UK long-term borrowing costs rise to highest since 1998 – as it happened

As reported earlier, the UK’s long-term borrowing costs have risen to the highest level since 1998, as the government gears up for a number of bond sales this year.The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year gilts, as UK government bonds are known, climbed by four basis points to 5.22% after a bond auction.The rise in borrowing costs is increasing pressure on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to keep the market on side ahead of a raft of bond sales.The Labour government plans to sell £297bn of bonds this fiscal year — the second-highest on record, Bloomberg News reported

Mark Carney ‘considering’ run to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada PM

The former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, a climate-focused economist who became the first non-Briton to run the Bank, is considering entering the race to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister.Trudeau announced on Monday he would step down after nearly 10 years in power once his ruling Liberal party chose a new leader, throwing open the doors to a fierce party race before a general election later this year.Carney, 59, in a statement quoted by Bloomberg, where he is a chair of the board of directors, said he would be “considering this decision closely with my family over the coming days”. A longtime and prominent member of the Liberal party, Carney said he was “encouraged” by the support of Liberal lawmakers and people “who want us to move forward with positive change and a winning economic plan”.Speculation that Carney, who ran the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020, could be seeking high office has grown over the past few months as Trudeau’s popularity plummeted amid record inflation, an acute housing crisis, high food prices and voter fatigue

Meta to get rid of factcheckers and recommend more political content

Meta will get rid of factcheckers, “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship” and recommend more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.In a video message, Zuckerberg vowed to prioritise free speech after the return of Donald Trump to the White House and said that, starting in the US, he would “get rid of factcheckers and replace them with community notes similar to X”.X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, relies on other users to add caveats and context to contentious posts.Zuckerberg said Meta’s “factcheckers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created”. The tech firm’s content moderation teams will be moved from California to Texas “where there is less concern about the bias of our teams”, he said

Nick Clegg’s departure signals a new political era at Meta

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. Happy New Year! May dry January leave us all with fewer headaches. Today in TechScape: Meta promotes a Trumpian bulldog, TikTok faces mounting problems that aren’t a ban, Meta faces backlash against its approach to AI and Elon Musk meddles abroad.Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom, is now the former head of global affairs at Meta. He announced his resignation on Thursday after six years at the tech giant

Mirra Andreeva: ‘I would say that I’m still a kid sometimes. I can be a pain’

The 17-year-old grand slam semi-finalist on shedding tears, learning on the job and annoying Conchita MartínezIn the final weeks of her first season competing at the highest level of professional tennis, the best teenage player in the world found herself on the brink of a perfect ending. Facing off against her good friend and compatriot Daria Kasatkina in the Chinese city of Ningbo, Mirra Andreeva battled hard with hopes of winning the biggest title of her career. For a while, she had positioned herself well for victory, but she instead fell in three excruciating sets.By the time the trophy ceremony had begun, tears of frustration were rolling down Andreeva’s face. Despite Kasatkina’s admirable attempts to console her younger friend and the sweet sportsmanship they shared, the 17-year-old struggled to accept the defeat

The Breakdown | Willis brothers prove that resilience is key in harsh world of rugby union

Sometimes people forget the most priceless quality in a rugby player. It can also be easily overlooked, particularly on sunny days in benign conditions when tries flow like warm honey. Even away from home in deepest midwinter, with sub-zero temperatures freezing your snot, it is only fully visible to those aware of just how deep certain individuals have already had to dig to be there.So yes, size clearly matters to some extent. Vision, too, in a game that grows ever quicker