Latest news with #ChrisMason
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Jarvis Cocker records special version of the Shipping Forecast to celebrate its 100th anniversary on the BBC
Friday 4 July marks 100 years since the first broadcast of the Shipping Forecast on BBC radio on 4 July 1925. To mark the occasion, Jarvis Cocker has recorded a special shipping forecast to be broadcast for an audience at the Crossed Wires Podcast Festival in Sheffield. The festival will welcome 'ships' fans to a special 100th anniversary programme with Radio 4 announcers Lisa Costello and Viji Alles, hosted by Chris Mason. The session is part of BBC Sounds' free Fringe festival with live podcast recordings and exclusive sessions, open to the public. Just two days before Pulp, aka Patchwork, were wowing crowds with a surprise performance at Glastonbury, Cocker was quietly nestled in the BBC Radio 4 studio, reflecting on his love for the Shipping Forecast. Cocker says: 'The Shipping Forecast is something you absorb unconsciously if you live in the UK. It's been on the airwaves for over 100 years… Now technically speaking, it's a weather guide designed to help sailors on the high seas. But it helps people navigate in other ways than that. For instance, for insomniacs, it's a mantra that hopefully helps them drift finally off to sleep.' He says: 'I think it's known around the world as a go-to chill-out thing - before chill-out things were invented, probably.' The Shipping Forecast is preceded by a piece of music called Sailing By. Cocker notably chose this track as one of the eight he would take to a desert island when he appeared on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2005. Cocker says: 'When you listen to Sailing By, it really does feel like life is drifting past you in an extremely pleasant way. A handy go-to sedative to have to hand if you ever happen to become a castaway - or get cut off from normal life for any other reason.' Cocker used to listen whilst going to sleep, citing that 'the repetitive nature' and 'the soothing nature of the person who reads it' helped him to drop off. 'I think it's because it's a routine', he adds, 'it's on every day, so it's something that you can rely on. It's on at a set time, so it gives a bit of stability. And if the rest of your life isn't that stable, it can provide some kind of stability for it. Sailing By was a very relaxing piece of music... I know that a lot of people do use it for that kind of relaxing, almost 'meditation-like' thing.' When asked why he felt the Shipping Forecast was still important, he said: 'I think because even though sometimes it's talking about bad weather conditions and storms and stuff, it's actually an oasis of calm in the day. There's no musical backing to it, it's just a human voice talking to you. Some words, which you don't really know what they mean at all, but the sound of it is comforting and will put you into a nice place.' Cocker said some of his favourite place names include, German Bight – 'for some reason I always think of a cocktail sausage there. I suppose it's because a frankfurter cocktail sausage is a small frank.' - and Hebrides – 'I've actually been to the Hebrides, so that conjures up some kind of real image.' Imagining how the Shipping Forecast might sound in another 100 years, Cocker gave us his best robot impression, suggesting: 'It may be a robot who is saying 'north to northwesterly, occasionally poor.' I hope not. I think it would be better to keep it as a person. Who knows? We don't know what the world's going to look like in 100 years, or whether people will even be in it. If people are still in it, it might all be water. So everybody will be listening to it. It'd be like the number one programme, because everybody will be in a boat. Kevin Costner will be hailed as a seer who knew that we would all become a Water world one day. I don't know. I hope it is. I wouldn't be around to hear it anyway.' The Shipping Forecast is produced by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as part of the UK's statutory obligations to provide Maritime Safety Information to seafarers via approved broadcasting methods. The Shipping Forecast is also shared with the BBC for its own broadcast. An online journey through the one-hundred-year history of the Shipping Forecast can be found on the BBC History website. Special anniversary programmes from BBC Radio 4 are available now on BBC Sounds, including The Shipping Forecast: A Beginners Guide with Paddy O'Connell, The Shipping Postcards from continuity announcers, Archive on 4 – The Shipping Forecast at 100: Shipshaped and Soul Music: Sailing By. Listen to The Shipping Forecast on BBC Sounds Watch Pulp's set from Glastonbury on BBC iPlayer PS Follow for more
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Orbital partners with ClearBank to enhance euro transactions
