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☆ Sometimes U.S. and U.K. Politics Seem in Lock Step. Not This Year.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Conservative British prime minister sets the date for a long-awaited vote in the early summer and the United States follows with a momentous presidential election a few months later. It happened in 2016, when Britons voted for Brexit and Americans elected Donald J. Trump, and now it’s happening again. Political soothsayers might be tempted to study the results of Britain’s July 4 general election for clues about how the United States might vote on Nov. 5. “We’re just in a very different place politically than the U.S. right now,” said Robert Ford, a professor of politics at the University of Manchester. The Conservatives have been in power for 14 years, he noted, Brexit has faded as a political issue, and there is no British equivalent of Mr. Trump.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Joseph R, Biden, “ We’re, ”, Robert Ford, Brexit Organizations: Conservative, Brexit, European Union, Labour Party, Conservatives, Democratic, Republican, University of Manchester Locations: Conservative British, United States, U.S

☆ UK rainforests: Photos reveal the ancient and rare woodland habitat
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Lush greens, tangled wood, blurs of light – giant images of rainforests hang on the walls of a church in London. The images are not of tropical rainforests, but very rare temperate rainforest in the UK. Forest bathingVestey’s first trip to a temperate rainforest was in Devon, southwest England. Since then, Vestey estimated she has visited around 60% of the remaining temperate rainforests in the UK. They started spending more time in the ancient woodland at Cabilla, their family’s 300-acre farm on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.

Persons: CNN —, birdsong, Joanna Vestey, “, Vestey, ”, Qing Li, “ I’m, Merlin Hanbury, Tenison, Lizzie, Hanbury, Tara Juno Rowse, I’ve Organizations: CNN, UK’s Art, University of Exeter Locations: London, Britain, Ireland, Cornwall, Scotland, Devon, England, Japan, UK’s, Afghanistan, Hanbury, Cabilla, Bodmin Moor, “, Tenison, British, Bodmin

☆ Sunak Says U.K. Won’t Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda Before Election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In calling a general election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain cast himself this week as a leader with a clear plan. That did not include carrying an umbrella during his remarks in front of 10 Downing Street, where Mr. Sunak was drenched in a spring shower that yielded a flood of snarky headlines. “Drowning Street,” said the tabloid City A.M. “Drown & out,” cried The Daily Mirror. Mr. Sunak signaled that his government’s signature political project — putting asylum seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda — would not be set in motion before voters went to the polls on July 4. Speaking to the BBC, Mr. Sunak cited the Rwanda policy to draw a sharp contrast with the opposition Labour Party, which he accused of having no plan to stop asylum seekers who make hazardous crossings of the English Channel in small boats.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, ”, “, Rwanda — Organizations: Downing, Daily Telegraph, BBC, Labour Party Locations: Rwanda

☆ Opinion: Rewatching ‘Notting Hill,’ the truly unbelievable part is Hugh Grant’s house
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Opinion Laura Beers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The Notting Hill of the 1990s was still socially heterodox and shabby chic, a neighborhood where a group of 30-something professionals could plausibly have ended up. Even in the late 1990s, such access to disposable income marked the characters in “Notting Hill” out as privileged. Yet, in the 1990s, Notting Hill, long a center of Caribbean immigrant culture and the site of the annual Notting Hill Carnival, underwent a rapid process of gentrification. Between 1995 and 1999, Notting Hill house prices rose by 75%. The colorful terraced houses of Notting Hill, which these days sell for millions of pounds.

