Author: LoveWorld UK

Britain extended emergency government funding for London’s transport network, providing it with around 485 million pounds ($672.4 million) to enable the operator to keep running the underground, buses and trains during the pandemic. The Department For Transport said on Monday it would help Transport for London (TfL) to fund public transport until May 18, as current emergency funding runs out at the end of March. The payment will be made up of 260 million pounds of extraordinary grant support and a top up payment of approximately 225 million pounds depending on actual passenger revenue between Apr. 1 and May 18.…

Two police officers were seriously injured and at least two police vehicles were set on fire in the city of Bristol in southwest England during violent scenes after a peaceful protest, police said. Thousands of demonstrators had converged on the city centre, ignoring COVID-19 restrictions, to protest against a government bill going through parliament that would give police new powers to restrict street protests. The local force, Avon and Somerset Police, said the demonstration began peacefully but was later turned into a violent disorder by a small minority. Home Secretary Priti Patel, the interior minister, said on Twitter that the…

Food delivery company Deliveroo could make Britain’s biggest stock market debut since commodities giant Glencore went public nearly a decade ago, after setting a price range on Monday that values it at up to $12 billion. The Amazon-backed food delivery firm has been held up by the British government as a sign the City of London can still attract major Initial Public Offerings (IPO) following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. It is set to be London’s biggest IPO since Glencore in May 2011, according to data provided by the London Stock Exchange. A London stock market listing…

With hindsight Ole Gunner Solskjær might concede there have been better weeks to talk, a little disdainfully, about the “ego” of trophy-winning managers. In a show of commendable humility, Solskjær’s Manchester United duly exited the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage, another moment of not-quite-there to follow three semi-final dead ends. Look on my selflessness and tremble. For I am the most humble. Leicester City were the real story at the King Power stadium, and hugely deserving of their 3-1 win. Kelechi Iheanacho fired the bullets and had a fine all-round game. Youri Tielemans dominated the centre in a game shot…

The 1998 Northern Irish peace deal is under threat and a Pandora’s box of protest and political crisis will be opened unless the European Union agrees to significant changes to the Brexit deal, a senior loyalist warned on Friday. The 1998 peace deal, known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom. But David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council which represents the views of loyalist paramilitaries, said he…

NatWest will buy back 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) of its shares from the British government, edging the state-backed lender further towards private hands as the government pushes to fully sell off banks bailed out in the financial crisis. The sale crystallises a further loss of around 1.8 billion pounds for the government on its 45-billion-pound rescue of NatWest. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in March the government would make an overall loss of about 39 billion pounds on the bailout once finance costs were factored in. NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, will be 59.8% government-owned after the…

British homebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside Properties must remove contract terms that lock leaseholders into rents that double every 10 or 15 years, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority ruled on Friday. “These ground rent terms can make it impossible for people to sell or get a mortgage on their homes, meaning they find themselves trapped. This is unacceptable,” CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said. The two homebuilders can respond to the watchdog’s concerns and avoid court action by signing formal commitments known as “undertakings” to remove the ground rent terms from their leasehold contracts. Shares in Taylor Wimpey and…

Nicola Sturgeon misled the Scottish parliament over the Alex Salmond crisis, a Holyrood inquiry has concluded after a narrow majority vote, it is understood. A special Holyrood committee ruled, by five votes to four, that Scotland’s first minister gave an “inaccurate” account of her meetings with Salmond in 2018 during evidence on oath to MSPs earlier this month. That remarkable conclusion amounts to an accusation Sturgeon misled parliament – but the committee has stopped short of ruling she did so “knowingly”. Knowingly misleading parliament would be a clear breach of the ministerial code and a resignation matter. While MSPs did…

Manchester United squeezed into the Europa League quarter-finals the hard way: coming to Milan and earning the victory required. In doing so, Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men won their biggest game of the campaign. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, once of United, was brought on for the latter stages. As the minutes ebbed away he rose above Luke Shaw to head strongly but Dean Henderson tipped over. By the close United had survived – the excellent Shaw’s late intervention as Alexis Saelemaekers lurked was indicative of a nervy finish – with Paul Pogba the tie-winning hero, scoring the vital goal shortly after entering for…

Facebook’s drive to register 4.5 million voters swayed the November election to President Joe Biden, a Facebook executive opined in hidden camera footage. The executive, Benny Thomas, expressed grim views of the giant tech company, but counted the voter drive among its positives while secretly being recorded earlier this year by reporters with Project Veritas, an undercover journalism nonprofit. “This is the good side of Facebook. … We made a big difference,” he said in a video released by Veritas on March 16, explaining that Facebook exceeded its goal of registering 4 million people and could only accomplish the task because of its “sheer…