Latest news with #Blackrock
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Overnight sensation Thomas Clarkson taking advantage of surprise Lions call-up
If ever there was a five-year overnight sensation it is assuredly Thomas Clarkson . He made his Leinster debut in August 2020 but went into this campaign with less than 20 starts under his belt and as his province's third choice tighthead. Yet there he was on Tuesday night in the Marvel Stadium mixed zone after the 24-19 win over the Pasifika XV , a bona fide British & Irish Lion. No one seemed more incredulous as well as delighted than the 25-year-old himself, for he freely admitted he wouldn't have thought all of this was possible when he was named as one of the additional, or development, players to train with Ireland's squad last November, before making his debut against Argentina off the bench, backing it up against Fiji, and then playing in four Six Nations games, starting against Wales. 'I wasn't even really expecting to play in that. So, to get a cap I was delighted. 'The Six Nations; I was happy enough with how it went. I wouldn't have said I set the world alight or anything. So, to then play well for Leinster at the end of the season and come in here, it's pretty mad.' READ MORE As recently as January 2025, Clarkson was playing an AIL Division 1B game for Blackrock. 'I made my Leinster debut five years ago now, so I've been waiting a long time. So, the fact that when it has come, it's all come at once is a bit crazy. Because I went through a good few years of not getting a sniff in at all really.' It's been a Lions tour of an unprecedented and, frankly, unexpected bounty for Irish tightheads, three of them making the tour. And two of whom are inextricably linked. Had it not been for the calf and hamstring issues which restricted Tadhg Furlong to just seven games for Leinster and one for Ireland, Clarkson would never have had the opportunities that came for province and country. Ireland's Thomas Clarkson runs in try against Portugal. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Even so, after adding three more Champions Cup pool games to his one outing before this season, Clarkson didn't make the Leinster 23 in their European knockout games. But with Furlong sidelined again, Leo Cullen started Clarkson in their round 18 game against Glasgow. 'It all kind of just clicked and then kept that momentum going. That was the first game when I thought: 'That was a proper performance'.' David Humphreys has now lifted his moratorium on the provinces signing props from abroad and although Furlong's injury woes have been a factor, Clarkson's own account of his growth this season shows how Irish players can learn from overseas acquisitions like Rabah Slimani. 'I've been kind of understudy to Tadhg for a good few years now. He's consistently been probably the best tighthead in the world over the last few years. It's been unbelievable being there, just around him. 'Rabah's come in and probably offered something a bit different, where he's 100 per cent scrum. Tadhg obviously has an array of different stuff that he brings to it, whereas Rabah, when you're scrumming against him in training, it's all or nothing against him. It's been a different kind of experience with him, but I've felt I've come out the other end well.' Clarkson retained his starting place at tighthead in the URC quarter-final, semi-final and final wins, before playing against Georgia and Portugal. That Saturday night in Lisbon, he thought his breakthrough season was done until he received a text from Andy Farrell at 3am. 'We were on a night out; I had to go home straight away. But yeah, some text to get. It was like: 'ring me when you're awake', so I said: 'Oh yeah, grand'. Then Paulie [O'Connell] rang me and was like: 'Ring him right now'. So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside. I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it.' Lions Thomas Clarkson and Jamie Osborne celebrate after the game. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Sadly, social media can be a nasty world, and on foot of the backlash to him and Jamie Osborne being called up, Clarkson opted to ignore it. 'I feel like the last few weeks in Leinster, before the semi-final, was fairly negative. I just tried to use that as a bit of motivation. I knew, just because Jamie got called in right before me, there was a bit of backlash to that. So, I knew it was going to be even more when I got the nod. So yeah, I just tried to stay away from it.' 'It was a bit of a shock at the start, to be honest. You grow up using social media. It was hard to step away from it. But I just had to get rid of a lot of that.' Clarkson admits that linking up with the Lions at short notice was a good deal easier for him than the late Scottish call-ups given his familiarity with so many players and coaches, not least Andy Farrell and John Fogarty. On Tuesday morning Fogarty told Clarkson that his form for Leinster merited his call-up and encouraged him to continue that form into the match that night, so building up his confidence. 'I felt like I was chasing my tail a little bit, but happy enough with the scrum and I made a few tackles. It was a good start.' To make Clarkson's landmark night even better, his father Finbarr made it out in time for Tuesday's match. 'I think he knew if he was going to be here for any game, it would be this game. So yeah, he legged it down.' All the while in the mixed zone, he still had his Lions cap in his grasp, which had been given to him by Ieuen Evans. 'It's crazy, 886,' he says, of his number in Lions' playing history. 'I didn't even know they did caps if you don't play in the Test.' He's a Lion now all right.
