Author: Reputation Poll Staff

Acclaimed British bass guitarist Herbie Flowers, who worked with the likes of David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, has died aged 86. Flowers played bass in pop group Blue Mink and rock band T. Rex, and is thought to have contributed to more than 500 hit albums by the end of the 1970s. He was credited with creating the famous bassline in Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side from his 1972 album Transformer. His death was confirmed by close family members on Facebook on Saturday. Tributes from family and friends said Flowers was a “beautiful soul” and…

The US government is taking aim at the engine of Google’s immense wealth – its extremely lucrative ad tech business. A trial beginning on Monday will hear the Department of Justice’s case that the search engine’s parent company Alphabet illegally operates a monopoly in the market. The company earned more than $200 billion (£152bn) last year through the placing and selling of ads seen by internet users. Alphabet has argued its success is due to the “effectiveness” of its services – but prosecutors say it has used its market dominance to stifle rivals. “It is a really important industry that grabs billions…

Leaders of two of the biggest unions have added further pressure on the government over its plan to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners in England and Wales. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the BBC the government should “do a U-turn”, while head of the PCS union Fran Heathcote said it was a “misstep” which needed to be “put right”. Paul Nowak, head of the Trades Union Congress which brings unions together, has also said the government should “rethink” and consider other lines of support for pensioners. Sir Keir Starmer, who is facing a potential rebellion at…

India’s market regulator is facing a threat to its credibility after a barrage of allegations against its chief, top fund managers have told the BBC. Multiple charges, mostly around conflict of interest, have surfaced against Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), from at least four different corners over the past month. She has denied most of them and not publicly responded to some. This comes amid a bull run in India’s equity markets, which are among the world’s best performing this year. Foreign investors have pumped in over $6bn (£4.5bn), while millions of…

England captain Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series against Australia and is a doubt for the five one-day internationals that follow. Buttler, 33, has not played since the T20 World Cup in June because of a calf injury. In his absence, Phil Salt will captain England for the first time in the T20s, while Harry Brook is in line to step up if needed in the ODIs. The T20 series begins on Wednesday in Southampton, with the ODIs starting on 19 September. The visit of Australia is England’s first white-ball assignment since they lost in…

Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend. The 33-year-old Ugandan marathon runner, who competed in the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns after Sunday’s attack. The authorities in north-west Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained, said she was targeted after returning home from church with her two daughters. Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, said that he had lost a “very supportive” daughter. Fellow Ugandan athlete James Kirwa told the BBC about her generosity and how she had helped out other runners financially. A report filed by a…

Nigerians have been hit by a double whammy of chronic fuel shortages and a hike in prices by the state-owned oil company. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which imports the country’s fuel and distributes it to private sellers, blamed its debts and rising global prices for its difficulty in getting fuel. Many people have been left stranded with long queues at petrol stations nationwide. Commuters in Lagos have been lining up at bus stations, but there very few buses operating. Others told the BBC they have been forced to trek long distances as public transport prices have doubled along…

With pomp and splendour, China has welcomed more than 50 Africans leaders to Beijing this week for a summit to strengthen ties at a time of increasing political and economic turmoil around the world. “It appeals to their vanities,” Macharia Munene, a Kenya-based professor of international relations tells the BBC, referring to the red carpet welcome – spiced up with entertainment by dancers in colourful costumes – that the leaders received. The optics were carefully choreographed to make the leaders feel that it is a meeting of equals. Many of them – including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s…

Decades after she was picked to be America’s first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe is still a pioneer — this time as the first woman to be memorialized on the grounds of New Hampshire’s Statehouse, in the city where she taught high school. McAuliffe was 37 when she was killed, one of the seven crew members aboard the Challenger when the space shuttle broke apart on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986. She didn’t have the chance to give the lessons she had planned to teach from space. But people are still learning from her. “Beyond the tragedy, her legacy is a very positive…

The Hubble Space Telescope has a lot to show in this spectacular image. Its view here is studded with stars, many of which appear particularly large and bright thanks to their nearby locations in our own galaxy, and which feature the characteristic diffraction patterns caused by Hubble’s optics. Much further away — around 240 million light-years distant, in fact, in the southern constellation Telescopium — is the spiral galaxy IC 4709. Its swirling disc filled with stars and dust bands is beautifully captured, as is the faint halo surrounding it. The compact, glowing region at its core might be the most remarkable sight, however:…