Boots owner ‘closing in on sale to Canada’s Weston family for $9bn’ 01. October 2026 (11:03) Deal would mark return of Canadian family to UK after it sold Selfridges department store for £4bn in 2022Business live – latest updatesThe private equity owner of high street pharmacy Boots is reportedly closing in on a deal to sell the business to the Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family for $9bn (£7bn).Sycamore Partners, which bought the wider Walgreens Boots Alliance for $23.7bn in 2025, is said to be in advanced talks with the Westons, with the Financial Times reporting that a deal could be completed as soon as next week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK bookmakers that warned over illicit market had deal with offshore casinos 01. October 2026 (11:00) Content provider part-owned by Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfred owner signed deal with Santeda network, Casino Secrets leak revealsThree UK bookmakers that have repeatedly warned of the dangers of the illicit market have also benefited from a lucrative deal with one of the world’s largest offshore casinos, the Guardian can reveal.Details of the arrangement emerged as a result of last week’s Casino Secrets leak, which saw the release of thousands of confidential files held by the gambling regulator on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, a haven for offshore betting sites. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Group encouraging people to join Green party to back ‘Zionism is racism’ agenda 01. October 2026 (11:00) Exclusive: Greens for Palestine group has links to activists who say pro-Israel ‘infiltrators’ must be rooted out of UKAn organisation pushing the Green party to equate Zionism with racism has encouraged people to join the party specifically to support that agenda, and has links to activists who say that pro-Israel “infiltrators” must be rooted out of the UK, the Guardian has learned.Some Green members are increasingly concerned that the party risks being manipulated by extremist outsiders over a motion to be voted on at the party’s annual conference this weekend, which states that “Zionism is racism”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It’s utter surrealism’: Venezuela’s Chavistas lament government’s embrace of Trump 01. October 2026 (11:00) Diehard Hugo Chávez supporters struggle to comprehend ideological U-turn being executed by Delcy Rodríguez’s interim administrationHe was one of the most passionate propagandists for Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution: a feisty leftist TV personality who spent more than two decades singing the movement’s praises on his state-funded show, The Razorblade.Mario Silva’s devotion was such that he often hosted his programme with Chávez’s portrait behind him and he had El Comandante’s curly signature tattooed on to his left wrist. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
