Ireland’s technical recession over as GDP rises in Q1 2024 Newsflash: Ireland has escaped a technical recession, after its economy returned to growth this year driven by its IT sector. Ireland’s GDP is estimated to have risen by 1.1% quarter-on-quarter in January-March, new data from the Central Statistics Office shows. Growth was driven mainly by…

The EU has launched formal proceedings against Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, amid concerns it is not doing enough to counter disinformation before the EU elections in June. Thierry Breton, commissioner responsible for the internal market, has given the tech firm five days to address Commission concerns that it is breaching new laws. Breton…

The online secondhand fashion seller Vinted has reported a 61% rise in sales to almost €600m (£513m), taking the company out of the red for the first time amid a boom in demand for “pre-loved” clothing. The Lithuania-based group said growth had been spurred by entering new markets including Denmark and Finland; an expansion into…

The Financial Times has struck a deal with ChatGPT developer OpenAI that allows its content to be used in training artificial intelligence systems. The FT will receive an undisclosed payment as part of the deal, which is the latest to be agreed between OpenAI and news publishers. Under the arrangement, ChatGPT users will receive summaries…

Elon Musk’s visit to China has reportedly reaped immediate rewards with a deal for Tesla to use mapping data provided by web search company Baidu, a big step in introducing driver assistance technology in the world’s largest car market. Musk made an unannounced visit to China over the weekend. The billionaire posted a picture of…

The struggling owner of music back catalogues ranging from Shakira to the Red Hot Chili Peppers has agreed a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) improved takeover offer from US private equity investor Blackstone. Hipgnosis Songs Fund said it was recommending the offer, which trumps a rival $1.4bn bid by US-based royalties fund Concord Music. The takeover would mark…

Pay packets are smaller than they were in 2008 in most local authority areas in the UK, according to analysis by the Trades Union Congress, which described the findings as a “damning indictment” of the Conservatives’ economic record. The TUC, which includes 48 unions with more than five million members, said stagnating wages meant British…

When Labour’s Gordon Brown embraced “post neo-classical endogenous growth theory” in 1994, he was ridiculed by his opponents. This said more about his critics than Mr Brown. His speech reflected an engagement with academic debates as well as a worldview and diagnosis distinct from Tory narratives. He judged education to be key, as growth depended…

Charities are hiring staff with “privilege rather than potential”, according to the author of a report highlighting the stark class divide in the sector. Working-class people are less likely to be hired by charities than employers in the public and private sectors, said the EY Foundation, which supports young people from low-income backgrounds to progress…

The small indulgence of chocolate is becoming a more costly one. Soaring prices for cocoa beans recently hit a record $12,000 a tonne: roughly four times last year’s price. Many think they will go higher. That means smaller or more expensive bars and reformulated recipes for many consumers, and may put out of business small…