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Exclusive: British Chambers of Commerce president calls for overhaul of business rates and greater powers for local leadersHow Middleton’s revival could inspire struggling townsWhat makes a good town? Here are five key ingredientsAndy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales more heavily than in-store purchases to help “level the playing field” for str...
Treasury is revising all the numbers for the mid-year update as economists warn of a difficult six months aheadGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastJim Chalmers has revealed December’s mid-year budget update will project weaker growth and higher unemployment, as economists warn of a difficult six months ahead for the Australian economy.Two days after a senior Reserve Bank off...
Exclusive: British Chambers of Commerce president tells PM to ‘level the playing field’ for struggling high streets• How Middleton’s revival could be grist to the mill for Britain’s struggling townsAndy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales at a higher rate than those in physical shops to help “level the playing field” for struggling high streets.As...
Iran’s IRGC says it hit four vessels in the northern Gulf and three more struck mines near the strait of HormuzShipping workers: how is the Middle East conflict affecting you?Business live – latest updatesOil prices jumped to a five-month high on Thursday after attacks in Saudi Arabia and hits to tankers in the strait of Hormuz threatened further disruptions to the world’s crude supply.Brent crud...
Exclusive: British Chambers of Commerce president tells PM to realign tax system away from favouring internet sellers• How Middleton’s revival could be grist to the mill for Britain’s struggling townsAndy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales at a higher rate than those in physical shops to help “level the playing field” for struggling high streets....
Turnaround initiated by Andy Burnham and led by Steve Coogan could provide blueprint for other neglected areas• Save high street by creating ‘level playing field’ with online rivals, Burnham urgedThe former England footballer Paul Scholes and the actor Steve Coogan stare out from beside a fish and chip shop in Middleton, near Manchester. Looming over a mural of the pair – and the whole town – is a...
Politicians have called for ruthless sentencing, but lawyers blame the politicians for the poverty, and anger, behind their clients’ lootingAwa, 18, stood in the dock in the tribunal de Paris, a small, mute and bewildered figure seeming unable to understand, let alone answer, the simplest of questions.The court was told she had joined young people who looted an Yves Saint Laurent store on Boulevar...
Fox News and others have toed president’s line – seemingly hoping unrest abroad will make people vote RepublicanDonald Trump sought to capitalize on the scenes of unrest in France, telling a crowd in Kansas on Monday that “migrants” and “communists” were responsible, and that the scenes were “what the radical ‘Dumocrats’ want to do to America”.As Republicans struggle to convince voters across the ...
New projections by the Snowy Hydro company show tunnelling work is now 65% finished, but the completion date has been pushed back to 2029Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe cost of Snowy Hydro 2.0 has blown out to as much as $25bn, with a major reassessment finding the long-delayed renewable energy project will not be completed until the end of the decade.First touted by...
Nancy Mace said: ‘This ad is going to go down as the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season’Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. We’re less than two weeks out from the mid-term vote and the campaigns are getting even more nasty.Condemnation continues of Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign in the Ohio governor race after his team put out an attack ad...
An American company is still supplying Taser weapons linked to abuse of prisoners by Israeli forces. Plus, 12 valuable lessons about life and death by hospice workersGood morning. An investigation has revealed that Israel is using US-made electroshock weapons on Palestinian detainees. American company Axon is still supplying the Taser weapons despite evidence they have been used to torture prisone...
Kim Aris says ‘hearing her voice again means more than words can express’ amid loosening of detention restrictionsThe son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to speak to the detained former democratic leader for the first time in more than five years.“Today, I was finally able to speak with my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than five years. Hearing her voice again means more t...
French government will show ‘absolute’ determination to stop the riots, Macron saysAs we are waiting for Macron, first details of the planned police response to this weekend’s protests are emerging.Junior interior minister, Jean-Didier Berger, said that the police presence will be “20% higher” than last weekend, with reinforcements from the army, elite police forces and gendarmerie. Continue readi...
Supermarket urges government not to ‘further aggravate’ pressure on costs for businesses in next week’s budgetSainsbury’s has warned of a “pretty challenging” market in the run-up to Christmas as households are “finding it tough” and food producers face rising costs.Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the UK’s second biggest supermarket, called on the government not to “further aggravate” pressu...
Each place, selected from longlist of nine, will be given £125,000 to develop bids before winner is announced in new yearBlackpool, Sheffield, Milton Keynes and Wrexham have been shortlisted to be the UK city of culture 2029, an award viewed as a way to boost local economies, foster civic pride and, above all, have some fun.The four places were chosen from a longlist of nine and each will be given...
