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Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sadiq Khan offers empty homes to rough sleepers
Sir Sadiq Khan plans to give 500 new properties to the homeless amid a national housing crisis. The Mayor of London said that he would refurbish the empty homes using £17 million of taxpayer money. It follows one of his 2024 manifesto pledges in which he said he would 'eliminate' rough sleeping in the capital by 2030. 'What we are saying to councils, registered social providers is: if you have a property that is not fit for use, it's in bad condition, let us take it over,' Sir Sadiq told the London Evening Standard. 'The Government has given us £17 million. That will help us refurbish these properties, and we can put in these properties those with complex needs. 'You can't expect after four weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks to get them out. That is why these homes are a lifeline for those people.' The announcement comes as property prices rise at their fastest rate in almost two years. Those looking to buy a home also face an average price of £270,000, up from £50,000 30 years ago. MPs have criticised the plans, accusing Sir Sadiq of hypocrisy and arguing he has ignored those who are unable to buy a house. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green and former leader of the Conservative party, told The Telegraph that it was a case of 'ignoring' young families. He said: 'Typical of Khan. First he fails to get anywhere near his housing target which he pledged at the last election and now, with young families crying out for housing he ignores their pleas. He says one thing but does another. City Hall said that despite record levels of investment, including £10 million set aside earlier this year, the long-term consequences of the housing crisis combined with a slashing of local authorities' budgets had meant that they had been forced into crisis management. Under new plans, the availability of houses to prevent rough sleeping would be increased. Sir Sadiq also plans to change rules by 2028 to enable help for the homeless without having to wait for them to spend their first night on the streets. He also announced he would also open a network of 'ending homelessness hubs' to try and reduce rough sleeping in London. About one in 50 Londoners is technically homeless and living in temporary accommodation, presenting a growing problem for the capital's boroughs, which have a legal obligation to provide adequate housing to those in need. A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: 'The Mayor is proud of his housing record, which includes meeting the target set by the previous government to deliver 116,000 affordable homes across the capital. 'Under his leadership, London has completed more homes than at any time since the 1930s and council housebuilding has hit the level since the 1970s – benefitting all Londoners, including young Londoners. 'The mayor is determined to work with the Government to turn the tide on the last 14 years of underinvestment in affordable housebuilding, which has been a key driver of the homelessness and cost of living crisis in the capital and across the country.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Family of Teacher, 31, in 'Shock' After He Fell and Died While Putting on Sneakers, Inquest Hears
A teacher died while putting on sneakers to get ready for work, an inquest has heard 31-year-old Patrick Guthrie was putting on sneakers when he fell and hit his head in London last year His death has been ruled as positional asphyxia, cardiac arrest, Sudden Adult Death Syndrome and brain injuryA teacher died at home while preparing for work, an inquest has heard. According to the London Evening Standard, 31-year-old Patrick Guthrie was putting on sneakers when he fell and hit his head in London last year. His sister, Patricia Guthrie, found his body in the living room after his workplace called her on December 4, 2024, stating that he had been absent from school for two days. The English and film studies teacher had been working at Hendon School since September 2023. Meanwhile, Patrick had been staying at Patricia's apartment in Mitchison Road, Islington, while she was staying with their mother, Jenny Murphy. PEOPLE reached out to the St Pancras Coroner's Court and the Metropolitan Police for comment, but they did not immediately respond. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The calls from her brother's school 'really concerned me as it was very unlike Patrick. He has never missed work," Patricia said. After returning home, the worried sister found Patrick on the floor with his neck hyperextended and his head against the wall. Sgt Kevin Clark reportedly said the wall had a crack where a window was, which detectives believe Patrick's head landed on. 'My opinion was that this was Mr Guthrie's work stuff and that he was preparing to go to work,' Sgt Clark said after Guthrie's rucksack with work items was found in the kitchen. He was also wearing one of his sneakers. An autopsy found that Patrick had a large bruise on his forehead and another on his chin. His brain also suffered from trauma. Dr Joseph Westaby, who works with St George's Hospital, highlighted that Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) could have been the cause of death. According to the Cleveland Clinic, SADS is a heart condition where an abnormal heart rhythm affects the heart's electrical system, causing sudden death. Great Ormond Street Hospital Histopathology consultant, Dr Liina Palm, suggested a cardiac arrest could have happened due to Gruthie's body not having any protective marks. Meanwhile, the teacher also fractured his foot in February 2024, causing doctors to consider that he may have had pain while putting on his sneakers. 'It's very difficult to support this theory that somebody fully conscious wouldn't try to break their fall,' Dr Palm said. Patrick's cause of death has been ruled as positional asphyxia, cardiac arrest, Sudden Adult Death Syndrome and brain injury. Patricia reportedly told the court that she and her family were going to be tested for the gene that causes SADS. 