Olivia Lee Journalist Profile

Articles

Trump tariffs could lead to surge of cheap Chinese vapes in UK, experts say

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Mabel Banfield-Nwachi |Olivia Lee

China is set to flood Britain with cheap vapes, researchers have said, as manufacturers seek to capitalise on the world’s second biggest market after Donald Trump’s tariffs. A trade standoff between Washington and Beijing has thrown the business world into chaos, with investors watching as each country dares the other to blink first. After last week’s uneasy truce, the total US import tax on Chinese-made vapes stood at about 60%.
Britons increasingly swapping Med’s busy hotspots for ‘destination dupes’

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Josh Halliday |Olivia Lee |Mary Novakovich

It will take more than a TikTok trend to break Britons’ love affair with Mediterranean beaches. But latest figures show travellers are increasingly swapping Málaga for North Macedonia and Benidorm for the Balkans as part of a social media craze for “destination dupes”. Flights from the UK to Bosnia and Herzegovina soared by 284% in 2024 compared with the previous year, while trips to Montenegro increased by 164%.
Months after Helene, Western NC is still in need. Here's how to help

1 month ago | charlotteobserver.com | Olivia Lee |Melissa Oyler

Small businesses in Western North Carolina, such as French Broad Chocolates, can still use help as the area rebuilds from Hurricane Helene. Although it's been months since Hurricane Helene devastated many North Carolina mountain towns, residents and local businesses are still struggling to get back on their feet in a region that relies heavily on tourism. With a decline in visitor numbers and travel dollars, and federal aid nowhere in sight, the future remains uncertain for many in the area.
‘Labour have done nothing but lie’: grievances fuel Runcorn byelection battle

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Josh Halliday |Olivia Lee

It’s lunchtime on St George’s Day and the Royal pub in Runcorn is a festival of flags, fags and Farage. “I’m sorry,” says Mike Kneale, a painter, as he explains which party he will back in this week’s crucial byelection: “But it’s Nigel Farage.”The Reform UK leader’s Cheshire cat grin leaps out from billboards and doormats all over this constituency, where his party is odds-on to win its fifth MP and deliver a blow to Keir Starmer.
cafe culture fights back against keyboard invaders

Mar 17, 2025 | msn.com | Olivia Lee

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Laughter not laptops: cafe culture fights back against keyboard invaders

Mar 17, 2025 | theguardian.com | Olivia Lee

“To the Coffee-house, and there all the house full of the discourse of the great fire,” wrote Samuel Pepys of his trip to a 17th-century cafe – then the social nerve centre of London’s gossiping elite. Fast forward to the 21st century and the chattering classes have been replaced with the clattering classes – remote workers busily hammering away on their laptop keyboards and shouting on video calls to be heard over the mechanical grinding of coffee beans.
Pre-cinema ads getting longer and ‘wasting time’ of frustrated film fans

Mar 8, 2025 | msn.com | Olivia Lee

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Pre-cinema ads getting longer and ‘wasting time’ of frustrated film fans

Mar 8, 2025 | theguardian.com | Olivia Lee

Movie buffs already lamenting the length of time it takes to get to the start of a film might be disappointed to learn that pre-cinema ads are getting longer. Over the past 10 years, adverts for products and brands have taken up a larger proportion of pre-film reels in cinemas, according to experts. “There has been a noticeable shift toward including more advertisements within the pre-film reel.
Dolly Parton dedicates new song to late husband Carl Dean

Mar 7, 2025 | theguardian.com | Olivia Lee

Dolly Parton has dedicated her new song, If You Hadn’t Been There, to her husband, Carl Dean, who died this week aged 82. The couple were married for nearly six decades, with Dean, a businessman, remaining largely out of the spotlight as Parton became an two-time Oscar nominee and 10-time Grammy winner as well as one of the biggest-selling US musicians.
warmer conditions expected after chilly weekend

Feb 28, 2025 | msn.com | Olivia Lee

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.