6:39 am, June 21, 2023
Underwater noises detected from search area of missing deep-sea vessel
Noises have been detected from the search area of the missing deep-sea vessel near the wreck site of the Titanic as those on board face a dwindling supply of oxygen.
The submersible, named Titan, lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the shipwreck off the coast of Canada.
Titan has five people on board, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, and on Tuesday the US Coast Guard estimated the 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel had just 40 hours of oxygen left.
Inflation remains unchanged in May, heaping further pressure on households
Inflation rates remained unchanged last month, defying expectations that they would drop and heaping further pressure on households.
The Office for National Statistics said Consumer Prices Index inflation (CPI) remained at 8.7 per cent in May, the same as it had been in April.
The ONS said rising prices for plane tickets, recreational and cultural goods and services and second-hand cars added the most to inflation. Costs for motor fuel fell, the ONS said, putting the biggest downward pressures on inflation.
Chancellor to meet lenders later this week over mortgage rates crunch
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said he will meet lenders later this week to ask what help they can give to borrowers struggling with their mortgage.
Hunt told the House of Commons he would be asking what flexibilities might be possible for borrowers in arrears. It is understood that the meeting will take place on Friday.
Various calls have been made for the government to step in to offer further help to struggling borrowers. However, the chancellor said the government will not provide financial support to mortgage holders which would fuel inflation.
WH Smith, M&S and Argos ‘named and shamed’ over minimum wage failures
Retail giants WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos are among firms who have been ‘named and shamed’ by the government for breaking the minimum wage law.
Almost £5m was found to be owed to around 63,000 workers following investigations by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs dating back as far as 2017. Named employers have been made to pay back what they owed, and in addition were fined around £7m.
High street retailer WH Smith was the worst offender, according to HMRC, with the new figures claiming it failed to pay around £1m to 17,607 workers.
Sunak to pledge £2.35bn in loan guarantees at Ukraine Recovery Conference
Prime minister Rishi Sunak will pledge to stand with Ukraine ‘as long as it takes’ as he announces three billion US dollars (£2.35bn) in bank loan guarantees to bolster Kyiv’s rebuild.
Opening a major conference in London focused on Ukraine’s recovery after Russia’s invasion, Sunak will hail the country’s ‘defiance’ as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops use a counter-offensive to push back the Kremlin’s forces.
He will announce a financial package that includes World Bank loan guarantees worth three billion US dollars over three years. Downing Street said the guarantees amount to the first bilateral package of multi-year fiscal assistance to be set out by a G7 country.
Voter ID data needed to reveal impact on election turnout, senior MP says
Questions remain about the impact of introducing voter identification for May’s local elections, the Labour chairman of the Commons’ Levelling Up committee has said.
Clive Betts, who chairs the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, said the elections watchdog must reveal whether requiring voter ID discouraged people from casting their ballot.
May’s local elections were the first time voters in Great Britain were required to show ID before collecting their ballot paper. But the move was widely criticised amid concerns about voter disenfranchisement.
Tuesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Lookers agrees sale for £465m to Canadian car dealer group
- Analysis: Which car dealer PLC will follow Lookers and be snapped up next?
- Who are Alpha Auto Group and why have they agreed to buy Lookers?
- Man admits causing death of delivery driver at car dealership
Mortgage lenders ‘stand ready’ to help borrowers struggling with payments
Lenders have said they are doing their ‘best to help’ customers affected by the mortgage squeeze.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to meet with lenders on Friday, to ask what help they can give to those struggling and what flexibilities might be possible for families in arrears.
A spokesperson for trade association UK Finance said: ‘Lenders stand ready to help anyone struggling with their mortgage payments. If you are worried about your finances, do get in touch with your lender early to discuss the options available.’
Facebook Marketplace tops list of most complained-about online retail platforms
Facebook Marketplace is the most complained-about online retail platform for selling counterfeit, poor-quality and potentially unsafe goods, Trading Standards has reported.
The online giant, which enables third-party sellers to trade goods on the platform via the marketplace, was criticised for being slow to take action against problem sellers and for enabling misleading product descriptions, counterfeit goods and potentially harmful products to reappear on its platform after being taken down.
More than half (53 per cent) of respondents representing about 50 local authorities across the UK identified Facebook as the most complained-about online marketplace – more than all of the others combined.
Porsche teams up with Xbox to celebrate 75th anniversary with limited-edition consoles
Porsche is continuing its 75th-anniversary celebrations through a unique partnership with Xbox.
The German sports car manufacturer will be covering a limited collection of Xbox Series X consoles and matching wireless controllers with some of its most famous motorsport liveries, from the famous ‘Pink Pig’ to the one worn by the 911 GT1 which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998.
In total, six distinct liveries will be available as part of the Xbox 75th Anniversary Collection. However, rather than being available to purchase through stores, the limited-edition run of Xbox consoles and controllers will instead be accessed via a sweepstake system. Over the next four months, fans can enter for a chance to win via Porsche’s sweepstake website.
Weather
It’ll be a day of sunny spells, scattered showers and patchy cloud, says BBC Weather. The showers will be at their most frequent in the north. Highs of 25 degrees celsius in the east.
Showers will clear tonight leaving a a dry night with the odd sprinkling of patchy cloud.
