Business

A family team led by Chris and Alan Gent with Amy Barker took the lease of The Crown Inn in July 2025 and spent weeks restoring the 1877 pub; their work earned a CAMRA Heritage Award runner-up spot and local 'most improved pub' recognition.

The Southeast Gateway pipeline now brings U.S. natural gas to southeastern Mexico and has prompted legal challenges and protests from coastal and Indigenous communities over consultation and environmental concerns.

India will collect no tax on revenues from cloud services sold overseas until 2047 provided those workloads run from Indian data centers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced. The policy aims to attract AI cloud investment and is tied to the government’s 2047 development goal.

House of Fraser has announced the closure of its Darlington shop, ending a retail presence of about 103 years; Darlington Borough Council called the news disappointing and said it will offer appropriate support as details emerge.

NS&I's February Premium Bond draw paid out more than £408 million across over 6.1 million prizes, and three people in Greater Manchester each won £100,000.

House prices in the UK increased in January 2026 while mortgage affordability pressures eased, and mortgage approvals for house purchase stayed close to pre-pandemic levels.

An 18-year-old who was injured in the New Year's Eve fire at the Le Constellation bar died in a Zurich hospital, bringing the reported death toll to 41; the Swiss public prosecutor said no further investigative details will be released at this stage.

India's 2026-27 budget exempts income from foreign ownership of capital equipment provided to contract manufacturers in customs-bonded areas until the 2030-31 tax year, a change announced to promote electronics manufacturing and explained in the budget documents.

Israeli authorities said the Rafah crossing with Egypt opened in a test and preparations are under way for limited travel, with EU agents to supervise entry and exit and Israeli and Egyptian vetting in place.

Restoration teams, backed by the British Council and UNESCO, are repairing coral‑stone buildings in Suakin as local officials hope to revive tourism after years of decline and war‑related disruption.

A senior Saudi official told Asharq Al-Awsat that Riyadh has not changed its stance on regional escalation and continues to back diplomatic efforts; the official also reiterated rejection of using Saudi airspace or territory for military operations against Iran.

Lidl is reported to be opening 19 new supermarkets in 2026 and is awaiting approval for a proposed Croxteth branch. Aldi has announced plans for 40 new branches and said it will invest £370 million in new store openings across Britain this year.

Mark Hehir, a former London bus driver, was dismissed after he chased a thief to recover a passenger's necklace and an employment tribunal upheld the dismissal. He says he would welcome an apology from Metroline but will not return to his job.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praised Taiwanese suppliers and urged higher production to meet strong AI demand, and was greeted by crowds during a visit that included a "trillion-dollar dinner" with major firms.

Laura Dogu, the U.S. envoy for Venezuela, arrived in Caracas as diplomatic ties between the two countries are being gradually restored. Venezuelan foreign minister Yván Gil said the visit is meant to establish a roadmap and resolve differences through diplomatic dialogue and international law.

Affluent Indians are increasingly buying premium bottled mineral water, a segment Reuters says is about $400 million and grew to roughly 8% of the country's bottled water market.

Reg Dosell and his partner Lynda were each presented with £333,333 after their Harlow postcode, CM18 6ES, shared the People's Postcode Lottery Millionaire Street £1 million prize; the lottery donates a portion of ticket fees to UK charities.

Organisers and the United Nations have proposed a seven-week Olympic truce from 6 February to 15 March around the Milan Cortina Games; the resolution was backed in the UN General Assembly but past truce resolutions have not consistently halted wars.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state premiers agreed a $25 billion package to boost public hospital funding over five years and to limit growth in the National Disability Insurance Scheme to 6% or less.

Lakewood Church staff member Shawna Collins, 39, was among those killed when a private jet crashed during takeoff at Bangor International Airport in Maine; NTSB and FAA investigators recovered the flight recorders and are analyzing them.

The government has confirmed the Warm Home Discount will continue through 2030/31, providing an automatic £150 winter rebate to around six million eligible households. The move follows an expansion last year that added about 2.7 million families to the scheme.

The government will extend the Warm Home Discount so eligible households receiving qualifying means‑tested benefits automatically receive a £150 electricity bill rebate each winter through 2030/31, the announcement says.

A Belfast court discharged an interim injunction, allowing Michael Flatley to lead the 30th anniversary Lord of the Dance tour starting in Dublin next week; Switzer Consulting had accused him of financial misconduct, which his legal team denied.

Six people died when a Bombardier Challenger 650 crashed during takeoff from Bangor International Airport, and the FAA and NTSB have opened investigations; one of the victims was Tara Arnold, the wife of a Houston lawyer.

US firm LanzaTech plans a £600m investment at Saltend Chemicals Park to produce sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, with construction expected to begin in 2027 and operations in 2030.

Santander plans to close 44 UK branches while the article reports the bank is promoting customer account offers described as up to £225, and it says 96% of customers use digital services.

China has added the UK to its visa-free entry policy, allowing British visitors to stay up to 30 days without a visa; the change was announced during Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit and follows his meeting with President Xi Jinping.

Scotty's Castle in Death Valley National Park is offering limited flood-recovery tours after about 10 years of repairs; full reopening is expected in a few years and restoration work will continue.

In a Financial Times Rachman Review transcript, Bill Gates discusses rising child mortality amid falling aid budgets and describes a Gates Foundation–OpenAI pilot to bring AI tools into 1,000 African clinics starting in Rwanda.

The UK Government announced an AI growth zone in Lanarkshire that it says has attracted £8.2 billion of private investment and could create more than 3,400 jobs.