Author: LoveWorld UK

True to their catchphrase, the “Never Say Die” Matildas were not going to die wondering. In the biggest match in their 45-year history, with the weight of a nation on their shoulders, Australia were in vintage form in Melbourne on Monday night. Showing the composure and attacking flair that had deserted them in their first two matches, the Matildas secured a berth in the last 16 with a four-goal thrashing of the Olympic champions Canada. It was a must-win clash – and the Matildas duly triumphed. Victory was vindication for the head coach, Tony Gustavsson, who had faced increasing criticism after his…

UK house prices fell last month at the fastest annual rate in 14 years, as higher interest rates hamper people’s ability to buy a property with a mortgage. Nationwide building society reported that prices fell 3.8% year on year, the sharpest drop since July 2009 when the global economy was in the grips of financial crisis. It compared with a fall in annual prices of 3.5% in June. The price of a typical home is now £260,828, 4.5% below the peak reached last August. Prices dipped 0.2% in July from the previous month. The Bank of England has raised interest…

Nigel Farage has vowed to help thousands of people flood big banks with demands for details about why they were denied an account, as allies said his treatment by Coutts and NatWest had turned him into Britain’s newest “consumer champion”. The former Ukip leader is to spearhead a website assisting anyone who wants to find out why they have been denied a bank account. Farage used a subject access request to discover that, despite initial denials by Coutts, his political views had played a part in the closure of his account. Farage is said to want to make the independent website a non-partisan tool…

The biggest regulatory shake-up of UK retail financial services for two decades will come into force on Monday in an effort to crack down on rip-offs and poor customer service. The changes include stronger rules on value for money and giving fair pricing to all customers, with experts predicting that some older financial products that do not meet the new higher standards are likely to be removed from sale. The “consumer duty” regime being brought in by the Financial Conduct Authority sets higher and clearer standards of consumer protection and means that financial companies – including banks and building societies, insurers and…

The U.S. Secret Service has refused to provide The Heritage Foundation with a list of people possibly involved in the White House cocaine incident, claiming that such records are outside its authority. After the Secret Service closed the investigation into the cocaine discovery in mid-July, the Heritage Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the list of hundreds of individuals who may have accessed the area where the substance was found. In a July 25 letter (pdf) from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency denied the request. “As your request seeks records reflecting visitors or…

Rishi Sunak is to make a visit to north-east Scotland focused on North Sea energy that is intended to draw a dividing line between the government and Labour’s plan to ban new oil and gas projects. While No 10 said in advance only that the prime minister would use the trip to Aberdeenshire to commit to policies connected to energy security and net zero, he is expected to announce funding for a planned carbon capture scheme in the region. The money will be provided for the already mooted Acorn carbon capture and storage project, which had initially missed out when two other sites were…

Some energy industry groups are expressing concern that the White House will declare a COVID-19-like emergency—but for the climate instead. “They’re leaning to that direction,” U.S. Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart told Just the News in an article published on July 30. “If you grant the president’s emergency powers to declare a climate emergency, it’s just like COVID.” An emergency declaration on the climate could give the president “vast and unchecked authority to shut down everything from communications to infrastructure,” said Mr. Stewart, who has been a critic of the Biden administration. Infrastructure around water and electricity could be affected by…

Situated across from Dean Martin Drive, cocooned in the $1.9bn Allegiant Stadium from the 40C heat and sirocco blowing across the Mojave Desert on which Las Vegas is built, Manchester United’s US tour closed with a record of one win and three defeats following this 3-2 reverse to Borussia Dortmund that was an unwanted comedy of errors. The German side’s winner derived from a third defensive malady of United’s evening. Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s loose pass went to Marco Reus who, after a one-two with Julian Brandt, slid the ball across for Youssoufa Moukoko to beat André Onana. Pre-season friendlies can be placed in…

Damage to the heart is more common than thought after receipt of Moderna’s COVID-19 booster, a new study indicates. One in 35 health care workers at a Swiss hospital had signs of heart injury associated with the vaccine, mRNA-1273, researchers found. “mRNA-1273 booster vaccination-associated elevation of markers of myocardial injury occurred in about one out of 35 persons (2.8%), a greater incidence than estimated in meta-analyses of hospitalized cases with myocarditis (estimated incidence 0.0035%) after the second vaccination,” the researchers wrote in the paper, published by the European Journal of Heart Failure. In a generally healthy population, the level would be about 1 percent,…

The High Court is set to publish a ruling on Friday morning over the London mayor’s plan to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the capital’s outer boroughs. Five Conservative-run councils launched legal action back in February over the extension, which is due to come into force on 29 August. The scheme – already in place in central and inner London – will see the drivers of the most polluting vehicles charged £12.50 a day to use them. PM and Khan trade blows over housing – live updates The hope of those behind the plan is it will incentivise…