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☆ Orcas threw a yacht around 'like a rag doll' and ripped off both rudders, the latest example of a killer-whale attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A pod of orcas attacked a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar, ripping off both of its rudders. The sailor said it felt as though the orcas were throwing the yacht around "like a rag doll." There have been 20 incidents of orca attacks in the Strait of Gibraltar in the past month alone. He also said the killer whales moved in a way that seemed "choreographed, almost, like synchronized swimming," according to the radio broadcast. Insider's Isobel Van Hagen previously reported on an incident last month in which a pod of orcas rammed a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Persons: —, Iain Hamilton, Hamilton, Isobel Van Hagen, April Boyes Organizations: Service, orcas, British Overseas, BBC Radio, Radio Locations: Strait, Gibraltar, British Overseas Territory, Spain's, Spain, Portugal, Morocco

☆ Sheffield Wednesday promoted to Championship with 123rd-minute Windass winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Wednesday can now look forward to Championship football next season which had seemed wildly out of reach when they trailed Peterborough 4-0 after the first leg of their semi-final before producing the greatest comeback in English Football League playoff history. In front of 44,000 Wednesday fans crammed into Wembley, Windass emulated his father Dean, whose winning goal for Hull City in the 2008 Championship playoff final helped them win promotion to the Premier League. Wow," Dean Windass told BBC Radio Sheffield. "I've played for a couple of big clubs but look at this, it's unbelievable," Josh Windass told Sky Sports. Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stellantis: Brexit deal must change or UK car factories will close
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

British car factories will be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if the government does not renegotiate its Brexit trade deal immediately, automaker Stellantis warned on Wednesday. “If the cost of EV manufacturing in the UK becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable, operations will close,” Stellantis said in a submission to a House of Commons committee examining the prospects for Britain’s electric vehicle industry. It’s 800,000 jobs in the UK, which is basically those jobs associated with the car industry,” said Palmer, who is also chairman of European battery manufacturer InoBat. Britain has drawn electric vehicle investment from Nissan (NSANF) and Ford (F), while other big players are still weighing up where to invest. Stellantis had announced a 100 million pound ($126 million) electric vehicle investment in its Ellesmere Port site in 2021.

☆ Change Brexit deal or watch factories close, carmaker Stellantis warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Kate Holton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 16 (Reuters) - British car factories will be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if the government does not renegotiate its Brexit deal immediately, automaker Stellantis (STLAM.MI) warned on Wednesday. "Manufacturers will not continue to invest and (instead will) relocate manufacturing operations outside of UK, as seen with previously established UK manufacturers such as Ford and Mini." Under the trade deal agreed when Britain left the bloc, 45% of the value of an electric vehicle must come from Britain or the EU from 2024 to avoid tariffs. "If you don't have a battery capability in the UK, then those car manufacturers will move to mainland Europe." Britain has drawn electric vehicle investment from Nissan and Ford, while other big players are still weighing up where to invest.

☆ Charles III to be crowned in once-in-a-generation ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

London CNN —Britain was waking up Saturday to a once-in-a-generation royal event: the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. While Charles became King on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, the coronation is the formal crowning of the monarch. In a ceremony that is expected to last at least two hours, Charles will be officially crowned, presented with an array ceremonial objects and be recognized as King by various representatives of the British state. Charles and Camilla will travel along the route to the abbey in a splendid coach drawn by six horses, accompanied by the Household Cavalry. Charles’ consort Camilla will also be crowned in a shorter, simpler part of the ceremony.

☆ Britain's Cleverly expects to meet Chinese vice president this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Sachin Ravikumar | Thomson Reuters | Sachin Ravikumar Is A Correspondent For Reuters In London Covering General News Across The Uk. Over Nine Years At Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly expects to meet China's Vice President Han Zheng when foreign leaders visit London for King Charles's coronation, a rare meeting between senior government officials during a low point in UK-China relations. "I suspect that I will," Cleverly told BBC Radio on Tuesday when asked if he would be meeting Han. He said he would discuss a range of subjects including areas where Britain has "points of criticism". Cleverly, who hopes to visit China this year, suggested he would speak to Han about some of those concerns. That approach faces opposition from some within Britain's governing Conservative Party who have argued for an even tougher stance against China, including by reclassifying the country as a "threat" instead of a "systemic competitor".

