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Citigroup has forecast that UK inflation will plunge from double-digit rates to close to 2 per cent by the end of this year as rapid falls in gas prices give Rishi Sunak’s government hope of solving some of its biggest economic challenges. Citi said on Wednesday that consumer price inflation was likely to fall to

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is exploring a 5 per cent pay rise for public sector workers to end an escalating wave of strikes after the Treasury was given an unexpected £30bn windfall. In a sign of a change of mood after months of strife, the Royal College of Nursing on Tuesday called off a

Junior doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strikes, in a further escalation of the dispute between the UK government and NHS staff over pay and working conditions. The British Medical Association on Monday said that, on a turnout of 77.49 per cent, 98 per cent of members had backed plans for a

The prime minister of Sweden has warned against delinking his country’s Nato membership bid from Finland’s, after the alliance acknowledged for the first time that the two might have to join separately owing to Turkey’s obstruction. Ulf Kristersson said in an interview that for strategic reasons, the two membership applications should be ratified at the

The US has formally concluded that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, vice-president Kamala Harris said on Saturday, vowing that those who had perpetrated crimes and their superiors “will be held to account”. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Harris said that Washington had “examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and

The Russian army is suffering huge losses in Ukraine, shows no sign it has improved its “meat grinder” tactics and is struggling to sustain a stuttering offensive that is “advancing, if at all, in metres not kilometres”, Britain’s defence secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday. Despite fears that Russia is poised to launch a huge

PwC is under investigation by UK regulators over its auditing of the failed shopping centre owner Intu Properties, as accountants brace for increased scrutiny of their work ahead of an expected rise in insolvencies. In its fifth outstanding probe into PwC’s work for British companies, the Financial Reporting Council is investigating the firm’s audits of

Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation as Scotland’s first minister and leader of the Scottish National party on Wednesday after a backlash over her strategy for securing independence and controversy over proposed gender laws. A thorn in the side of UK prime ministers for almost a decade, Sturgeon led the pro-independence SNP to repeated electoral success

Western intelligence shows Russia is amassing aircraft close to the border with Ukraine, an indication that Moscow is preparing to throw its jets and helicopters into the war to support a stuttering land offensive. The fear of a looming air war in Ukraine has prompted allies to prioritise rapid shipments of air defence assets and

Liberty Global, the US telecoms group chaired by “cable cowboy” John Malone, has bought a stake of nearly 5 per cent in Vodafone worth £1.2bn, as it bets on the revival of its beleaguered UK rival. The Denver-based company joins a host of foreign acquirers that have built positions in Vodafone, which in the last

David Solomon told a private gathering of Goldman Sachs’ top executives that he had erred by not cutting jobs earlier in 2022, according to people familiar with the remarks. Speaking to about 400 Goldman partners at a closed-door meeting in Miami this week, the chief executive said he took responsibility for being slow to reduce

Gillian Keegan, UK education secretary, has signalled she will fight any Home Office attempts to cut migration into Britain by driving away overseas students, saying universities were a “hugely valuable” export success. Keegan, in an interview with the Financial Times, said she wanted to build on the UK’s booming export market in university education, and

Russia will cut oil production from next month in response to a price cap imposed by western nations, the country’s top energy official has said, in the first sign Moscow is seeking to weaponise oil supplies after slashing natural gas exports to Europe last year. The cut of 500,000 barrels a day, the equivalent of

Nelson Peltz has called time on his fight against Walt Disney less than a month after the activist investor said he would seek a seat on the company’s board of directors, ending what was expected to be one of the biggest corporate battles in recent years. “The proxy fight is over,” Peltz said in an

Gautam Adani faced a margin call of more than $500mn on a $1.1bn share-backed loan, prompting the Indian tycoon to repay the whole debt, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. The repayment was designed to avoid further damage to investor confidence shaken by fraud allegations raised by US short seller Hindenburg,

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared a state of emergency in areas ravaged by the region’s worst earthquake in decades, as his government and aid agencies mounted a desperate rescue effort to locate survivors. The three-month emergency rule, which will run up to just before Turkey’s hotly contested general election in May, gives Erdoğan’s government

A second powerful earthquake has struck Turkey just hours after the worst quake in 80 years wrought destruction across the country and neighbouring Syria, killing more than 2,000 people and wounding many more.  The second quake, which hit south-east Turkey on Monday afternoon local time, registered a magnitude of 7.5, according to the US Geological

Beijing has lashed out at the US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that flew across North America this week, accusing the Biden administration of “seriously violating international conventions”. The Chinese foreign ministry said it “repeatedly” told the US the balloon was for “civilian use” and had entered American airspace by accident due to

Hedge funds wrongfooted by a sharp surge in stocks this week rushed to exit losing bets on falling markets at the fastest pace in years. Equity markets have risen sharply so far this year, led by many of the speculative stocks that were clobbered hardest during 2022’s global sell-off. Many of the funds that profited

US jobs growth unexpectedly rebounded in January, as the economy continued to perform strongly despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to damp down demand. Employers in the world’s largest economy added 517,000 jobs in the first month of the year, nearly double December’s figure, which was revised up to 260,000. Economists had expected 185,000 positions to