phongphan5922 Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday, pressured by a sharp decline in U.S. stock futures, following a mostly lower close on Wall Street overnight after Apple warned of margin headwinds. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) fell 2.8% to $82,159 in late January, marking its lowest level since November 21, 2025, dragged down by a combination of sustained ETF outflows and subdued market sentiment. Go...
phongphan5922 Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday, pressured by a sharp decline in U.S. stock futures, following a mostly lower close on Wall Street overnight after Apple warned of margin headwinds. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) fell 2.8% to $82,159 in late January, marking its lowest level since November 21, 2025, dragged down by a combination of sustained ETF outflows and subdued market sentiment. Gold dropped to around $5,200 per ounce on Friday, extending its pullback from the previous session on profit-taking. Singapore's bank loans increased to a record high of SGD 886.1 billion in December 2025, up from SGD 873.1 billion in the previous month. Japan ( NKY:IND ) rose 0.19% to around 53,480 on Friday, extending gains for a fourth consecutive session, while the broader Topix Index advanced 0.5% to 3,563. The Japanese yen slipped toward 154 per dollar on Friday but remained on track for its first monthly gain since August, as talks of intervention pushed the currency to four-month highs. Retail sales in Japan fell by 0.9% year-on-year in December 2025, marking the first drop since August and coming after a 1.1% increase in November. Industrial production decreased by 0.1% month-over-month in December, a smaller drop than the previous month's 2.7% and less than the expected 0.4% decline. The unemployment rate remained steady at 2.6%, with the number of unemployed increasing by 50 thousand to a total of 1.86 million, which is the highest in 17 months. Meanwhile, employment fell by 50 thousand to 68.46 million, while the labor force dropped 50 thousand to 70.31 million. Core consumer prices in Tokyo rose by 2% year-on-year in January 2026, down from 2.3% the previous month and below expectations. Japan’s housing starts fell 1.3% year-on-year in December 2025, easing sharply from an 8.5% drop in the previous month and beating market expectations of a 4.1% decline. China ( SHCOMP ) fell 0.63% to below 4,120, while the Shenzhen Component dropped 1.7% to 14,040 on Friday , a...
25a6bc0a-277f-3e26-a35a-a71c9ed1cd8b UK founders looking to start and scale a company may soon have a more efficient route to both capital and customers, following an expansion of Barclays’ Demo Directory platform. The update allows early-stage startups not only to raise investment but also to market their innovations directly to corporates seeking strategic investment opportunities and commercial...
25a6bc0a-277f-3e26-a35a-a71c9ed1cd8b UK founders looking to start and scale a company may soon have a more efficient route to both capital and customers, following an expansion of Barclays’ Demo Directory platform. The update allows early-stage startups not only to raise investment but also to market their innovations directly to corporates seeking strategic investment opportunities and commercial partnerships. In just two years, Demo Directory has facilitated more than £1.67bn in capital requests, with 9.1% of all UK companies that raised capital in 2024 using the platform. Barclays’ latest update builds on that momentum by addressing a growing founder demand: access to markets, not just money. Read more: Geopolitical risk shaping up new 'Mag 7' companies, says fund manager “For founders, raising capital is a really inefficient process,” Benjamin Story, founder of Barclays Demo Directory told Yahoo Finance Future Focus. “It’s time-consuming, and they get really low success rates. What they practically do is send 20, 30, or 50 different emails or pitches to different investors, and it’s a really tough market for them to raise in.” Demo Directory aims to streamline that process by giving founders a single place to showcase their businesses. Startups create listings outlining their products and growth plans, while investors and corporate buyers can search and filter opportunities based on sector, stage, and funding needs. “Our investors have search and filter functionality, 15 filters, so they can find the investments they want to see,” Story explained. “If they want to find a health-tech investment raising a million pounds, that’s all they’ll see.” Read more: Key skills to keep your job in the AI era The platform’s expansion goes beyond fundraising, enabling founders to connect directly with corporates looking to pilot new technologies, form partnerships, or make strategic investments. “The new functionality we brought into the platform is all about how we help early...
