With its steep green cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Malibu is a top contender in America’s ultra-luxury real estate market. Its rise in the rankings of the favorite spots of the super-rich was solidified again in past weeks, with reports that Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a 40,000 sq ft oceanfront …
Read More »Bipartisan scramble to corral support for debt ceiling deal to avoid default disaster
Lawmakers in Washington were set on Sunday night to see the details of the deal to raise the US debt ceiling struck between President Joe Biden and House speaker Kevin McCarthy, with the aim of putting a bill to a vote as early as Wednesday and avoiding a catastrophic and …
Read More »IMF’s anti-tax cut stance may give Rishi Sunak cover to resist Tory right
Jeremy Hunt was quick to welcome the International Monetary Fund’s improved economic forecasts. Britain was now on track for the lowest rate of growth outside a recession in the postwar era. Still, it was a “big upgrade” from the Washington-based fund compared with a month ago, the chancellor said. In …
Read More »Sarah Akinterinwa on the UK’s housing crisis – cartoon
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Read More »Martin Lewis: ‘We must stop calling it a student loan – this is a graduate tax’
The consumer finance champion Martin Lewis has highlighted the impact of the new arrangements for student loans, saying some school-leavers may no longer consider a degree is worth the cost. “There is a fundamental misunderstanding about how student loans work, because they are demonised as debt, but under this plan …
Read More »Royal Mail chief expected to step down within weeks
Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson is expected to step down within weeks, after a turbulent two-year stint at the helm. The chief executive has been accused by unions of inflaming the bitter industrial dispute, and his credibility was put in question after a Commons select committee appearance. According to Sky …
Read More »Tory MP lobbied minister on behalf of casino over gambling laws
The Conservative MP Philip Davies lobbied the government on behalf of a casino to introduce a measure that was then included in last week’s gambling white paper, it has emerged. The MP for Shipley, in West Yorkshire, wrote in February to the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, after being entertained at …
Read More »US banking crisis: federal body prepares to put First Republic into receivership
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is preparing to place First Republic under receivership, Reuters reported on Friday, as the worst banking crisis since 2008 continued to hammer mid-sized US banks. The California-based bank looks set to be the third such financial institution to collapse this year, following the …
Read More »MPs condemn Frasers Group’s use of facial recognition cameras in stores
Almost 50 MPs and peers have written to Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, the corporate owner of the tycoon’s retail portfolio including House of Fraser and Sports Direct, condemning the use of “live facial recognition” cameras in the group’s stores. Describing the technology as “invasive and discriminatory”, the parliamentarians, a cross-party …
Read More »Ofgem’s voluntary code on prepayment meters seems a bit of a mess | Nils Pratley
A voluntary code on involuntary installations sounds like a muddle. That impression is reinforced when reading the detail of Ofgem’s attempt to put a stop to some energy suppliers’ thuggish approach to fitting prepayment meters. You have to be aged 85 or over and living alone, or be extremely incapacitated …
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