Thursday newspaper round-up: Housing market, Tesco, Orbex

(Sharecast News) - There are "tentative signs" that the housing market in England and Wales is recovering from a months-long slowdown after uncertainty around the autumn budget and economic pressures, estate agents and surveyors have reported. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said its members were feeling more optimistic about the year ahead than at any time since December 2024, as inquiries from new buyers, agreed sales and house prices became less negative in January. - Guardian

EU leaders are expected to diverge on whether "Buy European" is an answer to Europe's waning economic fortunes, at a summit on how to secure the continent's future in a more volatile global economy. At a moated castle in the east Belgian countryside, the EU's 27 leaders will gather on Thursday for a brainstorming session on how Europe can regain its economic competitiveness vis-a-vis the US and China, at a time of economic threats and political turbulence. - Guardian

Tesco has cut ties with the lobbying group co-founded by Lord Mandelson amid a growing exodus of clients after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The supermarket giant confirmed it had axed its deal with Global Counsel on Wednesday, becoming the latest major client to cancel a contract after the extent of Lord Mandelson's close relationship with Epstein came to light. - Telegraph

One of Britain's only space rocket businesses is at risk of collapse despite being handed £26m in taxpayer loans just last year. Orbex, a Scottish start-up that had been hoping to launch the first UK rocket from home soil, is lining up administrators in the event that it fails to secure a rescue deal. - Telegraph

An activist investment firm has taken a $200 million stake in Warner Bros Discovery and urged the Hollywood giant to walk away from its "inferior" $83 billion deal with Netflix. Ancora Holdings, an Ohio-based wealth management company, has argued that the $27.75-a-share offer for Warner's streaming and studios businesses, which is contingent on the spin-off of its legacy television networks ahead of completion, is "flawed, inferior and high-risk" compared to a rival $30-a-share offer from "bona fide" studio Paramount Skydance. - The Times

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former cryptocurrency tycoon serving a 25-year prison sentence for defrauding customers of his collapsed FTX digital currency exchange, has filed a request for a new trial. In a court filing, the 33-year-old argues that he was indicted on a false allegation that he stole customer assets from FTX, leaving customers with billions of dollars in losses. - The Times