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UK urged to act as Polymarket takes bets on whether HSBC and Lloyds will fail

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The expansion of Heathrow would be an expensive disaster for Britain and the world. Burnham needs to block it | George Monbiot
A third runway would fly in the face of reason. If we are to prioritise human life over short-term ‘growth’, we need to use planes less, not more If a third runway is built at Heathrow, what will be the impact on the wealth of the nation? It will cost us somewhere between £23.4bn and £62.5bn. These are not my figures ; they weren’t calculated by environmental groups, but by the Department for Transport. For decades, government ministers have told us that airport expansion is essential for “growth”. As chancellor, Rachel Reeves claimed that a third runway at Heathrow would add 0.43% to GDP , figures we later discovered came from a report commissioned by the airport. The transport department’s own analysis concluded that the real addition to GDP would be between 0.03% and 0.05%: eight to 14 times less. Against this, it weighed the social and environmental costs of the project, to reveal a

BT accused of ‘bullying’ customers by pausing broadband in digital landline push
Companies race to switch households to ‘voice over internet protocol’ services by the end of January BT has been accused of “bullying” customers by temporarily cutting off their broadband to pressure them to upgrade to a digital landline, as providers race to switch households over before the January deadline. Telecoms companies have so far migrated 16-17m lines from the old copper network to digital voice over internet protocol (VoiP), which uses a broadband connection instead, in the biggest technological upgrade since the early 00s, when analogue TV was switched off . Continue reading...

‘It’s shocking really’: Devon community tracks River Dart sewage spills
Citizen environmentalists create online platform that flags spills in real time and highlights repeatedly polluted spots The easy thing for the people who live on the banks of the River Dart in Devon might have been to grumble and groan about the sewage spills that blight their beloved waterway. Instead, citizen environmentalists in the area have created a unique online platform that flags up spills in real time, highlights spots that are repeatedly polluted, and sets out where improvement work is planned – and where it isn’t. Continue reading...

‘People are deserting it’: why are London mansions struggling to sell?
For decades, the capital’s house prices raced ahead of the national average – but now they are falling in prime areas An elegant Georgian facade, a full-width balcony and an exclusive address in South Kensington just steps from the Natural History Museum and the V A. Yet the listing price of this west London flat at Queen’s Gate Gardens has dropped by nearly £1m since last year, to £4.4m. It is far from an isolated case. A nearby house originally listed at £20m was slashed to £14m this year, says a local estate agent. In neighbouring Notting Hill, a stucco-fronted property that came to market two years ago at £16m is now being offered for less than £14m, they said. Continue reading...
America’s data center fight is a preview of what's to come for the rest of the world
America’s fight over data centers is going global. Communities across Europe and Asia are pushing back over the rising costs of the AI infrastructure boom.
Cerebras stock hits post-IPO low, tumbling 20% for the week on Nvidia pressure and lockup expiration
Cerebras shares hit an all-time low due to pressure from chip giant Nvidia, plus a post-lockup selloff.