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Waves are getting bigger. Is the world ready?
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Southern Ocean waves are growing larger and faster, threatening coastlines. But some scientists think they could help turn the tide in the climate crisis In his remarkable memoir of his life chasing breaks in far-flung corners of the globe, Barbarian Days, the writer William Finnegan describes the “spooky duality” of waves, the way that, “when you are absorbed in surfing they seem alive. They each have personalities, distinct and intricate, and quickly changing moods, to which you must react in the most intuitive, almost intimate way – too many people have likened riding waves to making love. And yet waves are of course not alive, not sentient, and the lover you reach to embrace may turn murderous without warning.” This idea of duality is difficult to avoid when thinking about waves. In them we see energy and matter collapse into each other, find fluidity with structure and form, and the eternal in the transient, apprehend both beauty and symmetry and violence and terror. Likewise, the physics of waves are simultaneously very simple and impossibly complex, the non-linear nature of fluid dynamics meaning they can remain relatively regular or combine without warning into rogue waves capable of sweeping people off rocks and sinking ships. Continue reading...
UK creative industries set behaviour standards after Strictly and MasterChef rows
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An independent standards authority says the industry must learn from recent scandals and create safer working environments New guidelines will be issued this week for the UK’s creative industries after a series of scandals including reports of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace and Gino d’Acampo, and bullying allegations on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will set new standards with the aim of stamping out bullying, harassment and discrimination, and address “power imbalances”. Continue reading...
‘Exploited’ migrant farm workers in UK paid for picks, not hours
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Call for investigation into unfair payment for labourers on seasonal visa scheme When 26-year-old Ben* boarded a flight in Uzbekistan in June, he was looking forward to more than just a summer job picking fruit and vegetables on a British farm. “I wanted to see new places, cities I’ve never seen before,” he said. “I wanted to make friends, exchange ideas and make new memories.” Continue reading...
How to solve the house price conundrum? Look no further than Gwynedd in Wales
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As the UK government puts faith in construction, one council has lowered costs by cracking down on second homes and holiday lets Congratulations to Gwynedd, Wales, where the local council’s policies have lowered house prices. This should be the ultimate aim of all the housing and planning initiatives of this government – whether through “cutting red tape”, “kickstarting” the construction industry with publicly funded incentives, talking about far in the future new towns, or promising unfeasible numbers of new homes. So far, these haven’t worked. But Cyngor Gwynedd, by charging a 150% council tax premium on second homes, and requiring planning permission to use a property for holiday lets, has succeeded. Continue reading...
Creative industries are among the UK’s crown jewels – and AI is out to steal them | John Naughton
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The tech firms’ efforts to change copyright laws and gain free access to intellectual property is patently wrong There are decades when nothing happens (as Lenin is – wrongly – supposed to have said) and weeks when decades happen. We’ve just lived through a few weeks like that. We’ve known for decades that some American tech companies were problematic for democracy because they were fragmenting the public sphere and fostering polarisation. They were a worrying nuisance, to be sure, but not central to the polity. And then, suddenly, those corporations were inextricably bound into government, and their narrow sectional interests became the national interest of the US. Which means that any foreign government with ideas about regulating, say, hate speech on X, may have to deal with the intemperate wrath of Donald Trump or the more coherent abuse of JD Vance. Continue reading...
Do you want to buy a British kettle? Go whistle | Phillip Inman
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As China’s cheap prices continue to dominate western markets, attempts to revive or invent UK brands has never been tougher Britons might never again get the chance to buy an electric kettle made in the UK. Even a £150 kettle from Dualit, the company most famous for making its celebrated toaster in Crawley, West Sussex, is produced by Chinese workers 5,000 miles away. Most consumers think the whereabouts of the factory or assembly plant riveting their latest purchase together is irrelevant, but those who do want it to be produced locally do not have a choice. Continue reading...
These people protected US forests and lands. Their jobs have now vanished due to Trump
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Former federal employees devastated by president’s mass firings: ‘We’re at risk of losing our public lands to the billionaire agenda’ Approximately 2,300 people have been terminated from the agencies that manage the 35m acres (14m hectares) of federal public lands in the US. These are our lands. They encompass national parks and forests, wilderness and marine protected areas, scenic rivers. They are home to campgrounds, river accesses, hiking trails and myriad other sites and facilities that more than 500 million people visit each year. Continue reading...