Lucy Hutchings and Kate Cotterill, right, have taken an online community of female veg growers into an award-winning seed business. Heirloom seeds business She Grows Veg has, on the whole, been welcomed into the horticultural world since bursting onto the scene in late 2023. It was at its Chelsea Flower Show debut that the startup – led by two female founders – encountered some of its first challe...
Lucy Hutchings and Kate Cotterill, right, have taken an online community of female veg growers into an award-winning seed business. Heirloom seeds business She Grows Veg has, on the whole, been welcomed into the horticultural world since bursting onto the scene in late 2023. It was at its Chelsea Flower Show debut that the startup – led by two female founders – encountered some of its first challenges. “A couple of senior horticulturists came up to us and said, ‘Firstly, lovely hobby you’ve got there’, which I found phenomenally patronising,” says co-founder Kate Cotterill, “and the other thing we were told was ‘it’s not what people want, love’.” With back-to-back Chelsea gold medals, Suffolk-based She Grows Veg has proved the naysayers wrong. Cotterill and Lucy Hutchings' business has grown from two to over 30 staff, has a 210% growth rate and is set to hit £1.1m in turnover. Read More: 'Bear Grylls was our 8,000th water filter customer and then became a co-owner' December sales underscored that the founders are talking to a younger audience in a "very old-fashioned" gardening industry. In one weekend that month, more than 3,000 orders were dispatched, compared with an average of 500, and the company accrued £223,000 in turnover. Customers were going particularly mad for mangelwurzel, the founders say. Cotterill, a financial services marketing director, and Hutchings, a celebrated jewellery designer, met on a garden design course eight years ago. They sat next to each other on the first day and stayed in touch three years later when Hutchings, who had been sharing her vegetable bed-growing journey on Instagram, asked for help at a show. Hutchings had been sourcing her seeds globally and, after research, Cotterill noted there was no mid-size player between the likes of Mr Fothergill’s and small artisan seed companies. The duo quit their jobs, bootstrapped their idea before a crowdfund yielded £17,000. Backers were given early access to seeds or to be trial growers. ...
"These are objects, but they all relate to people," Machin said. "It's all about the people who lived in these areas going back thousands of years and we can start writing the stories about their lives and what they can tell us."
"These are objects, but they all relate to people," Machin said. "It's all about the people who lived in these areas going back thousands of years and we can start writing the stories about their lives and what they can tell us."
Older women disappear from presenting roles across the BBC while older men are regarded as “gaining gravitas and wisdom”, according to an internal review of the broadcaster’s record on representation. A “noticeable mismatch” in the number of staff and freelance male and female presenters over the age of 60 was uncovered by the review. It heard evidence that while older men are seen as becoming imb...
Older women disappear from presenting roles across the BBC while older men are regarded as “gaining gravitas and wisdom”, according to an internal review of the broadcaster’s record on representation. A “noticeable mismatch” in the number of staff and freelance male and female presenters over the age of 60 was uncovered by the review. It heard evidence that while older men are seen as becoming imbued with greater authority, older women had to either keep looking younger or develop “idiosyncratic personas”. While women outnumbered men in terms of presenters under 50, men “significantly outnumbered” women among the over-50s – with 237 women to 394 men. It found there are nearly four times as many male presenters over 60 as female in the BBC’s content division, which makes programmes. There were nearly twice as many older men than women – 31 compared with 16 – in BBC News. Within the nations and the English regions division, there were between three and four times as many older men as female presenters. The mismatch was “even more acute” among the over-70s. Across the three divisions, there were 57 men over 70 and only 11 women. The data encompassed almost 1,500 staff and freelance presenters directly contracted by the BBC. The internal review on portrayal and representation in BBC content, ordered by the BBC’s board, was carried out by former Bafta chair Anne Morrison and independent media consultant Chris Banatvala. “There’s evidence that, as they age, women tend to move from television to audio,” the authors said. “We were told that, as they get older, men in the media are portrayed as gaining gravitas and wisdom associated with authority. It works differently for women. “It was argued that, if they stayed on television, older women had either to try to keep looking younger or to opt out altogether from being judged on their looks and develop idiosyncratic personas.” The authors said they had not found evidence of “systemic discrimination”. Labour peer Harriet Harma...
