Page 11 - Uk

UK general election betting scandal now engulfs Opposition Labour Party

The escalating scandal of candidates placing general election-related bets has widened from the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak-led Conservative Party to engulf the Opposition Labour Party after its leader, Keir Starmer, suspended one of his candidates for betting against himself ahead of the July 4 polls. Kevin Craig is running to become Labour's member of Parliament for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in eastern England, considered a safe Conservative seat. It was previously held by Dan Poulter, who defected from the Tories to Labour ahead of the election before exiting politics. On Tuesday, Craig took to social media to confirm his huge mistake of betting in favour of the Tories holding on to their stronghold. "A few weeks ago when I thought I would never win this seat I put a bet on the Tories to win here with the intention of giving any winnings to local charities, said the now-suspended Labour candidate. "While I did not place this bet with any prior knowledge of the ...

BII bullish on Indian EV ecosystem, expects to invest $300 mn in 3 yrs: MD

British International Investment, UK's development finance institution, is betting big on the Indian electric vehicles ecosystem and expects to invest another USD 300 million in the next three years, according to its MD and Head of Technology & Telecoms, Abhinav Sinha. The company, which has backed Mahindra group's electric vehicles (EV) arm besides other startups like Euler Motors, Turno and Battery Smart, has already invested around USD 300 million in the Indian EV sector and sees further investment opportunities in EV manufacturing, components and financing segments in the country. "India has quite an evolved auto market... On the EV side, the penetration right now lags the rest of the world... The (overall) penetration of EVs in India is something like 6 per cent and we see it quite easily expand, double and more than double quite quickly," Sinha told PTI in an interview. He further said, "the leader today is China, but for India to be significantly ahead of where it is ...

High cost of living bites UK. Many believe election won't change anything

Dominic Watters watches his gas and electricity metre like a hawk. He topped it up a few days ago, but now there's just 1.85 pounds (USD 2.40) of credit left. That may determine what kind of dinner he and his teen daughter get tonight, he says. Watters, a campaigner for better access to nutritious food, is a single dad in Canterbury in southern England who relies on government welfare. He knows microwave meals don't compare to home-cooked dinners, but sometimes he simply cannot afford to use the gas stove or oven. It's become more and more of a struggle, especially for single parents on benefits, he said. It leaves you feeling stranded. It doesn't allow you enough to pay for fresh fruit and vegetables, and also to pay for the gas and electric to cook the food. Since calling a general election for July 4, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been at pains to repeat a key message on the campaign trail: The economy is turning a corner. Inflation is down. Things are looking up. That'

Cargo ship hit by missile in suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels

A missile struck an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday in a suspected attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen, authorities said. The missile hit the ship's forward station, starting a fire that those on board later put out, the private security firm Ambrey said. A second missile fired at the ship missed and people on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident, Ambrey added, though no one was hurt onboard. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center similarly reported an attack late Saturday in the same area off Aden, but provided no further details. Suspicion for the attack immediately fell on the Houthis. The rebels did not immediately claim the assault, though it can sometimes take hours or even days for them to acknowledge their attacks. The Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping .

UK polls: Britain's rich race to save their wealth from election hit

The UK was expected to lose a net 3,200 high-net-worth individuals last year, the most in Europe and double 2022's level, citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners estimated

RBI transfers 100 tonnes of gold from UK to its domestic vaults in India

Reports say that another similar amount of gold could be en route to the country in the coming months

US, UK in focus as pharma companies eye $31 billion exports in FY25

Industry also working to pump up business in Africa and Russia, regions battling geopolitical crises

US, European nations taking steps to vaccinate workers exposed to bird flu

US officials last week said they were moving bulk vaccine from CSL Seqirus that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses of vaccine

Britain's regulator seeks to rein in Mastercard and Visa fees on retailers

Cards are the most popular form of payment in Britain, with 27.1 billion transactions in 2022 worth 954 billion pounds

UK's post-Brexit border arrangements to cost $6 bn after repeated delays

The first phase of Britain's so called new Border Target Operating Model, requiring additional certification, came into force on Jan. 31

India's technical assistance important, says Commonwealth chief

India's technical assistance is critically important to the Commonwealth, the Secretary General of the 56-member organisation said, asserting that it gives a huge amount of hope to many of the developing states to leapfrog the developmental challenges which have already been undertaken and surpassed by India. Patricia Scotland's remarks came as she hosted the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers meeting in London on the theme of Driving Resilience, Equity, and Skills for an Inclusive Future. Scotland welcomed India's willingness to share technological developments with the Commonwealth in an open-source way and hoped for greater commitment towards the organisation's educational goals. At the two-day meeting at the Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House headquarters in London which opened on Thursday, she called on ministers to help eliminate the barriers that impede access to education, harness technology and encourage lifelong learning. India has made it clear t

