Business

UK wholesale gas prices have risen again and are now at their highest level since mid-February. Prices rose to nearly 135 pence a therm (a unit of heat used to measure gas) on Friday afternoon. It comes after gas costs hit a six-month high of nearly 123p a therm on Tuesday afternoon – a level

After a winding road of regulatory challenges, Microsoft today closed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, creating a video game behemoth. While Microsoft has always been an acquisitive company, the deal for Activision Blizzard is its biggest, and is the largest M&A deal since AOL bought Time Warner more than two decades ago. Not

The chancellor has warned the British public he is preparing “for the worst” as he draws up his autumn statement. Jeremy Hunt told Sky News the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) official economic forecasts would be considerably worse than at the budget – a signal there may be spending cuts or possibly even tax rises

UPDATED, 5:14 p.m.: Steve Scalise said Thursday that he was withdrawing from the race for Speaker of the House, one day after he got his party nomination for the post, adding to the disarray in the House Republican caucus. “If you look at the last few weeks, if you look at where our conference is,

It is a list that includes the former HBOS banker Peter Cummings, the former Co-op Bank finance director Barry Tootell and the former Credit Suisse First Boston trader James Archer, son of the author and Conservative peer Lord Archer – and now it includes Jes Staley, the former Barclays chief executive. Banning someone from working

Adam Aron, the colorful and outspoken CEO of top exhibitor AMC Entertainment, took to X/Twitter on a more serious matter this morning, revealing he had been targeted in a blackmail plot last year. In a lengthy post, the exec described it as “entirely a personal matter” and one that is “now closed.” He said he

The former CEO of Barclays has been fined £1.8m after misleading regulators and the bank’s board about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Jes Staley has also been banned from holding senior management positions in the financial services industry. According to the Financial Conduct Authority, he “recklessly approved” a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA

EXCLUSIVE: As Writers Guild members almost unanimously approved a hard-fought new contract with the studios and streamers this week, and the striking actors back at the bargaining table today with CEOs, the Directors Guild of America really wants its members to know it got them “extraordinary gains” with their deal early this summer. But not

British Airways (BA) has suspended flights to Tel Aviv – after Hamas said it had attacked the Israeli airport. It came after a BA flight was on approach to the airport when the captain made the decision to divert back to Heathrow. A spokesperson for Israel’s airports authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv

EXCLUSIVE: CAA has signed Luke Davies, the decorated Australian screenwriter, novelist and poet best known for his work on the 2016 Dev Patel drama, Lion. Marking the feature directorial debut of Garth Davis, who’s currently back in theaters with the Amazon sci-fi thriller Foe, Lion is based on the true story of Saroo Brierley (Patel),

Next is close to underlining its status as Britain’s most prolific buyer of rival high street fashion chains by snapping up FatFace in a deal worth more than £100m. Sky News has learnt the FTSE-100 clothing giant is putting the finishing touches to an acquisition of FatFace, just three years after it was taken over

During a summer visit to Los Angeles this year, Jim McKairnes — a former SVP Planning for CBS who’s spent the past 13 years teaching TV history at the college level — had dinner with a fellow TV executive who shared concerns about the streaming world and how “viewers and the experience of watching and loving

Lush, the UK-based cosmetics retailer, is facing a backlash from customers after a “boycott Israel” message was displayed on the window of one of its stores. The company, which has in the past faced criticism from the Jewish community for openly supporting the Palestinian cause, suggested in a statement that a member of staff had

Troubled musicals, like troubled friendships, can often seem like defeats lying in wait, sponging up every last second of loving care, effort and good intention. So Maria Friedman’s smartly tended production of that most troubled of stage properties, the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth backwards musical Merrily We Roll Along deserves all the applause – and ticket-buying

EXCLUSIVE: Jesse Eisenberg and Kenneth Lonergan will be among the playwrights contributing new works for this year’s 23rd Annual The 24 Hour Plays On Broadway, the one-night-only benefit event set for Monday October 23, at Manhattan’s Town Hall. Also writing for the event is Christopher Oscar Peña (Insecure), and performers will include Ato Blankson-Wood, Kathryn

Imax said today it won’t proceed with its proposed acquisition of the outstanding stake in Imax China after a vote of shareholders of its subsidiary fell short. Some 70% of the shares voted were in favor of the deal, but those against exceeded the 10% threshold required by Hong Kong law to defeat a privatization transaction. Approximately

The rate of grocery inflation eased considerably over the past month, part-aided by a “jump in the amount of money spent on offers”, according to a closely-watched study. Kantar Worldpanel, which records supermarket sales and price data, said the annual rate of grocery inflation fell back to 11% over the four weeks to 1 October.

There are a few ways one could report the latest economic growth forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first way is to declare that Britain’s economy is heading for the buffers. Its economy will grow next year at the slowest rate in the G7 group of leading industrialised economies (0.6%). This is considerably

Worse financial pain is to come, as many people have not yet felt the full impact of the increased cost of borrowing, the Bank of England has said in one of its latest health checks of the UK’s financial system. Higher interest rates, currently at 5.25% after a run of 14 hikes, have not yet

In a podcast interview on WTF With Marc Maron that aired Thursday, Larry Charles talked about his creative thought process and how that approach works within the Hollywood system. Charles, a veteran writer/director of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, is a longtime collaborator with Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Bruno, The Dictator). He also has a