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Russia’s defence ministry claimed a long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive had begun, pointing to intensifying attacks in eastern Ukraine over the past 48 hours. The ministry said on Friday that Ukraine had launched 26 assaults along a 60-mile stretch of the frontline near Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, involving more than a thousand troops and

The Bank of England has raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent, as it warned it would not hit its inflation target until 2025. A seven to two majority on the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said the rise was needed to bring inflation back under control as

Google has launched a revamped search engine powered by artificial intelligence, as it rushes to make up lost ground in the race to bring powerful new language models to the internet search business. The US tech group on Wednesday unveiled an overhaul of its search engine to incorporate AI advances that have been sweeping through

Investment banks are turning more bullish on sterling as it trades close to a one-year high against the dollar and a five-month high against the euro, on expectations that the UK economy is performing better than many had feared. The pound was trading at $1.2618 on Tuesday, close to the $1.2688 it hit on Monday,

Britain’s privatised water and sewage companies paid £1.4bn in dividends in 2022, up from £540mn the previous year, despite rising household bills and a wave of public criticism over sewage outflows. The figures, based on a Financial Times analysis of the 10 largest water and sewage companies’ accounts, are higher than headline dividends in the year to

US and European companies have blamed disappointing earnings on a slower than expected economic rebound in China, after the country’s sudden reopening from pandemic restrictions prompted over-optimistic growth forecasts. Cosmetics group Estée Lauder was the most high-profile example this week, suffering its sharpest one-day share price fall on record after it cut sales forecasts because

Crowds were gathering on London’s Mall on Saturday morning ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, heralding a day of ancient ceremony and military spectacle that will draw on a millennium of British history. Global leaders and foreign royalty will attend the event at Westminster Abbey — scene of royal coronations since William the

The UK’s opposition Labour and Liberal Democrat parties expressed optimism early on Friday that they were making significant gains as votes began to be counted after local elections in many parts of England. Both parties argued that their performances positioned them well for the forthcoming nationwide general election. Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, told

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point — less than previous increases — in a sign that eurozone borrowing costs may soon reach their peak. The ECB’s decision on Thursday, which mirrors the US Federal Reserve’s quarter-point rate rise the previous day, takes the benchmark deposit rate

Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in a late-night drone attack on the Kremlin, vowing to take retaliatory action. According to a statement from Putin’s press service, two Ukrainian drones attacked and crashed into the Kremlin overnight but were shot down by Russia’s military and secret services, which it

Shares in online learning service Chegg have plummeted by almost half after it became one of the first companies to admit that artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT had affected its finances. The news sent ripples through the sector, with shares in London-listed Pearson falling more than 13.8 per cent on Tuesday. Shares in US-listed education companies

JPMorgan Chase will acquire most of First Republic, the embattled California lender that US government officials had been racing to save for much of the past week. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and California regulators, which announced the deal early on Monday morning, said they were simultaneously closing the bank and selling off all $93.5bn

The US government has asked JPMorgan, PNC and several other financial groups to bid for all or part of First Republic, as US regulators try to determine how much it would cost taxpayers to take over the embattled California lender. Over the past 24 hours, it has become clear to both First Republic and the

Silicon Valley Bank discussed selling a chunk of its bond portfolio at a loss as early as last November, according to newly released documents that show executives grappling with a liquidity crisis at the lender months before it succumbed to a historic bank run. In an internal presentation codenamed “Project Phoenix”, SVB executives debated selling

Silicon Valley Bank’s failure last month stemmed from weakened regulations during the Trump administration and mis-steps by internal supervisors who were too slow to correct management blunders, the US Federal Reserve said in a scathing review of the lender’s implosion. The long-awaited report, released on Friday, had harsh words for the California bank’s management but

US economic growth slowed sharply in the first quarter of 2023 despite strong consumer spending, as the Federal Reserve ploughed ahead with its historic monetary tightening campaign. The world’s largest economy grew by 1.1 per cent on an annualised basis between January and March, according to preliminary data released by the Commerce department on Thursday.

The UK competition regulator has blocked Microsoft’s $75bn acquisition of the Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, in a possibly fatal blow to the software giant’s biggest-ever deal. The Competition & Markets Authority said on Wednesday it believed the company would be commercially motivated to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.

Joe Biden has announced he will seek a second term in the White House, ending months of speculation and firing the starting gun on a 2024 re-election campaign that could result in a rematch of his 2020 clash with Donald Trump. In a video posted to social media on Tuesday that sought to depict him

French luxury group LVMH on Monday became the first European company to hit a $500bn market capitalisation, boosted by Chinese consumers’ appetite for luxury goods following Beijing’s decision to lift all coronavirus-related restrictions. Shares in the Paris-listed company, whose brands include Louis Vuitton and Dior, edged up 0.3 per cent to €903.7 to achieve a

European governments have reacted with anger and dismay to comments by a Chinese diplomat questioning the legal status of former Soviet states and Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who regained their independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, have said they will summon Chinese diplomats on Monday to complain about