Business

The president of Microsoft has met with the chancellor amid efforts to overturn the competition watchdog’s decision to block its planned takeover of Activision Blizzard. Brad Smith said in a meeting with Jeremy Hunt that he would try to work with regulators to win approval for the technology giant’s $69bn (£56bn) purchase of the Call

The largest US crypto asset trading platform has been accused of illegally operating without regulatory approval. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it had filed a lawsuit against Coinbase. The action also accuses its Prime and Wallet units of operating as unregistered brokers. News of the case prompted a 20% decline in the

Energy producer SSE has been hit by a nearly £10m fine for charging the national grid – and bill payers as a result – too much money to power down during times when electricity infrastructure can’t take all the traffic on the system. Energy regulator Ofgem levied the £9.8m fine against SSE for breaching its

Apple has unveiled a mixed-reality headset called Vision Pro – its first entirely new product in eight years. The US tech giant claims the device is “the most advanced personal electronic device ever”. Resembling a pair of ski goggles, it features a glass 23-million-pixel screen which covers the upper face and is controlled using the

US regulators have filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Binance alleging a string of violations including the misuse of investor funds. Cryptocurrencies and shares in crypto and blockchain-related companies tumbled after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed 13 charges against the world’s largest exchange and its founder Changpeng Zhao. The watchdog claimed they artificially

Apple is expected to announce a mixed reality headset – its first brand-new product for eight years – at its annual event for developers. The tech giant’s WWDC showcase is usually reserved for software reveals – notably the next major updates for its iPhones, iPads, and Macs – but this year fresh hardware is on

The price of diesel fell by almost 12p last month – a record drop, according to new figures. The RAC said the average price per litre was now 147p, down from 158.9p at the start of May – making it the seventh consecutive month prices have fallen. It means the cost of a typical 55-litre

Companies that provide guidance for those with money problems are to be banned from receiving referral fees from debt solution providers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the new rules for debt packagers, which are regulated providers of advice, would save consumers money in “unnecessary fees” and improve guidance for those struggling. There have been

Twitter’s head of trust and safety has resigned from the social media company, according to a report. Ella Irwin told Reuters news agency she had resigned, not long after Fortune reported her internal Slack account appeared to have been deactivated. Ms Irwin oversaw content moderation – a controversial subject for a company that has been

Today on the Ian King Podcast, Wilfred Frost speaks to a senior economist at Nationwide about house prices. He also discusses the difficulties in the car market with Autotrader’s chief executive and hears how supply chain issues are key to the current problems. And could sustainable cruise ships transform the industry? We hear from the

Food inflation in the UK has slowed from April’s record-breaking rise – but is still up more than 15% on the year, new retail figures show. Research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen shows a 15.4% rise in food inflation in the year to May. It is the second-fastest annual increase that the

Ian King hears from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who says the government will do whatever it takes to bring down inflation, even if that means a recession. He also speaks to Nick Harding, the chief executive of consumer lender Fluro as analysis by PwC shows total household debt in the UK has exceeded 2 trillion pounds

Britain’s largest building society has made some mortgages more expensive as the Bank of England’s interest rate is now expected to rise higher than previously thought. Nationwide has said interest rates on new fixed-rate mortgages will rise 0.45 percentage points. It follows moves by lenders such as Halifax, Santander and Atom Bank who also upped

Cineworld is to exit bankruptcy in July, the world’s second largest cinema operator announced on Thursday. The British chain, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, filed for bankruptcy in the US last year as it was weighed down by expansive debt and reported weak audience numbers as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Microsoft will on Wednesday lodge a formal appeal against British regulators’ decision to block its $75bn takeover of Activision Blizzard, the Call of Duty maker. Sky News understands that the technology behemoth will file its complaint with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) within hours, sparking the next phase of its fight to secure one of

France has banned short-haul flights where people are able to get a train instead, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.  The ban affects journeys that can be completed by train in less than two-and-a-half hours, ruling out flights between Paris and Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux. Connecting flights are unaffected by the ban. The move

A British-based company which uses thermal imaging to detect heat loss from buildings anywhere on Earth has secured nearly £13m in additional funding. Sky News has learnt that Satellite Vu (SatVu) will announce this week that Molten Ventures, the London-listed investment group, has led a Series-A2 round which adds to financing already secured from companies

Facebook’s failure to stop open containers of baby formula being traded online has put infants in danger, campaigners and charities say. It comes after a Sky News investigation into the desperate measures some families are having to take because they cannot afford the rising prices of infant formula milk. Hartlepool Baby Bank highlighted the “horrendous”

WhatsApp will allow users to edit their messages – but only for 15 minutes after they have been sent. The Meta-owned messaging service has started rolling out the new function and it will be available to all users in the coming weeks. Messages will carry a label showing they have been edited – but they

Ireland is set to become the first country in the world to put health warnings on alcohol products. Dublin’s health minister Stephen Donnelly signed new regulations on Monday, which will warn drinkers about the health risks of drinking alcohol, as well as the calorie count of the product. However, the labels will not be mandatory