Japan’s Nikkei hits record high and yen strengthens after Takaichi’s election win – business live

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Political drama will be on investors’ minds today, as they react to a landmark election in Tokyo and mounting pressure on UK prime minister Keir Starmer.The yen has strengthened after Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi won a sweeping victory in Sunday’s election, ending a six-day run of losses.The Japanese stock market has rocketed to a new high too, as investors welcome the prospect of more stimulus.Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP) has won an absolute majority in Japan’s lower house, and with her coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, Takaichi now has a supermajority of two-thirds of seats

Government on track to lower minimum age for train drivers to 18 in Great Britain

Labour will introduce legislation to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18 in the House of Commons this week, as figures show fewer than 3% of drivers on Great Britain’s railways are under 30.The government is pressing ahead with its proposals for teenage recruits, lowering the minimum age from 20, in a move that ministers hope will stave off a potential shortage of thousands of drivers.A looming mass exodus through retirement threatens to intensify driver shortages and worsen train reliability, with a lack of crew already a big cause of late-notice cancellations.The current average age of Great Britain’s 24,000 train drivers is 48, and about 25% of them will reach retirement age before 2030.According to a National Skills Academy for Rail report, that could mean a shortfall of 2,500 drivers in four years’ time

Logitech MX Master 4 review: the best work mouse you can buy

Logitech’s latest productivity power-house updates one of the greatest mice of all time with smoother materials, a repair-friendly design and a haptic motor for phone-like vibrations on your desktop.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The MX Master 4 is the latest evolution in a line of pioneering mice that dates back more than 20 years and has long been the mouse to beat for everything but hardcore PC gaming

‘It felt hypocritical’: child internet safety campaign accused of censoring teenagers’ speeches

An internet safety campaign backed by US tech companies has been accused of censoring two teenagers they invited to speak out about the biggest issues facing children online.Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by companies including Snap, Roblox and Meta, edited out warnings from Lewis Swire and Saamya Ghai that social media addiction was an “imminent threat to our future” and obsessive scrolling was making people “sick”, according to a record of edits seen by the Guardian.Swire, then 17, from Edinburgh, and Ghai, then 14, from Buckinghamshire, had been asked to speak at an event to mark Safer Internet Day in 2024 in London in front of representatives from government, charities and tech companies.The tech-backed charity also edited out references to children feeling unable to stop using TikTok and Snap, social media exacerbating a “devastating epidemic” of isolation, and a passage questioning why people would want to spend years of their lives “scrolling TikTok and binge-watching Netflix”, the edits show.The 2026 iteration of the Childnet-run event takes place on Tuesday with more than 2,800 schools and colleges listed as supporters

Relentless Seahawks pummel Patriots to claim their second Super Bowl title

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Although seeing as the Seattle Seahawks had to wait 11 years to exact theirs on the New England Patriots, their fans would have been forgiven for moving on to other matters.Not that you’d know it from the way the Seahawks played in Sunday’s Super Bowl, where their super defense smothered the Patriots in a rematch of the 2015 championship, when New England pulled off an extraordinary victory that has haunted Seattle for years.Kenneth Walker III, the engine of Seattle’s offense with 135 rushing yards on 27 carries, was named MVP. Sam Darnold completed his long redemption arc from draft-bust to champion quarterback by throwing for 202 yards and a touchdown

‘The best feeling’: Michael Dickson becomes second Australian NFL player to win a Super Bowl

Michael Dickson may be the toast of Seattle, sitting on the throne of American sport, but Australia’s second Super Bowl champion still has one craving the USA cannot satisfy: chips with chicken salt.The king of Australia’s NFL punting expats starred for the Seattle Seahawks in their suffocating 29-13 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, California.“I love my family, I love my friends, I love Australia,” Dickson told ESPN on the field after the match. “I can’t wait to get home, get some chips with some chicken salt, I’m craving that, and a parmi [chicken parmigiana]. That’d be nice