- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
Strikes-hit UK pledges £94 bn in cost-of-living budget
Britain on Wednesday said its cost-of-living support for this year and next would total £94 billion ($114 billion), as it forecast the UK to stay out of recession with inflation slowing sharply.
"In the face of a cost-of-living crisis... we have demonstrated our values by protecting struggling families," finance minister Jeremy Hunt said in a budget speech outlining extra support especially for energy bills and childcare.
It came as teachers, junior doctors, civil servants, BBC journalists and drivers on London's underground Tube railway staged the latest day of mass walkouts.
Hundreds and thousands of public and private sector workers show little sign of ending strike action that began last year when rocketing inflation slashed the value of wages.
"High inflation is the root cause of the strikes we have seen in recent months," Chancellor of the Exchequer Hunt told parliament.
"We will continue to work hard to settle those disputes but only in a way that does not fuel inflation."
UK inflation remains above 10 percent but should cool to 2.9 percent by year-end, Hunt said.
He added: "The UK will not... enter a technical recession this year" after narrowly avoiding two successive quarters of contraction in 2022.
The government said it would extend a subsidy on energy bills for a further three months after the invasion of Ukraine by oil and gas producer Russia sent them surging.
"Continuing to hold down energy bills is part of our plan to help hardworking families with the cost of living and halve inflation this year," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement preceding the formal budget announcement.
The Conservative administration also announced increased childcare funding and other actions aimed at encouraging parents, the over-50s and others back into the jobs market.
It is looking to fill 1.1 million staff vacancies -- in part caused by a lack of EU workers following Brexit and owing to a record number of people classed as long-term sick.
- Pensions -
The chancellor confirmed that workers could put more tax-free money into their private pensions, even if many will not have the disposable income to do so.
"Reports of senior doctors retiring early due to the impact of pension tax allowances... have undoubtedly been of particular concern to the government given the pressures already on the health system following the pandemic," noted Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell.
In neighbouring France, the Senate at the weekend voted to approve a deeply unpopular reform to the country's pension system.
The headline measure is a hike in the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62, seen by many as unfair to people who started working young.
Britain's retirement age of 66 is set to increase before the end of the decade, meaning a longer wait to access the state pension. Private pensions are available at an earlier age.
- More defence spend -
Hunt has insisted the government must keep a tight rein on spending after debt jumped as a result of the Covid pandemic.
However, on Wednesday he confirmed defence spending would increase by £11 billion over the next five years.
Hunt has also outlined a 20-year plan to capture carbon and commit to nuclear energy as it strengthens energy supplies and seeks a net zero economy by mid-century.
Ch.Lefebvre--CPN