3 h. ago David Lammy deploys army of top diplomats to kickstart economic growth and combat impact of Trump tariffs

Exclusive: With a failure to deliver economic growth leaving an estimated £18bn in Rachel Reeves’ budget, the use of senior diplomats to bolster engagement with business is just the latest part of a strategy to turn things around

Politics

11 h. ago ‘The damage is terrifying’: Barbara Kingsolver on Trump, rural America and the recovery home funded by her hit novel

Demon Copperhead, the author’s retelling of Dickens during Virginia’s opioid crisis, was a global success. Now she has used royalties from the novel to open a recovery residenceIn the spotless kitchen of a white clapboard house in the Appalachian mountains, a retired deacon, a regional jail counsellor and I form an impromptu book club. The novel under discussion is Barbara Kingsolver’s bestselling, Pulitzer prize-winning Demon Copperhead, which is set in this area, Lee County, Virginia, during the 1990s, at the beginning of the opioid epidemic. I say that I loved the novel, that it was vivid and brilliant, heart-warming and tragic. Their reaction is more complex – there’s a real sadness behind it. Julie Montgomery-Barber, the jail counsellor, tells me she found the book “hard to read”. The Rev Nancy Hobbs agrees that reading it was painful, “because I felt like: I knew these people. At every level, from foster care to the football coaches to Demon. I knew Demon.”Hobbs and Montg...

Events

13 h. ago Here we go again: latest Trump tariff deadline looms amid inflation concerns

US is on the brink of launching a trade assault on dozens of countries as 90-day pause on tariffs is set to end on 9 JulyWhen Donald Trump unveiled his “liberation day” tariffs in the spring, only to pull the plug days later as panic tore through global markets, his officials scrambled to present the climbdown as temporary.Three months of frenetic talks would enable the Trump administration to strike dozens of trade agreements with countries across the world, they claimed. “We’re going to run,” the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox Business Network. “Ninety deals in 90 days is possible.” Continue reading...

Economics

19 h. ago Trump’s China tariffs may threaten the future of America’s fireworks festivals

Industry insiders warn the full effects of Trump’s tariffs may be felt by 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding

Events

24 h. ago Trump threatens crippling attack on the EU that'll leave key industry on its knees

President Donald Trump has reportedly threatened the European Union with a 17 percent tariff on food exports, a move that could cripple that industry.

Events

24 h. ago Trump threatens 17% tariffs on food and farm produce exports from Europe

EU says it ‘favours a negotiated solution’ but is prepared for potential trade war with retaliatory dutiesDonald Trump threatened to impose 17% tariffs on food and farm produce exports from Europe during talks in Washington this week, it has emerged.Such tariffs would hit everything from Belgian chocolate to Kerrygold butter from Ireland and olive oil from Italy, Spain and France, all big sellers in the US. Continue reading...

Politics

25 h. ago Army Ranger in ICU after being hit by boat propeller while snorkeling in the Bahamas

Brent Slough was vacationing with his family on June 30 when the incident occurred in the Exuma district of the islands. The driver of the boat did not stop

Events

31 h. ago China warns Trump’s tariff war will have ‘no winners’ as deadline looms

Beijing hopes Washington will continue to meet it halfway

Events

31 h. ago Trump set to impose tariffs up to 70 percent on dozens of nations

The president didn’t specify which countries would be affected

Politics

31 h. ago Billie Eilish Glasgow Hydro set times, support, drinks prices, tickets, setlist

One of the biggest pop stars on the planet is in Scotland this month.

Economics

32 h. ago Trump to step up tariff pressure with letters to trade partners on new rates

US president appears to be losing patience, with only two deals agreed ahead of July 9 deadline

Politics

32 h. ago Trump’s Medicaid cuts are coming for rural Americans: ‘It’s going to have to hit them first’

Experts worry the tax-and-spending bill will gut healthcare and hospitals, especially in states like North CarolinaWhen Hurricane Helene drowned western North Carolina in muck and floodwater last year, it caught folks off-guard.Now, local leaders in places like Asheville expect the Republican-led reconciliation bill – called the “big, beautiful bill” by Donald Trump – to bear down on rural America. And they wonder whether people are missing the warning signs. Continue reading...

Politics

33 h. ago Alanis Morissette Glasgow Hydro set times, support, drinks prices, tickets, setlist

One of the biggest singers of the 1990s is in Scotland this week.

Politics

35 h. ago Trump says US will send letters setting tariff rates to trading partners

About ‘10 or 12’ will go out on Friday to those without deal in place, then more over next few daysBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump has said that the US will start sending out letters to trading partners on Friday setting tariff rates that countries will have to pay from the beginning of next month.The US president told the media that about “10 or 12” letters would be sent out initially, with further letters sent out over the “next few days”. Continue reading...

Politics

35 h. ago Trump says US to start sending tariff rates letters to trading partners

Letters to be sent to countries without a deal in place before end of 90-day pause on 9 JulyBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump has said the US will start sending letters to trading partners setting out tariff rates that countries will have to pay from the beginning of next month.The US president told the media that about “10 or 12” letters would be sent out on Friday, with further letters sent out over the “next few days”. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago The best sales set to rival Amazon with better than Prime Day prices on big named brands

Amazon Prime Day starts next week and runs from the 8th to the 11th July. If you're not a Prime member there are plenty of other brands offering Prime-like prices on home and summer essentials .

Economics

38 h. ago Japan walks line between recession and submission as it seeks to overcome Trump tariffs

Japanese negotiators have just days before the end of Trump’s 90-day pause on punishing tariffs to pull off a breakthroughIt all seemed to be going so well. In April, Japan’s chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, sat opposite Donald Trump in the Oval Office after “positive and constructive” talks, sporting a Maga baseball cap and giving a thumbs up for the cameras.Japan’s economic revitalisation minister drew criticism back home for the gesture, forcing him to insist there was “no political significance” behind it. But the backdrop to the offending photo was far more significant than the uncomfortable optics. Continue reading...

Politics

38 h. ago Netflix hit America’s Sweethearts is setting a sad example for girls

Season 2 of the beloved show following the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders just dropped on Netflix. But there’s a sinister message hiding in plain sight, writes Helen Coffey

Events

39 h. ago Asian shares are mixed as Trump’s tariff deadline looms, while US stocks set records

Asian shares were mixed on Friday after U.S. stocks climbed further into record heights as the clock ticks on President Donald Trump’s July 9 tariff deadline

Politics

39 h. ago Budapest’s young people are joining the ranks of generation rent | Csaba Jelinek

Sell-offs of public housing and the right’s promotion of home ownership has left too many unable to afford accommodationCsaba Jelinek is an urban sociologist based in BudapestWhen I left my family home to study at university in 2007 and moved to downtown Budapest, housing costs were hardly a topic of conversation among my friends. I rented rooms in centrally located flats for £80-£100 per month. Fast forward to 2025 and a similar room in a shared flat would set you back at least £200 – double the price of 15 years ago. Talk to anyone in their 20s in Budapest today, and the deepening housing crisis will inevitably come up as one of the defining struggles of their lives.The statistics paint an equally grim picture. Between 2010 and 2024, Hungary saw the largest increase of the housing price index among EU member states. While the EU average rose by 55.4%, Hungary’s housing price index rocketed by 234%. Meanwhile, per capita net income only grew by 86% in the 2010s. Budapest, the capit...

Politics