Northumbrian village was named as nation’s favourite, just ahead of Portmeirion and St Andrews
Bamburgh, the Northumbrian village known for its sprawling sand dunes and imposing castle, has retained its title as the UK’s best seaside destination for the fourth consecutive year.
A survey of 4,700 people by the consumer group Which? placed the Northumberland coastal village as the nation’s favourite, ahead of Portmeirion in Gwynedd and St Andrews in Fife.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Rideshare company failed to gather evidence that driver with near-perfect rating had breached its code of conduct, tribunal finds
Uber has been ordered to pay $10,000 in damages to an Australian driver after it permanently banned him from working due to a passenger complaint but failed to gather evidence that he had breached its code of conduct.
The ruling from the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal related to Uber’s conduct when terminating the driver’s account af a trip in last August.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s president will ask for more help to block Putin’s growing ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers carrying sanctioned crude to buyers
The Ukrainian president, Volodmyr Zelenskiy, will attend an extraordinary meeting of the British cabinet on Friday to bring fresh impetus to efforts to stop Russia evading sanctions on its oil exports.
Zelenskiy will be the first foreign leader to visit Downing Street since Keir Starmer was elected prime minister two weeks ago and the first foreign leader to address cabinet in person since the US president Bill Clinton in 1997.
Continue reading...Revamp of 42-storey block when bank moves out in 2027 will include new terraces and leisure facilities
Canary Wharf Group has unveiled plans to remove large chunks from the HSBC tower as part of a revamp of the 42-storey office block when the bank moves out in 2027.
The property company said it would carve out sections of the tower’s facade to create terraces as part of plans to transform the office block – a skyscraper in the east London financial district – into a mixed-use building that would include leisure facilities and a public viewing gallery.
Continue reading...Digital border system that will require fingerprint and facial scans postponed until November
The date for the introduction of the EU’s new entry-exit system has been pushed back again until November, allaying fears of long queues at the border during the October half-term holidays.
The launch of the new biometric checks for foreign travellers, including Britons, entering the EU, has been delayed from 6 October until at least 10 November, with many smaller airports yet to have facilities in place.
Continue reading...Semiconductor and related tech shares hit hard by former US president’s calls for Taipei to pay for US protection
The stocks of some of the world’s largest chipmakers have fallen further after comments by Donald Trump that Taiwan, which is central to the global industry, should pay for its own defences against China.
Shares in semiconductor and related tech companies had already plunged on Wednesday after the former president’s comments, as well as a report that suggested Joe Biden’s administration was considering the strictest controls on the trade of chips to China.
Continue reading...Transport Workers Union outraged at conditions on National Jet Express flight to Perth chartered by Fremantle Dockers
Cabin crew were forced to scoop human waste out of onboard toilets and other passengers were left to urinate directly into basins, a union says, after a charter flight carrying an AFL team ran out of water, making flushing impossible.
The National Jet Express (NJE) plane was chartered by the Fremantle Dockers to fly the team to Perth after their loss to Hawthorn in the Tasmanian city of Launceston on Saturday. It reportedly ran out of water just 30 minutes into the four-hour flight.
Continue reading...Birmingham-based company replaces website with message saying trading has ended
Skin, one of the UK’s largest plastic surgery providers with more than 70 branches, has collapsed, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
As of 5pm on Tuesday, Skin’s website had been replaced by a message saying the company had “undertaken an extensive process to secure investment to enable it to continue trading but sadly we’ve been unsuccessful”.
Continue reading...Advocates also detail flaws in automated debit system that prevented clients stopping their deductions
The government’s Centrepay debit system has been abused by “unscrupulous” businesses to take welfare money from dead Australians and Indigenous women fleeing domestic violence, advocacy groups claim.
The government last month announced a major review of Centrepay, an automated debit system designed to give businesses early access to a person’s welfare money to ensure they can afford essential services such as rent and healthcare.
Continue reading...Guo Wengui, who gained fans for criticizing Communist party in China, found guilty in US of nine criminal counts
Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese business tycoon whose criticism of the Communist party won him legions of online followers and powerful friends in the American conservative movement, was convicted by a US jury on Tuesday of engaging in an enormous multi-year fraud that ripped off some of his most devoted fans.
