Heathrow in talks with airlines to end row that could delay third runway
Posted on Sunday May 03, 2026

Airport seeks deal with BA owner, Virgin and billionaire local landowner, who has own expansion plan, over cost and service issues

Heathrow’s new chair has opened talks with airlines and the billionaire local landowner Surinder Arora to defuse a row that threatens to further delay the £49bn plan to build a third runway at Europe’s busiest airport.

Philip Jansen, who was appointed at the start of the year, is understood to have held meetings with the airport’s carriers and with Arora, who has been promoting his own £25bn expansion scheme, in the hope of finding the middle ground in a row over cost and service issues.

Read more...

Women in developing countries hardest hit by rising debt burden, UN research finds
Posted on Monday May 04, 2026

Study warns women face job losses and increased unpaid care duties as debt and conflict-driven turbulence force spending cuts

Women are hit hardest when the debt burden in developing countries rises, a trend expected to worsen as the war in the Middle East continues, UN research shows.

A report by experts from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), based on data from 85 countries gathered across three decades, shows women are disproportionately affected when debt repayments increase significantly.

Read more...

Spirit Airlines says it has nearly finished refunding customers after shuttering
Posted on Sunday May 03, 2026

Budget airline left thousands stranded on Saturday after ceasing operations amid financial troubles

• Spirit Airlines shutdown: how to get home and get refunds

• Political blame game begins and passengers left adrift after Spirit ceases operations

Spirit Airlines has almost finished refunding customers for flights abruptly canceled over the weekend as the company folded.

The budget airline left thousands of customers and staff stranded after deciding on Saturday to pull the plug on a business that was struggling for years, before a surge in the price of jet fuel blew a new hole in its budget.

Read more...

Could Iran’s escalating economic crisis weaken negotiating position with US?
Posted on Monday May 04, 2026

War has combined with battered economy to leave Tehran wondering how hardline it can afford to be

Iran may not be choking like a stuffed pig as Donald Trump predicted, but its economy is in serious difficulty as a combination of a massive war-damages bill, inflation, currency devaluation, unemployment and a contraction in oil revenues combine to leave the political elite worrying how hardline they can afford to be with their US negotiators. One estimate circulating in Iran’s media suggests the damage to the economy from the US-Israeli attacks is nine times the value of the Iranian budget last year.

The UN Development Programme has estimated that 4.1 million more Iranians could fall into poverty.

Read more...

AI facial recognition oversight lagging far behind technology, watchdogs warn
Posted on Sunday May 03, 2026

Exclusive: Biometrics commissioners say face-scanning not as effective as claimed and new laws needed to regulate use

• How does live facial recognition work and how many police forces use it?

• Guilty until proven innocent: shoppers falsely identified by facial recognition

Britain’s biometrics watchdogs have warned that national oversight of AI-powered face scanning to catch criminals is lagging far behind the technology’s rapid growth.

With the Metropolitan police almost doubling the number of faces they scan in London over the past 12 months and a rising use of the technology by retailers in the UK, Prof William Webster, the biometrics commissioner for England and Wales, said the “slow pace of legislation was trying to catch up with the real world” and “the horse had gone before the cart”.

An independent audit of the Met’s use of facial recognition technology (FRT) has been indefinitely postponed after the police requested delays.

Polling shows 57% of people believe the systems are “another step towards turning the UK into a surveillance society”.

A whistleblower claimed shop-based face-scanning systems had sometimes been misused by shop or security staff “maliciously” adding members of the public to watchlists.

Read more...

London schools trialling VR to relieve pupils’ stress
Posted on Monday May 04, 2026

Phase Space pilot programme with NHS mental health trust used to calm anxiety around exams, ADHD and home troubles

Schools have begun deploying virtual reality to help pupils cope with stress caused by impending exams, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or difficult home lives.

All 15 secondary schools in the London borough of Sutton are using VR headsets made by tech firm Phase Space in a pilot in conjunction with the local NHS mental health trust.

Read more...

Premier League: talking points from the weekend’s action
Posted on Monday May 04, 2026

Arne Slot is fuming, Mikel Arteta’s big risk pays off and Josh Dasilva enjoys an emotional return for Brentford

Arne Slot was seething as he lamented the decision to allow Manchester United’s second goal to stand despite claims of handball by Benjamin Sesko. “The curve on the ball changed so there must have been a contact,” argued the Liverpool head coach. “But it’s no surprise to anyone that if there is a VAR intervention then the decision goes against us. It’s happened to us all season.” As PGMO confirmed at the time, however, there “was no conclusive evidence that Sesko handled the ball before scoring”. Slot was stretching it to pin Liverpool’s latest defeat on poor refereeing. United’s movement pulled the visitors apart in the first half and, without the injured Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak, the threat from Liverpool was nonexistent until capitalising on two errors early in the second half. Defeat stemmed from an anaemic first-half performance, nothing else. Andy Hunter

Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham

Match report: Newcastle 3-1 Brighton

Match report: Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham

Match report: Brentford 3-0 West Ham

Match report: Leeds 3-1 Burnley

Read more...

Kimi Antonelli produces gutsy drive to hold off Norris and win F1 Miami GP
Posted on Sunday May 03, 2026

• Antonelli claims third win of the season with Piastri third

• Mercedes driver extends championship lead to 20 points

The margins were fine but ultimately it was a champion’s composure that won the day for Kimi Antonelli at the Miami Grand Prix. The teenager cannot legally buy a drink in the US yet but by the end of what was a gripping run to the flag the Italian had most assuredly earned a stiffener.

Still 19 years old and in only his second season in Formula One, Antonelli’s calmness to see off immense pressure from McLaren’s Lando Norris, who hounded him to the finish, was his best performance in a run that has seen him take three consecutive pole positions and three consecutive wins in these opening four rounds.

Read more...