Bank of England cuts interest rates as it warns food costs could push inflation to 4%

The Bank of England has warned that rising food prices could drive inflation to 4% as it voted for a fifth cut in interest rates in a year, amid mounting concerns about the strength of the UK economy.In one of its closest decisions since its independence more than 25 years ago, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by 5-4 to cut its key base rate by a quarter- point to 4%.The cut, taking borrowing costs to the lowest level since March 2023, was widely expected in financial markets. However, the decision was a close call, with the rate-setting panel for the first time in history holding two votes before reaching its verdict.Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, said: “We’ve cut interest rates today, but it was a finely balanced decision

Thousands of hotels in Europe to sue Booking.com over ‘abusive’ practices

Booking.com is facing a class-action lawsuit from more than 10,000 European hotels arguing that the accommodation mega-site used its muscle to distort the market to their detriment over a 20-year period.The Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes in Europe (Hotrec), which represents the industry within the EU and is bringing the legal action, recently extended to 29 August a deadline for hotel owners to join the suit because of high demand.The lawsuit, expected to be one of the largest ever filed in the European hospitality sector, is also backed by 30 national hotel associations, including Britain’s.“Over 10,000 hotels have already joined the pan-European initiative to claim compensation for financial losses caused by Booking

The unintended consequences of the Online Safety Act | Letters

George Billinge says that many age assurance technologies delete their personal data after age has been confirmed, while some providers of virtual private networks (VPNs) sell their data to brokers (Everything the right – and the left – are getting wrong about the Online Safety Act, 1 August). But there is a key difference: we can choose which VPN to use, but the choice of which age assurance technology to use is with the platform. When a platform I use to talk to my friends insisted I verify my age, I wasn’t given a choice about which age verification service would get my driving licence. I was expected to trust that the platform had made a good decision with my best interests at heart. That’s a pretty big ask

‘We wish it never existed’: readers tell us about their family’s use of YouTube

What role does YouTube play in the lives of Australian families with children? As the federal government plans to include YouTube in its forthcoming ban on social media accounts for children under the age of 16, Guardian readers responded to a call out about their own kids’ use of the platform and what they thought of the ban.This is what they told us.Parents frequently reported they were restricting their children’s use to shared areas by co-watching or through parental controls. But many said this was time-intensive and nearly impossible to maintain and were concerned about what content was slipping under their radar.“We use YouTube Kids and always check what they watch before we let them watch anything on there

The NHL preached inclusion. So why has it got into bed with Donald Trump?

“Diverse representation within inclusive environments is proven to advance innovation, creativity, and decision-making – all of which are critically important to the growth of the sport and our business,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in his introduction to the NHL’s first – and only, so far – diversity and inclusion report, which it released in 2022. “Recognizing these facts, we are working to better understand and accelerate our engagement across all layers of diversity – including nationality, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and religion – and their nuances and intersections,” Bettman continued.Last week, Bettman was named alongside NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, Florida Panthers’ captain Matthew Tkachuk and various representatives of other sports as a member of Donald Trump’s sports council. The council will be responsible for – among other things – playing an “important role in restoring tradition to college athletics, including … keeping men out of women’s sports.” Not what you’d call an opportunity for Bettman et al to gain a better understanding of the nuances of gender identity, by the sounds of it

The Hundred can be a ‘multibillion-dollar product’ like the IPL, says Tech Titans chief

The leader of the Tech Titans consortium that has bought 49% of London Spirit believes the Hundred will become a multibillion-dollar competition to rival the Indian Premier League.Nikesh Arora, the chief executive of the American cybersecurity company Palo Alto, was at Lord’s on Tuesday for the first two games in this season’s competitions, as the women and men of London Spirit took on their Oval Invincibles counterparts. He was joined by 15 other members of the Silicon Valley-based group, which includes the chief executives of Google, Microsoft and YouTube.The Titans stunned the sports investment world in January by agreeing to pay £145m for their London Spirit stake, giving by far the highest valuation for one of the eight Hundred franchises sold off by the England and Wales Cricket Board in a remarkable auction that has raised £520m to be reinvested in domestic cricket.Marylebone Cricket Club were given the other 51% by the ECB and face the task of setting up professional teams for the first time in the august institution’s 238-year history, a challenge that the MCC’s chief operating officer, Rob Lynch, describes as “extremely exciting”