The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept eurozone interest rates and its bond buying stimulus programme unchanged following its latest meeting.
Attention now switches to ECB president Mario Draghi’s news conference later, amid speculation he might hint at future policy changes.
The ECB is currently buying 60bn euros of bonds a month as part of its quantitative easing (QE) programme.
But analysts expect this to be scaled back given the eurozone’s recovery.
Figures released earlier on Thursday confirmed that the eurozone’s economy grew by 0.6% in the three months to June, following growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of the year.
Winding down QE
However, despite the pick up in growth, inflation within the eurozone remains slower than the ECB’s target of close to, but below, 2%. Inflation in the 19-nation bloc was 1.5% in August.
Analysts say this is making the decision on when the bank begins to rein in QE more complicated.
“We think the central bank is trying to send the message that the degree of stimulus will be dialled down as the economy improves, but not removed altogether,” said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Interest rates were left unchanged in a range from 0.25% down to -0.40%.
The ECB said it still expects the rates to “remain at their present levels for an extended period of time”.
Topshop’s unit in New Zealand has been placed in receivership, just months after the Australian arm of the fashion retailer suffered a similar fate.
Its two stores will stay open until a final decision is made on their ownership, said Top Retail Limited which runs the chain in New Zealand.
Topshop’s New Zealand and Australian businesses have struggled in tough retail markets.
High prices and unpopular stock from the British label has hurt sales.
The New Zealand business runs stores in Wellington and Auckland. It opened to great social media fanfare and long queues of shoppers two years ago, but has been hit by growing competition from digital retailers as consumers increasingly turn their backs on brick-and-mortar stores.
Both the New Zealand and Australian Topshop units operate as franchises, separate to their UK parent.
Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group, said the company had been hamstrung by the franchise model, which pushed up prices.
And it seems local shoppers were not happy with some of the clothes on offer.
“Some of the lines that weren’t selling in the European market were coming to Australia and New Zealand, [because] the market is a season behind,” Mr Wilkinson said.
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Tough retail conditions hurt sales at Topshop New Zealand
Clothes that were unpopular in Europe “could indicate why they weren’t selling here,” the Wellington-based retail analyst said.
He argued that the combination of higher prices and unpopular stock had prevented Topshop from succeeding in the fast fashion market.
“It wasn’t fast enough,” said Mr Wilkinson.
Retail woes
The same forces weighed on Topshop in Australia, and its operations were placed under administration in May.
But the chain, which opened in 2011, was recently thrown a lifeline from its British parent.
Four stores have managed to stay afloat after a restructuring in which Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group bought back parts of Topshop from its Australian franchise.
A soft retail market and competition from big brands such as Zara and H&M have challenged local fashion labels in the country.
The firm, which has already set aside more than £10m for the problem, saw profits fall 31% to £42.7m.
It said this was due to several issues, including fixing the faulty homes, as well as the costs of defending itself from two takeover bids this year.
It emerged a few months ago that some Bovis customers had complained about homes being sold unfinished, and had reported plumbing and electrical faults in new properties.
Earlier this year, Bovis was a takeover target for two rivals – Galliford Try and Redrow. However, Bovis rejected both of their bids and eventually the two suitors abandoned their takeover attempts.
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Donald and Melania Trump visited Houston to meet volunteers delivering supplies to residents
Donald Trump has agreed to a Democratic plan to lift the debt limit for three months, fund the government and rush aid to Hurricane Harvey victims.
The US president went against Republican leaders who wanted to extend a debt-limit increase for longer, until after the 2018 mid-term elections.
Democrats announced the deal just before the House of Representatives passed $8bn (£6bn) for Harvey victims.
Congress will need to approve the deal before it is finalised.
Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he had a “very good meeting” with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“We had a very good meeting, we essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good,” he said while travelling to North Dakota for an event on tax reform on Wednesday.
“We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling, which they consider to be sacred, very important.”
The proposal attaches the disaster aid to a government funding bill that would raise the US debt limit and keep the government running through 15 December, setting up a fiscal showdown at the end of the year that Republicans had hoped to avoid.
“Both sides have every intention of avoiding default in December and look forward to working together on the many issues before us,” Mrs Pelosi and Mr Schumer said in a joint statement.
Leaders from both parties met Mr Trump at the White House on Wednesday morning.
Following the meeting, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan called the Democratic proposal “unworkable” and “ridiculous”, putting the president at odds with his own party.