'It was such a shock, for someone that was so healthy,' she said. Hendon School also paid tribute to their late staff member in December. 'The Hendon School community experienced the saddest of news with the sudden passing of English and Film Studies teacher, Mr. Patrick Guthrie,' representatives for the school wrote on their official website. 'Mr. Guthrie joined the school in September 2023 and immediately impressed us with his passion for English; his dedication to pedagogy; and his diligent, hard work.' They added, 'Our thoughts are obviously with Patrick's family at this difficult time. It is hard to imagine the shock and grief that his mother, sister and extended family must be experiencing at losing such an essentially kind and decent son, brother and uncle.' Read the original article on People
The Star
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
Print Media emerges as digital detox among younger people, says UK media advisor
PHOTO: FAIHAN GHANI/The Star KUALA LUMPUR: Print media has emerged as a valuable avenue for digital detox and in-depth engagement with niche audiences, such as the younger generation, says International Media Advisor of News Media UK Mark Challinor (pic). 'Young people are using print as a detox from their devices and are sitting back and reading a magazine or a newspaper,' he said in a session on 'Advertising Trends: What to look out for throughout 2025' during the WAN-INFRA Digital Media Asia 2025 on Wednesday (April 23). He said print media allows brands a deeper relationship through curated content and is part of an omnichannel strategy. 'The London Evening Standard told me that their print product now serves as a showcase to their other platforms, and it remains an important part of their product mix,' he said. He added that in the realm of advertising, attention has become the new currency, and content performance analysis should be centred around this concept. 'News media that use striking imagery and compelling messaging might capture the attention of a casual reader, ensuring that he or she focuses on it,' he said. New creative immersive ad formats, added Challinor, are highly relevant and AI-influenced, which, when added to first-party data, can lead to more personalisation, context and better measurement. Sue-Anne Lim, CEO of Universal McCann Malaysia, shared how generative AI is reshaping advertising strategies and audience engagement. She highlighted how artificial intelligence is evolving beyond functionality into emotionally intuitive engagement. 'Conversation is the new UX (user experience). "AI is now able to detect feelings, emotional states and intentions through word choice and intensity. 'In some instances, it even outperforms humans in emotional comprehension,' she said. Sue-Anne added that with generative AI capable of understanding user intent beyond literal keywords, advertisers can now reach the right person, at the right time, in the right place and with the right motivation. She also proposed a shift from the creator economy to a curator economy, where authenticity and discernment take precedence over scale and speed. 'The future of advertising lies at the intersection of AI and truth. Every time we think AI has reached its limit, it surpasses it. 'We must be proactive curators of authenticity in a world where synthetic content is increasingly indistinguishable from the real,' she said. Christian Haneborg, chief commercial officer of Schibsted Marketing Services in Norway, said that artificial intelligence is poised to outperform humans in the affiliate model for publishers. 'It's fundamentally a matter of calculation. 'It will be purely AI play or digital data play when it comes to affiliates in terms of content creation,' he said when asked about the role of AI in the affiliates model for publishers. He added that AI will play a pivotal role in determining not only the type of content produced but also the optimal mix of monetisation channels—whether through advertising, subscriptions or affiliate links.
The Independent
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘I detest him, but I respect him': How Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank's fierce rivalry changed British boxing
Nigel Benn never took his eyes off Chris Eubank the first time they met in a boxing ring in 1990. It was a Sunday night at the NEC on the outskirts of Birmingham and British boxing would never be the same again. It was the night the sport moved from its comfortable black and white tradition to a world of colour and incident. Both fighters were different and not products of the usual boxing factories; the promoters, managers and high-profile hangers on were all part of a new business. Barry Hearn (promoter and friend to Eubank) and Ambrose Mendy (hype maestro, advisor and friend to Benn) made the madness happen. It was the start of the fight circus that we now accept; Eubank and Benn meetings were visually and verbally electric – the sons continued that tradition. The hate was real; Benn admitted it; Eubank still denies it. It all looks so perfect now, choreographed even, but it was all new at the time and raw. Eubank was an enigma, and Benn was a perfect dance partner. It was chilling being at ringside and so close to the intensity of the two boxers in the ring; it was obvious all week in Birmingham that something special was going to happen. There was simply too much on the line, it was always more than a title fight. Remember, neither Benn or Eubank could be considered the best or even the second-best middleweight in Britain at the time. This was a fight between characters, style, image and it was between two men with a promise to fight until the bitter end. It was all new, trust me, and the papers loved it. The WBO belt that Benn was defending meant very little at the time and the British Boxing Board of Control did not recognise the sanctioning