More than 1,000 Passport Office staff across the UK will strike for five weeks in an escalation of a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working at passport offices in Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newport, Peterborough and Southport will walk out from 3 April to 5 May.
Alison Hammond is set to become the new host of The Great British Bake Off, replacing Matt Lucas. Bosses of the hit Channel 4 show are expected to announce her as co-presenter to actor and comedian Noel Fielding within days, according to reports. Hammond, 48, would be the first black Caribbean host or judge to
A group of 11 major banks have clubbed together to provide $30bn (£24.7bn) of cash in an attempt to end a crisis of confidence surrounding another major US bank. First Republic, a regional lender, was among those to have seen its share price collapse this week amid sector-wide balance sheet scrutiny prompted by the collapse
In this article GOOG Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Silhouettes of laptop and mobile device users are seen next to a screen projection of the YouTube logo. Dado Ruvic | Reuters Google announced a price increase for its YouTube TV subscription on Thursday. It’s rising from $65 per month to $73 per month starting
On the edge of Europe is a pocket of pro-Russian support which has been under close watch since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Transnistria is a breakaway region in eastern Moldova which is politically, economically and militarily supported by Moscow. Neither Moldova nor the wider international community recognise its independence. In Transnistria’s capital, Tiraspol,
In this article MSFT Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the company’s Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2022. SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images Thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence, new tools like ChatGPT are wowing consumers with their ability to create compelling writing
There have been rare chaotic scenes in the French parliament as President Emmanuel Macron used special powers to push through an unpopular pensions bill which aims to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Boos and chants from opposition politicians were heard in the national assembly (the lower house) as left-wing MPs sung lines
NHS unions have reached a pay deal with the government in a major breakthrough that could herald the end of strikes by frontline staff in England. The offer consists of a one-off payment of 2% of their salary plus a COVID recovery bonus of 4% for the current financial year 2022/23, and a 5% pay
Royal Mail has been referred to the industry regulator by a committee of MPs which has accused the company of failing in its duty to deliver letters six days a week and questioned whether its management is negligent. The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee declared that the company had “systematically failed to deliver”
The SNP have lost around 30,000 party members since 2021. The SNP reported a membership of 125,534 in December 2018. According to data published by the Electoral Commission, that dropped to around 104,000 by the end of December 2021. On Thursday, the SNP admitted just 72,186 members were eligible to vote in the party leadership
She’s won an Oscar, a Tony, two Golden Globes and numerous BAFTAs and Olivier awards, but for Dame Judi Dench her latest performance has particular poignancy. The 88-year-old actress is one of the stars of Allelujah, a film about a fictionalised Yorkshire hospital battling closure as its staff struggle to find beds for its elderly
The European Central Bank (ECB) has maintained its fight against inflation and imposed a large set of interest rate hikes despite financial market turmoil. Bank balance sheets have suffered because of the effect of interest rate increases, which have contributed to recent crises at Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse. But the central bank –
The Moke, based on a post-war British jeep-like vehicle, has become an iconic and eye-catching little buggy over the years. Now the US-based MOKE America has opened up a rental option called WeMoke to make these weird little electric vehicles more accessible to anyone looking for a unique driving adventure. Mokes from MOKE America are
In this article @CL.1 Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Oil production in Azerbaijan Vostok | Getty Images Oil prices fell sharply Wednesday, as traders feared a brewing banking crisis could dent global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate futures fell more than 5% to settle at $67.61 per barrel, reaching its lowest level since December
In this article 92S-FF Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT A logo for Chinese ride-hailing platform Didi is illuminated outside company headquarters on Jan. 21, 2022 in Hangzhou, China. Shen Longquan | Visual China Group | Getty Images Didi is planning to expand this year, the company said Thursday, as the regulatory crackdown on the
The US Air Force has released video said to show a Russian jet intercepting an American drone and dumping fuel in its path over the Black Sea. The US said two Russian Su-27 jets intercepted the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper in international airspace on Tuesday before one hit its propeller, forcing it to crash the drone
Justin Bieber has shared a video of him flashing a smile – an inconsequential move for most stars, but huge for him considering facial paralysis forced the singer to cancel his world tour. Two weeks ago the Canadian cancelled the remaining dates on his Justice world tour after postponing performances several times during his recovery
NHS unions have received a new pay offer and an announcement is expected this afternoon, Sky News understands. It follows reports of progress in talks involving unions representing nurses and ambulance staff. The development comes after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last month agreed to suspend industrial action while it entered into “intensive” negotiations
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has defended the speed of the rollout for his budget offer of free childcare for working parents, describing it as the “biggest transformation in childcare in my lifetime”. The new childcare package will see working families in England having access to 30 hours of free childcare per week for children aged between
Job losses are on the horizon at the John Lewis Partnership, which includes Waitrose and John Lewis shops, as the company posted an annual loss of £234m. No detail was given on the location or number of job cuts that will be made. “As we need to become more efficient and productive, that will have