London: Six arrests amid Extinction Rebellion protests as Olympians scale oil tanker April 16, 2022 Six people have been arrested after Extinction Rebellion activists, including a pair of Olympians, scaled a Shell oil tanker. The Met police confirmed six arrests for vehicle interference had been made on Saturday, the BBC reported. Climate change activists had been demonstrating in central London against the government funding fossil fuels. It was not known [...]
Almost two thirds of Brits want Boris to go if hit with more party fines April 16, 2022 Just under two thirds of Brits believe Boris Johnson should quit if he receives further fines for lockdown-breaking parties, a poll has found. According to a YouGov poll for The Times, 63 per cent of the public think the Prime Minister should resign if he is fined again for attending Downing Street parties. The Prime [...]
Easter Reads part one: the best in our opinion pages on politics, the economy and Ukraine April 16, 2022 Back when partygate was “seemingly” subsiding, Giles Kenningham looked at another political headache for Johnson, one with a much longer legacy: the future of the Union. The pandemic gave a taste of greater independence to the devolved nations, and now some want to keep it – surely, that’s the case with Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon. To [...]
Moody’s warns Russia is on verge of defaulting on debt obligations April 16, 2022 Russia is on the verge of defaulting on its debt obligations, a major credit agency has cautioned. The country broke the terms of two bond contracts with payments scheduled on 4 April by paying in rubles, instead of dollars. US financial services firm Moody’s has noted the use of rubles “represents a change in payment [...]
Eurozone inflation forecast to double this year as industry confidence plummets April 16, 2022 Inflation in the eurozone is anticipated to double to six per cent this year, piling more pressure on the European Central Bank to hike interest rates. Inflation expectations have shot up from an average of three per cent to six per cent in 2022, according to the ECB’s quarterly survey of economists. This is three [...]
Online booking agents have been behaving like kings – it’s time to topple them April 16, 2022 As the nation begins to plan summer breaks, following a tortuous two pandemic-fuelled years, a collective sigh of relief should be heard from Somerset to Stoke. But there’s little relief to be had when a broken system is driving a false market of competition. For years, the travel industry network titans have been able to [...]
President Zelenskiy: Up to 3,000 Ukrainian troops killed in war with Russia so far April 16, 2022 The Ukrainian president has said some 2,500 to 3,000 troops have been killed in the conflict with Russia, after seven weeks of war. There was no count of civilian casualties, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy told US broadcaster CNN. Some 10,000 soldiers had been injured. Zelenskiy said between 19,000 to 20,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in [...]
Priti Patel faces Home Office walk-outs as migrants could be sent to Rwanda within ‘weeks’ April 16, 2022 The home secretary could have to battle walk-outs and transfer requests after criticism of a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. In a bid to tackle Channel crossings, Priti Patel is heading an agreement with Rwanda that would send asylum seekers to the African nation. However, the Telegraph newspaper has reported mass discontent among [...]
Bank Holiday shopping: High streets anticipate Easter weekend footfall boost April 16, 2022 High streets are set to receive a footfall boost over the Easter weekend as shoppers make the most of good weather. Retail insight firm Springboard has forecast footfall will rise 6.2 per cent week on week, across all retail destinations. A spike on Saturday will see footfall lifted some 13.3 per cent, from the week [...]
Twitter takes ‘poison pill’ as board battles to thwart Musk takeover April 16, 2022 Twitter has adopted a ‘poison pill’ tactic in order to obstruct Elon Musk’s plans to take over the social media company. Twitter’s board unanimously approved a limited-duration shareholder rights plan on Friday. The so-called ‘poison pill’ would allow existing shareholders to buy stocks at a substantial discount to dilute the holdings of new investors. In [...]