Persons: Laura Beers, ”, George Orwell’s, Richard Curtis ’, Julia Roberts, Anna Scott, Hugh Grant, William Thacker, Roberts, Laura Beers Laura Beers, it’s, —, Curtis, Hill’s, Hugh Grant's, Winston, George Orwell, Orwell, Tony Blair’s Britain, Bill Clinton’s America, Grant’s, Tony Blair, Steve Eason, Notting, Spike, Rhys Ifans, Notting Hill, Mike Kemp, San, Spencer Platt, Rishi Sunak’s government’s, Bill, Rewatching Organizations: American University, CNN, MCA, Everett, Notting, Labour, Hulton, Getty, Movement, Housing, Federal Reserve, New York State, Hill ” Locations: American, London, West London, Notting, West, Britain, United States, Young, Notting Hill, Central London, San Francisco, Manhattan, San Matteo, Redwood City, York

☆ Holocaust Death Toll on English Channel Island Is Raised by Hundreds
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Claire Moses | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A long-running debate about a small part of Britain’s Holocaust history has been settled. A panel of historians tasked with investigating the death toll in Alderney, a British Crown Dependency and one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel, has adjusted the island’s historical record, adding several hundred people to an official count from the 1940s. On Wednesday, he presented the findings with members of the panel in a packed room at the Imperial War Museum in London. It concluded that the likely range of deaths was between 641 and 1,027, with a maximum number of 1,134 people. Most of them were forced laborers from the Soviet Union.

Persons: Eric Pickles, Britain’s, — Organizations: British, Channel, Imperial War Museum Locations: Alderney, London, Soviet Union, France

☆ 'I was too trusting': Ex-Post Office boss apologizes after widespread miscarriage of justice in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Post Office Limited Paula Vennells (C) arrives to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, in central London, on May 22, 2024. The scandal has been described at an ongoing public inquiry as "the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history". The Post Office took 700 people to court between 1999 and 2015 based on faulty evidence resulting from central I.T. Questions remain over what Vennells and other executives knew, all while the Post Office continued to push for sub-postmaster prosecutions. Vennells joined at a time when the Post Office was losing significant amounts of money and was under pressure to improve its financial performance.

Persons: Paula Vennells, Vennells, Martin Griffiths Organizations: Post, Britain's, Fujitsu, Post Office Locations: London, I.T

☆ UK general election: PM Rishi Sunak calls surprise July vote as his party seeks to defy dire polls
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London CNN —UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a snap general election for July 4 in a statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening, as his Conservative Party faces an uphill struggle to extend its 14 years in power. But a fall in inflation rates, announced earlier Wednesday, provided the backdrop for his announcement. The move will be welcomed by the buoyant Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, which is soaring in the opinion polls and has sought to present itself as a reformed and moderate group that is ready for power. Sunak walks back inside on Wednesday after announcing the July 4 date for the election. But Johnson’s premiership collapsed after a string of scandals, paving the way for his then-finance minister Sunak to emerge as a frontrunner for the leadership.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Downing, King Charles III of, “, ” Sunak, Keir Starmer, Buckingham, Queen’s, Starmer, ”, Carl Court, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, —, Theresa May —, King Charles III Organizations: London CNN —, Conservative Party, Conservative, Labour Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Party, Scottish National Party, European Union, Tories Locations: Britain, Buckingham Palace, Ukraine, Downing, Sunak, United Kingdom, Rwanda, Britain’s

☆ Sunak Announces U.K. Elections for July 4, Months Earlier Than Expected
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain on Wednesday called a snap general election for July 4, throwing the fate of his embattled Conservative Party to a restless British public that appears eager for change after 14 years of Conservative government. But the Tories have discarded four prime ministers in eight years, lurching through the serial chaos of Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis. With the opposition Labour Party ahead in most polls by double digits for the last 18 months, a Conservative defeat has come to assume an air of inevitability. “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future,” Mr. Sunak said as pelting rain drenched his suit jacket. The choice for voters, he said, was to “build on the future you’ve made or risk going back to square one.”

