Businessman close to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro arrested in Cape Verde
BBC Saab was charged with money laundering in the US last July Cape Verde authorities have arrested a businessman accused by the US of corrupt dealings with the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. Alex Nain Saab, who is Colombian, was indicted by the US justice department for money laundering last July. The 48-year-old was […]
Vast corruption network in food programme, US says
Getty Images The state-run Clap programme was created to distribute food boxes at subsidized prices US officials have accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his allies of profiting from a food subsidy scheme as the country suffers acute shortages. For years, a “vast corruption network” made money from overvalued contracts while only a fraction of […]
Monica Lewinsky x Reformation and the power of unorthodox celebrity collabs
Mia Taylor Features correspondent Monica Lewinsky and Reformation have collaborated on a new fashion campaign. (Alamy) Monica Lewinsky is making headlines again. Almost three decades after the one-time White House intern became a household name amid explosive revelations about an affair with President Bill Clinton, Lewinsky has unexpectedly returned to the spotlight. This time, however, […]
Supermarket pizza firm fined after Bolton workers seriously injured
Google Inspectors found checks on machinery at the pizza factory were not to standard A firm which makes millions of pizzas for supermarkets has been fined after two workers were seriously hurt after getting trapped in a conveyer belt. Stateside Foods Limited was ordered to pay £800,000 for two separate incidents in 2020 at its […]
Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys pulls out of festival in protest
Getty Images / Jeff Spicer Gruff Rhys says he is “in dismay at the utter collapse of coherent diplomacy in the West” Super Furry Animals’ singer Gruff Rhys has pulled out of a major US festival in protest over “the hyper violence inflicted on civilians in Gaza”. On Instagram, the Welsh musician said he was […]
Unilever is cutting jobs and splitting off its ice cream unit
Steve Russell A rainy summer in Europe meant sales of ice cream dropped Marmite and Dove soap-owner Unilever is to cut about 7,500 jobs worldwide, as part of an extensive three-year cost-saving plan. The group also said it would split off its ice cream business which includes the Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum brands. […]
Trowbridge Castle Place shopping centre: Optimism for future
Dan O’Brien Political reporter, BBC Wiltshire BBC Castle Place was hit hard by Wilkos and Shaws closing down in 2023, the two largest remaining shops The few remaining traders in a struggling town centre shopping centre have spoken of their optimism it can turn a corner with a new owner. Castle Place is a largely […]
Doctors question science behind blood sugar diet trend
Rachel Schraer Health and disinformation reporter BBC Blood sugar monitors are unnecessary for people without diabetes and could, in extreme cases, fuel eating disorders, leading doctors have warned. They are part of a personalised diet trend, promoted on social media and spearheaded by companies including ZOE. But NHS national diabetes advisor Prof Partha Kar said […]
Calls for funeral regulation and licensing
Jodie Langsford Public petitions calling for a funeral directors’ regulatory body began in 2023 An MP is leading calls for the funeral industry to be regulated after 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes were removed from a Hull company. The bodies and ashes were taken from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road to […]
Flight chaos made worse by engineer delay, report finds
Katy Austin & Tom Espiner Transport correspondent & reporter PA Media Rory Dollard’s family were stuck in France last summer after having their flight cancelled Air traffic chaos over last year’s August bank holiday was made worse by on-call engineers being unable to fix the issue from home, a report has said. More than 700,000 […]