BMW pauses £600m upgrade to Oxford Mini plant as electric car demand falls
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German carmaker will review plans for site which had been forecast to secure 4,000 jobs in EV production BMW Group has paused a £600m investment into a Mini car assembly plant on the outskirts of Oxford, amid a declining demand for electric vehicles. In 2023, the German carmaker, which has owned Mini since 2000, announced the investment to upgrade its Cowley plant for electric production of the Mini. It was supported by government-backed investment, and was forecast to secure 4,000 jobs in electric vehicle production. Continue reading...
UK soil breakthrough could cut farm fertiliser use and advance sustainable agriculture
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Research group says discovery could lead to new type of environmentally friendly farming A biological mechanism that makes plant roots more attractive to soil microbes has been discovered by scientists in the UK. The breakthrough – by researchers at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, Norfolk – opens the door to the creation of crops requiring reduced amounts of nitrate and phosphate fertilisers, they say. “We can now think of developing a new type of environmentally friendly farming with crops that require less artificial fertiliser,” said Dr Myriam Charpentier, whose group carried out the research. Continue reading...
What have three years of Putin’s war done to both nations’ economies?
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As the invasion enters its fourth year, analysts are examining the health of Ukraine and Russia, and who will be the better prospect for investors once the conflict ends. The answers are not as predictable as one might think As Ukrainians prepare to enter their fourth year dealing with the harsh daily realities of life during conflict with Russia, few will be musing on the comparative economic health of the warring nations. However, inflation figures released either side of the border showed the continued toll the conflict has had on citizens of both countries – with price rises running at 9.5% in Russia and 12% in Ukraine. Three years on since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, economists are examining the relative health of each country. Continue reading...
‘We’re clearly heading towards collapse’: why the Murdoch empire is about to go bang
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An explosive succession trial and an astonishing interview with one of Rupert’s sons have exposed the paranoia and hatred at the heart of global media’s most powerful family. This could get messy… When some of the mind games and manoeuvres that turned a Murdoch family “retreat” into an ordeal appeared in Succession, the TV drama about squabbling family members of a right-wing media company, members of the real-life family started to suspect each other of leaking details to the writers. The truth was more straightforward. Succession’s creator, Jesse Armstrong, said that his team hadn’t needed inside sources – they had simply read press reports. Future screenwriters have been gifted a whole load of new Murdoch material in the past few days, after two astonishing stories in the New York Times and the Atlantic lifted the lid on the dysfunction, paranoia and despair at the heart of the most powerful family in global media. Continue reading...
Crypto and big tech’s backing pays off as Trump makes tech-friendly moves
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Flurry of directives relaxes regulations and drop lawsuit – and billionaires who donated to Trump are ready to benefit The millions that US tech companies invested in currying favor with Donald Trump seemed to pay off this week as the new administration issued a flurry of directives that relaxed regulations and dropped lawsuits previously aimed at holding the industry to account. Crypto, AI and social media companies, many of which made donations to Trump, are all expecting to benefit. At the center of the administration’s moves is Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Over the past week, federal agencies under the president’s authority dropped legal fights against his rocket company and the US’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The White House also issued a “deregulatory initiative” aimed at loosening tech-sector regulation by empowering Musk’s Doge. Continue reading...
US gambling giants face scrutiny over VIP programs: ‘Profits take priority over people’
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Sports betting firms claim their programs are ‘not designed’ to enable problem bettors – but advocates are skeptical Firms at the heart of the US’s sports betting boom have been accused of encouraging gamblers to chase losses by rewarding high spenders with betting credits, bonuses, gifts and even trips. In letters obtained by the Guardian, gambling giants told a prominent US senator last year that their controversial VIP programs were “not designed” to prompt frequent bettors to bet more. But problem gambling advocates are skeptical. Continue reading...
