US economy continues to grow at robust pace as Trump vows to reduce prices

The growth of the US economy slowed in the last quarter, but capped another robust year of expansion, as Donald Trump pledges to lead a historic revival and bring down prices for millions of Americans.Gross domestic product (GDP) – a broad measure of economic health – grew by 2.3% in the last three months of 2024, according to official data released on Thursday, down from the 3.1% rate of growth in the previous quarter.The reading was short of the 2

Shell investors in line for multibillion-dollar windfall despite weak profits

Shell paid its investors a total of $22.5bn (£18.1bn) in 2024, narrowly short of the company’s own profits for the year, which tumbled in line with weaker oil and gas markets.Europe’s biggest oil company handed its investors the multibillion-dollar windfall despite reporting weaker-than-expected profits of $23.7bn

Royal Mail should cut second-class delivery days, says regulator Ofcom

Royal Mail is set to be allowed to deliver second-class letters on alternate weekdays and to stop Saturday deliveries under proposals to shake up postal service rules announced by the industry regulator.Ofcom said cutting the deliveries to every other weekday with a price cap on second-class stamps, while maintaining first-class letters six days a week, would still meet the public’s needs.Its provisional recommendations also included cutting delivery targets for first-class mail from 93% to 90% arriving the next day, and for second-class mail from 98.5% to 95% within three days.Ofcom’s consultation on the proposed changes will run until 10 April, and it expects to publish its decision in the summer

Hinkley Point C owner warns fish protection row may further delay nuclear plant

The owner of Hinkley Point C in Somerset has warned that the much-delayed construction of Britain’s first new nuclear power plant in a generation could face further hold-ups because of a row over its impact on local fish.The nuclear developer, EDF Energy, warned that the “lengthy process” to agree to a solution with local communities to protect fish in the River Severn had “the potential to delay the operation of the power station”.As a result, the developer, which is owned by the French state, raised the threat of further delays to Hinkley Point – a project already running years late and billions of pounds over budget.EDF said last year that Hinkley could be delayed to as late as 2031 and cost up to £35bn, in 2015 money. The actual cost including inflation would be far higher

‘Some steal to order’: on the frontline of UK shoplifting epidemic

UK retailers are warning that crime in their stores is “spiralling out of control” with 55,000 thefts a day and violent and abusive incidents rising by 50% last year to 2,000 a day.What is it like to be on the frontline? We speak to a supermarket worker, a security guard and an independent shopkeeper.Shoplifters have become a bit more brazen about what they do and it is not just specific things. Quite a few don’t hide it as they know staff are not allowed to stop them and some stores don’t have security staff. They come in and just cut security tags off

Crime ‘spiralling out of control’ in stores, warns British Retail Consortium

UK retailers are warning that crime in their stores is “spiralling out of control” with 55,000 thefts a day and violent and abusive incidents rising by 50% last year.More than 70 incidents a day involved a weapon, according to the annual crime survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).Verbal and physical attacks, violent threats, and sexual and racial abuse in shops soared to more than 2,000 incidents a day in the year to the end of last August, up from 1,300 the previous year and more than three times the 2020 level.The trade body’s report, based on a sample from retailers representing more than 1.1 million employees, found theft had reached an all-time high with more than 20m incidents during the year, 25% more than the year before