UK inflation rises to 2.3%, increasing pressure to delay interest rate cut

Inflation could rise above 3% next year after it increased to 2.3% in October, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to delay further interest rate cuts until the spring.Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday showed that a rise in energy bills pushed up the consumer prices index (CPI), reversing a downward trend this year in inflation, which was 1.7% in September.The figure for the year to October was slightly above the 2

Lidl warns of price rises and HMV of job cuts amid backlash over UK budget

Lidl has warned of potential price rises, with HMV predicting job cuts as a result of cost increases caused by the UK government’s budget.Doug Putman, the owner of the British entertainment retailer HMV, said the budget was “bad news in general” and “most retailers would be on a pause” in their expansion plans as the cost of employing staff rose. “We won’t open, we will wait,” he said.“I would be surprised if we could find a way to get through this without cutting jobs,” he added. He said retailers took on extra staff for Christmas and often kept some on permanently, but the industry was “probably not going to see as much of that this year”

Can a fluffy robot really replace a cat or dog? My weird, emotional week with an AI pet

Casio says Moflin can develop its own personality and build a rapport with its owner – and it doesn’t need food, exercise or a litter tray. But is it essentially comforting or alienating?It looks faintly like one half of a small pair of very fluffy slippers. It squeaks and wriggles and nestles in the palm of my hand, black eyes hidden beneath a mop of silvery-white fur. It weighs about the same as a tin of soup. It doesn’t need to be fed or walked and it doesn’t use a litter tray; it’s guaranteed not to leave “gifts” on my doorstep

US justice department plans to push Google to sell off Chrome browser

US justice department officials plan to ask a judge to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser to dismantle the monopoly it has over the internet search market, in a major intervention against one of the world’s biggest tech companies.The Department of Justice (DoJ) last month filed court papers saying it was considering enforcing “structural remedies” to prevent Google from using some its products.The DoJ will reportedly push for Google, which is owned by Alphabet, to sell the browser and also ask a judge to require new measures related to artificial intelligence as well as its Android smartphone operating system, according to Bloomberg.Competition officials, along with a number of US states that have joined the case against the Silicon Valley company, also plan to recommend that the federal judge Amit Mehta imposes data licensing requirements.Google has said it will challenge any case by the DoJ and said the proposals marked an “overreach” by the government that would harm consumers

Rejigged India can draw strength from 2021 – but still face uphill struggle | Geoff Lemon

Arriving in Australia in the ember weeks of 2024, the Indian Test team is in an unusual position. They are, in a sense, defending champions. Starting in 1947, Asian teams toured Australia 30 times in a row without winning a series. Most of the time they didn’t come close: Australia won 24, six drawn. It was January 2019 in Sydney, after more than seven decades, that India’s run mountain while leading the series forced the home team to bat for a draw

‘No intention of stopping’: meet the F1 mechanic set for 600th straight race

Whatever happens at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, Aston Martin will be celebrating a remarkable achievement. It’s viva Las Vegas for Andy Stevenson, Aston’s sporting director who will mark his 600th grand prix here, a feat of longevity made all the more striking by the fact he has not missed a race since he joined the team as a callow youth in 1987.Such was his childhood ambition to work in F1 that he committed to it in writing. “My mother recently found the paperwork from my first visit to the careers office which said I wanted to work with fast cars and travel the world,” he says with a smile.“I was always interested in anything mechanical and F1 cars are the best machines on the planet