Jackie Bezos, Jeff Bezos’ Mother and an Early Amazon Investor, Dies at 78
Jackie Bezos, Jeff Bezos’ mother and one of the first investors in Amazon, died on Thursday in Miami. Mr. Bezos confirmed her death, saying on social media that she had been treated for Lewy body dementia, a neurological disorder. In 1995, Ms. Bezos and her husband, Miguel Bezos, who is known as Mike, invested just over $245,000 in Amazon, the online bookstore that her son founded in 1994. At the time, Jeff Bezos made it clear to them that there was a 70 percent chance that they would never see that money again. “I want you to know what the risks are,” he recalled telling them,” because I still want to come home for Thanksgiving if this doesn’t work.”
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 18:52 UTC
This hotel is the UK’s first luxury all-inclusive — is it any good?
Foxhill Manor in the upmarket village of Broadway, Worcestershire, quietly introduced the “Full Fox” last year, becoming the first luxury hotel with all-inclusive rates. It’s a honey-stoned grade II listed Arts and Crafts manor house ensconced in 500 acres of the Farncombe Estate. • Read our full guide to the CotswoldsAdvertisementGuests can use the nearby Dormy House spaAll that food-planning means we do finally succumb to those pantry nibbles. Instead we get a lift to the Dormy House spa (usually £110 for a non-resident day pass) and have a swim, sauna and snow shower. Going all-inclusive is a bold move by Foxhill Manor but one that may well outfox the competition.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 16:06 UTC
Reality TV Made Jade Thirlwall Famous. As a Solo Act, She Keeps It Real.
The United Kingdom’s first Eurovision win came in 1967, with a curious oompah song called “Puppet on a String.” The vocalist who sang it, Sandie Shaw, hated the track: She later said she found it sexist and twee. But she was cajoled into recording it, and the song became a success, topping the British charts for three weeks. A bar of “Puppet on a String” is the first thing you hear on “Angel of My Dreams,” Jade Thirlwall’s debut solo single. Like Shaw, Thirlwall spent years being pushed into things by men in her orbit. Its songs both amplified and softened the girl power messaging of forebears like the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud with songs like “Shout Out to My Ex” and “Power,” which exemplified the sloganeering feminism of the mid-2010s.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 15:05 UTC
Teenager turns down Oxford University for this reason
On Thursday (August 14), students across the UK collected their A-level results, with many hoping to take the next step to university. Oxford University has been ranked as the best university in the world for nine consecutive years in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. READ MORE: Oxford University named UK's second best in 2026 rankingThe University of Oxford. Yet despite its reputation and prestige, some students still turn down Oxford each year having been offered a place to study there. "If I were to go to Oxford, then there's a lot more freedom to specialise in niche fields or focus on research.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 14:42 UTC
The Welsh school with the best A level results in the UK
The Welsh school with the best A level results in the UKOne pupil scored 97% for a project on how cannabis can affect sleepHiya Ray, of Cardiff Sixth Form College (Image: Cardiff Sixth Form College)A Welsh college has topped The Times' UK league table for A level results again. Cardiff Sixth Form College, a private school on Newport Road, has achieved its highest A* rate (68.2%) in a non-Covid year, bucking the trend of results across Wales where top grades were down. Hiya Ray, from St Mellons, achieved four A*s in maths, further maths, physics, and economics. Cardiff Sixth Form College called her "a young voice in the growing conversation around medical cannabis and mental health treatment". Article continues belowThe college attracts students from around the globe while offering scholarships to high achievers from maintained schools in Wales.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 14:42 UTC
Former Westbury Barclays building to reopen as banking hub
32 High Street, which until 2018 was a Barclays, will now be transformed into the location of Westbury’s banking hub. Cash Access UK, who operate the banking hub, which has been temporarily located in the Laverton building, applied to make several changes to render the building suitable location for its banking hub on June 4. On Wednesday, August 13, Wiltshire Council approved plans filed by the company that will see if transformed into the town's permanent banking hub. The banking hub has been located in The Reading Room, in the Laverton on Bratton Road, and will be open from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday. (Image: Wiltshire Council)Gareth Oakley, CEO at Cash Access UK, said: “I’m happy to announce that we have opened the new banking hub in Westbury, giving local residents renewed access to cash and in-person banking services.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 14:42 UTC
