42 h. ago Is the cost of living crisis contributing to a childless London?

The capital’s families are shrinking, as new data confirms that young women will have less children than previous generations. Why, and what does it mean for our city?

Events

3 d. ago Ezra Klein on Trump, Vance and free speech: ‘It feels like we are in one of the darkest imaginable timelines’

The influential US commentator has written a book about how politics can change people’s lives for the better. But first, there are more pressing challenges to address ...Ezra Klein, the New York Times podcast host and progressive media’s undisputed nerd king, starts his new book with something of a palate cleanser for our troubled times. For a few paragraphs, he and his co-author, the Atlantic journalist Derek Thompson, whisk us out of the grim reality of contemporary politics to a world of Abundance (the word they picked as their title).“You open your eyes at dawn and turn in the cool bedsheets,” they purr, before conjuring a near-future utopia where the cost of living crisis is a distant memory. “You live in a cocoon of energy so clean it barely leaves a carbon trace and so cheap you can scarcely find it on your monthly bill.” The fridge is full of fresh fruit and vegetables from skyscraper farms that sit amid rewilded landscapes. This is what we can look forward to, they say, if...

Politics

4 d. ago Australia election 2025 live: Dutton’s gas plan has ‘reckless’ lack of detail, resources minister says

Follow today’s news liveAnywhere but Canberra: Australian voters on what matters to themInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionListen to the first episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastForeign minister Penny Wong has told RN Breakfast says Labor is “realistic” on what outcomes the government could achieve on tariffs with the Trump administration.We’ll keep working hard for the best outcome, but I think all of us are realistic. As the prime minister made it clear yesterday, we are not willing to trade away the things that make Australia the best country in the world, like our healthcare system. We don’t want the Americanisation of our healthcare system. We won’t be weakening our biosecurity laws, and we won’t be trading away our PBS.He made a similar submission, and what happened to real wages over the last three years? Real wages have dropped in...

Politics

4 d. ago Australia election 2025 live: Dutton hints at cuts to ABC if he finds ‘waste’; Coalition to designate gas a ‘critical mineral’

Coalition senator Susan McDonald told a gas industry conference in Sydney the Coalition government’s plan if elected. Follow today’s news liveAnywhere but Canberra: Australian voters on what matters to themInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionListen to the first episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastForeign minister Penny Wong has told RN Breakfast says Labor is “realistic” on what outcomes the government could achieve on tariffs with the Trump administration.We’ll keep working hard for the best outcome, but I think all of us are realistic. As the prime minister made it clear yesterday, we are not willing to trade away the things that make Australia the best country in the world, like our healthcare system. We don’t want the Americanisation of our healthcare system. We won’t be weakening our biosecurity laws, and we won’t be trading away our P...

Politics

4 d. ago Musk’s Doge to fire all local workers and US diplomats from USAID, sources say

Unofficial Trump adviser’s cost-cutting team to finalize shuttering the foreign aid agency on which millions dependUS politics live – latest updatesElon Musk’s cost-cutting team is finalizing the dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development, ordering the firings of thousands of local workers and US diplomats and civil servants assigned to the agency overseas, two former top USAID officials and a source with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.On Friday, Congress was notified that almost all of USAID’s own employees were being fired by September, all of its overseas offices shut, and some functions absorbed into the state department. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago RFK Jr is axing 10,000 employees at Health Department in dramatic restructuring

Critics condemn cost in health and lives

Society

1 week ago FTSE 100 Live 26 March: Inflation boost ahead of Chancellor statement, Ocado surges

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce welfare cuts and a boost to defence spending when she delivers a statement to parliament today.

Economics

1 week ago FTSE 100 Live 26 March: Inflation cheer ahead of Chancellor statement, Vistry halts dividend

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce welfare cuts and a boost to defence spending when she delivers a statement to parliament today.

