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Help-to-Buy scheme delivered ‘very high value for money,’ review finds
A government audit has found that George Osborne’s Help-to-Buy scheme delivered “very high value for money”, providing £25bn of social value to the UK in the last financial year. The findings strengthen the hand of senior Labour figures, including housing minister Matthew Pennycook and former housing secretary Steve Reed, who have been pushing behind the…
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Why unwanted fridges are piling up at recycling centres across England and Wales
Recycling centres across England and Wales are struggling to cope with a backlog of discarded fridges and freezers, prompting 26 councils, including Bradford, Gloucestershire, Durham and Nottinghamshire, to suspend collections this month. The Local Government Association says the crisis stems from a “system failure” in processing capacity rather than a rise in fridge sales, and…
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Lawmaker recalls terrifying moment his plane crashed into Wisconsin lake: ‘Like staring into the abyss’
US Republican congressman and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany has described the terrifying seconds before the small plane he was travelling in crash-landed into a lake, saying it felt “like staring into the abyss.” Tiffany, who was returning from a campaign event in La Crosse County, said the pilot warned him they were going down…
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Data center debacle as ‘computer glitch’ causes 5k gallons of diesel fuel to spill into New Jersey wetlands
Around 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a storage tank at Equinix’s NY2 data centre in Secaucus, New Jersey, on 11 September, flowing into Anderson Creek, a tributary feeding the Hackensack River. The incident has triggered a major clean-up operation and reignited anger over the rapid expansion of data centres across the state, with…
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Houthis seize strategic Red Sea islands as analysts warn of impending oil crunch
Yemen’s Houthi militants have seized the strategic Red Sea islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish, extending their control over a critical shipping route amid fears of a new global oil crisis. The move follows the group’s rapid advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the earlier capture of the port of Mokha and Perim island…
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Bank of England urged to slow or halt bond-selling to slash UK borrowing costs
Economists are pressing the chancellor, John Healey, to push the Bank of England to slow or halt its bond-selling programme, which they say is adding billions of pounds to the cost of government borrowing. The Bank’s monetary policy committee meets this week to set interest rates and decide whether to ease its “quantitative tightening” (QT),…
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Digital ID comes of age as pubs and bars get go-ahead for biometric scan tech
New laws taking effect this week in England and Wales will allow pubs, off-licences, nightclubs and restaurants to use biometric digital ID to check that customers buying alcohol are over 18. Instead of showing a passport or driving licence, customers will be able to scan their face using an app on their phone, generating a…
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Teal MP Zali Steggall’s blistering take down of Sydney Sweeney sports ad: ‘Putting her body cheaply on the line’
Independent MP Zali Steggall has strongly criticised a gambling advertisement featuring US actress Sydney Sweeney, accusing it of exploiting her body to promote sports betting and of “luring” young men into harmful gambling habits. Steggall, a former Winter Olympic skier, said the campaign undermined decades of effort by female athletes to be recognised for their…
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Anthropic co-founder calls for ‘common sense’ regulations on AI after Trump slams ‘sick conspiracies’
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark has renewed calls for “common sense” safety regulations on artificial intelligence, pushing back against President Donald Trump’s dismissal of such concerns as “sick conspiracies.” Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Clark said AI companies need the Trump administration’s help to establish a shared safety framework, arguing this could be done without…
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Georgia’s youngest mayor accused of sexting teenager is REMOVED from office just weeks after he was probed for misusing his office’s credit card
Jayden Williams, the 23-year-old mayor of Stockbridge, Georgia, has been removed from office following allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit photos with a male high school pupil shortly after he turned 18. The move comes just weeks after the city council had already stripped Williams of several mayoral privileges amid a separate investigation into alleged…