Japan and Switzerland’s economies contract as US tariffs hit exports; Alphabet shares jump after Warren Buffett reveals stake – as it happened

Time to recap.Japan and Switzerland have both suffered an economic hit from Donald Trump’s trade wars.Japan’s GDP shrank by 0.4% in July-September, dragged down by a fall in exports.In a double-blow to Tokyo, shares in Japanese tourism and retail firms have fallen sharply after China warned its citizens not to travel to Japan

UK officials ‘working day and night’ to resolve NHS drug pricing row’

The UK science minister has said officials are “working day and night” trying to resolve the standoff with big pharmaceutical companies over drug pricing.Speaking to industry leaders and investors at London life sciences week, Patrick Vallance, a former GSK executive, said the government was “clear eyed about the challenges”.“Recent headlines have not always been favourable, and we are acutely aware of the pressures that companies face in the current commercial environment here in the UK,” he said.“Many of us are working day and night right the way across government to make progress on these issues. And rest assured that we are laser focused on getting that resolved

GWR train fitted with F1 tech for two-month superfast wifi trial

Train wifi in the UK, long a source of frustration for passengers, is about to get radically faster – for a lucky few at least.A two-month trial has begun on one Great Western Railway (GWR) train, fitted with technology from Formula One that switches between the signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites to provide almost seamless, superfast wifi.For now, only one of GWR’s 57 intercity express trains will have a connection good enough to deliver a Netflix series to the seat. However, a successful trial and the promise of lower costs could spell a wider rollout to the rest of the mainline railway by 2030.On a test run from London Paddington to Newbury and back, the Guardian found the wifi fast and reliable enough to video call editors at the office, catch up on old Match of the Days on iPlayer and listen to songs on YouTube at the same time, with only occasional blips and pixelation

TotalEnergies buys €5.1bn stake in Czech tycoon’s power plants business

The Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is to become one of the largest shareholders in TotalEnergies after selling a stake in his electricity generation business, which includes several UK power plants, to the French oil company.Křetínský, whose companies own stakes in Royal Mail and West Ham United football club, agreed to sell a 50% stake in his stable of European power plants to TotalEnergies for about €5.1bn (£4.5bn) in exchange for about 4.1% of Total’s share capital

Thames Water bidder says it is offering £1bn extra cash injection

A bidder for Thames Water has said it would inject £1bn more into the struggling utility company than rival proposals if it gained control.John Reynolds, the chief executive of the independent water retailer Castle Water, said the current plans under discussion with creditors to rebuild Thames Water’s finances did not go far enough and did not properly address its environmental crisis.Castle Water would provide a cash injection of at least £1bn over current proposals, he told the Times.“No one wants a restructuring that does not stick. The negotiations are not heading anywhere,” he said

WPP shares leap amid takeover bid speculation

Shares in WPP have risen sharply amid speculation that the advertising group could be the subject of a takeover by a rival or a private equity buyer.Its French rival Havas, which was listed on Euronext in Amsterdam in December and is controlled by the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, has reportedly held internal talks about a potential bid as WPP’s share price languishes at levels not seen since the mid-1990s.The company’s shares rose 11% on Monday, making it the biggest riser on the FTSE, after the Sunday Times report, which also suggested private equity groups Apollo and KKR had held internal discussions about certain WPP assets.However, Apollo has ruled out making a bid. KKR, which last year acquired WPP’s PR operation FGS Global, declined to comment