fresh – Latest News

Smurfit plots £15bn merger with US rival in fresh blow for the London stock market

admin — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 00:15:52 +0000

Smurfit plots £15bn merger with US rival in fresh blow for the London stock market

Updated: 17:01 EDT, 7 September 2023

The London stock market was dealt a fresh blow as Smurfit Kappa announced plans to merge with an American rival.

The FTSE 100 packaging giant, which has its headquarters in Dublin, is in ‘advanced talks’ with Georgia-based WestRock about a mega-deal worth £15billion.

The combined company, to be named Smurfit WestRock, would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange – meaning the cancellation of Smurfit’s London listing, which it has held since 2016.

The move is another setback for London as companies retreat from the City to the US.

CRH, the world’s largest building materials group and another Irish corporate giant, is switching its stock market listing to the US from London this month.

Making waves: Smurfit Kappa is a familiar name at sea, sponsoring Irish sailor Tom Dolan (pictured)

And London missed out on the hottest initial public offering of the year, with chip designer Arm shunning its homeland for New York instead.

Should the deal go through, Smurfit WestRock would retain a secondary listing in London and continue to be led by Tony Smurfit, who has been chief executive since 2015.

Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets, said: ‘The UK used to be where companies would come to consolidate.

‘For many years it was the merger capital of the world. That reputation has been lost.

‘The London stock exchange needs to urgently look at what it can do to stop the rot.’

Packaging companies have been in demand since the pandemic as people stayed at home and became used to ordering items such as food and clothes to be delivered to their homes.

The rise of internet giants such as Amazon has also boosted the sector.

Smurfit has its roots in 1930s Dublin, when businessman Jefferson Smurfit was asked to revive a small manufacturing business which was owned by family members.

Jefferson Smurfit grew under the leadership of the founder’s son, Sir Michael Smurfit, who became chief executive in 1977 and went about undertaking acquisitions in the US, Latin America and Europe.

Smurfit has for decades been a driving force for Irish business long before the domestic economy took off in the 1990s.

It merged with Kappa Packaging in 2005, changing its name to Smurfit Kappa.

WestRock, the second-largest packaging company in the US behind International Paper, was formed in 2015 through the merger of Meadwestvaco and Rocktenn.

International Paper tried to buy Smurfit Kappa in 2018 for £8billion but was rejected.

Smurfit Kappa said the new deal would create the world’s ‘go-to’ supplier with annual revenue of £27billion and 100,000 employees in 42 markets.

Its headquarters would be in Dublin, with an American base in Georgia. The deal would offer ‘complementary portfolios with unique product diversity and innovative sustainability capabilities,’ the company.

Smurfit Kappa shares fell 3.8 per cent, or 122p, to 3096p.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Wood Group lifts profit outlook on fresh contract wins

admin — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 16:50:02 +0000

Wood Group lifts profit outlook on fresh contract wins

Wood Group’s order book increased by 5% from the end of December to c.$6bn
The firm recently won a c.$250m deal from Brunei’s largest energy producer
Its full-year adjusted core earnings are set be ‘ahead of…previous expectations’

By Harry Wise

Updated: 12:14 EDT, 22 August 2023

John Wood Group has upgraded its annual profit guidance following major contract wins and strong growth within its projects business.

The FTSE 250 engineering services company told investors on Tuesday its adjusted core earnings for this year are now forecast to be ‘ahead of our previous expectations’.

Wood Group has also raised its revenue outlook after turnover expanded by about a fifth at constant currency rates to $3billion (£2.4billion) for the six months ending June.

Upgraded forecast: The engineering services company John Wood Group said its adjusted core earnings for this year are now forecast to be ‘ahead of our previous expectations’

Sales in its projects division jumped by 29.6 per cent to $1.25billion, thanks to robust demand from the chemicals, and oil and gas sectors, which offset the run-down of lump sum turnkey activity.

