Bank bosses get huge pay rises in sign top City salaries back to pre-crash highs
Posted on Friday February 13, 2026

Nat West CEO’s £6.6m pay package for 2025 is largest for group since disgraced Fred Goodwin’s £7.7m in 2006Business live – latest updatesA trio of bank bosses have been given huge pay packets in the latest sign that the vast salaries and bonuses handed to Wall Street and City of London executives in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis have started to return.NatWest on Friday revealed a £6.6m pay package for its boss Paul Thwaite, marking the largest payout for a chief executive of the banking group since his disgraced predecessor Fred Goodwin took home £7.7m in 2006. Continue reading...

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Reeves appoints higher pay advocate to fight skills shortages as chief economic adviser
Posted on Friday February 13, 2026

Labour market expert Prof Brian Bell has called for better pay and conditions in key sectors, particularly social careRachel Reeves has appointed a labour market expert who has repeatedly called for better pay and conditions in key sectors, such as social care, to reduce the UK’s reliance on migrant workers as her new chief economic adviser.Prof Brian Bell, who chairs the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises the government, has been announced as the new chief economic adviser in the Treasury – a senior civil service role. Continue reading...

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UK ad agencies undergo their biggest exodus of staff as AI threatens industry
Posted on Friday February 13, 2026

Number of employees declined by more than 14% to 24,963 last year, with fall greatest among younger workersAI is indeed coming – but there is also evidence to allay investor fearsUK advertising agencies had their biggest annual exodus of staff last year, led by younger workers, as artificial intelligence tools threaten to replace workers and force the industry to cut jobs and costs.Staff numbers at creative agencies, which are facing acute pressure from the rollout of AI tools that reduce or even replace the need for agency staff, fell more than 14% in 2025. Continue reading...

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Anthropic raises $30bn in latest round, valuing Claude bot maker at $380bn
Posted on Friday February 13, 2026

Maker of chatbot with coding ability says annualised revenue grew tenfold in each of past three years, to $14bnAnthropic, the US AI startup behind the Claude chatbot, has raised $30bn (£22bn) in a funding round that more than doubled its valuation to $380bn.The company’s previous funding round in September achieved a value of $183bn, with further improvements in the technology since then spurring even greater investor interest. Continue reading...

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NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed
Posted on Thursday February 12, 2026

Exclusive: in 2025 briefing to Wes Streeting, officials warned reputation of tech firm behind US ICE operations would hinder rollout of data system in UK Health officials fear Palantir’s reputation will hinder the delivery of a “vital” £330m NHS contract, according to briefings seen by the Guardian, sparking fresh calls for the deal to be scrapped.In 2023, ministers selected Palantir, a US surveillance technology company that also works for the Israeli military and Donald Trump’s ICE operation, to build an AI-enabled data platform to connect disparate health information across the NHS. Continue reading...

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Winter Olympics 2026: Weston wins skeleton gold for GB, Heraskevych’s appeal rejected by Cas – live
Posted on Friday February 13, 2026

• Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing• Follow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch: mail JamesItalian biathlete Rebecca Passler will be able to participate in the Winter Olympics despite failing a doping test, the Italian skiing federation (Fisi) said on Friday. Italy’s anti-doping body (Nado) upheld her appeal against a provisional suspension that followed a positive test for the banned substance Letrozole on 26 January.Nado’s Court of Appeal acknowledged the possibility of unintentional ingestion or unknowing contamination of the substance. “Passler will rejoin her teammates starting Monday, February 16, when she will be available to the coaching staff for the subsequent competitions on the Olympic programme,” Fisi said in a statement. Continue reading...

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Winter Olympics: Ilia Malinin goes for second figure-skating gold – live
Posted on Friday February 13, 2026

‘Quad God’ leads contenders in men’s free skateEmail Beau or get in touch on BlueskyMedal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | BriefingSlovakia’s Adam Hagara attempts a quad toeloop, but it’s obvious as he takes off that he won’t be able to land it. He rebounds with a triple axel-double toeloop, but he falls on a triple axel.Can he land a planned triple-double axel-double axel? Indeed he can. It doesn’t seem too fluid but gets a positive grade of execution, as does a triple flip. But he drops a triple loop to a double loop. Continue reading...

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