[LONDON] UK officials are rushing to secure the raw materials needed to keep Britain’s last primary steel manufacturer running, with other businesses offering to provide help. The government said on Monday (Apr 14) that dozens of companies, including Tata and Rainham Steel, have offered raw materials and managerial support to help keep the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe going. On Sunday, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds refused to confirm whether the government can get enough raw materials to keep the furnaces running. He said that British Steel had made a £233 million (S$402 million) loss in its latest accounts. These included refusing new raw materials and selling supplies it already had.

Photo credit- APChina has warned the UK government to treat the Chinese owners of British Steel fairly or risk undermining investor confidence in the country, two days after British authorities took control of the company.China’s Foreign Ministry made the comment on Monday as government-appointed managers raced to prevent British Steel from shutting down the last two blast furnaces in Britain that make so-called virgin steel from raw materials.Parliament on Saturday passed legislation authorizing the government to take control of the company and its Scunthorpe steelworks from Jingye Group , which has owned British Steel since 2020. Jingye still owns the company but British authorities have taken control of day-to-day operations.“We hope the British government treats Chinese enterprises investing and operating in the U.K. fairly and justly, protects their legitimate rights and interests, and avoids politicizing and over-securitizing economic and trade cooperation, so as not to affect the confidence of Chinese enterprises in investing and cooperating in the U.K.,” Foreign Ministry spokeperson Lin Jian said during the weekly press conference in Beijing.The U.K. government on Monday installed a new executive team at British Steel with the aim of ensuring “consistent and professional leadership” of the Scunthorpe works in northeastern England, British Steel said in a statement.Two longtime British Steel executives, Allan Bell and Lisa Coulson, were named as the company’s interim chief executive and chief commercial officer. The appointments were approved by Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.Bell, who has worked at Scunthorpe for 14 years, said his main goal was to ensure continued steel production at the plant.“Our immediate priorities are securing the raw materials we need to continue blast furnace operations, ensuring we have the dedicated personnel to run those furnaces, and maintaining the highest levels of health and safety for our workforce,” Bell said in the statement.Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday took the dramatic step of recalling Parliament from its spring recess to pass emergency legislation authorizing the government to take control of British Steel. Authorities were concerned about the plant’s future after Jingye stopped ordering the iron ore and coking coal needed to keep the furnaces operating.Once blast furnaces are shut down, it is difficult and expensive to restart them, raising concerns that Britain might lose the ability to make high-quality virgin steel needed by builders and railroads as the government tries to spur economic growth. Other British steelmakers are already in the process of shifting to electric arc furnaces that make steel from scrap metal.

Together, these powerhouses are spearheading an effort to ramp up the country’s hydrogen production capacity to 1GW by 2030—a move projected to slash carbon dioxide emissions by one million tonnes yearly. It dovetails with the government’s recently announced shortlist of 27 electrolytic hydrogen projects, part of an overarching roadmap to build a robust, low-carbon hydrogen economy. Establish regionally targeted hydrogen production hubs that stimulate local economies while feeding directly into the national gas grid. Regarding economic ripple effects, HySpeed is expected to generate £2 billion in annual Gross Value Added (GVA)—driven mainly by new hydrogen production facilities and the growth of localised supply chains. “Comprising all elements of the hydrogen value chain from production to storage, transport and distribution, the initiative aims to locate green hydrogen generation in strategic locations across the UK.

Seamus Maguire, who was 29 and from Aghagallon near the Co Armagh town of Lurgan, was murdered and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries during the mid 1970s. He is one of four people whose remains are still being searched for by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR). The ICLVR has issued a fresh appeal in Mr Maguire’s case, as it revealed it did not yet have sufficient information to identify any potential search site. Mark Pickard, who heads up the Seamus Maguire investigation, said that work has been ongoing on the case since it was referred to the commission by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in 2022. “With this appeal we are issuing a photograph of Seamus which we hope might jog someone’s memory and move us on.

A national children’s palliative care charity has called on the UK Government to reform the way care for children with life-limiting conditions is funded, warning that the current regime is unsustainable. The State of Children’s Palliative Care in 2025. A survey of families who have encountered children’s palliative care services formed part of the report. Among the hospices represented at this event was children's palliative care provider Derian House. "Across the UK, workforce shortages, funding shortfalls and a lack of leadership and accountability have created an unacceptable postcode lottery in access to children’s palliative care.

With an average dividend yield of 3.5%, dividends have formed over half of the total return. It brought valuations down to very attractive levels, particularly in the unloved UK market. The UK market is leading other major markets in ‘all-in’ yield, which combines dividends and buybacks. Private equity and trade buyers recognise the opportunity, and the UK market has seen significant merger and acquisition activity. The company has a strong market position and it continues to build market share through new stores and formats.

China has suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors. The official crackdown is part of China’s retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs that started on April 2. On April 4, the Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China. The metals, and special magnets made with them, can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses.