Local Germany
a day ago
- Business
- Local Germany
Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news of Tuesday
Tuesday's top story: German industry alliance lays out domestic investment push More than 60 German companies said Monday they would fund new domestic investments worth at least €100 billion each as Chancellor Friedrich Merz moves to revive Europe's largest economy. Members of the "Made for Germany" initiative said in a statement they would invest a total of 631 billion euros in Germany by 2028. The amount included investments already planned as well as new spending, they said. The pledge was intended as a "strong endorsement of Germany's potential" following recent investment outflows worth hundreds of billions of euros, the signatories said. The initiative was being led by executives from Germany's blue-chip companies, including lender Deutsche Bank and industrial group Siemens. The CEOs of the two German heavyweights were received in the chancellery in Berlin by Merz, who declared that "the message is very clear... it is worth investing in Germany again". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) chats with Blackrock's Germany manager Dirk Schmitz at the launch of the "Made for Germany" initiative on July 21, 2025 at the Chancellery in Berlin. Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP Merz's government, which came to office in May with a pledge to revitalise Germany's struggling economy and boost investment, has already approved a sweeping package of corporate tax breaks and loosened constitutional spending limits to plough hundreds of billions into defence and infrastructure. READ ALSO: What's in Germany's giant spending package? Severe weather warnings lifted in Berlin and Brandenburg Despite severe weather warnings, the night in Berlin and the surrounding areas passed without many incidents. The German weather service (DWD) had warned of severe weather with heavy rainfall in large parts of eastern Germany on Monday. At the height of the heavy rain, there were 24 weather-related operations, a spokesman for the Berlin fire department told Tagesspiegel on Monday evening, adding, "That's not a big number". Advertisement A concert by pop superstar Robbie Williams was postponed to Wednesday as a precaution, and an open air performance by opera singer Anna Nebtrenko was also cancelled. Weather in the region is expected to remain wet and windy until Wednesday. Food inspectors busier than ever in Baden-Württemberg A total of 956 business closures were imposed in Baden-Württemberg in 2024, according to the last annual report from the food inspection authority – up from 800 in 2023. In total, inspectors checked around 70,000 businesses last year and found around 9,500 violations during more than 110,000 inspections. According to the report, almost half the violations were related to general hygiene conditions. As an example, the inspectors cite a bar with an ice cube machine which was so neglected that food was no longer fit for consumption. The ice cubes were heavily contaminated with germs and stank of smoke. The report also states that encrustations on the nozzles of the commercial coffee machine had 'led to the formation of stalactite-like formations' after a long period of not being cleaned. Advertisement Germany looks to roll back taxes on flights Germany's government signalled Monday that it may reverse a rise in the tax applied to passenger flights as it steers a pro-business turn in Europe's top economy. Airlines have long complained that the charges in Germany -- aimed in part to reduce carbon emissions -- are among the highest in Europe, harming competitiveness. Germany last hiked the duty in May 2024, with the levy for short-haul flights hitting €15.33, up from €12.73, and that for long-haul routes soaring to €70.83 from €58.06. For comparison, France is planning to increase its tax on economy-class flights to destinations within Europe to €7.30, up from €2.63 now. READ ALSO: Why the prices of flights from Germany are going up Last year's increase under Germany's then-chancellor Olaf Scholz has brought in almost two billion euros since it was imposed but also led to anger from airlines. Reversing the tax rise as part of the 2026 budget is now being discussed between Germany's ruling coalition parties, the conservative CDU/CDU and the centre-left SPD, Bild reported. Budget airlines like Ryanair and German rival Eurowings have long complained about taxes in Germany, and have cut some flights from German airports in recent years. However, that the aviation industry remains one of the biggest beneficiaries of fossil fuel subsidies, and airlines pay fewer levies than railway companies, which is why airfare is often cheaper than overland travel. READ ALSO: 'Denial of reality' - Is Germany's future government ignoring the threat of climate change? Germany, Norway vow to step up North Atlantic surveillance NATO allies Germany and Norway agreed on Monday to step up surveillance against maritime and airborne "threats" in the northern Atlantic region amid high tensions with Russia over the Ukraine war. "Germany and Norway aim to ensure stability and security in maritime areas, including in the High North," said a joint statement released as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Berlin. The two countries also reaffirmed their "unwavering support for Ukraine as it defends its freedom, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity against Russia's continued war of aggression." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) welcomes Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere for talks at the Chancellery in Berlin on July 21, 2025. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) Berlin and Oslo said that "the North Atlantic, including the strategically crucial Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) and Bear gaps and adjacent waters, and the North and Baltic Seas, are crucial for both Norwegian and German security." This, they said, was why their armed forces trained and patrolled the seas together and "cooperate closely under NATO's Regional Plans", the statement added. Advertisement Germany metal and electrical industry sheds 60,000 jobs since the beginning of 2025 The number of employees in the metal and electrical industry continues to decline. According to a survey of companies conducted by the employers' association Gesamtmetall, around 60,000 jobs have been lost in the sector since the beginning of 2025 alone. According to the association, 3.9 million people were still employed in the industry at the end of 2024. Plans for staff cuts are also increasing noticeably, with one in every two companies in the automotive sector planning more redundancies. With reporting by DPA, AFP and Tom Pugh.
