envisions significant increase in defence spending, cuts to civil service and ‘generational investments’ A protracted trade war with the United States and a weakening domestic economy has forced Mark Carney to run a deficit tens of billions larger than initially forecast in his first-ever federal budget. The spending plan, titled “Canada Strong” envisions significant … Read more
Justice Amy Coney Barrett cautioned during oral arguments Wednesday that the logistics of refunding companies that have paid the disputed duties would be “a mess.” The Supreme Court on Wednesday contemplated the process for paying back billions in tariffs the Trump administration has collected, should the justices rule those duties are illegal. “How would this … Read more
Chief Justice John Roberts questioned why Trump believed he had the authority to impose tariffs under a nearly 50-year-old law that has never been used for that purpose. Both conservative and liberal Supreme Court justices on Wednesday sharply questioned President Donald Trump’s use of emergency power to impose sweeping tariffs on countries around the world, … Read more
“I’d never vote to nuke the filibuster,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters. President Donald Trump took his pitch to nix the filibuster directly to Senate Republicans on Wednesday. They are once again saying, thanks, but no thanks. Trump spent several minutes during a breakfast meeting with GOP senators at the White House urging them … Read more