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M&S links up with Sephora to lure younger shoppers
Marks & Spencer has agreed a partnership with Sephora, which will open branded beauty areas in 100 M&S stores and sell its products through the retailer’s website from spring 2027. The move is intended to attract younger shoppers and strengthen M&S’s beauty offer, while giving Sephora a new way to expand across the UK. The…
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Ro Khanna urges US and Chinese AI firms to negotiate safety treaty
Representative Ro Khanna, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, is urging the US government and Chinese AI companies to negotiate a treaty aimed at preventing artificial intelligence from becoming uncontrollably dangerous. In letters sent to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and three major Chinese AI firms—DeepSeek, Alibaba, and…
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William Costelloe takes over family fashion house after father’s death
William Costelloe, 34, has become the new creative director of his family’s fashion business following the death of his renowned Irish father Paul Costelloe last November. Paul had led the business for 46 years, establishing it as a significant presence in fashion. William is balancing respect for his father’s legacy with his own creative vision,…
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Burnham seeks to mend Labour’s strained ties with business leaders
Andy Burnham, now Prime Minister, is attempting to rebuild strained relations between the Labour government and the business community at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool. A year earlier, Burnham had upset the City of London with remarks about Britain being too reliant on bond markets; now, the government is actively reassuring corporate leaders and…
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Labour leadership signals flexibility on pension triple lock amid budget pressures
Lucy Powell has not ruled out Labour changing the state pension triple lock in its next manifesto, despite saying the party remains committed to the policy during this Parliament. The uncertainty comes as Andy Burnham prepares to discuss how to fund social care reform, with changing the pension uprating system reportedly among the options being…
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Tourist sparks fury after riding a sea turtle down a beach as it was laying eggs
Fitness influencer Vadym Oleynik has apologised after photos appeared to show him and his partner sitting on a sea turtle’s shell while it was laying eggs in Oman. The images prompted criticism from conservationists, who described the conduct as mistreatment and exploitation of wildlife. Oman’s Environment Authority said Oleynik’s actions breached wildlife protection laws and…
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Meta’s AI breaches privacy; grandmother wrongly jailed by facial recognition
Meta’s shopping AI shared a seller’s address without consent, leading to an arranged visit. Meanwhile, a Tennessee grandmother spent six months behind bars after a flawed facial recognition misidentification.
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New UK homes in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable, says Aviva boss
Amanda Blanc, chief executive of Aviva, has warned that new homes currently being built in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable in future decades as flooding threats intensify. She argues that with 115,000 homes expected to be constructed in flood zones over the next decade, building policies need to reconsider where properties are sited, as these…
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On the rocks? Scotch distilleries pause production as unsold ‘whisky loch’ grows
Scotland’s Scotch whisky industry is experiencing a severe downturn after a 15-year boom, with distilleries pausing production to manage an oversupply crisis known as a “whisky loch”. The slump is triggering significant job cuts, business closures and strike action, including the recent appointment of administrators at GlenWyvis Distillery and strike action at Diageo’s Cameronbridge plant…
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Journalist Patricia Nilsson investigates the hidden owners of the porn industry
Patricia Nilsson, a business journalist, has spent five years investigating the pornography industry for the Financial Times and published a book titled “Guilty Pleasure: The Pornification of the Internet, the Economy, and Everything Else”. Unlike the openly flamboyant porn moguls of previous decades such as Larry Flynt and Hugh Hefner, today’s industry leaders remain deliberately…