Compared to the same period last year, the segment was the only one to see an uplift in its order book, after gaining a major engineering services contract with Euro Manganese and a life sciences engineering deal from GSK worth around $50million.

But the group’s overall headline order book increased by 5 per cent from the end of December to about $6billion.

Other major contracts recently won by Wood Group have included an estimated $250million two-year extended deal to provide services to Brunei Shell Petroleum, Brunei’s largest energy producer.

Ken Gilmartin, chief executive of Wood Group, said: ‘As we look ahead, we are confident that our actions, the business model we have implemented and the market growth opportunities to which we have aligned, support the momentum we are building in our business.

‘As such, we are increasing our full-year guidance… for revenue and EBITDA.’

John Wood Group shares were 3.8 per cent, or 5.6p, higher at 153.7p on Tuesday morning, making them the second-best performer on the FTSE 250 Index.

Wood Group further announced on Tuesday that chief financial officer David Kemp would be standing down after a decade in his role.

Kemp joined the firm in 2013 from Trapoil, later renamed Jersey Oil and Gas after being relaunched by entrepreneurs Andrew Benitz and Ronald Landsell.

During his tenure at Wood, the company acquired major rival Amec Foster Wheeler, but sold off numerous divisions, including its nuclear and consulting arms, partly to reduce its high debt pile.

The sale of the former business came just before the coronavirus pandemic started, when plunging oil prices slashed demand for the group’s services.

More recently, Wood was the subject of an unsuccessful takeover approach by private equity giant Apollo Global Management.

Wood’s board opened the firm’s books following a fifth bid worth £1.7billion, but Apollo walked away from the potential deal without explanation.

Adam Vettese, an analyst at eToro, said: ‘The reasons that led Apollo to bid for the firm in the first place persist, which means another bidder could move in at some point with the share price depressed – or even Apollo again once its six-month cooling off period expires.’

Macquarie pours fresh funds into Southern Water

admin — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 13:06:15 +0000

Macquarie pours fresh funds into Southern Water

By City & Finance Reporter

Published: 16:50 EDT, 11 August 2023 | Updated: 03:32 EDT, 12 August 2023

Macquarie has poured another half-a-billion pounds into struggling Southern Water, taking its stake in the group to over 75 per cent.

The Australian asset manager injected £550million into the utilities group – which takes the total amount of the bailout to £1.65billion following a similar cash infusion two years ago.

That investment prevented the industry regulator Ofwat from placing the water group into administration.

Cash injection: Macquarie has poured another half-a-billion pounds into struggling Southern Water

The rescue comes amid a financial crisis in the water industry. Several of the UK’s privatised regional monopolies are finding themselves strapped for cash after loading up on debt and paying out bumper dividends to investors.

Southern Water supplies areas including Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight.

It is sitting on a £5.2billion debt pile that was recently downgraded – making it more expensive for the firm to borrow, while also banning it from paying dividends to shareholders.

The company said that of the £550million cash infusion, around £375million would be used to ‘support additional investment aimed at protecting the environment and better serving our customers’.

Southern Water is one of the poorest performing water firms in Britain and has been repeatedly criticised for its record on pollution. It was found to have dumped sewage in areas ranging from oyster beds near Whitstable in Kent to sailing waters off Hampshire.

Macquarie has previously been blamed for a similar crisis at rival utility group, Thames Water, in which it was formerly the largest shareholder.

Fresh anguish for British pensioner who was freed from jail after he admitted killing his

admin — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 00:42:09 +0000

Fresh anguish for British pensioner who was freed from jail after he admitted killing his terminally-ill wife as Cyprus prosecutors announce new bid to convict him

David Hunter killed his terminally ill wife Janice in Paphos in December 2021

By Andy Jehring and Nick Pisa and Martin Robinson and Mark Duell

Published: 10:21 EDT, 10 August 2023 | Updated: 16:29 EDT, 10 August 2023

The British pensioner freed from jail for killing his terminally ill wife could still face life behind bars in Cyprus after prosecutors appealed his sentence.

