US rival agrees £1.2bn deal for British car parts firm in new hit to UK stock market

The British car parts maker Dowlais has agreed to a £1.2bn takeover by its US rival American Axle & Manufacturing, in the latest departure from the London stock market.The main operation of Dowlais, which has been listed on the FTSE 250 index since 2023, is GKN Automotive, which formed part of the GKN engineering business that was bought by the private equity group Melrose in an acrimonious £8bn takeover battle in 2018.American Axle & Manufacturing will pay £1.16bn in cash and shares for Dowlais as the two companies aim to weather the transition to electric vehicles

Lloyds Banking Group to close another 136 branches – as it happened

Lloyds Banking Group is to close another 136 branches across the UK as customers continue the shift to primarily online banking.The bank said that it would close 61 Lloyds branches along with 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland sites, starting in May with completion of the closure plan in March 2026.A spokesperson for the banking group said:Over 20 million customers are using our apps for on-demand access to their money and customers have more choice and flexibility than ever for their day-to-day bankingThe high-street lender said that staff working in the affected branches would be offered another role at another branch or in a different part of the business.Earlier this month, Lloyds said it will allow customers to use any of its Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds branches, roughly a quarter of its branches are closely located to each other.Lloyds currently has about 932 branches, but previously announced closures will take that figure down to 892 branches by the end of 2025

Tesla sees disappointing fourth-quarter earnings amid declining car deliveries

Tesla reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 on Wednesday after US stock markets closed, capping a bruising year for the company’s sales but a stellar one for its stock price.The car company reported $0.73 per share and $25.71bn in revenue, slightly below Wall Street analysts predictions of revenue coming in at $27.22bn

DeepSeek blocked from some app stores in Italy amid questions on data use

The Chinese AI platform DeepSeek has become unavailable for download from some app stores in Italy as regulators in Rome and in Ireland demanded answers from the company about its handling of citizens’ data.Amid growing concern on Wednesday about how data harvested by the new chatbot could be used by the Chinese government, the app disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores in Italy with customers seeing messages that said it was “currently not available in the country or area you are in” for Apple and the download “was not supported” for Google, Reuters reported.The Guardian confirmed it was not available in the Google app store, but it was available in the Apple store for at least one user. Both Google and Apple have been approached for comment.After the Chinese chatbot was released last week close to $1tn (£804m) was wiped off the leading US tech stock index

ECB accused of ‘selling family silver’ as Hundred auction starts with Invincibles

The ECB has been accused of “selling the family silver and cricket’s soul” rather than taking “strategic decisions” by one of the bidders in the Hundred auction, which begins on Thursday.The Oval Invincibles is the first franchise up for grabs when the final round of bidding starts with a live online auction at 1.30pm, with Birmingham Phoenix to be sold via sealed bids later in the day.The Guardian has been told that there are 11 bidders left in the race to buy the eight franchises, although with losing bidders permitted to re-enter and make offers for another franchise the ECB is hopeful there will be sufficient competition to raise around £500m, which will be allocated to the counties and grassroots cricket.Several Indian Premier League owners withdrew following the first two rounds of bidding, however, while some of those still involved have misgivings over the process

‘High-energy, risk-taking, intense’ US women’s league shows its rugby colors

Ilona Maher may be dominating headlines in women’s rugby union with her stint with Bristol in England but things are also stirring in the star’s native US, where on Wednesday the Women’s Elite Rugby semi-professional league took another step towards kick-off in March with the release of team names, crests and colors.Katherine Aversano, vice-president of the new league and a historian of the US women’s game, said: “Rugby, its athletes, and fans are not one thing – each is multifaceted and may discover the game in a different way. Our six team identities resonate with that modern complexity but are visually rooted in the bold American sports landscape.”From opening day, the Boston Banshees and the New York Exiles will represent the east coast, the Bay Breakers the west, the Chicago Tempest and Twin Cities Gemini the upper midwest and Denver Onyx the mountain west.Announcing a joint branding project with MATTA, a sports-focused London firm, WER said it would offer a “high-energy, risk-taking, intense” product, “full of inspiring, fearless women athletes and fierce action that will take place on the pitch throughout the season”