Latest news with #Focus
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Beloved Ford hot hatch officially goes off sale in the UK after 23 years and four generations as orders dry up
FORD has confirmed that one of their most popular cars has officially gone off the market in the UK. The American car giant announced that its factories will no longer produce the Focus ST due to a lack of demand. 2 The Focus ST was first launched 23 years ago, but has since disappeared from dealer price lists. But for those wanting to get their hands on some of the last remaining cars, the US firm said that 170 are still unsold in the UK. Stock is still available to buy in dealerships, but customers will not be able to order new models. Speaking to Autocar, Ford UK said: 'There are no new factory orders available for the Focus ST at the moment. "But there are around 170 built and unsold currently available within the UK dealer network. "This includes 30 of the special ST Edition variant in Azura Blue.' Ford introduced Focus ST to the world in 2002, with the initial ST170 version. It was powered by a 2.0 litre engine, reaching 60mph in just under eight seconds. In 2005, Ford introduced the second generation - the ST500 - with a meatier 2.5 litre engine. Ford Escort van becomes the fastest front wheel drive Ford on the planet Developed alongside Volvo and Mazda, it was powered by a Volvo five-cylinder engine, allowing it to hit 60mph in 6.8 seconds. But the US manufacturer ditched Volvo in 2010 and introduced the Focus St Mk3 with its own engine. It introduced a more powerful four-cylinder turbo and lowered the suspension - putting the 0-60mph time at 6.5 seconds. And finally the Mk4, featuring a slightly larger 2.3 litre engine, which was the first version to offer automatic transmission. It remains the fastest iteration of the Focus ST, reaching 60mph in 5.7 seconds. Ford could well be responding to industry trends, with hot hatch cars generally being phased out across the board. Other big manufacturers, including Hyundai, Peugeot and Toyota have started pulling cars off the market as a result of the low interest. It comes as the Ford Focus is set to be phased out completely, with its production life cycle terminating in November this year. The move was first announced in 2022, but Ford's European chief Martin Sander doubled down on the decision in March. He added: "In the long run, we are still deeply convinced that EVs will be the future and we will see a significant increase in volume. "By the end of this year, we will have a full range of electric vehicles and we are quite flexible to adapt to market demand. "For the next couple of years, we have a broad choice. "Basically, our customers have the power of choice to pick what they want." The Ford Focus was first rolled out in 1998, off the back of their Escort model. It was one of the last hatchbacks with a manual gearbox. However, Ford is now putting more efforts into their Mustangs and Broncos to boost profits. This comes after Ford sales in Europe fell 17 per cent in 2024, the first full year without the Fiesta which was axed in July 2023.
ITV News
3 days ago
- ITV News
Three men jailed for murder in 'brutal' drive-by shooting in Walsall
Three men will spend at least 29 years in jail after a 20-year-old man was shot dead in a revenge killing. Connor Brookes and a friend were targeted in a drive-by shooting while sat in a parked van in Walsall in last July. A stolen black Ford Focus pulled up beside them and six seconds later, a gunman at the back fired a shotgun once at them. Mr Brookes, who was in the driver's seat was killed. His friend in the passenger seat was hit in the left shoulder. Jake Sanbrook, 22, Byron Sellick, 20, and Julian Falconer, 20, have all been senteced to life, with a minimum of 29 years. The trio were said by police to have carried out the attack after their friend Bailey Atkinson was stabbed to death in Walsall in 2023. Mr Brookes' brother was among those convicted of their friend's murder. Police said 15 minutes before Mr Brookes' murder on Well Lane, they had fired towards another car less than two miles away. Officer believe this was also an attempted revenge attack. After the attack, the Focus, driven by Sanbrook, sped off at nearly 50mph. The murder weapon was dumped in a bin bag in Wyrley Lane, Staffordshire. Connor's family said in April, when the men were found guilty: "Connor was an incredibly kind and caring person, someone who was always there for us. "His loss at such a young age is devastating, for all of us who loved him. This has been a heart-breaking journey for our family, and it's a loss we will carry with us forever. This violence has to end before more lives are ruined.' Det Insp Michelle Cordell, from West Midlands Police, said: "Connor's murder has had a devastating impact on all who knew and loved him, especially his family. His friend survived the attack, but I have no doubt that the trauma he experienced that day will live with him for the rest of his life. 'The brutal and cold-hearted actions of this group in broad daylight were intentional, cruel, cowardly and unjustified. We may never know who fired the gun, but the jury's verdicts show that they were acting with a common purpose that day. "Nothing can bring Connor back, but I hope that today's verdicts provide some comfort to both families as they try to heal and rebuild their lives."