Economics

1 week ago Odds of May interest rate cut rise after UK inflation falls to 2.8% – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as pound dips after February’s inflation reportFurther benefits cuts planned as Rachel Reeves forced to find extra £1.6bnFive economic factors that will govern Rachel Reeves’s spring statementSterling is weakening a little, after UK inflation fell by more than expected this morning.The pound has lost nearly a third of a cent against the US dollar to $1.2915.The market reaction to this data has been minimal, as the focus remains on the Spring Statement later today.The pound has dropped slightly, but GBP/USD is down less than 20 pips so far on Wednesday, the bond markets are not open, but we think that UK Gilts will also have a mild reaction to this data. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago UK inflation falls to 2.8% ahead of Rachel Reeves’s spring statement – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news.Further benefits cuts planned as Rachel Reeves forced to find extra £1.6bnFive economic factors that will govern Rachel Reeves’s spring statementHere’s a chart showing the various price changes that pulled UK inflation down to 2.8% last month.Core inflation has also slowed in February, despite prices rising steadily in the services sector.“The Bank of England will be reassured by today’s fall in underlying inflation, with core inflation easing. We expect underlying inflationary pressures to fall further over the coming months. That will hopefully allow the MPC to look through the expected near-term increase in headline inflation and resume cutting interest rates in the upcoming May meeting.“Goods inflation fell to 0.8% in February, however ongoing trade frictions could push prices higher. With the potential imposition of tariffs, the cost of imported goods could increase, creating additional cost pressures for both businesse...

Economics

1 week ago Charities and health experts warn welfare cuts could cost lives

The Government will release an impact assessment indicating how many people will be hit by its benefits reforms.

Events

1 week ago UNAIDS director proposes that President Trump make an 'amazing deal' to end HIV

The head of the U.N. AIDS agency says the sudden loss of American money has been “devastating” for efforts to stop HIV and will cost many lives of the world’s most vulnerable people

Politics

2 w. ago Covid hoax lies mean 'we're finished if another pandemic hits' warns doctor

"I think if we had another pandemic tomorrow, it would be a disaster because nobody would believe it existed."

Events

2 w. ago Government debt costs in richest nations at highest since 2007

Payments by OECD countries outstrip amount spent on defence, police services and housing, report findsBusiness live latest updatesThe cost of government debt payments in the world’s richest nations last year reached its highest level since 2007, outstripping the amount spent on defence, police services and housing, a report has found.Across the 38 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), debt service costs as a percentage of national income rose to 3.3% in 2024, from 2.4% in 2021. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago 'Slashing disability benefits is a cruel political choice that will cost lives'

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn argues none of the cuts announced today are necessary - and the government should tax the super-rich instead

Politics

2 w. ago DWP announcement LIVE as major changes to PIP and benefits expected

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is set to announce major changes to the welfare system

Politics

2 w. ago PIP disability benefits and universal credit changes announced by DWP

Disability benefit cuts being announced on Tuesday could reportedly slash some £5bn of welfare payments

Politics

3 w. ago Ukraine’s retreat from Kursk appears to mark end of audacious operation

Some say incursion achieved many goals while others wonder if it cost Ukrainian lives for no tangible gainRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesUnder constant attack from drones attached to fibre optic cables, the soldiers scrambled in groups of two or three along hidden tracks or through fields, often walking miles to reach Ukrainian territory.The Ukrainian retreat from the Kursk region, carried out in stages over the past two weeks, appears to mark the end of one of the most audacious and surprising operations of the conflict, and strips Ukraine of one of its few solid bargaining chips in possible peace negotiations with Russia. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Beautiful Spanish city that's the 'second best in Europe' for expats

Valencia in Spain has been named the second best city in Europe for British expats to live in, due to factors such as its low cost of living and great healthcare system

Politics

3 w. ago Eighty years since the Tokyo firebombing, survivors are still awaiting recognition

More people were killed in the 1945 attack than the atomic bombing of Nagasaki a few months later, but there is no national memorial, accurate death toll or compensation for survivorsNot even the passage of eight decades has dimmed Shizuko Nishio’s memory of the night American bomber planes killed tens of thousands of people in the space of a few hours and turned her city to ash.In the early hours of 10 March 1945, around 300 B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped 330,000 incendiary devices on Tokyo and killed an estimated 100,000 civilians, in an attack that cost more lives than the atomic bombing, months later, of Nagasaki. Continue reading...

Events