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Chemists in England are also charging customers 20-30% more for common hay fever treatment compared with FebruaryThe war in Iran has pushed up the price of widely used medicines in England, including painkillers and hay fever medication, leading pharmacists have warned.Community chemists are charging customers 20-30% more for paracetamol than they did in February, according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), and many have run out of certain strengths of aspirin and co-codamol. Continue reading......

The UN has officially designated Jakarta the world's largest city, home to 42 million. We explore a day in the life of the 'big durian'.In December, the United Nations officially designated Jakarta the world's largest city, hosting a staggering 42 million inhabitants. Michael Neilson speaks to several people who call the 'big durian' home – about the positives and the negatives – and how community and the city's infamously dry humour get them through. Continue reading......

Damning testimony from the crew of one tuna-fishing vessel has lifted the lid on the treatment of workers in the fleets supplying fish to the UK and EUAbdul was the first to fall sick, in February 2025, four months into his first ever stint on a longline tuna fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean. Told he was “weak” and “overreacting” by other crew members, he forced himself to keep working, even when he could barely stand, his legs swollen and bruised.In the months that followed, other crew members of the Tia Xiang 5, a Chinese vessel belonging to Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries, a large state-owned fishing company, allegedly began to suffer similar symptoms: swollen, painful limbs and debilitating weakness, with some becoming very short of breath. They were offered no proper medical care, claims Abdul, 36, nor rest from the gruelling 16-hour days, for which they earned 4.6m Indonesian rupiah (about £198) a month. Continue reading......

Commons committee heard from residents of Yorkshire town with the highest levels of 'forever chemicals' in UKOn 15 January, members of the House of Commons environmental audit committee (EAC) visited Bentham, the North Yorkshire town that has the highest levels of Pfas contamination in the UK.Colloquially known as “forever chemicals”, Pfas (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) do not naturally degrade or decompose. This persistence gives them special properties with useful applications in both industrial and consumer products. Continue reading......

Drug industry's self-regulatory body criticises Theramex, producer of Evorel and Intrarosa, for 'alarming' breachesOne of the biggest producers of hormone replacement therapy has been censured by regulators for “systemic failures” that jeopardised patient safety.Theramex, the UK producer of HRT drugs Evorel and Intrarosa, was found to have breached fundamental compliance standards including not updating crucial prescribing information – in some cases for several years – and not making it clear that a drug must not be used during pregnancy. Continue reading......

Industry groups dismayed at hints policy will not be in king's speech, as touts make huge sums from BBC Radio 1 eventKeir Starmer has been urged to honour his pledge to ban ticket touting, amid fears that the policy will be left out of next month's king's speech, potentially costing fans “hundreds of millions”.Music industry groups called on the prime minister to act as fresh evidence showed that professional ticket “traders” had targeted BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend next month, making huge mark-ups through sites such as Viagogo and StubHub. Continue reading......

RMT union drivers continue strike action against London Underground plans for a voluntary four-day weekCommuters in London face another two days of disruption as a second 24-hour tube strike starts from midday on Thursday.No further talks have taken place to settle the dispute and drivers in the RMT union will continue industrial action against London Underground plans for a voluntary four-day week after the first 24-hour strike from midday on Tuesday. Continue reading......

There are now 3,110 billionaires but analysis shows 'deep structural acceleration' in wealth creation around worldThe number of billionaires in the world could reach nearly 4,000 by 2031, figures suggest, as the super-rich accumulate wealth at an accelerating rate.There are now 3,110 billionaires globally, according to analysis by the estate agent Knight Frank. This is forecast to rise by 25% over the next five years, taking the total to 3,915. Continue reading......

Government advisers call for review of rules that cause loss of household income when a child takes up job training Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are abandoning valuable job training opportunities because of a little-known welfare “apprenticeship penalty” that can leave their families out of pocket by as much as £340 a week.The problem is caused by benefit rules that classify a 16-year-old apprentice as an “independent worker” who no longer requires parental support. As a result, the parents' child benefit and child and disability elements of universal credit are withdrawn. Continue reading......

We're being sold a world where there's no room for reflection or spontaneity. This is the Black Mirror stage of capitalismHow fast do you have to strike a match to get it to light? Not the chemistry of the ignition, but the actual speed, in metres per second, that the little piece of wood and its bulbous head have to move to spark the chain reaction behind the flame.It was a question born of insomnia. And there, in the dark, I did the thing you're not supposed to do, if your goal is to fall back asleep: I opened my phone. Before I knew it, 3am had become 5am. I learned about the composition of the friction strip (red phosphorus, pulverized glass), and of the match head (potassium chlorate, antimony trisulphide, wax), and that a safety match struck against anything else will not light. I found slow-motion videos of a match strike captured at 3,500 frames per second. But nothing about the speed.Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out now Continue re...