☆ UK watchdog defends Microsoft block in face of onslaught from companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal on Wednesday, saying it could hit competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. Microsoft's president Brad Smith said the decision "had shaken confidence in the UK tech industry" and was "probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain". "There's a clear message here - the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom," he added. "That's important for UK consumers and UK business and it's those UK consumers and UK businesses that the CMA is here to protect," she told BBC radio. She said Britain had not acted alone, noting that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was also suing to block the deal.

☆ Adele Roberts: Radio DJ breaks record for fastest woman with an ileostomy to run the London Marathon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —British radio presenter Adele Roberts became the fastest woman to complete the London Marathon with an ileostomy, running the distance in just over three and a half hours on Sunday. The Guinness World Records awarded Roberts with a framed certificate at the finish line, writing on Twitter: “Adele Roberts completed the fastest marathon with an ileostomy (female) in 3:30:22. “Thank you to every single person who has helped make today possible,” Roberts wrote on Instagram after the race. “This means I currently have no use of my large colon,” Roberts wrote on her fundraising page. Roberts was one of thousands of runners to complete the London Marathon on Sunday which raised millions for charitable causes.

☆ Factbox: What is embattled British business group the CBI?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Below is some information about the CBI and its role:WHAT IS THE CBI? Founded in 1965, the CBI is Britain's top business lobby group. A not-for-profit organisation, the CBI says it represents 190,000 businesses employing nearly 7 million people, including many of Britain's biggest companies. In his speech, Sunak called the CBI "a valued institution in this country and a powerful voice for business". A spokesperson for NatWest said the bank had no confidence in the CBI's capacity to be a strong representative voice for British business at present.

chartEither way, extremely low U.S. volatility generally bodes well for other stock markets. And worrying UK inflation figures may extend a dark shadow over Asia. Figures on Wednesday showed that Britain was the only country in western Europe with double-digit inflation in March, prompting several banks to raise their UK rate outlook. UK money markets are pricing in a further 75 basis points of tightening this year, taking the base rate up to 5%. Meanwhile, Australia's central bank governor Philip Lowe addresses the media on Thursday and India's central bank releases the minutes of its last policy meeting.

☆ Britain braces for 'unparalleled' disruption from doctors' strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Junior doctors hold placards during a strike, amid a dispute with the government over pay, outside St Thomas' Hospital, in London, Britain April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Maja SmiejkowskaLONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Junior doctors in Britain began a four-day strike on Tuesday over pay that is likely to cause unprecedented disruption to the health service, prompting the government to warn of a risk to patient safety. Tuesday's walkout followed a three-day doctors' strike last month. The BMA has said the strikes by junior doctors, some of whom are very experienced, could be stopped if health minister Steve Barclay put a credible pay offer forward. He says the BMA's demands are unreasonable and would mean an increase of more then 20,000 pounds ($24,840) for some doctors.

☆ England's Houghton will keep 'knocking the door' for the World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 9 (Reuters) - Former England captain Steph Houghton has said it has been tough to deal with her omission from the national team as she aims to reach this year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Anything can happen so I just need to make sure I stay professional and I'm ready. Houghton featured in and scored at major events such as the 2012 Olympic Games, and the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. As another World Cup approaches, the Durham native feels ready to contribute to the success of Wiegman's team, who also just won the Finalissima against Brazil at Wembley. "I'm proud of all the girls and what they've achieved, but as a professional footballer you want to be playing in the best teams and tournaments and the World Cup is certainly that."

