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☆ Queen Elizabeth II's funeral cost over $200 million, UK government reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II cost the U.K. government around £162 million ($201.4 million), the Treasury said on Thursday. The U.K.'s longest-serving monarch died on Sept. 8, 2022, aged 96, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. A 10-day period of national mourning, during which most businesses and workplaces remained open but many events were canceled, was held ahead of her funeral in Westminster Abbey on Sept. 18. An estimated 250,000 members of the public saw the British queen lying in state in London during the mourning period, with many queuing in the streets of London for more than 24 hours. She was buried at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Berkshire.

☆ Banks call for scrapping UK share tax to boost City
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Britain should scrap its tax on buying shares to increase London's attraction as a global financial centre as it faces fierce competition post-Brexit, banking body UK Finance said on Tuesday. Britain is reforming its financial sector following Brexit, which has fuelled concerns over London's ability to attract top company listings. "In the short-term, the 0.5% stamp duty currently charged on share purchases should be removed to reduce the cost of investing and help wider participation," UK Finance Chief Executive David Postings told an event. UK Finance launched a report which made recommendations on how to help the "pre-eminent" financial sector face tough global competition. The recommendations will feed into a broader report being compiled by the UK Capital Markets Industry Taskforce, due in the autumn.

☆ Eurovision: The coronation may have passed off peacefully. But song contest could be a bigger headache
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

London CNN —Britain’s security services are quietly relieved that the coronation of King Charles III passed without major incident – save for some accusations of heavy-handed policing. On the face of it, the stakes associated with the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest would not appear to be particularly high. For that reason, British security officials are more exercised than they might otherwise have been about a kitschy musical competition. “On one hand you have thousands of people enjoying the nightlife, which means potential of physical targets and organized crime. This year’s event is, at its heart, a partnership between the UK and Ukraine, two major thorns in the Kremlin’s side.

☆ UK police face backlash over handling of anti-monarchy protests during coronation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It comes after the much-maligned Metropolitan Police force faced criticism for what many said was a heavy-handed approach toward demonstrators. Frazer said the police were tasked with balancing people’s right to protest with overseeing an international event on the world stage. Anti-monarchy protesters demonstrate near the procession route for Britain's King Charles III coronation in London on Saturday. Republic, Britain’s largest anti-monarchy group, told CNN Saturday that police – without providing any reason – arrested organizers of the anti-monarchy protest. A member of the public attends a "Rally For A Republic - Not My King" anti-monarchy rally on Calton Hill in Edinburgh on Saturday.

☆ Opinion: What King Charles should do now
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Opinion Keith Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Editor’s note: Keith Magee is senior fellow and visiting professor in cultural justice at University College London Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Keith Magee Arron DunworthFor King Charles III, his coronation Saturday at London’s Westminster Abbey was the culmination of a lifetime spent preparing to ascend to the throne. The British monarch is, in theory at least, a neutral figurehead with no political affiliations, no manifesto and no discernible allegiance to any side in the so-called culture wars. If the sovereign joins them, other such families, organizations and eventually the UK government (despite its current stance) will surely follow suit. If that happens, Charles might yet, like his mother at the time of her coronation, become the living embodiment of a nation’s hope for a better, fairer future at home and abroad.

Liverpool fans have a history of booing the national anthem, most recently doing so before last season’s FA Cup final at Wembley – many also booed Prince William when he appeared on the pitch. So why exactly do Liverpool fans have a history of booing the monarchy? Booing of the national anthem at football matches when the team played at Wembley – which was frequent given Liverpool’s dominance of English football in this era – became widespread and remains so today. Liverpool fans have a history of booing the national anthem. And, in an article written on Friday, football journalist Dominic King suggested Liverpool fans might just sing the club’s own anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” instead of “God Save The King” on Saturday.