Who was the last politician you listened to for any length of time? Perhaps it was Andy Burnham or Zack Polanski. Or maybe it was Wes Streeting, Nigel Farage or Zarah Sultana. Perhaps your dark secret is that it was Donald Trump. One thing these politicians have in common is that they are all unusually good communicators. From Farage’s drawling provocations to Polanski’s pithy directness, Sultana’...
Who was the last politician you listened to for any length of time? Perhaps it was Andy Burnham or Zack Polanski. Or maybe it was Wes Streeting, Nigel Farage or Zarah Sultana. Perhaps your dark secret is that it was Donald Trump. One thing these politicians have in common is that they are all unusually good communicators. From Farage’s drawling provocations to Polanski’s pithy directness, Sultana’s concentrated blasts of outrage to Trump’s mesmerising ramblings, they compel you to listen. The completely forgettable passages that voters across western democracies have associated with political speech for decades are largely absent. In some ways, the return of rhetoric as a hugely advantageous political skill feels like a liberation. Nowadays, it’s true, this skill is often deployed in simpler, cruder ways than in the past: in quick, conversational interventions or digressive public statements and question-and-answer sessions, rather than expertly structured formal speeches. Even if Farage becomes the most iconoclastic prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, it is doubtful that his key utterances will be as anthologised and remembered as hers. Yet for anybody who believes that much of politics is unavoidably about conflict, clashing interests and worldviews, and the arousing and articulation of public emotions, the rise of the compelling communicators is hard to resist. Their often dramatic and populist messages are replacing a worn-out discourse. In Britain and other rich democracies for much of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, mainstream political speech became ever more inward-looking and impenetrable: stiff with jargon such as “stakeholders”, “social cohesion” and “the third way”. This language essentially said to voters that politics and government were about complex technical questions that could and should be left to insiders. Politicians still regularly addressed the public, but rarely in an accessible enough way to suggest that they wanted voters to truly understa...
During the recent cold spell in the northern US, meteorologists issued warnings about exploding trees. A tree’s first line of defence against freezing is its bark, which provides efficient insulation. In cold conditions, trees also enter a form of hibernation, with changes at a cellular level: cells dehydrate, harden and shrink, increasing their sugar concentration. This is the botanical equivalen...
During the recent cold spell in the northern US, meteorologists issued warnings about exploding trees. A tree’s first line of defence against freezing is its bark, which provides efficient insulation. In cold conditions, trees also enter a form of hibernation, with changes at a cellular level: cells dehydrate, harden and shrink, increasing their sugar concentration. This is the botanical equivalent of adding antifreeze, helping to prevent the formation of ice crystals. But when temperatures drop suddenly, trees may not have fully acclimatised. The outer layer of wood may still contain water, which freezes and expands, putting pressure on the structure of the tree. In severe cold the tree may give way, sometimes with an explosive sound, producing deep vertical gaps known as frost cracks. Frost cracking is especially likely on sunny days when the temperature of the sun-warmed bark drops rapidly as night falls. In his Encyclopaedia of Gardening from 1822, John Loudon described how a severe winter left many trees “miserably split and cleft”, literally breaking some in two, “attended with dreadful noises like the explosion of firearms”. Frost cracks can harm trees as they may be exploited by insects and fungi, but exploding trees are not dangerous to bystanders. Witnesses do say, however, that the sudden percussive sounds from a dark forest can be unsettling.
AI-generated news should carry “nutrition” labels and tech companies must pay publishers for the content they use, according to a left-of-centre thinktank, amid rising use of the technology as a source for current affairs. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said AI firms were rapidly emerging as the new “gatekeepers” of the internet and intervention was needed to create a healthy AI n...
