6:53 am, May 16, 2023
Zelensky meets Sunak for talks as UK promises extra military aid for Ukraine
The UK will provide Ukraine with air defence missiles and attack drones, Downing Street has announced, as Volodymyr Zelensky met Rishi Sunak at Chequers.
In the latest leg of the Ukrainian president’s tour of western allies, Mr Zelensky said the two leaders had also discussed western fighter jets and he anticipated ‘very important decisions’ to be made soon.
No 10 said Britain will send hundreds of air defence missiles and further unmanned aerial systems to the war-torn country as the Prime Minister met the president at Chequers on Monday.
CMA to investigate possible ‘weakening of competition’ in food and fuel prices
The competition watchdog is to investigate whether ‘any failure in competition’ is leaving consumers paying higher grocery and fuel prices than they should be, it has announced.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had not seen evidence pointing to specific competition concerns in the grocery sector ‘at this stage’, but it was ‘important to be sure that weak competition is not adding to the problems’.
The CMA also announced an update on the Road Fuel market study it began last year, saying that indications were that higher pump prices could not be attributed solely to factors outside the control of the retailers and ‘appear in part to reflect some weakening of competition in the road fuel retail market’.
Elon Musk must still have his tweets approved by Tesla lawyer, court rules
Elon Musk cannot back out of a settlement reached after his 2018 tweets claiming he secured funding to take Tesla private caused the firm’s share price to jump and led to a temporary halt in trading, an appeals court has ruled.
The summary order by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan was released just days after a three-judge panel heard lawyers’ arguments in the case.
Mr Musk had challenged a lower court judge’s ruling last year requiring him to abide by the deal on the grounds that circumstances have changed and because the decree contains a ‘prior restraint’ that Mr Musk contends violates the First Amendment.
Rees-Mogg appears to call voter ID policy ‘gerrymandering’
Jacob Rees-Mogg has appeared to describe the introduction of voter ID as an attempt at ‘gerrymandering’ that backfired against the Conservatives.
The former cabinet minister said the policy, which saw voters across England required to present photo ID when casting their ballots at May’s local elections, had made it harder for elderly Conservatives to vote and ‘upset a system that worked perfectly well’.
Speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Westminster on Monday, Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding their clever scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by insisting on voter ID for elections.’
Monday’s Car Dealer headlines that you might have missed
- VW Group ‘blocking’ sale of car dealerships as it ‘looks to cut business partners’
- Read our in-depth Q&A with Martin Miller as EV expert reveals his top tips for selling used electric vehicles
- Mazda sells fewer vehicles over year but pre-tax profit goes up by 75 per cent
- New ‘Fusion’ software aims to deliver ‘true, end-to-end omnichannel experience’
- Bowker Motor Group stops Sunday trading to improve staff work-life balance
- Police launch investigation after ‘high-value vehicles’ stolen from used car dealership
Sir Rod Stewart’s Lamborghini Countach heads to auction
A 1977 Lamborghini Countach delivered new to singer Sir Rod Stewart is to go under the hammer at auction soon.
Just 157 examples of the special ‘Perscopio’ models were ever produced, with this particular model being converted to a ‘targa’ open-top layout during Stewart’s ownership. This was, however, later reversed with the car returned to its original condition.
Offered by auction house RM Sotheby’s, the Lamborghini will go under the hammer on May 20. It currently carries an estimate of between €950,000 and €1,050,000 (circa £826,000 – £914,000).
WhatsApp offers new password protected feature to hide messages
WhatsApp users will be able to guard their “most intimate conversations” with a new password protected feature to hide messages, parent company Meta has said.
Chat Lock will allow individuals to “lock and hide” private exchanges by removing them from the main inbox into a folder only accessible by password or biometric security, such as a fingerprint.
Meta announced the development on Monday as the global launch began.
FTSE starts week in the green amid rising commodity prices
It was a quiet day on London’s markets as the week started, but the blue chip FTSE 100 index managed to eke out a small gain nonetheless.
The British stock index ended at 7,777.7 points, representing a a 23.08 point rise, or 0.3 per cent
In France and Germany, the Cac 40 and Dax indices had both ended flat.
Weather outlook…
Sunny spells today, with scattered showers in places. Showers will be confined to northern areas to start, before spreading southwards later. The south-west remaining largely dry, the BBC reports.
This evening will see any showers ease, and tonight it should be dry for all. Largely cloudy in far north-western Scotland and north-eastern England, but a largely clear night elsewhere.
Tomorrow, outbreaks of heavy rain move into northern Scotland from the west along with windy conditions towards the far north-west. Sunny spells, patchy cloud and isolated showers elsewhere.