☆ Regulators are starting to investigate how to deal with the rapid rise of consumer AI like ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Regulators are starting to investigate how to deal with the rapid rise of consumer AI like ChatGPT. The UK's competition watchdog is reviewing how to make AI accessible but safe to use. US vice president Kamila Harris met with top AI firms on Thursday to discuss safety around AI. The UK government is calling for an investigation into the rapid rise of consumer AI like ChatGPT to create guidance around how to protect and support consumers, businesses, and the economy. Twitter CEO Elon Musk, AI experts, and leaders in the industry including Steve Wozniak and Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque signed an open letter requesting a pause on the development of AI more powerful than OpenAI's GPT4 as worries mount about the dangers it poses.

☆ The trans soccer team that’s making history
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Hannah Ryan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

On the rainy evening of March 31, 2023, he captained what he says is the first ever all trans masculine soccer team in Europe in a match. “I was quite nervous before the match,” Webber told CNN. They now also aim to make soccer a more inclusive sport and connect the trans community. “After the all trans feminine team played their game and once I’d played with the all-gender team, she took me aside and said she’d been thinking about what we could do next and asked if I’d be interested in captaining an all trans masc team,” Webber said. “One day, there’ll be hundreds of trans people playing football all over the country at all levels.”

☆ Tragedy chanting: ‘Vile’ soccer songs about deaths fueled by ‘need to hurt’ opposing fans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Described as “vile” and “unacceptable” and fueled by “the need to hurt,” ‘tragedy chanting’ is becoming an increasing concern to soccer authorities. Then, in 1989, overcrowding in the stands ahead of the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans. Nottingham Forest fans hold up a banner in memory of the 97 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. The working group has also been in contact with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to discuss whether convictions can be pursued for fans that engage in tragedy chanting. Heysel Stadium Disaster, May 1985.

☆ As cost of living crisis bites, some Brits are questioning spending money on glitzy coronation As cost of living crisis bites, some Brits are questioning spending money on glitzy coronation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

The church operates the cafe alongside a food bank which offers free food, clothes, household items and other necessities to locals who are struggling. When it first opened before the pandemic, the food bank was serving mostly homeless people. Liz Coopey, left, a volunteer at the Given Freely Freely Given food bank in Doncaster, helps local resident Angela Davis with her shopping bags. The Given Freely Freely Given food bank in Doncaster offers its clients other items than just food, including household goods and clothing. Liz Coopey, one of the volunteers there, said she understands the idea of having to rely on a food bank might be scary to many.

☆ Britain readies for King Charles' coronation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

King's Bodyguards for Scotland and members of Royal Company of Archers Alex Baillie-Hamilton and Paul Harkness stand guard by the Stone of Destiny at Westminster Abbey during a welcome ceremony, in central London, Britain, April 29, 2023. The stone, an ancient symbol of Scotlandis monarchy, will play a central role in the Coronation of The King in the Abbey on Saturday 6th May. In 1296, King Edward I brought the stone to Westminster. He placed it within the Coronation Chair, the oak seat he commissioned in 1300-1301 and which has been the centre piece of coronations for more than 700 years. In 1996, the UK government announced that the stone would return to Scotland, but would come back to the Abbey for coronations.

☆ Coronation travel guide: Transport advice, London hotels and where to watch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Take the Conrad London St. James, for example, which sits between the Mall and Westminster Abbey. Most of the roads around Westminster Abbey and St. James’s Park Underground station will be blocked off. How to see the coronationCharles and Camilla will ride in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty ImagesThe coronation itself will take place on the morning of Saturday May 6 at Westminster Abbey. Royal Windsor Racecourse, near Windsor Castle, and on the bank of the River Thames, is having a race night to celebrate the day’s public holiday.