UK tightens scrutiny of all Indian spice imports amid contamination claims

"The use of ethylene oxide is not allowed here and maximum residue levels are in place for herbs and spices," James Cooper, Deputy Director of Food Policy at the FSA

Vodafone reports slight rise in net profit helped by gains in UK, Germany

On Tuesday it said it expected core earnings this year to be broadly flat at around 11 billion euros, while free cash flow would be at least 2.4 bn euros, slightly ahead of current market forecasts

Rise in UK knife attacks leads to crackdown and stokes public anxiety

A familiar horror reached Pooja Kanda first on social media: There had been a sword attack in London. And then Kanda, who was home alone at the time, saw a detail she dreaded and knew all too well. A man with a sword had killed a 14-year-old boy who was walking to school. Two years ago, her 16-year-old son, Ronan, was killed by two sword-wielding schoolmates while walking to a neighbour's to borrow a PlayStation controller. It took me back, Kanda, who lives near Birmingham, said about Daniel Anjorin's April 30 killing in an attack in London's Hainault district that also wounded four people. It's painful to see that this has happened all over again. In parts of the world that ban or strictly regulate gun ownership, including Britain and much of the rest of Europe, knives and other types of blades are often the weapons of choice used in crimes. Many end up in the hands of children, as they can be cheap and easy to get. Although the number of fatal stabbings has mostly held steady in

Nations struggle to draft pandemic treaty to avoid mistakes made in Covid

After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organisation and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak. A ninth and final round of talks involving governments, advocacy groups and others to finalise a pandemic treaty is scheduled to end Friday. The accord's aim: guidelines for how the WHO's 194 member countries might stop future pandemics and better share scarce resources. But experts warn there are virtually no consequences for countries that don't comply. WHO's countries asked the UN health agency to oversee talks for a pandemic agreement in 2021. Envoys have been working long hours in recent weeks to prepare a draft ahead of a self-imposed deadline later this month: ratification of the accord at WHO's annual meeting. But deep divisions could derail ..

Job market squeeze in UK eases in April, permanent hiring down: Survey

For months the REC survey has painted a weak picture on hiring and pay for newly employed workers that has mostly not carried over to official measures of the broader labour market

China suspected of UK's defence ministry payroll breach: Reports

The UK Parliament is expected to be briefed by the defence minister later on Tuesday after reports of a massive data breach involving the Ministry of Defence (MoD) targeting service personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. According to the BBC, the government suspects China was behind the hack of the armed forces payroll system that is run by an external contractor and includes data of both current and some past armed forces members. However, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is not expected to directly name China when he updates members of Parliament in the House of Commons as the investigation remains ongoing. The system used by the MoD includes names and bank details of armed forces personnel and in a very small number of cases, the data may include personal addresses. Government sources have stressed that no operational MoD data has been obtained in the hack, the motive behind which remains unclear. It is understood the MoD has taken immediate action and the system

King Charles III takes over charity patronages on Coronation anniversary

Britain's King Charles has significantly increased his charity patronages by nearly 300 this weekend to mark the first anniversary of his Coronation in May last year, taking over several that Buckingham Palace said were supported by his mother late Queen Elizabeth II. The palace said a major review of more than 1,000 royal patronages and charity presidencies was undertaken following the 75-year-old monarch's accession to the throne in September 2022 after the death of his mother. Other working members of the royal family, including wife Camilla and son and heir Prince William, will also take on the patronage of a number of organisations previously supported by the late Queen to add to their existing portfolios. The King and Queen [Camilla] will continue to serve as patron to many of the charities and institutions with which His Majesty was affiliated as Prince of Wales, and respectively Her Majesty as Duchess of Cornwall, a Buckingham Palace statement said on Saturday. In addition,

Man attacks public, police with sword in London, arrested by authorities

Police confirmed that the incident did not appear to be 'terror-related' and are not looking for any additional suspects

India to get its own shoe sizing system soon, set to replace UK/EU/US sizes

A recent survey conducted across India has proposed a revolutionary new shoe sizing system, tailored specifically for the Indian population. Named ‘Bha’, short for Bharat, this system aims to replace