Rio Tinto and Glencore abandon revived $260bn merger plan

Rio Tinto and Glencore have abandoned plans for a $260bn merger, walking away from a deal that would have created the world’s largest mining company.Rio Tinto said it was no longer considering a “merger or other business combination” with Glencore after it “determined that it could not reach an agreement that would deliver value to its shareholders”.Glencore said the key terms of the potential offer, which would have seen Rio keep both the chair and chief executive roles, “significantly undervalued Glencore’s underlying relative value contribution to the combined group”.The company added the deal did not adequately value its copper business and growth pipeline, and concluded that the merger was not in the best interests of its shareholders.It marks the third time that talks to combine the two commodities giants have collapsed, after discussions were revived last month

US job openings dropped to a five-year low in December 2025, report shows

US job openings dropped to the lowest level in more than five years in December and data for the prior month was revised lower amid a softening in labor market conditions at the end of 2025.Job openings, a measure of labor demand, decreased by 386,000 to 6.542m by the last day of December, the lowest level since September 2020, the labor department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or Jolts report, on Thursday.Data for November was revised down to show 6.928m job openings instead of the previously reported 7

Google Pixel Buds 2a review: great Bluetooth earbuds at a good price

Google’s latest budget Pixel earbuds are smaller, lighter, more comfortable and have noise cancelling, plus a case that allows you to replace the battery at home.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The Pixel Buds 2a uses the design of the excellent Pixel Buds Pro 2 with a few high-end features at a more palatable £109 (€129/$129/A$239) price, undercutting rivals in the process

Google parent earnings beat projections amid plans to invest deeply in AI

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, and is planning a sharp increase in capital spending in 2026 as it continues to invest deeply in AI infrastructure.Alphabet on Wednesday reported profit of $34.5bn in the recently ended quarter, as revenue from cloud computing soared 48%.The company also forecast spending between $175bn and $185bn this year, a figure much higher than analysts’ expectations of roughly $115bn.In an earnings call, investors pressed Alphabet’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, on the significant increase

Pipe leaks and puck joy: Milan’s winter wasteland comes alive for ice hockey opener

The hosts managed to just about get the Santagiulia arena ready for Italy’s win over France – and the locals responded‘Ladies and gentlemen! The women’s preliminary Group B match between Italy and France will get under way in five minutes! And the question is: Are! You! Ready! For! Hockey?!” Well, quite.That had been the question for the past five months, as it happens, ever since it first became obvious that construction of Milan’s new Santagiulia arena was running massively behind schedule. At the test event last month the ice was grey because there was so much building dust in it, and midway through the match a man had to come on to the rink to repair a melted patch with a watering can.So what was the answer at last? Well, it depends on how you define “ready”. As the International Olympic Committee’s executive director for the games, Christophe Dubi, admitted a couple of days ago: “Do we have every single space in that venue finished? No

‘Penis injection’ claims in Winter Olympics ski jumping investigated by Wada

During its 26-year history, the World Anti-Doping Agency has faced thousands of questions about athletes using illicit substances. Thursday, however, surely marked the first time it was asked whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further.The Wada president Witold Banka’s reaction? “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland [Banka’s home country] so I promise you I’m going to look at it,” he said, with a wry smile.As crazy as it sounds, there are broader concerns surrounding this issue – which has been dubbed “Penisgate” – after they were first reported by the German newspaper Bild.Last year two of Norway’s Olympic medallists, Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang, were given three-month suspensions after the team was found to have secretly adjusted the seams of their suits around the crotch area at the 2025 World Ski Championships