Business
Government approves Gatwick second runway plan
Gatwick Airport’s £2.2 billion second runway plan has been given the go-ahead by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
In the privately-financed project, the West Sussex airport will move its emergency runway 12 metres north, enabling it to be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.
This will enable it to be used for about 100,000 more flights a year.
Ms Alexander backed the scheme as a “no-brainer” for economic growth, a Government source said, suggesting flights could take off from the new full runway before 2029.
The Cabinet minister is satisfied with adjustments made, covering issues such as noise mitigation and the proportion of passengers who would travel to and from the airport by public transport.
It comes after the Planning Inspectorate initially rejected the airport’s application and earlier this year recommended Ms Alexander should approve the project if the changes were made.
New commitments include Gatwick’s management setting its own targets for the proportion of passengers who travel to the airport by public transport, rather than a legally binding target.
Residents affected by more noise will be able to ask Gatwick to cover the costs for triple-glazed windows.
Homeowners living directly beneath the new flight routes who choose to sell could have their stamp duty and reasonable moving costs paid, as well as estate agent fees of up to 1% of the purchase price.
Gatwick says its plans will create £1 billion per year in economic benefits, and generate an additional 14,000 jobs.
A Government source told the PA news agency: “The Transport Secretary has cleared Gatwick expansion for take-off.
“With capacity constraints holding back business, trade and tourism, this is a no-brainer for growth.
“This Government has taken unprecedented steps to get this done, navigating a needlessly complex planning system, which our reforms will simplify in future.
“It is possible that planes could be taking off from a new full runway at Gatwick before the next general election.
“Any airport expansion must be delivered in line with our legally binding climate change commitments and meet strict environmental requirements.”
Local campaigners opposed to expansion are concerned about the impact on surface transport, noise, housing provision and wastewater treatment, but the airport insists it has conducted “full and thorough assessments” of those issues.
CAGNE, an umbrella aviation community and environment group for Sussex, Surrey and Kent, said it stands ready to serve a judicial review funded by residents and environmental bodies.
The group said: “We know this Government cares little for the environmental impact aviation is having on our planet and Gatwick’s neighbours, but not to demand that Gatwick pays for the infrastructure, the onsite wastewater treatment plant, and noise impact is unlawful in our book.”
The Labour Government’s backing of a third runway at Heathrow Airport in its bid to grow the economy has also drawn criticism from environmental groups and opposition politicians.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski described ministers’ support of a second Gatwick runway as a “disaster”.
He said in a statement: “It ignores basic climate science and risks undermining efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
“Labour keeps wheeling out the same nonsense about growth, but at what cost? What this really means is more pollution, more noise for local communities, and no real economic benefit.”
A top Amazon executive has said the US technology giant has blocked more than 1,800 job applications from suspected North Korean agents.
North Koreans tried to apply for remote working IT jobs using stolen or fake identities, Amazon’s chief security officer Stephen Schmidt said in a LinkedIn post.
“Their objective is typically straightforward: get hired, get paid, and funnel wages back to fund the regime’s weapons programs,” he said, adding that this trend is likely to be happening at scale across the industry, especially in the US.
Authorities in the US and South Korea have warned about Pyongyang’s operatives carrying out online scams.
Amazon has seen a nearly one-third increase in job applications from North Koreans in the past year, said Mr Schmidt in his post.
He said the operatives typically work with people managing “laptop farms” – referring to computers based in the US that are run remotely from outside of the country.
The firm used a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and verification by its staff to screen job applications, he said.
The strategies used by such fraudsters have become more sophisticated, Mr Schmidt said.
Bad actors are hijacking dormant LinkedIn accounts using leaked credentials to gain verification. They target genuine software engineers to appear credible, he said, urging firms to report suspicious job applications to the authorities.
Mr Schmidt warned employers to look out for indicators of fraudulent North Korean job applications, including incorrectly formatted phone numbers and mismatched education histories.
In June, the US government said it had uncovered 29 “laptop farms” that were being operated illegally across the country by North Korean IT workers.
They used stolen or forged identities of Americans to help North Korean nationals get jobs in the US, said the Department of Justice (DOJ).
It also indicted US brokers who had helped secure jobs for the North Korean operatives.
In July, a woman from Arizona was sentenced to more than eight years in jail for running a laptop farm to help North Korean IT workers secure remote jobs at more than 300 US companies.
The DOJ said the scheme generated more than $17m (£12.6m) in illicit gains for her and Pyongyang.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a pill version of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, according to pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk.
It is the first pill of its kind to receive approval from the regulator, marking a new era for weight-loss drugs.
Wegovy’s Danish makers Novo Nordisk said the once-daily pill was a “convenient option” to the injectable and would provide the same weight loss as the shot. It comes after Wegovy was approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss.
Others like Ozempic, which has similar weight-loss effects, were primarily approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
The BBC has contacted the FDA for comment.
