Close Brothers is among the most exposed banks to car loans, as they have set aside £165 million, as their mis-selling of car loans triggered a 8 per cent fall in shares yesterday and 2 per cent down this morning, after judges including Supreme Court president Lord John Reed,  prevented the government from supporting the industry in a looming court case. The Supreme Court is due in April to hear an appeal brought by car loan providers challenging a ruling last year from the Court of Appeal, which sided with consumers who complained about “secret” commissions on car loans. The judgement … Continue reading £44bn mis-selling Bank scandal

According Peter Beinart, one story has long dominated Jewish communal life: that of persecution and victimhood. It is a story that erases much of the nuance of sacred Jewish tradition and history, and also warps our understanding of modern history.  After Gaza, where Jewish texts, history and language have been deployed to justify mass slaughter and starvation, and he argues, Jews must tell a new story. After this war, whose horror will echo for generation, they must do nothing less that offer a new answer to the question: What does it mean to be a Jew? This is the story in … Continue reading Horrors of Gaza will echo for generations

Garrett Carr’s first novel for adults is set in his hometown in County Donegal the Atlantic coast of Ireland.  West Coast Ireland’s fishing community is the backdrop where a baby is found abandoned in a barrel found on the shore, as if it had come in with the tide, one day in 1973. Named Brendan by Ambrose Bonnar, the fisherman who adopts him, after convincing his wife Christine to adopt the infant and raise him alongside their son Declan, the boy will become a source of fascination and hope for a town caught in the storm of a rapidly changing … Continue reading Ireland caught in a storm of rapidly changing world

Over 100 people have been evacuated after a fire broke out at a luxury Chiltern Firehouse hotel, as 20 fire engines and 125 fire fighters were deployed near London’s Baker Street at 2:52pm. The upmarket Marylebone, £760-a-night venue was due to host Netflix’s BAFTA Awards party on Sunday. According to London Fire Brigade the fire started on the ground floor and spread to the roof, and their statement said, “ The fire was in ducting which leads from the ground floor to the roof and that a plant room at roof level is also alight. We know in fact one … Continue reading Chiltern Firehouse on fire

To love you is to taste champagneTo love you is kisses in the rainTo love you is to feel no restrainTo love you is to lose the painTo love you is to see your faceTo love you is to dress you in laceTo love you is to serve an aceTo love you is to gain faithTo love you is a world without endTo love you is not to pretendTo love you is sweet flowers to tendTo love you is to know a friendTo love you is a hot afternoonTo love you is the light of the moonTo love you is … Continue reading Valentine’s Day

Boston based neutral-atom quantum computing specialist, QuEra Computing has secured over $230million in new funding from Google, SoftBank Vison Fund2, and Valor Equity Partners, QVT Family Office and Safar Partners. QuEra’s neutral-atom technology based on the patented research of its scientific founders Professors Mikhail Lukin, Professor of Physics at Harvard, Markus Greiner Professor of Physics at Harvard, and Vladan Vuletic, Professor of Physics at MT. QuEra developed by Aquila, a 256-qubit quantum computer, one of the most powerful publicly available quantum machines, which leverages individual neutral atoms controlled by lasers, enabling high scalability, reconfigurability and reduced error rates, by programmable … Continue reading QuEra Computing secured $230m funding