Japan avoids recession with weak return to growth – business live

Japan has slotted in at the bottom of the G7 growth table, along with the UK:With Canada and the US yet to report their GDP data for October-December, here’s what we know so far:Germany: +0.3% in Q4 2025Italy: +0.3%France: +0.2%UK: +0.1%Japan: 0

Coles offered ‘utterly misleading’ discounts ACCC argues in federal court case

Coles disguised price increases on at least 245 products by offering discounts that were “literally true” but also “utterly misleading”, the competition regulator has argued at the beginning of a high-profile court case.A federal court battle between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Coles began on Monday, testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering “illusory” discounts on many everyday products.The ACCC alleges Coles misled shoppers because the products were sold at one regular price for at least six months before being temporarily inflated and then dropped slightly as part of a “Down Down” promotion.The strategy is known as “was/is” comparative pricing.The consumer watchdog will argue the promoted prices were actually higher, or the same as, the previous regular price

Google puts users at risk by downplaying health disclaimers under AI Overviews

Google is putting people at risk of harm by downplaying safety warnings that its AI-generated medical advice may be wrong.When answering queries about sensitive topics such as health, the company says its AI Overviews, which appear above search results, prompt users to seek professional help, rather than relying solely on its summaries. “AI Overviews will inform people when it’s important to seek out expert advice or to verify the information presented,” Google has said.But the Guardian found the company does not include any such disclaimers when users are first presented with medical advice.Google only issues a warning if users choose to request additional health information and click on a button called “Show more”

Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk face big fines or UK ban

Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer on Monday.Emboldened by Elon Musk’s X stopping its Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people in the UK after public outrage last month, ministers are planning a “crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI”.With more and more children using chatbots for everything from help with their homework to mental health support, the government said it would “move fast to shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act or face the consequences of breaking the law”.Starmer is also planning to accelerate new restrictions on social media use by children if they are agreed by MPs after a public consultation into a possible under-16 ban. It means that any changes to children’s use of social media, which may include other measures such as restricting infinite scrolling, could happen as soon as this summer

GB chiefs hail greatest Winter Olympics day after super Sunday delivers two golds

Team GB chiefs have hailed Britain’s greatest day at a Winter Olympics after celebrating two gold medals, in the mixed snowboard cross and mixed team skeleton in Milano Cortina.Super Sunday started with Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale storming to a surprise victory in Livigno, with Bankes dramatically overtaking the French team with four turns remaining to take mixed snowboard cross gold.Less than five hours later, Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston added a second British gold in the mixed team skeleton in Cortina after Weston overturned a 0.30sec deficit following Stoecker’s run to beat Germany by 0.17sec

Winter Olympics 2026: Weston and Stoecker cap golden GB day; Strøm wins women’s ski jump – as it happened

Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston take a bow! They have won the first ever gold medal in skeleton mixed relay at the Winter Olympics to put Team GB on three gold medals in total at the Games.Stoecker’s time of 1min 00.77, (the fourth best of the women’s runs) gave Weston a fairly chunky +0.3sec disadvantage but the men’s Olympic champ smashed the Germain pair into second with a 58.59, the best of the men’s times for a total time of 1:59