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
ASX Runners of the Week: Eden, Focus Minerals, InFocus & Dateline
The company's shares bounced back from a lowly 0.15c per share close last week to trade at 0.5c per share on Friday, up 333 per cent, on nearly $1 million of paper traded across two days. Eden's star carbon nanotube-enriched concrete additive, EdenCrete, is shaking up the increasingly green concrete industry by boosting batch strength while slashing the need for carbon-heavy ordinary Portland cement. A major win came with a $141,000 order from Holcim US for a 22-storey high-rise in Denver, which is Eden's first big-ticket commercial project. The market lapped it up, with shares surging on Eden's green concrete breakthrough into high-rise buildings, one of the biggest addressable markets. Meanwhile, Eden's OptiBlend dual-fuel kit, which lets diesel generators run cleaner on natural gas, continues to hum in the background, fuelling company sales across the US and India. With concrete giants such as Holcim jumping on board and sales breaking into the mammoth high-rise building industry, Eden looks poised to cement its place as a clean tech leader. If its momentum holds, the company could go from market battler to skyscraper-high regular in quick succession. FOCUS MINERALS (ASX: FML) up 161% (23c – 60c) Bulls N' Bears' silver medallist this week is Western Australian gold miner Focus Minerals, which shot up like a prospector's pickaxe on Tuesday thanks to a juicy $250M cash deal to offload its Laverton gold project to $5 billion market darling Genesis Minerals. Punters were left scrambling to pick up shares in the cashed-up gold miner on Monday, with a whopping $5.2M traded to push the company's shares up 161 per cent to 60c per share. Nestled in WA's prolific Leonora-Laverton district, the Laverton project is a stone's throw from Genesis' massive 3-million-tonne per annum Laverton mill. The acquisition looks like a perfect fit for Genisis and is set to churn out ample tonnages of open pit and underground gold ore for the company's hungry mill. The deal contains no pesky conditions precedent and is set to seal in early June, handing Focus a mountainous $250M in cash, which looks very timely considering the company is lugging around $187M in debt. Focus will retain its producing Coolgardie gold project, where it cracked a record mining output in the past quarter. Its Three Mile Hill mill processed a thumping 370,262 tonnes for a handy 5376 ounces of gold at $4388 per ounce. With its Bonnie Vale underground mine ahead of schedule and its Alicia open pit firing up, Focus could be hitting its straps in no time, as it looks to increase its lower-grade gold ore with higher-grade output from the newer mines. Laverton's synergistic sale sent Focus' shares flying as investors bet on the company's cash windfall to turn its luck around in a red-hot gold price environment. With Coolgardie's Bonnie Vale underground cranking out ore and a new 80-room camp to house its growing crew, Focus is sitting pretty to join the mid-cap success stories of WA's gold sector – aided by its newfound financial flexibility. INFOCUS GROUP HOLDINGS (ASX: IFG) up 140% (0.5c – 1.2c) Taking out the final podium spot on Runners of the Week is digital solutions experts InFocus Group, which shot out of a cannon on Tuesday by unveiling a blockbuster US$3.25M (A$5M) deal to become the exclusive tech partner for Taiwanese gaming guru TG Solutions Consulting. A feeding frenzy ensued with the company's share price rocketing 140 per cent to 1.2c per share on a sizzling $1.2M in stock traded. This was nearly as much as the entire company's preannouncement market valuation of $1.3M. InFocus says it is set to build a cutting-edge iGaming platform for TG's white-label distribution. It promises to be packed with bells and whistles, such as a polymarket-inspired dynamic odds system, digital collectibles, tokenised loyalty programs and crypto payments. The contract includes milestone-based payments and locks in InFocus as TG's go-to tech partner for all future rollouts. The company says it's a growing market trend as predictive gaming evolves thanks to big data, analytics and cybersecurity expenditure. Investors would seem to agree, betting big on InFocus's pivot into the red-hot iGaming sector. With trials wrapping up and the platform set to launch within two years, the company looks well-positioned at the forefront of a digital gaming revolution that might return the market minnow to its former glory. DATELINE RESOURCES (ASX: DTR) up 86% (5.5c – 10.25c) Finally, Dateline Resources has hit the Runners list for the third time in almost as many weeks. Attempting its best 'broken record' impersonation and continuing to break its share price highs, the US-based junior goldie's share price has risen an eye-watering 1950 per cent this quarter and shows no signs of slowing down. The company's shares peaked on Friday at 10.25c, up 86 per cent over the week, on a monumental $80M in shares traded. Following Trump's Truth Social championing of the company's 'rare earths mine' earlier this month, Dateline continued its breakout on Tuesday when it told the market its Colosseum project in California could be sitting on a much larger gold system than previously realised. A recent rock chip program picked up several outcropping felsite dykes up 1 kilometre west and 4km southwest of the existing pit, which appear to follow a deliberate geological trend. Adding fuel to the fire, results of a fresh surface geochemical survey now point to concealed breccia pipes lurking just beyond the rim of the mine's historic pits. The company says the new mineralisation lines up like clockwork with its known structural gold system and could point to a string of satellite intrusions which, if confirmed, could unearth even more gold-rich breccia pipes brewing just below the surface. The latest rock samples lit up with classic pathfinder elements such as antimony, bismuth and tellurium, which are textbook signs of an intrusion-related gold system. These IRGS-style systems are known for their layered structure, with lighter elements floating near the surface and the real prize - gold - tending to settle deeper. Armed with a fresh trail of geological breadcrumbs, Dateline is ramping up for its next big move. More surface sampling is underway, and the company is locking in its first drilling campaign beyond the pit walls. The program will chase the projected path of the newly mapped felsite dykes and test if the Colosseum's breccia pipes are just the tip of a much bigger, vertically stacked golden iceberg. If the upcoming drill campaign strikes more gold, it could blow the doors open on Dateline's already impressive 1.1-million-ounce resource and unlock a whole new chapter of potential at Colosseum.