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Mother of baby who died shortly after birth at Bessborough brings action over inquest refusal
A woman whose son died shortly after his birth at Bessborough mother and baby home has brought High Court proceedings over a coroner's refusal to hold an inquest into the infant's death. Madeleine Bridget Marvier was 17 years old when she was admitted to the home in Blackrock, Cork City, in August 1960. About two months later, she gave birth to her son, William Gerard Walsh. Advertisement In December 1960, at 37 days old, William died at St Finbarr's Hospital, Cork, according to Ms Marvier's court documents. Ms Marvier's case argues an inquest should be held into the infant's death, in circumstances where coroners are obliged to hold inquiries into deaths that are unnatural, suspicious or unexplained. Ciaran Craven SC, appearing with barrister Cillian Bracken for Ms Marvier and her daughter Carmel Cantwell, was on Monday permitted by Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty to bring the case, seeking to quash the Cork South Coroner's recent decision not to hold an inquest into William's death. In a death certificate, obtained by Ms Marvier in 1999, the infant's cause of death was stated as renal abscess septicaemia, sepsis caused by an abscess in the kidney. Advertisement Ms Marvier was previously unaware as to the cause attributed to her son's death. In 2019, after obtaining documents from Tulsa, Ms Marvier learned for the first time that William had been buried at Carr's Hill Cemetery in Cork, within the jurisdiction of the Cork South Coroner. In October 2023, Ms Marvier wrote to the Cork South Coroner asking that an inquest be held into the death of her son, on the grounds that his death was violent or unnatural, or was unexpected and from unknown causes, or was in suspicious circumstances. Included in her request was a report compiled by Dr Michael Munro, a consultant neonatologist, who opined that the death certificate's stated cause of death was speculative and conjectural. Advertisement In January this year, the coroner wrote to Ms Marvier refusing the request to hold an inquest. The coroner stated William did not die in a violent or unnatural manner, and on the balance of probabilities, did not die unexpectedly or from unknown causes, Ms Marvier's court papers say. Ms Marvier is challenging the coroner's refusal, claiming that a conclusion that the infant's death is beyond doubt 'cannot reasonably be drawn or inferred' and is 'without basis' in the evidence she has put before the coroner. Ms Marvier's case notes the coroner's purported assumption that in the absence of any record of a postmortem examination of the infant, there was no doubt around the cause of death of the infant, and therefore, there is no sufficient evidence available now to cast doubt on the death certificate's cause of death. Ms Marvier claims that the coroner makes this assumption while at the same time acknowledging that medical records pertaining to the infant's care at St Finbarr's are now unavailable, and it is not known what medical skills were employed in establishing William's cause of death. Advertisement Ms Marvier's case also claims the coroner did not have regard for his obligations, under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights, to investigate suspicious or unexplained deaths that occur in State custody or detention. The case returns in October. Bessborough mother and baby home was operated by the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, an order of nuns, between 1922 and 1998. In 2021, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes concluded that 923 babies associated with Bessborough died during that time, but burial records for only 64 of them could be found.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
These 5 S&P 500 Stocks Show New Highs On Declining Relative Strength
S&P 500, Blackrock The S&P 500 on Friday hit another new high – it was brief as sellers showed up and the index closed lower by .01%. July has been a month of new highs. It's also been a month of a declining relative strength indicator. This negative divergence between price and a key indicator might be a problem. The RSI, as it's known to price chart analysts, is a momentum oscillator. Developed by technical analyst J. Welles Wilder, Junior in the 70s, his work on the subject was first published in the book 'New Concepts In Technical Trading Systems.' Forbes in 1980 called him 'the premier technical trader publishing his work today.' The issue is not just with the S&P 500. Big, well-known names within the index are also showing weakening relative strength per Wilder's oscillator. 