Author: The Guardian
It may have been a quiet January transfer window, but even so, thousands of new shirts will be printed for Lucas Paquetá, returning to his former Brazilian club Flamengo, while his West Ham shirt instantly feels old. Not to mention the thousands of other players moving from one club to another. Uefa estimates that up to 60 percent of kits worn by players are destroyed at the end of the season, and at any one time there are thought to be more than 1 billion football shirts in circulation, many of which are discarded by fans once players leave.The good…
It may have been a quiet January transfer window, but even so, thousands of new shirts will be printed for Lucas Paquetá, returning to his former Brazilian club Flamengo, while his West Ham shirt instantly feels old. Not to mention the thousands of other players moving from one club to another. Uefa estimates that up to 60 percent of kits worn by players are destroyed at the end of the season, and at any one time there are thought to be more than 1 billion football shirts in circulation, many of which are discarded by fans once players leave.The good…
Donald Trump is expected to nominate the former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as its next chair amid an extraordinary attempt by the president to tighten his grip on the US central bank and flout its longstanding independence.Trump told reporters on Thursday that he planned to announce his choice for chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday morning, hinting that “a lot of people think that this is somebody that could have been there a few years ago”.That fuelled speculation that he had chosen Warsh, who was considered for the Fed chair in 2017. There was a surge of bets…
The fashion retailer Urban Outfitters, the bed specialist Dreams and the operator of several Royal Parks cafes have been criticised for the use of the gig economy app Temper to take on staff – some of whom can end up earning below minimum wage.The TUC is urging the government to bring forward promised reforms to protect gig economy workers amid concerns that those hired by apps such as Temper are missing out on significant employment rights including sick pay, rest breaks, holiday pay and a minimum hourly rate.It suggested that such apps are leading to bogus self-employed roles. “We find…
French Connection is back on the trail of global expansion with the aid of its cheeky initials-based slogan that made it so popular in the late 1990s.The label once known for clothes bearing “FCUK” is seeking to reinvent itself again under the ownership of a group of British entrepreneurs based in the north of England who rescued it in 2021.This week, the former high street darling signed a licensing agreement to develop and distribute men’s and women’s apparel and accessories across North America, which is understood to include plans to revive the FCUK branding.It is the latest chapter in a…
India and the EU have finalised a landmark free trade agreement, which the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed as the “mother of all deals”.The agreement comes after almost two decades of on-off negotiations between India and the EU, which vastly accelerated in the past six months and were finally concluded late on Monday night.The deal is expected to open up India’s vast and traditionally tightly guarded market to the 27 nations in the bloc, with a focus on manufacturing and the services sector. It is expected to ease market access for key European products, including cars and…
Kanye West has taken out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal apologising for his antisemitic behaviour. “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” he wrote. “I love Jewish people.”In a letter titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” he attributed his inflammatory actions, including making profoundly offensive statements and selling T-shirts bearing swastikas, to his bipolar-1 disorder, which he said he developed as a result of medical oversight failing to diagnose a frontal-lobe injury sustained in a car crash in 2002.West — now legally known as Ye — said that as a result of the disorder, he “lost touch…
Next has rescued the footwear retailer Russell & Bromley out of administration for £3.8 million but about 400 jobs are likely to go at 33 shops not included in the deal.The British brand, founded in 1879 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, trades from 36 stores and nine concessions across the UK and Ireland. Next will take on only three stores – in Chelsea, Mayfair and the Bluewater shopping centre – and about 48 store staff, it is understood.The rescue deal, which includes Russell & Bromley’s brand and other assets including £1.3 million of stock, is the latest brand acquisition for Next.…
One day during his first term, Donald Trump summoned a top aide to discuss a new idea. “Trump called me down to the Oval Office,” John Bolton, national security adviser in 2018, told the Guardian. “He said a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland.”It was an extraordinary proposal. And it originated from a longtime friend of the president who would go on to acquire business interests in the Danish territory.The businessman, Bolton learned, was Ronald Lauder. Heir to a makeup fortune – the global cosmetics brand Estée Lauder – he had known Trump, a fellow wealthy New…
JD Sports has said it plans to allow customers to buy its products directly through AI platforms without leaving the apps.The British trainer and sportswear company will allow “one-click purchases” through platforms such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, as big retailers attempt to keep up with AI-powered shopping.The technology will launch in the US in the coming months, with potential to expand into other regions, the company said.Jetan Chowk, the JD Sports chief technology officer, told PA Media that AI was “the future of how people will shop”.“What we are currently seeing is that customers are regularly using AI apps…