January blues: Rail strikes hit the return to work – with even London transport affected January 3, 2023 Rail strikes are severely reducing services across the UK train network – with commuters forced to work from home on the first working day of the new year. Some Transport for London services are also affected, with the Elizabeth Line and the London Overground the most badly hit. Some other services – including the stretch [...]
Sky high? Wizz Air enjoys Christmas bump as passenger levels increase January 3, 2023 London-listed budget airline Wizz Air will be avoiding the January blues this year after a pre-Christmas traveller bump boosted 2022’s passenger numbers. The airline flew 4.18m passengers in December, up more than 50 per cent on this time last year when some parts of its European network were affected by Omicron travel destinations. The December [...]
Grocers set for £550m tax reduction over next three years January 3, 2023 UK supermarkets and grocers will benefit from an almost £550 million tax cut over the next three years, according to new analysis. It comes after more than half a million retail properties in England and Wales were revalued as part of a shake-up to the business rates system of property taxes. Analysis of official government [...]
House prices: First-time buyers fell last year – and crash may not be as drastic as predicted January 3, 2023 A predicted fall in house prices may do little to change the prospects for first-time buyers in London The number of first-time buyers is estimated to have fallen by around nine per cent in 2022, according to analysis by a building society. Across the UK, the number of people taking their first step onto the [...]
Brexit: Protocol ‘too strict’ and mistakes made on all sides, Ireland’s Varadkar says January 3, 2023 Brexit mistakes were made on all sides according to Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, but vowed to be “flexible and reasonable” when attempting to solve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol. He conceded that the post-Brexit protocol is “too strict” and said he understands unionist concerns that the treaty has made them feel less British. Mr [...]
Ronaldo to be unveiled as player for Saudi side Al Nassr TODAY January 3, 2023 Cristiano Ronaldo will be presented as an Al Nassr player in Riyadh at 1600GMT on Tuesday. The 37-year-old former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus star has flown to Saudi Arabia to undergo a medical before his first public appearance in the club’s colours at the 30,000-seater stadium Mrsool Park at 1900 local time. “All [...]
100 road traffic officers for National Highways launch strike today January 3, 2023 More than 100 road traffic officers and control room operators working for National Highways across England will launch a 48-hour strike on Tuesday. The walkout by members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) is part of industrial action in a bitter dispute over pay, pensions and jobs. Around 100,000 PCS members working in 124 [...]
Retail footfall dropped by more than a quarter in week after Christmas January 2, 2023 Footfall across the UK’s retail destinations dropped by more than a quarter in the week after Christmas compared with the week before, figures show. Retail expert Springboard said footfall last week was 27.7 per cent lower than the week before, and 19.7 per cent down on the same week in 2019. It was just 7.2 [...]
Ukraine says 63 Russian soldiers were killed in strike on military base January 2, 2023 Some 63 Russian soldiers have been killed by a Ukrainian strike on a military facility in the eastern Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a HIMARS launch system and two of them were shot down, a Russian defence ministry statement said. The strike, using a US-supplied precision weapon that has proven critical in [...]
Tell-all book to reveal ‘blatant calumnies and dark manoeuvres’ against Pope Benedict XVI January 2, 2023 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary has written a tell-all book that his publisher has promised would tell the truth about the “blatant calumnies”, “dark manoeuvres”, mysteries and scandals that sullied the reputation of a pontiff best known for his historic resignation. Archbishop Georg Gaenswein’s Nothing But The Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict [...]
