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Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to criminal tax violations and reached a deal with prosecutors over a separate firearm offence, just days after his father Joe Biden held the first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign. According to a court document filed on Tuesday in Delaware federal court, Hunter Biden was charged with

The cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage in the UK rose above 6 per cent on Monday and two-year gilt yields rose to their highest level for 15 years, piling more pressure on homeowners and Rishi Sunak’s government. Mortgage costs have been rising sharply over the past week, ahead of an expected increase in interest

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing on a highly anticipated mission to reboot US-China relations, which have cratered this year after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over North America. Blinken will be the first secretary of state to visit China since 2018, a reflection of Beijing’s strict coronavirus pandemic lockdowns,

UK households that come to the end of fixed-rate mortgage deals next year face an average £2,900 increase in annual payments, putting Rishi Sunak under pressure to defuse an election-year time bomb. The estimated increase in payments by the Resolution Foundation think-tank reflects concern that the UK has a worse inflation problem than other countries

The European Central Bank has warned Brussels against swooping to claim money from custodians of trapped Russian assets, claiming it could dent confidence in the euro as a global currency and hurt financial stability. The Frankfurt-based institution has privately told the European Commission that plans to divert payments on bonds owned by the Russian central

Boris Johnson, Britain’s former prime minister, has been condemned for lying to parliament over the Covid “partygate” scandal, in a damning report that casts doubt on whether he can ever stage a political comeback. The report by a cross-party committee of MPs published on Thursday is a searing indictment of Johnson’s conduct in high office,

WE Soda has abandoned plans for a $7.5bn London initial public offering in a fresh blow to UK equities capital markets that have struggled to attract marquee listings in recent years. The UK-based group, which is the world’s largest natural soda ash producer, blamed the decision on “extreme investor caution in London” that prevented it from

Gilt yields surged to the highest since 2008, surpassing the level reached during the turmoil following Liz Truss’s mini Budget, after strong UK wage growth data on Tuesday. Wage growth accelerated in the three months to April against a backdrop of rising employment, raising the likelihood of further interest rate rises. Two-year gilt yields rose

Rishi Sunak on Monday turned on his predecessor Boris Johnson, claiming that the former prime minister had asked him to interfere and wave a long list of his allies through to the House of Lords. Sunak said Johnson asked him to reverse the decision by the House of Lords appointment committee (Holac) to block some

Police have arrested Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s former first minister, as part of an investigation into the finances of the governing Scottish National party. The arrest on Sunday marks a major escalation in a police probe that has plunged the pro-independence SNP into an unprecedented crisis. Sturgeon, who formally resigned as party leader and first minister

Partners at Odey Asset Management said that founder Crispin Odey would leave the firm after 13 women accused him of sexual misconduct. The high-profile financier and his firm have been at the centre of a growing crisis after the Financial Times reported on Thursday that 13 women alleged Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed them

Odey Asset Management has lost another key relationship, as French brokerage Exane decided to cut ties with the hedge fund after a Financial Times investigation alleged its founder Crispin Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed 13 women.  The hedge fund has told clients it is in “active discussions” with all of its service providers as

Morgan Stanley on Thursday moved to sever ties with Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management in the wake of a Financial Times investigation that chronicled how the hedge fund manager evaded sexual assault allegations for decades. The bank has begun the process of terminating its prime broking relationship with Odey, according to people familiar with the

Lloyds Banking Group will seek a sale of the Telegraph Media Group after pushing its parent group into receivership over debts owed by the Barclay family, according to people familiar with the matter. The UK bank has put B.UK, a Bermudian-based holding company that ultimately controls the Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine, into receivership,

The venture capital giant Sequoia Capital is splitting its China business into a separate entity amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. The renowned Silicon Valley firm, which made bets on fast-growing tech companies such as TikTok parent ByteDance and Alibaba, said on Tuesday it will run its Chinese business as a “completely independent” entity

British Airways, Boots and the BBC on Monday confirmed they had been affected by a “cyber security incident” involving their payroll provider which has affected some of the UK’s best-known names. BA said the incident at Zellis, its payroll provider, was the result of a “new and previously unknown vulnerability” in a file transfer tool

China has warned western militaries to stay out of waters and airspace near its borders if they want to avoid dangerous run-ins with the People’s Liberation Army, putting on display the growing risks of unintended conflict as geopolitical competition grows. The blunt message from General Li Shangfu, China’s new defence minister, followed a near collision

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday criticised China for conducting risky aerial intercepts over the South China Sea and warned that Washington would not be deterred by dangerous behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region. China was conducting “an alarming number of risky intercepts of US and allied aircraft flying lawfully in international airspace”, Austin said

CIA director Bill Burns travelled to China last month, a clandestine visit by one of President Joe Biden’s most trusted officials that signals how concerned the White House had become about deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington. Five people familiar with the situation said Burns, a former top diplomat who is frequently entrusted with delicate

UK house prices have fallen further as rising mortgage rates deterred home buyers and prompted owners to repay property loans at a near record rate. Figures from the Nationwide Building Society released on Thursday showed prices of the average property in May were 3.4 per cent lower than a year earlier, with the annual fall

The world’s largest natural soda ash producer plans to float in London, a boost to a stock market that has struggled to attract new listings and prevent companies from leaving. WE Soda, the UK-based group that produces the glassmaking ingredient and is controlled by Turkish media mogul Turgay Ciner, is targeting a $7.5bn valuation, enough