David Hunter, 76, was finally released last week after 19 months in prison when judges acquitted him of premeditated murder and convicted him of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

It saw him finally able to visit the grave of his beloved late wife Janice, 74, who he suffocated to end her suffering from blood cancer at the home they retired to in a village outside Paphos.

But now he will be hauled back before the Court of Appeal after the country’s Attorney General wrote to challenge both the verdict and his sentence.

If successful it could see his acquittal for murder overturned and a mandatory life sentence imposed. Even if that fails, his two-year sentence for manslaughter – which saw him freed due to time served – could also be extended.

David Hunter, 76, from Northumberland, sits down with the Daily Mail on August 2, 2023 for an exclusive interview after he was released from prison in Cyprus

He visits the grave of his late wife Janice to lay flowers for the first time since he was released from prison, on August 1, 2023

Mr Hunter was left destitute by the marathon court case and his family is now desperately trying to find money to fight the appeal.

His daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, who led the campaign to free him, said: ‘The family is devastated by the decision and would again urge compassion for my elderly and frail father.

‘We continue to be so very grateful for all the support we have had.’ Mr Hunter’s lawyers also hit out at the decision to appeal the verdict which came ten days after sentencing – the final day Cypriot law allows you to submit a challenge.

Michael Polak of Justice Abroad said: ‘We are obviously very disappointed with the Attorney General’s decision to appeal today which gets in the way of David getting on with his life.

‘He has spent 19 months in prison and faced legal proceedings over that period that would be difficult for anyone, but especially for someone of his age.

‘This is a very sad matter; however it is difficult to see how the continued pursuit of David assists anyone.

Retired miner David Hunter is pictured with his wife, Janice Hunter

David Hunter leaving Paphos District Court in Cyprus after he was released from custody

David pictured with Janice on their wedding day in 1969 after courting for about three years

The Hunters, pictured with their daughter Lesley, sold their home in Ashington in 2001 to live permanently in Paphos

He was sentenced to two years but judges ruled that, after 19 months in prison, he had served enough time

‘We will continue to fight for David before the Appeal Court of Cyprus as we have done throughout the lengthy mission to free David.

‘David would like to thank everyone from Cyprus, the United Kingdom, and around the world who have shown such strong support during his trial and since his release.’ The defence team will now make written submissions before a hearing at a later date in the capital, Nicosia.

Mr Hunter’s trial was the first euthanasia case ever heard on the Mediterranean island and sparked fierce debate in the Greek Orthodox country.

The Cypriot parliament is expected to debate the taboo topic next month with the British pensioner’s case likely to feature prominently.

It has stirred up the Orthodox Church which would fiercely oppose any moves to bring in any pro-euthanasia legislation.

There are fears such pressure could have affected the Attorney General’s decision to bring about the appeal.

To make a donation to Lesley Cawthorne’s fundraiser to cover David’s legal bills visit: crowdjustice.com/case/helpbring-david-home/

BUSINESS LIVE: Fresh crypto crackdown; Crest Nicholson issues warning

admin — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 07:01:13 +0000

BUSINESS LIVE: FCA reveals fresh crypto crackdown; Crest Nicholson warns of housing market slowdown; Wizz Air prepares for record summer

By Live Commentary

Updated: 03:00 EDT, 8 June 2023

POPULAR MONEY SECTIONS

Fresh orca attack sees Brit’s yacht ‘thrown around like a rag doll’ off Gibraltar

admin — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 18:39:00 +0000

A British sailor has revealed how killer whales threw his yacht around ‘like a rag doll’ off the coast of Gibraltar, as experts hope tracking orcas may help to prevent attacks amid a steep rise in clashes with boats.

Captain Iain Hamilton, 60, has been left marooned in a harbour near Gibraltar for a few days after his boat, the Butey of the Clyde, was wrecked with both rudders taken off by a pod of five whales.

