US President Donald Trump said that Vice President JD Vance’s outreach to Iran was about helping the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran’s top security official to revive peace talks.

Iran has received a letter from Vance but it has not responded to it yet, the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday, while adding that Tehran wants the US to meet its conditions and “any position that contradicts this framework is unacceptable.”

Also on Thursday, the US military’s senior officer overseeing the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, met Trump at the White House to outline military options in Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials and other people with direct knowledge of the meeting.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify this report.

Vance sent the letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei in a bid to revive peace negotiations, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance sent the letter at Trump’s direction. When asked by reporters later on Wednesday if he directed Vance to reach out to Iran to restart peace negotiations, Trump said: “No.”

“What that is is they need help with medical supplies and various things. He (Vance) asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that’s okay. Basically, it’s getting supplies in to help people that are not well,” Trump told reporters.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter and Trump’s remark. Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TEHRAN’S CONDITIONS

Iran’s parliament speaker said on Thursday that Tehran’s conditions had been repeatedly and clearly communicated to mediators and that progress can only be achieved if Iran’s seven conditions are met.

The “carrot-and-stick approach has no effect on Iran,” Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf added.

Conditions Iran says must be met before it will reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route include, among other demands, lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports, lifting US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and ending hostilities on all regional fronts.

The United States and Israel launched a war against Iran at the end of February. The US has also since imposed a naval blockade on Iran to starve it of oil export revenue and escalated efforts to economically isolate Iran.

Iran has long blamed US sanctions for hindering civilian access to medical supplies.

In an August letter to the UN Security Council, Iran accused the US of intentionally depriving civilians “of access to food, medicines, medical equipment, energy and other necessities, with grave consequences for their rights to life, health, food and a decent standard of living.”

Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the war, but a senior Iranian official said Doha had only put forward unacceptable ideas that did not amount to an offer.

The war’s impact on global energy costs has also weighed on support for Republican candidates and hurt Trump’s approval ratings ahead of the US midterm elections that decide control of Congress. Trump’s Republican Party holds a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress.

Youth-led demonstrations across Europe are bringing together concerns about housing, education, employment and political accountability. Although the movements differ considerably between countries, their emergence reflects growing dissatisfaction among younger Europeans over economic prospects and their influence on political decisions.

A series of demonstrations involving young people across Europe has developed into a wider political phenomenon, as students and younger workers challenge governments over living costs, public services and their expectations for the future.

Protests have taken place in France, Belgium, Italy, Albania and several other countries, while a student-led movement in Serbia has achieved a particularly consequential political outcome.

In Serbia, nearly two years of demonstrations culminated in a parliamentary election victory for a student-backed political movement, ending the electoral dominance of President Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party.

The outcome, reported by Reuters on 29 October, has given the movement a prospective parliamentary majority, although final certification of the election results remains outstanding.

Elsewhere, protesters have secured fewer immediate political concessions.

Nevertheless, their campaigns share a recurring concern: that conventional channels of political representation have failed to address problems affecting younger generations.

Economic Pressures Behind the Demonstrations

The grievances vary between countries, but housing affordability, insecure employment, education funding and living costs feature prominently.

A European Parliament youth survey published in February 2025 found that 40 per cent of respondents aged 16 to 30 considered rising prices and the cost of living a priority for the EU.

Almost one-third identified economic conditions and job creation as a principal concern, while education also ranked prominently.

More recent figures illustrate the financial pressures confronting younger Europeans.

According to Eurostat data published in June 2026, 24.2 per cent of EU residents aged 15 to 29 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025.

That compares with 20.9 per cent for the population as a whole.

These figures do not establish that economic hardship is the cause of every protest. They do, however, provide context for the dissatisfaction expressed by participants.

Belgium’s Students Demand Better Education

In Brussels, demonstrations have focused partly on the condition of schools and the availability of educational resources.

Students have criticised deteriorating facilities, shortages of teachers and government decisions affecting education funding.

Nineteen-year-old student Maya Gourdel told Reuters that peaceful attempts to draw attention to these concerns had attracted little response from political leaders.

Her account reflects a wider frustration among demonstrators who believe that public attention has increased only after protests became more disruptive.

Belgium’s education system is organised primarily at community level, meaning decisions concerning funding, staffing and school infrastructure are divided among different authorities.

The demands of protesters consequently involve both national political debates and decisions taken by regional and community institutions.

France and Italy Face Wider Social Unrest

In France, demonstrations concerning the cost of living and public services have involved students alongside trade unions and other organisations.

Recent protests have also been accompanied by violence, including attacks on commercial premises and confrontations with police.

The involvement of younger demonstrators does not mean that every participant supports violent tactics.