Elton John calls for UK copyright rules rethink to protect creators from AI
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The star has urged for a shift away from plans where artists must opt out of a system allowing AI free use of any online work Sir Elton John has called on the government to rethink proposals involving the relaxation of copyright rules in the hope of protecting creative talent from AI. The singer and songwriter is among a growing list of public figures to express concerns about plans that would allow tech firms to use online material, including creative work, for AI without permission. Continue reading...
Young country diary: A sky full of geese is an awe-inspiring sight
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North Norfolk: Every morning, an endless flow of pink-footed geese passes overhead. Their comings and goings define the day The first thing you hear is a raucous cacophony in the distance, ebbing and flowing. Then the first small specks appear, and soon the sky is filled with a seemingly never-ending flow of geese. These are pink-footed geese, who migrate to north Norfolk at the start of winter along with hundreds of thousands of other geese. They come here to escape the harsh winters of Siberia, Iceland and Greenland, where they breed. Norfolk has an abundance of food compared to the Arctic: leaves, berries, seeds and crop remains. Continue reading...
UK-wide parking app may be out of road after government funding withdrawn
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Five-year-old platform intended to make drivers’ lives easier will only be supported until the end of March ‘Those without smartphones unfairly penalised, say campaigners How to navigate apps: from checking safety to recalling passwords UK-wide parking app may be out of road after funding withdrawn It was hailed as “the future of UK parking”, intended to remove one of the bugbears of modern life: the need to sign up to a plethora of different apps in order to park your car. But a big question mark now hangs over the future of the National Parking Platform (NPP), a government-funded scheme designed to make drivers’ lives easier by letting them use one app of their choice to pay for all their parking. Continue reading...
‘The tyranny of apps’: those without smartphones are unfairly penalised, say campaigners
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From loyalty cards, to restaurant meal deals or simply parking your car – it is harder and harder to get by without signing up to a multitude of apps How to navigate apps: from checking safety to recalling passwords UK-wide parking app may be out of road after funding withdrawn Michael is in his late 50s and is among the millions of people in the UK who cannot or do not want to use mobile apps, and feels he is being penalised for his choice. He does own a smartphone – an Apple iPhone he bought secondhand about three years ago – but says: “I don’t use apps at all. I don’t download them for security reasons.” Continue reading...
If road deaths were a virus, we’d call it a pandemic. Safer transport helps us all – and we need it urgently | Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Jean Todt
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Deaths on the road costs countries up to 5% of GDP. Centring transport around people, not cars, can propel development If you had to guess the leading cause of death for children and young people around the world, what would you say? Malaria perhaps? Pneumonia? Suicide? They’re all high up there, but no, it’s road accidents. Cars have been around for more than 120 years, and we know how to prevent these tragedies. Yet road crashes still claim more than two lives every minute – killing nearly 1.2 million people every year. Continue reading...
Far-right links and Putin praise: fears over £600m UK history theme park plan
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French family behind project visited Kremlin in 2014 to discuss building ‘Tsarland’ in annexed Crimea With its spectacular shows featuring Viking longboats, Roman charioteers and sword-wielding knights who perform death-defying stunts, Puy du Fou in France is consistently ranked among the world’s best theme parks. Each performance of its centrepiece Cinéscénie show, which depicts 700 years of French history, features more than 1,000 actors, hundreds of horses and about 800 fireworks. Now the company has set its sights on bringing its brand of immersive history to the UK via a £600m investment to build its mock medieval castles, hotels and restaurants on farmland just off the M40 in Oxfordshire. It has asked the upmarket property firm Savills to help with its planning applications and is expected to look for British co-investors for a project that it says will create thousands of jobs. Continue reading...
Using an e-scooter can add £1,000 to your car insurance quote
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Under-30s risk a huge hike in huge car insurance premiums later in life if handed the IN10 endorsement Young people using private electric scooters on roads and pavements risk facing huge insurance premiums when they want to drive a car, says the comparison website MoneySuperMarket. It emerged this week that almost 800 children aged 13 to 16 had been issued an IN10 endorsement – the code used by the police for “using a vehicle uninsured against third-party risks” since the start of 2020. It stays on a person’s driving record for four years from the date of the offence. Continue reading...
