UK construction activity falls at fastest pace in nearly five years

Steep declines in housebuilding and engineering work have led to the biggest plunge in UK construction activity since May 2020, according to a survey of building companies.With firms blaming a lack of consumer demand and high interest rates, the S&P Global construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for February slumped to 44.6 – a sharp drop from 48.1 in January – after one of the biggest monthly falls in housebuilding activity on record.Most economists had expected activity to rebound to 49

BP cuts boss’s pay by 30% after company misses profit targets

BP cut the pay of its chief executive after a chastening year in which the British oil company missed profit targets and ditched its green investment strategy as it came under pressure from a US-based activist investor.Murray Auchincloss’s pay decreased by 30% to £5.4m for 2024, according to the company’s annual report published on Thursday.While his basic salary rose from £1m to £1.45m, the failure to hit targets in categories such as profit, cashflow and safety meant the variable element of his pay slumped from £3

Australian Tesla sales plummet as owners rush to distance themselves from Elon Musk

Australian Tesla owners troubled by the increasingly extreme rightwing politics of the company’s co-founder, Elon Musk, are offloading their electric vehicles or using bumper stickers to distance themselves from the Trump-aligned billionaire.Fresh vehicle sales data for February – which covered the weeks after Musk’s apparent fascist salute at a Trump inauguration rally – showed a steep decline in Tesla purchases. Sales were down about 72% compared to the same month in 2024.Sales of Tesla’s Model 3 – the company’s entry-level model which had been the second-best selling EV in Australia in 2024 – were down 81%.Tesla’s sliding popularity in Australia comes amid several other trends in the market such as the move away from pure battery electric cars in favour of hybrid vehicles; the increasing availability of cheaper Chinese rivals; and the broader waning appetite for cars that saw Australians buy 10,000 fewer vehicles in February than the same month in 2024

‘Trump Gaza’ AI video intended as political satire, says creator

The creator of the viral “Trump Gaza” AI-generated video depicting the Gaza Strip as a Dubai-style paradise has said it was intended as a political satire of Trump’s “megalomaniac idea”.The video – posted by Trump on his Truth Social account last week – depicts a family emerging from the wreckage of war-torn Gaza into a beachside resort town lined with skyscrapers. Trump is seen sipping cocktails with a topless Benjamin Netanyahu on sun loungers, while Elon Musk tears flatbread into dips.The video first emerged in February, shortly after Trump unveiled his property development plan for Gaza, under which he said he wants to “clean out” the population of about 2 million people to create the “Riviera of the Middle East”.Trump then posted the clip without any explanation on his Truth Social platform on 26 February

Raducanu loses on emotional return to court after incident with ‘fixated’ fan

After an extremely difficult month in which she was pursued across tennis tournaments in Asia by an obsessive spectator, Emma Raducanu struggled to find her range and rhythm on her return to competition and was comprehensively defeated 6-3, 6-2 by Moyuka Uchijima of Japan in the first round of the Indian Wells Open on Thursday.Over the past few years, the organisers at Indian Wells have marketed the tournament as Tennis Paradise, a reference to the handsome mountainous landscape that surrounds the court and its warm, sunny weather. In reality, though, the conditions are often some of the most hellish on tour. Along with the slow conditions because of the dry, dusty desert air, gusty wind can make it incredibly challenging for all players.From the start of the day, it was clear that the windy conditions would make life extremely difficult

From Las Vegas to Hull: Super League comes home with a thriller

With the sport on a roll from trip across the Atlantic, Hull FC and Leigh kept up the momentum with a 22-22 drawThe times are changing in Super League, perhaps best epitomised by the fact there is an unfamiliar name sitting at the summit as the season settles into a rhythm in some style after the pomp and circumstance of Las Vegas last ­weekend, with Hull FC and Leigh Leopards playing out a ­pulsating 22-22 draw here.Wigan and Warrington were tasked with taking Super League Stateside to spread the message to the world but, perhaps more importantly, to Australia’s National Rugby League, which is now seriously ramping up its intent to take a controlling stake in British rugby league’s premier competition and revitalise its off-field fortunes.And if the key powerbrokers had woken up early down under to see what they could be purchasing in terms of an on-field product, they would have certainly been heartened here. Leigh and Hull came into this season with differing expectations, given how the Leopards were within one game of the Grand Final in 2024 and Hull limped to 11th place.But it is clear both these sides will be confident not only of challenging at the right end of Super League this year, but also of being under consideration for the Vegas trip in 2026, with all 12 teams invited to lodge their interest this week