News

London’s Metropolitan Police has announced that it will reopen one investigation and start another into “potential breaches” of Covid-19 restrictions in December 2020, in a return of the “partygate” probe that has troubled the Conservative party. In a statement released on Tuesday, the police force said it had assessed “new material” relating to events over the

Currency speculators have boosted bullish wagers on the pound to the highest level for nine years despite recent signs that sterling’s strong rally this year is flagging. The growing consensus among speculative investors, such as hedge funds, comes after sterling has already rallied strongly this year, driven by the Bank of England’s effort to lift

The world’s largest active bond fund manager says markets are too optimistic about central banks’ ability to dodge a recession as they battle inflation in the US and Europe. Daniel Ivascyn, chief investment officer at Pimco, which manages $1.8tn of assets, said he was preparing for a “harder landing” than other investors while top central

Rioting erupted across France for a fourth night in the wake of the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver of North African origin as his family prepared to bury him on Saturday in his hometown of Nanterre. The interior ministry said 994 arrests were made overnight compared with 875 on Thursday night and suggested

Apple’s market valuation is set to surpass the $3tn mark again as shares in the US tech giant hit a fresh record in pre-market trading on Friday. Shares in the company rose about 1 per cent to $191.74 in pre-market trading in New York. Its market value has rebounded 45 per cent this year, adding

Yorkshire Water has raised £500mn from shareholders, the latest sign of the UK’s debt-laden water companies racing to shore up their balance sheets. Yorkshire Water, which serves 2.3mn households and 130,000 businesses, said in a statement that the equity injection, which came this week, was “better than anticipated”. The fundraising is part of a plan

The British government is on standby for the potential collapse of Thames Water and ministers are examining options including the temporary nationalisation of the debt-laden business. Defra, the environment ministry, is holding emergency talks with industry regulator Ofwat to examine contingency plans in case the country’s largest company is unable to raise private finance in

Russia dropped charges against participants in the Wagner paramilitary force’s armed insurrection and said the group had agreed to hand over its weaponry. The announcements on Tuesday came in the wake of the deal between the Kremlin and Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and appeared to mark progress towards resolving the stand-off. The FSB, Russia’s main

Russia has shown images of defence minister Sergei Shoigu visiting troops, the first time he has been pictured in public since warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s weekend insurrection against senior military leadership. The brief video, posted on Monday by the defence ministry, showed Shoigu inspecting a Russian command point and listening to a report from subordinates about

Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and his troops were withdrawing from southern Russia on Sunday after reaching a deal with Moscow to end his armed uprising after the biggest crisis of Vladimir Putin’s presidency. Prizoghin himself maintained a rare silence after calling an end to his insurrection on Saturday evening, though the Kremlin said he would

Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his forces were “blockading” Rostov and marching on Moscow on Saturday morning, as armed, masked men with tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded government buildings in the southern Russian city. In what would mark the first coup attempt in Russia for three decades, Prigozhin appeared to have taken over a military

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is meeting bank leaders in Downing Street to address the growing mortgage crisis caused by rising interest rates. Hunt is urging banks and building societies to examine the state of the mortgage market and see what additional help they can give those struggling to deal with surging monthly payments on their home

The Bank of England has stepped up its fight against persistent inflation with a surprise half-point rise in interest rates to 5 per cent, the highest level since 2008. Voting seven to two in favour of the larger-than-expected increase, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said it was responding to “material news” in recent economic

UK inflation remained stuck at 8.7 per cent in May, higher than expectations of a drop to 8.4 per cent, marking the fourth month in a row that price rises have exceeded forecasts. With the cost of a broad range of goods and services rising sharply, the figures will reinforce expectations of multiple interest rate

UK grocery price inflation eased for a third consecutive month in June, with new data suggesting it might have peaked, according to research company Kantar. The annual pace of supermarket price increases eased to 16.5 per cent for the four weeks to June 11, down from 17.2 per cent the previous month. The figure was

The cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage in the UK rose above 6 per cent on Monday and two-year gilt yields rose to their highest level for 15 years, piling more pressure on homeowners and Rishi Sunak’s government. Mortgage costs have been rising sharply over the past week, ahead of an expected increase in interest

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing on a highly anticipated mission to reboot US-China relations, which have cratered this year after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over North America. Blinken will be the first secretary of state to visit China since 2018, a reflection of Beijing’s strict coronavirus pandemic lockdowns,

UK households that come to the end of fixed-rate mortgage deals next year face an average £2,900 increase in annual payments, putting Rishi Sunak under pressure to defuse an election-year time bomb. The estimated increase in payments by the Resolution Foundation think-tank reflects concern that the UK has a worse inflation problem than other countries

Odey Asset Management has suspended trading in a fourth fund following a “sizeable level” of withdrawal requests in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against founder Crispin Odey, which have precipitated the break-up of one of London’s oldest hedge fund firms. The firm said in a letter to investors on Friday that it was temporarily

Boris Johnson, Britain’s former prime minister, has been condemned for lying to parliament over the Covid “partygate” scandal, in a damning report that casts doubt on whether he can ever stage a political comeback. The report by a cross-party committee of MPs published on Thursday is a searing indictment of Johnson’s conduct in high office,