Rather, the events illustrate how movements with economic and political grievances can encompass groups with different objectives and methods.

Italy has experienced similar tensions, particularly in Milan, where demonstrations against rising living costs have followed earlier episodes of unrest.

The Italian government has faced pressure over household expenditure, wages and the affordability of essential services.

These disputes have developed against a background of high energy prices and concerns about the broader economic outlook.

Albania’s Frustration With Political Institutions

In Albania, student-led protests have challenged Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government over alleged corruption, limited employment opportunities and education standards.

Demonstrations that began in Tirana have spread to other cities.

On 29 October, opposition lawmakers disrupted proceedings in parliament following weeks of protests and confrontations between demonstrators and police.

The government has offered measures intended to address economic concerns while condemning violence associated with the demonstrations.

For many younger Albanians, employment prospects are closely connected to the possibility of emigrating.

The perception that professional opportunities depend on political connections or personal networks has become another source of dissatisfaction.

However, the Albanian movement cannot be treated as identical to protests in EU member states, given the country’s different economic conditions and political institutions.

Serbia Shows the Political Potential of Student Movements

Serbia provides the most substantial example of youth-led protest translating into electoral change.

The movement emerged after the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people and prompted allegations of corruption and negligence.

Students organised prolonged demonstrations demanding accountability and institutional reform.

Their campaign subsequently developed into an electoral challenge to the governing Serbian Progressive Party.

Preliminary results from the October 2026 parliamentary election indicate that the student-backed list has secured a majority of seats.

However, electoral certification and the formation of a new government remain incomplete.

The movement now faces a different challenge: converting protest demands into administrative decisions, legislation and economic policy.

Its success will be judged not only by the election result but also by its ability to govern.

A Generational Shift, But Not a Single Movement

It would be misleading to describe Europe’s demonstrations as a unified political campaign.

Participants have different objectives, national circumstances and ideological positions.

Some demand increased public expenditure, while others concentrate on corruption, political accountability or employment opportunities.

What connects them is a recurring concern about whether established institutions respond adequately to younger citizens.

The political consequences will depend on whether demonstrations produce lasting organisations, influence elections or secure changes in government policy.

Serbia suggests that student mobilisation can translate into substantial political change.

For governments elsewhere in Europe, the question is whether the grievances driving these movements can be addressed through existing political institutions before dissatisfaction generates further unrest.

Moscow's consent to a temporary ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky seems like a long-overdue and welcome concession from a country that has repeatedly rejected or violated ceasefire proposals during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

So why is the Kremlin so on board with Oleshky? Experts, as well as information

A dispute between Germany and Italy over natural gas storage has exposed tensions within the European Union’s energy market, as wholesale prices approach levels last recorded during the 2022 energy crisis and governments confront the prospect of another expensive winter.

Italy has accused Germany of contributing to the latest surge in European natural gas prices by delaying the replenishment of its underground storage facilities, reopening a debate about national energy policies and their consequences for the EU’s single market.

The dispute emerged on 29 October after the European benchmark gas price briefly exceeded €100 per megawatt hour the previous day, its highest level since December 2022.

Germany’s gas storage facilities were just 61.7 per cent full, compared with almost 91 per cent in Italy and an EU average of approximately 75 per cent.

The difference has become politically sensitive because European countries purchase gas in an interconnected market, meaning decisions taken by one major consumer can influence prices paid elsewhere.

Speaking at the Montel Italian Energy Day conference in Milan, Alessandro Noce, director general for energy markets and infrastructure at Italy’s Energy Ministry, criticised Germany’s approach to preparing for winter.

According to Reuters, Noce argued that Italy had spent €300 million securing additional gas reserves, only to face higher market prices as Germany attempted to replenish its comparatively depleted stocks.

He also questioned whether Germany had delayed purchases because of preparations to privatise energy companies involved in the storage process.

Germany’s Economy Ministry did not immediately respond to the criticism.

Germany’s Storage Decisions Under Scrutiny

The German government’s approach has attracted particular attention because of its role in the operations of Uniper and Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE).

Both companies became important components of Germany’s energy-security arrangements following the disruption of Russian gas supplies in 2022.

Plans concerning their future ownership have coincided with renewed questions about how Berlin balances commercial considerations against the need to maintain strategic reserves.

At the Milan conference, an energy analyst suggested that preparations for privatisation had contributed to delays in storage purchases.

That assessment has not been established as the definitive explanation for Germany’s comparatively low reserves.

Nevertheless, the resulting political dispute demonstrates the difficulties of managing energy security through a system in which national governments retain considerable discretion while their purchasing decisions affect a common market.

Europe’s Gas Market Faces Renewed Pressure

Europe’s latest price increase has several causes extending beyond German storage policies.

