Author: Loveworld UK

Donald Trump has said he has cancelled his trip to London to open the new US embassy because he considers the building’s relocation a “bad deal”. The US President tweeted: “Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for ‘peanuts,’ only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO.” Mr Trump had been expected to visit the new £750m ($1bn) home for American diplomats on the…

All the jewellery stolen from the Ritz Hotel in Paris on Wednesday has been recovered, a source close to the investigation said. The jewels were in a bag dropped during the raid by one of the five men who carried out the heist. According to a first estimate, the jewels were worth more than £4m and also included luxury watches. “I can confirm that all the stolen jewels were found in the bag recovered by police officers,” the source said. The men broke a window at the tradesman’s entrance to the famed hotel just after 6.30pm (5.30pm UK time). Three…

Voting will close today in the latest election which will help determine the future of the Labour party. Elections for the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) – the body which runs the party and sets its rules – will close at noon. Although little noticed since the turn of the year amid the trials of Theresa May’s latest botched reshuffle and the NHS winter crisis, they are the latest staging post in the Labour civil war. Three new positions representing the party members are up for grabs. The jobs were created in an expansion of the NEC at the urging…

The cost of a barrel of oil has topped $70 for the first time in just over three years, prompting a motoring group to say it is “fearful” of fuel price rises. The RAC signalled pump costs were likely to reflect the march of Brent crude – damaging the economy at a time drivers and businesses could ill afford it. Oil prices have been steadily rising since the major OPEC group of oil-producing nations, along with Russia, agreed last autumn to maintain production cuts – credited with lifting prices last year as they intended. The expectation has been that US…

Theresa May has told top City executives they should “emphasise the benefits for Europe” of a Brexit trade deal that includes London’s financial centre. Downing Street released a statement after the PM and Chancellor Philip Hammond held talks with senior bosses of top institutions including Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Lloyd’s of London and Aviva – a meeting first reported by Sky News. It suggested the Government – and the executives present – were in agreement that Europe as a whole would lose out to other financial centres in the world – such as New York or Hong Kong – through a…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is optimistic she can form a new government as she embarked in new coalition talks. The discussions, which bring Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and allied Christian Social Union (CSU) together with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), are seen as a final attempt to create a coalition after months of deadlock. Set to last five days, they follow a shock general election that in September failed to return a majority, leaving all parties with reduced vote shares and Germany without a government. “I am going into these talks with optimism, but it is…

House of Fraser (HoF), one of the UK’s biggest department store chains, is seeking to slash its rent bill, stoking fears of further casualties on an increasingly embattled high street. Sky News has learnt that HoF has contacted an undisclosed number of the owners of its 59 UK outlets to ask for substantial rent reductions. The chain, which is privately owned by Sanpower, a Chinese conglomerate, is understood to have made the “informal” request in recent weeks, although it was unclear on Friday whether it had been communicated to landlords before or after its Boxing Day sale got underway. HoF…

The Grenfell Tower inquiry has cancelled its contract with auditors KPMG after concerns were raised about potential conflicts of interest. The accountancy firm has previously been involved with Celotex, the company which supplied Grenfell Tower’s cladding, as well as the Rydon Group, the lead contractor in the buildings renovation three years ago. A spokesperson for the inquiry said KPMG had been appointed to provide “limited planning and programme management” during its “start-up phase”. A statement released by the inquiry said: “Following concerns expressed by some core participants, the inquiry team has discussed the contract with KPMG which has agreed that…

Theresa May is reportedly poised to appoint a “Cabinet minister for no deal” in a move that will delight hard-line Tory Brexiteers but dismay pro-Remain MPs. The controversial move in the Prime Minister’s New Year reshuffle, reported in The Daily Telegraph, threatens to overshadow her bid to freshen up her Government with new talent. Although the new minister is likely to be based in David Davis’s Brexit department, the appointment is likely to be seen as another move to sideline him in Brexit negotiations. The veteran Brexit Secretary, 69, has already seen his top civil servant and chief negotiator, Olly…

ERUSALEM, Israel – Palestinian officials responded to President Donald Trump’s tweet threatening to defund the Palestinian Authority by saying they would not be blackmailed and that Jerusalem was not for sale. Meanwhile, Israeli officials said Trump had pulled off the P.A.’s “mask of hypocrisy.” In a pair of tweets, Trump said on Tuesday that “we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue… peace treaty with Israel.” He added that, “with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make…