Page 7 - Uk

UK grocery inflation slows to 3.3% in January, sales rise 4.3%: Kantar

Supermarkets stepped up promotions in January, Tesco gains most market share in 12 weeks to Jan 26

OYO to invest £50 million in the UK for 3 years to expand premium hotels

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the Nasscom delegation to the UK, organised by the department of business and trade, UK

Rishi Sunak visits Mumbai, plays tennis-ball cricket at Parsee Gymkhana

Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday visited the Parsee Gymkhana in south Mumbai and enjoyed a game of cricket, asserting he was happy that he did not get out too many times. "No trip to Mumbai is complete without a game of tennis ball cricket," he wrote on X. "Great to be with all of you at the Parsee Gymkhana Club at its anniversary celebrations. What an extraordinary achievement. So much history and so much exciting stuff to come. I managed not to get out too many times this morning," Sunak told reporters. He said he looked forward to more such visits. The iconic Parsee Gymkhana was formed on February 25, 1885 with Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy as its founder president and Jamsetjee Tata as chairman. It moved to its current location along the picturesque Marine Drive in 1887.

Thousands in Ireland without power as Storm Owyn hits UK and France

Ireland called in help from England and France as repair crews worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people after the most disruptive storm for years. Even as the cleanup continued, more wet and windy weather hit the UK, Ireland and France on Sunday. More than 1 million people in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland were left without electricity after Storm owyn roared through on Friday. In Ireland, which suffered the heaviest damage, the wind snapped telephone poles, ripped apart a Dublin ice rink and even toppled a giant wind turbine. A wind gust of 114 mph (183 kph) was recorded on the west coast, breaking a record set in 1945. The state electricity company, ESB Networks, said that more than 300,000 properties in Ireland still had no power on Sunday, down from 768,000 on Friday. The Irish military was also helping out, but the company said that it could be two more weeks before electricity is restored to everyone. Irish Minister for Social Protection Dara Callear

Ireland, UK begin clean-up after Storm Eowyn causes widespread damage

Emergency crews began cleaning up Saturday after a storm bearing record-breaking winds left at least one person dead and more than a million without power across the island of Ireland and Scotland. Work was underway to remove hundreds of trees blocking roads and railway lines in the wake of the system, named Storm Eowyn (pronounced AY-oh-win) by weather authorities. In Ireland, wind snapped telephone poles, ripped apart a Dublin ice rink and even toppled a giant wind turbine. A wind gust of 114 mph (183 kph) was recorded on the west coast, breaking a record set in 1945. A man died after a tree fell on his car in County Donegal in northwest Ireland, local police said. They named the victim as 20-year-old Kacper Dudek. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Republic of Ireland, neighbouring Northern Ireland and Scotland, remained without electricity on Saturday, The destruction caused by some of the strongest winds on record has been unprecedented, said Irish Prime ...

Google wins UK ruling blocking Russian fine worth more than world GDP

Russian firms' $125 nonillion penalty blocked as Google challenges enforcement

UK phone hacking case: Prince Harry takes on media mogul Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch's holdings include major newspapers like The Sun and The Times and broadcasters such as Sky and Fox News

UK inflation unexpectedly eases in Dec, could reduce pressure in bond mkts

Inflation in the UK unexpectedly fell in December, a move that will likely fuel pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates again next month. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, was 2.5% in the year to December, largely as a result of easing price pressures in the services sector, which accounts for around 80% of the British economy. That was down from 2.6% the previous month. Economists had expected no change in the annual rate. Though inflation has fallen, it remains above the Bank of England's target of 2%. If the Bank of England decides to cut its main interest rate from 4.75%, it could well ease the pressure in British government bond markets, which have been volatile in recent weeks. The uptick in the interest rate investors are charging the British government to lend money over 10 years hit a 16-year high in recent days, piling pressure on Treasury chief Rachel Reeves to cut spending or raise

UK PM urged to fire Hasina's niece Tulip Siddiq as Yunus calls for probe

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus urged the UK government to launch a thorough investigation into properties linked to Tulip Siddiq, UK's anti-corruption minister

UK lawmakers slam Shein for refusing to answer questions on cotton supply

A lawyer for Shein summoned to a British parliamentary hearing evaded questions Tuesday on whether the fast-fashion giant sells products containing cotton from China, angering lawmakers seeking answers on the retailer's labour practices and allegations of forced labour in its supply chains. Executives from Shein and its rival Temu were grilled on their labour rights compliance and how they source their products at Parliament's business and trade committee Tuesday. The hearing came amid reports that Shein, which was founded in China but is now based in Singapore, is preparing for a 50 billion-pound ($62 billion) listing on the London Stock Exchange in the first quarter of this year. Both global retailers are growing in popularity worldwide for selling mostly Chinese-made clothes and products at bargain prices. But they have drawn criticism over allegations that their supply chains may be tainted by forced labour, including from China's far-west Xinjiang province, where rights groups .

