Barclays cuts back risky lending after £228m hit from UK mortgage firm MFS

The firms said last week that they will be reducing parental leave and other benefits for employees starting next yearRecent moves by US companies Deloitte and Zoom to reduce how much paid parental leave they offer employees could signal a larger reduction in benefits in corporate America, according to labor market experts.American workers are already seen as having less benefits and labor protections than many of their counterparts across the world, especially in Europe. Continue reading...

Climate group calls for urgent windfall tax on excess fossil fuel profits, as delegates tell Colombia conference their nations are sufferingThe Middle East oil and gas crunch will impose as much as a trillion dollars of additional costs on the global economy while petroleum companies rake in spectacular profits from elevated fuel prices, analysis has revealed.The uneven distribution of risk and reward comes amid rising concern that the US-Israeli attack on Iran is worsening inequality, poverty and hunger across a world that has become dangerously dependent on fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Actions expected to exceed 3,000 as unions and groups expand protests inspired by Minnesota ICE crackdownLabor unions, democratic organizations and community groups are organizing an economic blackout this year to commemorate May Day, International Workers Day, inspired by the economic blackout in Minnesota during the massive ICE operation in the state.May Day Strong events are being planned across the US, with organizers calling for “no school, no work, no shopping”, in protest of government policies they say put billionaires’ needs above those of workers. Continue reading...

Star tells awards ceremony: ‘I disagree with everything that this administration stands for, but there’s no place for the kind of violence we saw two nights ago’In the wake of the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner, George Clooney used an awards-show speech to make a plea against “hatred and corruption and cruelty and violence”.Clooney was speaking at an event at the Lincoln Center in New York, where he was given Film at Lincoln Center’s annual Chaplin award, which “recognises an individual’s significant contribution to cinema”. Continue reading...

Vets say whale stranded for a month near Lübeck is fit to be transported in rescue effort funded by two entrepreneursGerman officials have given the green light for a fresh attempt to rescue a humpback whale that has been stranded off the country’s Baltic Sea coast for more than a month.The 13-metre (40ft) whale’s struggle for survival has gripped Germany since the creature beached on a sandbank near the city of Lübeck, far from its natural habitat. Continue reading...

FTSE 250 firms Paragon and OSB Group, owner of Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages, slide on London Stock ExchangeRachel Reeves considering rent freeze to limit Iran war falloutBusiness live – latest updatesShares in some of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lenders such as Paragon and One Savings Bank have fallen after it emerged that the chancellor may make private landlords commit to a one-year rent freeze.In an effort to protect households from rising living costs as a result of the Iran war, Rachel Reeves is considering whether to ban landlords in England from increasing rents for a limited period of time, the Guardian revealed on Monday night. Continue reading...

Vice-president faces challenges as he assumes potential role of point man in endeavor to end a war he opposedAs a man who wears his Christian beliefs on his sleeve, JD Vance is no doubt acutely conscious of Jesus Christ’s dictum from his sermon on the mount declaring that “blessed are the peacemakers”.Yet the US vice-president, a Catholic convert who recently found himself at odds with Pope Leo, is discovering the difficulties of living up to that standard while serving a mercurial political master who is waging a war Vance once cautioned against. Continue reading...

Teacher at Marist College Ashgrove claims she suffered ‘serious psychiatric injury’ after the schoolyard incidentGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA teacher at one of Brisbane’s top private boys’ schools has claimed she was subject to a “culture of misogyny” after being surrounded by hundreds of Catholic school students and pelted with food in an incident that left her with a “serious psychiatric injury”.A barrister acting for Victoria Sparrow, a teacher at Marist College Ashgrove, told the Brisbane supreme court that the school allowed a culture of misogyny to “develop and exist”. Continue reading...

Philip Barton says there was pressure over pace of vetting from No 10, which he says was ‘uninterested’ in processUK politics live – latest updatesThe former Foreign Office chief has said he was concerned about Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffery Epstein – and said there was “absolutely” pressure from Downing Street over the pace of vetting.Giving evidence to the foreign affairs select committee, the former Foreign Office permanent secretary Sir Philip Barton said Number 10 seemed “uninterested” in the vetting process around Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, and said there were no avenues for him to express his concerns. Continue reading...

State visit of UK royals continues as monarch to tell US lawmakers that ‘our countries have always found ways to come together’Sign up for the Breaking News US email Hello and welcome to our coverage of US news as the Trumps continue hosting King Charles and Queen Camilla during their state visit.As expected, the British royals have a packed itinerary of events this morning including been greeted by Donald and Melania Trump at the White House, signing the guest book and exchanging gifts. Continue reading...

Defendant, 21, in court with second man over alleged scheme to kill music fans outside Vienna stadiumThe trial against a man accused of plotting to attack one of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago began in Austria on Tuesday.The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs. Continue reading...