Experts say Russia is trying to destroy energy infrastructure before winter and US ‘appeasement and flattery’ will not achieve peaceEurope live – latest updatesRussia has carried out a massive “demonstrative” attack on Ukraine, bombarding Kyiv with ballistic missiles just hours after Vladimir Putin said he had agreed to resume trilateral negotiations after talks with the US envoy Steve Witkoff.Ove...
Chief executive agrees to remain in California for eight years even if the state brings in a one-off wealth taxBusiness live – latest updatesMeta has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to help him foot a possible California wealth tax targeting billionaires.The social media company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp revealed on Wednesday night that the arrangement would keep its chief executi...
Company says deal will keep its chief executive living in California even if state brings in one-off billionaire taxBusiness live – latest updatesMeta has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to protect him from the threat of a California wealth tax targeting billionaires.The social media company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp revealed on Wednesday night that the arrangement would keep its ...
CEO of Barclays tells reporters: ‘I deeply respect the responsibility that the chancellor has and he has our full support and backing’Offenders who refuse to face their victims’ families in court for sentencing could be stripped of privileges or kept in cells for weeks under government changes granting wider powers to judges in England and Wales, Geneva Abdul reports.Kalyeena Makortoff is the Guar...
Agency declines to reveal in which state latest measles death occurred as it delays reporting other measles deaths The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added a third measles death to its dashboard on Wednesday, but the agency would not reveal whether the death occurred in Pennsylvania or another state – which is “notable” as the agency delays reporting other measles deaths, expe...
Democrats believe circumstances have aligned for them to win a slew of competitive elections in the stateMary Peltola’s campaign to represent Alaska in the US Senate has taken her to parts of the massive state’s interior that are inaccessible by road and on the frontlines of the cost-of-living crisis she hopes will make her the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly two decades.She has been to t...
Frustration with a sprawling fraud scandal has cut Peggy Flanagan’s poll lead – could ex-NFL reporter Michele Tafoya win a first statewide election for Republicans in 20 years?As Democrats fight to regain control of the US Senate, hopes are rising in states – from Kansas to Texas – where they have not prevailed in decades. But in Minnesota, where Republicans have not won statewide election since 2...
Florida-born singer-songwriter had major hits with Swingin’, Seminole Wind and Straight Tequila NightJohn Anderson, the traditionalist US country singer whose extensive body of work included five No 1 hits on the country charts, has died aged 71.The news was announced on social media by his family, who said: “To the world, he was a gifted country music singer whose voice and songs touched countles...
Zelenskyy said: ‘Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian “humanitarians”’Meanwhile, we are getting more lines from Ukraine, with Belarusian state news agency reporting that Russia and Ukraine exchanged bodies of their war dead today.Moscow handed over 252 corpses, and received 25 bodies in return, it said. Continue reading...
The Cali Fund, set up to raise $1bn a year for biodiversity from drug companies, remains near emptyBig pharmaceutical companies have been accused of “free-riding on nature”, after a landmark biodiversity fund that invites businesses to put some of their profits back into conservation was left virtually empty.The Cali Fund set out to raise $1bn (£750m) annually, by asking companies that profit from...
British authorities were unable to investigate case of Christopher Mooty, who went on to commit another offenceThe US military failed to notify British police of an allegation that one of its airmen had been drink-driving in Suffolk, preventing the British authorities from being able to investigate the offence.The failure broke a longstanding formal agreement with British police that enables the U...
Equating to the loss of 5% of its 93,000 global staff, job cuts come as bank announces jump in quarterly profitsBusiness live – latest updatesBarclays is cutting 5,000 jobs as part of wider cost-cutting plans that its bosses say are being driven by advances in AI.The job cuts will mean losing about 5% of the bank’s 93,000 global staff, with executives confirming they had already cut 1,000 workers ...
France’s bond market hit by another bout of selling as country recovers from weekend protestsBusiness live – latest updatesFrench borrowing costs continued to rise on Thursday, as investors fret that France’s government is struggling to pass a federal budget after public protests gripped the country.France’s bond market was hit with another bout of selling, with the difference between French and G...
John Healey is expected to cut red tape requirements, particularly for smaller businessesGood morning. A week today John Healey, the chancellor, will be doing a media round defending the budget he is presenting on Wednesday next week. Ahead of that, he has given an interview to Patrick Maguire from the Times. As you would expect, there is no real detail in it about the measures he will be presenti...
John Healey is expected to cut red tape requirements, particularly for smaller businessesGood morning. A week today John Healey, the chancellor, will be doing a media round defending the budget he is presenting on Wednesday next week. Ahead of that, he has given an interview to Patrick Maguire from the Times. As you would expect, there is no real detail in it about the measures he will be presenti...
