6:23 am, August 20, 2023
Mustang GTD is Ford’s most powerful car yet
Ford has unveiled its most extreme and powerful Mustang ever with the new ‘GTD’.
Looking to take the fight to European challengers like Porsche and Lamborghini, the GTD was an ‘after-hours’ project designed to showcase what Ford was capable of.
Based on the latest generation of Mustang, due to arrive in Europe in fairly small numbers next year, the GTD is said to have a very different character to other models in this muscle car’s range.
Nation unites behind Lionesses ahead of World Cup final
England’s Lionesses are poised for the game of their lives, with the whole country hoping they “roar to victory” in their first Women’s World Cup final.
Millions of supporters will be celebrating if they beat Spain at the 75,000-plus seat Stadium Australia in Sydney and make England world champions for the first time since the men’s team’s victory in 1966.
Supporters are set to flock to pubs and bars for the 11am kick-off (BST), with the game tipped to give a £185 million boost to the UK economy.
Pininfarina B95 is the first electric Barchetta
Hypercar firm Automobili Pininfarina has revealed its latest creation – the B95, which promises to be the ‘first ever electric Barchetta’
Barchetta, meaning ‘little boat’ in Italian, references a car without a roof or windscreen, and is a design that Ferrari adopted widely throughout its history. Pininfarina, also originating in Italy, has named the model accordingly to mark the firm’s 95th anniversary, with the ‘B’ standing for Barchetta.
The B95’s design represents past models but with a forward-thinking powertrain. With an elongated bonnet, it also features the ‘world’s first electronically adjustable aero screens’.
Energy bills expected to fall £150 a year from October
The amount that an average household is expected to pay for its energy bills will fall by around £150 per year from the start of October, according to a new forecast.
Ofgem’s next price cap, which will be announced on Friday next week, will drop to around £1,925, according to the latest forecast from Cornwall Insight, an energy consultancy.
It is a reduction of 7%, and the lowest the cap has been since March 2022.
But experts have urged caution after surveys showed the £1,925 per year figure has misled many people. This is not a cap on the overall amount people will pay for their energy.
Eyes on tax bill as Harbour Energy prepares results
The biggest official fuel producer in the North Sea will present its results next week, with investors likely keen to know more about its plans for the future and the impacts of the windfall tax.
Harbour Energy has been complaining about its UK tax bill since the Government introduced a special charge for energy companies as prices soared following Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine.
The company said in March that its profit had been ‘all but wiped out’ by the windfall tax. But that was based on writing off last year’s profit against what the company expects to pay over the five-year period of the tax, a move that brought criticism at the time.
Harbour set aside $1.5bn (£1.2bn), which it said was to pay off the tax in future years.
Citizens Advice Scotland faces ‘tidal wave of demand’
Citizens Advice Scotland has warned of a funding crisis and called for more support as demand for its services peaked this year.
Clients were said to be at “crisis point” with a record 100,000 pieces of advice issued in one month alone, while staff across the Citizens Advice Network faced their own concerns over job stability.
Demand peaked in March, with the highest numbers of visitors in nearly four years, but the charity said staff faced “draining” workloads and concerns over short-term contracts.
Sunny and dry
A sunny and largely dry day is forecast as England fans gather to cheer on the Lionesses in the Women’s World Cup final.
The Met Office said there will be a bright start to Sunday morning for many, with temperatures from 18-21C expected across the UK when the match kicks off in Sydney, Australia, at 11am BST.
There may be some scattered showers but most places are expected to stay dry – good news for those gathering in fan zones and beer gardens to watch the match.
