Three figures showing why Small Business Saturday is so important December 5, 2015 Small Business Saturday is when Britain's millions of smaller enterprises, set up by enterprising individuals and yet often overshadowed by their bigger counterparts, get their time to shine. The day seeks to draw attention to small business success, while encouraging consumers to "shop local" and support small businesses in their communities. Here's three figures showing why small [...]
Cumbria, Appleby and Keswick flooding: UK weather warnings issued as Storm Desmond hits December 5, 2015 Parts of the UK were plunged into chaos today as Storm Desmond swept across the country, bringing heavy rain, gale force winds and flooding. There have been 26 severe flood warnings, indicating a danger to life, issued by the Environment Agency. Read more: Insurers already ready for bad weather and Storm Desmond And the Met Office issued its highest red warning for [...]
COP21 Paris climate summit: UN climate talks approve draft text for a deal December 5, 2015 Delegates at a UN climate conference in Paris today cleared a key hurdle to the formation of an international climate deal. Ministers worked through the night to sign off the draft text, which creates a common basis from which they will now try to resolve hundreds of points of disagreement. Laurence Tubiana, French climate envoy, told the [...]
Syria crisis: RAF jets hit oilfield In second round of air strikes December 5, 2015 UK jets carried out the second wave of airstrikes Syria yesterday night, in a bid to destroy Islamic State (Isis) controlled oil fields, which the British government says are being used to fund terror attacks on the West. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said that two Tornado jets, and for the first time, two Typhoons carried out eight attacks [...]
UK housing crisis: Build to Rent investment to triple by 2020 December 5, 2015 Investment in Build to Rent will triple to £50bn by 2020, helping it swell from two to five per cent of the private rental sector, and providing minor relief to the UK's growing housing crisis. It's pertinent as the number of first time buyers and young homeowners are declining, at a time when private rental stock is [...]
San Bernardino shootings: US treating California attack as an “act of terrorism” December 5, 2015 The FBI is probing the San Bernardino shootings by a couple which killing 14 people wounded and 21 others, as an act of terrorism, with the wife is believed to have pledged her allegiance to the Islamic state in a Facebook post. "Based on the information and the facts as we know them, we are now investigating [...]
UK weather: Storm Desmond threatens to bring floods and strong winds across Scotland, England and Wales as the Met Office issues weather alert December 5, 2015 The Met Office has issued an amber alert as parts of Scotland continue to be hit with heavy rain, flooding and strong winds from Storm Desmond this weekend. Forecasters have warned that up to 200mm (7.8 inches) of rain could hit central and southern Scotland, Tayside and Fife over a 30-hour period. Up to a month’s rain is forecast over the [...]
European central bank boss Mario Draghi says “no limit” to policy tools December 5, 2015 European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi has said that there's "no limit" to the arsenal of tools it can deploy to fight stubbornly low inflation and slow growth. Draghi, in prepared remarks to an audience in New York, said: "We will secure the return of inflation to 2 percent without undue delay, because we are currently deploying [...]
Countdown to Christmas 2015: Seven losers of the year featuring Sepp Blatter, Ukip and the England rugby team December 5, 2015 For every glorious sporting triumph, history-making achievement, scientific breakthrough, artistic masterpiece or political triumph achieved in 2015, there has been a fall from grace to go with it. Whether it's an ousted president, collapsed share price or corporate disaster, for this lot, 2016 can't come soon enough. Read more: Beer, burritos and gifs: This was crowdfunding in 2015 [...]