Barclays reportedly cuts ties with lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson

Barclays has reportedly cut ties with the lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, after intense scrutiny of the founders’ dealings with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Vodafone has also said it is reviewing its contract for public affairs services with Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded in 2010 after Labour lost the general election.Mandelson has tried to distance himself from the lobbying firm after the revelations of the extent of his relationship with Epstein sparked a major political scandal. Mandelson resigned from the Labour party on Sunday.The former minister was sacked as ambassador to the US in September after the emergence of emails that suggested he had a close relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial over child sex-trafficking charges

Shell will consider fossil fuel investment in Venezuela, says chief executive

Shell is considering fossil fuel investments in Venezuela worth billions of dollars, according to its chief executive.Wael Sawan said Europe’s largest oil company is weighing plans for production projects off the Venezuelan coast that could begin yielding gas in the next couple of years. “These are opportunities that could potentially be activated within months,” he told CNBC, adding that the company was now awaiting approvals.Shell’s fresh interest in the South American country has emerged a week after Venezuela passed sweeping reforms to its hydrocarbon laws to encourage increases in oil and gas production and foreign investment, in line with calls from the US president, Donald Trump, to revive the industry.Trump called for America’s biggest oil companies to reignite Venezuela’s struggling oil industry after removing the former president Nicolás Maduro last month, but the suggestion received a tepid response from executives, including the chief executive of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, who said that political stability was vital before investments could take place

‘Orwellian’: Sainsbury’s staff using facial recognition tech eject innocent shopper

A man was ordered to leave a supermarket in London after staff misidentified him using controversial new facial recognition technology.Warren Rajah was told to abandon his shopping and leave the local store he has been using for a number of years after an “Orwellian” error in a Sainsbury’s in Elephant and Castle, London.He said supermarket staff were unable to explain why he was being told to leave, and would only direct him to a QR code leading to the website of the firm Facewatch, which the retailer has hired to run facial recognition in some of its stores. He said when he contacted Facewatch, he was told to send in a picture of himself and a photograph of his passport before the firm confirmed it had no record of him on its database.“One of the reasons I was angry was because I shouldn’t have to prove I am innocent,” Rajah said

What does the disappearance of a $100bn deal mean for the AI economy?

Did the circular AI economy just wobble? Last week it was reported that a much-discussed $100bn deal – announced last September – between Nvidia and OpenAI might not be happening at all.This was a circular arrangement through which the chipmaker would supply the ChatGPT developer with huge sums of money that would largely go towards the purchase of its own chips.It is this type of deal that has alarmed some market watchers, who detect a whiff of the 1999-2000 dotcom bubble in these transactions.Now it seems that Nvidia was not as solid on this investment as had been widely believed, according to the Wall Street Journal. Negotiations had not progressed, with Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, privately emphasising that the deal was “non-binding” and “not finalised”

Team GB chief predicts ‘most potent’ Winter Games ever with sights set on eight medals

Team GB have never made anything more than the occasional ripple at the Winter Olympics. Which makes the prediction of Eve Muirhead, Britain’s chef de mission at the Milano Cortina Games, rather extraordinary.“I believe that we are taking one of the most potent teams of athletes that we have taken to a Winter Olympic Games,” she says. “We have the capability to disrupt the norm.”That norm, between 1952 and 2010, was just 12 medals in 16 Winter Games

Feyi-Waboso hands England Six Nations injury scare 48 hours before Wales opener

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has given England a late injury scare before they start their Six Nations campaign against Wales on Saturday after pulling up in training.The Exeter wing was unable to complete England’s session at Pennyhill Park due to a leg injury with Steve Borthwick’s medical staff investigating its extent on Thursday night.If Feyi-Waboso is ruled out, Elliot Daly would appear the most likely candidate to play on the wing against Wales while Borthwick could also move Tommy Freeman from midfield and introduce Henry Slade or Max Ojomoh at centre. A more radical option would be to move Freddie Steward to the wing and select Marcus Smith, who has been named on the bench, at full-back. Cadan Murley of Harlequins was also named in the squad, but is due to appear for England A against Ireland on Friday night