He said the orcas staged a ‘choreographed’ assault on the boat, but he believes they were ‘playing with the rudders, and just inadvertently rendering the boat very vulnerable and in a very dangerous situation’.

It comes as the number of vessels rescued by Spain‘s Salvamento Maritimo has almost doubled so far this year compared to the whole of 2022 – with 24 sailing vessels towed in the straits of Gibraltar.

Experts are hoping that by tracking killer whales with GPS tags they will be able to prevent these attacks, the scale of which Mr Hamilton said ‘is way larger than people have thought’.

A catamaran which was attacked by killer whales while sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar being repaired last week

Another British sailor shared his experience of a whale stalking his boat last year as he sailed from Gibraltar to Cape St. Vincent, Portugal (file image)

The British sailor revealed his ordeal on BBC Radio 4, saying that if the whales had wanted to destroy his boat entirely, they would have been more than capable of doing so.

‘I was sailing 20 miles west of Gibraltar, noticed a fin then noticed a light bump and then a very big bump and looked round and there was a very large whale pushing along the back and trying to bite the rudder.

‘To begin with there was one big whale and four smaller whales and they were just bumping it and bumping it and then one of them managed to take off one of the rudders – the boat has two.

‘Then we lost the second rudder so we had no mechanism of steering the boat and the whales were in charge of the boat and they pushed us around like a rag doll.’

Mr Hamilton speculated that a larger female whale may have been leading the attack, with four younger orcas joining in chasing the boat ‘almost like synchronised swimming’.

‘If you were in a play park or something you would have thought that was magnificent,’ he said. ‘At the time I maybe had a different thought.’

A whale swims next to a boat in the Strait of Gibraltar last month. British sailor April Boyes shared the footage after her yacht was attacked

Approximately sixty orcas live in Spanish waters, with a concentration off the Galician coast and in the Strait of Gibraltar, where the majority of recent attacks have taken place.

Mr Hamilton said that locals had told him about 20 recent attacks near to the small fishing village, where he is now waiting for his boat to be fixed.

Following the attack on Friday, he said another wrecked boat – a 60ft catamaran – came into the harbour, and now several are awaiting repairs.

With attacks on the rise, the sailor said: ‘I think it is only a matter of time before the insurance companies say “you’re not insured” which will have an impact on the local industry.’

Mr Hamilton and others have called for work on helping boats to avoid the mighty beasts, and now the Spanish government has unveiled a GPS tagging scheme.

One of the mammals has already been tagged, Spain’s ministry for environment said, with the non-invasive GPS device embedded in its dorsal fin.

Six whales, which have been identified as previously interacting with boats, will be tagged.

Information transmitted from the tag will allow the approximate locations of whale pods to be tracked and mapped weekly so sailors can more easily avoid the areas they may be in, Olive Press reported.

It comes after reports suggested there were at least 20 orca attacks on small vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar last month alone.

Another British sailor, April Boyes, recounted her terror at being surrounded by killer whales who attacked a boat she was delivering from the Azores to Gibraltar last month.

Speaking on This Morning, Ms Boyes, 31, described the scary encounter with orcas, who continuously rammed into the vessel for over an hour off the coast of Spain.

A four-member crew were eventually able to breathe a sigh of relief as a Spanish rescue vessel and helicopter raced towards them in the middle of the night

British sailor April Boyes told how she endured a night of terror after her yacht was wrecked by killer whales that continuously rammed into the vessel for over an hour off the coast of Spain

It emerged last month that a female killer whale nicknamed White Gladis, thought to have been left traumatised by a collision with a boat, may be responsible for a number of the assaults after she taught other orcas to attack vessels.

Scientists believe White Gladis is taking revenge on boats by coaching orcas, who have already caused two yachts to sink.

They think a ‘critical moment of agony’ – in which White Gladis may have collided with a vessel or was caught in illegal fishing nets – led to her aggression to boats.

