The return of ‘Tescopoly’? How Britain’s biggest retailer dominates everyday life

Supermarket chain has quietly got its groove back to grab even more of shoppers’ spending this yearReach into your pocket and you will probably find evidence of Tesco. Whether it is a Clubcard, mobile phone or just a receipt from one of its 3,000 stores, the UK’s biggest retailer is engrained in everyday British life.As its chief executive, Ken Murphy, proudly proclaimed this month, the supermarket chain has grabbed even more of our spending this year, landing almost a third of all grocery sales and receiving more than £1 in every £10 spent in UK retail. Data released this week showed Tesco’s sales growth outgunning its traditional rivals.The retailer’s resurgence represents a remarkable turnaround for a business whose relentless growth across Britain through the 1990s and early 2000s was abruptly curtailed as management became too focused on overseas expansion and profits over service

Ed Miliband needs a plan now to help industry weather UK transition to net zero | Phillip Inman

Ed Miliband may want his political legacy to be a transition to net zero, but he could find his eventual political epitaph includes words on how he helped bury UK industry under the weight of high electricity charges.Industrial ovens are being switched off and turbines spun for the last time as businesses add up the cost of powering their factories and decide it’s not worth the time and trouble.It would be harsh to blame the energy secretary for a crisis he inherited and a decline in manufacturing that has been going on for four decades. But the way the transition to renewables was managed under the Tories, and now under Miliband can only be described as a disaster that will see much of UK industry depart for an easier life elsewhere.The decline is not new

‘I lost 25 pounds in 20 days’: what it’s like to be on the frontline of a global cyber-attack

The security chief of SolarWinds reflects on the Russian hack that exposed US government agencies – and the heart attack he suffered in the aftermathTim Brown will remember 12 December 2020 for ever.It was the day the software company SolarWinds was notified it had been hacked by Russia.Brown, the chief information security officer at SolarWinds, immediately understood the implications: any of the company’s more than 300,000 global clients could be affected too.The exploit allowed the hackers remote access to the systems of customers that had installed SolarWinds’ network software Orion, including the US treasury department, the US department of commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, along with thousands of companies and public institutions.Brown says he was “running on adrenaline” in the first few days after the attack

Inside San Francisco’s new AI school: is this the future of US education?

In the world’s tech innovation epicenter, an “AI-powered” private school has made headlines for unabashedly embracing the technology.Alpha School San Francisco, which opened its doors to K-8 students this fall, is the newest outpost of a network of 14 nationwide private schools. Its learning model entails just two hours of focused academic work per day, during which the school says students can learn twice as fast as their counterparts in traditional schools – with the help of artificial intelligence.AI, Alpha says, is central to the school’s learning philosophy, brand and impact on students.Alpha is not alone in its efforts to incorporate AI into the classroom

Verstappen cruises to victory in F1 US Grand Prix to pile pressure on McLaren

Dominant, untouchable and bearing a broad, beaming grin in the Texas sunshine, the transformation in Max Verstappen after he took victory at the US Grand Prix could not have been starker.The disillusioned and dissatisfied driver who felt his title defence was long over has, against all the odds and indeed his own expectations, restaked his claim as a genuine contender in a deliciously tight Formula One world championship battle. Little wonder there were smiles, Verstappen knows he is back in the fight.Verstappen beat title rival Lando Norris into second and with Norris’s McLaren teammate, and championship leader, Oscar Piastri managing only fifth from sixth on the grid, the meeting in Austin has set up an enormously tense run-in as the season enters its final five meetings. Norris has now closed to within just 14 points of his teammate

NFL week seven: Eagles beat Vikings, Chiefs crush Raiders and Rams rout Jaguars – as it happened

That is it from me then. Matthew Stafford’s five touchdown passes for the Rams has to be the outstanding performance of the day. To do it without his star receiver in Puka Nacua makes it even more impressive. The QB ended up finding 10 different pass catchers in Nacua’s absence. True offensive wizardry from Sean McVay, these Rams will be eyeing the postseason