the bank of england cuts interest rates by a quarter of a percent, but warns the uk may face an economic slowdown later this year. us lawmakers consider banning government employees from using deepseek. and the boss of oil giant equinor tells the bbc he's welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. the bank of england cut interest rates today but warned there may be more pain ahead. to cut rates by a quarter of a percent to 4.5%.

cut of half a percent. however what caught most people's attention was its forecast for the uk economy. it cut its growth forecast for 2025 from 1.5% to 0.75%. the bank of england's governor — andrew bailey — also warned inflation will rise, getting close chief european economist at pgim fixed income. good to you here. no great surprise we have that cut. surprise that we have that cut. a lot of people were expecting é lfit. fif efifielfififimfiesmflfi as always, é lfil. fif efifielfififimfiesmflfi as always, what é lfil fil efifielfififimfiesmflfi as always, what are it. as always, what people are is what could next. fnext. it doesn't make happen next. it doesn't make for attractive about today really was 5 today really was all right. today really was all how right. today really was all how does the bank of about how does the bank of see uk about how does the bank of from uk :..f., .— about how does the bank of from here :. .f.. .— about how does the bank of from here and z evolving from here and crucially does mean crucially what does that mean for rates? here it's a

for interest rates? here it's a bit glass half full, glass half e—z §—= z: 77 the bad news is, you empty. the bad news is, as you say, bank of england now is say, the bank of england now is expecting a more challenging expecting a morechallenging mix for the uk over the next year or sol they hare e-zed dew: �*view sol they hare e-zed dew: �* view on eel they haye reyieed dewh �* view on gdp eel they haye reyieed dewh �*view on gdp and the their view on gdp and the revised significantlyon lew??? ee e'efifirtéfitr’f’fi’fii "77m w inflation is lew??? ee e'efifirtéfitr’f’fi’fii www w inflation is now inflationl inflation is now to peak later this expected to peak later this year at nearly a full percentage point �*than percentage pointhigher than it thought just few = w months a-o. months ago. that's the short months ago. that's the bad news. good news is, = -= that they 7 that they do 7 that they do see 7 that they do see signs domestic hey do see signs domestic uvnderlying signs that domestic underlying inflationary pressure is inllatienary preeeere is r 7 they have inllatienary presssre is r 7 they have noted that are £535 teee e535 33459 15151 are risks and £535 teee e535 33459 15151 are risi around. 5535 this (“ese 345? h“? are risi around. whether uncertainties around. whether that will continue to help bring inflation to but that bring inflation to 2%, but that is happening and that is them to gradually bring rates down where interest rates down from where they are. interest rates down from where the are. �* , interest rates down from where the are. h l, ~ interest rates down from where the are. �*, l, ~ l, because - when inflation because just when everyone thought that inflation

was finally coming into line, it was starting ease off a it was starting to ease off a little, have this little, we have this prospect of a global war, sparked of a global trade war, sparked by those tariffs imposed trump on some of his trading partners. that key trading partners. that could mean prices rise all could mean prices rise for all of because we know of us because weknow global the supply chain can be trade, the supply chain can be pretty fragile and any can wnwcanszb" ' ’ wwc'én’pdsirqp " ' ' dierualien sen aueh aa'a’risse " ' ' everyone diefualien sen aueh ea'e’risse " ' ' everyone else diesealien sen aueh ea'e’risse " ' ' everyone else to. dlesuetleo sen eueb'eee’slsse ' ww” ’ ’ * eve one else to. , dlesuetleo sen eueb'eee’slsse ' ww” ’ ’ * eve one else to. l l i think the bigger is true. i think the bigger concern, really, is is sensernl rleell�*sz ie eshel ie on sensernl rsellyl ie eshel ie on the sensernl rieellisz ie ilshel ie on the real economy happening on the real economy side. the uk can be affected essentiall two thj’ioughiessentially two channels by these different channels by these renewed trade tensions. the first and most obviously is the ww? 7 ii. ww —.——it hithw ' get hit directly with uk could get hit directly with higher tariffs. " mi ' 77 weigh on gdp in "ee' e:“ "l ”99 set“ i“; ss' "' ~ ' uk. nearterm "ee' e:“ "l ”99 set“ i“; ss' "' ~ ' uk. near term you "ee' e:“ "l ”99 c�*“�* i-ls wv w ~ 7 uk. near term you could "ee' e:“ "l ”99 set“ i“; ss' "' ~ ' uk. near term you could see the uk. near term you could see higher price level but a higher price level but ultimately i think would ultimatelyfllfithink one would the impact on prices

e—zz �*the longer and �* the longer and will over the longer and will be down. even in the absence of these tariffs being implemented -=:= the potentialé of justthe potential threat of itself could weigh on tariffs itself could weigh on sentiment for businesses and to sentimenl ler businesses and le on sentimenl lie-”businesses and le on growth. sentimenl ler'bueineseee and le on growth. a second weigh on growth. a second channel is if the uk channel is even if the uk managers to avoid higher on its tariffs implemented on its goods and we could be tariffs implemented on its goods and through d be tensions elsewhere. tensions elsewhere the ' isstill " is still our ' ”"i'sltiu's'u'f 55a" trading and "lee—est l'eslies! eertee'eesbeefl' ' s' ~ s ' s s we see the "ese'l led": rhea-"lbs ' 77 ~ 77 r l, s we see the eu getting if we see the eu getting impacted by and "ne'le�*i hie higher le'“' ”as s' ~ s 1 ~ on economic "he'le�*i hie higher le'“' ”as s' ~ s 1 ~ on economic activity weighing on economic activity there, that in turn is going to spill and act as a drag to spillover and actasla drag to uk. so spill over and actasla drag to uk. so isjust spill over and actasla drag to uk. so is just another the uk. so this isjust another additionally challenging picture the uk is picture that the uk is potentially facing �* the potentially facing over the foreseeable i is is life potentially facing over the foreseeable egse about, lam about, i am sure, about, lam sure, again. �* now, t, i am sure, again. �* now, t, i ar good , again. �* now, t, i ar good to gain. �* now, t, i ar good to have with 77 with us. 5 77 w arterial with us. thank you.