Ingram Tops The Times As PMR Hit The Track • BTCC
The opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship free practice session got underway at Knockhill this morning, with title contender Tom Ingram topping the times. The devastating fire that destroyed PMR’s facility, including both of its Vauxhall Astras, which took place just a week ago, has dominated the BTCC landscape this week. As mentioned, it was Ingram setting that benchmark as he comfortably outshone NAPA Racing UK's Dan Rowbottom and Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill. Free Practice 2 takes place at 12:05, whilst qualifying for Round 19 of the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will commence at 15:00 and will be streamed LIVE via ITV YouTube channel. 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Knockhill – Free Practice 1 – Classification:
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 13:16 UTC
Why Russia Sold Alaska to the U.S.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is scheduled to meet with President Trump in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine. If they talk about Ukrainian land concessions as part of peace negotiations, as Mr. Trump has suggested, they will be doing so on land that Russia sold to the United States in 1867. Russia was moved to sell Alaska partly because of a war in Crimea, a peninsula that the Russian Empire annexed in 1783 under Catherine the Great. Crimea became part of an independent Ukraine in 1991, and Russia seized it in 2014 in a preview of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The $7.2 million purchase of Alaska now looks like a very good deal for the United States.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 09:37 UTC
Times letters: How inheritance tax changes affect growth
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Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 08:37 UTC
Firefighters being called out to move more than 40 obese people a WEEK
Shock figures are more than four times those of a decade agoFIREMAN CRAM Firefighters being called out to move more than 40 obese people a WEEKFIREFIGHTERS are called out to move more than 40 obese people each week, figures show. 2 Firefighters are called to move more than 40 obese people on a weekly basis Credit: GettyCrews were required to help move overweight people in their homes so often that training now involves 250kg dummies and specialist lifting equipment. Figures show fire crews were called 2,280 times in England to help with bariatric rescues — a rise of five per cent on 2023. Last year, 289 overweight people were each helped for more than two hours, with 53 rescues taking four hours or more. The number of rescues of obese people last year was higher than the callouts to save pets from heights and calls for children trapped in lifts.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 05:48 UTC
Weekend Money: The 'stealth shoppers' keeping pricey secrets from their partners - and what it says about their relationships
The 'stealth shoppers' keeping pricey secrets from their partners - and what it says about their relationshipsHanging in Sally's* cupboard is a £3,000 Dior coat. "I know my husband would think it's outrageous, so I told him it was 'reasonable' and he didn't ask the exact price." "The relationship we have with money is really a mirror reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves," she says. "Therefore, the need to hide purchases often stems from our deep-rooted emotional relationship with money. Your relationship with moneyLike all relationships, our one with money can always be "healed and improved", Morgan says.
Source:The Times
August 16, 2025 02:47 UTC
17-year-old student jumps from 23rd floor in Mumbai, dies; was set to fly to London for studies in 15 days; 4th such case in 8 months
Representative ImageMUMBAI: A college student died by suicide at a Goregaon East highrise Thursday.Aarey police said the 17-year-old daughter of a real estate developer was battling depression for two years and did not leave any suicide note. The junior college student was slated to fly to London in 15 days to join a college where she had enrolled for further studies.The deceased, an only child, was undergoing treatment for depression. According to her parents, depression seems to be the reason for her taking the extreme step. "During inquiry, we found out the student along with his parents reached the Mumbai airport. Instead, he left the airport and first went to Juhu beach where he abandoned his baggage and tried to end his life.
Source:The Times
August 15, 2025 23:44 UTC
Keir Starmer’s push to be a world statesman leaves public cold
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Source:The Times
August 15, 2025 23:43 UTC
‘Economic self-harm’ leads to closure of UK’s biggest bioethanol plant
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Source:The Times
August 15, 2025 22:40 UTC
UK weather: Britain on track for its sunniest, hottest year yet
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Source:The Times
August 15, 2025 21:31 UTC