Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff tells rivals: ‘Get your s*** together’ February 2, 2026 Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has accused rival teams of looking for excuses before the season has even begun amid murmurings about the legality of their new engine. Ferrari, Honda and Audi are said to have raised objections about the power unit, which is set to be used not only by Mercedes but also McLaren, [...]
Bank of England’s Breeden warns on rivals overtaking UK on innovation February 2, 2026 The Bank of England’s lead for fintech policy and digital currency has laid out a sweeping vision for the UK’s next generation of payments infrastructure amid a rallying cry for the UK to not lag behind its peers. Sarah Breeden, a rate-setter at the central bank and the deputy governor for financial stability, said the [...]
Tories issue challenge against Trump’s ‘mistake’ on trade February 2, 2026 The Conservatives have issued a direct challenge to President Trump on the benefits of free trade as shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said tariffs risked undermining transatlantic relations. In a speech at a conference hosted by British-American Business, Stride argued that free trade was “worth defending” as he took aim at President Trump’s protectionist policies. He [...]
EY avoids judgment in £2bn case as Alvarez & Marsal reach ‘confidential agreement’ February 2, 2026 The mammoth legal fight against the Big Four giant EY over its auditing of a former London-listed health giant that collapsed amid fraud allegations has been withdrawn following a settlement. Private hospital operator NMC Health Plc collapsed in April 2020 after being placed into administration, and was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in the [...]
Amazon and Alphabet’s AI spending faces billion-dollar litmus test February 2, 2026 Investors will get a clearer read this week on whether Big Tech’s vast AI spending is turning into real returns, as Alphabet and Amazon report earnings amid heightened market sensitivity to cloud growth, margins and costs. Both tech giants sit at the centre of the AI boom, but recent volatility in US tech stocks has [...]
Alex Yee: Why Britain’s fastest marathon runner is sticking with triathlon February 2, 2026 Alex Yee insists he will keep following his heart and return to his first love, triathlon, despite the financial possibilities opened up by his breakthrough marathon performance last month. The two-time Olympic champion in swim-bike-run clocked 2:06:38 in Valencia in December, the second fastest 26.2-mile time by a Briton, behind only Sir Mo Farah. Yee [...]
Salons could ‘pull down shutters for good’ as business rates bite February 2, 2026 The British Beauty Council has urged the government to extend support on business rates to hair and beauty salons, or watch firms up and down the country “pull down their shutters for good”. Victoria Brownlie, chief policy and sustainability officer at the British Beauty Council, warned that the profitability of beauty salons has been “hollowed [...]
Chair of elite law firm Paul Weiss made personal requests to Jeffrey Epstein February 2, 2026 The chairman of one of the most prominent law firms in America, Paul Weiss, was included in the US Department of Justice’s latest round of bombshell revelations in relation to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. One of the US’s leading litigators and corporate advisers, Brad Karp has been Paul Weiss’s chairman since 2008. Paul Weiss is [...]
UK rental giants swap petrol for EVs as sales reach record highs February 2, 2026 Electric and hybrid cars are quickly becoming the default choice for British drivers, bolstered by soaring EV sales and rental firms swapping out petrol and diesel models for low-emission vehicles. Strong growth in electric vehicle sales globally and domestically is feeding straight into hire fleets. Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD, for instance, reported overseas deliveries [...]
AI just created its own religion. Should we be worried about Moltbook? February 2, 2026 Moltbook, a social media platform for AI agents, is making quite the impression. Should humans be worried, asks Lewis Liu.