firm to scrap its goals to recruit more workers from under—represented groups in the wake of the new trump presidency. carried out an annual review. allyson stewart—allen is ceo of international marketing partners. but to have you here. let's talk about those targets. so talk about'those targets. so companies are saying, we need the targets, we are don't need the targets, we are doing it do doing it anyway. do targets work? to doing it anyway. do targets work? ., ., ~' asa as a way to focus they serve as a way to focus they serve as a way to focus the mind and to focus the in order to get business in order to get commercial results. they do it = pggtally because it's the thing to do from may be right thing to do from may be an ethical point of view, but let's face it, are let's face it, these are they are doing businesses. they are doing it because it makes a bottom—line

impact. there are all sorts of research that shows dti the research that shows dti at the board table across your beard teble esreee yeer' is'ii'iisiiii'i beard table esreee yeer'” " by way of a diverse enterprise, by way of a diverse workforce, by way of how you enterprise, by way of a diverse workforce, by way in 1ow you enterprise, by way of a diverse workforce, by way in youriou w= -: has a advertising, all has a bottom—line commercial impact. will is all sorts ofresearchj ll. l. l. l will cite ll sorts ofresearchj ll. l. l. l will cite one rts of research... ll lll ll ll l will cite one of of research... ll lll ll will cite one of manysearchlll ll lll ll ll l will cite one of many that _hlll ll lll ll ll l will a; actress; that: i will cite one of many that i have uncovered. there some w recently from mckinsey 2023. it says that across w— 1200 companies they the 1200 companies they were where they had interviewed were where they had gender and racial on executive teams they had a the executive teams they had a 40% increased likelihood of out-erformance financial outperformance those that did not. against those that did not. similarly with advertising you te wwi—w have higher sales in the short term. you kept customers longer. 0ther w w wwironwicanly, google research, ironically. 2017. this is a

google research. ironically. 2017. this is a commercial fzom 2017. this is a commercialll that delivers as initiative that delivers as much as else. initiative that delivers as much as - else. initiative that delivers as much as else. i l l, w w isgoogle www w ww w is google pulling w wwwwsbrwnéthwwiwntwwwwww w ww wwwwwwwws6h1éthwwwiwntwth5tww w w wwww wwww somethwwiththatwwas w w wwwwhévéw somethwianwthatwwas w w wwwwwwhévéwtochheriwwiwththétwwwas w ww wwwwwhévéwtochher 2531.55; w ww wwwwwwhavewtochherwon,wcoulwwdwasw ” wwwwwwhavewtochherichowulewmake ” difference to the w difference to the bottom w wbyw wsaying wbyw saying they line? by they're saying they need it any more? line? by they're saying they - need it any more? wa nt want to be on the obviously want to be on the right of the right side of the trump administration, as do so many these companies are of these companies that are saying that they are may be reducing their investment in dti initiatives. they say dti initiatives. they may say that but i suspect thgt publicly but i suspect they look at their and they know anthhey know their that idei nun'lbersll that eel initiatiil'e strategy and strategy are still continuing because of the continuing because o_thhe ll results continuing because o_thhell results that commercial results that delivers. commercial results that delivers— commercial results that delivers. �* l, l, l, ~ delivers. always a 'oy to talk to ou, delivers. always a 'oy to talk to you. thank_ delivers. always a joy to talk to you, thank you. _ the chinese ai app deepseek over security concerns. but deepseek is just the latest chinese tech company making waves.

from the world s factory to the world s innovator. joe tidy has this report. taken the world by storm. the charts around the world. in many other areas of tech. look at cars — it's overtaken the previous epicentres biggest battery—maker now, too. and solar panels —

china's responsible by 2028, it's predicted that 60% of the world's renewable energy will be generated in china. in drones, too, china rules the skies. next time you hear that buzzing above your head, of shenzhen. called made in china 2025. it wanted to move away from being the world's so in many industries, like, china is catching up with the leading edge — and in some industries,

china even leading. than 250 mini goals. and, according to analysis from south china morning post, 86% of them have been ticked off. but china hasn't succeeded in all its 2025 goals. with progress set to get even worse thanks to more sanctions and controls. hundreds of billions of dollars into staying ahead. 0ther industrialised countries like germany plenty of patience. the boss of the norwegian energy giant equinor says he's confident a controversial new oil field in the north sea that's despite a court

anders 0pedal said the rosebank field was good that it was increasing oil and gas production by 10 percent and scaling back its investments in renewables. we are scaling down our investments in renewables and low—carbon solutions because we don't see moving slower than anticipated. cost is increasing, meaning that, you know, these type of projects are more costly, less profitable.

what does that make you think? first of all, when i hear "drill, baby, drill", the oil and gas business. of decide on the drilling programme, more wells will be drilled. the owner ofjim beam whisky — suntory — has warned donald trump's tariffs may lead to boycotts of us brands. and mexico if new tariffs are imposed. with 25% tariffs earlier this week.

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