‘Mother of all deals’: EU and India sign free trade agreement

India and the EU have finalised a landmark free trade agreement, which the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed as the “mother of all deals”.The agreement comes after almost two decades of on-off negotiations between India and the EU, which vastly accelerated in the past six months and were finally concluded late on Monday night.The deal is expected to open up India’s vast and traditionally tightly guarded market to the 27 nations in the bloc, with a focus on manufacturing and the services sector. It will ease market access for key European products, including cars and wine, in return for easier exports of textiles, gems and pharmaceuticals.The agreement is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or cutting tariffs in 96

First of its kind ‘high-density’ hydro system begins generating electricity in Devon

A hillside “battery” outside Plymouth in Devon has begun generating electricity using a first of a kind hydropower system embedded underground.The pioneering technology means one of the oldest forms of energy storage, hydropower, can be used to store and release renewable energy using even gentle slopes rather than the steep dam walls and mountains that are usually required.The design means the principles of hydropower could be used as a form of “long duration energy storage” in many more locations across the UK, and the world, than traditional hydropower dams. The projects could be quicker and cheaper to build too.Engineers at RheEnergise built the project to mimic the UK’s traditional hydropower plants, which have powered the grid for decades by using electricity to pump water uphill when power supplies are abundant, and later releasing the water back down through turbines to generate electricity when supplies are short

Scotland-France ferry could relaunch amid £35bn Dunkirk regeneration plan

A new cargo and passenger ferry service directly linking Scotland and France could launch later this year as the port of Dunkirk embarks on a €40bn (£35bn) regeneration programme it claims will mirror the second world war resilience for which it is famed.The plans could include a new service between Rosyth in Fife and Dunkirk, eight years after the last freight ferries linked Scotland to mainland Europe, and 16 years after passenger services stopped.Political and industrial leaders have laid out their Dunkirk plans, already backed by about €4bn (£3.5bn) in private and public investment, that will lead to the 60-year-old port area being transformed into a vast hub including low-carbon energy projects, battery factories and maritime logistics to cater for the new industrial era.“We are betting on the energy and ecological transition to redevelop an industrial region,” the former transport minister and second-time mayor of Dunkirk, Patrice Vergriete, said on launching a plan for the area over the next four years

National insurance hike and energy bills behind food price rise, say UK retailers

Retailers have blamed rising energy bills and the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s hike in employers’ national insurance contributions for a jump in food prices, as suppliers and supermarkets struggle to absorb higher costs.The British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade body for retailers, said prices across all goods in shops rose by 1.5% in January compared with the same month last year, up from a 0.7% rise in December and higher than the 0.7% increase economists had been expecting

Bank of Scotland fined £160,000 over account for sanctioned Putin ally

The UK’s sanctions watchdog has fined Bank of Scotland £160,000 for opening a bank account and processing payments for an ally of Vladimir Putin.Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who became the first person to be prosecuted for circumventing UK sanctions last year, made 24 payments totalling £77,383 to or from a personal current account during February 2023.The Russian has held senior positions in Russian government and is a former governor of Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea.The EU made Ovsiannikov a designated person under its sanctions legislation in November 2017, saying his work had compromised or threatened the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. This restricted him from entering or accessing funds in member states including the UK, then still an EU member

Gold price jumps above $5,000 an ounce for first time amid Trump turmoil

The price of gold has jumped above $5,000 an ounce for the first time as Donald Trump’s chaotic policies and proclamations drive more investors to seek safe harbour in the precious metal.Gold reached a record high of $5,100 (£3,723) on Monday morning, before easing back to settle up 2.2% at $5,091.The moment came after Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs if Ottawa made “a deal with China”, and after the US president’s showdown with Europe over the future of Greenland.With global financial markets already jittery, there are also rising fears of another US shutdown after Democrats threatened funding for the Department of Homeland Security after federal immigration agents killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday