Christmas ads put on a diet as UK ban on TV junk food advertising bites

The festive season is traditionally a time of national culinary overindulgence but eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that this year’s crop of big-budget Christmas TV ads have been decidedly lean and sugar-free.From Tesco and Waitrose to Marks & Spencer and Asda, the UK’s biggest exponents of extravagant festive food marketing have put their Christmas ads on a diet to comply with new regulations banning junk food products from appearing in TV ads before 9pm.The UK advertising watchdog will officially start cracking down on ads featuring junk food on TV – and in paid online advertising at any time of day – from 5 January. But the UK advertising industry voluntarily chose to start adhering to the new rules from October, making this TV’s first-ever low-fat, low-sugar and low-salt Christmas.Gone are shots of Christmas puddings and sweet treats, while healthy products have made a conspicuous appearance

Jim Ratcliffe chemical firms received up to £70m of UK state aid in last four years

Chemical companies owned by the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid in the past four years, before this week’s £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth plant in Scotland.State aid to Ineos in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m, according to government disclosures published this week. Since August 2022 the company has received between £28m and £70m.The government stepped in on Tuesday to give Ineos £50m to support Grangemouth, fearing that without it the UK would lose its last plant making ethylene, an important material for making plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos will invest £30m of its own money

Tinsel and Home Alone back in style as TikTok seeks comfort in #90sChristmas

Tinsel, DIY tree decorations, deep burgundy drapes – and Home Alone on VHS. Christmas has gone retro on TikTok, and in people’s living rooms.The app has reported a surge in Christmas decor videos, with an emphasis on nostalgia as users embrace festive looks from bygone eras. For younger TikTokers, that means the 90s.More than 8,000 videos have been posted under the hashtag #90sChristmas, celebrating a look that includes multicoloured tree lights, homemade felt ornaments and – in a post with nearly 4m views – VHS tapes of Christmas classics such as the Macaulay Culkin caper

Elon Musk’s massive 2018 Tesla pay package restored by Delaware court

Elon Musk’s controversial $56bn pay package from Tesla was reinstated by the Delaware supreme court on Friday, two years after a lower court struck down the vast compensation deal as “unfathomable”.The reinstated pay package could be worth as much as $139bn today, according to the New York Times. The decision comes less than two months after Tesla shareholders approved a new plan that could be worth $1tn to Musk, already the world’s richest person, in a decade’s time. Musk’s fortune currently stands at an estimated $600bn.Rescinding the pay deal would be “inequitable”, and would leave Musk “uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years”, the Delaware supreme court justices wrote, echoing arguments from Tesla board members earlier this year

Dominant Australia retain the Ashes after defeating England in third Test – live reaction

Australia have a reckoning of sorts to contend with too. Nathan Lyon, their 567 wicket champion spinner hobbled off today with a hamstring injury that looks likely to keep him out of the Boxing Day Test. Cameron Green and Josh Inglis are also on the verge of being dumped from the lineup, with Steve Smith to return and Beau Webster the next allrounder up. And what of Usman Khawaja? Not picked here but delivering a valuable 120+ runs here. Does he return? Or do the selectors blood youth in Melbourne and Sydney?Now comes the reckoning

Brilliant Bristol run in six dazzling tries in Big Game mauling of Harlequins

This was the 17th annual Big Game but rarely can Harlequins have failed to live up to the billing of their Christmas extravaganza as sorely as they did here. Bristol, on the other hand, continue to dazzle in the way their hosts have recently struggled to.These two are probably the Premiership teams most renowned for dazzling. Indeed, they both enjoyed 60-point wins last weekend against lacklustre visitors from the deep south-west of France. But only one side brought it to the big, wide stage of Twickenham