22 h. ago BT shares slip after Indian billionaire Mittal takes board seats

The company’s shares fell by around 3% as shareholders took the move as a signal that Sunil Bharti Mittal will increase his influence on the firm.

Politics

24 h. ago Mittal moves to increase influence over BT Group with board seats

Directorships follow last year’s purchase of 24.5% stake in UK telecoms operator by Bharti Enterprises

Politics

44 h. ago How the US rightwing is taking over news media and choking press freedom

Takeover of broadcast companies by Donald Trump’s allies is harbinger of media capitulation to authoritarian leaningsThe US right has appeared to increase its influence on mainstream media in America in recent weeks, especially in television news which has been a major target of the Donald Trump administration.CBS News – once home to legends of US journalism like Walter Cronkite and Edward R Murrow – installed a Trump ally as its ombudsman, weeks after the family of Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, and a friend of the US president, sealed control over Paramount, the owner of CBS. Continue reading...

Politics

44 h. ago How the US right wing is taking over news media and choking press freedom

Takeover of broadcast companies by Donald Trump’s allies is harbinger of media capitulation to authoritarian leaningsThe US right has appeared to increase its influence on mainstream media in America in recent weeks, especially in television news which has been a major target of the Donald Trump administration.CBS News – once home to legends of US journalism such as Walter Cronkite and Edward R Murrow – installed a Trump ally as its ombudsman, weeks after the family of Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, and a friend of the US president, sealed control over Paramount, the owner of CBS. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Ten Years: has the hit film’s dystopian vision of Hong Kong in 2025 become a reality?

In 2015, a scrappy group of film-makers tapped into the ‘anxiety of what the city would become’ under Beijing’s increasing influence. Now screening at the Hong Kong film festival UK, it resonates in new waysA taxi driver struggles to keep working as his native language of Cantonese is sidelined for Mandarin. Petty gangsters do the work of the authorities amid a violent debate about a national security law. Supporters of Hong Kong independence are jailed.In 2015, a scrappy group of Hong Kong film-makers imagined what their semi-autonomous city could look like under the increasing influence of the Chinese Communist party (CCP). Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago US flight attendants push for boarding wages after Air Canada deal: ‘deserve to be paid’

Cabin crews across North America are not paid for work done before take-off, but a new Canada deal has sparked hopeAs you board the plane, the flight attendant welcomes you on board. They point you to your seat and help with your luggage, before giving the safety demonstration, and preparing the plane for take-off. And there’s a good chance they’ve done it all for free.But a tentative deal between Air Canada and thousands of flight attendants has sparked hope more airlines will end a little-known reality for many North American cabin crews – and pay flight attendants when planes are not moving. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago US flight attendants push for boarding wages after Air Canada deal

Cabin crews across North America are not paid for work done before takeoff, but a new Canada deal has raised hopeAs you board the plane, the flight attendant welcomes you on board. They point you to your seat and help with your luggage, before giving the safety demonstration, and preparing the plane for take-off. And there’s a good chance they’ve done it all for free.But a tentative deal between Air Canada and thousands of flight attendants has sparked hope more airlines will end a little-known reality for many North American cabin crews – and pay flight attendants when planes are not moving. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago US flight attendants push to be paid when planes aren’t in the air: ‘Most of our passengers have no idea’

Cabin crews across North America aren’t paid for work done before takeoff, but new Air Canada deal has raised hopeAs you board the plane, the flight attendant welcomes you on board. They point you to your seat and help with your luggage, before giving the safety demonstration, and preparing the plane for takeoff. And there’s a good chance they have done it all for free.But a tentative deal between Air Canada and thousands of flight attendants has sparked hope more airlines will end a little-known reality for many North American cabin crews – and pay flight attendants when planes are not moving. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Welcome on board this aircraft. Please return your seat to the upright position – for ever | Arwa Mahdawi

Air rage episodes are on the rise – many sparked by seat problems. Surely Trump could use his executive overreach to impose an outright ban on recliners?Down with reclining seats in airplanes! Or, more to the point, up with them. Please sit up straight and pay attention while I make this very serious in-flight announcement: the airline industry should prevent all seats in basic economy from reclining until the general public has shown they know how to use them responsibly. And by “use them responsibly” I mean: don’t recline. Or, if you must, do so courteously and not for the entire flight.Now, I understand a blanket ban might not be a popular solution. But it is the fairest and most utilitarian approach; whatever small degree of comfort you may achieve by being able to lean back a few inches is outweighed by the misery you inflict on the person behind you. Particularly if said person is trying to work on a laptop, eat a meal or nap on their tray table. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on France’s latest political crisis: François Bayrou’s gamble on austerity does not deserve to pay off | Editorial

The likely fall of another prime minister is a further blow to Emmanuel Macron’s becalmed presidency. A change in priorities is neededFollowing a startling victory for Marine Le Pen in European elections last June, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, foolishly called a snap legislative poll. The idea was to give voters a salutary wake-up call, daring them to repeat their embrace of Ms Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in a domestic election. The unanticipated result was a suddenly deadlocked parliament, in which the influence of the National Rally and the left significantly increased, and a lame-duck status for Mr Macron’s second term.That failed gamble has now led to another, which appears equally doomed. This week, Mr Macron’s fourth prime minister in two years put the future of his minority government on the line, in an attempt to pass a deeply unpopular budget this autumn. François Bayrou, intending to deliver his own wake-up call to MPs, has unexpectedly called a confi...

Politics

3 w. ago 'I refused to give up bus seat for pregnant woman as it's not my responsibility'

A woman admitted she refused to give up her bus seat when a pregnant female got on board, but claims she had a good reason not to - and others agree with her

Politics

4 w. ago ‘Skibidi’, ‘delulu’ and ‘tradwife’ among words added to Cambridge Dictionary

Lexicographers give nod to TikTok generation’s enduring influence on English language with latest additions“Skibidi”, “tradwife” and “delulu” are among the new words to have made this year’s Cambridge Dictionary in a selection that confirms the increasing influence of the TikTok generation on the English language.For those hoping such that such neologisms would be a passing internet craze, the compilers of the dictionary say they are here to stay. Continue reading...

Politics