From Harry Potter to The Crying Game, Susie Figgis’s explosive enthusiasm made her an irreplaceable casting director

Producer Stephen Woolley pays tribute to Figgis, who has died aged 77, a brilliant professional whose ‘molotov cocktail personality’ enabled her work in British and Hollywood cinema

Green groups decry EU ‘betrayal’ after vote to reduce oversight of firms

Social and environmental reporting to be required of fewer companies after EPP aligns with far right to achieve goals

Norway’s national oil company facing £53m penalty for oil spills and gas leaks

Equinor accused of ‘extensive and long-term pollution’ caused by years of inadequate maintenance

Unemployment rises in US and UK, adding to pressure to cut interest rates – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as US non-farm payrolls rise by 64,000 in November but shrink by 105,000 in October

US lost 105,000 jobs in October and added 64,000 in November, according to delayed data

Data shows the headline unemployment rate continued to climb and hit 4.6%, a four-year high, last month

UK fuel retailers urged to pass on savings as oil prices fall below $60 a barrel

Pump prices ‘stuck’ despite cost of oil falling amid prospect of peace in Ukraine, say experts

Thames Water defers controversial £2.5m in bonuses to bosses

Heavily indebted utility puts back ‘retention payments’ for 21 executives until new year amid search for rescue deal

Jim Chalmers won’t have good news in Myefo. Instead, he’ll be trying to sell Labor’s good intentions

The unwelcome return of inflation means Anthony Albanese’s government is desperate not to be seen to be adding to the problem

Roasted! Morrisons loses £17m VAT battle over rotisserie chickens

High court rules whole cooked cool-down chickens should be subject to standard 20% tax rate for hot food

Musicians are deeply concerned about AI. So why are the major labels embracing it?

Companies such as Udio, Suno and Klay will let you use AI to make new music based on existing artists’ work. It could mean more royalties – but many are worried

UK unemployment rose to four-year high of 5.1% before budget

October figure from ONS suggests employers laid off workers, as earnings growth excluding bonuses fell

Young people hit hard as UK unemployment marches upwards

Jobs market slowdown likely to become policy focus and will also have impact on interest rates decision

Ministers to back regulation of England’s funeral industry after scandals

Demands for oversight grow after inquiry calls sector an ‘unregulated free for all’ and families seek stronger safeguards

‘Squeezed from every direction’: pubs voice fury at Reeves’s business rates changes

Chancellor’s claim to be helping trade met with disbelief in England and Wales amid soaring staff costs, energy bills and other overheads

‘We hate it. It’s desecration’: the real cost of HS2

The long read: Ten years after I first followed the proposed route, I retraced my steps to see what life was like along the world’s most expensive, heavily delayed railway line