Why do orcas attack boats?

A study in Marine Mammal Science last year concluded that the attacks on small boats follow the same pattern: orcas join in approaching from the stern, disabling the boat by hitting the rudder, and then lose interest.

Experts believe orcas may be teaching others how to pursue and attack boats, having observed a string of ‘coordinated’ strikes in Europe.

Some even think that one orca learned how to stop the boats, and then went on to teach others how to do it.

The sociable, intelligent animals have been responsible for more than 500 interactions with vessels since 2020, with at least three sinking.

It does not appear to be a very useful behaviour, and is not clearly helping their survival chances.

In fact, Alfredo Lopez, an orca researcher at the Atlantic Orca Working Group, says the critically endangered whales ‘run a great risk of getting hurt’ in attacks.

Dr Luke Rendell, who researches learning and behaviour among marine mammals at the University of St Andrews, agreed the behaviour does not seem to be an evolved adaptation.

Instead, he pointed to ‘short-lived fads’, like carrying dead salmon on their heads – a sign of sociability, but not a desperate bid to survive.

The answer to the boat attacks might lie with White Gladis, an orca with a personal vendetta against boats or people.

Lopez said ‘that traumatised orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact’.

‘The orcas are doing this on purpose,’ he told livescience.com. ‘Of course, we don’t know the origin or the motivation, but defensive behavior based on trauma, as the origin of all this, gains more strength for us every day.’

Like humans, the orcas have ‘sophisticated learning abilities’ that allow them to digest the behaviour of others and replicate it themselves, a study in peer-reviewed journal Biological Conservation indicates.

Kanye shares fresh hint he’ll run for president AGAIN with 2024 baseball cap after

admin — Wed, 24 May 2023 23:37:15 +0000

Kanye West returned to Twitter late Friday to post a photo of a hat emblazoned with the numbers 2024 – sparking rumors of a possible presidential campaign run.

The tweet was posted just a day after the rapper sat down for an exclusive interview Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson where he explained his reasoning behind his ‘White Lives Matter’ fashion controversy and hinted at a second bid for the White House.

Kanye attempted a presidential run in 2020, but called it quits less than two weeks after announcing.

Since then, the rapper – who regularly flirts with conservatism – has declared more than once his plan for a 2024 presidential run.

Kanye West returned to Twitter late Friday night to post a photo of a hat emblazoned with 2024 – sparking rumors of a possible presidential campaign run

A day earlier, Kanye sat down for an interview Fox News’ Tucker Carlson where he explained his ‘White Lives Matter’ fashion controversy and hinted at what could be next for him in 2024

West has posted sporadically since his last main post in 2020, but deletes them almost immediately. His Twitter account often made headlines for his rants about his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her former boyfriend Pete Davidson.

But the tweet posted on Friday remained up for at least a few hours.

Just a day earlier, West appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show wearing a lanyard featuring an ultrasound image of a fetus.

He told Carlson he was wearing the lanyard to express that he is ‘pro-life’.

‘50 percent of black death in America is abortion, so I really don’t care about people’s responses. I perform for an audience of one, and that’s God.’

‘I care about the fact there’s more black babies being aborted than born in New York city,’ he said.

West may have been relying on a 2013 report compiled by New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to support his claim that more black babies are aborted than born in New York City.

There were around 5,000 more abortions than births of black babies in 2013 according to the official city report.

The interview came after West stirred up controversy earlier this week hosting a Paris Fashion Week event during which he wore the lanyard and also posed with conservative commentator Candace Owens, while wearing ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirts.

His appearance on Carlson’s show is the latest in a series of politically charged acts in which he expressed solidarity with the former President Donald Trump.

Kanye West, 45, wore the lanyard during an event he hosted for Paris Fashion Week and later during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson

West said during the interview that ’50 percent of black death in America is abortion’

It was reported by the Texas Tribune this year that around 40 percent of women who get abortions in the US are black, while black women account for less than 15 percent of the country’s female population.