Extremists would not need to create an authoritarian state in Britain: Starmer is doing that for them | George Monbiot
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The PM and his ministers are supporting illiberal laws that hard-right authoritarians could apply with zeal If the Trump project implodes, it might take with it the extreme and far-right European parties to which it is umbilically connected. Like all such parties, the hard-right Reform UK poses as patriotic while grovelling to foreign interests, and this could be its undoing. But we cannot bank on it. The UK government must do all it can to prevent the disaster that has befallen several other European nations. If it fails to meet people’s needs and keeps echoing far-right talking points, we could go the same way as Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Finland, Sweden and Austria. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
‘Traditional flavours and modern ideas’ turn Swedish buns into a TikTok delight
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The ‘fantasticallly delicious’ semla has gone from a simple Nordic springtime favourite to a Noma-approved delicacy The earliest version of the Swedish semla was a 16th-century plain bread bun served in a soup of warm milk eaten only on Shrove Tuesday in preparation for the 40-day fast of Lent. It is a far cry from this year’s hit varieties, which include Dubai chocolate (the chocolate bar with a knafeh and pistachio filling that became a TikTok trend) and chokladboll (based on a Scandinavian oat, cocoa and butter ball – a popular fika item). Continue reading...
Stormzy denies he ‘compromised beliefs’ with McDonald’s partnership
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Rapper is a vocal supporter of Palestine but has received criticism over restaurant’s links to Israeli military Stormzy has denied that he “compromised beliefs for commercial gain”, after his advertising partnership with McDonald’s was criticised over the company’s ties to Israel. In a new campaign, the rapper appears in filmed adverts and on billboards promoting the “Stormzy meal” featuring a selection of his favourite menu items. Continue reading...
US stocks dip amid concerns over tariffs and consumer belt-tightening
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All three major stock indexes moved decisively lower, extending sell-off in wake of dour economic reports US stocks tumbled on Friday, extending a sell-off in the wake of dour economic reports and closing the book on a holiday-shortened week fraught with new tariff threats and worries of softening consumer demand. All three major US stock indexes moved decisively lower on the heels of the data, and continued their slide into afternoon trading. Continue reading...
Brazilian city in Amazon declares emergency after huge sinkholes appear
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In Buriticupu, about 1,200 people risk losing their homes, and residents have seen the problem escalate in 30 years Authorities in a city in the Brazilian Amazon have declared a state of emergency after huge sinkholes opened up, threatening hundreds of homes. Several buildings in Buriticupu, in Maranhão state, have already been destroyed, and about 1,200 people of a population of 55,000 risk losing their homes into a widening abyss. Continue reading...
Justice department drops discrimination case against Elon Musk’s SpaceX
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Case brought during Biden presidency accused space company of refusing, unlawfully, to hire certain immigrants The US Department of Justice on Thursday said it would drop a case accusing Elon Musk’s space technology company SpaceX of refusing to hire certain immigrants. The justice department last month signaled it could back away from the case, brought during Joe Biden’s term. Musk, a top adviser and donor to Donald Trump, is leading a commission tasked with identifying waste in the federal government, dubbed the “department of government efficiency”, or Doge. Continue reading...
Working-class creatives don’t stand a chance in UK today, leading artists warn
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Exclusive: Analysis by the Guardian shows a third of major arts leaders were educated privately Analysis: Who is ‘working class’ and why does it matter in the arts? Interviews: Nine working-class creatives on class in the arts – and how they made it Artists, directors and actors have raised the alarm about what they describe as a rigged system preventing working-class talent thriving in their industries after analysis showed almost a third of major arts leaders were educated privately. The creator of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight, the director Shane Meadows and the Turner prize winner Jesse Darling were among those who spoke to the Guardian about what was described as a crisis facing the sector. Continue reading...
Apple removes advanced data protection tool after UK government request
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Users will now be more vulnerable to data breaches from bad actors, Apple says, after Home Office order Business live – latest updates Apple has taken the unprecedented step of removing its strongest data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded “backdoor” access to user data. UK users will no longer have access to the advanced data protection (ADP) tool, which uses end-to-end encryption to allow only account holders to view items such as photos or documents they have stored online in the iCloud storage service. UK users will now be more vulnerable to data breaches from bad actors, and other threats to customer privacy, Apple said. It will also mean that all data is accessible by Apple, which can share it with law enforcement if they have a warrant. Continue reading...
