Rebel Energy goes bust leaving 90,000 customers without supplier

A UK energy supplier with about 90,000 customers has gone bust, blaming a “perfect storm” of soaring wholesale prices and squeezed customers, on the day households face another increase in gas and electricity bills.Rebel Energy, which serves about 80,000 households and 10,000 business customers, will cease trading immediately and leave the industry regulator to find a new supplier for its customers.Its failure comes about three years after soaring gas prices triggered a spate of energy company failures, with more than 30 going bust.Rebel was founded in 2019 by Dan Bates, a former energy trader with the oil company BP, to “make things fairer for customers and the planet”.In a social media post Bates said: “Rebel Energy has been facing a perfect storm of rising wholesale costs during January and February together with the pressure of the cost of living crisis on our customers

Motor finance compensation ruling ‘goes too far’, says City regulator

A court of appeal ruling that has left lenders fearing PPI-level compensation bills over the motor finance commission scandal “goes too far”, the City regulator said on Tuesday.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made the comments in a written submission to the supreme court on Tuesday, as part of a high-profile case being closely watched by the government. The Treasury, which tried but failed to intervene in the case, is concerned the standing decision could spook businesses and threaten investment in the UK.The case is part of efforts by two specialist lenders – Close Brothers and FirstRand – to overturn the controversial court of appeal ruling from October. The court said that failing to disclose plainly to consumers the amount of commission paid to car dealerships, and receiving their informed consent, was unlawful

How Tesla became a battleground for political protest

Over the weekend, protesters gathered at Tesla showrooms in hundreds of cities across the world to demonstrate against Elon Musk laying waste the US government in alliance with Donald Trump. Their goal: stigmatize Tesla’s cars. One sign in Manhattan read: “Burn a Tesla, save democracy.” Protesters are using the commercial democracy of consumer products to influence US political democracy.My colleagues Dara Kerr and Edward Helmore report:In New York City, several hundred anti-Tesla protesters gathered outside the EV company’s Manhattan showroom on Saturday

Donkey Kong champion wins defamation case against Australian YouTuber Karl Jobst

A professional YouTuber in Queensland has been ordered to pay $350,000 plus interest and costs to the former world record score holder for Donkey Kong, after the Brisbane district court found the YouTuber had defamed him “recklessly” with false claims of a link between a lawsuit and another YouTuber’s suicide.William “Billy” Mitchell, an American gamer who had held world records in Donkey Kong and Pac-Man going back to 1982, as recognised by the Guinness World Records and the video game database Twin Galaxies, brought the case against Karl Jobst, seeking $400,000 in general damages and $50,000 in aggravated damages.Jobst, who makes videos about “speed running” (finishing games as fast as possible), as well as gaming records and cheating in games, made a number of allegations against Mitchell in a 2021 YouTube video. He accused Mitchell of cheating, and “pursuing unmeritorious litigation” against others who had also accused him of cheating, the court judgment stated.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news emailThe court heard Mitchell was accused in 2017 of cheating in his Donkey Kong world records by using emulation software instead of original arcade hardware

‘High degree of uncertainty’ over DCMS recouping millions from rugby clubs, MPs warn

There remains a “high degree of uncertainty” over whether tens of millions of pounds paid to rugby union clubs and other sports teams during the Covid-19 pandemic will ever be repaid, the House of Commons’ public accounts committee has warned.In a report published on Wednesday, the committee also criticised the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for being “overly optimistic” in believing it will recover most of the £474m it paid out to 120 organisations in the sport and culture sectors to help them survive the impact of the pandemic.“There remains a high degree of uncertainty over how much of the loan book will ever be repaid,” the report stated.The report also highlighted what it said was a “gap in oversight and accountability” in the £123.8m loaned to rugby clubs – citing the fact that Susannah Storey, the permanent secretary of the DCMS, is married to Pev Hooper, a director of Premiership Rugby and a managing partner of CVC Capital Partners

Hong Kong in frame to host Nations Championship finals and Lions matches

Hong Kong has emerged as a candidate to stage future Nations Championship finals at its new Kai Tak Sports Park and would be an ideal British & Irish Lions stopover, according to a senior World Rugby executive.The inaugural Nations Championship finals – the biennial playoffs among the world’s leading international sides – is to be held in London in 2026 with Qatar lined up for 2028 but the Hong Kong stadium is an increasingly popular suggestion for subsequent editions.The stadium hosted its first international sporting event last weekend by staging the Hong Kong Sevens, relocating the famous tournament to the site of the former airport in Kowloon which now hosts the Cathay Pacific sponsored sports park. Transforming the site, which hosts the 50,000-seat stadium, a 10,000-capacity indoor arena and a track and field venue, cost £3bn.On Monday it was confirmed that in July, Tottenham will play Arsenal at Kai Tak stadium in the first north London derby staged outside the UK while Liverpool will also be in action against Milan