The 2013 report on pregnancy outcomes found that in 2013 black women terminated around 29,007 pregnancies, accounting for almost 42 percent of all abortions in the city. That same year, black women in the city gave birth to 24,108 babies.

The Carlson interview aired at 8pm EDT on Fox News and came just days after 45-year-old West was condemned by fans and the fashion industry for the Paris show, leading Adidas to put their partnership with West ‘under review’.

At the very beginning of Carlson’s interview with West in his Los Angeles studio he addresses the peculiar lanyard, asking: ‘What is that?’

‘It’s a photograph of a baby’s ultrasound,’ West said. ‘It just represents life. I’m pro-life,’ he said.

West wore the ‘White Lives Matter’ T-shirt at his Yeezy fashion show in Paris on Monday with political commentator Candace Owens

Kanye West revealed to Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday night that he was shocked to learn that his former wife Kim Kardashian had a close relationship with the Clintons

Kanye told Carlson that his political attitudes developed when Trump was in office. West suggested that during that period he caved in to social pressures forcing him not to vocalize support for the ex-president.

He told Carlson that his ex-wife Kim Kardashian had a close friendship with the Clintons, which the political couple exploited to control his expression.

West was asked if he felt like he was ever being manipulated by political forces through his wife.

‘Attempted manipulation, me not saying I liked Trump was a form of manipulation,’ he said.

West went on to address the accusations that he is crazy.

‘We’re in a battle with the media and the jokes are not working. This whole “Ye is crazy,” it doesn’t work,’ he said.

West explained to Carlson that his father is an educated ex-black panther who endorsed his decision to wear the ‘White Lives Matter’ T-shirt.

Kanye West re-iterated his belief in the ‘White Lives Matter’ slogan at his recent Paris Fashion Week event

West and Kushner were seen in January this year leaving Miami restaurant Carbone after dinner together. The pair have been friends since 2010, Kushner said

At another stage in the Carlson interview West turns on his former friend and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

West has been friends with both Jared and his younger brother Josh since around 2010.

Two weeks after proclaiming his admiration for Kushner in an interview with ABC News, West told the Fox News host that he was not a fan of the 41-year-old former senior adviser to Trump, and his entrepreneur brother Josh, 37.

‘After talking to them and really sitting with Jared and sitting with Josh and finding out other pieces of information, I was like, wow, these guys might have really been holding Trump back, being very much a handler,’ said West.

Kanye West turns on former friend Jared Kushner and says he has not been ‘serving my boy Trump’ in the right way – even suggesting that the ‘entitled’ former White House aide negotiated Middle East peace accords in order to ‘make money’

Kanye West on Thursday night turned on his former friend Jared Kushner, accusing Donald Trump‘s son-in-law of being entitled, a mercenary and amoral as part of a wide-ranging interview with Tucker Carlson.

West – friends with the Kushners since at least 2010 – said he had dined with the brothers and Jared’s wife Ivanka Trump recently and was unimpressed.

The rapper and musician in August 2020 spent time with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in Telluride, and was reported by Forbes at the time to be speaking to the elder Kushner sibling ‘almost daily’.

Kushner confirmed that he and West would trade articles and books, and discuss ideas.

West told Forbes: ‘One time I talked to Jared Kushner, who was saying, ‘We don’t have black leaders—we just have hustlers.’ Why? Because they killed all the black leaders.’

West later asked Forbes to remove the quote, saying: ‘I love Jared. I was just . . . that’s my boy, you know? That’s really my boy. So I prefer to not drop his name.’

On Thursday, however, West was biting in his criticism, and said Kushner and his brother both looked down on him and the former president.

Jared Kushner (left), now 41, and his younger brother Josh, 37, pictured in June 2011

‘They love to look at me or look at Trump like we are so crazy and they are the businessmen,’ West told Carlson.

