John Lewis partners watch the profits rack up – but still not the bonuses

Profits are set to double at the owner of John Lewis and Waitrose, but it is likely to be a third barren year for the staff bonus as the retail group targets hourly pay and revamping its stores instead.The staff-owned John Lewis Partnership, which runs 36 department stores and the Waitrose supermarket chain, has not paid a bonus to workers in three of the past four years, after diving to a loss during the pandemic when it was forced to close stores during government lockdowns.After a painful turnaround plan since then, under which 16 department stores and at least 20 Waitrose outlets were closed and thousands of head office staff jobs cut, the company is expected to reveal that profits will surge to £120m in the year to end of January from just £56m last year, according to retail analyst Nick Bubb.It had been hoped that the new chair, Jason Tarry, who will present his first set of results on Thursday since stepping in six months ago after a long career at Tesco, would celebrate the positive with a cash reward for workers. However, John Lewis is expected to focus on upgrading its stores and improving weekly pay for its staff, having announced a 7

Virgin aims to raise £700m to rival Eurostar on cross-Channel trains

Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is aiming to raise £700m to fund its plan to launch cross-Channel rail services that would compete with Eurostar.Virgin, which previously operated intercity trains in Britain including between London and Glasgow, plans to start rail services connecting the UK capital with Paris and Brussels. It would also look to run trains to Amsterdam.It is planning a high-frequency service, which could launch by the end of the decade. The company is seeking to become the first direct rival to Eurostar, which has run services across the Channel for 30 years

Internet shutdowns at record high in Africa as access ‘weaponised’

Digital blackouts reached a record high in 2024 in Africa as more governments sought to keep millions of citizens off the internet than in any other period over the last decade.A report released by the internet rights group Access Now and #KeepItOn, a coalition of hundreds of civil society organisations worldwide, found there were 21 shutdowns in 15 African countries, surpassing the existing record of 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021.Authorities in Comoros, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritius joined repeat offenders such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Kenya. Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania were also on the list. But perpetrators also included militias and other non-state actors

Skype got shouted down by Teams and Zoom. But it revolutionised human connection | John Naughton

So Microsoft has decided to terminate Skype, the internet telephony company it bought in 2011 for $8.5bn (£6.6bn). Its millions of hapless users are to be herded into Microsoft Teams, a virtual encampment with a brain-dead aesthetic that makes even Zoom look cool. This eventuality had been telegraphed for quite a while but, even so, it comes as a jolt because Skype was a remarkable venture, and its demise closes a chapter of an interesting strand of technological history

Cameron Norrie crashes to straight-sets defeat at Indian Wells by Tommy Paul

It has been three and a half years since Cameron Norrie departed the Indian Wells Tennis Garden having shocked his sport by winning one of its most important trophies. A rise into the top 10 of the ATP rankings and a Wimbledon semi-final followed soon after.Despite two extremely positive earlier performances during the past week in the desert, Norrie remains a considerable distance from reproducing his success of old. The 29-year-old was outclassed in the third round of Indian Wells by the No 10 seed Tommy Paul, whose greater weapons and confidence in the decisive moments earned him a 6-3, 7-5 win.After avery difficult season last year, where he missed three months because of an arm injury after struggling with his form for most of the time, Norrie has struggled to find his momentum again, falling to No 77 in the rankings

‘Devastated’ England wait for test results after Ollie Lawrence injury

England stayed in the chase for the Six Nations title with a bonus-point victory against Italy but lost Ollie Lawrence to an achilles injury that threatens his hopes of touring Australia with the British & Irish Lions.Steve Borthwick’s side scored seven tries as they overwhelmed the Azzurri after a close first half in sunny south-west London, with the fly-half Fin Smith orchestrating the attack impressively.But Lawrence went down injured and the Bath centre was taken off after nine minutes, bringing Marcus Smith off the replacements’ bench much earlier than expected.“We’ll know more in the next 48 hours when he has the scans and he sees a specialist,” Borthwick said of Lawrence. “Fingers crossed it’s not quite as severe as we fear it might be