AI-generated news should carry “nutrition” labels and tech companies must pay publishers for the content they use, according to a left-of-centre thinktank, amid rising use of the technology as a source for current affairs. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said AI firms were rapidly emerging as the new “gatekeepers” of the internet and intervention was needed to create a healthy AI news environment. It recommended standardised labels for AI-generated news, showing what information had been used to create those answers, including peer-reviewed studies and articles from professional news organisations. It also urged the establishment of a licensing regime in the UK allowing publishers to negotiate with tech companies over the use of their content in AI news. “If AI companies are going to profit from journalism and shape what the public sees, they must be required to pay fairly for the news they use and operate under clear rules that protect plurality, trust and the long-term future of independent journalism,” said Roa Powell, senior research fellow at IPPR and the report’s co-author. The IPPR said work on licensing could begin with the UK’s competition regulator using its new enforcement powers over Google. The Competition and Markets Authority this week proposed giving web publishers and news organisations the power to stop Google scraping their content for its overviews. Collective licensing deals would ensure a wide range of publishers were included, the IPPR added. Google’s AI overviews now reach 2 billion users a month and approximately a quarter of people use AI to get information, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Copyright law should remain unchanged to ensure a licensing market grows, said the IPPR, while the government should encourage new business models for news that are not dependent on the tech sector, including supporting the BBC and local news providers. “With the right policies in place, the government can s...
Anything bright and zingy is particularly welcome in January, even more so when it’s in the form of cake. I always have an odd end of marzipan after the festive season, and this is a great way to use it up and bring that cosy almond flavour. The marzipan gets blitzed into the butter for a plush-textured loaf cake, and comes together in minutes thanks to simply putting everything in a food processo...
Anything bright and zingy is particularly welcome in January, even more so when it’s in the form of cake. I always have an odd end of marzipan after the festive season, and this is a great way to use it up and bring that cosy almond flavour. The marzipan gets blitzed into the butter for a plush-textured loaf cake, and comes together in minutes thanks to simply putting everything in a food processor. Citrus and almond cake Prep 10 min Cook 1 hr 10 min, plus cooling Serves 8-10 200g unsalted butter, softened 125g marzipan 150g caster sugar Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange, plus 2 tbsp extra juice for the icing Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon 3 large eggs 220g plain flour 50g ground almonds ¼ tsp fine sea salt 2 tsp baking powder 50g plain yoghurt To finish 100g icing sugar 40g toasted flaked almonds Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper. Put the butter and marzipan in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the sugar and orange and lemon zest, give the mix a quick pulse, then add the eggs and pulse again. Tip in the dry ingredients and pulse just until you have a smooth batter, then mix in the orange juice, reserving two tablespoons to make the icing, and the yoghurt until combined. Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. To make the icing, mix two tablespoons of orange juice with two tablespoons of lemon juice in a small bowl. Put the icing sugar in a second bowl and add the citrus juice a tablespoon at a time, until the icing has a slightly thick but pourable consistency. Remove the cake from its tin, then pour over the icing. Top with the toasted flaked almonds and leave to set before slicing and serving.
It is just one of 517 illegal dumps across England, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.
It is just one of 517 illegal dumps across England, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.
Ben Goldsmith, the veteran Conservative environmentalist and ally of Boris Johnson, has been approached to write Reform UK’s policies on nature, as Nigel Farage’s party attempts to make inroads with voters put off by his stance on the climate crisis. Goldsmith will work with the Reform leader and his policy adviser James Orr on policies such as fishing and preservation of the green belt, as party ...
Ben Goldsmith, the veteran Conservative environmentalist and ally of Boris Johnson, has been approached to write Reform UK’s policies on nature, as Nigel Farage’s party attempts to make inroads with voters put off by his stance on the climate crisis. Goldsmith will work with the Reform leader and his policy adviser James Orr on policies such as fishing and preservation of the green belt, as party figures admit they are struggling to win over Conservative voters who care about the environment. It is understood the financier and wildlife campaigner will not be joining the party, but is happy to advise them on nature policy. Goldsmith has been a leading figure in the rewilding movement, has supported efforts to return animals including the beaver to the UK, and has worked to preserve rare wildlife around the world. Reform has made huge inroads among Tory voters in the past 18 months, propelling the party to the top of the polls and on course for a majority at the next election. But polling shows the party’s opposition to net zero has made it unpalatable to some green Conservatives, something Farage is understood to be hoping to correct with a series of policies centred on preserving nature. Sources said Orr had been showing polling to top figures on the right, that shows more than 80% of Reform voters care deeply about nature, and that Tories who are more reluctant to vote for Nigel Farage’s party care the most about the issue of any voter. Luke Tryl, the UK director of More in Common, told the Guardian: “The right is united in their priority on nature: across both climate-sceptic Reform voters and the pro-climate Conservative voters they may need to win over, majorities say they would be more likely to vote for a political party that prioritised nature protection.” His figures show 57% of Reform voters think the government should prioritise nature, and 66% of Conservative voters do. A Reform spokesperson said of the approach to Goldsmith: “We are constantly seeking in...
For the first time in our history, more than 70% of Africans are under the age of 30. This, along with entrenched inequalities, poverty, unemployment and socioeconomic fault lines, is reshaping how our societies interact with one another and the world. This is Africa’s most consequential decade. Leaders who take office over the next 10 years will have to deliver on difficult mandates within a poli...
For the first time in our history, more than 70% of Africans are under the age of 30. This, along with entrenched inequalities, poverty, unemployment and socioeconomic fault lines, is reshaping how our societies interact with one another and the world. This is Africa’s most consequential decade. Leaders who take office over the next 10 years will have to deliver on difficult mandates within a political, economic and social landscape that has been fundamentally altered. We see politicians responding to this pressure in different ways. This response is summed up by the Namibian president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, proclaiming that her administration would be doing “business unusual”. She is right – this is what the moment calls for. Nothing will ever be the same for whoever takes on the responsibility of leadership in this era. Those who take office in the next decade will be compelled to deliver results, to make decisions that will shape our socioeconomic norms for the next 100 years. This is why the leadership of the next decade matters. Economies are not creating enough quality jobs. Education is out of sync with labour markets. Urban growth outstrips infrastructure By 2050, more than 25% of the world’s people will be African. The continent’s population will approach 2.5 billion and, by the end of the century, half of the world’s children will be African. In practice, a youthful population means exponential demand for healthcare, schooling, jobs, basic services and infrastructure – everywhere, at once. Without deliberate investment in leadership, institutions and systems, our demographic edge could become our most destabilising liability. This demographic shift is an extraordinary opportunity to tackle future challenges. The moment requires a collective of leaders with the capacity to make deliberate, difficult choices that can deliver at scale. Young African people are growing up in environments that are not keeping pace with their aspirations. Economies are not cre...
A former party chief of the resource-rich Inner Mongolia autonomous region, who was also China’s first veterans affairs minister, is under investigation amid the country’s continuing anti-corruption campaign Sun Shaocheng, 65, is being investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”, a euphemism for corruption, the top disci...
A former party chief of the resource-rich Inner Mongolia autonomous region, who was also China’s first veterans affairs minister, is under investigation amid the country’s continuing anti-corruption campaign Sun Shaocheng, 65, is being investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”, a euphemism for corruption, the top disciplinary body said on Thursday. Sun serves as vice-chairman of the Social Development Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, a semi-retirement position he was appointed to in October 2025 on reaching retirement age. He is a member of the Communist Party’s 20th Central Committee. Advertisement The disciplinary review and supervisory investigation was announced days after the inquiries into China’s top-ranking general, Zhang Youxia, and another senior officer, Liu Zhenli, amid an anti-corruption campaign sweeping through the military. Sun’s downfall came only four months after he stepped down as party chief of Inner Mongolia, a role he held from 2022 to 2025. Wang Lixia, who served as the region’s government head at the time, faced a corruption investigation in August 2025. 01:12 Two top Chinese military generals removed, under investigation for ‘serious violations’ Two top Chinese military generals removed, under investigation for ‘serious violations’ He played a key role in China’s veteran affairs from 1999, when he had a leading role at the Bureau of Preferential Treatment and Resettlement, part of the civil affairs ministry which was then in charge of resettling former military personnel.