Photo credit- APThe UK pledged £20 billion ($26 billion) on Sunday to help exporters including those affected by US tariffs, as President Donald Trump's sweeping stop-start import taxes roil global markets.Britain's finance ministry said the move would expand the UK's export finance package by £20 billion to a total of £80 billion, with "thousands of UK businesses affected by tariffs set to benefit. "Up to £10 billion of that support will be used specifically for firms "impacted in the short term by the current situation," it said.Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the move would help companies weather difficulties ahead. "The world is changing, which is why it is more important than ever to back our world-leading businesses and support them to navigate the challenges ahead," she said.The finance ministry said small businesses will also be able to access loans of up to £2 million as part of the package.Analysts have warned that the 10 percent levy on US imports of British goods could further weaken business and consumer sentiment in the UK.Specific industries such as auto, steel and aluminium face even steeper tariffs as high as 25 percent.The United States is the UK's single largest country trading partner, with over £1.2 trillion invested in each other's economies.It comes as the UK strives to broker a long-awaited post-Brexit trade deal with the United States.Asked when it could be completed, Britain's Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News on Sunday he could not give a timeline, saying that Trump was the "driving force and the decision maker... on the US side."

BEIJING, April 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- UK companies are looking to enter the China market, which greatly supports UK economic growth, UK Trade Commissioner for China Lewis Neal told the Global Times on Sunday. His comments were made while attending the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province. Behind the consumer goods expo, the theme of our pavilion is where heritage meets modern excellence... and we've got 27 companies to showcase what they have for the China market," Neal said. I'm looking for heritage, quality, and affordability and that is what we think of the products we brought today," he said. China is an important market for UK businesses, with exports to China supporting nearly 500,000 jobs in the UK, according to the British Embassy.

The case also includes allegations related to a 2013 nuclear power deal with Russia, where Siddiq is accused of helping inflate the project cost, reported BBC.Siddiq has strongly denied any wrongdoing. In a statement via her lawyers at Stephenson Harwood , she said she has "never had a plot of land in Bangladesh" and "has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else. "Her legal team insisted the charges are “completely false” and “politically motivated”, adding that neither Siddiq nor her lawyers had been contacted formally by the ACC or informed of any hearing or warrant.The warrant reportedly stems from her non-attendance at a Dhaka court hearing earlier this week, as per the Financial Times. Her legal representatives argue she had no knowledge of the hearing or prior summons.Siddiq resigned in January as city minister following scrutiny over her ties to the Hasina regime.The accusations have ignited political backlash in the UK. ACC chair Mohammad Abdul Momen rejected these claims, was quoted by BBC that the investigation is based on “documentary evidence” and that Siddiq “must not shy away from the court proceedings.”Bangladesh does not have a formal extradition treaty with the UK, though it is listed as a 2B extradition country, meaning clear evidence must be shown for any legal action to proceed.

COINING IT Ultra-rare 50p selling for staggering 300 THOUSAND times its face value – do you have one in your pocket? A RARE 50p coin is going under the hammer for a whopping 300,000 times its face value - and punters are raking through their pockets to see if they have one too. The mind-blowing coin is going for a staggering £150,000 after its owner highlighted its stunning detail and reference to an iconic writer. Her character Benjamin Bunny, from her book The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, features on the rare coin's face. The rare sale comes after the UK's rarest coin sold for nearly 300 times its face value after an intense bidding war.

Image source, Getty ImagesProbably the longest saga in men's professional golf has come to the most satisfying end. What are we going to talk about next? Well, we're only five weeks away from the next major - and the US PGA Championship is at Quail Hollow, where Rory McIlroy has won four times. I think we know who's going to be the favourite! Join us as we go again from Thursday, 15 May.

British laws restricting what the police can say about criminal cases are “not fit for the social media age,” a government committee said in a report released Monday in Britain that highlighted how unchecked misinformation stoked riots last summer. Violent disorder, fueled by the far right, affected several towns and cities for days after a teenager killed three girls on July 29 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England. In the hours after the stabbings, false claims that the attacker was an undocumented Muslim immigrant spread rapidly online. In a report looking into the riots, a parliamentary committee said a lack of information from the authorities after the attack “created a vacuum where misinformation was able to grow.” The report blamed decades-old British laws, aimed at preventing jury bias, that stopped the police from correcting false claims. By the time the police announced the suspect was British-born, those false claims had reached millions.

If you want to kick out City, can you really savour De Bruyne? There are some calling for City to be stripped of their titles yet also celebrating the brilliant Belgian — you can’t have it both ways

British Steel should be the “canary in the coalmine” that forces ministers to remove Chinese companies from critical infrastructure, they have been told. The government was forced to take direct control of the company amid concern that its Beijing-based owners would not keep the plant running at Scunthorpe. Ministers feared the company planned to “sabotage” the site to increase British reliance on cheap Chinese imports, The Times understands. There is alarm over Chinese involvement in other areas of critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants. “It is an explicit strategy of the Chinese Communist Party to undermine the industrial base of foreign countries,” said Luke de Pulford, executive ­director of the Inter-Parliamentary ­Alliance on China, an international group of politicians that scrutinises Beijing’s approach to