The campaign, fronted by a CGI squirrel, is part of government initiative to boost financial risk taking, amid fears UK growth is being stymiedNils Pratley: the 'Savvy Squirrel looks a hit too tame'City firms are pinning their hopes on a government-endorsed advertising blitz fronted by a finance “savvy” CGI squirrel to encourage cautious British savers to shift out of cash and start investing.The long-awaited retail investment campaign, which will cost up to £50m, is part of the chancellor Rachel Reeves' nationwide push to encourage more financial risk taking, amid fears risk-averse consumers are losing out and ultimately stymying UK growth. Continue reading......

Ambition behind investing campaign is laudable, yet cutting stamp duty on share purchases, for example, would be much more savvyCity firms bank on 'savvy' ad campaign to push Brits towards investingRed squirrel characters have a history in the public information game. Older UK readers may recall Tufty, who taught children about road safety in the 1970s. His chum, Willy Weasel, regularly got knocked down by passing cars but clever Tufty always remembered to look both ways.Now comes Savvy Squirrel, who, with backing from the chancellor and a multi-year lump of advertising spend from the financial services industry, will try “to drive a step-change in how investing is understood, discussed and adopted”, as the blurb puts it. In translation: don't squirrel everything away in a boring cash Isa but try taking an investment risk or two if you value your long-term financial health. Continue reading......

While company reported positive cash flow and earnings of 41 cents a share, its missed its mark on reported revenueTesla reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, disclosing better than expected results. The report slightly boosted the company's share price, which has limped along this year while its CEO, Elon Musk, has tried to sell the company's new vision of humanoid robots and self-driving robotaxis. Its core car business has struggled in the face of competition from Chinese counterparts and backlash against his close involvement with the Trump administration.“There remains significant effort and hard work to realize our mission of Amazing Abundance,” Tesla said in its report, while claiming that demand for its vehicles was rebounding. Continue reading......

Responding to an article by Nils Pratley, Simon Oldridge writes that the climate risk would outweigh paltry returns from new licensing, while Alex Chapman says Britain's projected demand is often overstated I was surprised to read Nils Pratley's recent column arguing for more North Sea gas (The UK needs more North Sea gas, not greater reliance on US imports, 14 April).Nils rightly questions reliance on costly and highly polluting imported US liquefied natural gas, but I think the analysis gives insufficient weight to the scale and immediacy of the climate and nature crisis. Continue reading......

Rising costs have continued to plague the company, now facing soaring fuel costs due to the war with IranSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe White House is finalizing a financing package to help ailing US budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which could receive as much as $500m in loans as rising costs continue to plague the company.News of the potential deal comes as Spirit and others struggle with soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran. Continue reading......

Serious Fraud Office investigation relates to firms allegedly submitting false invoices for work they failed to carry outThe UK's Serious Fraud Office has arrested four people on suspicion of a home insulation scam that may have cost energy companies as much as £44m.The SFO and the National Crime Agency said on Wednesday the unnamed people were arrested in coordinated dawn raids across England on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. Continue reading......

Justin Sun alleges World Liberty Financial installed tools to prevent sale of his tokens after they became tradeableBillionaire crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun on Tuesday sued World Liberty Financial, the digital currency venture co-founded by Donald Trump and his sons, alleging that World Liberty illegally froze his holdings of tokens issued by the company.Sun, the largest investor in World Liberty, alleged in the lawsuit, filed in a federal court in California, that the company secretly installed tools to prevent the sale of his tokens after they became tradeable in September 2025. The lawsuit also alleges that World Liberty threatened to “burn” – or permanently delete – his holdings, even while they were in Sun's digital wallet. Continue reading......

Lawyers for oligarch claim freezing of £5.3bn of assets 'unfair and abusive' amid row over use of funds for Ukraine Roman Abramovich has gone to the European court of human rights (ECHR), claiming that a criminal investigation into his financial affairs by the Jersey authorities has breached his human rights, according to reports.The former owner of Chelsea FC, who is sanctioned in the UK over his links to Vladimir Putin, is under investigation in Jersey over allegations of corruption and money laundering. Continue reading......

Anthropic's decision to restrict access to its powerful new model increases fears about the advanced technologyAnthropic has ruled out releasing its latest AI model, Mythos, to the public because of the threat it poses to global cybersecurity.However, the US tech startup behind the Claude chatbot confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating a report that a group of people had gained unauthorised access to Mythos. The alleged incident has raised concerns over the pace of development and the ability of tech companies to keep their riskiest products out of the public domain. Here, we examine Mythos and its potential impact. Continue reading......

In feat hailed as milestone in robotics, Sony AI's Ace wins three out of five matches played under official rulesAn AI-powered robot has beaten elite players at table tennis in a landmark achievement for a machine faced with human athletes in a real-world competitive sport.Named Ace, the robotic system developed by Sony AI, won three out of five matches against elite players, but lost the two it played against professionals, clawing back only one game in the seven contests. Continue reading......