Kwasi Kwarteng racked up only 38 days in the role of the UK's finance minister, the second shortest period of anyone to hold the post.
He narrowly avoided being the shortest-tenured chancellor in British political history. In 1970, Iain Macleod died after a month in office. Mr Kwarteng's predecessor Nadhim Zahawi survived 63 days in the job before being replaced.
Mr Kwarteng was the first appointment by Prime Minister Liz Truss when she took office on September 6, with the pair intent on shaking up “Treasury orthodoxy”. He also became her first sacking.
Shortly after he returned to the UK after cutting short a trip to Washington for an International Monetary Fund meeting, he was given the news that he was the fall guy for the chaos that has engrossed Downing Street after his mini-budget, which unleashed market chaos.
Mr Kwarteng had hoped to take down the economic groupthink that he and Ms Truss saw as holding Britain back.
He was always likely to be a renegade.
For some, Mr Kwarteng, a committed supporter of Brexit, has form for playing down market movements, with the Evening Standard newspaper reporting overheard comments he made on the night Britain stunned markets by voting to leave the EU.
“Who cares if sterling crashes?” he reportedly said. “It will come back up again.”
After a 10-day hiatus due to the official mourning of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he set about introducing his ideas in a mini-budget intended to spark growth in the UK's economy to raise it out of the doldrums caused by the Russia-fuelled energy crisis.
Instead, he saw his first fiscal statement take down the value of the pound, the bond market, his party's reputation for financial credibility and his own political career.
Attempts to see off the inevitable by bringing forward the date for his fiscal plan to October 31 failed and an about-turn on the plans appeared the only option to restore calm.
What is Kwasi Kwarteng's background?
Britain's first black chancellor, Mr Kwarteng, 47, is the son of Ghanaian immigrants. He attended Eton, one of Britain's most prestigious private schools, which has been the alma mater of numerous politicians.
Mr Kwarteng achieved a “double first” at the University of Cambridge in classics and history, and went on to attend Harvard University in the US.
He also managed to swear twice during an appearance on the long-running TV quiz programme University Challenge.
Plan to shake up economy
Charged with delivering Ms Truss's vision of running the country on a low-tax agenda, which persuaded Conservative members to choose her as leader over former chancellor Rishi Sunak, Mr Kwarteng fired the Treasury's most senior official and unveiled a series of unfunded tax cuts to try to turn “the vicious cycle of stagnation into a virtuous cycle of growth”.
What he unleashed was a vicious cycle of falling market confidence, flight from British assets and such damage to the British bond markets that the Bank of England was forced to start buying bonds.
It also led to a ticking off from the International Monetary Fund, which usually reserves such admonishments to emerging economies, not G7 members.
Mr Kwarteng battled hard to avoid rowing back on his plans or resigning. On the contrary, he was given public support by Ms Truss.
In the past few weeks she took to the airwaves in a quick-fire round of interviews in which she insisted she had the “right plan” for the country, and spoke at Conservative Party conference at which she was fulsome in her praise.
She defended Mr Kwarteng’s measures, insisting “urgent action” was needed, although she admitted the government’s decisions had been “controversial”.
However, investors, traders, government officials and even some politicians from the ruling Conservative Party were increasingly of the view that to fix the situation, policy reversals were necessary.
Ms Truss clearly felt Mr Kwarteng needed to go to attempt to put some distance between herself and the chancellor and save her premiership.
Tories in trouble
The Tories are in turmoil once more. Support for the governing Conservative Party has sunk, several polls have shown, with confidence in the leadership team shot to pieces.
A “dream ticket” of Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt has been mooted to replace Ms Truss, but that would mean a third prime minister this year.
Ally of Liz Truss
In Mr Kwarteng, Ms Truss picked a key ideological ally with whom she co-wrote a book that spells out a low-tax, small-state, deregulated vision of Britain.
A politician since 2010 and economic historian known for his intellect, some said Mr Kwarteng didn't have the experience to run the huge finance ministry.
A veteran Conservative source said before his appointment that the Treasury would “approve of his brain [but] disapprove of his independence”.
That desire to do things differently was exemplified when he immediately fired Tom Scholar as permanent secretary to the Treasury, with Mr Scholar saying “the chancellor decided it was time for new leadership.”
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the fallout from the mini-budget showed why economic “orthodoxy” should be welcomed as evidence-based knowledge.
“It needs testing and challenging but experience tells us that simply dismissing it is dangerous indeed,” he said on Twitter.
The determination of Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng to sideline doubting voices was also reflected in the make-up of the first Cabinet of ministers, where no backers of leadership rival Mr Sunak were given roles.
Mr Sunak had warned during the leadership campaign that Ms Truss's plans would put Britain's economic credibility in jeopardy but she dismissed his caution as “negative, declinist language”.
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
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Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65