3 h. ago £10m in fines paid by water firms funds restoration of sewage

Fifty-one projects have won funding, including restoring riverbeds in Exmoor National Park and tackling septic tank spills into Windermere.

Economics

4 d. ago Video game maker Electronic Arts to be taken private in record $55bn mega

Deal with The Sims and Madden NFL maker is biggest leveraged buyout attempt, another key move for Silver LakeElectronic Arts, maker of video games such as Madden NFL, Battlefield, and The Sims, is being acquired for $55bn, the biggest leveraged buyout attempt in history.Under the terms of the deal announced on Monday, the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF and Affinity Partners will pay EA’s stockholders $210 per share. Affinity Partners is a private equity firm run by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago Private equity’s rush to raise money raises fears of European sector shake

Lofty targets for 2026 may force investors to choose between buyout firms, leaving some short of new funds to invest

Economics

5 d. ago Private equity’s rush to raise money prompts fears of European sector shake

Lofty targets for 2026 may force investors to choose between buyout firms, leaving some short of new funds to invest

Economics

8 d. ago A Navajo man cries out for water on a pinnacle in Utah: Elliot Ross’s best photograph

‘This is me shouting into the wind for change,’ said Tim, who lives in Navajo Nation, where a third of residents have no running water. ‘But it falls on closed ears’Tim is one of the people I have been following for the last couple of years on a project investigating a water supply divided along racial lines in the US south-west. He is Diné, which is what the Navajo call themselves; it means “the people” in the Navajo language. He had often told me about this pinnacle, a short walk from his family’s house, where he likes to sit, taking in the light playing across the red exposed bones of the earth.In Navajo Nation – the largest Indigenous Native American reservation in the US – a third of residents live without running water. Meanwhile, up until recently, Washington County in Utah – an Anglo community just 80 miles away – consumed the most water per person per day in the US, at 300 gallons, and paid the least for it. In Navajo Nation water use is about five to 10 gallons per person ...

Culture

2 w. ago Massive Attack remove music from Spotify to protest against CEO Daniel Ek’s investment in AI military

The band cited a ‘moral and ethical burden’ placed on artists by revenue from their work ultimately funding lethal technologiesMassive Attack have become the latest act – and first major-label one – to pull their catalogue from Spotify in protest at founder Daniel Ek investing €600m (£520m) in the military AI company Helsing.In June, Ek’s venture capital firm Prima Materia led the defence tech firm’s latest funding round. Helsing’s software uses AI technology to analyse sensor and weapons system data from battlefields to inform real-time military decisions. It also makes its own military drone, the HX-2. Ek is also chairman of Helsing.Unconnected to this initiative and in light of the (reported) significant investments by its CEO in a company producing military munition drones and AI technology integrated into fighter aircraft, Massive Attack have made a separate request to our label that our music be removed from the Spotify streaming service in all territories.In our view, the his...

Events

2 w. ago UK public has paid £200bn to shareholders of key industries since privatisation – study

Analysis reveals ‘privatisation premium’ of £250 per household per year paid to owners of water, rail, bus, energy and mail services since 2010‘Birmingham is up the road but there are no buses’The public has paid almost £200bn to the shareholders who own key British industries since they were privatised, research reveals.The transfer of tens of billions of pounds to the owners of the privatised water, rail, bus, energy and mail services comes as families face soaring bills, polluted rivers and seas, and expensive and unreliable trains and buses. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago UK public has paid £200bn to shareholders of key industries since privatisation

Analysis reveals ‘privatisation premium’ of £250 per household per year paid to owners of water, rail, bus, energy and mail services since 2010‘Birmingham is up the road but there are no buses’The public has paid almost £200bn to the shareholders who own key British industries since they were privatised, research reveals.The transfer of tens of billions of pounds to the owners of the privatised water, rail, bus, energy and mail services comes as families face soaring bills, polluted rivers and seas, and expensive and unreliable trains and buses. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Hike taxes on gambling firms to fund fight against child poverty, voters say

The poll shared with the Mirror shows 64% of people support the idea of hiking taxes on gambling firms - a policy recently championed by the former Labour PM Gordon Brown

Economics

3 w. ago Our charity could have lost thousands due to Thames Water delay

It took a year and a half after we paid for installation for the company to connect our refurbished propertyI work for a charity providing affordable sheltered housing for older people. In January 2024, we began refurbishing a building that was bequeathed to us.We paid Thames Water to connect a water supply in February 2024. It wasn’t until November that it informed us that it would need permission from Transport for London (TfL) to close part of the road. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago John Swinney says SNP Government will end 'student politics' ban on funding for munitions firms

The First Minister warned no defence company would win Government funding in future if their products were "involved militarily with Israel".

Politics