Britain’s Labour Party ended a year in power in misery last week, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a U-turn on plans to cut welfare spending and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the Exchequer, was caught looking teary-eyed in Parliament, the New York Times reported. The second year is already shaping up to be just as challenging. On Tuesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent watchdog, said Britain’s public finances were in a “vulnerable position” after a series of major global economic shocks.

The British police arrested four people, including three teenagers, on Thursday in connection with an April cyberattack that cost the retail giant Marks & Spencer millions of pounds and disrupted operations at Harrods and Co-op, the New York Times reported. Three males, two aged 19 and another aged 17, and one female, 20, were apprehended at their homes in the West Midlands and in London on Thursday morning, the authorities said.

Independent packaging manufacturer Krystals has entered into administration and ceased trading, resulting in the loss of approximately 80 jobs, GlobalData reported. Printweek reported that the company, based in Lincoln and Ellesmere Port in the U.K., was acquired by its most recent owners in 2008. Krystals operated a blow moulding plant for pharmaceutical containers, which it described as one of the most environmentally friendly in Europe, producing millions of units weekly.

Specialised life insurance group Athora has agreed to buy U.K. insurer Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) for about 5.7 billion pounds ($7.78 billion), both companies said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Athora Holding, which has 76 billion euros ($89.70 billion) of assets under administration (AuM), is backed by U.S. alternative asset manager Apollo. Reinet Investments, which holds 49.5% of PIC, had said earlier in the day it was in advanced talks with Athora to sell its stake in PIC.