USA: Kobe sneakers from torn Achilles game sell for $660,000

The shoes that basketball legend Kobe Bryant wore when he tore his Achilles tendon during an iconic 2013 game have sold at auction for $660,000 (£532,000). Playing for the Los…

UK: New writing needs protection from AI-Makar

Scottish writers and publishers are considering innovative ways to tackle challenges they face from artificial intelligence (AI). Scotland’s Makar Peter Mackay said he had “huge concerns” about the technology in…

UK: Concern PM Keir Starmer’s AI ambitions could lead to water shortages

Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to make the UK a “world leader” in Artificial Intelligence (AI) could put already stretched supplies of drinking water under strain, industry sources have told the…

USA: Global growth forecast to flatline as tariffs add to strains

The global economy is set to flatline this year amid fears including fresh US tariffs hitting trade, the World Bank has warned. Growth of 2.7% would be the joint weakest…

Spain: An economy fast becoming the envy of Europe

It’s a chilly mid-winter afternoon in Segovia, in central Spain, and tourists are gathered at the foot of the city’s Roman aqueduct, gazing up at its famous arches and taking…

Japan: Success behind PM Shigeru Ishiba’s US state visit

If Japan needed reassurances it was indeed still the US’s top ally and friend in the increasingly unstable Asia-Pacific, it got that and then some. But what was striking about…

USA: Musk’s Doge takes aim at US consumer protection agency

The Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) have moved to take control of – and possibly shut down – an agency set up to protect consumers…

USA: Trump says Nippon Steel will ‘invest heavily’ in US Steel, drop takeover bid

President Donald Trump has said Japan’s Nippon Steel will drop its $14.9bn (£12bn) bid to acquire US Steel. Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House, Trump…

UK: Cheaper China e-bikes ‘kick in teeth’ for UK firms

A government decision to scrap tariffs on Chinese e-bikes coming into the UK has been described as a “kick in the teeth for British manufacturing”. Border taxes were imposed on…

India: Central Bank cuts interest rates for the first time in five years

India’s central bank has cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years to counter slowing growth in Asia’s third largest economy. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)…