Cross-border platform Orbital has partnered with ClearBank Europe, a provider of real-time clearing and embedded banking services. The alliance will provide Orbital's enterprise clients with euro transaction capabilities. The collaboration grants Orbital direct access to ClearBank Europe's real-time euro clearing facilities, IBANs, SEPA infrastructure, which accompanied by AML and KYC checks. Orbital group CEO Chris Mason said: "We selected ClearBank Europe because of its real-time clearing capabilities, market-leading API, and banking-grade compliance standards. It is simply the best embedded banking provider in Europe and has a strong track record working with digital asset platforms." By leveraging SEPA Instant Credit Transfers, businesses can anticipate reductions in the fees and foreign exchange charges commonly associated with international euro transactions. The Orbital group also provides a suite of treasury solutions, including stablecoins, FX, and local payout options, all accessible through their unified platform. The addition of real-time wallet-based tracking and counterparty identification aims to mitigate risk and uphold compliance standards, particularly for businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions and dealing with high volumes of transactions. ClearBank Europe COO Ezequiel Canestrari stated: "This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Orbital, providing direct access to real-time euro clearing, named IBANs, and SEPA infrastructure and we are pleased to be supporting this delivery to their customers.' In October last year, ClearBank onboarded its inaugural European clients, including OpenPayd, Pay Perform (trading as Orbital), and Transact Payments, to the Eurosystem's T2 payment rail. "Orbital partners with ClearBank to enhance euro transactions " was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The National
02-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
I wasn't allowed to ask Keir Starmer a question. Here's what I would
I was there for The National, and spent two hours in a high-vis vest patiently waiting for my turn to grill the Prime Minister on Gaza. I knew it was a topic others were unlikely to focus on, and The National have been unrelenting in our coverage shining light on the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We were told to arrive at BAE Systems shipyard in Govan at 9am, and were handed visitor passes and high-vis vests before we were taken into the sprawling complex. I passed hundreds of workers in hard-hats waiting outside of a huge warehouse, waiting for Starmer to arrive, while we were escorted to a meeting room to wait to be taken to the press conference and speech. READ MORE: Pro-independence party leaders urged to stand against genocide in Gaza Just before 10am, we were taken into a warehouse where workers were standing, in typical Labour press conference style, in a circle around a lectern that read 'securing Britain's future'. While waited, press officers repeatedly asked us to move out of the way from two TV screens behind us, that would act as an autocue for the PM when he finally spoke. After 10 minutes where Starmer told how he wanted to turn the UK into a 'battle-ready armour-clad nation' and promised billions for nuclear weapons, we finally got to the press questions. First, the UK-wide press got their shot - Chris Mason from the BBC led the questions, then Sky News' Beth Rigby, the only person who asked about Gaza. (Image: PA) She asked if Starmer thought there was any 'concrete action' the UK could take. 'The situation is intolerable in Gaza and getting worse by the day, which is why we are working with allies to be clear in saying it's intolerable. 'Be absolutely clear of the need for a ceasefire, be absolutely clear that humanitarian aid can get in at speed and at volume because it is not getting in at the moment, causing absolute devastation and of course to continue our work to secure the release of hostages who have been held for a very, very long time. 'We're working closely with allies on that and will continue to do so.' ITV, GB News and the I paper asked questions next, a slightly befuddled Starmer then told the room: 'Now I'm going to Scotland.' READ MORE: UK plans for 'fighter jets carrying nuclear bombs' slammed He seemed to have forgotten he was standing in a Govan shipyard, but took questions from BBC Scotland, STV, the Scottish Sun and the Courier. The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election were top of the agenda, with Starmer insisting Labour were the only party who could beat the SNP, ignoring the Farage-elephant in the room. And that was it, we were done. The full Scottish press lobby had turned out and only two newspapers were allowed a question. I asked a press officer if there would be a huddle with the PM, as there usually is with politicians and print hacks. 'No, that's it,' I was told. (Image: NQ staff) I was going to ask Starmer about his comments on LBC back in 2013, when he said Israel had the 'right' to withhold water and power from Palestinians. Now that Palestinians are starving to death, and being shot and attacked while trying to reach humanitarian aid and food, I wanted to know if he had any remorse for those words. I wanted to ask if he, as a former humanitarian lawyer, felt disgusted by what was happening in Gaza. I wanted to ask him why his Government wasn't taking any action after more than 50,000 children had been injured or killed in Gaza since October 2023. But, I didn't get the chance.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Holy Island team 'worked until midnight' to recover causeway car
