Andrey_Popov/ShutterstockPlans to cut health-related benefits in the UK continue to give the government political grief – as well as being a huge worry for claimants.
Sotheby's publicity photograph for the _Ceratosaurus_ fossil. Sotheby's, CC BY-SAA juvenile dinosaur fossil, Ceratosaurus nasicornis, has sold at Sotheby’s New York for US$30.5 million (£22.7 million).
Nanny says no. SOK Studio/ShutterstockThe UK government’s new ten-year-plan to transform the NHS includes a focus on preventing ill health rather than treating illness. But to what extent should people depend on the state to help them make healthy decisions?
Political and economic pressures might force Chinese president and overall leader Xi Jinping to delegate some of his powers to his deputies in a highly significant move.
Historically, UK spending on defence has often been pitted against welfare, education and local government. But at a time when the government has pledged to meet Nato’s target for defence spending – 5% of GDP in the next decade, up from around 2.3% – it appears to be offering a different fiscal equation.
Krakenimages.com/ShutterstockOn a sunny afternoon, I was scrolling through social media when I came across a video of a young woman tossing her sunscreen into a bin. “I don’t trust this stuff anymore,” she said to the camera, holding the bottle up like a piece of damning evidence.
If you choose to buy a sustainable product at the supermarket, or invest in a sustainable portfolio at your bank, how far does that sustainability reach? Does the product’s “sustainable” label account for the environmental and labour costs where the raw materials were extracted? Does the portfolio include renewable energy in countries where the investment is needed most?
Corporate leaders and billionaires are often viewed as visionaries and wealth creators. But beneath the surface, many are trapped in an invisible financial “crisis” – one rooted not in market volatility or poor investments but in their psychological relationship with money.
Governments around the world are hustling. European policymakers, for example, are eager to boost the region’s industrial relevance in a world where the US and China dominate cutting-edge technologies. They want to move beyond the adage that “the US innovates, China replicates and the EU regulates”.
It’s no secret that public finances are tight in the UK. This spells trouble for many sectors, not least culture. After all, this is an area that often relies on public funding – with many projects facing an uncertain future.
