Parents watch children waste away as deliberate aid restrictions from Israel mean hunger is becoming a killer, as experts confirm famine is currently playing out The people of Gaza did not need this week’s official confirmation from UN-backed hunger experts that the “worst-case scenario of famine” was unfolding there. For months they have watched as their children waste away. “All my children have lost nearly half of their body weight,” said Jamil Mughari, a 38-year-old from Maghazi in central Gaza. “My daughter, who is five years old, now weighs only 11kg. My son Mohammad has become just skin and bones. All my children are like this. Continue reading...

The whole tax and spending ship is an unseaworthy rustbucket. This spending review is a chance to fix it, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Expansion came despite looming tax rises and tariffs but economists predict growth will weaken in coming months The UK economy grew by 0.7% in the first three months of the year, according to official figures, defying business warnings of a collapse in confidence ahead of Labour’s tax increases and Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) rose at the strongest pace in a year over the first quarter, continuing an expansion after growth of 0.1% in the final three months of 2024. City economists had forecast a rise of 0.6%. Continue reading...

"We're suffering because of it, and that's a fact."

Exclusive: Ed Davey says Labour and Tories too scared of Reform threat to hold Nigel Farage’s party to account The Liberal Democrats have set up an internal “Reform watch” system to monitor Nigel Farage’s party in local government, with Ed Davey saying Labour and the Conservatives are too scared of the threat from Reform to hold it to account. The Lib Dem leader defended his party’s performance in last week’s local elections, saying council contests where they unexpectedly ended up behind Reform mainly happened because of a collapse in votes for other parties. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ed Davey says Labour and Tories too scared of Reform threat to hold Nigel Farage’s party to account

The reaction to the Marathon Alpha has mostly been mixed to underwhelming. The initial reaction to the ARC Raiders Alpha has visibly skewed more positive.

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is running down a sidewalk with the words let me in written on it .