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak’s, Barack Obama, ” Mr, Sunak, ” Organizations: Conservative Party, Conservative, Downing, Labour Party Locations: British, Britain

☆ Kristi Noem’s dog: The internet wants you to believe this is the dog she shot. It isn’t.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Indeed, when I Googled “Kristi Noem’s dog” this morning, it was one of the first pictures that popped up. It was on the “Puppy” subreddit where user “LukeWarm273” posted a photo of their dog “Blue” last year. “He’s a cutie,” one Reddit user responded. “Please join me in wishing Cricket (the dog Kristi Noem shot to death) a blessed journey to the land of beautiful puppy dog souls. The story shows a photo of Reddit user LukeWarm273's dog, Blue, next to Noem.

Persons: Kristi Noem, It’s, Kristi Noem’s, LukeWarm273 ”, NewsGuard, LukeWarm273, “, ”, Noem, Donald Trump’s, haring, lear, ince, taff, ike, rove, ake, hotos, hough, uppy) Organizations: CNN, South Dakota Gov, United Kingdom’s, Cricket, GOP Locations: Washington, DC, ”, South Dakota

☆ Brad Paisley and Howard Gospel Choir to be the entertainment for state dinner as Bidens highlight US-Kenya ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Betsy Klein | Samantha Waldenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

US President Gerald Ford dances with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a state dinner in Washington, DC, in 1976. Jason Reed/Reuters The White House's State Dining Room is seen ahead of a state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Paisley first performed at the White House in 2009 during the Obama administration as part of a music series. “Tomorrow night we’ve created an experience that will feature the beautiful scenes of the White House and the Washington Monument that few get to enjoy,” White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo said. Event planner Bryan Rafanelli also helped the White House plan for the state dinner.

Persons: Brad Paisley, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, William Ruto, Rachel Ruto, “, Howard, “ Brad Paisley, Dr . Biden, Ruto’s, Biden, Ruto, ” Biden, George W, Bush, Gerald Ford, Queen Elizabeth II, Ricardo Thomas, Gerald R, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Enrique Penaranda, Penaranda, Matthew Costello, George R, Nikita Khrushchev, He's, Nina, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Mamie Eisenhower, Costello, John F, Kennedy, Habib Bourguiba, Jackie, Moufida, Bill Allen, Lyndon B, Johnson, Errol W, Barrow, Carolyn, Richard Nixon, Leonid Brezhnev, Charles Tasnadi, Betty Ford, Jordan's King Hussein, David Hume Kennerly, Betty Sherrill, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping, Cho Lin, Carter, Nancy Reagan, Indira Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Joe DiMaggio, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, Boris Yeltsin, Naina, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Barbara, Dirck Halstead, Singer Whitney Houston, Nelson Mandela, Ron Sachs, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Mandela, Zindzi, Wally McNamee, Corbis, Bill Frist, Lynne Cheney, Dick Cheney, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Laura Bush, Prince Philip, Itzhak Perlman, Saul Loeb, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Manmohan Singh, Gursharan Kaur, Pete Souza, White, Obama, Singh, Jason Reed, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Macron, Brigitte, Jabin, Scott Morrison, Joshua Roberts, Paisley, ‘ Wake, Martin Luther, ’ ”, ” Jill Biden, we’ve, Carlos Elizondo, Cris Comerford, Bryan Rafanelli, April’s, Fumio Kishida, Yuko Kishida, CNN’s Sam Fossum Organizations: Washington CNN —, Howard Gospel Choir, White, CNN, Kenyan, Ford Presidential Library, United, White House, Historical Association, Washington Post, Getty, Barbados, AP, Indian, New York Times, Singer, South, Trump, Australian, Paisley, Japanese Locations: Kenya, United States, ”, Ghana, Africa, Russia, Namibia, Washington , DC, Bolivian, Soviet, George H.W ., toasts, Nashville, Washington