MPs, experts and campaigners have called on King Charles to make a formal apology for transatlantic slavery, after research highlighted how the British crown and Royal Navy extended and protected the trade in enslaved African people for hundreds of years. The king has previously expressed “personal sorrow” at the suffering caused by slavery and has spoken of committing to “finding creative ways to...
MPs, experts and campaigners have called on King Charles to make a formal apology for transatlantic slavery, after research highlighted how the British crown and Royal Navy extended and protected the trade in enslaved African people for hundreds of years. The king has previously expressed “personal sorrow” at the suffering caused by slavery and has spoken of committing to “finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure”. However, the British crown has never issued a formal apology. The Crown’s Silence, a book published this week, details how monarchs from Queen Elizabeth I to George IV used the trade in enslaved people to boost crown revenues and defend the British empire. It is believed that by 1807 the British crown was the largest buyer of enslaved people. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Labour Clapham and Brixton Hill MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for Afrikan reparations, said “personal sorrow” did “not befit one of the single greatest crimes against humanity”. “This isn’t about individuals but the monarchy as an institution,” she added. “What is needed is not simply an apology on behalf of the crown, but acknowledgment of this history and action to address its lasting legacy of global racism and inequality. “An apology could be a basis for the honest conversation and transformation we need to have as a country around this issue in a swiftly changing world.” The Runnymede Trust, which in September published Reparations, a report offering a blueprint for reparative justice, said King Charles offering an apology would be “a welcome, symbolic first step”, but must be supported by action. They added: “Reparations is not about exacting collective punishment or confessions of guilt – a Crown apology should only be offered if there is an accompanying governmental promise to engage with the systemic work that needs to be done to see how the legacies of slavery have coded our economic and financial infrastructures, and to genuinely commit to their refor...
Record numbers of eggs of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly have been found in south-west Wales after landowners stopped flailing hedges every year. The butterfly lays its eggs on blackthorn every summer. But when land managers and farmers mechanically cut hedges every autumn, thousands of the eggs are unknowingly destroyed. Conservationists have now persuaded landowners to cut hedges in a more ...
Record numbers of eggs of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly have been found in south-west Wales after landowners stopped flailing hedges every year. The butterfly lays its eggs on blackthorn every summer. But when land managers and farmers mechanically cut hedges every autumn, thousands of the eggs are unknowingly destroyed. Conservationists have now persuaded landowners to cut hedges in a more gentle rotation, with sections left uncut for up to three years, to enable more eggs to survive over winter. The caterpillars emerge with the foliage in spring and hatch into adult butterflies in July. The brown hairstreak is difficult to spot as a butterfly but every winter volunteers assess its populations by counting its minuscule cream-coloured eggs, which with careful searching are visible on the bare branches of blackthorn. Volunteers for Butterfly Conservation this winter counted 276 brown hairstreak eggs on blackthorn hedges on the north verge of the busy A40 west of Llandeilo and 117 eggs on the south verge – both record counts and a 50% increase on the previous year. Three nearby sections of hedgerow also recorded increases after sympathetic management, including the planting of new blackthorn bushes. The upturn comes after more than a decade of decline for the butterfly in the Tywi valley, which almost disappeared in the region due to increased mechanical flailing of hedgerows and patches of scrub. When Butterfly Conservation found a small remnant population in 2021 west of Llandeilo, they began annual egg counts and worked with the National Trust and the South Wales Trunk Road Agent, to get more blackthorn planted, as well as protecting hedgerows from annual flailing. A nearby group of fields that were not managed in the same way, and had their hedgerows flailed recorded a drop from an average of 60 eggs each winter to four this year. View image in fullscreen A tiny white egg laid by a brown hairstreak butterfly on a stem of blackthorn. Photograph: Charlie Elder...
Former Chinese actor and businessman Li Yapeng, who is also the ex-husband of Cantopop diva Faye Wong, hit the headlines recently after he admitted that a charity hospital he founded was in serious debt. Li, 54, announced on January 14 that the Beijing Smile Angel Hospital, which he and his ex-wife Wong founded in 2012 to help children born with a cleft lip like their daughter Li Yan, was facing c...