Elon Musk slams UK PM over child abuse by Pak grooming gangs; UK responds

The Tesla chief has criticised UK PM Keir Starmer for 'mishandling' child exploitation cases involving Pakistani-origin gangs; UK govt said that claims made by him are 'misjudged and misinformed'

UK lab develops quantum-based atomic clock to enhance military security

A groundbreaking atomic clock built at a top-secret UK lab will make military operations more secure through experimental quantum technology over the years, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has claimed. Developed at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), the quantum clock has been dubbed a leap forward in improving intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance by decreasing the reliance on GPS technology, which can be disrupted and blocked by adversaries. In a statement on Thursday, the MoD hailed the first device of its kind to be built in the UK to be deployable on military operations in the next five years. It claims that the clock's precision is so refined that it will lose less than one second over billions of years, allowing scientists to measure time at an unprecedented scale. Integrating cutting edge technology into existing capabilities exemplifies the government's commitment to innovation in the defence sector, and to ensuring our armed forces have th

Elon Musk grooming attacks 'misjudged and misinformed': UK Health Secretary

A senior British politician pushed back Friday on Elon Musk's criticism of the government's handling of a historic child grooming scandal. In recent days, Musk has shared and reacted to posts on his X platform that have been critical of the British government after it rejected a call for a public inquiry into the grooming scandal in the north of England town of Oldham. Though Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk's views were was "misjudged and certainly misinformed, he urged the world's richest man and close confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump to work with the government on tackling the issue of child sexual exploitation. The government has argued that Oldham must follow in the footsteps of other towns and commission its own inquiry into the historical abuse of mainly girls. A 2022 report into safeguarding measures in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 found that children were failed by local agencies, but that there was no cover-up despite legitimate concerns that the ...

Why UK revoked honours of British Indian figures Rami Ranger, Anil Bhanot

British Indian leaders Rami Ranger and Anil Bhanot lose UK honours amid allegations of misconduct, sparking debates over free speech

Vodafone-Three merger approval marks UK's shift to prioritise growth

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) antitrust regulator cleared the $19 billion Vodafone-Three UK deal on Thursday after it accepted the companies' argument

World stands at the cusp of '3rd nuclear age': Britain's armed forces head

The head of Britain's armed forces has warned that the world stands at the cusp of a third nuclear age,' defined by multiple simultaneous challenges and weakened safeguards that kept previous threats in check. Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the defence staff, said Britain needs to recognise the seriousness of the threats it faces, even if there is only a remote chance of Russia launching a direct nuclear attack on the UK or its NATO allies. While the Cold War saw two superpowers held at bay by nuclear deterrence and the past three decades were characterised by international efforts to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons, the current era is altogether more complex, Radakin said Wednesday in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute. We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age' he said. It is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before. Challenges face

Ireland's major centre-right parties in coalition talks to form govt

Ireland faces weeks of coalition talks before it gets a new government, as the country's two major centre-right parties work to form a stable administration. With all but a handful of seats filled in the 174-seat legislature on Monday after three days of counting election ballots, Fianna Fail had won 46 seats and Fine Gael 38. The two parties, who have governed in coalition since 2020, look set to fall just short of the 88 needed for a majority without third-party support. The people have spoken, let us now get on with the work, said Fianna Fail leader Michel Martin. Left-of-center party Sinn Fein won at least 37 seats in Friday's election but is unlikely to be part of the next government. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have a longstanding refusal to work with Sinn Fein, partly because of its historic ties with the Irish Republican Army during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. The outcome of the election is now clear. The numbers are there for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael

Ex-UK Conservative leader Hague elected Oxford University chancellor

Former UK Conservative Party leader William Hague has been elected chancellor of Oxford University, one of the most prestigious positions in British academia, the university said Wednesday. Hague was elected in an online vote by staff and alumni of the 800-year-old university. He will replace Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, who has held the post since 2003. Hague beat contenders including former Labour Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and Elish Angiolini, the former top law officer in Scotland. The university said Hague will be inaugurated early next year and will serve a 10-year term. The chancellor is the university's titular head and presides over key ceremonies, as well as overseeing the election of the vice-chancellor, the university's day-to-day leader. Hague is an Oxford graduate who began his political career at the Oxford University Conservative Association. Elected Conservative leader at the age of 36 after the party lost power to Labour in 1997, he

India's Apollo Radiology acquires reporting wing of UK's InHealth Group

This acquisition strengthens ARI's commitment to addressing the critical shortage of radiologists globally and enhancing access to quality diagnostic services in the UK

Tata Chemicals arm TCEL plans to invest Rs 655 cr in new UK facility

Tata Chemicals on Tuesday said its wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Chemicals Europe (TCEL) is planning an investment of 60 million Euro (Rs 655 crore) to build a 1,80,000 tonnes per annum pharmaceutical grade sodium bicarbonate plant in Northwich in the UK. This new plant will triple TCEL's production capacity of pharmaceutical grade sodium bicarbonate in the UK, Tata Chemicals aid in a regulatory filing. The construction of the plant is expected to commence in 2025, with first production likely to begin in 2027. The new plant, using a patented process, will use carbon dioxide captured from energy generation emissions as a key raw material and will meet growing demand for high grade sodium bicarbonate from pharmaceutical manufacturers for use in medicines and hemodialysis. Further, Tata Chemicals said that as part of the restructuring operations to facilitate this investment, the Board of TCEL has approved the proposal to cease chemical production at its loss-making Lostock plant by t