Manchester United staff warned they could be sacked if they leak information
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Chief executive Omar Berrada’s warning email leaked Club to talk to staff about changes in meeting on Monday Manchester United employees have been warned by the chief executive, Omar Berrada, that they are committing “gross misconduct” if they leak confidential information, with staff potentially losing their jobs if found guilty of doing so. Berrada sent an email, which has been seen by the Guardian, to all staff on Monday and indicated the club has launched an investigation into leaks. Continue reading...
Watchdog to reinvestigate Jonathan Reynolds’ legal career claims
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Solicitors Regulation Authority says it has further information about claims business secretary misrepresented his career The Solicitors Regulation Authority has said it will reinvestigate the business secretary Jonathan Reynolds over accusations he misrepresented his legal career. A spokesperson for the SRA said: “We looked at that issue at the time we became aware of it and contacted Mr Reynolds about the profiles. Continue reading...
Amazon paid more than $1bn to take creative control of James Bond
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007 stars offer mixed reactions to deal with the British-American heirs to the film producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli Business live – latest updates Amazon has paid more than $1bn for “creative control” of the James Bond franchise, the Guardian understands, in a deal that has met with a mixed response from stars of the films. Amazon MGM Studios said on Thursday that it had struck a deal with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, the British-American heirs to the film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and longtime stewards of the Bond films. Continue reading...
The name’s Bezos, Jeff Bezos: what can we expect from Amazon’s James Bond?
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With one of the film industry’s most lucrative franchises signed over to Amazon MGM, 007 could be facing down the barrel of spin-offs, quasi-crowdsourcing and a cinematic universe to rival Marvel The ink could hardly have dried on the contract between Amazon MGM and Eon Productions, the legendary Bond film company run by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, before Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos put up a social media post that went to the heart of the conundrum faced by one of the film industry’s most lucrative franchises: “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?” The reality underlying Broccoli and Wilson’s decision to cede control to Amazon, the company that has since 2021 been responsible for co-producing Bond films after its purchase of MGM, is that since it became apparent that Daniel Craig wanted to leave the role, the franchise has been struck by a kind of creative paralysis. We are used to increasingly long gaps between their release, but with no new lead actor in sight, Bond 26 has still not even reached the starting gate. Eon kept the quest for a new Bond behind completely closed doors, like a sort of state secret, but Bezos’s first act has been to throw the gates open, with an Elon Musk-esque act of quasi-crowdsourcing. It may be just a PR-grabbing gesture, but it demonstrates that Amazon is planning to do things differently from now on. Continue reading...
Labor hasn’t delivered on more effective nature laws. It’s not just embarrassing, it’s calamitous | Tim Winton
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As Ningaloo reef bleaches and an election looms, we must hold to account those who stand in the way of our safety – the small cohort profiting from fossil fuels, and the politicians who protect them Late last spring, I was part of an expedition to Scott Reef, a magnificent coral atoll nearly 300 kilometres off the Kimberley coast. And while it was a privilege to be in such a remote and wonderful place, watching rare and endemic sea life drifting past, the moment I tipped from the boat in my mask and fins, I knew something was wrong. The water was too hot. Not tropical warm, but uncomfortably hot. Continue reading...
A prize worth pursuing: has Elizabeth line shown what rail investment can achieve?
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Project has smashed forecasts on passengers numbers and created a story of regeneration along its route Halfway to a billion journeys, and it’s only just begun. Amid the recent gloom, struggles and doubts besetting Britain’s railway there is a bright beacon of hope: the Elizabeth line. Now accounting for one in seven national rail journeys, the east-west cross-London railway has smashed forecasts and remoulded the travel habits and urban geography of the south-east. Continue reading...
