Thai conglomerate Central Group to co-own high-profile retailer with Saudi Public Investment Fund
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has bought a stake in the upmarket department store Selfridges in its latest move on a high-profile British asset.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) said it had signed a deal to buy a 40% stake in the loss-making retailer for an undisclosed sum.
Continue reading...British climber Fay Manners, who was stuck for three days, says: ‘There was a big, big, long sense of silence between us’
A British mountaineer and her American companion who were stranded in the Himalayas for three days without food have described the long silence between them after the bulk of their equipment plunged into a ravine.
Fay Manners, 37, and Michelle Dvorak, 31, had been climbing the Chaukhamba mountain in northern India, when they issued an SOS message on Thursday, with nothing further being heard from them.
Continue reading...Almost half of girls aged 11 to 21 in Girlguiding survey say sexism and misogyny makes them feel less safe
Girls and young women are seeing more unwanted sexual images and suffering more cyberstalking online, but still don’t want to take a break from social media because of a fear of missing out, a survey for Girlguiding has found.
“Fomo” is keeping more than half of 11- to 21-year-olds on apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp despite nearly one in five saying they have been being stalked online and more than a third saying they are seeing sexual images they didn’t wish to see, the survey of more than 2,000 girls and young women found.
Continue reading...Scans of people hospitalised with Covid may explain the long-term breathlessness and fatigue some patients experience
Severe Covid infections can drive inflammation in the brain’s “control centre”, researchers say, leading to damage that may explain the long-term breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety some patients experience.
High-resolution MRI scans of 30 people hospitalised with Covid early in the pandemic, before the introduction of vaccines, found signs of inflammation in the brainstem, a small but critical structure that governs life-sustaining bodily functions such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.
Continue reading...Move could unlock up to £57bn in additional spending on infrastructure in October’s budget
Rachel Reeves must decide by Wednesday whether to change the government’s fiscal rules to potentially unlock up to £57bn in additional spending on infrastructure at this month’s budget.
Sources close to the Treasury said the chancellor would need to make a decision before submitting the “major measures” for her tax and spending event on 30 October to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Continue reading...Energy system operator expects winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this year
The risk of winter blackouts in Great Britain has tumbled to its lowest in four years even after the shutdown of the UK’s last coal plant, thanks to investments in low-carbon electricity sources.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) expects Britain’s winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this year in its base case scenario, the greatest margin since the winter of 2019 to 2020.
Continue reading...Two other male occupants of Ford Fiesta pursued by police driver remain in hospital after crash
An investigation has been launched after a 17-year-old boy died after a police chase.
The teenage passenger was one of three males taken to hospital after the crash outside Central Middlesex hospital in Harrow, north-west London, at about 5.25am on Monday, the Metropolitan police said.
Continue reading...Most of those hurt were well enough to be discharged at the scene, according to the ambulance service
Four people have been taken to hospital after a school bus carrying 43 school pupils and a driver overturned in a field in County Down on Monday.
Photographs on social media showed children in uniform walking from the blue doubledecker bus, which had a shattered windscreen.
Continue reading...Many who last week couldn’t have got within 500 miles of Mauritius on a map now can’t bear it taking the archipelago
What a difference a week makes. Just last Wednesday, you could have put money on most MPs being totally clueless about the exact location of the Chagos Islands. Give them a map and many would have better luck being blindfolded.
Even a hint wouldn’t have made much difference. Are they east, west, south or north of Mauritius? To be in with a shout, you have to know where Mauritius is. And most MPs wouldn’t get within 500 miles. The Indian Ocean is bigger than you think. And don’t get them started on Diego Garcia. Surely he’s the younger brother of the titular character in the 1974 Sam Peckinpah film Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary says status quo not sustainable as Tory MPs accuse Labour of giving away key asset
David Lammy has hailed the decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as a deal to save a strategically important UK-US military base, after accusations from opposition MPs that a key asset was being given away.
The government announced last week that it was going to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending years of bitter dispute over Britain’s last African colony, but the military base on Diego Garcia will remain under UK control.
Continue reading...UK prime minister tells parliament that the first anniversary of 7 October Hamas attack is a ‘day of grief’ for region
Keir Starmer has urged all sides to pull back from the brink in the Middle East as he addressed the House of Commons on the anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.
With Israel yet to decide how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented missile strike last week, the prime minister said he supported “Israel’s right to defend herself against Iran’s aggression, in line with international law”.