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
ASX Runners of the Week: Eden, Focus Minerals, InFocus & Dateline
The company's shares bounced back from a lowly 0.15c per share close last week to trade at 0.5c per share on Friday, up 333 per cent, on nearly $1 million of paper traded across two days. Eden's star carbon nanotube-enriched concrete additive, EdenCrete, is shaking up the increasingly green concrete industry by boosting batch strength while slashing the need for carbon-heavy ordinary Portland cement. A major win came with a $141,000 order from Holcim US for a 22-storey high-rise in Denver, which is Eden's first big-ticket commercial project. The market lapped it up, with shares surging on Eden's green concrete breakthrough into high-rise buildings, one of the biggest addressable markets. Meanwhile, Eden's OptiBlend dual-fuel kit, which lets diesel generators run cleaner on natural gas, continues to hum in the background, fuelling company sales across the US and India. With concrete giants such as Holcim jumping on board and sales breaking into the mammoth high-rise building industry, Eden looks poised to cement its place as a clean tech leader. If its momentum holds, the company could go from market battler to skyscraper-high regular in quick succession. FOCUS MINERALS (ASX: FML) up 161% (23c – 60c) Bulls N' Bears' silver medallist this week is Western Australian gold miner Focus Minerals, which shot up like a prospector's pickaxe on Tuesday thanks to a juicy $250M cash deal to offload its Laverton gold project to $5 billion market darling Genesis Minerals. Punters were left scrambling to pick up shares in the cashed-up gold miner on Monday, with a whopping $5.2M traded to push the company's shares up 161 per cent to 60c per share. Nestled in WA's prolific Leonora-Laverton district, the Laverton project is a stone's throw from Genesis' massive 3-million-tonne per annum Laverton mill. The acquisition looks like a perfect fit for Genisis and is set to churn out ample tonnages of open pit and underground gold ore for the company's hungry mill. The deal contains no pesky conditions precedent and is set to seal in early June, handing Focus a mountainous $250M in cash, which looks very timely considering the company is lugging around $187M in debt. Focus will retain its producing Coolgardie gold project, where it cracked a record mining output in the past quarter. Its Three Mile Hill mill processed a thumping 370,262 tonnes for a handy 5376 ounces of gold at $4388 per ounce. With its Bonnie Vale underground mine ahead of schedule and its Alicia open pit firing up, Focus could be hitting its straps in no time, as it looks to increase its lower-grade gold ore with higher-grade output from the newer mines. Laverton's synergistic sale sent Focus' shares flying as investors bet on the company's cash windfall to turn its luck around in a red-hot gold price environment. With Coolgardie's Bonnie Vale underground cranking out ore and a new 80-room camp to house its growing crew, Focus is sitting pretty to join the mid-cap success stories of WA's gold sector – aided by its newfound financial flexibility. INFOCUS GROUP HOLDINGS (ASX: IFG) up 140% (0.5c – 1.2c) Taking out the final podium spot on Runners of the Week is digital solutions experts InFocus Group, which shot out of a cannon on Tuesday by unveiling a blockbuster US$3.25M (A$5M) deal to become the exclusive tech partner for Taiwanese gaming guru TG Solutions Consulting. A feeding frenzy ensued with the company's share price rocketing 140 per cent to 1.2c per share on a sizzling $1.2M in stock traded. This was nearly as much as the entire company's preannouncement market valuation of $1.3M. InFocus says it is set to build a cutting-edge iGaming platform for TG's white-label distribution. It promises to be packed with bells and whistles, such as a polymarket-inspired dynamic odds system, digital collectibles, tokenised loyalty programs and crypto payments. The contract includes milestone-based payments and locks in InFocus as TG's go-to tech partner for all future rollouts. The company says it's a growing market trend as predictive gaming evolves thanks to big data, analytics and cybersecurity expenditure. Investors would seem to agree, betting big on InFocus's pivot into the red-hot iGaming sector. With trials wrapping up and the platform set to launch within two years, the company looks well-positioned at the forefront of a digital gaming revolution that might return the market minnow to its former glory. DATELINE RESOURCES (ASX: DTR) up 86% (5.5c – 10.25c) Finally, Dateline Resources has hit the Runners list for the third time in almost as many weeks. Attempting its best 'broken record' impersonation and continuing to break its share price highs, the US-based junior goldie's share price has risen an