5 S&P 500 Stocks With Weakening RSI S&P 500: S&P 500 daily price chart, 7 19 25. The red-dotted lines show the negative divergence between the direction of price and the direction of the RSI momentum oscillator. Blackrock: Blackrock daily price chart, 7 19 25. The big asset management firm hit a new high Friday and the relative strength indicator failed to confirm the move by coming in lower than it's earlier July reading. The stock retreated from the higher price high during the session and closed lower by .16%. Blackrock is market capitalized at $170.97 billion. Genius Sports Limited: Genius Sports Limited daily price chart, 7 19 25. The price just hit a new high. The relative strength indicator peaked in November 2024 and did not accompany the stock on to a higher high on Friday. You can see how the 50-day moving average no longer trends upward. Genius Sports Limited has a market cap of $2.89 billion and it's a member of the Russell 2000 small caps ETF. MMM: MMM daily price chart, 7 19 25. The relative strength indicator peaked in January and is now lower even as the stock's price is hitting a new high. Friday's volume is extraordinary. The candlestick is a bearish engulfing: the high is higher than the previous session and the low is lower than the previous session. MMM has a market cap of $82.47 billion. Raytheon Technologies: Raytheon Technologies daily price chart, 7 19 25. The aerospace and defense company with a market cap of $202 billion has a negative divergence on its daily price chart. The stock just hit a new high and, at the same time, the relative strength indicator could not make it above its mid-June reading. Note that July volume levels are subdued compared to earlier months. Charles Schwab: Charles Schwab daily price chart, 7 19 25. The RSI peak came in mid-May and the measure is now lower as the stock itself makes a new high on decent buying volume. Schwab remains in an uptrend as indicated by the direction of the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages. Market cap for the capital markets firm is $174 billion. The RSI is only one indicator of momentum and should be seen in the context of other price indicators. Stats courtesy of Charts courtesy of No artificial intelligence was used in the writing of this post. More analysis and commentary at
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Lloyds slashes charge on ready-made investment fund to lure in customers: Is it a good deal?
Lloyds Bank has reduced its Ready-Made Investments ongoing fund charge to just 0.1 per cent, in a bid to make investing more accessible to new investors. The bank said this lower charge will also make investing 'less intimidating', while giving easier access to pre-built diversified funds for new investors. Th new ongoing charge means investors will pay just £1 per year on investments of £1,000. Alongside the 0.1 per cent ongoing charge, however, users must pay £3 per month as an account fee. The RMI fund charge was reduced from 0.23 per cent, making it a cheaper option than other similar fund types, and pushing it below the cost of both Vanguard and Blackrock's offerings. Vanguard's LifeStrategy range has an ongoing charge of 0.22 per cent, while most of Blackrock's MyMap funds charge 0.17 per cent. Some have higher charges, with MyMap 4 charging 0.28 per cent. Vanguard charges a monthly fee of £4, while Blackrock's funds can be accessed via various investment platforms. For an investor with just £1,000, fees would be just over £38, rising to around £47 for an investment of £5,000. For an account funded with £20,000, the charge would be around £80. In comparison, an investor with £1,000 in Vanguard would pay a total of £50.20, rising to £59 for an investor with £5,000 and £92 for an investor with £20,000. Meanwhile, banking competitors like Barclays and NatWest also offer ready-made investment portfolios. Barclays charges 0.25 per cent on funds, amounting to just £2.50 per year for funds of £1,000, and £12.50 on an account with £5,000. NatWest charges 0.4 per cent, or £4 per year on £1,000, or £20 on £5,000. Lloyds' Ready-Made Investments has three fund options, 'cautious', 'balanced' and 'adventurous', each offering different levels of risk to investors, as well as their own transaction fees on top of the ongoing charge and account fee. The cautious option comes with transaction fees of 0.11 per cent, while balanced and adventurous investors pay 0.12 per cent on transactions. Investors are free to switch their funds to a different risk level at any point, Lloyds says. Kevin Doran, chief investment officer at Lloyds, said: 'We know that many people who want to start investing feel overwhelmed by complexity and cost, so we created Ready-Made Investments to be a simple, affordable 'portfolio in a box' solution that removes any guesswork.' Lloyds launched RMI in 2023, with 60,000 investors now holding their assets in the funds, which are worth £700million combined. It said the average age of new customers is 40, but that 25 to 34-year-olds make up around 28 per cent of RMI customers. Doran said: 'It has been built on Lloyds' deep understanding of customers and powered by the investment expertise of Scottish Widows. By bringing institutional pricing to everyday investors, we're turning what may feel like a frightening leap into a simple, confident step forward.' To access RMI, customers will need to have a Lloyd's banking account and invest a minimum of £500 as a lump sum, or £50 per month. An RMI account can be managed through Lloyd's online banking app.
