March cut to UK interest rates more likely after inflation drops to 10-month low; London house prices fall – as it happened

Many economists are predicting the Bank of England will cut interest rates in March, after seeing inflation fall to 3% this morning.The money markets now indicate there’s an 86% chance of a rate cut in March (taking Bank rate down from 3.75% to 3.5%), at next month’s meeting.That’s up from 77% last night, and 65% a week ago

As real wage growth falls again, Australian workers must feel the economy is rigged against them | Greg Jericho

In 2025 wages grew slower than inflation, which means that wages clearly are not the cause of rising prices. Not only have workers seen their purchasing power decline, but the RBA’s decision to raise interest rates has once again punished them for inflation that was not their fault.Before I go any further, excuse me while I go to the calendar and mark off yet another three months without a wage breakout. It’s a ritual I have been able to do my entire working life.There hasn’t been a wage breakout since I was in primary school, but do not worry, the RBA is still on the watch, ever on alert to raise interest rates in an effort to increase unemployment and lower wage growth

Is it smarter to have a dumb home? ‘We’ve seen clients unable to flush toilets’

When the smart home devices Elly Bailey was expecting in the post never showed up at her Gold Coast home, she was frustrated. As a technology reviewer, these products were crucial for her work.When she eventually found the cause, she had to laugh. It wasn’t a sticky-fingered neighbour or a rogue delivery driver causing her to miss parcels, but her smart doorbell – the very thing she’d hoped would prevent missed deliveries, and part of exactly the range of internet-connected devices she was meant to be reviewing.“It’s pretty funny,” says Bailey, 33, who goes by the handle @ellyawesome on TikTok, where she has more than 1

The bogus four-day workweek that AI supposedly ‘frees up’

The front-page headline in a recent Washington Post was breathless: “These companies say AI is key to their four-day workweeks.” The subhead was euphoric: “Some companies are giving workers back more time as artificial intelligence takes over more tasks.”As the Post explained: “more companies may move toward a shortened workweek, several executives and researchers predict, as workers, especially those in younger generations, continue to push for better work-life balance.”Hurray! There’s utopia at the end of the AI rainbow! A better work-life balance!You may have come across similar articles in Fortune magazine and the New York Times. The AI spin brigade is in full force

Winter Olympics 2026: Mikaela Shiffrin soars to slalom glory; Klæbo wins fifth gold of Games – live

Mikaela Shiffrin is the Olympic champion! She has banished the demons of Beijing 2022 and is back at the top again. She crouches down after crossing the finish line. Shock? Disbelief? Pride? And then a hug from her mother.It has been 12 years since her first Olympic gold in slalom which makes it the longest gap between individual golds in the same event at the Winter Games. She has failed to medal in nine of her 11 Olympic races (all events) since that Sochi slalom win

‘My DNA is in this car’: Lewis Hamilton revved up for Ferrari in new F1 season

Lewis Hamilton believes he is in the “best place” he has been at Ferrari with a new car that carries his “DNA”.Hamilton’s debut season with Ferrari was disappointing, with the seven-time champion failing to take a podium for the first time and finishing sixth in the drivers’ championship, behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in fifth. By the end, he was clearly disenchanted, describing his season as a “nightmare”.Ferrari have looked promising in pre-season testing and at the third and final test in Bahrain Hamilton, who has regrouped over the winter, presented a buoyant figure, optimistic about the forthcoming challenge.“I’ve gone through quite a bit and left everything, all of last year behind me,” he said