‘When I think about all of these things that Jared doesn’t get enough credit for with his work – his work in Israel, what is this, you know what he made peace treaties, you know the facts on this right here?’

Carlson attempted to summarize the Abraham Accords, telling the West: ‘Israel and some of the other Arab nations.’

West said, of the peace deal: ‘I think it was to make money.

‘I think that’s what they are about is making money, I don’t think they have the ability to make anything on their own.

‘I think they were born into money.’

The interview which aired at 8pm on Fox News came just two weeks after West told ABC News that he and Kushner were firm friends and not just using each other for political benefit

West said he did not think Jared Kushner, one of Trump’s closest advisors in the White House, served him well.

‘It makes me feel like they weren’t serving my boy Trump the way we could have,’ said West.

‘Because Trump wanted nothing but the best for this country.’

He said Kushner was not being honest with Trump.

‘Moses stuttered. God isn’t always going to bring the most perfect personality.

‘A lot of times the most fake people, their job is talking and making people feel comfortable.

‘And the realist people are going to make you feel uncomfortable at first.’

West was also angered to learn that Josh Kushner, a venture capitalist, owned 10 percent of ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, Skims – double what West owned.

In the interview, West also opened up about supporting former President Donald Trump

‘These VCs come in and get a piece of it after the fact, and they run around and say they have ownership,’ said West.

West said that he was instrumental in founding the brand with his then-wife, and accused the Kushner brothers of damaging the brand.

‘It reaches another level when her business partners are selling pieces of the company they don’t have to, because the company is already a successful, internet-based company,’ said West.

‘They are really just selling off the company in order to create more relationships for themselves that are unneeded.’

He said he was angered by the marketing strategy, for which he blamed the Kushners.

‘I had a lot of issues with the imagery – I felt like there’s a lot of imagery that was openly sexualized and things I would not want to see my wife and definitely not my daughters doing in the future in order to sell a product,’ said West.

‘It reaches another level when it’s like this is what my wife is doing, this is what they are doing – this is what she is doing for our children.’

Kanye West, 45, could be seen grinning ear to ear at something on his phone as he touched down in Los Angeles on Thursday

West looked comfortable in a nondescript black hoodie, though he kept the hood down in favor of a black baseball cap reading 2023 on the bill, presumably in honor of Yeezy’s Spring 2023 show

West also spoke to Carlson amid the ongoing controversy over his ‘White Lives Matter’ fashion show concept, which sparked widespread controversy at Paris Fashion Week.

The catwalk presentation was staged on Monday, and West told Carlson it was based on a ‘feeling’ and ‘gut instinct.’

The rapper compared the stunt to Tonya Harding instinctively landing the first triple axel jump at the 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

‘I do certain things from a feeling, I just channel the energy it feels right,’ said West.

‘Hits using a gut instinct, connection with god and just brilliance. They asked Tonya Harding how she did the triple flip and she was in so much practice that when it was time for her to skate in a competitive format it just happened. It happened outside of practice that happened in the real format.

‘That’s what’s happening. God is preparing us for the real battles. We are in a battle with the media.’

West, who arrived at the Los Angeles studio sporting a lanyard he had designed with a photo of a baby’s ultrasound, also opened up about why he’s pro-life.

‘It just represents life. I’m pro-life,’ said West, when asked about his design.

Carlson told him: ‘You wear it like a badge.’

‘I don’t care about people’s responses but I care about the fact that there are more black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point,’ West said.

‘That 50 per cent of black death in America is abortion. I really don’t care about people’s response to that. I perform for an audience of one and that is God. ‘

‘They do’: Kanye West doubled down on his ‘White Lives Matter’ slogan on Wednesday and explained that when people ask why he made the shirt he replies that it’s because ‘They do’

Shocking the fans: Ye, 45, first wore the ‘White Lives Matter’ design at his surprise Yeezy fashion show in Paris on Monday

West stood by the ‘White Lives Matter’ slogan he wore on a T-shirt at his surprise Yeezy fashion show – even though his spokesman, Jason Lee, quit in protest.

