32 h. ago Hole in Antarctic ozone layer shrinks to smallest since 2019, scientists say

EU’s Copernicus monitoring service hails ‘reassuring sign’ of progress observed this year in hole’s size and durationThe hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic this year was the smallest and shortest-lived since 2019, according to European space scientists, who described the finding as a “reassuring sign” of the layer’s recovery.The yearly gap in what scientists have called “planetary sunscreen” reached a maximum area of 21m sq km (8.1m sq miles) over the southern hemisphere in September – well below the maximum of 26m sq km reached in 2023 – and shrank in size until coming to an early close on Monday, data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) shows. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Arne Slot’s woes deepen as awful Liverpool are thrashed by PSV at Anfield

Nine defeats in 12 games. A 75% loss rate since Eddie Nketiah scored a stoppage-time winner for Crystal Palace on 27 September and instigated a collapse that no one at Liverpool, no one in football in fact, could have seen coming. Unbelievable indeed. Arne Slot’s team are stuck in reverse.PSV Eindhoven became the latest grateful recipients of woeful Liverpool defending and aimless attacking play to inflict a comprehensive and damaging Champions League defeat on the Anfield side. Liverpool have suffered three successive defeats by a three-goal margin and show no signs of conjuring the recovery that Slot desperately needs to prevent a crisis undermining his hold on the job. There were boos around Anfield as the final whistle sounded on another terrible defeat for the Premier League champions. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Rachel Reeves has condemned us to a doom loop of ever higher taxes, debt and welfare spending. All the experts are saying the same thing about her cruel Budget

Be in no doubt: Rachel Reeves ' second Budget, which will tax the so-called 'working people' of this country until the pips squeak, is condemning us all to an ever-accelerating economic doom loop.

Economics

7 d. ago The truth about the world’s happiest country as economic gloom threatens crown

Finland has been named the world’s happiest nation eight years in a row

Economics

8 d. ago ALEX BRUMMER: 13 things Reeves could do in the Budget to fire growth

Rachel Reeves is widely predicted to introduce a less-than-appetising ­smorgasbord of painful levies when she stands up in the House of Commons tomorrow.

Events

8 d. ago The end of our locals? More than half of Brits fear their nearest pubs will shut ahead of Rachel Reeves latest 'doom and gloom' Budget

A Savanta survey found that 53 per cent were concerned about their nearest boozers closing due to the Chancellor's raising of National Insurance.

Politics

2 w. ago Ken Clarke tells Rachel Reeves to raise income tax in her budget

The former chancellor has also warned that pre-budget briefing as left an ‘air of gloom’ over the economy

Economics

2 w. ago ALEX BRUMMER: Despite the economic gloom, there ARE signs of recovery. But I fear Rachel Reeves is about to spray weedkiller all over the green shoots

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the Office for National Statistics has reported that the unemployment rate has risen to 5 per cent, the highest for four years.

Events

3 w. ago The madness of fiscal rules: Reeves's obsession is holding business back, says ALEX BRUMMER

Rachel Reeves is so intent on being the Iron Chancellor that the whole focus of her troubled 17-months at the Treasury has been about fiscal policy.

Politics

3 w. ago Falling economy air fares bring some cheer amid gloom of flight cuts

Of the 10 busiest routes in the U.S., six have seen year-on-year price reductions

Economics

3 w. ago Britain's doom loop has begun, says City guru ALEX BRUMMER. The signs are everywhere

Rachel Reeves's bizarre breakfast-time address in Downing Street on Tuesday surprised and bemused financial analysts in equal measure.

Politics

4 w. ago Experts reveal the common signs of porn addiction and how to get help

Experts say porn addiction still largely remains a taboo and widely misunderstood

Politics

4 w. ago Democrats fight to rebuild in key state races on election day

With polls showing signs of recovery after a popularity slump, Tuesday’s results will test whether the party can rebuildOne year after Donald Trump won his way back into the White House, voters are going back to the ballot box in a test of the president’s popularity and whether Democrats are able to rebound from their catastrophic losses of 2024.With governor’s mansions, mayoral offices, statehouses and mid-cycle redistricting on the line in closely watched contests from Trenton, New Jersey and Richmond, Virginia to New York City and beyond, the party is pinning its hopes on locally rooted campaigns aiming to blunt a national conservative message that has surged in recent years. Continue reading...

Politics