Fear and dread spread across Twitter Inc offices on Thursday as 7,500 employees from San Francisco to Singapore feared for job cuts that were planned to hit about half of the staff

With his ascent to prime minister, Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy will become the richest ever occupants of Number 10 Downing Street just as the country struggles with an economic crisis and the government mulls painful spending cuts.

Newly confirmed finance minister Jeremy Hunt must keep investors calm about Britain's debt mountain, avoid causing a deep recession and work out a way to stop the Conservative Party from splintering again - and all of it by next Monday.

Elected for the first time to parliament in 2015, Rishi Sunak became Britain's youngest prime minister in more than 200 years on Monday, tasked with steering the country through an economic crisis and mounting anger among some voters.

UK government borrowing surged and retail sales slumped in September, official data showed Friday.

Britain's third female prime minister beat Johnson's former finance chief Rishi Sunak for the top job on a platform of sweeping tax cuts that won over the Tory rank-and-file.

British inflation jumped back above 10 percent in September on soaring food prices, official data showed Wednesday.

Britain's new finance chief Jeremy Hunt on Monday axed debt-fuelled tax cuts to further calm market turmoil.

Royal Mail could cut up to 10,000 jobs and warned of more layoffs if planned strikes go ahead, as the former British postal monopoly that is locked in a dispute with its largest union on Friday flagged even deeper losses this year, sending its shares as much as 17% lower.

Britain's new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday some taxes would go up and tough spending decisions were needed, saying Prime Minister Liz Truss had made mistakes as she battles to keep her job just over a month into her term.

British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng refused to say on Thursday if he would stick with his plan not to raise business taxes as media reported Prime Minister Liz Truss was rethinking an economic programme that plunged markets into turmoil.

British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng, who last month sparked a bond market rout with unfunded tax cuts, sought to reassure investors on Monday by bringing forward a budget announcement and naming a Treasury insider to run the department.

The Bank of England must stick to its plan to quash the surge in inflation even if it means more pain for Britain's economy, Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said, adding the new government's tax cuts could add to the inflation challenge.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased by the most in four months last week, but the labor market remains tight even as demand for labor is cooling amid higher interest rates.

Is Scotland's media ready for the next independence referendum?

Britain is not yet in recession, revised data showed Friday in a boost for under-fire Prime Minister Liz Truss, but its economy may still face a downturn on soaring interest rates.

Nearly 400 staff at BBC World Service will lose their jobs as part of a cost-cutting programme and move to digital platforms.

Glen Ullin, North Dakota, was first in line for money to replace its leaky water pipes before Washington cut funding by one-third this spring.

Canada's Mitchell Aerospace has a booming business - and a shop-floor shortfall that is reverberating from Boeing to Airbus.

Britain on Wednesday announced a six-month plan to pay about half of energy bills for businesses.

US Fed set to raise interest rates as recession fears mount

Sweden's central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday by a larger-than-expected full percentage point to 1.75% and warned of more to come over the next six months as it sought to get to grips with surging inflation.

Before the pandemic, Doris Fu imagined a different future for herself and her family: new car, bigger apartment, fine dining on weekends and holidays on tropical islands.

JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, the two largest U.S. banks by assets, expressed caution about job cuts in contrast with Goldman Sachs, where hundreds of layoffs could start as early this month.

Britain's jobless rate hit its lowest since 1974 but the drop was due mostly to a fall in the size of the workforce and there were other signs that the country's jobs boom is petering out, adding to the Bank of England's inflation headache.

Britain's new Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday readied the final details of a plan to tackle soaring energy bills, which looks likely to cool inflation but add more than 100 billion pounds ($115 billion) to the country's borrowing.

Johnson, who was forced to quit after losing the support of dozens of his ministers, bids farewell from Downing Street before jetting to northeast Scotland to see the 96-year-old monarch.

An estimated 200,000 Tory grassroots have been able to vote since earlier this month for their preferred candidate, before postal and online ballots close on Friday.

The restructuring involves 2,000 salaried positions and 1,000 contractors mostly in the United Sta.tes, Canada and India but does not affect factory workers.

Taxation has turned out to be the main issue dividing the two candidates in the current Conservative Party leadership contest.