Uk news

Not so free and easy with the fizzy stuff from Friday in the UK as the sweetest of sugary drinks get hit by a whopping 24 pence per litre tax, while lower-sugar drinks will cost 18 pence more. The UK joins an exclusive club of nations on target to number just 32 by the end of the year that have decided to impose sugar taxes on sugary drinks for health reasons. The tax was a headline feature of former finance minister George Osborne's final budget in May 2016. It is also forecast to raise more than 600 million euros for the government. Many UK drinks manufacturers have already changed to artificial sweeteners ahead of the tax, which reflects a new medical focus on the over-consumption of sugar as the prime suspect for a whole range of diseases, but especially obesity. A new report has also suggested an alarming rise in infantile tooth decay, with UK hospitals pulling a child's tooth roughly every 10 minutes in children as young as one year old. Some critics of drinks taxes … [Read more...] about King Sugar’s walls tumble as UK gets tough on soft drinks

OVER HALF of British women PREFER their best friend to their own husband, according to a new survey. Researchers undertook a nationwide poll of women in long terms relationships and revealed just over one in two like their girl pals more than their own husband or partner. And according to the research, some of the reasons given for preferring mates were that no topic of conversation was off limits (57 percent) as well as going wild when you’re together (18 percent), finding them LESS irritating (27 percent) and having a better sense of humour (27 percent). Almost half (47 percent) said they can talk about sex more easily with friends, while more than half (55 percent) said they prefer discussing health concerns with their female friends - and as many as 49 percent would always turn to their BFF to discuss parenting issues, rather than their own partner. Money problems (61 percent) and body hang-ups (39 percent) were also easier to chat through with girlfriends than husbands or … [Read more...] about More than half of UK women prefer hanging out with their friends than their husband

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and United Kingdom on Monday charged that Russian government-backed hackers have infected computer routers around the world in a cyber espionage campaign that targeted government agencies, businesses and critical infrastructure operators. U.S and UK officials told reporters in a conference call that they plan to issue a joint alert on the attacks, which target routers that form a key part of the internet infrastructure, in a cyber espionage campaign that could be levered in the future to launch offensive attacks. (Reporting by Jim Finkle and Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Alexander) … [Read more...] about U.S., UK charge Russian-backed hackers of global cyber espionage campaign

IT will be another glorious day of sunshine for Brits today as temperatures of 25C are expected to follow the hottest day of the year. The weekend will remain warm, but the blue skies won't last as thunder storms are forecast to roll in on Saturday. The Met Office's Aidan McGivern said: "By the afternoon [today] cloud is building across Scotland, showers pushing into say central and northern Scotland, a few heavy downpours here. "But otherwise most places dry and with the sunny spells it will be another warm day. "Not quite as warm as Thursday but still reaching 25/26C in the south. "For Saturday for the majority it's sunny skies for much of the day. "But later in the day you can see thunderstorms developing. Later on Saturday we are going to see that inevitable thundery breakdown. "A change is on the way through the weekend, we start off sunny and warm and we end up with fresher and more showery air coming in for the start of next week." London Marathon runners will be keeping a … [Read more...] about UK weather forecast – sun and 25C heat today but thunderstorms are on way from Saturday

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s competition watchdog said the planned merger of SSE’s <SSE.L> retail power and gas business in the UK with Npower, owned by German rival Innogy <IGY.DE>, could lead to higher prices for customers and warrants further scrutiny. The watchdog said the merger would be referred for a longer Phase 2 investigation unless the parties offer acceptable undertakings to address the competition concerns. “We know that competition in the energy market does not work as well as it might,” said Rachel Merelie, senior director at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). “However, competition between energy companies gives them a reason to keep prices down. “We have found that the proposed merger between SSE Retail and Npower could reduce this competition, and so lead to higher prices for some customers. We therefore believe that this merger warrants further in-depth scrutiny.” SSE said on Thursday it remained … [Read more...] about UK watchdog threatens full investigation into SSE, Npower utility merger