Archaeologists on HS2 line uncover grounds of perfectly-preserved 16th century manor gardens

Historians have been left stunned by the ancient discovery near Coleshill on the outskirts of Birmingham.

Pearson booms in short-squeeze as FTSE rides wave of Wall Street

More lacklustre trading by London shares today provided a stark contrast with Wall Street excitement over the digital revolution boosting earnings of Microsoft and others. Demand worries fuelled by the tightening lockdown restrictions meant heavyweight mining stocks including Rio Tinto and BHP fell more than 2%, leaving the FTSE 100 index 15.28 points lower at 6,638.24. The pandemic has been more beneficial for tech giants including Microsoft, which reported record quarterly sales after Wall Street's closing bell on Tuesday as more people stuck at home has fuelled a surge in demand for its cloud services and games consoles.

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  Microsoft reveals record profits of $15.5bn as work from home booms

  The Telegraph
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  Microsoft stock jumps after reporting cloud and Windows revenue that beat Wall Street estimates

  Business Insider

UK coronavirus LIVE: Boris Johnson faces Covid deaths grilling at PMQs amid AstraZeneca vaccine row

Britain’s “head start” over the EU in rolling out coronavirus vaccines means almost all over-50s in the UK will get their jab by March, the chief of AstraZeneca has said. Mr Soriot’s response to the ongoing vaccine supply row with Brussels came as the UK hit a sobering milestone.