Continue reading...Government needs to get better at communicating what it stands for, veterans from New Labour era argue
Sophie Linden, London’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, is stepping down after eight years working with Sadiq Khan to take a job as an adviser to Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, Khan has announced. In a statement Linden claimed that policing in the capital was “far more diverse, transparent and accountable” than when she started.
Matt Chorley from Radio 5 Live posted this on social media yesterday to provide some context about the departure of Sue Gray.
Continue reading...Lawyers return to court in dispute over amount of legal costs to be paid from ‘Wagatha Christie’ case
Coleen Rooney has claimed she ran up a legal bill totalling more than £1.8m from her high-profile libel battle with Rebekah Vardy, the high court has been told.
Vardy, the wife of the Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, lost the legal action in July 2022 after she sued Rooney for libel in what became known as the “Wagatha Christie” case.
Continue reading...Scope of oil and gas influence underscores concerns technology will prolong demand for planet-heating natural gas
The UK government’s move to award £22bn in subsidies to carbon capture projects followed a sharp increase in lobbying by the fossil fuel industry, it can be revealed.
Oil and gas giants such as Equinor, BP, and ExxonMobil attended 24 of 44 external ministerial meetings to discuss carbon capture and storage (CCS) in 2023, according to official transparency records.
Continue reading...John Healey says Labour ‘getting on with job’ after chief of staff quit less than 100 days into new government
A senior cabinet minister has denied that No 10 is at a crisis point despite the prime minister’s chief of staff leaving her post less than 100 days into the new Labour government.
John Healey defended his cabinet colleagues on Monday amid suggestions that, had a senior Conservative aide quit No 10 in similar circumstances, he would have claimed his opponents were in disarray.
Continue reading...Move could increase pressure on utility companies turning to bond markets amid crisis at Thames Water
Southern Water is looking to borrow up to £4bn from investors over the next five years, in a move that could ratchet up the pressure on utility companies turning to bond markets for support amid the ongoing crisis at Thames Water.
An investor presentation posted to Southern Water’s website shows that it will need to tap investors for up to £3.8bn worth of debt over the next five years, as part of a revised business plan – on top of needing to raise £650m worth of equity.
Continue reading...Malmesbury sanctuary pays tribute to ‘jolly’ bird, which is thought to have drowned after falling into swollen river at night
The tale of Irwin the missing emu has ended sadly, with the “jolly” big bird’s body found in a river close to the sanctuary where he was last seen alive a week ago.
Staff at the Malmesbury animal sanctuary in Wiltshire believe Irwin slipped into the swollen river while playing with other emus and drowned.
Continue reading...Large-scale clinical project could give real-time view of how well treatments are working and lead to earlier diagnoses
Scientists are embarking on a large-scale clinical study of new personalised cancer therapies which could give clinicians are real-time view of how well treatments are working.
The £9m partnership between the Francis Crick Institute, five NHS trusts, charities and bioscience companies will spend four years examining the effectiveness of new immunotherapy treatments and exploring new ways to detect cancer.
Continue reading...The event, which is celebrating its anniversary, has grown into a global phenomenon – and made us feel a whole lot better
Twenty years ago, on a windy, autumnal Saturday morning, 13 runners showed up to a park in south-west London for an event called the Bushy Park Time Trial. A 5km course was plotted and the organiser, Paul Sinton-Hewitt, a computer programmer who grew up in South Africa, bought washers from a hardware store to hand out as finish tokens. The times were tapped up on a laptop afterwards in a local Caffè Nero.
This Saturday, the weather hadn’t much improved – overcast, with the sun straining to peek through – and the venue was the same: picturesque Bushy Park with its resident red deer squaring up, ready to rut. But pretty much everything else about the impromptu get-together has evolved. Since 2008, it has been known as Parkrun and there are now 2,500 weekly events – all 5km, all free – in 22 countries, everywhere from the slopes of Mount Etna to 25 UK prisons to the Falkland Islands. In a typical week, around 350,000 people will take part. Runner’s World hails it a “global phenomenon”.
Continue reading...The Treasury refuses to confirm 1 January start date as unions, tax experts and school leaders say it is unworkable
Government plans to impose VAT on private schools from 1 January next year may have to be delayed because of warnings from unions, tax experts and school leaders that meeting the deadline will cause administrative chaos and teacher job losses, and put pressure on the state sector.
The Treasury on Saturday night refused to confirm that the plan to impose 20% VAT on private school fees would go ahead from 1 January, as confirmed by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in July, instead saying it would be introduced “as soon as possible”.
Continue reading...