An artificial intelligence system can't be registered as the inventor of a patent, Britain's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that denies machines the same status as humans, the Associated Press reported. The U.K.'s highest court concluded that “an inventor must be a person” to apply for patents under the current law. The decision was the culmination of American technologist Stephen Thaler's long-running British legal battle to get his AI, dubbed DABUS, listed as the inventor of two patents.

Art dealer to the stars, Andrew Valmorbida is locked in a court battle involving a string of prototype Ferraris, artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and a £17 million ($21.5 million) west London townhouse, Bloomberg News reported. Luxembourg-based lender Regera Sarl is chasing Valmorbida for $42.9 million, claiming he defaulted on a loan and attempted to sell artwork over which it had security, without permission, according to court documents.

Inverness, Scottland-based Highland Timber Construction has entered liquidation after failing to recover from the financial strain caused by the covid pandemic and a subsequent inability to secure new contracts, Scottish Financial News reported. The company, which was established in 2016 and known for building construction, extensions, renovations, and kitchen remodelling, ceased operations on 27 November 2023, resulting in redundancy for its 11 employees. The decision for liquidation was made after the company petitioned Inverness Sheriff Court on 6 December.

London's marine insurance market has widened the area in the Red Sea it deems as high risk after a surge in attacks on commercial ships, according to a statement issued on Monday, Reuters reported. Guidance from the Joint War Committee (JWC), which comprises syndicate members from the Lloyd's Market Association (LMA) and representatives from the London insurance company market, is watched closely and influences underwriters' considerations over insurance premiums. The JWC widened the high risk zone in the Red Sea to 18 degrees north from 15 degrees north previously, the statement said.

The number of companies in England and Wales declared insolvent in November was 21% higher than a year earlier, government figures showed on Friday, adding to the pattern of higher corporate failures as the Bank of England raises interest rates, Reuters reported. The Insolvency Service, a public body, said there were 2,466 registered company insolvencies during the month. The BoE raised rates 14 times between December 2021 and August this year, taking Bank Rate from 0.1% to 5.25%.

Ministers will announce a 6.5% increase in the funding for local councils in England in a desperate attempt to stop them going bankrupt, the Guardian reported. Michael Gove, the communities secretary, will announce the £64bn support package on Monday, less than a fortnight after he was warned that an unprecedented number of councils are likely to declare themselves bankrupt.

A council in one of the wealthiest parts of the UK has warned it faces potential bankruptcy due to the “devastating” impact of cancelling the northern leg of HS2, the Guardian reported. Leaders of Cheshire East council in north-west England said the authority had spent £11m preparing for the high-speed rail link, and this would now have to be written off. Most of this money – £8.6m – had been funded by borrowing and would now have to be funded from the council’s already stretched revenue budget.

Britain's payments regulator on Wednesday provisionally proposed a cap on cross-border interchange fees on retailers and other businesses charged by Mastercard (MA.N) and Visa (V.N) on transactions made between the UK and European single market, Reuters reported. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said a cap would protect businesses from overpaying, after it published interim findings of a market review on interchange fees charged since Brexit, when the bloc's longstanding cap ceased to apply in Britain.

The City of London, Britain’s historic financial district, is awash with construction, the intensity of which is not expected to let up soon, the New York Times reported. The City of London Corporation, the district’s governing body, has approved 10 new office towers, including one that will exceed the height of all others in the area, known locally as the Square Mile. Altogether, more than five million square feet of office space is under construction, with another five million square feet in the pipeline.

U.K. wage growth slowed at the sharpest pace in almost two years, a further sign that the labor market is cooling in response to a flagging economy, Bloomberg News reported. Average earnings excluding bonuses rose 7.3% in the three months through October compared with a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. That’s down from an upwardly revised 7.8% in the period through September. Economists had expected a figure of 7.4%.