eye-watering 1950 per cent this quarter and shows no signs of slowing down. The company's shares peaked on Friday at 10.25c, up 86 per cent over the week, on a monumental $80M in shares traded. Following Trump's Truth Social championing of the company's 'rare earths mine' earlier this month, Dateline continued its breakout on Tuesday when it told the market its Colosseum project in California could be sitting on a much larger gold system than previously realised. A recent rock chip program picked up several outcropping felsite dykes up 1 kilometre west and 4km southwest of the existing pit, which appear to follow a deliberate geological trend. Adding fuel to the fire, results of a fresh surface geochemical survey now point to concealed breccia pipes lurking just beyond the rim of the mine's historic pits. The company says the new mineralisation lines up like clockwork with its known structural gold system and could point to a string of satellite intrusions which, if confirmed, could unearth even more gold-rich breccia pipes brewing just below the surface. The latest rock samples lit up with classic pathfinder elements such as antimony, bismuth and tellurium, which are textbook signs of an intrusion-related gold system. These IRGS-style systems are known for their layered structure, with lighter elements floating near the surface and the real prize - gold - tending to settle deeper. Armed with a fresh trail of geological breadcrumbs, Dateline is ramping up for its next big move. More surface sampling is underway, and the company is locking in its first drilling campaign beyond the pit walls. The program will chase the projected path of the newly mapped felsite dykes and test if the Colosseum's breccia pipes are just the tip of a much bigger, vertically stacked golden iceberg. If the upcoming drill campaign strikes more gold, it could blow the doors open on Dateline's already impressive 1.1-million-ounce resource and unlock a whole new chapter of potential at Colosseum.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Former MN State Patrol trooper pleads not guilty in deadly Rochester crash
The Brief A former Minnesota State Patrol trooper pleaded not guilty to criminal vehicular homicide and manslaughter stemming from a deadly crash in May 2024. Shane Roper, 33, was terminated from the patrol after department leaders said his "reckless" actions caused the death of 18-year-old Oliva Flores. A jury trial is tentatively set for early March 2026, with pre-trial motions set to begin in late February. ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A former State Trooper charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide pleaded not guilty, setting the case up for trial next year. Shane Roper, 33, is accused of causing a crash that resulted in the death of 18-yaer-old Olivia Flores in Rochester when he was allegedly speeding in a Minnesota State Patrol cruiser without its emergency lights activated. Court records show a jury trial is tentatively set to start on March 2, 2026. READ MORE: 'Reckless' actions of former MN trooper decried by agency leaders for fatal crash Big picture view The fatal three-vehicle crash happened near Apache Mall in Rochester, Minnesota, on May 18. Investigators say a Ford Focus was westbound on 12th Street Southwest when it turned south into the mall. The Focus was then struck by a Minnesota State Patrol cruiser that was driven by Roper, which was eastbound on the same street. Flores, of Owatonna, was a passenger in the Ford Focus and was killed in the crash. A Toyota RAV4 then ended up in the ditch after the Ford Focus was pushed into it. A total of six people, including Roper, were injured in the crash. Roper's employment with the Minnesota State Patrol was terminated in September 2024, with agency leaders calling his actions "reckless." READ MORE: MN State Trooper charged in Rochester crash that killed teen no longer employed Dig deeper The personnel file Roper reveals he had faced disciplinary action for four previous crashes before the fatal wreck. The file shows Roper was involved in four crashes between February 2019 and April 2023 before the crash outside Apache Mall in May that killed Flores. Reviewing his behavior before the crash, investigators found several instances where Roper drove at high speeds in just the three hours before he crashed into the vehicle carrying Flores. Roper was suspended for a day in two of the crashes and reprimanded for the other MORE: File shows MN trooper involved in 4 crashes before deadly Rochester wreck Just before the deadly crash in Rochester, investigators said he was driving at an excessive speed on a city street – apparently trying to catch up with a driver who had committed a minor traffic offense. The Source This story uses information from public court records and past FOX 9 reporting.
