Newsletter Jul 24, 2023

Fears for UK 'green' policies after shock by-election result

Contentious plans by London's mayor to extend a scheme taxing the use of the most polluting vehicles were being blamed Friday for costing his opposition Labour party Boris Johnson's old parliamentary seat.

Asian markets mostly gain ahead of key rate decisions

Equities mostly rose Monday in Asia with investors gearing up for policy decisions at major central banks this week, while concern over the Chinese economy continued to dampen sentiment.

Investors' projections indicate affordable housing market set to double by 2023

JLL's Affordable Housing 2023 report projects a 120 per cent growth in the UK's affordable housing market, with an increasing interest of investors.

ECB set to hike again with inflation stubbornly high

Another interest rate hike appears a near certainty when ECB policymakers meet Thursday as inflation remains high, but the central bank faces increasing discontent among countries scared high interest rates will hurt growth.

Growing concerns of a British drought this summer have called for sterner warnings to deal with extreme heat

The British government has set out plans to deal with a possible British drought and to make sure water supplies are correctly managed in order to cope.

Heatwaves pose risk to food security of entire planet, warn scientists

Climate change is causing record-setting temperatures to become more frequent. It has become the biggest threat to the survival of humanity.

'Strong trade unions' necessary says Starmer to Unite Policy Conference

Speaking at the 2023 Unite Policy Conference, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer referred to the importance of the TUC's recent victory at the High Court.

Grocery price inflation sees notable decline while promotional spending rises

According to Kanta, a market research company, there was a significant 1.6 percentage point decline in grocery inflation towards the first week in July.

McDonald's opens misconduct unit after UK allegations

McDonald's UK has opened a specialist unit to investigate allegations of racial and sexual misconduct exposed by the BBC, its boss announced Friday.

UK Space Agency unveils Space Exploration Technology Roadmap to propel the nation's space sector

UK Space Agency unveils a 10-year Space Exploration Technology Roadmap to strengthen collaboration with international partners, boost commercialization, and advance space capabilities.

Qualcomm, Meta team up to bring on-device AI apps to Galaxy S24

There are four advantages of on-device AI including cost reduction, personalisation, improved reliability and performance with enhanced privacy, and security.

In age of AI, women battle rise of deepfake porn

Photo apps digitally undressing women, sexualized text-to-image prompts creating "AI girls" and manipulated images fueling "sextortion" rackets -- a boom in deepfake porn is outpacing US and European efforts to regulate the technology.

Iraqis protest again after Denmark book burning incident

Iraqi security forces on Saturday dispersed around 1,000 supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr who tried to march to Baghdad's Green Zone housing foreign embassies, believing a Koran had been desecrated in Denmark.

Croatia travel warning this summer as UK Foreign Office changes guidance

A severe heatwave is ongoing across most parts of Southern Europe.

UK holidaymakers will now need 3 extra documents to enter Spain

Spain received around 15 million visitors from the UK last year.

Saudi Arabia plans to 'steal' Kylian Mbappe from Real Madrid

PSG is believed to be ready to sell the Frenchman this summer.

Australia retain Ashes after fourth Test washout

Australia have retained the Ashes after the fourth Test against England ended in a rain-affected draw, with bad weather at Old Trafford washing out Sunday's final day.