☆ Assange Can Appeal U.S. Extradition, English Court Rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A London court ruled on Monday that Julian Assange, the embattled WikiLeaks founder, could appeal his extradition to the United States, a move that opens a new chapter in his prolonged fight against the order in Britain’s courts. Two High Court judges said they would allow an appeal to be heard on a limited number of issues. In March, the judges said that the court would grant a request to appeal unless the American government gave “a satisfactory assurance” that Mr. Assange would be afforded protections under the U.S. Constitution, would not be “prejudiced by reason of his nationality,” and that “the death penalty is not imposed.”The U.S. Embassy in Britain provided assurances on those issues in a letter sent in April, but Mr. Assange’s legal team had argued in court that they did not all go far enough to meet the court’s request. Mr. Assange, 52, has been held in Belmarsh, one of Britain’s highest-security prisons, in southeastern London since 2019 as his fight against the extradition order has proceeded through the courts.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks, U.S, Constitution, Embassy Locations: United States, American, U.S, Britain, Belmarsh, London

☆ Britain’s election campaign hasn’t started yet, but the mudslinging is well underway
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

He lost two general elections as Labour leader in campaigns that focused heavily on his views regarding national security. The context for Sunak’s attack on Starmer is that the UK will vote in a general election at some point this year. “Of course Rishi doesn’t believe that Starmer himself is a threat to national security,” a senior Conservative told CNN. It’s just ridiculous and it clearly winds him up when we point it out.”No one knows for sure when the election campaign proper will start. Until then, Britain is braced for months of mudslinging between Sunak and Starmer.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Sunak, Starmer, –, Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn, Toby Melville, Rishi doesn’t, ”, ” David Gauke, ” Gauke, ” Starmer, “, ” Keir Starmer, Leon Neal, cynically, won’t, It’s Organizations: CNN, British, Labour Party, Labour, PM, NATO, Conservative, Conservative Party, “ Locations: Britain, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Rwanda, Gaza, Sunak

☆ The UK’s royal family as you’ve never seen them before
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Alongside them are the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, plus Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Kent, all holding their newborn babies. The Royal Family at Royal Lodge, 1943, conveying a reassuring sense of domesticity and calm during the war. Royal Collection TrustBeaton was the official photographer for Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. Snowdon/Royal Collection TrustAnother highlight is the earliest surviving color print of a member of the royal family. Paolo Roversi/Royal Collection TrustGET OUR FREE ROYAL NEWSLETTER • Sign up to CNN’s Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and what’s happening behind palace walls.

Persons: Elizabeth II, Prince Edward, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra, Duchess, Kent, Princess Margaret’s, Antony Armstrong, Jones, Lord Snowdon, Princess Elizabeth, Cecil Beaton, “, ”, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Margaret, Windsor . King George VI, comfortingly, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Collection Trust Beaton, Martin Charteris, Beaton, Charles, Princess Anne, Anne, Pippin, Norman Parkinson, Snowdon, Madame Yevonde, Princess Alice , Duchess of Gloucester, Edward VIII, Andy Warhol’s, Andy Warhol, Todd, Ben Fitzpatrick, Paolo Roversi’s, Princess, Catherine, Alexandra , Princess of Wales, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Wales, Cambridge, Paolo Roversi, Alessandro Nasini, Dorothy Wilding, Annie Leibovitz, David Bailey, Rankin Organizations: CNN, Royal, Royal Archives, Collection Trust, CNN’s Royal Locations: Royal, Windsor ., Buckingham, Wales

☆ King Charles' first official portrait is dividing the art world
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Maria Noyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewIf King Charles had high hopes for how the world would react to his first official portrait, they might be dashed by now. King Charles and Jonathan Yeo met four times between 2021 and 2023 for the painting. AdvertisementIts red color is particularly evocative, Khan added. Jonathan Yeo was a 'safe choice' for a royal portrait, one critic saidKhan said he's fairly confident that drawing links to the royal family's murky past with colonialism wasn't on Yeo's agenda. AdvertisementKhan, the London-based critic, admitted that he likes at least one element of the royal portrait.

