Honor x8 review

There is nothing else in the world like seeing Adele play London . Taking to Hyde Park’s BST (and looking absolutely dazzling) the pressure was on – she hasn’t played a headline concert in a year and a half – but, gazing out at the thousands of people singing along to her hit Hello, she was immediately at home. She gave nothing short of perfection during the two-hour spectacular and, while her vocals were always going to be other-wordly, it was her unadulterated joy to be back on stage that made the night so special. Bursting into tears within the opening lines, the superstar’s delight was palpable, as she told the audience: ‘I am so happy to be here’. It seemed like an understatement for what was a night filled with laughter and tears. She mixed it up with newer hits like I Drink Wine, before throwing it back for I’ll Be Waiting and Rumour Has It. The crowds, which included celebs like Tom Cruise , Ant and Dec, and James Corden , as well as her beloved … [Read more...] about Adele at BST Hyde Park review: A truly unforgettable homecoming for one of our greatest ever superstars

For dozens of members of Congress, this is déjà vu. House Democrats are moving swiftly in their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. As they do so, longtime Washington lawmakers have receded into their partisan corners, determined to convince the American people why now—and not decades ago—they're right about whether a sitting president might need to be removed from office. This time around, Democrats say the president has crossed the line and has committed impeachable offenses by pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent. Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son for potential corruption, while invoking the names of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, in addition to withholding hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign military aid at the same time. Last time around, in the late 1990s, Republicans impeached President … [Read more...] about The hypocrisy of impeachment: How lawmakers’ stances on ousting a president changed from Clinton to Trump

Amazon has bowed to pressure from the United Arab Emirates and restricted searches related to LGBTQ products in the country. The online retailer has blocked searches for more than 150 keywords such as “lgbtq” and “pride”, while searches for specific books about gay and transgender issues have also been restricted. Documents leaked to the New York Times showed that the Emirati government had given Amazon until Friday to comply with its order or face repercussions. The company said that while it supported gay and transgender rights, it always complied with local laws in the countries where it operates. Amazon has spent heavily to build a business in the UAE, acquiring the country’s biggest online retailer Souq.com in 2017 for $580m (£478m). Many other multinational tech giants have been forced to compromise on the values they claim to support to operate internationally. In 2016, Apple removed a lesbian couple from a Mother’s Day advert in some markets, and in 2019 Netflix … [Read more...] about Amazon blocks LGBTQ searches in UAE after political pressure

Has Kwasi Kwarteng gone too far already? The new Business Secretary has spent the first few days in the job busily playing down the widely-held perception that he is a Right-winger. He has distanced himself from the more extreme free-marketeer views he espoused in the 2012 pamphlet entitled Britannia Unchained, which outlined his vision for the country. As a newly elected MP, Kwarteng – along with Liz Truss, Dominic Raab, Priti Patel and Chris Skidmore – denounced the UK’s “bloated state, high taxes and excessive regulation”, and described British workers as “among the worst idlers in the world”. And, despite being appointed less than a month ago, he has already executed his first U-turn, abandoning a post-Brexit review of workers’ rights after he was attacked for wanting to water down protections. When we meet (virtually, of course), he is adamant that much of the criticism was baseless: “People say we want to abolish workers’ rights; nothing could be further from the … [Read more...] about Kwasi Kwarteng: Brexit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we must take advantage of

Love it or loathe it, Brexit means change: an opportunity to forge our own path, for better or worse, for richer or poorer. And so does the pandemic: it’s turned teleconferencing from something we’d see in sci-fi movies into an everyday staple, and made commuting to work as quaint and old-fashioned as bowler hats and Morris dancing. So we’re at a moment of change, a fork in the road, and the question is which route will we take? One of the best and biggest opportunities would be to give you and me more and better choices about what we buy, and who we buy it from, because having more firms constantly jostling and jockeying to offer us something that’s better, or cheaper, or more organic, or greener is one of the best and most reliable ways to drive up post-Brexit, post-pandemic living standards for all of us, every year. Even better, it would sharpen up British firms a treat, making our entire economy more competitive on the global stage, which is the only real long-term … [Read more...] about Time for the Tories to find their inner Maggie and embark on supply-side reforms

