England’s men won the World Cup for the first and so far only time when the country hosted the finals in 1966. It has never staged the women’s tournament. “We are honoured to be the sole bidder for the FIFA women’s World Cup 2035,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said in a statement. “Hosting the first FIFA World Cup since 1966 with our home nations partners will be very special. The hard work starts now, to put together the best possible bid by the end of the year.” The United States, with the possibility of other countries in the CONCACAF region…
Author: Fatimah Idera
Floods have struck the Greek tourist islands of Mykonos and Paros, turning roads into rivers and sweeping away cars. A state of emergency has been declared on both islands, with authorities telling residents to stay at home just as businesses were gearing up for the tourist season. Authorities on the islands of Paros and Mykonos in the Aegean Sea swung into action to clear overturned cars and debris after hail storms and torrential downpours on Tuesday. The severe storms that hit the Aegean also affected Crete and Rhodes, both popular holiday destinations for British holidaymakers. The storm that hit Paros,…
Tesla reported a 13% drop in vehicle sales in the first three months of the year, making it the electric vehicle maker’s worst quarter since 2022. It’s another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying electric car company is struggling to attract buyers. The drop is likely due to a combination of factors, including Tesla’s ageing lineup, growing competition from rivals, and backlash over Elon Musk’s alignment with right-wing politics. It also serves as a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report, due later this month, could disappoint investors. The manufacturing giant reported that it delivered 336,681 cars globally in the…
The boss of Heathrow came under fire for last month’s 18-hour shutdown after an airline representative revealed he had raised concerns about the airport’s resilience days earlier, as lawmakers scrutinised the nationally embarrassing incident. Recall that a blaze at a substation near to the airport caused the closure on March 21, raising questions about the resilience of national infrastructure. The incident left about 300,000 people stranded and cost airlines millions of pounds. Seeking to learn lessons, lawmakers on Wednesday quizzed the chief executive of Heathrow and senior representatives from National Grid, power provider SSE and an airline representative. The boss…
European visitors to Britain will have to purchase an electronic permit in advance for trips from Wednesday, as the UK government follows other countries in seeking to strengthen immigration security by screening people before they cross its borders. The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme requires all visitors who do not need a visa to enter Britain to purchase pre-travel authorisation online at a cost of 10 pounds (12 euros), rising to 16 pounds from April 9. Irish citizens are excluded. This regime was initially rolled out to non-European nationals last year, including visitors from the United States, Canada and Australia.…
Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip has intensified, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announcing a broader offensive aimed at seizing more territory and neutralizing militant threats. The announcement followed reports from local hospitals that over 40 people had been killed in overnight airstrikes, with nearly a dozen of the victims identified as children. In a statement released Wednesday, Gallant declared that Israeli forces are expanding their ground campaign to “cleanse” militant elements and take control of large areas within Gaza. These newly seized territories, according to the defense minister, would eventually be incorporated into Israel’s expanded security zones. Although…
UK house prices were flat in March and the market is likely to stay soft after a tax increase on property transactions, mortgage lender Nationwide. The average price of a home was unchanged at £271,316 in March, compared with February’s 0.4% monthly rise, according to Nationwide building society. The annual growth rate stayed at 3.9%, masking big regional variations. In Northern Ireland, annual price growth accelerated to 13.5%, the highest in the region since 2021. Scotland posted a 3.9% annual rise, while Wales was close behind at 3.6%. As of Tuesday, Britain’s government has lowered the price threshold at which…
Britain handed Italian defence company Leonard a 165 million pound ($213 million) contract extension on Tuesday to maintain the Royal Navy’s fleet of 54 Merlin helicopters, a deal which it said would help support 1,000 jobs across the country. Britain, which plans to boost defence spending to 2.5% of economic output by 2027, said the deal with Leonardo would help bolster national security. “This investment demonstrates our unwavering commitment to maintaining cutting-edge defence capabilities that keep us safe, while utilising defence as an engine for economic growth,” Maria Eagle, the minister for defence procurement and industry, said in a statement.…
Donald Trump has signed and approved Sir Keir Starmers controversial deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The details of the agreement with the Mauritian government are now being finalised which includes a leaseback arrangement for the Diego Garcia airbase. Speaking about the progress of the deal on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said; “I think the finalisation of the deal is ongoing, but we’ll obviously provide an update as and when we’ve got one.” Asked whether the UK was still waiting for Mr Trump to approve the agreement, he said: “I mean, you will have seen from…
Britain’s top mobile network provider including Vodafone (VOD.L) and BT’s EE (BT.L) on Monday urged a London tribunal to throw out a mass lawsuit valued at over 3.2 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) for allegedly overcharging customers. The case which is also brought against Telefonica’s O2 (TEF.MC) and Hutchison’s (0001.HK) Three UK, whose $19 billion merger with Vodafone was approved last year – is being brought on behalf of over 28 million British consumers. The networks are alleged to have charged customers who remained with the network after their minimum contract expired a loyal penalty, by continuing to charge for mobile…