Persons: —, King Charles, Jonathan Yeo, AARON CHOWN, Queen Camilla, Yeo, Tabish Khan, Khan, he's, it's, Stanley Kubrick's, wasn't, Jonathan, Charles, There's, Richard Morris, Morris, Henry VIII, Philip Mould, HENRY NICHOLLS Organizations: Service, Business, Getty, Rhode Island School of Design Locations: British, Buckingham, Washington, London

☆ Why a New Yorker Story on a Notorious Murder Case Is Blocked in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The New Yorker magazine published a 13,000-word article on Monday about one of Britain’s biggest recent criminal trials, that of the neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, who was convicted last year of the murder of seven babies. The article, by the staff writer Rachel Aviv, poses substantial questions about the evidence relied on in court. And it raises the possibility that Ms. Letby, vilified in the media after her conviction, may be the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice. But, to the consternation of many readers in Britain, the article can’t be opened on a regular browser there, and most news outlets available in Britain aren’t describing what is in it. The New Yorker deliberately blocked the article from readers in Britain because of strict reporting restrictions that apply to live court cases in England.

Persons: Lucy Letby, Rachel Aviv, Letby Organizations: Yorker Locations: Britain, England

☆ Rishi Sunak has a new target: Sex education
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ben Birchall/PA‘Utterly disgraceful’The new draft guidance from the government, published Thursday, takes aim at the way sex and relationships are taught to English children in both primary and secondary schools. Under the new approach, children can’t be taught sex education before the age of nine, while “explicit discussion of sexual activity” will be delayed until children are 13. Gender identity, or the fact that people can change gender, is meanwhile “highly contested and should not be taught” at all, according to the Department of Education. But education specialists worry that school pupils have become the latest victim of that push. “But when a political ideology comes into it, it becomes more difficult for the whole of the education world to move behind it,” he added.

Persons: Rishi Sunak’s, “, –, Sunak’s, Pepe Di’lasio, ”, ” Di’lasio, Ben Birchall, can’t, ” Paul Whiteman, Di’lasio, Sam Freedman, Britain’s, Gillian Keegan, Keir Starmer, Jane Barlow, Sunak, Brianna Ghey, ” Whiteman, Keegan, it’s, we’ve, we’re Organizations: CNN, Association of School and College Leaders, Department of Education, National Association of Head Teachers, Institute, Government, The Sun, Labour, BBC Locations: England’s, England, Starmer

AdvertisementWarning: Spoilers for the first four episodes of "Bridgerton" season 3 and the book "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton" ahead. AdvertisementHannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton on season three, episode two of "Bridgerton." Season 3 should've built on 'Queen Charlotte' moreQueen Charlotte and Lady Danbury are underutilized so far in season three. Cressida's story is one of the best parts of the season so farCressida Cowper is given more depth in "Bridgerton" this season. "Bridgerton" season three, part two premieres June 16 on Netflix.

Persons: —, Caralynn Matassa, Palmer Haasch, Adekaiyero —, Bridgerton, Penelope, Colin, schtick, Luke Newton doesn't, Luke, Caralynn, Jonathan Bailey, Palmer, that's, I'm, Eloise, Cressida, Debling, Lord Debling doesn't, Polin, they've, he's, Liam Daniel, Netflix Palmer, — they're, Kanthony, Anthony, Kate, Anthony didn't, Daphne, Simon, Benedict whoring, Benedict, Lady Tilley Arnold, Lady Tilley, Francesca, John, Kilmartin, Hannah Dodd, Francesca Bridgerton, Fran, Hannah, Violet, Claudia Jessie, I've, Charlotte, Lady, Laurence Cendrowicz, Lady Danbury, Queen Charlotte, Golda Rosheuvel, they'd, Danbury, Lord Marcus, Lady Danbury haven't, Lady Featherington, Lord Debling, Featherington, Polly Walker, it's, Will Mondrich, Mondrich, Jean Page's, Alice, Will, doesn't, Cressida Cowper, Lady Whistledown, we've Organizations: Service, Business, —, Netflix Locations: Polin's, Lady Danbury, Queen, Lady, India

