Staff at Santander UK are bracing themselves for further job losses, as the bank confirmed it would push ahead with a cost-cutting programme after a 38% drop in full-year profits. An earnings report by the Madrid-based Banco Santander released on Wednesday showed that the UK was its only region to suffer a slump in profits…

The Google owner, Alphabet, has dropped its pledge not to use artificial intelligence for purposes such as developing weapons and surveillance tools. The US technology company said on Tuesday, just before it reported lower than forecast earnings, that it had updated its ethical guidelines around AI, and they no longer refer to not pursuing technologies…

Flies buzzing between beds may be spreading drug-resistant bugs among patients in hospitals, according to new research. Researchers from the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) found that houseflies in Nigerian hospitals carry bacteria resistant to some key antibiotics, including those used only as a last resort. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), when pathogens such as…

Alcohol-related deaths in the UK have hit a record high, with 10,473 people dying in 2023 as a result of heavy drinking, statistics have revealed. That is an increase on the 10,048 deaths the Office for National Statistics recorded across the four countries of the UK during 2022, the first time more than 10,000 such…

Banning smartphones at school does not improve academic grades and children’s wellbeing, a study suggests. Researchers from the University of Birmingham did find that spending longer on phones and social media in general was linked to lower grades, poor sleep, disruptive behaviour and a lack of exercise. But these outcomes did not differ between schools…

The brother of a man allegedly connected to a caravan found laden with explosives in Sydney has said his sibling is “just a normal person, he doesn’t hate anyone”. Scott Marshall, 36, and his partner, Tammie Farrugia, 34, were named on a police search warrant as part of the investigation into the caravan, which police…

François Bayrou, the French prime minister, is almost certain to survive a vote of no confidence on Wednesday after the move that threatened to topple the government – for the second time in two months – lost the support of socialists and the far right. The decision by the Socialist party (PS) not to support…

A newly formed group dedicated to fighting what it calls the covert use of affirmative action in admissions decisions by colleges in the University of California system announced on Monday that it was filing a lawsuit, aiming for an injunction to prohibit any consideration of race in student admissions. “The University of California has not…

The Trump administration is placing US Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave, except those deemed essential. A notice posted online on Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home, upending the aid agency’s six-decade mission overseas. Thousands of USAid employees already had been laid off and programs worldwide shut…

“China is operating the Panama canal and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.” Donald Trump’s claim in his inauguration speech that Panama had “broken its promises” to the US was alarming for many Panamanians. Washington relinquished control of the canal in 1977, so why is…