Trump is using tariffs as a blunt-force tool. It won’t work | Mike Williams
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The steel industry needs to modernize. Tariffs can help, but the government must go beyond trade policy Last week, Donald Trump revived a trade war from his first term, implementing a 25% tariff on all imported steel. In doing so, he’s using tariffs as a blunt-force tool under the assumption that they’ll be sufficient to jump-start the American steel industry. But that’s not the case. Mike Williams is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former deputy director of the BlueGreen Alliance Continue reading...
Even Reform voters think the workers’ rights bill is good news. So why isn’t Labour shouting about it? | Polly Smythe
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Why would the government water down and downplay such a popular policy? Because the business lobby doesn’t like it At last year’s TUC conference, the employment rights minister, Justin Madders, described Labour’s workers’ rights package as “the sort of thing that would make you say to the person on the street: ‘It does matter who you vote for.’” Despite the bill’s initial offering having been diluted, he is right: day one employment rights, an end to “exploitative” zero-hours contracts and a clampdown on fire-and-rehire. In the midst of abysmal polling, you would think Labour, desperate to prove that after more than a decade of Tory dysfunction the government can improve people’s daily lives, would loudly embrace its overhaul of worker protections. But that is not what has happened. Instead, even as the government has launched a frenzied publicity offensive over its “tough” immigration stance, it has remained comparably silent over its employment reforms, seeming to shy away from letting news of the bill even reach the person on the street. Polly Smythe is labour movement correspondent at Novara Media Continue reading...
Four banks fined £100m by UK regulator over traders’ sharing of information
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HSBC, Citi and Morgan Stanley among five banks CMA investigated for competition law breaches between 2009-13 The UK competition regulator has fined four major banks, including HSBC and Citi, more than £100m after it found traders had been using Bloomberg chatrooms to share sensitive information about government bonds. The penalties follow a long-running investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which discovered that individual traders at Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Deutsche Bank had messaged rival bankers about the buying and selling of UK government bonds – known as gilts – on specific dates between 2009 and 2013. Continue reading...
Outcry as Trump withdraws support for research that mentions ‘climate’
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US government stripping funds from domestic and overseas research amid warnings for health and public safety The Trump administration is stripping away support for scientific research in the US and overseas that contains a word it finds particularly inconvenient: “climate.” The US government is withdrawing grants and other support for research that even references the climate crisis, academics have said, amid Donald Trump’s blitzkrieg upon environmental regulations and clean-energy development. Continue reading...
Willingness to ease off ‘debt brake’ may decide the German election
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Rule dating from 2009 that limits borrowing looks vulnerable as main political parties promise to revive stalled economy Germany is used to running its economy with the brake on. Ever since the 2008 financial crisis Berlin has sought to burnish a reputation as the world capital of fiscal discipline, with a near-pious aversion to debt and pride in strong government finances. Under a rule known as the “debt brake” – introduced in 2009 by Angela Merkel to show Germany was committed to balancing the books after the banking crash – the federal government is required to limit annual borrowing to 0.35% of GDP. Continue reading...
St Pancras and Channel tunnel plan rail routes to Germany and Switzerland
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Partnership comes as London station looks at ways to almost triple passenger numbers St Pancras railway station in London and the Channel tunnel operator have agreed to work together to open up more trains from Britain to France, and routes to Germany and Switzerland. The agreement is the latest sign of growing momentum for new passenger rail links from England across the Channel, after the UK’s only international station announced plans to triple the number of people who can travel through every hour. Continue reading...
Donald Trump halting anti-bribery laws will harm, not help US companies
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President’s order means a race to the bottom rigged against US, argues anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Bribery is not a victimless crime. Stories listing the amount paid or the fine imposed can make them sound more like distasteful financial transactions, but they have harmful – sometimes deadly – outcomes. Bribes have been paid to building inspectors to ignore safety violations later cited in catastrophic collapses, and to officials to ignore worker standards that result in disabling and lethal outcomes. They have even helped divert weapons into the hands of rogue and dangerous actors. Gary Kalman is the executive director of Transparency International US. Maira Martini is the CEO of Transparency International. Continue reading...
As the UK prepares its next carbon budget, what needs to be included?
