Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as investors buy UK defence stocks and await Bank of England interest rate decision The FTSE 100 is up 0.4%, but that is enough to push it to a record high of 10,978.87 points. That was slightly up on yesterday’s mark of 10,951. UK and European … Read more
Losing funds should force leaders to confront their own challenges, they said, while many voiced concerns over increasing foreign influence A quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts by the US could have a positive impact, saying that losing foreign money will force leaders to confront and solve their own challenges, according to a new … Read more
US former top health official, who was subpoenaed to appear at a Senate hearing into Covid-19, says Markson’s reporting about virus’s origin ‘does not make any sense’ Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s chief medical adviser at the start of the pandemic, has described a … Read more
The Trump administration is seeking to use a specialized federal court for the first time since Congress created it three decades ago in an effort to deport an Afghan woman accused of aiding an Islamic State-inspired terror plot in the U.S., according to court records made public on Wednesday. Nazira Haji Zada, of Fort Worth, Texas, … Read more
Two prominent Democratic figures with deep ties to the Clinton and Obama administrations publicly criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week, with former Clinton adviser Mark Penn attacking the mayor’s proposed property tax plan while former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel recounted what he described as a private conversation in … Read more
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for Anthony Fauci to be held in contempt, prosecuted for perjury and sent to jail after the former White House COVID-19 advisor pleaded his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times during a Senate hearing Wednesday. “Years from now, they’ll look back and say, ‘What collective madness overtook this … Read more
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s chances of confirmation were derailed Wednesday, less than 24 hours before a pivotal vote in the Senate. It’s another chapter in the troubled saga that has followed Blanche since he was tapped to replace former Attorney General Pam Bondi and one that boils down to issues among Blanche, the Department … Read more
Police link shooting to gang violence but have not said who might have fired bullets that killed bystanders on Sunday Bullets that fatally struck two bystanders during a shootout at a Seattle food festival last weekend do not appear to have come from the gun that a 15-year-old arrested at the scene was firing, police … Read more
Republican John Cornyn says he will not back nomination without written confirmation $1.8bn slush fund is dead Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead. The … Read more
The Senate took another small step toward levying sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin and Iran in another massive, bipartisan vote. Though not the final vote to pass the long-stalled effort, the latest successful bid to move a bone-crushing sanctions package once championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham is no less significant. … Read more
