Author: LoveWorld UK

The UK economy shrank unexpectedly in March, by 0.3%, as the cost of living crisis, bad weather and industrial action took a toll. However, a strong performance in January meant the economy grew by 0.1% over the first quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The slump in March was driven largely by weakness in the retail sector as consumers reined in spending in response to squeezed budgets, while the wet weather also dampened demand. It is likely to concern the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who said in response to the figures that the UK remained on course to be a “high…

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to introduce a bill aimed at cracking down on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online and holding Big Tech firms accountable. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) joined forces on May 11 to advance the legislation, which aims to combat the proliferation of CSAM online and grants more support to victims, while also bolstering accountability and transparency among online platforms. Specifically, the bill would hold tech companies more accountable for CSAM posted on their platforms by limiting their immunity from civil liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, instead making them liable for certain…

Rail services across Britain will be severely disrupted on Friday as train drivers stage the first of the latest wave of planned strikes in a long-running pay dispute. Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will strike for 24 hours across virtually all the big passenger operators in England, stopping some major intercity and commuter services entirely. Cross-border services to Wales and Scotland will also be affected, although the union is only in direct dispute with firms contracted to the Department for Transport in England. No trains will run on networks including Avanti, Southeastern, Govia Thameslink, Northern, West Midlands, TransPennine Express and CrossCountry. The drivers’ strike will…

Almost 1.5 million homeowners with variable rate mortgages face higher borrowing costs with the Bank of England expected to push up interest rates on Thursday to 4.5%. City analysts polled by Refinitiv were unanimous in forecasting the central bank would increase its base rate by 0.25 percentage points when policymakers meet to tackle Britain’s stubbornly high inflation rate. Another 1.5 million households with fixed-rate mortgages will see their annual bills spiral by an average £3,000 when they refinance their loans this year, afterthe average two-year fixed rate jumped from below 2% to 4.75% over the past 18 months. The near certainty of…

Joseph Tacopina, attorney of former President Donald Trump, told The Epoch Times that the former president is planning to appeal the verdict that found him liable for battery and defamation charges in the E. Jean Carroll trial. It came as a Manhattan grand jury on Tuesday ruled against former President Donald Trump on one count of defamation and one count of battery in a civil case launched against him by Carroll, an advice columnist. The verdict will not result in jail time because it is a civil case. The jury found that Trump should pay a total of about $5…

After the silence, the explosion. In the hours and the days before this game Milan was an anxious, curiously sullen city: a city on the verge of something, a city waiting for its time. Perhaps on some level Milan has been waiting two decades for a night like this, the game and the occasion that would restore it to the centre of the footballing universe. And as the teams finally emerged for this Champions League semi-final it felt as if all that bottled tension was being released in a single overwhelming moment: an atmosphere that shook that senses, fireworks that rattled the…

TransPennine Express is to be run by the state after ministers announced that the failing rail company would not have its contract renewed. The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the northern rail network will be run by the state-owned operator of last resort after passengers experienced disruption, cancellations and a significant decline in the extent and reliability of the service. The FirstGroup-owned TPE’s contract expires on 28 May. Passengers and politicians across the north had called for change, with jobs and lives blighted by trains that failed to run. Harper said the move would not fix the service overnight and blamed the train…

Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has launched legal action against Matt Hancock after joining actor Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party. Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party in April after claiming in January the COVID-19 vaccine was “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”. Former health secretary Mr Hancock, who remains suspended from the Tories for appearing on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, condemned Mr Bridgen’s comments as “antisemitic” at the time. Mr Bridgen announced on Wednesday he has now submitted a defamation claim to the High Court as he said Mr Hancock’s comments were an attempt…

Longer lorries are to be fully permitted on Great Britain’s roads after the government said it would introduce laws to allow their use, despite warnings that the move will increase the number of fatal road accidents. The Department for Transport (DfT) said lorries measuring up to 18.55 metres long – 2.05 metres longer than the current standard size – would be allowed from the end of this month. The longer lorries have been trialled since 2011 and there are about 3,000 already on the roads, but from 31 May any business in England, Scotland or Wales will be able to…

The arrest of anti-monarchy protesters at King Charles’s coronation and intimidatory Home Office warnings to campaigners before the event are to be scrutinised by a committee of MPs. In a statement, the home affairs select committee said it would examine the Metropolitan police’s handling of republican protests at an evidence session next Wednesday. It will investigate the force’s approach to public demonstrations, the practical implementation of the public order bill and the arrest of republican protesters. A full list of witnesses will be announced in the coming days. Dame Diana Johnson, the chair of the home affairs select committee, said there were…