Michael Ward says former Harrods owner ‘presided over a toxic culture’, describing it as ‘shameful period’
The managing director of Harrods has apologised and said the business “failed our colleagues” following sexual misconduct allegations against the department store’s former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.
In a statement, Michael Ward said it is clear Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”.
Continue reading...Transaction will reportedly provide investment firm Song Capital with ground rent on 76 supermarkets for 45 years
Morrisons has raised £331m to cut its debt pile through the sale of ground leases on 76 supermarkets as part of a turnaround plan under the new chief executive, Rami Baitiéh.
If all the proceeds are used to pay down debt, Morrisons would have net debt of £3.6bn, down from as much as £8.6bn at the end of last year.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister’s office ‘did not even respond’ to the plan. Plus, how Britishisms invaded the US
Good morning.
Israel has rejected a US-French proposal for a 21-day truce with Hezbollah to allow for comprehensive talks, after three days of Israeli bombing that killed more than 600 people in Lebanon.
Why does the US not call for an immediate ceasefire? US diplomats suggested it could be seen as accepting a moral equivalence between the two sides’ behavior, and the US categorizes Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
Have others been investigated? Yes – federal agents earlier this month raided the homes of senior officials in Adams’s administration.
Continue reading...Poll suggests half of Congolese have not heard of deadly disease, as conspiracy theories and rumours spread
For doctors and nurses fighting mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the virus itself is not the only enemy. They are also facing swirling rumours and misinformation.
The first of millions of promised doses of mpox vaccine have finally started to arrive. Now the focus is on ensuring that people who need them will take them when the vaccination campaign begins next month, and teaching wider communities how to protect themselves.
Continue reading...Calls rise for Benedict Willard to be punished after recusing himself from Lawrence Hecker case on morning of trial
Court watchdogs and advocates for victims of sexual abuse are calling for a New Orleans judge to be punished and voted out of office after he controversially delayed the trial of retired Catholic priest charged with child rape and kidnapping – on the morning of jury selection.
Judge Benedict Willard’s critics say his angry outbursts have been a problem over more than two decades on the bench. But they are raising fresh concerns after Willard’s decision to remove members of the local district attorney’s office during a rape trial in August reverberated to affect the eagerly anticipated trial of Lawrence Hecker, 93, on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Alan Miller, 59, second person in US to be executed via controversial technique, shook and trembled on gurney
Alabama has carried out the second execution in the US using the controversial method of nitrogen gas, an experimental technique for humans that veterinarians have deemed unacceptable in the US and Europe for the euthanasia of most animals.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6.38pm local time at a south Alabama prison.
Continue reading...Roland Cherry, from Warwickshire, sustained severe bite wounds after being mauled by animal during safari
A man narrowly survived after being dragged to the bottom of a river and “thrown through the air like a rag doll” when he was attacked by hippo while canoeing on holiday in Zambia.
Roland Cherry, who was on five-week holiday through southern Africa with his wife, Shirley, sustained severe bite wounds across his body, including a 10in wound to his abdomen, as well as a thigh injury and dislocated shoulder in the attack.
Continue reading...Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, provokes mixed response
They say it is rude to comment on a baby’s appearance but that has not stopped the residents of Rochdale, who awoke on Wednesday to a “freaky” new arrival.
Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, went on display in the town centre to a somewhat bewildered response.
Continue reading...S&P and Moody’s cut ratings by five notches on risk troubled company will run out of cash
Thames Water’s debt rating has been slashed to the lower levels of junk by two major credit rating agencies, piling further pressure on the UK’s biggest water company, which is rapidly running through cash and fighting to stave off renationalisation.
S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s said the utility was fast running out of money and on the brink of default. S&P cut its rating on Thames’s £15bn top-ranking debt pile by five notches to CCC+, taking it into the triple-C category that is considered very risky. Thames lost its investment-grade credit rating in July.
Continue reading...Alan Sunderland to undertake independent review of online article and 7.30 story about an Australian military operation in Afghanistan
The ABC has appointed veteran journalist and media executive Alan Sunderland to undertake an independent review of the broadcaster’s Line of Fire reports about an Australian military operation in Afghanistan.
The Line of Fire reports concern an online article and 7.30 story by one of the ABC’s most experienced journalists, Mark Willacy from the ABC’s Investigations unit.
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Continue reading...Call comes after Scott apologises for university’s handling of antisemitism complaints
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has called for the University of Sydney vice-chancellor, Mark Scott, to resign, saying he would do so if he had “any shred of integrity”.
The university has come under fire for its handling of protest camps set up on campus in opposition to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 attack.
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