Business

SPOILER ALERT: This post describes a key plot detail in Sex and the City revival And Just Like That, which premiered last night on HBO Max. Shares in Peloton fell 5% in morning trading to about $38.50 — but that’s not a new phenomenon in 2021. The fitness company’s stock has declined 73% this year,

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned of “bumps on our road to recovery” as new figures showed growth stalled even before the arrival of the Omicron variant. GDP grew by just 0.1% in October, well short of the 0.4% expected by economists and a big slowdown on September’s 0.6% expansion, the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Exactly two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday gatherings of family and friends, Los Angeles County is seeing a resulting increase in Covid-19 cases, according to Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. She also called the trend a possible start of yet another winter surge of infections. Ferrer said the increase was visible by December 1, when

The owner of House of Fraser and Sports Direct has warned of a “shadow of uncertainty” cast by latest COVID-19 fears as well as the potential impact of a cost of living squeeze on consumers. Frasers Group reported a sharp rise in half-year sales and profits compared to a period last year affected by lockdown

Travis Scott, whose Astroworld Festival in Houston last month resulted in the deaths of 10 audience members in a crowd crush, says he was unaware of the dangerous situation as he performed on stage, and that he relied on “the professionals” for concert safety. In an hourlong interview with Charlamagne tha God – watch it

The government is facing increasing calls to step in and support businesses affected by new “plan B” COVID measures – which include working from home guidance and vaccine passports for some venues. Trade union GMB said it backed the reintroduction of a furlough scheme if the new measures threaten jobs. Industry body UK Hospitality has

In the first hearing since a Los Angeles Superior Court judge formally ended the conservatorship that controlled Britney Spears’ life for nearly 14 years, the same judge today sealed documents related to her estate planning and, according to Variety, gave Spears herself the power to execute financial documents related to her estate. Her father Jamie

The prospect of new Plan B COVID-19 restrictions has sent the pound to a one-year low and stirred dismay in the leisure and travel sectors. Sterling dropped below $1.32 against the US dollar to its lowest level since December last year while the UK currency also slid against the euro. In stock markets, travel and

EXCLUSIVE: Comedian, actor and host Hasan Minhaj today announced the launch of his production company, 186K Films, as well as For the Culture, a new film he’s set to produce and star in for Amazon Studios, which he’s scripting with long-time collaborator Prashanth Venkataramanujam. Minhaj founded 186K Films with Venkataramanujam and will serve as the

The Mercedes Formula One team, which includes Sir Lewis Hamilton in its driver line-up, has confirmed it has ended its controversial tie-up with a company that made some of the insulation used in Grenfell Tower. In a statement, it said: “The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Kingspan today announced that they have mutually agreed to

2nd UPDATE with company comment: As the business day ended on the West Coast, Amazon Web Services reported significant progress in trying to fix a lengthy outage, but said some issues remained. In an online update at 7:35 p.m. ET, AWS said many of the most serious glitches had been repaired, but “we are now

Asda has joined Tesco, its biggest rival, in facing the prospect of strike action ahead of the key Christmas trading season. The GMB union said it was launching a consultative ballot – due to close on 20 December – over the supermarket chain’s decision not to give distribution staff a “meaningful” pay offer. It added

The life of actor and activist Sidney Poitier will be told in a Broadway-targeted play to be written by Charles Randolph-Wright and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, producers announced today. According to producers, Sidney will dramatizes Poitier’s life from his upbringing on Cat Island in the Bahamas to his rise to become America’s most revered actor and

The head of a select committee has reacted with incredulity after an energy boss blamed the way the wind blew for exacerbating problems caused by a devastating storm that cut off supplies to parts of the UK. Paul McGimpsey, director of regulation at the Energy Networks Association (ENA), told MPs on the business energy and

Disneyland on Wednesday will officially unveil its new Disney Genie service, a sort of digital concierge that replaces the popular Fastpass system that helped visitors avoid lengthy lines at many of the park’s big-ticket attractions. Disney Genie swill offer forecasts of wait times for various attractions at the theme park, much like the previous iteration

Inflation looks set to “comfortably exceed 5%” next spring as a likely energy bill hike for millions of households takes effect, the Bank of England’s deputy governor has said. Ben Broadbent made the remarks amid questions about whether the Bank may act soon to tackle rising prices with an interest rate hike – or be

Telfaz11, the Saudi Arabian production and finance company, has struck a deal to acquire Riyadh-based producer Last Scene Films. Founded in 2017 by Mohammed Alhamoud, Last Scene Films has produced the short films Silah and Ertidad, which both travelled to international festivals, while its debut feature Last Visit (2019), directed by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan, became the

The CBI has cut its forecasts for economic growth thanks to costs and shortages over recent months – and warned that the emergence of the Omicron variant could see it dragged back further. UK GDP is now expected to notch up a still strong 6.9% growth this year and 5.1% in 2022 – but that