A free agent president – Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington
Donald Trump has gone rogue. When it was time to choose between Democrats and Republicans in Congress and within his own administration, the president tilted left.
Republicans in the Senate had hoped to tie hurricane relief to a lengthy extension of the debt limit, taking away a key bit of Democratic leverage until after the 2018 midterm elections. House Republican hardliners, who welcomed a looming budget crisis, didn’t want any debt measures in the bill at all.
The president gave neither what they wanted.
Instead the immediate threat of a government shutdown or debt default is averted, but the hard negotiations are only delayed. Democrats can prepare for an end-of-year showdown over the administration’s proposed sweeping budget cuts while knowing their support will still be needed on a debt vote.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are left fuming. Frayed relations between the president and Congress take another hit, and there’s no guarantee the party’s rank-and-file will march along with this deal.
It wouldn’t be the first time the party has fractured, forcing its leadership to rely on Democratic votes. But it’s jaw-dropping that it might happen with Democrats wholly in the minority. For that, they have Mr Trump to thank.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had also reportedly urged Mr Trump to pursue a longer-term debt-limit deal but has insisted that raising the borrowing limit was imperative in order to quickly send aid to Texas.
The deal includes Democratic support in the Senate for the first instalment of disaster relief aid for Hurricane Harvey victims in Houston, where flooding has devastated the Texan city.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has warned the cost of reconstruction after Hurricane Harvey could be as high as $180bn.
The House overwhelmingly passed a bill to provide $7.9bn for victims of the floods before the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) runs out of funds later this week. The House approved the funding 419 to three, with three Republicans voting “no”.
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Thousands have already registered for government assistance in the wake of Hurricane Harvey
Democrats on the House floor pointed out that Republicans refused to pass a $50.5bn disaster relief package in the aftermath of the 2012 Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged north-east states, because it was not offset by budget savings elsewhere.
The north-east states that were hit hardest by Sandy are predominantly Democratic while Texas and much of the southern US leans Republican.
The relief package comes as a more powerful storm, Hurricane Irma, barrels toward Puerto Rico and Florida and threatens more damage.
Mr Trump’s deal with the Democrats means that the Republican-controlled Congress will have to address partisan issues such as healthcare and immigration later in the year while negotiating with Democrats over a debt vote.
“Given Republican difficulty in finding the votes for their plan, we believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMERS, and healthcare,” Mr Schumer and Mrs Pelosi said.
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Nova Victoria has won the dubious honour of being the UK’s worst new building of 2017
A London office block described as a “bright red hideous mess” has been named the UK’s worst building.
Nova Victoria, London won the 2017 Carbuncle Cup with one judge describing it as “cringe-worthy”.
It is the sixth consecutive time a London building has scooped the dubious honour run by Building Design Magazine (BD).
Architects PLP described the £380m office complex as a “distinct and architecturally daring” building.
But judges disagreed, describing the building as “crass, over-scaled and a hideous mess”.
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PLP described the £380m office complex as “distinct and architecturally daring”
Judge Catherine Croft said: “It makes me want to cringe physically. It’s a crass assault on all your senses from the moment you leave the Tube station.”
David Rudlin said the red cathedral like spire on Nova South was a particular cause for concern.
“It’s got the same proportions as Salisbury Cathedral. For me the spire gives it carbuncular status – otherwise it’s just a bad building”, he said.
The development, which occupies a whole city block near London’s Victoria station, consists of two office buildings designed by PLP Architecture and a residential building designed by Benson & Forsyth.
The title was awarded to PLP Architecture for the office buildings.
The other buildings on the 2017 Carbuncle Cup shortlist were as follows:
Preston Railway Station Butler Street Entrance by AHR
Greetham Street Student Halls, Portsmouth by Cooley Architects
Extension on 8 Somers Road, Malvern, Worcestershire by Vivid Architects
Circus West, Battersea Power Station, London by Simpson Haugh
Park Plaza London Waterloo by ESA Architecture
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Circus West, Battersea Power Station was shortlisted for the 2017 award
Building Design started the award in 2006 as a “light-hearted way of drawing attention to a serious problem – bad architecture blighting the country’s towns and cities”.
Past winners have included Liverpool’s ferry terminal, the renovation of the Cutty Sark and an apartment block incorporating a branch of Tesco in Woolwich, south-east London.
Readers put forward the nominations and a panel draws up the shortlist.
PLP said it did not want to comment on the announcement.
