‘We can create hype’: H&M’s UK boss on its commitment to the high street

Almost exactly 50 years after H&M opened its first British store, the doors on its newest, in Brighton, swung open this week and the Swedish fashion company’s UK boss is determined to keep investing in the nation’s high streets despite its struggles.In 1976, H&M opened in the brand-new Brent Cross shopping centre, the first American-style out of town mall to grace these shores. Its opening was such an event that the then Prince Charles attended.The Brighton store, which takes the H&M brand’s total in the UK to 197, is bristling with technology, including handheld scanners on self-service checkouts and a system that can find the exact location of a product in the shop, using radio-frequency tags. Shoppers can still simply try on a dress and buy it at a till – just as in 1976

‘Trumpflation’: how the Iran war’s economic storm could affect Britons

Here we go again. For Britons it has been a rollercoaster few years and just as better times seemed ahead the country has been plunged into a fresh cost of living crisis.The economic storm caused by war in the Middle East is already pushing up the cost of key household outgoings, including mortgage payments, energy bills and driving. There are warnings that the weekly shop will be next.We look at how the unfolding economic crisis caused by the war could affect you

‘Thank God they’re still alive’: Kaiser therapists claim its new screening system puts patients at higher risk by delaying their care

Ilana Marcucci-Morris is worried about the patients she treats and how long it took for them to arrive in her office. At Kaiser Permanente’s psychiatry outpatient clinic in Oakland, California, she says she increasingly finds herself assessing people experiencing severe mental health issues who she believes should have been sent to the emergency room weeks earlier. For those who do make it to their appointments, she thinks: “Thank God they’re still alive.”It wasn’t always this way, according to Marcucci-Morris, a licensed clinical social worker. Licensed professionals used to almost always be the first point of contact for patients with behavioral health issues at Kaiser, she said

How the FBI can conduct mass surveillance – even without AI

The FBI declares it can conduct mass surveillance without AI, despite Anthropic’s protest.A central part of the standoff between Anthropic and the Department of Defense has revolved around the artificial intelligence firm’s refusal to allow its technology to be used for mass domestic surveillance. Yet even without the cooperation of AI firms, remarks this week from Kash Patel, FBI director, show how authorities are by any reasonable measure already operating a system that can surveil citizens at scale.On Wednesday, Patel confirmed to a Senate intelligence committee hearing that the FBI is actively buying commercially available data on Americans. Patel’s answer, which was under oath, was in response to a question from senator Ron Wyden on whether the agency was purchasing location data on citizens, as it had previously admitted to doing in 2023

England’s McCullum told to improve relations with counties before Ashes review

Brendon McCullum has been told he must improve relations with the counties after being backed to stay on as England coach despite this winter’s 4-1 Ashes defeat.The Guardian revealed the day after England’s T20 World Cup exit three weeks ago that McCullum would continue, a decision that will be confirmed on Monday by the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould and managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key.Gould and Key will also outline the details of the ECB’s post-Ashes review and the reasons for keeping faith with McCullum following England’s humbling in Australia.As reported earlier this month, key to McCullum’s survival has been the New Zealander’s agreement to adopt a more rigorous approach to training and preparation during the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, where a midnight curfew was introduced, a change of approach that will be expected to continue.In addition, the ECB has made clear to McCullum that more effort should be made to build good relationships with the counties, many of whom feel marginalised by the coach’s approach to selection

Serena Williams courts drama once again as game of ‘will she won’t she’ goes on

As was often the case in Serena Williams’s unparalleled tennis career, her time at the French Open in 2009 was far from straightforward. Her gritty performance in a third-round win against Spain’s María José Martínez Sánchez that went the distance was quickly overshadowed by a gamesmanship row after Martínez Sánchez refused to admit that one of Williams’s shots had struck her body, not her racket, before going back over the net. The point should have been awarded to the American.An unimpressed Williams immediately protested to opponent and umpire. Then, once it became clear the point was a lost cause, she comically suggested Martínez Sánchez should probably not approach the net again