News

European shares and US stock futures lifted by ‘Taco trade’ after Trump strikes more conciliatory tone towards Beijing
The National Lottery operator Allwyn is to merge with Greece’s leading gambling company OPAP to create a global listed gaming giant worth about €16bn (£13.9bn).
Allwyn, which owns a near-52% controlling stake in Athens-headquartered OPAP, has agreed an all-share tie-up with OPAP that will see the combined group renamed Allwyn.

Speaker likely to be sympathetic to MPs seeking more scrutiny of issue amid pressure on government security adviser, Jonathan Powell
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, has confirmed that the party has dropped its commitment to most of the £90bn tax cuts it was promising in its election manifesto last year.
In a significant change of tack, the party is now saying that it will not implement tax cuts until it has cut government spending first.
A manifesto is based on a point in time. The principles behind it are absolutely rock solid. We said we’ve got to make very significant savings in order to fund a different way to run the economy.
What’s happened since then is that the state of the economy, because of the mismanagement by this Labour government, the numbers have got far worse. And we will be focusing relentlessly, as I’ve been saying, on the savings.
Reform will never borrow to spend, as Labour and the Tories have done for so long; instead, we will ensure savings are made before implementing tax cuts. I will have more to say on all this in the coming weeks.

The move, which is aimed to protect supplies of technology, could raise tensions between the EU and China.

European indices rise and cryptocurrencies rebound as new front in trade war looks less severe than feared after Trump post

European stock markets have edged higher and cryptocurrencies rebounded amid signs that a new front in the US-China trade war may not be a severe as first feared.
, as Donald Trump threatened to impose additional US tariffs of 100% on China starting next month.

Zion Church, founded by pastor Jin Mingri in 2007, is one of China's largest underground church networks.

The conference was billed as a celebration of China’s achievements in supporting women. But the government has mostly wiped out independent advocacy groups.

Beijing says it could introduce "countermeasures" if the US President imposes an an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports.

Bridget Phillipson says national security adviser was not involved in discussions before CPS abandoned its prosecution
The government’s national security adviser had no involvement in the prosecution against two British men accused of spying for China, a senior cabinet minister has said.
Jonathan Powell had no connection to discussions about the “substance or the evidence” of the case, Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday, adding that Keir Starmer had full confidence in him.

The documentary highlights Larry Ramos, the first Asian American to win a Grammy. Ramos is from Waimea on Kauai. The documentary will be screened at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

The documentary highlights Larry Ramos, the first Asian American to win a Grammy. Ramos is from Waimea on Kauai. The documentary will be screened at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Beijing says it will act if US president doesn’t stand down, while investors brace for trade war turmoil
Beijing has told the US it will retaliate if fails to back down on his threat to impose 100% on imports as investors brace for another bout of trade war turmoil.
China’s commerce ministry blamed Washington for raising trade tensions between the two countries after Trump announced on Friday that he would , along with new controls on critical software, by 1 November.

Trump’s latest tariff tantrum and rising fears of an AI bubble have very quickly borne out Kristalina Georgieva’s claim that ‘uncertainty is the new normal’

Little more than 48 hours passed last week between a warning from the IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, and Donald Trump’s latest tariff onslaught – this time aimed at China.
Markets plunged on Friday after in retaliation for Beijing’s blocks on exports of rare earth minerals.