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Year of after-school care now costs £2,800 a child in parts of UK
Parents of primary school children in England are paying 42% more for after-school childcare than a decade ago, with annual bills now topping £2,800 in some parts of the UK, according to Guardian analysis of data from the children’s charity Coram. The rising costs, which come on top of holiday childcare, breakfast clubs and extracurricular…
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Moment family in taxi is hit on their way home from airport by reckless driver who careers round corner on wrong side of the road
A video captured a reckless driver speeding down the wrong side of the road before colliding with a taxi carrying a family home from the airport in Benfleet, Essex. The crash, which happened in the early hours of Friday morning, left the taxi thrown onto the pavement and the offending car severely damaged, with police…
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Heatwave health risks threaten insurer earnings, rating agency S&P warns
The rating agency S&P has warned that Europe’s intense heatwaves could squeeze insurers’ earnings, as life and health insurers face a growing wave of claims linked to heat-related deaths and worsening health conditions, particularly among older people. This matters because insurers may respond by raising premiums for customers, and because the trend is expected to…
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Lego sales rise as World Cup and F1 ranges prove to be winners
Lego’s sales have jumped by more than a fifth in the first half of 2026, boosted by tie-ins with the football World Cup, Formula One and the film KPop Demon Hunters, alongside popular flower-themed and Star Wars sets. The Danish toymaker’s strong performance reflects a wider resurgence in the toy market, with adult “kidult” buyers…
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Canada set to retaliate after US tariffs take effect and trade negotiations collapse
Canada’s trade dispute with the United States has settled into an entrenched standoff, with Ottawa deploying a mix of formal retaliatory tariffs and grassroots economic pressure after negotiations collapsed. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government finalised “dollar-for-dollar” countermeasures targeting steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, electronics and pulp and paper, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford emerged as…
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No one will dare say it out loud… but there’s only one bombshell way Harry and Meghan’s ‘half-in, half-out’ new life in Britain can work: ROBERT JOBSON
Royal commentator Robert Jobson argues that reports of press notices warning UK media not to photograph Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s school are unnecessary, since British newspapers already comply with the Editors’ Code on child privacy, as shown by the absence of any unauthorised images of Prince George, Princess Charlotte or Prince Louis since 2022.…
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Chelsea’s chaos, Burnham’s caution and Newsnight’s axe threat
Labour’s Andy Burnham has ruled out a snap election but not tax rises, while the BBC weighs axing Newsnight; in the US, Trump faces a fresh impeachment bid; a Stanford study warns AI is squeezing young workers hardest; and Chelsea won a wild Fulham derby.
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US Treasury’s Scott Bessent ‘making mistake’ interfering with bond markets, former mentor warns
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller has publicly criticised his former protégé, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, for trying to suppress rising US government bond yields rather than tackling the underlying budget deficit. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Druckenmiller argued that governments which attempt to defend asset prices against economic fundamentals inevitably fail, and that Bessent’s…
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Gold hits highest level in three months as traders worry about US inflation and bond market jitters – business live
Gold has climbed to its highest level since mid-May, with spot prices touching almost $4,700 an ounce before settling around $4,649, as investors grow anxious about the outlook for US inflation and turbulence in the bond market. The rally follows last week’s move by the US Treasury to double its purchases of longer-dated debt in…
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Lloyds Bank is holding on to our urgently needed £5,500
A Guardian reader, treasurer of their parish church, has spent months trying to recover nearly £5,500 from Lloyds Bank after it closed the church’s account and failed to transfer the balance to a new account with another bank. The delay left the small congregation unable to access its own funds, forcing it to borrow money…