Author: LoveWorld UK

British Gas owner Centrica has revealed a fresh customer exodus at the start of the year and warned that a “challenging trading environment” will put further pressure on its annual performance. The FTSE 100 company said it lost 234,000 UK home energy supply accounts in the first four months of 2019, partly blamed on changes to the government’s energy price cap. Centrica said in a trading update that its performance was hit by a “specific set of external factors” including the price cap as well as warmer than usual weather and falling UK natural gas prices.

Shares in embattled lender Metro Bank have come under renewed pressure despite a statement over the weekend that its plans to raise £350m in fresh capital were “well advanced”. The bank said it was in “final discussions” with existing shareholders and new investors over the share placing – after Sky News revealed that details were set to be unveiled this week. Metro Bank has been forced to raise fresh capital after a major accounting error first disclosed in January, which has spooked investors and sent its market value tumbling. Shares were down by 7% in early trading on Monday, leaving…

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Eden Hazard hit the winning penalty for Chelsea to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-3 in a shootout and reach the Europa League final where they will meet fellow Londoners Arsenal. The lively semi-final contest had finished 1-1 after the sides had produced the same scoreline in Frankfurt a week ago. Chelsea had looked in charge half an hour into the game when Hazard, tipped to leave the club this summer, dodged and shimmied round the Frankfurt defence on the left flank before pushing a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of Ruben Loftus Cheek for the England midfielder to score in the…

The UK economy accelerated in the first quarter of the year to grow by 0.5%, according to preliminary official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) credited limited evidence of stockpiling by businesses and, particularly, a rush to complete orders ahead of the Brexit that never came on 29 March. The rate of growth was up from 0.2% in the final three months of 2018. Economists have warned that the boost is a temporary factor because early orders only tend to depress them later. The ONS said stockpiling contributed 0.7% percentage points to growth with net trade taking a record…

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that China has stepped up its efforts to infiltrate and gain influence in Taiwan and she asked national security agencies to counter Beijing’s efforts. Tsai, speaking to reporters after a national security meeting, said China’s influence operations included attempts to interfere with elections and fake news campaigns. She did not detail specific incidents but said Taiwan’s national security agencies would be finding ways to tackle China’s moves. Tsai said Taiwan would deter military aggression in the Taiwan strait, vowing to boost defence capabilities, including upgrading military equipment and the recently launched programme to build submarines…

Earlier this year, Pope Francis threw in the towel on the Catholic Church’s decades-long fight for the rights of persecuted Catholics in China. An agreement, the text of which remains hidden from the public, gives the Chinese government effective control over who chooses church leaders in the country. In China, the country’s Catholics have been split between an underground church loyal to the Vatican, and a state-supervised “Catholic Patriotic Association.” Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department, despite having an office devoted to religious freedom and an embassy in the Vatican, didn’t object. Earlier this month, four Catholic priests were rounded up…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat in on a discussion on religious freedom and the persecution of Christians during his visit to Britain. He was accompanied by Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the spiritual leader of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who hosted the discussion at London’s Lambeth Palace. Pompeo was in Britain to pitch a post-Brexit ‘special relationship’, as Britain tries to extract itself from the EU after 46 years of membership. Pompeo was due to meet Prime Minister Theresa May and will make a speech on America’s so-called special relationship with the…

Congratulations have poured in from around the world following the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son. The newborn was delivered at 05:26 BST on Monday, with Prince Harry saying the baby boy was “absolutely to die for”. The Palace said the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales were all “delighted with the news”. The baby, who has not been named yet, is seventh in line to the throne, behind the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and his children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – and Prince Harry. He…

The increase in knife crime could be linked to cuts in youth service funding, with areas suffering the largest falls showing the biggest rises in violence involving knives. A study by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) suggested the average council had reduced spending on youth services – which funds things such as youth clubs and youth workers – by 40% between the years 2014-15 and 2017-18. Two local authorities, the City of Wolverhampton and the City of Westminster, saw cuts of 91% over the same three years. A direct comparison between geographical areas covered by police forces and local authority…