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Expert recommendations will influence plans for energy, housing, transport industry and farming for decades Labour will next week be confronted with stark policy choices that threaten to expose the fault lines between the Treasury and the government’s green ambitions, as advice for the UK’s next carbon budget is published. Plans for the energy sector, housing, transport, industry and farming will all be called into question in a sweeping set of recommendations for how the UK can meet the legally binding target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Continue reading...
Hurricane-proof skyscrapers vulnerable to less powerful windstorms, study finds
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Tall buildings fare poorly in derechos, say experts, raising questions over their resilience as climate crisis worsens Skyscrapers built to withstand major hurricanes fare much more poorly in less powerful windstorms known as derechos, researchers have found, raising questions for cities worldwide over the resilience of tall buildings as the climate emergency worsens. A team from Florida International University’s (FIU) civil and environmental engineering department studied the unexpectedly severe damage caused to buildings in Houston, a city with 50 skyscrapers of 492ft (150 metres) or more, during the 16 May 2024 derecho. Continue reading...
Weather tracker: Winds batter South Africa as Storm Coral blasts parts of Med
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In Europe and large parts of the US it has been a week of plunging temperatures and heavy snow Severe weather hit South Africa this week, with intense thunderstorms, flooding and reported tornadoes. The South African weather service issued warnings for provinces across central and eastern parts of the country, covering the risk of torrential downpours, strong winds, hail and lightning. One tornado, in Pretoria North on Tuesday, damaged hundreds of homes, vehicles and buildings and uprooted trees. By the end of the week, areas in eastern South Africa may record cumulative rainfall of about 100-150mm. Continue reading...
Trump administration’s mass firings could leave federal government with ‘monumental’ bill, say experts
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Lawyer says ‘astounding’ purge will cost government, after workers with positive reviews cut due to ‘poor performance’ Donald Trump’s administration could wrack up a “monumental” bill and is breaking the law by firing government workers on spurious grounds, according to a top labor lawyer. Officials have cited “poor performance” when terminating thousands of federal workers. In many cases it’s not true, according to employees embroiled in the blitz, many of whom are now seeking legal advice. Continue reading...
Rolling back on climate actions may spell rise in preventable illness – study
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Net zero policies would result in fewer deaths saving UK billions, say researchers Countries that weaken or stop their net zero and climate actions may be consigning their populations to decades of preventable illness. Gains from net zero are often presented as global benefits and mainly for future generations. But less fossil fuel use also means less air pollution which results in local health gains right away. Continue reading...
Elon Musk rebuffs claims that Tesla could invest in Nissan
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Japanese carmaker’s shares rise almost 10% after reports that a group wants US EV firm to put in money Elon Musk has rebuffed the idea that Tesla could put money into the struggling carmaker Nissan, after a report that said a Japanese group was seeking its investment sent shares soaring. Nissan’s stock market value jumped by 9.5% on Friday after claims that the former prime minister Yoshihide Suga was among those who want the US electric carmaker to become a strategic investor, possibly in exchange for Nissan’s American factories. Continue reading...
‘Bad news continues’ for Rachel Reeves as UK’s January budget surplus misses forecasts – business live
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Although January’s budget surplus was a record, at £15.4bn, it’s £5.1bn less than expected, which may lead to tax rises or spending cuts UK hiring on the rise as confidence lifts, research suggests Britain’s income from inheritance tax is on track to hit a record this financial year, having risen around 10%. Inheritance Tax receipts for April 2024 to January 2025 are now £7.0bn, new data from HMRC shows, which is £700m higher than the same period last year. “The inheritance tax creep crawls ever higher, hitting £7bn so far this tax year. This puts it well on track to surpass the £7.5bn record that it hit a year earlier. With government plans to include pensions in the net for inheritance tax from 2027 and thresholds remaining frozen, the tax take is only going to get higher. Continue reading...
Rachel Reeves given smaller than expected £15bn tax boost to UK finances
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January surplus is still highest on record but below the £20bn City economists had forecast Business live – latest updates A rise in self-assessment and capital gains tax receipts gave the UK’s public finances a smaller than expected £15.4bn lift in January. The surplus is still the highest since records began in 1993 and is a reversal of December’s slump, when the public finances slid to a £17.8bn deficit. Continue reading...