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Business live: Ryanair first-quarter profits more than double

Business live: Ryanair first-quarter profits more than double

Times6 days ago
Ryanair's net profit more than doubled in its April-June quarter, helped by the timing of Easter holidays and better-than-expected last-minute fares.
Europe's largest low-cost carrier reported a net profit of €820 million for its first quarter, up from €360 million in the same period last year when Easter was in March. Analysts had expected profits of €716 million.
Average fares rose 21 per cent from the same quarter last year, the company said.
Michael O'Leary, chief executive, said: 'We . . . cautiously expect to recover almost all of last year's 7% full-year fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth in FY26.'
Ryanair shares closed at €23.12 on Friday, down 7.5 per cent from a high of €24.98 on July 8.
Japan's ruling coalition lost control of the upper house in an election on Sunday, further weakening prime minister Shigeru Ishiba's grip on power.
Japan's prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, is under intense pressure to resign after his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost control of the upper house of the Diet, in an election on Sunday that saw a dramatic surge by a far right anti-foreigner party.
Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday, but the yen strengthened slightly against the dollar, while Nikkei futures rose slightly as the election results appeared to be already priced in.
Japanese government bonds fell last week, sending yields on 30-year debt to an all-time high, while the yen slid to multi-month lows against the dollar and the euro.
Ishiba pledged to remain party leader as the country tries to get a tariff deal with. President Trump before the August 1 deadline.
The election saw a surge in support for a far right anti-foreigner party, Sanseito. It seeks to restrict the rights of foreigners under the slogan 'Japanese First' and second in the number of seats allocated by proportional representation, tying with the two main opposition parties.
• Read in full: Japan's PM under pressure after losing upper house majority
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Range Rover to remove convenient feature for next-gen model as designer bizarrely calls it ‘dirty'
Range Rover to remove convenient feature for next-gen model as designer bizarrely calls it ‘dirty'

The Sun

time18 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Range Rover to remove convenient feature for next-gen model as designer bizarrely calls it ‘dirty'

THE ELECTRIC Range Rover will not feature a front trunk, according to the designer of the hotly anticipated SUV. The vehicle is yet to officially debut, with only teasers of its design revealed so far - although fans will be pleased to know the EV version closely mirrors that of the combustion-engine model. 4 4 But one convenient feature found in many electric vehicles won't be included - in a decision partly based on customer feedback. The car's designer, Lynfel Owen, recently referred to the front of the car as the "dirtiest part" and questioned why anyone would want to lean against it to use a front trunk. In an interview with CarExpert, Owen said: 'Why would I want to lean against the dirtiest part of the car to put stuff in?' He explained his reasoning in greater detail: 'We spoke to our customers… none of them have an issue [with] lack of storage space. 'The rear cargo space is exactly the same. We haven't had to raise the floor. The only compromise we have to make is we're not able to offer a seven-seat derivative.' Owen has spent the last decade overseeing JLR's transition to electric power, having risen to chief engineer of vehicle engineering for the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender models. 'I pretty much only ever worked on Range Rover,' he said. 'I've done a few other projects. I didn't work on the [Jaguar] I-Pace. I was working on the previous-generation Range Rover.' To that end, the I-Pace - launched under the Jaguar brand as the first premium all-electric SUV from any manufacturer when it was revealed in 2016 - became infamous for reliability issues, particularly with its electric drivetrain and battery pack. Its poor customer satisfaction prompted Jaguar Land Rover to learn from its failures, focusing on reliability, improved thermal management and customer-centric design in the development of the Range Rover Electric. Owen said: 'We're making sure we learn from, you know, our mistakes with respect to I-Pace. 'So we're testing all aspects of the car… we've just had a northern hemisphere winter that we've completed, so we've been doing our low-mu testing on the frozen lakes.' He added: 'Some people have got [chargers] bolted on. Their garage might have two or three cars… [so you don't have to use a] 15 metre cable. 'Cabin comfort. Battery temperature. Whether it's to cool it down, whether it's to warm it up. Recovering heat from the air at minus 15… It also reduces the heating energy consumption by over 40 per cent [compared to I-Pace].' This includes the decision to forgo a front trunk, with the rear cargo volume remaining unchanged from the combustion-engine version and the 117-kWh battery pack accommodated without raising the floor. This approach contrasts with the I-Pace, which offered a small front storage compartment. Indeed, due to packaging constraints, the electric Range Rover will only be available with two rows of seats - which rules out a seven-seat option. While a spare wheel will be offered, it will reduce luggage capacity as it will sit above the cargo floor. Much like the upcoming Range Rover, Mercedes' electric G-Class also lacks a front trunk - although they compensated with a uniquely styled tailgate-mounted cargo box. The electric Range Rover will not compete with the G580, Owen claims, as it offers unmatched off-road capabilities, combined with Range Rover's famed luxury. The electric Range Rover's world premiere is expected later this year, with deliveries expected to begin in 2026.