body; the fight launched the WBO and that changed the sport in Britain with an endless stream of title fights from that night until the present day. It was not just a fight – it was a monumental game-changing event. There was genuine disbelief because the ringside seats were two hundred quid for a fight over a 'worthless piece of plastic', according to one senior scribe. Those were very different days in the press seats, a place packed with a lot of seasoned men; a dozen or more had been at the Rumble in the Jungle, all wore ties and Neil Allen of the London Evening Standard had gone to his first Olympics – Melbourne in 1956 – by ship! They were the last of the ancient days. I was just 27 and I felt like a child alongside the giants. Early in the week I had a story from a health club in Birmingham that Benn was struggling at the weight and he was. I think that was a quick 500 words in the paper and that is how the week went: stories each day, visits to gyms and hotels to speak to the boxers. And celebrity spotting – Bob Geldof in his shades and cowboy boots was all over Birmingham that week. And then it was the fight. Richard Steele, the world's most famous referee at the time, pulled them together for a final word. He knew the fight was special; he had seen Benn destroy Iran Barkley a few months earlier in Las Vegas. That had been a WBO defence and most of the British boxing press considered the title meaningless and that meant the win went under the radar. I believe Eubank changed the thinking of the boxing writers because we had never seen an eccentric like that before. There was still the great unknown with Eubank: could he really fight? It was furious from the opening bell, and it stayed that way until Steele jumped between them with just a few seconds left in the ninth round. Benn's left eye was closed, Eubank had been swallowing his own blood for rounds, and they had fought each other to a savage standstill in an unforgettable fight. Nobody wanted to back down, nobody wanted to turn away from the ferocity. It was one of the greatest fights to ever take place in a British ring, an instant classic. It was personal long before the first bell and long before Steele saved Benn from his own deep, deep bravery. At the very end Benn said: 'I detest him, but I respect him.' Eubank could not even attend the post-fight conference. The statistics only tell part of the story; Eubank moved to 25 wins in 25 fights; Benn lost for the second time in 29 fights. Eubank was just 24, Benn 26. The real measure of the fight's toll has nothing to do with those type of numbers: Eubank was lifted in and out of cold bath by his trainer, Ronnie Davies, after the fight and needed seven weeks to recover. Benn was broken in defeat, his hate even stronger and that is something inside that simply refuses to be measured. It is impossible to calculate a boxer's desire. They went down their separate paths after that fight. There was no rematch clause, Eubank and Hearn had a smart agenda to fight on a regular basis with little risk involved. Benn hunted Eubank down, moved to super-middle to chase him, won a world title and finally, in October 1993, they met again. The backdrop was the Theatre of Dreams and at the end of twelve amazing rounds, it was a draw. Then, they walked away from each other again and this time it was permanent: two men who changed British boxing and set a standard for sacrifice, pain, suffering and devotion in two fights of wonder. It was a true privilege, a highlight of too many years at ringside, to be present and working at both. This Saturday is, in many ways, a ghost of a fight, a reminder of two nights that nobody present will ever forget. Or want to ever forget.
Chicago Tribune
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Abraham Lincoln's final inauguration
Today is Tuesday, March 4, the 63rd day of 2025. There are 302 days left in the year. Today in history: On March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for a second term of office. With the end of the Civil War in sight, and just six weeks before his assassination, Lincoln declared: 'With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the fight as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.' Also on this date: In 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Federal Congress met in New York. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for his first term as president; he was the last U.S. president to be inaugurated on this date. In his inaugural speech, Roosevelt stated, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' In 1966, John Lennon of The Beatles was quoted in the London Evening Standard as saying, 'We're more popular than Jesus now,' a comment that caused an angry backlash in the United States. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging that his overtures to Iran had 'deteriorated' into an arms-for-hostages deal. In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that workplace sexual harassment laws are applicable when the offender and victim are of the same sex. In 2015, the Justice Department cleared Darren Wilson, a white former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, but also issued a scathing report calling for sweeping changes in city law enforcement practices, which it called discriminatory and unconstitutional. In 2017, President Donald Trump wrote a series of Twitter posts accusing former President Barack Obama of tapping his telephones during the 2016 election; an Obama spokesman declared that the assertion was 'simply false.' Today's birthdays: Film director Adrian Lyne is 84. Author James Ellroy is 77. Musician-producer Emilio Estefan is 72. Actor Catherine O'Hara is 71. Actor Mykelti Williamson is 68. Actor Patricia Heaton is 67. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., is 67. Actor Steven Weber is 64. Rock musician Jason Newsted is 62. Author Khaled Hosseini is 60. Author Dav Pilkey is 59. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is 57. NBA forward Draymond Green is 35.
