What heatwave? M&S is already filming its Christmas advert August 7, 2016 It may be a sweltering weekend of sunshine and clear blue skies, but one street in London has already seen snowfall – albeit the fake kind – after one high street favourite started shooting its Christmas advert. Yep, you heard that right. It may be the height of summer, but the Marks & Spencer is getting [...]
Black Lives Matter protesters block traffic heading towards Heathrow Airport August 5, 2016 Protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement have blocked road access to Heathrow Airport this morning. Acitivists reportedly chained themselves to the roundabout leading into Heathrow, blocking the M4 and stopping vehicles from driving into the airport grounds. Twitter user Hannah said the M4 has been "shut down" due to the protest. https://twitter.com/hannahnuura/status/761478219384102912 Sky News [...]
Olympics betting: Chris Froome, Lizzie Armitstead and Adam Peaty to begin gold rush for Team GB August 4, 2016 While 2012 will go down as Team GB’s most golden Olympics, for a while it seemed as though it might be a damp squib. There were four and a half days of competition until a British athlete claimed the most coveted medal, when rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning started the gold rush. We shouldn’t [...]
Here’s what seven City analysts are saying about the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates August 4, 2016 So that's it – after seven long years of interest rates becoming increasingly boring, today the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to cut the base rate to 0.25 per cent. Here's how analysts have reacted: 1. "Oh, the irony" Calum Bennie, savings expert at Scottish Friendly: “It seems for many savers chickens [...]
City A.M.’s Rio 50: These are the 50 most marketable athletes at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games August 3, 2016 Do you thrill to the Mobot? Or tingle when Jess Ennis-Hill ducks for the line? Perhaps it’s Usain Bolt’s signature To Di World celebration, an Andy Murray fist pump, or gymnastics doyenne Simone Biles cheekily winking during a floor routine that brings out the goose-pimples. Everyone has their favourites: those sportsmen and women who we [...]
Cricket betting: Pakistan can depend on Misbah – but not Masood against Jimmy Anderson August 2, 2016 Misbah-ul-Haq was Pakistan’s saving grace at Old Trafford in an otherwise abject performance in the second Test. Without the 42-year-old skipper’s 52 in the first innings, and 35 in the second, the 330-run margin of defeat would have approached record-breaking territory. Remarkably, the evergreen Misbah is touring England for the first time, having made his Test [...]
Santander UK makes bid for RBS’ Williams & Glyn unit August 2, 2016 Santander UK has put forward a bid to buy what would be RBS' Williams & Glyn unit. RBS was instructed to sell the Williams & Glyn unit, which is more than 300 branches strong, by the end of 2017, as part of its £45bn state bailout deal. However, the bank warned in April that it might [...]
Satellite operator Inmarsat won’t make an offer for rival Avanti August 1, 2016 Inmarsat won't be making an offer for Avanti, it's said today following media reports that the two could come together in a £4bn takeover. The satellite operator – recently expelled from the blue-chip FTSE 100 index – put an end to speculation begun by Sky News on Friday that it was considering making a bid for its smaller rival. [...]
Five things you need to know about the Uber Didi Chuxing deal August 1, 2016 Uber and Didi have thrown in the towel on their costly rivalry with a deal to merge in China, worth a reported $35bn. Here's what you need to know. 1. Profits matter Uber was burning more than $1bn a year on its Chinese operations, becoming its largest market, but not making any profit from it. That's what boss Travis Kalanick [...]
Geraint Thomas’s quest for pre-Rio glory thwarted in RideLondon-Surrey Classic July 31, 2016 Britain's Geraint Thomas rued a missed opportunity to chalk up a pre-Olympic Games victory after his long-range solo bid for success in Sunday's RideLondon-Surrey Classic was thwarted. Team Sky’s Thomas, who finished 15th at the Tour de France, made a bolt for glory with just over 50km remaining and opened up a lead of more than [...]