Damascene conversions happen all the time in politics. Winston Churchill was once a high-flying Liberal, but ended up as the mightiest Conservative Prime Minister. The Gang of Four split with the Labour party to form the SDP in the early 1980s. But sometimes strategic or ideological u-turns can happen almost by accident. The current Government, for example, is packed with free marketeers boasting impeccable libertarian credentials that are heading the most interventionist, high-spending administration since the Second World War. How did this happen? Partly it is the understandable result of  Covid emergency measures. But it also appears to be influencing longer-term strategy. One of the most dramatic conversions may well be that of Kwasi Kwarteng, who was appointed as Business Secretary last month . Once known for his trenchant economic liberalism, as a co-author of the 2012 book Britannia Unchained , the newly-elevated cabinet minister's short tenure has been marked by a … [Read more...] about Kwasi Kwarteng: from ‘Britannia Unchained’ to shackling business

Consumers could be "manipulated" into choosing products by unregulated online shopping algorithms, the competitions watchdog said as it launched a probe into potentially misleading practices. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it is concerned that consumers could be manipulated in their shopping choices or end up paying too much for products either by “deliberate or unintended” use of algorithms. It said that these algorithms could be used to personalise services and create search results that “can be manipulated to reduce choice or artificially change consumers’ perceptions”. This could be by using “nudges” on a website, such as the placement of the “buy” button, or could even go as far as “personalised pricing”, the CMA said. The effect of algorithms can be difficult for shoppers to detect, the regulator warned, although it did say that they also bring benefits by showing consumers search results they are more likely to be interested in. Kate Brand, director … [Read more...] about Online shoppers could be ‘manipulated’ to choose different products by algorithms

Britain cannot spend its way to prosperity, the Business Secretary has warned amid a growing Tory debate over state spending in the run-up to the Budget in March. Kwasi Kwarteng, promoted to the Cabinet earlier this month, signalled that a squeeze on public spending is coming with the Government deficit, fuelled by Covid handouts, forecast to exceed £400 billion this month. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is keen to rein in public spending and start setting out future tax rises in the Budget. But Tory backbenchers and several senior Government ministers are pushing for further public spending increases and believe this is the way to boost the economy in the wake of the pandemic. Speaking to The Telegraph , Mr Kwarteng insisted that a booming private sector was the way in which Britain will recover after the virus crisis. He said: "Let me be very clear – without a thriving private sector, we will not be able to afford good public services. Great public services rely on a … [Read more...] about Britain can’t spend way to prosperity after Covid, Kwasi Kwarteng warns

Facebook's $400m (£292m) takeover of image-sharing library Giphy risks being scuppered after the UK's competition watchdog said the deal raised concerns. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would be launching an in-depth probe into the takeover if Facebook and Giphy were not able to offer solutions to curb fears over competition within five working days. The regulator warned that the deal could stop Giphy from supplying GIFs to rival social media firms to Facebook or could "do so on worse terms – for example, requiring rivals to provide more user data to the merged entity to access Giphy GIFs". "This could potentially lead to reduced choice for users and further increase Facebook’s market power in relation to social media." Andrea Gomes da Silva, the CMA's executive director of Markets and Mergers, said: "As the UK’s competition authority, it is our responsibility to make sure that markets remain competitive. "It is vital we ensure that Facebook, as a large … [Read more...] about UK watchdog says Facebook’s $400m Giphy deal could harm users

Announcement of the results from BT Group strike ballots Sign up for FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info According to reports, around 25,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at BT and Openreach and 9,000 BT call centre workers were balloted and overwhelmingly backed industrial action, the (CWU) recently said. BT employees have voted overwhelmingly in favour of holding a national strike for the first time in 35 years, sparking the latest industrial action dispute over wages. Related articles Where is the safest place in the UK during nuclear war? Top 20 areas Trade unions and Labour could split as 'summer of discontent' looms … [Read more...] about BT national strike threatens to severely hamper broadband as employees set to walk out