Building societies fear consumers will be put off from saving if chancellor’s budget announces a 40% reduction
Rachel Reeves’s plan to slash the annual cash Isa limit by 40% could lead to higher mortgage rates and deter consumers from saving, finance bosses have said.
The chancellor is expected to cut the maximum amount people can put into tax-efficient cash individual savings accounts from £20,000 a year to £12,000 in Wednesday’s budget.
Continue reading...Five-year strategy aims to improve casework after analysis finds domestic abuse in more than third of rape cases
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will train its staff to recognise the “wide spectrum of abuse” in cases of violence against women, after new data found that domestic abuse was present in more than a third of rape cases, and in more than eight out of 10 cases of stalking and image-based abuse.
Launching its five-year Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, the body said its main aims were to increase casework quality and increase trust in the CPS.
Continue reading...Levy will also apply to more fizzy drinks as health secretary says government ‘will not look away as children get unhealthier’
Sweet-toothed consumers face paying more for bottled milkshakes and some fizzy drinks after the government confirmed plans for a tougher sugar tax.
Designed to tackle obesity, the levy currently applies to drinks with a sugar content of 5g per 100ml. However, after a public consultation this is being cut to 4.5g per 100ml, meaning it could cover hundreds more products.
Continue reading...Gramma came to San Diego Zoo from Bronx Zoo in 1928 or 1931 and lived through 20 US presidents
After more than a century of munching on her favorite foods of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit, beloved Galapagos tortoise Gramma, the oldest resident of the San Diego Zoo, has died.
Gramma was born in her native habitat and was estimated to be about 141 years old, zoo officials said. She died on 20 November.
Continue reading...Wide-ranging assault included drones that crossed into Romanian and Moldovan territory
Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, killing seven and injuring 21 in Kyiv as a fresh round of US-brokered peace negotiations began in Abu Dhabi.
A total of 22 missiles, including four hypersonic Kinzhals, and 464 drones, were fired by Russia in attacks that principally targeted Kyiv and the surrounding area, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Continue reading...Fighter jets track two uncrewed aircraft in first daytime breach of Romanian airspace since full-scale Ukraine war
Nato jets were scrambled to track two Russian drones that crossed into Romania on Tuesday in the deepest and first daytime incursion into the country’s airspace since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
German Typhoon and Romanian F-16 fighter jets took off in pairs to follow the uncrewed aircraft. The first flew back into Ukrainian airspace, but the second was later found downed in Puieşti, about 70 miles from Ukraine.
Continue reading...South African police investigate allegations made against Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla by another of ex-president’s daughters
South African police are investigating allegations that a daughter of the former president Jacob Zuma tricked men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine by telling them they were travelling to Russia for a paramilitary training course.
Another of Zuma’s daughters, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a police report on Saturday alleging that her sister Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and two others, Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza, had recruited 17 men who are now trapped on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Report says Israel’s operations ‘significantly undermined every pillar of survival’ and reduced the economy by 87%
Israel’s war in Gaza has created a “human-made abyss”, and reconstruction is likely to cost more than $70bn (£53bn) over several decades, the United Nations has said.
The UN’s trade and development agency (Unctad) said in a report that Israel’s military operations had “significantly undermined every pillar of survival” and that the entire population of 2.3 million people faced “extreme, multidimensional impoverishment”.
Continue reading...