Trump trade drives down pound and euro; Disney earnings boosted by Inside Out 2 and Deadpool – business live

Donald Trump’s election victory last week is continuing to shift the markets.The pound has dropped to its lowest level against the US dollar since early July this morning, down half a cent to $1.2653.On election day, sterling was worth $1.30, but it has been sliding since as traders have anticipated that Trump’s tax cuts and tariffs will be inflationary, meaning US interest rates stay higher

Big UK pub chains signal price rises as result of budget hit

The pub chain Young’s has said it is preparing to take an £11m annual hit from rises in employer taxes announced in the budget, and signalled that some of this could be passed on to customers through higher prices.The chief executive, Simon Dodd, said a rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs), coupled with an increase in the national minimum wage, would result in “significant increased costs for our industry in the near term”.“We will work to see how we can mitigate these headwinds without passing on all the cost to our loyal customers,” he said. He also called for “certainty and delivery of real business rate reform which will benefit all hospitality businesses”.The chair of JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, has warned of price increases across the hospitality industry, saying that the pub chain’s tax and business costs would go up by about £60m over the next year

They’ve been described as the ‘fastest-growing fire risk’ – so why do lithium batteries keep exploding?

A faulty lithium-ion battery in an e-scooter likely caused an intense garage and house fire in Sydney’s south on Tuesday, fire investigators have found, the latest in a spate of incidents involving lithium-ion batteries.In early November, a fire in an apartment in New Farm in inner-city Brisbane is also believed by authorities to have been sparked by an e-scooter battery. In March, batteries resulted in four separate fires in a single day in New South Wales.Fire and Rescue NSW has referred to lithium-ion batteries as the “fastest-growing fire risk” in the state. The agency responded to 272 battery-related fires last year – more than five each week

Apple facing near-£3bn UK lawsuit over cloud storage ‘monopoly’

Apple is facing a near-£3bn lawsuit over claims it breached competition law by effectively locking millions of UK consumers into its cloud storage service at “rip-off” prices.The legal claim is being brought by Which?. The consumer group claimed that about 40 million Apple customers in the UK could be entitled to a payout averaging £70 each if the action is successful.However, Apple said it rejected the Which? accusations and would “vigorously defend” itself against any legal claim.A similar lawsuit relating to this issue was launched against Apple in the US in March this year but has not yet concluded

The NFL’s most box-office player today is … an offensive tackle? | Oliver Connolly

Jared Goff may be the Detroit Lions’ most important player as they take aim at a first Super Bowl appearance, but Penei Sewell is the team’s bestSaquon Barkley is leaping over defenders. Fred Warner is hitting everything in sight. Wherever you look, Lamar Jackson is slinging fire. And yet the best show going in the NFL through 10 weeks is one of the big guys up front: Lions right tackle Penei Sewell.It can be easy to miss tackles

Stuttering Socceroos have work to do for USA 2026 after Saudi stumble

That the player of the match award at Australia’s World Cup qualifier in Melbourne on Thursday was sponsored by the Saudi Tourism Authority is somehow fitting. This was indeed a never-ending night of contradictions, a match that the Socceroos managed to make a scoreless home draw feel like a victory.As the clock ticked towards 93 minutes, the brilliant strike by Sultan al-Ghannam billows the net and prompts wild celebrations among the Saudi players and travelling supporters. Just what the Socceroos needed, another home capitulation, think 27,000 fans inside AAMI Park.But their eyes are soon drawn to the players in white surrounding the linesman, his yellow and orange flag enraging them like a mosquito in a bedroom