☆ Consultancies are coming off a pandemic boom. Are they still worth hiring?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Management consultancies helped design vaccination programs during the pandemic and are currently providing advice on how to rescue one of the world’s biggest banks. The $230 billion management consulting industry is a broad church: it includes companies offering everything from project management expertise to designing new organizational structures. Many big firms — think EY and KPMG — also conduct audits and advise on their clients’ tax issues, though these services are generally seen as distinct from their consulting work. In The Big Con, published in February, prize-winning economist Mariana Mazzucato and her co-author Rosie Collington argue that management consultancies “infantilize” governments by keeping them dependent on their services. Nearly 80% of firms surveyed globally have told the think-tank that consultants’ work is either of high or very high quality, she noted.

☆ Bank of England tells insurers to moderate their push into pensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - The Bank of England warned insurers on Thursday not over extend themselves in grabbing more business from pension schemes eager to offload risks. Charlotte Gerken, executive director for insurance supervision at the Bank, said that in the face of considerable temptation to capture business opportunities, insurers need to exercise caution. Bulk purchase annuities (BPA) are long-term policies from life insurers for company defined benefit, or final salary, pension schemes. UK life insurers could take on more than 500 billion pounds ($623.70 billion) of pension liabilities over the coming decade, she said. "Insurers therefore need to understand, as they take on these vast sums of assets and liabilities, how they may become greater sources or amplifiers of liquidity risk," Gerken said.

☆ UK government and BoE weigh immediate access to cash after SVB collapse - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - The Bank of England and Britain's finance ministry are considering reforms that would provide uninsured depositors with immediate access to their cash in the event of a bank failure, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Authorities were looking into whether some money could be released upfront, which would be covered by taxpayers based on how much cash uninsured depositors were likely to recover, Bloomberg said, citing government officials. Spokespeople for the Treasury and the BoE declined to comment. Bloomberg said discussions were at an early stage and a number of options on deposit insurance reform were being considered. Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

CNN —Wimbledon will cover accommodation costs for Ukrainian tennis players competing at this year’s tournament, organizers announced on Tuesday. Last month, organizers announced that Russian and Belarusian players would be able to participate at Wimbledon as “neutrals” having been barred from competing last year amid the war in Ukraine. Russian and Belarusian flags will be prohibited, while any symbols or signs of support for the war or for either the Russian or Belarusian regime won’t be allowed. Bolton said that the tournament won’t be shown in Russia or Belarus and that Russian media will not be welcome at this year’s event. Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the calendar year, runs from July 3 to 16.

☆ UK food banks give out record amount as rising living costs drive hardship
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest food bank network said the amount of emergency food parcels it distributed rose 37% to a record 3 million in the year to March as more people faced hardship in a cost-of-living crisis that shows little sign of easing. The Trussell Trust, which supports a network of 1,300 food bank centres across the United Kingdom, said on Wednesday more than a million parcels were provided for children. It said over the year, 760,000 people used a food bank in its network for the first time, an increase of 38% year-on-year. This included an unprecedented rise in the number of employed people, who are no longer able to balance a low income against rising living costs. The Trussell Trust also noted that the number of parcels provided in the year to March was more than double the annual amount distributed by food banks five years ago.

☆ Science Proves the 4-Day Workweek Prevents Burnout, Helps Productivity
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Shubham Agarwal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

At the time, back in 2018, a New Zealand firm had just wrapped up a landmark trial to test the efficacy of a four-day workweek. A lot of the benefits of the four-day workweek come down to a simple, everyday activity: sleep. A lot of the benefits of the four-day workweek come down to a simple, everyday activity: sleep. Less time, more productiveThough the four-day workweek may seem like a recent phenomenon, it's been decades in the making. But for now, the four-day workweek certainly has the potential to be a far-reaching antidote to pressing workplace concerns such as mass resignations and the burnout crisis.

If it is just a lagged statistical quirk, then the huge disparity in March inflation rates - of some 3-5 percentage points with western peers - should narrow sharply by yearend. With an election due next year, that may prove a big factor in any re-convergence of inflation rates if the cost of that is a much deeper economic downturn that rest. The question about Britain as an inflation outlier re-opens the age-old issue about just how that should be priced into sterling. For much of the past 10 years, G7 inflation rates were largely locked together in either their subdued pre-pandemic state or during the wild price spikes since. If UK inflation turns "idiosyncratic" among its peers during the much-vaunted normalization, then currency markets may need to rethink fundamental long-term assumptions about purchasing power, Gallo reckons.