☆ Royal Mail owner IDS set to agree $4.4 bln Kretinsky takeover bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

IDS owns UK's Royal Mail, which is loss making, and international parcels network GLS. Royal Mail was privatised in 2013 in one of Britain's biggest state sell-offs in decades. It is expected the commitment to offer these contractual undertakings to the British government would be reflected in the cooperation agreement between the parties if a firm offer is made, it added. EP Group now has until May 29 to make a formal offer or walk away. EP is a 100% shareholder in VESA Equity investment which owns Kretinsky's IDS stake of nearly 28%.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Keith Williams Organizations: International, Services, IDS, Royal Mail, UK's, Royal, National Security and Investment, Reuters, Equity Locations: Czech, London, Britain, British

☆ King Charles’ first official portrait by Jonathan Yeo unveiled
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Christy Choi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Buckingham Palace revealed the first official portrait of King Charles III since his coronation on Tuesday, and it’s proving to be divisive with its lurid red brushstrokes. The 8.5 by 6.5-foot painting is by British artist Jonathan Yeo, who has painted high-profile subjects throughout his career including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, actor Nicole Kidman and education activist Malala Yousafzai. Artist Jonathan Yeo's oil on canvas portrait of Britain's King Charles III. It’s what Yeo captures here.”While the celebrated artist works mainly in oils, he has dabbled in another medium: collage. The King is an artist himself, and a collection of his watercolors went on show in London in 2022.

Persons: Buckingham, King Charles III, Jonathan Yeo, Tony Blair, Nicole Kidman, Malala Yousafzai, Yeo, Charles, Prince, Wales, ”, ” Yeo, Jonathan Yeo's, Britain's King Charles III, Wales's, Charles ’, Philip Mould, — Yeo, Camilla, you’ve, “, Richard Morris, George W, Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Palin, Silvio Berlusconi, Mary Whitehouse Organizations: CNN, British, Welsh Guards, Company, ’, CNN’s Royal Locations: British, “, London

☆ SoftBank seen returning to loss in fourth quarter despite strength in tech stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group is expected to slip back into the red when it reports earnings on Monday despite technology stocks including Arm Holdings its core asset, performing well over the quarter. Analysts and investors are also eagerly awaiting clues about new growth investments as SoftBank has ample liquidity and can monetize its huge holding in Arm. The initial public offering (IPO) market remained subdued, leaving analysts uncertain of the monetization prospects for SoftBank's portfolio of unlisted tech startups. But while the Arm stake may make possible an investment on this scale, its dominance within SoftBank's portfolio poses a risk should market sentiment turn, hitting SoftBank's value and fundraising capacity. Morningstar analyst Javier Correonero estimates a fair value for Arm of $57 per share, compared to its recent trading range around $100 per share.

Persons: SoftBank, Arm's, DiDi, Shogo Tono, Javier Correonero Organizations: SoftBank, Arm Holdings, Grab Holdings, LSEG, Nomura Securities, Nvidia, Morningstar Locations: Britain, Coupang

☆ London's elite Garrick Club votes to allow women for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — Members of Britain's exclusive all-male Garrick Club has reportedly voted to permit women to join the institution for the first time in its 193-year history. The historic vote comes after the club has been under immense scrutiny over recent weeks following the publication by the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper of some of the elite club's most influential members. The closely-guarded membership list showed the club to be an emblem of Britain's patriarchal establishment, with the majority of members white and aged over 50. Notable public figures from the arts, including actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Brian Cox, were also named. The Garrick Club, named after the 18th-century actor David Garrick, was founded in 1831 as a place where "actors and men of refinement and education might meet on equal terms," according to a statement on the club's website.

