Brighter UK economy gives Reeves a springboard for March statement

The economic backdrop to Rachel Reeves’s upcoming spring statement appeared to brighten on Friday after a trio of reports painted a better-than-expected picture of the UK economy.Record monthly public finances, a surge in retail spending and accelerating business activity offered the most coherent picture of recovery since last autumn, economists said, and provided the chancellor with a more positive narrative before her 3 March statement.“It’s been a hat-trick of good economics news for once for the UK,” said Sandra Horsfield, a senior economist at Investec bank. “We had a disappointing end to last year, but as things look, we may be starting 2026 on a much brighter note.”Public sector finances posted their biggest monthly budget surplus since records began in 1993, of £30

Aston Martin issues another profit warning and sells F1 naming rights for £50m

Aston Martin has warned that its losses will be worse than expected and sold its permanent naming rights to its Formula One team, as the struggling British carmaker battles to stabilise its finances.The luxury carmaker, majority-owned by the Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said its earnings for 2025 would be worse than City forecasts, its fifth profit warning since September 2024.Analysts had been expecting the struggling company to post a loss of £184m at its annual results, due to be published next Wednesday.Aston Martin delivered nearly 10% fewer cars last year than in 2024 – 5,448 in total – as US trade tariffs battered sales and the company fell short on lucrative special edition deliveries. Shares fell as much as 4% on Friday morning before recovering some ground, down 2%

Nascent tech, real fear: how AI anxiety is upending career ambitions

Matthew Ramirez started at Western Governors University as a computer science major in 2025, drawn by the promise of a high-paying, flexible career as a programmer. But as headlines mounted about tech layoffs and AI’s potential to replace entry-level coders, he began to question whether that path would actually lead to a job.When the 20-year-old interviewed for a datacenter technician role that June and never heard back, his doubts deepened. In December, Ramirez decided on what he thought was a safer bet: turning away from computer science entirely. He dropped his planned major to instead apply to nursing school

Nvidia reportedly plans to invest $30bn in OpenAI’s next funding round

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, is reportedly planning to invest $30bn (£22bn) in OpenAI’s next funding round, after a $100bn deal between the two dissolved earlier this month.The maker of ChatGPT is expected to be valued at $730bn in the funding round, almost twice the valuation of Anthropic, one of its main rivals, which raised $30bn earlier this month.Nvidia’s announcement of a $100bn investment in OpenAI last September drove the chipmaker’s stock to more than $5tn and led to fervent discussion about circular deals between the largest players in artificial intelligence.The investment, which the chipmaker framed as a “letter of intent”, would have involved Nvidia giving OpenAI money to buy and deploy its chips for its AI infrastructure.That all appeared to change earlier this month, when reports surfaced that Nvidia’s intent was never a firm commitment – and OpenAI was looking elsewhere for chips to power its systems

Rahm’s refusal to pay fine over LIV Golf puts Ryder Cup future in peril

Jon Rahm’s Ryder Cup future is in serious doubt after the Spaniard failed to join his teammate Tyrrell Hatton in settling a dispute over a seven-figure fine with the European Tour Group over participation in LIV Golf.Hatton is one of eight golfers who have agreed to settle all outstanding fines due in Europe and withdraw any appeals in return for releases to play on LIV tournaments in 2026. Luke Donald, who is expected to remain in office for a third stint as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, wanted the situation with Hatton and Rahm resolved. Donald has only partly got his wish, with Adare Manor in 2027 looming ever closer.Hatton joined Laurie Canter, Tom McKibbin, Thomas Detry, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Elvis Smylie and David Puig in reaching agreement with the European Tour Group

Brook says overlooking Pakistan players for the Hundred would be ‘a shame’

Harry Brook has called on teams in this year’s Hundred to embrace Pakistan players after it was reported that they would not be considered by the tournament’s four Indian-owned sides.Brook, England’s white-ball captain, is contracted to Sunrisers Leeds, owned by the Indian media corporation the Sun Group, owners of the IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad, and is the highest-paid player in the tournament.Sixty-three Pakistan players will be available in the auction for the men’s tournament on 12 March, including all but two of those in their squad for the current T20 World Cup, as well as four in the women’s auction scheduled for the previous day.Brook said the teams’ choice of which players to target was “not really any of our business”, but added: “What I would say is Pakistan have been a great cricket nation for many years.“I think there’s about 50 or 60 players in the auction and it would be a shame not to see some of them in there