Rachel Reeves has finally laid out Labour’s spending plans in the party’s first budget in almost 15 years. The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by political editor Pippa Crerar and political correspondent Kiran Stacey to discuss the fallout
Continue reading...Rent control battle in California heats up, opposing investors pump money
Developers opposed to repeal of Costa-Hawkins Act have raised more than $124m in California.
Reeves accused of betraying small family firms with inheritance tax rises
Chancellor also criticised for letting the very rich off the hook with a lower than expected rise in capital gains tax
Tax rises aimed at inherited wealth are at risk of backfiring, after the chancellor was accused of betraying small family businesses while letting private equity bosses off the hook.
Labour’s first budget in 14 years included measures to close inheritance tax (IHT) loopholes and press ahead with scrapping the controversial non-dom tax status, as well as levying higher taxes on private jet flights.
Continue reading...OBR says budget unlikely to lift economic growth over next five years
Forecaster says extra spending revealed by Rachel Reeves will give only a short-term lift to economy
Labour has embarked on a “large, sustained increase in spending, tax and borrowing”, according to the government’s economic forecaster, as it judged that Labour’s first budget for 15 years is unlikely to increase economic growth over the next five years.
Assessing Rachel Reeves’s policies, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the economy would expand at the same rate as predicted in March by the end of the parliament, despite a £70bn-a-year rise in spending.
Continue reading...New Hezbollah chief threatens Netanyahu, but opens door for ceasefire in first speech – The Times of Israel
Labour wants to reverse decline – but with a big budget comes a big risk
The government knows cynical voters will need to see tangible change in public services and to feel better off
At the final political cabinet before Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget this week, ministers were presented with internal party research on what the public was expecting.
In the months since the general election, they had been fed a regular diet of gloomy warnings about the state of the economic inheritance and, more recently, high levels of pre-budget news coverage, so it was firmly on their horizon.
Continue reading...Russia fines Google $20.5 decillion — more than the entire world’s GDP — for allegedly blocking Kremlin propaganda – New York Post
- Russia fines Google $20.5 decillion — more than the entire world’s GDP — for allegedly blocking Kremlin propaganda New York Post
- Russia Fines Google $2.5 Decillion Over YouTube Bans – RBC The Moscow Times
- A Russian court hit Google with a fine larger than the world's GDP, stretching credulity Business Insider
- Russia fines Google more than the world’s total GDP over YouTube bans Euronews
- A Russian court fined Google more money than the world's GDP Quartzy
Israel, Haiti top CPJ list of states where journalist murders go unpunished
Committee to Protect Journalists says globally no one is held to account in 80% of cases where journalists are targeted.
Taliban prohibits Afghan women from speaking to each other: ‘System of gender apartheid’ – New York Post
- Taliban prohibits Afghan women from speaking to each other: ‘System of gender apartheid’ New York Post
- Taliban bans women 'hearing other women's voices' in latest decree Fox News
- Taliban further restricts women's voices with ban on praying aloud in front of other women ABC News
- Taliban bans women from ‘hearing other women’s voices’ The Telegraph
- Has the Taliban banned women from speaking? The Week
Chancellor announces £22.6bn cash injection for NHS in England
Rachel Reeves hails biggest increase ‘outside of Covid’ since 2010 but health experts say patients may not feel impact
The NHS in England is to receive a £22.6bn cash injection over two years, the chancellor has announced, in what she called the biggest spending increase outside Covid since 2010. But health experts said patients may not feel the impact as much of the increase would be absorbed by pay rises and higher care costs.
Announcing the “down payment” on the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, due in spring 2025, Rachel Reeves said the NHS was the nation’s “most cherished public service” and that the extra funding would help the government cut waiting lists.
Continue reading...US identified 500 cases where its weapons harmed Gaza civilians but hasn’t taken action
Some the incidents might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources
US state department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel’s military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, according to three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter.
The incidents – some of which may have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources – have been recorded since 7 October 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the state department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG), a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.
Continue reading...Haiti’s gangs inflict ‘extreme brutality’ as casualties rise – UN report
Gang-fueled violence caused 1,745 casualties between July and September; police accused of summary executions, UN says.
Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments gaffe hastens Harris’s slow-mo breakup with president
Harris faces conundrum of showing deference to president while distancing herself after his ‘garbage’ comments
The delicate dance by Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign to simultaneously show deference to Joe Biden, separate herself from his presidency and thwart his ambition to campaign for her has reached a critical juncture as the 2024 election approaches its climax.
The steps of the dance, which has been ongoing since Harris assumed the Democratic party nomination in August and involves efforts to shield the 81-year-old president’s ego and feelings, became even more leaden overnight on Tuesday after Biden appeared to call supporters of Donald Trump “garbage”.
Continue reading...Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides of the Republic of Cyprus – The White House
- Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides of the Republic of Cyprus The White House
- Lebanon ceasefire possible within weeks, Cypriot president says after Biden talks Reuters
- Biden, Cyprus president discuss administration push to win cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon The Associated Press
- White House releases statement ahead of Biden-Christodoulides meeting Kathimerini English Edition
- Ceasefire in Lebanon could be reached in next 1-2 weeks, Cypriot president says The Jerusalem Post
A simple guide to the US election 2024
From the primaries to the Electoral College, here's how to make sense of the 2024 US election.
‘Like a tsunami’: Spaniards recount horror of deadly floods
Flash floods sparked by torrential rainfall have killed 95 people around Valencia, while dozens are still missing.
National Insurance hike ‘pain’ to hit jobs and pay, firms warn – BBC.com
- National Insurance hike 'pain' to hit jobs and pay, firms warn BBC.com
- Budget 2024 live: Rachel Reeves admits tax rises will impact wage increases for workers The Independent
- ‘That’s two people we won’t hire now’: bosses react to Reeves’s tax rises The Guardian
- Autumn Budget 2024: National Insurance for employers increased to 15% Portfolio Adviser
- Workers warned they will bear burden of tax raid on employers The Telegraph
At least 95 people dead in Spain’s worst floods in three decades
Soldiers aid search for dozens still missing as prime minister warns extreme weather may not be over
At least 95 people have died in eastern, central and southern Spain after torrential rains triggered the country’s deadliest floods in three decades, unleashing torrents of muddy water that surged through cities, towns and villages, trapping people in their homes, bringing down trees, and cutting off roads and railway lines.
As the search for dozens of missing people continued, motorists were urged to stay off the roads and away from swollen rivers amid warnings that the severe weather was not over and that the number of deaths could still rise.
Continue reading...World must act to prevent ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Gaza, António Guterres warns
Secretary general makes appeal as civilian casualties mount amid intensive Israeli strikes on north
The UN secretary general, António Guterres has warned Israel could carry out the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza if the international community does not make a determined stand to prevent it.
Guterres made his appeal at a time of mounting civilian casualties from the Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza. A strike on Tuesday in Beit Lahiya district killed at least 93 people, in what the UN said was just one of at least seven “mass casualty incidents” across Gaza in the past week.
Continue reading...Georgia must change course to open EU membership talks, says European Commission
Western powers call for investigation into Georgian Dream party election win amid reports of voter intimidation and fraud
The European Commission has said it will not recommend opening EU membership talks with Georgia unless the country changes course, days after the increasingly anti-western Georgian Dream (GD) party won pivotal parliamentary elections amid reports of irregularities and voter intimidation.
The commission recommended that Georgia be granted EU candidate status last year – something Ukraine and Moldova had already achieved – but made clear at the time that this could be withdrawn if the government in Tbilisi did not follow through on agreed reforms.
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