Author: LoveWorld UK

NatWest has reported a 40% jump in first quarter profits but warned of the UK’s “uncertain” economy amid the cost of living crisis, saying it had already referred more than 2,000 customers to debt experts at Citizens Advice. The banking group – formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland – beat expectations after reporting a jump in pre-tax profits to £1.2bn compared with £885m a year earlier. That was compared to analyst forecasts of a 15% drop in profits to £755m. Its strong first quarter results – the first reported since the UK government stake in the group fell below 50% last…

Rishi Sunak has opened the door to a windfall tax on oil and gas companies despite previously dismissing the policy, as Labour accused the government of burying its head in the sand over spiralling bills. The chancellor hinted at a possible U-turn on a tax on oil and gas providers, having repeatedly refused to countenance the idea in the past when suggested by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. It comes as Keir Starmer branded Boris Johnson the “Comical Ali of the cost of living crisis”, suggesting the government was in denial about the financial pressures facing households and bereft of new ideas.…

A top Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official said that “more free speech” will result from a successful Elon Musk take over of Twitter, a global social network with more than 400 million monthly users. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told NTD’s Paul Greaney in an April 25 interview that he hopes Musk will “follow through on [his] commitment to free speech” because “at the end of the day, we want more speech, not less.” “There’s a lot of misinformation out there about [how] you can’t have more speech without allowing terrorist content,” Carr said. “No, that’s not the case. We’re going to put rules in place,…

A “disinformation governance board” has been established at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fight “misinformation” and will maintain “free speech, privacy, and civil rights” officials have confirmed. DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas revealed the new initiative to lawmakers during a congressional hearing on April 27 when asked by Congressman Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) about what the department was doing to ensure election security and prevent misinformation from being used in the electrical process ahead of the 2022 midterms. Langevin pointed to previous alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections. “We have just established a disinformation governance board in the Department of Homeland Security to more effectively…

Barclays has become the latest UK bank to warn over the impact of the cost of living crisis, saying that its customers were already facing “harder conditions” as a result of surging inflation. It came as the bank put aside an extra £141m to cover potential defaults on its loans in the first quarter, nearly three times the amount put aside during the same period in 2021, but lower than the £299m that analysts had forecast. While Barclays said it was still facing “low delinquencies” so far, it acknowledged uncertainty over the long-term impacts of the war in Ukraine, which…

It is one thing to be the red-hot favourites, another to make it count. Liverpool took a significant stride towards their 10th European Cup final on a night when they refused to lose sight of their plan; what has got them to the point where an unprecedented quadruple is a possibility. Villarreal came to frustrate. It was an approach that had worked in the previous rounds, helping them to stage stunning heists to see off Juventus and Bayern Munich. With the scoreline blank at the interval, Unai Emery, the manager, had to feel he was a part of the way to further…

Dominic Raab has come under pressure over the UK government’s failure to come up with policies to tackle the cost of living, while not ruling out higher defence spending. The deputy prime minister was on Wednesday questioned on the government’s lack of big ideas to deal with the cost of living crisis and high inflation, after a cabinet brainstorming session came up with a string of minor policy tweaks. Pressed on why he could not name any new policies, Raab told Times Radio: “What I would say is, in fairness, it’s quite right that cabinet discusses, thrashes through, these ideas…

Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) on Wednesday halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for failing to pay for gas in roubles, the Kremlin’s toughest response yet to the crippling sanctions imposed by the West for the invasion of Ukraine. Poland and Bulgaria are the first countries to have their gas cut off by Europe’s main supplier since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine that has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and raised fears of a broader conflict. “Gazprom has completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (PGN.WA) (Poland) due to absence of payments in roubles,” Gazprom said in a…

A number of prominent conservatives returned to Twitter the day after Tesla CEO Elon Musk reached an agreement to acquire the platform for $44 billion on the promise of protecting freedom of speech. Conservative media personalities such as Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin, Raheem Kassam, and others returned, some after having been previously suspended. Musk secured the deal with the social media company on April 25. In doing so, the self-described “free-speech absolutist” triggered a backlash from far-left activists over the role of social media platforms in regulating the flow of information. Musk clarified his stance in an April 26 tweet, saying, “I am against censorship that goes far beyond…

Pep Guardiola warned Manchester City they must be more ruthless to reach the Champions League final after edging a 4-3 thriller against Real Madrid in the semi-final first leg at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. While Guardiola’s team will take a slender advantage to the Santiago Bernabéu for the return next Wednesday, he is conscious the tie is far from over after they spurned a series of chances having taken a 2-0 lead, with Karin Benzema scoring twice either side of a brilliant individual goal from Vinicius Júnior. Guardiola said: “Regardless of the result, if it was 2-0 or 3-0 we would…