A worker who helped to recover a submerged car near the Holy Island causeway said he had never seen one swept that far out Lifeboat Station said it was called to reports of a car stranded at about 14:45 BST on Monday and found it submerged 50m (164ft) away from the Mason, who helped recover the car on Tuesday evening, said the team worked until midnight to retrieve it, adding: "It just shows you how much the tide can pick a car up and shift it."The owners were located by Northumbria Police safe on the island shortly after the report was received, the lifeboat station said. "That was the first of that kind of distance," Mr Mason said. 'A lot of weight' Although the lifeboat station said the car was 50m (164ft) from the causeway, Mr Mason said it was actually about half a mile said that by the time they had the car on the back of the truck, the tide had turned and started coming back in again."It took a long time to tow it that kind of distance," he Mason said the team arrived at the causeway before the tide went out in the early evening."It was midnight when we got it loaded on the back of the truck," he said. "Of course with all of the water in it and all the sand it was a lot of weight."The safe crossing times for the causeway are published on the council's website, but Mr Mason said people often misread them."It's always going to happen," he said."You get people not wanting to get trapped on the island trying to get off and the ones who don't realise just how high the tide comes." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Race to keep furnaces burning at British Steel plant
Officials are working to deliver essential raw materials to British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, the government has said, as it races to keep its blast furnaces burning. An emergency law rushed through Parliament on Saturday gave the government control of the Lincolnshire site to prevent its Chinese owner shutting it down. The government said work was under way on Monday to obtain the coking coal and iron ore that power the plant's two furnaces - materials it previously said owners Jingye had been selling off. "My team are already hard at work on the ground to keep jobs going and furnaces burning," the business secretary said in a statement. Dozens of businesses including steel producers Tata and Rainham Steel have offered help and to supply their raw materials, the government added. How quickly materials get to the site is important because blast furnaces can sustain permanent damage if their temperature drops too low. Restarting a furnace that has shut down is also a costly and complex process. Why did the government take control of British Steel? Chris Mason: British Steel law rushed through Parliament but it is just a stop gap Reynolds refuses to say if steel furnaces can keep running Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: "When I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it. "That's why we've passed these new powers to save British Steel at Scunthorpe and that's why my team are already hard at work on the ground to keep jobs going and furnaces burning." Civil servants and British Steel officials are trying to secure one such shipment of materials which is sat 30 miles east of Scunthorpe at Immingham Docks. It comes after Reynolds refused to confirm on Sunday whether the government could obtain the materials in time. "I'm not going to get into that," he told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, but said the takeover gave the "opportunity" to obtain the materials needed. The Scunthorpe plant employs 2,700 people and is the last site in the UK that can produce virgin steel. Without the plant, the UK would be the only member of the G7 group of leading economies without the ability to make virgin steel - which the government believes is a risk to the country's economic security. The government fast-tracked legislation which gave it control of the plant after talks with Jingye to save it appeared to break down. The company said in March it was losing £700,000 a day at the site, which it called "no longer financially sustainable," and began a consultation on its closure. Reynolds told the BBC it "became clear" during negotiations that Jingye was intent on closing down the blast furnaces no matter the financial support offered. The government said Jingye refused an offer of some £500m and demanded more than twice as much money, with few guarantees it would keep the plant open. "It might not be sabotage, it might be neglect," Reynolds said of the company's actions. The Conservatives have criticised the government for not stepping in sooner to save the plant. Tory shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said the party had supported the emergency law because "it's the least worst option on the table". Can UK afford to save British Steel – and can it afford not to? British Steel
