Author: News Desk

Emily Damari among first three hostages freed by Hamas as ceasefire deal takes effect, with 90 Palestinians held in Israeli jails also freed ‘I’ve returned to my beloved life,’ freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari says after release from Gaza British-Israeli national Emily Damari – among the first three hostages freed from Gaza by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel – says she has “returned to my beloved life” in the moving first comments she has made since her release. Ms Damari, 28, was freed from 15 months in captivity on Sunday as the truce deal came into…

The research breaks down aspects of household finances to a local level The best and worst areas in the UK for savings and retirement plans Parts of the South East of England are the most financially resilient in the UK, a study has found, with Hull, Nottingham and Liverpool the least. The Hargreaves Lansdown’s savings and resilience barometer breaks does household finances and looks at things like savings levels, being on track for retirement and debts. While incomes form part of financial resilience, housing affordability is also an issue, because areas with a lack of affordability mean fewer people are…

Some of the tools, named after the fictional Whitehall official Sir Humphrey Appleby from the BBC’s Yes, Minister, are ready for use straight away. Civil Service ‘Humphrey’ AI tools aim to cut back spending and speed up work A package of AI tools dubbed Humphrey will be rolled out to the Civil Service to cut back on consultant spending and speed up work in Whitehall. Replacing “archaic” technology could save taxpayer-funded services £45 billion by boosting productivity, according to a report on Government technology to be published on Tuesday. Some of the bundle of tools, named after the fictional Whitehall…

News analysis: Of the many watch parties going on in Washington DC, the packed one at the Heritage Foundation, which led the compilation of Project 2025 policy tome shaping Trump’s agenda, had special significance. Political editor David Maddox reports from Washington, D.C. Trump once distanced himself from Project 2025. But now MAGA’s hardliners are ready for the revolution During the bitter presidential election campaign, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her supporters regularly quoted from the Project 2025 tome produced by more than 100 right-wing thinktanks and led by the massive Heritage Foundation. At one point, such was the intensity of attacks around it, Donald Trump publicly…

Changes to the work capability assessment are at the heart of Labour plans ‘Urgent’ disability benefit reform backed by Lords after Starmer warns of ‘ruthless’ cuts An inquiry by House of Lords members has recommended “urgent” reforms be made to the UK’s disability benefits system, pressing the government to push ahead with planned changes. Writing to DWP secretary Liz Kendall, the House’s Economic Affairs Committee advises that welfare spending must be reduced or else it will “remain a challenge” for the government. The inquiry report points out that £65 billion a year is now spent on health-related benefits in the…

IT and construction dominate Ireland’s top-paying jobs IT jobs in Ireland maintain their position as the highest paid roles in Ireland, according to analysis by jobs recruitment website IrishJobs.Workers in the sector had the highest average mean salary at €69,050. This was followed by construction workers on €63,502, finance employees on €63,165 and engineering at €59,808. According to the research, full-time employees in Ireland earned a mean gross salary of €46,791 last year. Ireland compares positively to other European economies, with a median salary in the UK of £35,648 (€42,377) and €45,800 in Germany. The research is based on an analysis of…

Beckham told the World Economic Forum girls were held back by violence, poverty and discrimination David Beckham urges Davos leaders to fight for girls’ rights David Beckham has made an impassioned speech urging global leaders to fight for women’s rights during an address at Davos. The ex-England footballer was honoured with a Crystal Award at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland on Monday, for his “extraordinary leadership and humanitarianism” in protecting “the rights of the most vulnerable children”. On route to collecting the award, Unicef goodwill ambassador Beckham hugged Melanie Brown, the former Spice Girls bandmate of his…

After taking the oath of office, America’s 47th president tells crowds in freezing cold Washington DC he was ‘saved by god to make America great again’ Donald Trump returns with boast of golden age for America built on oil and tariffs Donald Trump boasted his second term in office marks the beginning of “a golden age” for the United States and declared that God had saved him from an assassin’s bullet “to make America great again”. In a characteristically bombastic speech from the Capitol in Washington DC, the 47th president of the United States laid out a radical right-wing domestic…

Axel Rudakubana, then 17, unleashed an attack on 30 July during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class – in the chaotic hours following the incident, misinformation began spreading online How misinformation about the Southport murders sparked violent race riots across the country  The summer race riots that engulfed the nation in waves of violence had a grim and harrowing spark – a mass stabbing at a dance class in the seaside town of Southport, carried out by a teenager. Axel Rudakubana, then 17, unleashed an attack on 30 July during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, murdering three children and injuring eight…

Exclusive: Incoming president still minded to reject Lord Mandelson’s credentials as the UK’s ambassador to the US, with reports of splits in Downing Street over the appointment Trump poised to reject Mandelson as ambassador to US unless serious restrictions placed on his activities Donald Trump is still threatening to reject Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US unless the British government accept serious restrictions on his activities. Sir Keir Starmer is being placed under increasing pressure by the incoming Trump administration to bow to the undiplomatic demands or face a humiliating and unprecedented veto on his pick…