Financial markets now certain the RBA will hike interest rates in 2026

Financial markets are now pricing in a 100% chance the Reserve Bank will hike rates in 2026, in what would be a blow to mortgage holders but may take some steam out of an overheating property market.The latest forecasts represent a turnaround from just two weeks ago, when traders were factoring in an even chance that the next RBA move would be a cut by its May meeting.It comes as data showed inflation is now moving in the wrong direction, alongside this week’s national accounts and household spending figures which showed the economy is accelerating into the new year.Adam Donaldson, the head of interest rates strategy at the Commonwealth Bank, said “the market has come to the conclusion that the Reserve bank won’t be cutting rates any further”.“Basically, from February onwards, the market is starting to price some risk that rates will go up

UK first-time buyers in best position to snap up property in a decade, data shows

Buyers attempting to get on to the property ladder in the UK have received a lift, after figures from Halifax showed they are in the best position to snap up a home in a decade.Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said that the average price of a UK property hit a record high of £299,892 in November, after a marginal month-on-month rise.However, Halifax said when property prices were compared with average incomes, affordability was at its strongest since late 2015.The lender added that taking into account higher interest rates – the average two-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.85%, according to Moneyfacts – mortgage costs as a share of incomewere at their lowest level in about three years

New York Times sues AI startup for ‘illegal’ copying of millions of articles

The New York Times sued an embattled artificial intelligence startup on Friday, accusing the firm of illegally copying millions of articles. The newspaper alleged Perplexity AI had distributed and displayed journalists’ work without permission en masse.The Times said that Perplexity AI was also violating its trademarks under the Lanham Act, claiming the startup’s generative AI products create fabricated content, or “hallucinations”, and falsely attribute them to the newspaper by displaying them alongside its registered trademarks.The newspaper said that Perplexity’s business model relies on scraping and copying content, including paywalled material, to power its generative AI products. Other publishers have made similar allegations

I spent hours listening to Sabrina Carpenter this year. So why do I have a Spotify ‘listening age’ of 86?

Many users of the app were shocked, this week, by this addition to the Spotify Wrapped roundup – especially twentysomethings who were judged to be 100“Age is just a number. So don’t take this personally.” Those words were the first inkling I had that I was about to receive some very bad news.I woke up on Wednesday with a mild hangover after celebrating my 44th birthday. Unfortunately for me, this was the day Spotify released “Spotify Wrapped”, its analysis of (in my case) the 4,863 minutes I had spent listening to music on its platform over the past year

Norris’ date with F1 destiny arrives as he aims to keep Verstappen and Piastri at bay

He has a 12-point lead before Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP but the British driver vows to ‘crack on’ if the title goes elsewhereThe atmosphere at a season-deciding finale in the Formula One world championship is like no other. The paddock positively hums with a febrile, pulsing excitement and sense of expectation that is impossible to ignore. Amid all of which the title favourite, Lando Norris, finds himself at the moment he has dedicated his life toward, destiny lying in his own hands.After a gruelling 23-race trek around the world, the conclusion of all the work, sacrifice and effort will be decided in just an hour and a half on Sunday afternoon in Abu Dhabi.Norris has been fascinating to observe across a season during which he opened on top, was then eclipsed by his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri before mounting a comeback in the final third to retake the lead

Your Guardian sport weekend: F1 finale, the Ashes and Premier League

James Wallace and Rob Smyth will cover all the day-three action, over by over. The day-nighter at the Gabba has already thrown up more storylines than an entire season of Neighbours, and our team of writers – Ali Martin, Geoff Lemon and Simon Burnton – are in Brisbane for reports, news and analysis. Australian supporters are welcome to join the conversation, too.Emillia Hawkins and John Brewin take the controls for our essential weekly gateway to the day’s football action. There’ll be plenty of washup from Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington DC as well as team news, breaking stories and snippets from our reporters around the grounds