The Wegovy pill showed an average weight loss of 16.6% during Novo Nordisk’s trials, the firm said on Monday.
A third of around 1,300 participants experienced 20% or greater weight loss in the same trial, it added.
The pill is expected to be launched in the US in early January 2026.
“Patients will have a convenient, once-daily pill that can help them lose as much weight as the original Wegovy injection,” said Mike Doustdar, the firm’s chief executive.
The pill version of Wegovy could give Novo Nordisk’s sales a boost after a challenging year which saw its shares slide as it warned over its profits.
The company has faced intense competition in the weight-loss market from rival drugmakers like Eli Lilly.
Novo Nordisk’s shares rose by almost 10% in after-hours trade in New York after the announcement.
The logo of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is displayed in front of its offices in Bagsvaerd, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, Nov. 24, 2025.
Tom Little | Reuters
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first-ever GLP-1 pill for obesity from Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk, a landmark decision that health experts say could open up treatment access to more patients.
Novo Nordisk said it expects to launch the pill in early 2026. The Danish drugmaker said starting in early January, the starting dose of 1.5 milligrams will be available in pharmacies and via select telehealth providers with savings offers for $149 per month.
That’s the same price that cash-paying patients can access the starting dose of the pill on President Donald Trump’s direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, under a deal Novo Nordisk struck with his administration last month. Trump’s site also launches in January.
Novo Nordisk did not say how much higher doses of the drug would cost, but said additional information on coverage and savings options for eligible patients will be available at that time as well.
Shares of Novo Nordisk gained roughly 9% in extended trading Monday.
The FDA’s approval also clears the pill for use to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, such as death, heart attack or stroke, in adults with obesity and established cardiovascular disease, according to Novo Nordisk. That’s consistent with the approval label of the company’s blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy, which shares the same active ingredient, semaglutide.
The move gives Novo Nordisk a head start over chief rival Eli Lilly, which is currently the dominant player in the market and is racing to launch its own obesity pill. Pills are the next battleground for the two drugmakers, which established the booming GLP-1 space that some analysts say could be worth roughly $100 billion by the 2030s.
Wall Street thinks there’s plenty of room for pills in the market, with Goldman Sachs analyst saying in August that pills could capture a 24% share — or around $22 billion — of the 2030 global weight loss drug market.
“What we’ve learned through years of research is that having an oral option really kind of opens up, activates and motivates different segments to seek treatment,” Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, told CNBC ahead of the approval. “To have that conversation with their doctor to see if this is something that might be right for them.”
“That’s what we’re excited about — to be able to give people an option and make sure we have access and ease of access like we have been doing with our injections,” he continued.
The approval is based on a phase three trial that followed more than 300 adults with obesity but not diabetes.
In that study, a 25-milligram dose of Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide helped patients lose up to 16.6% of their weight on average after 64 weeks, according to results from the trial presented at a medical conference in 2024. That weight loss was 13.6% when the company analyzed all patients regardless of whether they stopped the drug.
The pill appears to be slightly more effective than an experimental oral drug from Eli Lilly, which is still waiting for FDA approval.
But unlike Novo Nordisk’s pill, Eli Lilly’s treatment is not a peptide medication. That means it is absorbed more easily by the body and does not require dietary restrictions. People who take Novo Nordisk’s pill have to wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking each day.
Moore said the prices of the pill get costs closer to what some people are paying for unapproved, compounded versions of branded GLP-1s, some of which are still being illegally mass marketed and sold in the U.S.
Patients flocked to the cheaper copycats when Ozempic and Wegovy were in short supply over the last two years due to skyrocketing demand, or if they didn’t have insurance coverage for the costly treatments. During FDA-declared shortages, pharmacists can legally make compounded versions of brand-name medications. But the agency earlier this year determined that the shortage of semaglutide is over, barring the practice in most cases.
“It continues to be alarming and disturbing for us,” Moore told CNBC, referring to illegitimate ingredients that are imported into the U.S. illegally and used by some compounding pharmacies to create copycat versions of GLP-1s.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
Egypt stepping up efforts to modernise textile, spinning sector: PM
“Call of Duty” co-creator Vince Zampella dies after crash on Los Angeles highway
‘Highly respected general’: Trump again acknowledges Field Marshal
-
Business1 week agoStudying Abroad Is Costly, But Not Impossible: Experts On Smarter Financial Planning
-
Fashion5 days agoIndonesia’s thrift surge fuels waste and textile industry woes
-
Business1 week agoKSE-100 index gains 876 points amid cut in policy rate | The Express Tribune
-
Business5 days agoBP names new boss as current CEO leaves after less than two years
-
Sports1 week agoJets defensive lineman rips NFL officials after ejection vs Jaguars
-
Tech1 week agoFor the First Time, AI Analyzes Language as Well as a Human Expert
-
Tech5 days agoT-Mobile Business Internet and Phone Deals
-
Entertainment1 week agoPrince Harry, Meghan Markle’s 2025 Christmas card: A shift in strategy