Author: Loveworld UK

Aretha Franklin has been remembered as the “voice of a generation” as stars including Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson and Stevie Wonder performed at her funeral. Franklin died, aged 76, after suffering from cancer, on 16 August and was laid to rest after a seven-hour long funeral at her church, the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.Led by the Bishop Charles Ellis III, it included tributes from former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, performances from the Clark Sisters, and Smokey Robinson, as well as heartfelt memorials from her family.Franklin’s music was described as “revelation and revolution”, while she was described as…

The industrialists who paid £8bn this year to buy GKN, the historic British engineering group, are courting pension buyout firms to take on a big chunk of its pension liabilities. Sky News has learnt that Melrose Industries has opened talks with a number of insurers specialising in pension risk transfer (PRT) transactions about offloading the smaller of GKN’s two retirement schemes.The discussions have been going on for several weeks and are understood to involve firms including Aviva and Scottish Widows, which is owned by Lloyds Banking Group.Sources close to the situation said on Friday that Melrose would only strike an…

Details on Britain’s future relationship with the EU are becoming “clearer and clearer” the Brexit secretary has insisted, as he again hinted that negotiators could miss the hoped-for October deadline. Dominic Raab said as the latest round of talks finished that he was “stubbornly optimistic” a deal was “within our reach”.Progress was made on security and defence – such as extradition agreements – he added, but the Northern Irish border remains a sticking point.Mr Raab promised any deal on the border would be “workable” for the nearby communities it would affect most. Image: Theresa May is hoping to strike a…

The new £15bn Crossrail route in London will open almost a year later than planned after missing its December opening date. Those in charge of the project admitted on Friday that an extension is needed to finish “final infrastructure and extensive testing” to ensure a “safe and reliable railway for customers”.The major scheme, which has been under construction since 2009, will be known as the Elizabeth Line once it starts carrying passengers.Services were due to begin running in December this year, but its central section – between Paddington and Abbey Wood – will now not be opened until autumn 2019.The…

DIY chain Homebase has won approval from creditors to close 42 stores, averting a crisis that could have led to its collapse.  Hilco Capital, which bought the chain for £1 in May, hopes its controversial Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) will revive Homebase’s fortunes.Its plans were approved by 95.92% of its creditors.The closure of stores, expected this year and early 2019, is likely to result in the loss of 1,500 jobs.Homebase had proposed that landlords share the pain felt by retailers – who have seen a combination of factors undermine their businesses.CVAs have been used by House of Fraser, Carpetright, Mothercare…

Leisure group Whitbread has agreed to sell the UK’s biggest coffee chain Costa to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn. Whitbread acquired Costa in 1995 for £19m when it had 39 shops. It now has more than 2,400 outlets and is embarking on an overseas expansion.The leisure group, which owns the Premier Inn hotel business, had been under pressure from shareholders to demerge and list the coffee chain as a separate company.Chief executive Alison Brittain said: “This transaction is great news for shareholders as it recognises the strategic value we have developed in the Costa brand and its international growth potential and accelerates…

President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the United States out of the World Trade Organisation and is ready to impose more tariffs on China. The US last week blocked the reappointment of a judge to the Geneva-based institution, which regulates international trade and helps to resolve disputes between nations.”If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Mr Trump said in an interview.Washington has accused the WTO of infringing on US sovereignty as some decisions have gone against the country.Mr Trump said the US had been treated “very badly” by the organisation.The president said the 1994 agreement…

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a daughter and mother. West Midlands Police said the man was arrested in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham on suspicion of murdering Raneem Oudeh, 22, and her mother Khaola Saleem, 49.The women were fatally stabbed in Northdown Road, Solihull in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday.Detectives revealed the mother and daughter were on the phone to police as they were attacked.Ms Oudeh had made multiple calls to emergency services that night but police struggled to locate the pair until a later call where the “situation escalated” and officers were…

The number of babies and mothers who may have died or been harmed because of “poor care” at a hospital trust has risen. Some 23 cases were put under review last year as part of an investigation into maternity failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.It has now emerged the number of cases has increased since the review was commissioned.Dr Kathy McLean, chief operating officer at hospital regulator NHS Improvement, confirmed to Sky News that the independent review is examining “the 23 historical investigations identified in April 2017, as well as investigations that have been highlighted since then”.According to a…

Astronauts used tape to temporarily patch up an air leak discovered on the Russian side of the International Space Station. Officials said the gap had caused a small loss in cabin pressure and was “isolated to a hole about two millimetres in diameter”.It was temporarily plugged with heat resistant tape but astronauts were later able to do a more permanent fix.NASA and Russian officials stressed the six astronauts were not in any danger.”The rate of the leak was slowed… through the temporary application of Kapton tape at the leak site,” said NASA as the initial repairs were done. “Flight controllers…