☆ Chelsea: How American billionaire owner blew over $600 million but ended up with nothing this season
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —“We’re all in – 100%,” US billionaire businessman Todd Boehly told Chelsea fans upon his arrival at the club in May 2022. Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League after losing to Real Madrid 4-0 on aggregate. Following the loss against Real Madrid, Chelsea captain Thiago Silva spoke candidly to reporters on the issues that come with this kind of spending. Besides Kai Havertz and Marc Cucurella, no Chelsea outfield player has started more than 20 games in the Premier League this season. The Blues are on course to have their lowest scoring season in Premier League history with their current total of 30 goals.

☆ London Marathon could face potential disruption from environmental groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It’s genocidal.”Just Stop Oil have glued themselves to roads, ziplocked their necks to goal posts, blockaded oil facilities and targeted iconic artwork. More recently, two Just Stop Oil activists caused delays at the World Snooker Championship after storming the tables and throwing orange powder paint on one of the playing surfaces. “It’s time for everyone to join us in civil resistance or face the loss of everything we know and love. A Just Stop Oil protester recently disrupted the World Snooker Championship on Monday. The London Marathon is set to begin with the wheelchair and elite events before the mass start follows at around 10 a.m. local time.

☆ Morning Bid: Crowded bonds unnerved
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This has some wondering if the recent dash for cash and top-rated bonds has become a bit crowded and how much more tightening central banks have to do. As we move into the weeds of the first-quarter U.S. earnings season, it's been a mixed bag so far. That clearly unnerved UK government bonds - where 10 year yields jumped 10bps - but it also jarred sovereign bonds around the world. Elsewhere, further signs of healing were evident in the global bank funding market. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) sold $1 billion of additional tier-1 debt, the first major global bank to sell the risky securities since similar bonds issued by Credit Suisse were wiped out last month.

BELFAST, April 19 (Reuters) - The UK government's cyber defence agency warned on Wednesday of an emerging threat to Western critical national infrastructure posed by hackers sympathetic to Russia and its war on Ukraine. Russia-aligned "hacktivists" have carried out largely harmless online campaigns that have defaced prominent public websites or knocked them offline. "Some have stated a desire to achieve a more disruptive and destructive impact against western critical national infrastructure, including in the UK," the NCSC said. Although such groups are ideologically-motivated and align themselves with Russian state interests, they are "not subject to formal state control," the alert said. A successful cyberattack on critical national infrastructure such as an energy grid or water supply could be highly destructive, and do serious real-world damage.

☆ King Charles has a personal fortune of almost $750 million — hundreds of millions more than the late Queen, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

King Charles has a personal fortune worth nearly $750 million, The Sunday Times reported. Analysis by the London newspaper found he is worth about $285 million more than the late Queen. It generated £23 million ($28.5 million) in profits last year and £212 million ($263 million) in the decade to 2022. He is likely to be ahead of David and Victoria Beckham, who were worth £380 million ($472 million) in last year's ranking, and Sir Elton John, who was worth £395 million ($490 million). As King, Charles is now in control of the Crown Estate, worth about £15.6 billion ($19.4 billion).

☆ Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch survived the phone-hacking scandal. Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit will test whether he can do it again.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Now, two voting-technology companies, Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, want to make another Murdoch media property pay even more for Fox News's role in spreading election denial. But the phone-hacking scandal showed how Murdoch has weathered challenges to his power before. Another key difference from the phone-hacking scandal is the presence of written records that show Fox execs knew exactly what was going on. In the last quarter of 2022, Fox Corp. netted $321 million on $4.6 billion in revenue. And during the phone-hacking scandal, Murdoch showed fierce loyalty.

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