Donald Trump to visit Xi Jinping in May after Iran war postponement

Rishi Sunak has taken up paid adviser roles at tech giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic. The former prime minister has been told he must not lobby ministers on behalf of the companies by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), an independent watchdog which oversees the activities of former government figures. Sunak –…

Retail sales volumes have risen for the fourth month in a row, driven by consumers buying gold online and new tech gadgets. Monthly sales rose by 0.5% in September 2025, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show, defying an expected decrease of -0.2%. “Although food stores saw very little growth, good weather…

A US judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from detaining British activist Imran Ahmed after he sued officials over an entry ban for alleged online censorship. The founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate is among five people denied US visas after the state department accused them of seeking to “coerce” tech platforms…

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“We have noted that the US side has publicly clarified these false reports by the media, stating that the relevant reports are completely wrong, and emphasised that the visit has nothing to do with the issue of the open navigation of the Strait of Hormuz,” Jian said.

The former chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended his pandemic-era Bounce Back Loan scheme against accusations that it was subject to excessive levels of fraud. He said he was aware of the risks, but given the need for speed, he would do the same again. Bounce back loans (BBLs) offered small businesses up to £50,000 with…