Benefit

Filings reveal $220m to $750m in trades on US president’s behalf in first quarter of 2026, including securities linked to largest US companiesHundreds of thousands of dollars was invested in Eli Lilly on Donald Trump’s behalf earlier this year, according to financial disclosures, as the US drugmaker benefited from his administration’s bid to expand access to blockbuster obesity treatments.Ethics filings revealed several thousand trades on the US president’s behalf tied to stocks and bonds in the first quarter of 2026, with a cumulative ​value of between $220m and around $750m. Continue reading...

Prime minister claims Coalition imitating One Nation’s policies as refugee advocacy group warns migrants ‘should not be used as scapegoats’ for economic problemsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has accused Angus Taylor of copying One Nation and “dog-whistling” to marginalise immigrants to Australia, as the Coalition seeks to cut social benefits and government programs for permanent residents.Delivering his budget reply speech on Thursday night, the opposition leader announced plans to slash immigration and restrict welfare programs to citizens only. This would cut access to the national disability insurance scheme, jobseeker and other safety nets from permanent residents who could be living in Australia and paying tax for years. Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers’ budget tips the scales in favour of younger and less well-off households – but it’s middle-class gen X that are turning to the rightwing partyExplore all of our 2026 Australia federal budget coverageLabor’s fifth budget will do what it says on the tin: it will benefit the young and the poor at the expense of the older and the rich.This is the most obvious takeaway from distributional analysis conducted by Ben Phillips, an associate professor at the ANU’s Centre for Social Policy Research. Continue reading...

More than half of the benefit of the CGT concession went to the top 1% of income earners, the most recent data showsWant to get more charts in your inbox every fortnight? Sign up for The Crunch hereThis year’s federal budget includes changes to negative gearing and capital gains (CGT) and discretionary trust tax concessions – policies that some blame for fuelling housing speculation and that disproportionately benefit the richest.The top 1% of lifetime earners alone have received more than $700,000 in tax concessions over their working life from capital gains tax, negative gearing and discretionary trusts, according to figures in the budget. Continue reading...

Al Nahyans’ control over farmland in Europe has meant they receive proportion of payments to farmsThe United Arab Emirates’ ruling royal family is benefiting from tens of millions in EU subsidies to grow crops destined for the Gulf, it can be revealed.A cross-border investigation by DeSmog and shared with the Guardian found subsidiaries controlled by the Al Nahyans collected more than €71m (£61m) in six years for farmland it controls in Romania, Italy and Spain. Continue reading...

Polls suggest Reform could win most seats in Senedd election but party is unlikely to be able to form governmentUK politics live – latest updatesOn a sunny but cold evening in a shopping centre car park on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, Reform UK supporters enjoyed free pizza and loud music as they waited for what the party leader, Nigel Farage, said was his last big speech before Thursday’s Welsh Senedd, Scottish parliament and English local elections.Reform could win the most seats under Wales’s new more proportional voting system but it is unlikely to be able to form a government, as other parties have ruled out going into coalition with it. Yet Farage’s outfit is the first rightwing party with a shot at winning in Wales since the 1850s. The surge in support for a party that got 1% of the vote in the last Senedd election is impossible to ignore. Continue reading...

Injectable pembrolizumab can treat several types of cancer and can be administered in under two minutesThousands of patients across England each year will benefit from a new immunotherapy treatment that can be used for several types of cancer, the NHS has announced.The injectable form of pembrolizumab, which can be administered in under two minutes, kills cancer cells by blocking a protein called PD-1, which acts as a brake on immune responses, allowing the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Continue reading...