Sir Kit McMahon obituary

At an age when many people are preparing for retirement, Sir Kit McMahon, who has died aged 97, made his first move into business. In 1986 McMahon, an economist and central banker, was parachuted into Midland Bank to rescue the once-mighty institution – a process that eventually led to its takeover by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC).The period was, he said, “the most exciting and enjoyable of my life”. But it was a difficult time and, while nobody doubted McMahon’s intellectual powers, his belated transformation into a bank chief executive was only a partial success.His arrival at Midland came after 22 years at the Bank of England

Ministers considering renationalising British Steel if rescue plan fails

Ministers are considering renationalising British Steel in a last-ditch attempt to save thousands of jobs, amid a standoff between the government and the company’s Chinese owners over a £1bn investment.Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, is locked in talks with British Steel and its owner, Jingye, to agree how much each party should put into a rescue plan for its main Scunthorpe site.But with the discussions showing little sign of progress, sources say Reynolds is open to taking it over entirely, in a move that would reverse Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation of the British steel industry in 1988.One Whitehall official said: “It is one of several options being looked at. We would have been negligent not to look at it

Smartphones should carry health warning, Spanish government told

Smartphones sold in Spain should carry a label warning users about their potential health impacts, experts have told the Spanish government, in a report that calls for doctors to ask about screen time during checkups.As Spain pushes forward with a draft law to limit children’s exposure to technology, the 50-member committee of experts has also called for minors to have limited exposure to digital devices until they are 13 to mitigate what they see as a public health problem.The experts’ nearly 250-page report, seen by the newspaper El País, recommends that children under the age of three do not have any exposure to digital devices, while children up to six years old should be allowed to access them only on an exceptional basis.For children between six and 12, the use of so-called “dumb phones” – which do not have access to the internet and which are limited to calls – should be prioritised, as should offline activities such as sports.The report called on the government to consider adding a warning label to digital devices sold in Spain, informing consumers of the health risks that some have linked to social media and digital devices, as well as the possible impacts that access to inappropriate content could have on the development of children

‘Progressive except for Palestine’: how a tech charity imploded over a statement on Gaza

The board of the non-profit Code for Science & Society blocked a statement against genocide. The fallout tore the high-profile organization apartMiliaku Nwabueze, a senior program manager at Code for Science & Society, had been concerned for some time about the role of technology in state violence. Then, on 7 October of last year, Hamas entered Israel, killing and kidnapping about 1,400 people. Less than a week later, as Israel ordered 1.1 million Palestinians out of northern Gaza in the onset of its deadly retaliation, Nwabueze decided to write a message to her colleagues on the US-based non-profit organization’s Slack channel

No panic and a brilliant striker of the ball – why Bethell’s selection could be inspired | Mark Ramprakash

Nearly six years ago the 15-year-old Jacob Bethell was given the Gray Nicolls Young Cricketer of the Year award and I sat next to him at lunch after the presentation. I have been aware of his background and looked out for his name since then, though I did not have a good look at him in action until he exploded on to the scene over the past 18 months, culminating in his Test debut last week.I really like the way he sets up: he looks pretty side-on, seems to have good orthodox basics, presents the full face of the bat, moves forward and back. He scored 10 in his first Test innings but his mentality was right: there was no panic, he gave himself the chance to have a look, and did not seem flustered when he was faced with a string of balls he could not score off.I and many others have often described Ollie Pope, who normally bats at No 3 for England, as looking a bit frenetic early in his innings, and you could argue that Bethell, at 21 and at his first attempt, looked much more composed

Ding Liren escapes after blunder in wild 72-move draw with Gukesh D in Game 7

Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju came dangerously close to scoring a decisive result in Tuesday’s seventh game of his world championship match against Ding Liren only to allow his opponent off the hook, leaving the best-of-14-games match no closer to resolution in a 3½-all deadlock.“The score is fine,” Gukesh said after the players settled for a fourth successive draw in the match at Resorts World Sentosa. “Obviously, today was a missed chance. That is a bit of a disappointment, but he also missed some chances earlier in the match. So, I think it’s fair that we are here