Interest rates ‘on path down’ despite hold at 5%, Bank of England chief says

The governor of the Bank of England has signalled readiness to resume interest rate cuts despite keeping borrowing costs unchanged on Thursday at 5%, amid concerns over lingering high inflation.Andrew Bailey said the central bank was “now gradually on the path down” from borrowing costs that were among the highest since before the 2008 financial crisis. “I think interest rates are going to come down, I’m optimistic on that front,” he said.Earlier on Thursday, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) had voted by a majority of eight to one against launching a back-to-back reduction in interest rates, pausing its efforts to ease the pressure on household budgets.Last month, the Bank cut interest rates for the first time since the Covid pandemic was declared four years ago, after a sharp fall in inflation from a peak of more than 11% in late 2022 – the highest level since the early 1980s

Gambling firm appears to trivialise Lebanon pager blasts in social media post

The gambling company that owns the William Hill, 888 and Mr Green brands has apologised after one of its social media accounts appeared to make light of the pager explosions in Lebanon that killed 12 people and injured thousands.The explosions on Tuesday were followed by walkie-talkies exploding on Wednesday, killing another 20 people.The post was shared on the Israeli Facebook page of London-listed Evoke plc, previously known as 888 Holdings, and included a crudely drawn image of what it described as a “beeper”.The caption above the picture read: “If that’s what they’ve managed to do with beepers, imagine what it’s like to work with technology. Wow

Google Pixel 9 review: a good phone overshadowed by great ones

Google’s cheapest Pixel 9 offers almost everything that makes its top-flight sibling one of the best smaller phones available, cutting a few key ingredients to price match Apple and Samsung.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The Pixel 9 costs £799 (€899/$799/A$1,349) shaving £200 off the asking price of the stellar Pixel 9 Pro while sitting above the excellent value sub-£500 Pixel 8a from May

British MPs and international organisations hacked on X

British politicians and international organisations have had their accounts on X hacked on Wednesday night.MPs including Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, and the Labour MPs Chris Elmore and Carolyn Harris all shared the same message on the social media site. Although quickly removed, the messages could still be read on TweetDeck, a dashboard used to manage accounts on X, formerly Twitter.The messages, which also included a lengthy code, said: “THIS IS HACKED ACCOUNT!!!! INTRODUCING HACKED ON SOLANA on each account we hack we publish the token address so we pump it and make profits together.”The message on the justice secretary’s account was posted at 7

Australia thrash England by seven wickets: first men’s cricket one-day international – as it happened

Before we wrap up, here’s our report on Australia’s resounding win.Yeah I thought it was a great win, especially after the start England got and then going a man down. I’d love to take credit for [bowling Labuschagne] but it was a forced change. We thought pace off was a better option, it was a bit of a gut feel in the group, and the way our part-timers bowled was fantastic.We did everything we said we were gonna do: we tried to put pressure on their bowlers and then we tried to take wickets

Lewis Hamilton unhappy with ‘racial element’ of FIA president’s comments

Lewis Hamilton has expressed disquiet at comments made by the president of Formula One’s governing body, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, that F1 drivers should not swear like rap artists, stating that he was unhappy at the “racial element” implied by Ben Sulayem’s choice of words.Speaking in the buildup to this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Ben Sulayem, the president of the FIA, had said he was concerned about drivers swearing on team radio, even though messages are broadcast on a delay so expletives are bleeped out. “We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music,” he said. “We’re not rappers, you know. They say the f-word how many times per minute? We are not on that