5 h. ago Trump is preparing an executive order to dismantle Education Department

Drafted executive order instructs Linda McMahon to ‘take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department’

Politics

5 h. ago BP's chief executive takes £2.3m pay cut as the company’s profits slump

'This fundamental reset of our strategy demonstrates a clear focus on actions to drive performance improvement and grow cash flow and returns for bp's shareholders'

Economics

7 h. ago GOP budget goals impossible without Medicare and Medicaid cuts, budget office says

Republicans are expected to fall short of their goal to slash the budget by $1.5tn despite Donald Trump’s assurancesRepublicans cannot reach their budget goal of slashing at least $1.5tn in spending over the next decade to fund Donald Trump’s tax cuts and immigration crackdown without cutting healthcare relied upon by tens of millions of Americans – including seniors and children, according to the non-partisan budget assessor.House Republicans last week narrowly passed a budget instructing the energy and commerce committee, which is responsible for federal healthcare, to cut spending under its jurisdiction by $880bn – in order to pay for Trump’s tax cuts, mass deportations and defence investments. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago BP chief takes more than £2.3m pay cut after slump in profit

Murray Auchincloss’s pay fell by one-third last year, ahead of BP making a drastic pullback from its green energy targets.

Economics

3 d. ago Private hospitals accused of ‘profiteering’ after demanding more NHS cash in Government deal

A landmark NHS deal on paying private healthcare firms to provide care is in the balance as profit-making companies threaten to pull out if caps are placed on their ability to get paid

Economics

4 d. ago ‘This will cost lives’: cuts to UK aid budget condemned as ‘betrayal’ by international development groups

Widespread alarm at Keir Starmer’s decision to slash funds, amid warnings of dire consequences for world’s poorestKeir Starmer promised at the UN last September that the UK would “be a leading contributor to development”. Just five months later few expected an announcement that could result in UK aid spending falling to its lowest level this century.Overseas development aid will fall from 0.5% of the UK’s gross national income to 0.3% – a cut of about £6bn – in order to pay for increased defence spending. Continue reading...

Society

4 d. ago Keir Starmer faces backbench rebellion over ‘shortsighted’ cuts to aid budget

MPs ask ‘what will be left of Labour programme?’ amid calls for rethink and plan to speak out against decisionLabour MP Emily Darlington: ‘International aid is as vital as defence spending – cutting either undermines British security’Keir Starmer is facing a backbench revolt by Labour MPs this week as anger mounts over the government’s decision to cut the international development budget by almost half in order to pay for an increase in defence spending.The Labour chair of the all-party select committee on international development, Sarah Champion, who has already called on the government to rethink the decision, has secured a debate in the Commons on Wednesday at which dozens of Labour backbenchers are considering intervening to express their dismay. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Former Barclays boss gambles on courtroom battle over ties to Epstein

Next week Jes Staley will challenge his ban from the City in a case that will reveal his conversations with the disgraced financierFormer Barclays chief executive Jes Staley is about to take a major risk.Nearly two and a half years after he was banned from the City for allegedly lying about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the former banking boss is hoping to convince judges to overturn the reputation-shattering ruling. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Donald Trump continues to sign waves of executive orders. Here’s how that works, legally.

President is expected to issue swaths of more executive orders as his administration takes shape

Politics

1 week ago There is a clear Trump doctrine. Those who can’t see it won't have a say in reshaping the world | Nesrine Malik

The sooner the US’s former friends realise the old global order is over, the sooner they can organise to regain power and agency – the only language Trump understandsA resonant phrase during Donald Trump’s first administration was the advice to take him “seriously, but not literally”. It was a singularly detrimental expression, widely quoted by politicians and the media. Its adoption fit with the position many felt most comfortable taking: Trump was bad, but he wasn’t smart. He wasn’t intentional. He wasn’t calculated and deliberate. He sounded off, but rarely followed up with action. He was in essence a misfiring weapon that could do serious damage, but mostly by accident.The residue of that approach still persists, even in analysis that describes Trump’s first executive orders as a campaign of “shock and awe”, as if it were just a matter of signalling rather than executing. Or that his plan for Gaza is to be taken – you guessed it – seriously, not literally. When that was suggeste...

Politics

1 week ago White House denies Trump is moving to take over Postal Service despite reports of looming executive order

The 250-year-old independent agency could soon be absorbed by the Commerce Department, according to a report

Politics

2 w. ago Energy companies rake in £4bn windfall as British families suffer sky

Families will see their energy bills rise again in April as network companies make billions in profits, report finds

Economics

2 w. ago Mel Sykes breaks silence on Gino D'Acampo as she says industry 'creates monsters'

Melanie Sykes has spoken out about the Gino D'Acampo scandal, branding the TV industry "a war zone" and urging executives to take responsibility for enabling "misogynistic" talent

Politics

2 w. ago Melanie Sykes blasts Gino D'Acampo as a 'monster' as she slams 'misogynistic' talent in TV

Melanie Sykes has waded into the Gino D'Acampo scandal, claiming the TV industry has "created monsters" and urging executives to take responsibility for their roles.

Politics

2 w. ago Musk’s rampage through government shows us how we can finally close the book on what Trumpism is all about | Osita Nwanevu

Trump, Musk and the Republican party are happily overriding parts of the constitution, and using means of questionable legality to cripple the federal governmentIt is humbling to realize, almost a decade into his tenure at the center of American politics and life, that Donald Trump still has the power to surprise us. As recently as inauguration day, the conventional wisdom on Elon Musk’s role in the administration was that he’d been given a meaningless post at a powerless agency whose name itself was a joke. From the “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, it was said, Musk would issue easily ignored recommendations the gullible would take as evidence that Trump was streamlining the federal bureaucracy – a promise reliably made and broken by countless presidents. Instead, in a turn of events magazine cover artists have delighted in, Musk as a “special government employee” has seemingly taken the reins of the executive branch – a de facto co-president or perhaps a vice, while...

Politics