Persons: Garrick, King Charles III, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Cox, David Garrick Organizations: U.K, Secret Intelligence Service, Garrick Locations: London

☆ Sunak to Urge University Leaders to Protect Jewish Students on Campus
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Stephen Castle | Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain will tell university leaders on Thursday to do more to combat antisemitism on college campuses, in a sign of rising dissatisfaction within government about the recent growth of encampments set up by students protesting the war in Gaza. Vice chancellors from some of Britain’s prominent universities have been invited to Downing Street to discuss “escalating antisemitic abuse toward Jewish students in the U.K.,” Mr. Sunak’s office said in a statement issued in advance of the meeting. But small-scale, largely peaceful protest encampments have sprung up recently around several universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester. “Universities should be places of rigorous debate but also bastions of tolerance and respect for every member of their community,” Mr. Sunak said the statement released by his office ahead of the meeting. “A vocal minority on our campuses are disrupting the lives and studies of their fellow students and, in some cases, propagating outright harassment and antisemitic abuse.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, ” Mr, Sunak, “, ” Organizations: “ Locations: Britain, Gaza, Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester

☆ Britain’s ‘ugliest dog’ will feature in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ says Ryan Reynolds
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —While Marvel fans are excited for the super-heroic teamup between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in this summer’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” there is another character – of the four-legged variety – set to make her debut in the movie as well. “Her real name is Peggy, and she won the award for Britain’s Ugliest Dog,” Reynolds told Empire Magazine in an article published on Tuesday. “It was one of those things where you just keep listening to the movie, and Dogpool became a staple.”According to BBC, Peggy won the unique title of Britain’s ugliest dog in January of 2023. Equipped with her very own “Dogpool” Instagram page, Peggy also appeared in a still from the new movie on Reynolds’ own Instagram in December of last year. “It’s love at first sight,” he told Empire of the bond between his character Deadpool and the pup.

Persons: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Reynolds, “, Peggy, ” Reynolds, Wade Wilson, ”, Dogpool “, Deadpool, Wolverine ”, Dogpool, – Organizations: CNN, Marvel, Empire Magazine, BBC Locations: Leven, Hornsea, East Yorkshire

☆ European Oil Giants Consider Shifting Their Listings to the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Stanley Reed | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Two European energy giants, TotalEnergies of France and Shell of Britain, are considering moving their stock listings to New York, as pressure mounts for them to improve their valuations, which lag their American counterparts. Shifting their listings to the United States would be a blow to European exchanges, where they are among the largest listed companies. In the past, it would have been almost unthinkable for TotalEnergies, one of France’s most prominent companies, to consider moving its primary share listing from Paris. But the company’s chief executive, Patrick Pouyanné, discussed considering such a shift to analysts recently. “There was a discussion with the board,” Mr. Pouyanné said on a recent call to discuss earnings.

Persons: Patrick Pouyanné, ” Mr, Pouyanné, ” Organizations: Shell Locations: France, Britain, New York, United States, Paris

☆ The UK could need an Israeli-style Iron Dome air defense system, says former US national security advisor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewFormer US National Security Advisor General HR McMaster has said the UK must prepare for possible future conflicts by building an Israeli-style Iron Dome air defense system. Indeed, the UK is considering developing its own Iron Dome air defense system amid growing tensions with Russia and its allies. The Israeli modelMissiles launched from the Iron Dome defense system attempt to intercept a rocket fired from Gaza strip. Related storiesIsrael's short-range Iron Dome is a mobile all-weather air defense system that has been in service since 2011. Aside from internal discussions on an Iron Dome, the UK is in talks to join Europe's aerial defense system.

Persons: —, McMaster, Adm, Sir Tony Radakin, Michael Clarke, Clarke, MAHMUD HAMS, Rishi Sunak, Israel, Aleksey Zhuravlyov, Putin, Vladimir Solovyov, I've, T6GN35UGtG — Anton Gerashchenko Organizations: Service, US National Security, McMaster, LBC, Business, Britain's Armed Forces, Iron, Getty, UK, Newsweek, Design, Sky, UK Ministry of Defense, NATO Locations: United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Russia, Europe, China, Iran, North Korea, Gaza, AFP, London, Ukraine, British, Russian, Baltic

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