Business
Bank of England holds interest rates at 3.75% and signals rise is possible within months
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
Decision comes as concerns mount over economic fallout from Iran war bringing inflation shockAnalysis: BoE delivers message Britons don’t want to hearBusiness live – latest updatesThe Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold and signalled it could be forced to increase borrowing costs in the coming months as the US-Israel war on Iran threatens to drive inflation in the UK above 3%.The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep its base rate at 3.75% amid growing concern over the surge in energy prices triggered by the conflict. Continue reading...
Prolonged high oil prices could ‘crimp’ AI boom, WTO warns
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
Iran war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy, report saysBusiness live – latest updatesAn extended period of high oil prices as a result of war in the Middle East could “crimp” the AI boom, the World Trade Organization’s chief economist has warned.The war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy identified in the WTO’s latest Global Trade Outlook. Continue reading...
UK pay growth sinks to five-year low as younger workers hit by hiring slowdown
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
Unemployment holds steady, but Bank of England is unlikely to be convinced by ONS data to cut interest rates Business live – latest updatesWage growth slowed sharply in the three months to January, according to the latest snapshot of the jobs market from the Office for National Statistics.Average earnings growth fell to 3.8% in the three months to January, down from 4.2% – a larger fall than forecast by City economists. It was the slowest rate of wage growth in more than five years. Continue reading...
Opinion
Technology
Inside China’s robotics revolution
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
How close are we to the sci-fi vision of autonomous humanoid robots? I visited 11 companies in five Chinese cities to find out Chen Liang, the founder of Guchi Robotics, an automation company headquartered in Shanghai, is a tall, heavy-set man in his mid-40s with square-rimmed glasses. His everyday manner is calm and understated, but when he is in his element – up close with the technology he builds, or in business meetings discussing the imminent replacement of human workers by robots – he wears an exuberant smile that brings to mind an intern on his first day at his dream job. Guchi makes the machines that install wheels, dashboards and windows for many of the top Chinese car brands, including BYD and Nio. He took the name from the Chinese word guzhi, “steadfast intelligence”, though the fact that it sounded like an Italian luxury brand was not entirely unwelcome.For the better part of two decades, Chen has tried to solve what, to him, is an engineering problem: how to eliminate – or, in his view, liberate – as many workers in car factories as technologically possible. Late last year, I visited him at Guchi headquarters on the western outskirts of Shanghai. Next to the head office are several warehouses where Guchi’s engineers tinker with robots to fit the specifications of their customers. Chen, an engineer by training, founded Guchi in 2019 with the aim of tackling the hardest automation task in the car factory: “final assembly”, the last leg of production, when all the composite pieces – the dashboard, windows, wheels and seat cushions – come together. At present, his robots can mount wheels, dashboards and windows on to a car without any human intervention, but 80% of the final assembly, he estimates, has yet to be automated. That is what Chen has set his sights on. Continue reading...
Essex police pause facial recognition camera use after study finds racial bias
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
Academics discover black people ‘significantly more likely’ to be identified when compared with other ethnic groupsEssex police have paused the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology after a study found cameras were significantly more likely to target black people than people of other ethnicities.The move to suspend use of the AI-enabled systems was revealed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates the use of the technology deployed so far by at least 13 police forces in London, south and north Wales, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Surrey and Sussex. Continue reading...
Sport
Midtjylland v Nottingham Forest: Europa League last 16, second leg – live
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
⚽ Updates from the 5.45pm GMT kick-off in Denmark⚽ Live scores | Read Football Daily | Mail DanielQuestion: what is the exact thing the Premier League – and wider world of football – does not need?Answer: this. Continue reading...
Prem ‘train’ returns with Saracens looking for instant lift at Bath
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026
After Six Nations, focus is back on clubs with Saracens’ director of rugby saying ‘there’s everything to play for’Remember the Prem? It’s been in hibernation almost as long as your tortoise. The last sighting of England’s elite men’s domestic league was on 24 January but now, finally, it is re-emerging from the shadows of the Six Nations, starting under the Friday night lights at the Rec where second-placed Bath are hosting sixth-placed Saracens.It has certainly felt like a protracted hiatus, even if the lower-profile Prem Cup has taken up some slack. And with only eight regular season rounds remaining every would-be playoff contender has no choice but to hit the ground running. As Bath’s head coach, Johann van Graan, says: “It doesn’t really matter what you’ve done before. It’s about what you do going forward.” Continue reading...