Business

A 77-year-old widow who won a £4.5 million Cornish mansion in an Omaze draw spent a family summer at the property and then sold it, using the proceeds to help her three children and six grandchildren with mortgages, property and business starts.

The State Pension will rise by 4.8% for 2026/27 under the government's triple lock, and that increase could push some pensioners above the frozen Personal Allowance so they start paying income tax.

eBay is buying second-hand fashion app Depop for $1.2bn, five years after Etsy purchased the UK-founded business for $1.62bn.

A Barry nurse was refunded nearly £3,000 after HM Revenue and Customs corrected an incorrect tax code; she says the error took about three months to resolve and affected her health.

Two prime ministerial hopefuls, former PM KP Sharma Oli and ex-Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, are competing in Jhapa-5 ahead of the March 5 national elections, the first vote since September's anti-corruption protests that toppled the government. The seat is seen as a test of public trust after youth-led unrest and widespread anger over corruption.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its cash rate at 2.25% and said it expects inflation to return to the 1–3% target band this quarter; it also said it would tighten policy sooner if stronger growth or broader price-setting pushed inflation higher.

Glynn Purnell announced that his 200-year-old pub, The Mount in Henley, will close after rising costs made the business no longer viable, and he described the hospitality sector as facing very tough conditions.

Transport for London will introduce licences, safety checks and a capped fare structure for pedicabs, due to take effect on October 30, to address complaints about high charges and loud music.

Two Greater Manchester bookshops — House of Books & Friends in Manchester and Simply Books in Stockport — have been shortlisted in the Northern category of the 2026 British Book Awards, part of a record 76 regional and county finalists.

Lidl will open five new supermarket stores within 24 hours and plans 14 more in the coming weeks, a roll-out the article says could create up to 640 jobs.

New CEO John Furner will speak for the first time this quarter as Walmart, which recently passed $1 trillion in market value, is widely expected to give cautious guidance amid a fragile consumer backdrop.

The DWP pays £25 for each seven-day period of very cold weather when the local average temperature is zero °C or below; the scheme has reached nearly 1.5 million households across England and Wales this winter.

Consumer Prices Index inflation fell to 3% in January from 3.4% in December, the Office for National Statistics reported, with lower petrol and food prices cited among the drivers.

King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman provided two donations totaling SAR150 million through the Jood Eskan platform to support housing initiatives, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Several Olympic skiers including Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin and Federica Brignone said nearby glaciers have dramatically shrunk; Italian researchers report more than 200 square kilometres of glacier loss since the late 1950s and projects indicate some glaciers could largely disappear within years under high-warming scenarios.

Sahyadri Farms grew from 110 growers in 2011 to about 30,000 members and processed 385,000 tonnes last year, helping smallholders access export markets.

British banks, backed by the government, are planning a domestic payments network and will meet tomorrow to discuss a company nicknamed DeliveryCo; Visa and Mastercard currently process about 95% of UK card transactions.

JPMorgan Chase Institute data shows transfers into investment accounts by 25–39‑year‑olds more than tripled to 14.4% between 2013 and 2023, and transfers by 26‑year‑olds since age 22 rose from 8% in 2015 to 40% by May 2025.

Lidl plans to invest £500 million to open 16 new stores across Northern Ireland over the next six years, and the company says the expansion could create about 1,000 additional jobs; the rollout is contingent on planning approvals.

A Realtor.com report found vacancy rates among the largest U.S. metros rose from 7.2% in 2024 to 7.6% in 2025, with 22 cities classified as renter-friendly and six remaining landlord-friendly.

Tesco now lets Clubcard members convert vouchers into Tesco Travel Insurance credit at a £1-for-£1 rate, with a minimum £5 exchange required.

Martin Lewis said the Marriage Tax Allowance can add about £1,260 by letting one partner transfer part of their Personal Allowance to the other, and he noted couples can backclaim up to four previous tax years.

Jesse Jackson, born Oct. 8, 1941, and who died Feb. 17, 2026 at age 84, was a civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate whose campaigns expanded voter participation and helped prompt Democratic delegate reforms that introduced a proportional allocation with a 15% threshold.

The European Commission said Hungary and Slovakia face no short-term risk to oil supplies because both hold 90 days of emergency stocks, and Brussels is in contact with Ukraine about repairing the Druzhba pipeline.

Gunfire at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, left multiple people dead or critically injured and is being treated as a family-related incident; state and local authorities are investigating. Officials and school representatives said student athletes were accounted for and the governor said he was monitoring the situation.

People across parts of East and Southeast Asia marked the Lunar New Year with prayers, fireworks and public festivities as the Year of the Horse began. Observances included temple incense and bell rites in Hong Kong and Taipei, countdowns and fireworks in Vietnam, and public events in Moscow and Jakarta.

Officials reported a shooting at Dennis M. Lynch Arena during a high school hockey tournament that left two people dead and three critically injured; the suspect was found dead at the scene, reportedly from a self-inflicted wound.

The Department for Work and Pensions will add nine Jobcentre on Wheels vans across six areas after pilot trials, and DWP data showed more than half of visitors were not receiving benefits.

Topshop and Topman are reopening 32 UK high-street locations, with products also available via John Lewis's online platforms and in stores; the relaunch coincides with London Fashion Week and will include a Piccadilly Circus takeover and other activations.

Police say at least two people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting during a high school hockey game at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.