Business

A baker is fighting Newham Council’s order to stop running her business from her home. Fatima Yusuf says she has been running her cake business, The Bakeress, since 2010 from her home kitchen in Claremont Road, Forest Gate, where she lives with her mum. But now the council has ordered her to stop as she doesn’t have planning permission. Fatima ...

Remittance inflows to Bangladesh have exceeded $10 billion during the first four months (July–October) of the 2025-26 fiscal year, marking a 14.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Bangladesh Bank Assistant Spokesperson Shahriar Siddiqui said the inflow crossed the $10 billion mark within the first 29 days of October. During this period last fiscal year, remittance totaled ...

Demand for gold hit a record high in the third quarter as the the precious metal’s price hit all-time highs on geopolitical unrest, industry data showed Thursday. Total demand grew three percent year-on-year in the July-September period to 1,313 tonnes, the World Gold Council said, as the metal perceived as a safe haven investment benefitted from the Russia-Ukraine war and ...

Microsoft and OpenAI announced Tuesday a major overhaul of their AI partnership, giving both companies greater independence while maintaining close collaboration. Under the new arrangement, Microsoft will hold roughly 27 percent of the restructured OpenAI, an investment valued at around $135 billion, as OpenAI transitions to a public benefit corporation structure. OpenAI has also committed to purchasing $250 billion in ...

The government is facing a bigger-than-expected hole in the public finances as it prepares for next month’s Budget. A downgrade to the UK’s productivity performance from the government’s official forecaster could lead to the chancellor facing a £20bn gap in meeting her tax and spending rules, the BBC understands. Rachel Reeves has confirmed both tax rises and spending cuts are ...

After a 22-day government-imposed fishing ban, hilsa (ilish) has returned to Khulna’s markets, though supplies are limited and prices remain elevated. The ban, aimed at protecting mother hilsa and ensuring sustainable production, ended on October 25, allowing fishermen to resume their work. Following this, modest quantities of hilsa began reaching wholesale markets, including Rupsa, Moylapota, Nirala, New Market, Khalishpur Chitrali, ...

Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Bangladesh Hoe Yun Jeong has said that the Manila-based lending agency wants to scale up further its investment against different projects in Bangladesh in the coming years and thus benefit more people. “Our aim is ‘crystal clear’. We want to scale up our investments in projects here and also replicate success ...

The first-ever consignment of wheat from the United States, totaling about 56,959 metric tonnes (MTs), has arrived at Chittagong Port. According to a press release from Ministry of Food issued on Saturday, the shipment arrived on Friday aboard the vessel MV NORSE STRIDE under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement signed between Bangladesh and the United States. Under the Memorandum of Understanding ...

After two straight days of decline, gold prices rebounded by more than 1% on Thursday as investors sought safe-haven assets amid renewed geopolitical tensions. Traders also remained cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data due on Friday. At 9:21 AM New York time, spot gold was up 1.2% at $4,043.80 per ounce. In the previous session, it had fallen to ...

Afua Kyei, the Bank of England’s chief financial officer, has been named the UK’s most influential black person. The 43-year-old is one of the UK’s most senior finance leaders, in charge of the financial governance of the Bank’s £1 trillion balance sheet and funding reforms. The BoE executive director topped the 2026 Powerlist, which recognises the most powerful people of ...