Once believed to be among the richest people in China, Guo was arrested in New York in March 2023 and accused of operating a racketeering enterprise that stretched from 2018 through 2023.
Continue reading...Award for Lawrence Gosden comes despite criticism over business plan and attempts to increase bills by 73%
The chief executive of Southern Water has received a £183,000 bonus despite submitting a business plan that has been criticised by the industry regulator and attempting to raise bills more than any other English water company.
Lawrence Gosden received the bonus as part of a £764,000 pay package, up from £428,000 a year earlier, according to the company’s annual report.
Continue reading...Revenues from technology arm, which sells robots to retailers, climbed by nearly 22% in six months to June
Shares in Ocado jumped by as much as 18% after the UK online grocer reported narrowing losses and raised its annual guidance for its technology arm, which sells warehouse robots to other retailers around the world.
Technology revenues climbed by nearly 22% year on year in the six months to 2 June, while retail revenues were also up by 11%. Ocado sells groceries in the UK through its joint venture with Marks & Spencer and was the fastest-growing grocer for the fifth month in a row based on recent sales figures, according to the data analytics company Kantar.
Continue reading...New business secretary set to tell international counterparts at G7 meeting ‘Britain is back on world stage’
Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.
In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.
Continue reading...Energy entrepreneur claimed headline about different man used alongside his photograph was defamatory
The millionaire Labour donor Dale Vince’s £100,000 libel case against the Daily Mail has been thrown out after a high court judge ruled it did not have a realistic chance of success.
The green energy businessman and Forest Green Rovers chairman claimed the newspaper libelled him in a June 2023 article titled “Labour repays £100,000 to ‘sex harassment’ donor”.
Continue reading...Lending puts banks in ‘complete violation’ of commitments to Paris agreement, climate group says, even as overall funding to sector ebbs
Australia’s big four banks are in “complete violation” of commitments to the Paris climate accord by funding fossil fuel expansion even as their overall lending to the sector continues to ebb, according to a new report.
The climate activist group Market Forces said in the report that the banks lent the industry $3.6bn in 2023, bringing their total loans to more than $61bn since 2015. Last year, though, was first year in the past eight that banks avoided explicitly backing a new or expanded fossil fuel project.
Continue reading...Exclusive: solar developer Trinzic to voluntarily shut down as holding company seeks to recoup more than £25m
A solar energy project developer linked to Thames Water is to be liquidated and its staff made redundant as the crisis engulfing the debt-laden water supplier puts strain on its complex corporate structure.
Trinzic Operations Ltd, which is ultimately owned by Thames’s parent company Kemble Water Holdings, is to be voluntarily shut down, the Guardian can reveal.
Continue reading...Researchers say standups’ contribution is unsung, and hope findings will help to bolster the industry’s credibility
The live comedy industry in the UK contributes more than £1bn to the economy every year, according to a study by Brunel University London.
In the first project of its kind, researchers calculated the industry’s annual value at £1bn, based on an estimated 3,000 workers in the sector, surveying more than 350 comedians, promoters, producers, venue managers and agents.
Continue reading...The $99bn figure comes as data shows exports growing at fastest rate in 15 months while imports fell
China posted a record $99bn (£76.4bn) trade surplus last month amid signs of importers bringing forward orders to beat higher tariffs on goods from the world’s second biggest economy.
The latest official figures from Beijing showed exports growing at their fastest rate in 15 months, while the weakness of China’s domestic economy resulted in falling imports.
Continue reading...The same percentage of employed people who worked remotely in 2023 is the same as the previous year, a survey found
Don’t call it work from home any more, just call it work. According to new data, what once seemed like a pandemic necessity has become the new norm for many Americans.
Every year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases the results of its American time use survey, which asks Americans how much time they spend doing various activities, from work to leisure.
Continue reading...Roadworks mean stretch between junctions 10 and 11 will be shut from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday
Drivers have been warned to expect delays this weekend as part of the M25 shuts down for the third time this year.
Major roads in the south-east will be “incredibly busy” this weekend as National Highways closes a section of London’s orbital motorway for roadworks in both directions between junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday, the AA said.
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