Former Chinese actor and businessman Li Yapeng, who is also the ex-husband of Cantopop diva Faye Wong, hit the headlines recently after he admitted that a charity hospital he founded was in serious debt. Li, 54, announced on January 14 that the Beijing Smile Angel Hospital, which he and his ex-wife Wong founded in 2012 to help children born with a cleft lip like their daughter Li Yan, was facing closure over unpaid rent. According to the hospital, it has operated on 11,000 children with a cleft lip for free. A smiling Li Yapeng, above, pictured outside the Beijing hospital where so many children have been helped. Photo: guancha The private children’s hospital also has other departments that charge fees and has treated 500,000 patients. Advertisement Li claimed that the hospital was in debt due to the doubling of its rent since 2020, which was agreed between them and the landlord in 2019, plus a slump in revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic. Kind-hearted online observers flocked to the hospital’s donation link and in a few days, the hospital raised 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million), enough to pay the overdue rent. Li’s charitable work has helped make the lives of hundreds of thousands of children better. Photo: guancha Li’s social media account also reportedly attracted nearly 1.5 million followers in a week. His live-stream sales session on January 17, which lasted for five hours, generated more than 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in sales.
Press Release January 30, 2026 Signify reports full-year 2025 sales of EUR 5.8 billion, operational profitability of 8.9% and a free cash flow of EUR 440 million Highlights 1 Signify's installed base of connected light points increased to 167 million at the end of 2025 FY 25 sales of EUR 5,765 million with a CSG of -3.4%; Q4 25 sales of EUR 1,492 million with a CSG of -5.2% Adj. EBITA margin of 8....
Press Release January 30, 2026 Signify reports full-year 2025 sales of EUR 5.8 billion, operational profitability of 8.9% and a free cash flow of EUR 440 million Highlights 1 Signify's installed base of connected light points increased to 167 million at the end of 2025 FY 25 sales of EUR 5,765 million with a CSG of -3.4%; Q4 25 sales of EUR 1,492 million with a CSG of -5.2% Adj. EBITA margin of 8.9% in FY 25 (FY 24: 9.9%) and 10% in Q4 25 (Q4 24: 12.4%) Net income of EUR 259 million (FY 24: EUR 334 million) and EUR 60 million in Q4 25 (Q4 24: 119 million) Free cash flow of EUR 440 million (FY 24: EUR 438 million) and of EUR 291 million in Q4 25 (Q4 24: 188 million) driven by disciplined working capital management Repurchased shares for a total consideration of EUR 150 million; 5.8 million shares cancelled Proposal for cash dividend of EUR 1.57 per share over 2025 (FY24: EUR 1.56) Signify initiates a cost reduction program of EUR 180 million Signify to pause share repurchases for cancellation during portfolio and strategy review Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, today announced the company’s fourth quarter & full year results 2025. “Signify's performance in 2025 highlighted the resilience of our business as we responded to reduced demand, the ripple effect of tariffs, and price pressure in our trade channels. In this context, our full-year results were mixed. Our Professional business grew in the US but declined in Europe. Our Consumer business delivered sustained growth in all regions except China. Connected lighting showed strong growth in both Professional and Consumer markets, but this was offset by a decline in non-connected, particularly in trade channels. Both businesses maintained a strong gross margin. OEM faced reduced demand and pricing pressure. Adjusted EBITA was 8.9%, and we generated strong cash flow of EUR 440 million, or 7.6% of sales. In the fourth quarter, continued connected growth and a strong t...
PRESS RELEASE NANTES, JANUARY 30TH, 2026 Q4 25 and FY25 sales update H2 Sales stabilization (-0.7% LfL) following -9% in H1 Q4 LfL Sales at -5% driven by online underperformance €45m Costs Saving Plan achieved with new €30m ambition for 2026 International and Retail confirm resilience Southern Europe at (-1%) in Q4, with LfL Stores +1% (second positive quarter) Total Retail sales resisted (-2%) Lf...