Eighty years on from Labour's landslide, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza brings Clement Attlee's failure on Israel and Palestine to mind
Eighty years on from Labour's landslide, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza brings Clement Attlee's failure on Israel and Palestine to mind

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Eighty years on from Labour's landslide, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza brings Clement Attlee's failure on Israel and Palestine to mind

Here's one for the aficionados: 26 July 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Labour's landslide victory in the 1945 general election. Trade unionists and Labour MPs are celebrating, claiming the nation still owes a debt of gratitude for the historic achievements of Clement Attlee's government. Yet today, as the world watches the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with horror, it's worth recalling that one of Attlee's biggest failures was his Israel - Palestine policy. (Oh, and while Attlee's health minister Aneurin Bevan boasted he "stuffed their mouths with gold" to overcome doctors' opposition to the NHS, today doctors are on strike over pay again.) The 1945 election took place on 5 July, the same date Sir Keir Starmer entered 10 Downing Street last year. But with British armed forces still serving overseas in 1945, it took until 26 July to declare the result. 9:30 Labour won 393 seats in 1945, compared with 411 last year. But while Sir Keir's Labour only won 34% of the votes, Mr Attlee won nearly 50%. But then, there was no insurgent Reform UK back then. Celebrating the 80th anniversary, Joanne Thomas, who became general secretary of the shopworkers' union Usdaw in April this year, said the Attlee government left a lasting legacy. "Usdaw's predecessor unions were proud to play a role in the 1945 election victory and to see 18 of our members elected," she said. "Not least a hero of our union 'Red Ellen', a fiery trade union organiser who led the Jarrow hunger march and went on to serve as education minister." Wilkinson was indeed red. Attlee biographer Trevor Burridge wrote: "Ellen Wilkinson was made minister of education despite the fact that she had actively campaigned against his leadership." She was MP for Jarrow, not a million miles from the current education secretary and Starmer super-loyalist Bridget Phillipson's Houghton and Sunderland South constituency. But not even her best friends would call her red! Ellen Wilkinson was also the only woman in Attlee's 1945 cabinet. Last year, Sir Keir made history by appointing 11 women to his cabinet. Labour MP Marie Tidball, elected last year, joined the tributes to Attlee. "He transformed Britain for working people and this legacy laid the foundations for Britain today - our NHS, welfare state and homes for heroes. "Those public services meant I could grow up to fulfil my potential. Labour legend." But if Attlee's NHS, welfare state and nationalisation are viewed as successes by Labour trade unionists and MPs, his government's policy on Palestine is widely agreed to have been a failure. In his acclaimed biography of Attlee's foreign secretary, "Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill", former Blairite cabinet minister Andrew Adonis wrote: "Why did Bevin get Israel/Palestine so wrong?" Adonis says Bevin's policy on Palestine "led to the precise opposite of its declared intention of stability and the peaceful co-existence of the Jewish and Palestinian communities within one state at peace with its neighbours". He concluded: "Instead, Bevin's legacy was a Jewish state of Israel, much larger than even most of its advocates previously favoured, in periodic war and perpetual tension with both its Palestinians and its Arab neighbours." Where did Bevin go wrong? Adonis wrote: "In the first place, because, during the three key years 1945-48, he did not agree that his central policy objective was 'good relations with the United States'." As Sir Keir Starmer prepares to meet Donald Trump in Scotland, 80 years after the historic Attlee victory, that's clearly not a mistake the current Labour PM has made in his relations with the US president. " I like your prime minister," the president said as he arrived in Scotland, "he's slightly more liberal than I am, but I like him". So, 80 years on from Attlee, lessons have been learned. So far, so good, that is.

Lionesses not taking the knee 'doesn't really follow', says Fare director
Lionesses not taking the knee 'doesn't really follow', says Fare director

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Lionesses not taking the knee 'doesn't really follow', says Fare director

The executive director of the anti-discrimination organisation Fare, Piara Powar, suggested that England should announce more effective action after they decided to stop taking the knee before games. The change was announced after defender Jess Carter revealed the racist abuse she has been subjected to on social media. Powar described the move to stop the gesture as 'slightly counter to the idea of what's happened. The idea that one should stop the anti-racist action because of racial abuse doesn't really follow for us.' He added: 'If you stop doing that you're worried hasn't been effective ... then you need to announce something that is going to be effective.'

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