5:43 am, November 5, 2023
Dozens of flood warnings remain in place
Dozens of flood warnings remain in place across England after days of heavy rain.
Forty warnings that flooding is likely remained in place on Sunday morning along with 150 more warnings that flooding is possible, the Environment Agency said.
The majority of warnings were along the south coast from Weymouth to Bexhill, where the Met Office warned that heavy rain was falling on saturated ground on Saturday.
Sultan of Brunei’s stretch Range Rover for sale
A stretched Range Rover once owned by the Sultan of Brunei and used by Mike Tyson as transport around Glasgow before his fight at Hampden Park is going under the hammer at auction.
The Sultan of Brunei is known for his extensive car collection and converted the Range Rover for his brother, Prince Jefri, costing £135,000 and taking nine months to complete.
It’s based on an end-of-the-line 1994 Range Rover LSE and was converted by Townley Cross Country Vehicles which added two additional fixed Range Rover doors in the middle and raised the roof by eight inches.
Maersk cuts 10,000 jobs as shipping demand falls
At least 10,000 jobs are being axed worldwide at global shipping giant AP Moller Maersk amid a slump in demand for container freight.
The Danish group revealed it is slashing its workforce from 110,000 in January to below 100,000 as it looks to cut costs by 600 million US dollars (£491 million) next year.
Maersk said it had already cut around 6,500 jobs since early 2023 and that another 3,500 would go as it ramps up cost-saving actions.
Up to 2,500 of those additional cuts will go in the “coming months”, with the remainder in 2024, it added.
Amazon and Meta agree to competitive practices
The UK’s competition watchdog says it has secured new commitments from Amazon and Meta around competitive practices on their retail marketplaces to protect consumers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had secured the new arrangements after separate investigations into the two platforms.
As part of the new commitments, Amazon has agreed to give independent sellers a fair chance of their offers being featured in the site’s ‘Buy Box’, where most sales on the platform take place.
In addition, the CMA said Amazon will be prevented from using marketplace data it obtains from third-party sellers to give itself an unfair competitive advantage.
M&S set to announce higher profits
Marks and Spencer is set to unveil growing profits as it gives a glimpse into whether its customers are weathering the cost-of-living storm, or feeling the pinch.
The upmarket supermarket is expected to report higher earnings for the six months to September when it updates shareholders on Wednesday.
It could see pre-tax profits hit around £270 million, up from £206 million this time last year, according to analysts for Numis Research.
M&S is a “highly seasonal business”, analysts said, making more money during the second half of the year, which includes the crucial Christmas sales period.
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway reports loss
Warren Buffett’s company has reported a nearly 13 billion dollar loss in the third quarter as the paper value of its investments fell, but the companies it owns – particularly the insurers – generally performed well.
Berkshire Hathaway said that it lost 12.8 billion dollars (£10.3 billion) in the quarter. That is significantly bigger than the 2.8 billion dollar (£2.2 billion) loss that it reported a year ago.
But most of those investment losses are unrealised because Berkshire did not actually sell most of its stocks with its biggest holding being a massive stake in Apple.
New VW Crafter sketches revealed
Volkswagen has released a series of initial sketches and details about its upcoming Crafter van.
More than 354,000 Crafters have been delivered worldwide, with Volkswagen’s largest van serving as the basis for a variety of different models including the Grand California camper van.
Now, it is being given an ‘extensive technical update’, according to Volkswagen, with a new forward cabin added alongside extra assist systems.
Weather outlook
The rain will continue today but mainly in western and coastal counties, according to the met office, and it may be thundery at times.
Following showers it will be mainly dry in most areas although we will also see some strong winds.
Tonight, showers will continue in the south but it will be dry in most places.