PRESS RELEASE NANTES, JANUARY 30TH, 2026 Q4 25 and FY25 sales update H2 Sales stabilization (-0.7% LfL) following -9% in H1 Q4 LfL Sales at -5% driven by online underperformance €45m Costs Saving Plan achieved with new €30m ambition for 2026 International and Retail confirm resilience Southern Europe at (-1%) in Q4, with LfL Stores +1% (second positive quarter) Total Retail sales resisted (-2%) LfL of which (-4%) for France Refurbished Stores continue to deliver mid single digit growth Online facing challenges Online activities at (-10%), despite record Black Friday campaign, impacted mainly by France and Northern countries Organization adjusted to focus on digital experience improvement with arrival of new head of digital early January Cost & Cash 2025 cost saving plan achieved: €45m Positive Cash generation in H2 but not offsetting H1 cash outflows New 2026 ambition, targeting gross costs reduction of €30m focusing on further logistics and HQ optimisation, leading to total cost savings of €120m over 2024-2026 Inspire Everyday next key milestones Building on return to H2 positive monthly traffic across retail and online to drive further customer engagement across retail and online to drive further customer engagement Online : digital customer journey to be improved throughout 2026 including the visual redesign of the discovery journey with enriched contents leveraging Rhinov expertise, and the enhancement of payment services : digital customer journey to be improved throughout 2026 including the visual redesign of the discovery journey with enriched contents leveraging Rhinov expertise, and the enhancement of payment services Retail: ongoing upgrade of the retail network aligning to the new pilot retail park format which has been delivering growth Guidance In an encouraging situation with the stabilization of sales and positive cash generation in H2, the persistent lack of visibility in the macroeconomic environment and the retail sector - particularly in France - ...
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE NANTES, LE 30 JANVIER 20206 Ventes du quatrième trimestre et de l’année 2025 Stabilisation des ventes au S2 (-0,7% LfL) après -9 % au S1 Ventes à périmètre comparable au T4 à -5 %, du fait des ventes en ligne Économies de coûts de 45 M€ atteint, nouvelle ambition de 30 M€ pour 2026 L’international et les magasins confirment leur résilience Europe du Sud à (-1%) au T4, avec des...
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE NANTES, LE 30 JANVIER 20206 Ventes du quatrième trimestre et de l’année 2025 Stabilisation des ventes au S2 (-0,7% LfL) après -9 % au S1 Ventes à périmètre comparable au T4 à -5 %, du fait des ventes en ligne Économies de coûts de 45 M€ atteint, nouvelle ambition de 30 M€ pour 2026 L’international et les magasins confirment leur résilience Europe du Sud à (-1%) au T4, avec des ventes en magasin à périmètre comparable à +1 % (deuxième trimestre consécutif de croissance) Les ventes en magasin résistent (-2 % à périmètre comparable); -4 % en France Les magasins au concept renouvelé continuent de générer une croissance à un chiffre Les activités e-commerce face à des défis Les ventes en ligne reculent de -10 %, malgré une campagne Black Friday record, impactées principalement par la France et les pays d’Europe du Nord Organisation interne ajustée avec pour objectif d’améliorer l’expérience client digitale, et arrivée d’une nouvelle Directrice du Digital début janvier Coûts et génération de trésorerie Plan d’économies de coûts 2025 de 45M€ atteint Génération de trésorerie positive au S2, ne compensant toutefois pas la consommation de trésorerie du S1 Nouvelle ambition 2026 de 30 M€ de réduction de coûts bruts, avec la poursuite d’optimisations, notamment sur la logistique et le siège, conduisant à un total d'économies de 120 M€ sur la période 2024-2026 Prochaines étapes clés du Plan de Transformation Inspire Everyday Capitaliser sur le retour à un trafic positif chaque mois au S2 , dans le réseau de magasins comme sur les activités en ligne, afin de renforcer la relation client , dans le réseau de magasins comme sur les activités en ligne, afin de renforcer la relation client Activités en ligne : amélioration du parcours client digital durant 2026, incluant une refonte visuelle avec des contenus enrichis, capitalisant sur l’expertise Rhinov, ainsi que l’optimisation des moyens de paiement : amélioration du parcours client digital durant 2026, incluan...