☆ Perenco UK says 60% of oil spill in southern England recovered
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] General view of Poole Harbour after about 200 barrels of reservoir fluid leaked into the water in Dorset, Britain, March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Peter CziborraMarch 29 (Reuters) - Anglo-French oil company Perenco's UK unit said on Wednesday it had recovered about 60% of the estimated oil leaked on Sunday at one of its well sites in Wytch Farm in Dorset, southern England. The location of the leak was identified and operations at Wytch Farm remain suspended, the company said in a statement. Perenco UK said it was investigating the cause of the spill, in consultation with the environment agency and local authorities. Perenco UK produces about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, with Wytch Farm accounting for about 14,000 barrels.

☆ An 'ultramassive' black hole has been discovered that's 33 billion times the mass of the sun
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

They estimate this black hole is 30 billion times bigger than our sun. That would make it one of the biggest black holes ever discovered. This black hole may remain one of the biggest holes ever discovered because physicists think black holes can't grow much bigger than that, Nightingale said. The technique could unveil 'inactive' black holesThe discovery of this black hole pushes back the limits of cosmology, Nightingale told the BBC. "How do you form a black hole this big in just 13 billion years of the universe's existence?"

☆ UK's William Hill fined $24 million for widespread gambling failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Gambling Commission has slapped a 19.2 million pound ($23.7 million) fine on companies owned by betting shop group William Hill for failing to protect consumers and weak anti-money laundering controls, it said on Tuesday. Instead the regulator opted to hand William Hill the largest penalty in UK gambling history. "We found serious non-compliance issues around safer gambling measures ... and also anti-money laundering control failings across the company," Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission told BBC Radio. It completed its takeover of William Hill and related companies last year. "After William Hill was acquired, the company quickly addressed the identified issues with the implementation of a rigorous action plan," an 888 spokesperson said.

☆ UK's Labour attacks planned pension changes as giveaway to the rich
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Kate Holton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party vowed on Thursday to reverse the government's planned pension changes, saying they were a giveaway to the top 1% of pension savers at a time when many households are being hit by tax increases and high inflation. "The budget was a chance for the government to unlock Britain's promise and potential," Rachel Reeves, Labour's would-be finance minister said. Some long-serving senior doctors have cut back their hours or retired early as they near the lifetime pension limit, adding to strains in the National Health Service (NHS). The focus on tax support for the wealthiest had echoes of the criticism that met the "mini-budget" of former Prime Minister Liz Truss and her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng in September. They were later forced to reverse their plan to scrap the top rate of income tax for Britain's highest earners.

☆ BBC engulfed in an impartiality storm of its own making
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that if you’re an entertainment presenter or you’re a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules” on impartiality, former director-general Greg Dyke told BBC Radio 4 over the weekend. BBC Director General Tim Davie has made protecting impartiality one of his major priorities. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesMore problematic still is that the same thorny questions about impartiality extend to the BBC’s leadership. “It’s a mess, isn’t it?” former BBC executive Peter Salmon told the cooperation’s flagship political presenter Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. “He’s got views, he’s got passions … it may be that Gary has outgrown the job, and his role in the BBC.”

☆ Ukraine is vowing to defend 'fortress' Bakhmut as Russian forces surround it: Here are 3 reasons why
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Ukrainian infantrymen with the 28th Brigade view damaged buildings while driving to a frontline position facing Russian troops on March 05, 2023 outside of Bakhmut, Ukraine. Russian forces appear to be tightening the noose around the city in Donetsk. "The fall of Bakhmut won't necessarily mean that the Russians have changed the tide of this fight," he added, noting that he would not predict when Bakhmut might fall to Russian forces. Ukrainian military vehicles drive along a road outside of the strategic city of Bakhmut on January 18, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy warned that Russian troops will have "open road" to key cities in eastern Ukraine if they seize Bakhmut.

☆ Someone donated $400,000 to save an apartment that an artist spent 33 years filling with bizarre works including a lion's head fireplace
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Ron Gittins meticulously decorated his rented apartment from 1986 till his death in 2019. Friends feared the art-filled apartment would be lost after it was put up for auction. The apartment's former resident was artist Ron Gittins, who died in 2019. After his death, friends and family came together to pay Gittins' rent and try to preserve his art-filled home. Nothing is yet known about the individual who made the donation or why they decided to make it.