London’s Carbuncle Cup six-year winning streak
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Lincoln Plaza in London’s Docklands won the 2016 Carbuncle Cup with one judge describing it as a “horror show”
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Woolwich Central was one of two buildings shortlisted that was developed by Tesco subsidiary Spenhill
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464 Caledonian Road stands on the same street as HMP Pentonville
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The restoration of the Cutty Sark won the award in 2012
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The Walmart-owned supermarket has its headquarters in Leeds city centre
Asda is to axe hundreds of jobs at its Leeds head office as part of a major cost-cutting drive at the supermarket.
About one tenth of the 2,500 roles at Asda House are believed to be affected, with the Walmart-owned grocery giant informing staff on Wednesday afternoon.
The company previously warned jobs “in the low hundreds” were at risk at the Great Wilson Street site.
Figures for 2016 released in September showed like-for-like sales were down 5.7% compared with the previous year.
That message was echoed by the City of London Police, which runs Action Fraud, with officers stressing that the emails are timed to coincide with the new university year.
They said students should avoid following any links in emails, and to be suspicious of messages that asked for sensitive information such as passwords.
Many of these emails contain spelling errors or capital letters in the middle of words, as fraudsters attempt to circumvent email spam filters.
The warning comes shortly after a fraud prevention group Cifas warned that identity theft was reaching “epidemic levels”.
Cifas said that, while the under 21s were the least likely to be tricked, the numbers were growing.
Those who, in many cases, had recently graduated would be among the 21 to 30-year old age group which had recorded the biggest rise in ID theft in the last year compared with the previous 12 months, it found.
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HMS Queen Elizabeth was built in blocks across six cities before being assembled in Rosyth
A new national shipbuilding strategy intended to benefit UK shipyards is being unveiled by Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.
Under the plans, the government will buy at least five frigates, and share the construction between shipyards around the UK.
The first batch of new Type 31e frigates would be built with the export market in mind, said Sir Michael.
It comes as the Ministry of Defence aims to save billions of pounds.
As the shipbuilding industry is revived, the MoD hopes it can both serve the Royal Navy and deliver vessels that are attractive to foreign navies.
The new frigates would be built across different shipyards, but assembled at a central site, and ready for service by 2023.
Their cost would be capped at £250m each.
Analysis: Will the plan work?
By Jonathan Beale, BBC defence correspondent
The strategy has been called “ambitious” and with reason.
Will there be enough work to sustain several shipyards in the UK? Will there really be demand from abroad for British-designed warships?
And can you really build a frigate for just £250m? Defence doesn’t have a great record of keeping costs under control.
And that highlights a larger problem. The MoD’s budget is once again in crisis. It’s equipment programme has become more expensive because of a fall in the pound.
It still has to find tens of billions of pounds in “efficiency savings”. And all three services are struggling to recruit and retain key personnel.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon boasts of a growing defence budget. But the sums still don’t add up.
To balance the books, the MoD will need to make another round of painful defence cuts.
Sir Michael told BBC Breakfast this was a “huge opportunity” for UK shipyards which could bid for these “big contracts” next year, with building expected to start the following year.
“It’s a great day for the Royal Navy.”
The navy currently uses Type 23 frigates, which would be slowly phased out, added Sir Michael.
They are to be replaced by eight Type 26 frigates, which are being built in Glasgow, and five of the smaller Type 31e frigates.
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Media captionDefence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon tells Radio 4’s Today the defence budget will “continue to increase”
‘Cutting corners’
He acknowledged previous warships had been over-budget and delivered late.
But he insisted that the new approach of fixing the price at the start, as recommended by industrialist Sir John Parker in his 2016 shipbuilding review, would allow them to take advantage of the “renaissance” in shipbuilding.
“We have to get back to making things,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He said the defence budget would increase from £36bn this year to £37bn next year.
“I’m determined our armed forces will have the new equipment they need,” he added.
Scottish National Party defence spokesman Stewart McDonald said the plans had “nothing to do with ambition”.
“It is all about squeezing costs to the bone and cutting corners, and still leaves real uncertainties for the future for workers at Scottish shipyards and the communities that depend on them.”
GMB, the union for workers in the shipbuilding industry, has cautiously welcomed the plans, saying it would watch the government closely to see whether it “backs its warm words with deeds” to protect the UK’s shipbuilding future.
“Without a clear commitment from government, it will be foreign competitors who will benefit from vital work that should be taking place in UK yards,” GMB national officer Ross Murdoch warned.
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