Lee wrote on Instagram that West was ‘gaslighting black people and empowering white supremacy.’

The Donda rapper, 45, posted a photo of the long-sleeved black shirt to his Instagram on Wednesday with the caption: ‘Here’s my latest response when people ask me why I made a tee that says white lives matter… THEY DO.’

During the Carlson interview, West also called out politicians, including ‘friend’ Trump, for using Black people to boost their approval ratings.

Recounting a phonecall he shared with Trump, West said: ‘One of the things he said to me is, ”Kanye, you’re my friend. When you came to the White House, my Black approval rating went up 40 per cent”.

West said: ‘For politicians, all Black people are worth is an approval rating… The Democrats feel that they don’t owe us anything, and Republicans feel like they don’t owe us anything.’

He also told Carlson he was shocked to learn that ex-wife Kim had a close relationship with the Clintons – close enough that they were ‘just a phone call away’, Kanye explained in the exclusive interview.

‘Close enough to say ”Tell Kanye to say this,” or close enough to use our platforms to push vaccinations,’ he continued.

Carlson told his viewers that Kanye was surprised to learn after his divorce that ‘his former wife had a close and secretive relationship with the Clintons, and that they were working on her to influence him to read from the script.’

Carlson told his viewers that Kanye was surprised to learn after his divorce that ‘his former wife had a close and secretive relation with the Clintons, and that they were working on her to influence him to read from the script

‘It was interesting, friend of mine told me that Kris and Kim had called him because he had influence inside the black community,’ Kanye said. ‘And had called him to say, to get him to influence people to take the vaccination.

‘And I don’t have opinion on that I just wanted to state that as a statement. It was wild that I didn’t know how close my own wife was to the Clintons. I didn’t know, I didn’t realize it at the time.’

Carlson asked Kanye if he felt at times like he was being manipulated by political forces through his wife.

‘Attempted manipulation, me not saying I liked Trump was a form of manipulation,’ he said.

Meanwhile, one of the only famous friends coming to the defense of Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband at the moment is Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who called the musician a ‘free thinker’ and says his message was ‘misconstrued.’

Diddy, 52, said ‘My boy is a super, super, super free thinker,’ in an interview on The Breakfast Club on Wednesday.

‘And a lot of times, what he means is, like, misconstrued, you know what I’m saying?’ the record executive added.

When host Charlamagne, 44, interjected to say, ‘You gotta stop making excuses for him,’ the mogul replied: ‘No, no, I’m not making excuses, I’m just sayin’ if he did it, that’s the way he thinks.’

fresh – Latest News

Smurfit plots £15bn merger with US rival in fresh blow for the London stock market

Smurfit plots £15bn merger with US rival in fresh blow for the London stock market

Share or comment on this article:

Wood Group lifts profit outlook on fresh contract wins

Wood Group lifts profit outlook on fresh contract wins

Share or comment on this article:

Macquarie pours fresh funds into Southern Water

Macquarie pours fresh funds into Southern Water

Share or comment on this article:

Fresh anguish for British pensioner who was freed from jail after he admitted killing his

Fresh anguish for British pensioner who was freed from jail after he admitted killing his terminally-ill wife as Cyprus prosecutors announce new bid to convict him

Share or comment on this article:

BUSINESS LIVE: Fresh crypto crackdown; Crest Nicholson issues warning

BUSINESS LIVE: FCA reveals fresh crypto crackdown; Crest Nicholson warns of housing market slowdown; Wizz Air prepares for record summer

Share or comment on this article:

Fresh orca attack sees Brit’s yacht ‘thrown around like a rag doll’ off Gibraltar

Why do orcas attack boats?

Kanye shares fresh hint he’ll run for president AGAIN with 2024 baseball cap after