Lloyds Banking Group to close another 136 branches – business live

The bank says that the shift to digital banking has prompted further branch closes

Rachel Reeves has confirmed that the Labour government will back a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport.

If that sounds familiar, it is because it has been heavily trailed in the last week. And readers with longer memories might remember a succession of Labour and Conservative governments saying they would back it.

So I can confirm today that this government supports a third runway at Heathrow and is inviting proposals to be brought forward by the summer.

We will then take forward a full assessment through the airport National Policy Statement. This will ensure that the project is value for money, and our clear expectation is that any associated surface transport costs will be financed through private funding, and it will ensure that a third runway is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate objectives.

The unusual timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max’s release, on the first day of the Lunar New Year when most Chinese people are off work and with their families, points to the pressure Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s meteoric rise in the past three weeks has placed on not just overseas rivals, but also its domestic competition.