Trump adviser wants apology from Cameron
An adviser to Donald Trump is demanding an apology from David Cameron for his description of the US presidential candidate as “divisive, stupid and wrong.”
Trump adviser George Papadopoulos said it would be “wise” for Cameron to “reach out in a more positive manner,” according to a
Telegraph report. Cameron made the comments in December, when Parliament debated a petition to ban the Republican frontrunner from the UK for his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
At the time Cameron made the arguments, Trump’s candidacy was widely seen as a joke. But the billionaire has continued to gain momentum, and his only serious rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, suspended his campaign Tuesday after losing the Indiana primary to Trump. Cruz’s exit makes Trump the presumptive Republican nominee.
Asked about his comments about Trump during President Barack Obama’s recent visit to the UK, Cameron said he wouldn’t add to them or subtract from them, the
Telegraph reported.
UK shoppers benefit from three straight years of price drops
UK shoppers are benefitting from three straight years of falling prices as increased competition forces retailers to resort to discounting to keep up, according to a
Guardian report.
Overall shop prices were down 1.7% in April compared to a year earlier, according to the BRC-Nielsen shop price index. Excluding food, shop prices dropped 2.9% compared with April of 2015. Non-food prices have fallen consistently for the past 37 months, the
Guardian reported.
“The underlying trend in shop prices is downwards, with continued price cutting by supermarkets which is driving deflation,” said Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s head of retailer and business insight.
Parents protesting SATS tests could face fines for keeping kids home
Parents who kept their children out of school for the so-called “kids’ strike” to protest standardized tests could face fines of up to £120, councils have warned.
Parents across the country kept their children home May 3 to protest against standardised tests they said were too hard, according to a
Telegraph report. But local authorities may mark the absences as unauthorised. Legal experts cautioned that parents could face fines of up to £120, even if head teachers choose to turn a blind eye to the absences.
Ministers insist the tests are “vital” in teaching kids to “read, write and add up well,” the
Telegraph reported. But 40,000 people have signed an online petition protesting the exams.
Library use among British adults plummets
“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life,” according to American clergyman and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher. It would seem, however, that many Britons disagree.
The number of British adults visiting libraries has plummeted, falling by 30% over the last decade, the Guardian reports. According to a study commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, just 33.9% of adults used the public library service in the 12 months ending September 2015.
The biggest drop was in the 16-24 age range. In 2005, 51% of people in that age group used the library. In 2015, that number had fallen to 25.2%, the
Guardian reported. And it’s not a matter of the digital revolution killing print; only 12% of those surveyed said they no longer used the library because they read ebooks instead. The most common reason given for shunning the stacks was “less free time.”
“The 30% decline in library usage over the past decade should have set alarm bells ringing, but no one managing the service seems to take responsibility or knows what to do,” said library campaigner Desmond Clarke.
Insolvency watchdog to investigate BHS failure
The government’s insolvency watchdog will investigate BHS’s tumble into administration, according to the
Guardian.
The business secretary, Sajid Javid, has instructed the Insolvency Service to investigate to what extent BHS directors’ conduct led to its collapse last week – a collapse which put 11,000 jobs at risk. The investigation will also look into the conduct of former owner Sir Philip Green, the
Guardian reported.
“I have asked the Insolvency Service to bring forward its investigation rather than wait three months for the administrators to report before launching their inquiry,” Javid said. “…Any issues of misconduct will be taken very seriously.”
Weasel throws a spanner in the works at LHC
One of the most remarkable machines on the planet has been taken down by a weasel.
The Large Hadron Collider was forced offline when the animal chewed through one of the cables at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and short-circuited the 17-mile-long particle accelerator, according to a report in the
Mirror. When it’s working, the £4 billion machine smashes particles together at near the speed of light. The LHC was instrumental in the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, the particle – previously only theorized – which gives matter mass.
The LHC may be out of action for days, according to the
Mirror. The weasel was killed when it chewed through the cable, a CERN spokesman said.
Immovable object beats irresistible force
In the most predictable denouement ever, an Essex man who was seen celebrating his new £215,000 car with a bottle of champagne crashed it into a tree 10 minutes later.
Neighbours said they saw the man – the proud owner of a new McLaren 650S – celebrating delivery of the car with a bottle of bubbly, the
Telegraph reported. But 10 minutes after the car was delivered, the driver lost control and rammed into a tree, turning the vehicle into a mangled, £215,000 paperweight.
Of course, it’s possible the unfortunate driver just underestimated the McLaren’s acceleration. The 650S can hit 100mph in the time most family cars take to reach 30mph, the
Telegraph reported.