☆ Northern Ireland's DUP: New deal does give Stormont ability to apply brake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said a new provision to stop new European Union trade rules from applying to goods in Northern Ireland did appear to give its Stormont regional assembly the ability to apply a brake. "I do think that what has been proposed at first reading does give Stormont the ability to apply the brake where the application of EU law for the purposes of facilitating cross-border trade impacts on our ability to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom," Jeffrey Donaldson told BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday. We continue to have some concerns," he said of the new post-Brexit deal struck between Britain and the EU on Monday. The Stormont brake, unveiled as part of the deal, enables the British government to stop new EU laws from applying to goods in Northern Ireland if requested by a third of lawmakers in Stormont, the British province's regional assembly. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK commentator John Motson dies aged 77
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Soccer Football - Premier League - Everton vs Crystal Palace - Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain - February 10, 2018 Commentator John Motson leaves after the match Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith/File PhotoLONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - British soccer commentator John Motson has died aged 77, his family announced in a statement on Thursday. "It is with great sadness we announce that John Motson OBE died peacefully in his sleep today (Thursday)," said a statement from Motson's family. "Deeply saddened to hear that John Motson has died," former England striker and current Match of the Day commentator Gary Lineker said on Twitter. Motson joined the BBC on a full-time basis as a sports presenter on Radio 2 in 1968, having been at BBC Radio Sheffield beforehand. John Motson was an ever present fixture in so many of our lives.

☆ Britain's salad vegetable crisis its own fault, says former Sainsbury's boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The crisis has been exacerbated by less winter production in greenhouses in Britain and the Netherlands due to high energy costs. "We could have chosen to subsidise the energy this winter as we have done for other industries." Horticulture has been excluded from a government Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme (ETII) that provides help with energy costs. King said that most UK supermarkets still had "very good" supply of salad vegetables coming in but overall the country is short. "That's why supermarkets introduce fair purchase policies so that 'real' customers are able to buy the one or two that they really need."

☆ Parthenon marbles could be seen both in London and Athens, museum chair says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The UK is working on a new arrangement with Greece through which the Parthenon Sculptures could be seen both in London and in Athens, British Museum chair George Osborne said on Thursday, describing it as a win-win situation. Osborne, a former finance minister, reiterated that the museum was having constructive talks with the Greek government about the marbles which have been a source of dispute between the two European countries for centuries. "But I think there is a way forward where these sculptures, the Elgin Marbles, the Parthenon Sculptures, could be seen both in London and in Athens, and that will be a win-win for Greece and for us." "If we wanted to send all the Elgin Marbles back then that would require an act of parliament, and that would be beyond my authority," he said. "But what the museum can do is try and form a new relationship with Greece."

Less than three years later on Wednesday, tens of thousands of nurses in England are estimated to have walked off work as part of an unprecedented strike shaking the country’s much-loved but troubled National Health Service. They are also striking to highlight the long-term deterioration of the service amid a chronic shortage of health care staff and ballooning living costs. Meanwhile, the health service, normally a huge source of pride for Britons, has spiraled into crisis due to long- and short-term factors including the fallout of the pandemic. As of September, there were a record 132,000 unfilled health service jobs — almost 10% of the total workforce of more than 1.3 million — according to figures released by NHS England. She described one shift in which three nurses and two student nurses looked after 15 patients.

☆ Greek PM dashes hopes of swift return of Parthenon marbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Renee Maltezou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ATHENS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday dismissed reports of an imminent repatriation of the Parthenon sculptures known in Britain as the Elgin marbles. Greece has accused Lord Elgin of theft and does not recognise the British Museum as owner of the sculptures. [1/3] A man looks at the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of stone objects, inscriptions and sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, on show at the British Museum in London October 16, 2014. The British Museum has always rejected returning the parts in its collection, which include about half of the 160 metre (525 ft) frieze that adorned the Parthenon. Many countries have pressured British institutions to return looted artefacts, especially given that the British Museum only displays about 1% of its collection.

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