Disruptions to liquefied natural gas shipments associated with the conflict involving Iran have constrained supplies from the Middle East.

At the same time, European countries entered the summer storage-refilling period with unusually low reserves following the previous winter.

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) reported that underground gas storage was only 28 per cent full at the end of winter 2025–26.

By 21 October, that figure had risen to 75 per cent, still below historical levels.

In its latest gas-market monitoring report, ACER estimated that disruption linked to the Middle East conflict had added between €18 billion and €33 billion to Europe’s gas-import bill.

The agency also found that American liquefied natural gas accounted for roughly 30 per cent of EU gas supplies, reflecting Europe’s growing reliance on transatlantic energy imports.

Although this diversification has reduced dependence on Russian pipeline gas, it has also increased Europe’s exposure to international competition for LNG cargoes.

European buyers must compete with customers in Asia, particularly when colder weather or geopolitical disruptions increase demand.

EU Storage Rules Face a Test

The disagreement has implications for the European Union’s gas-storage framework.

Following the 2022 energy crisis, the EU introduced mandatory storage requirements intended to reduce the risk of supply shortages during winter.

The arrangements were subsequently extended until the end of 2027.

Under the revised rules, member states retain a 90 per cent storage-filling target but have greater flexibility over when and how it is achieved.

Countries may reach the target between 1 October and 1 December, rather than being bound to the previous 1 November deadline.

Further flexibility is available in difficult market conditions.

These provisions were designed partly to prevent governments from creating artificial demand peaks by purchasing gas simultaneously to meet rigid deadlines.

However, the present dispute suggests that delayed purchases can create another problem if several major consumers need additional supplies as winter approaches.

Germany’s current storage level does not, by itself, establish a breach of EU requirements. The applicable deadlines and permitted exemptions must also be considered.

Italy Seeks Greater Scope for Intervention

The Italian government has meanwhile been seeking permission from the European Commission to use public funds to reduce energy costs for households and businesses.

Rome’s concerns reflect the economic consequences of sustained high gas prices, particularly for industries dependent on energy-intensive manufacturing.

Italy faces a general election expected in 2027, adding a domestic political dimension to the debate over energy subsidies.

Noce warned that prices could rise to between €150 and €180 per megawatt hour if January brings particularly cold weather.

Such an outcome remains a scenario rather than a forecast.

Energy markets will also be influenced by developments in the Middle East, LNG deliveries, industrial demand and winter temperatures.

A European Problem Without a Single National Solution

Europe has expanded its LNG import infrastructure and diversified energy sources substantially since 2022.

However, the latest price increases demonstrate that greater import capacity does not necessarily insulate consumers from global supply disruptions.

The German–Italian dispute also exposes the limits of national energy planning within an integrated European market.

Germany’s storage policies affect its neighbours, just as decisions taken elsewhere influence the price German consumers pay.

The central question for Brussels is whether existing coordination arrangements provide sufficient incentives for governments to safeguard their own winter supplies without transferring additional costs to other member states.

With the heating season approaching, that issue is becoming an immediate economic concern rather than a theoretical dispute about European energy solidarity.

People diagnosed with ADHD and those travelling with them can get a third off their train tickets with disabled railcards, it has emerged.

The post People With ADHD Get Third Off Train Tickets appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

So far, so good: political parties emerging from today’s hearings with President Seguro appear, in the main, to be ready to ‘do more’ to find solutions for the housing crisis/

The post MPs emerge from meetings with president ‘ready to do more’ on housing appeared first on Portugal Resident.

A dramatic reduction in opioid prescriptions and addiction and overdose deaths is being accomplished during the Trump administration, according to new analysis announced this week by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The post EXCLUSIVE — RFK: Trump Administration Making Historic Wins in Battle Against Opioid Crisis, Lowest Deaths in a Decade appeared first on Breitbart.

The trouncing of the far right provides a playbook for social and environmental movements in other countries facing elections, including the US, Spain and France

Thank you, Brazil, for demonstrating how the far right can be trounced while protection for the Amazon is strengthened. In a world where nature and democracy appeared to be bleeding out in tandem, voters and forest defenders in this global south powerhouse have shown it is possible to staunch the flow. This should provide much needed inspiration and, more practically, a playbook for social and environmental movements in other countries facing elections, including the US, Spain and France.

The astonishing comeback victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday’s presidential runoff against his extreme right challenger Flavío Bolsonaro has brought oceans of rapturous supporters on to the streets, while also thrilling conservationists, climate activists and social justice campaigners across the world.

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© Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA

© Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA

© Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA

The number of migrants living in Germany under temporary tolerated status has risen again after several years of decline, reaching 200,601 at the end of September, according to government figures.

More than 256,000 people were obliged to leave the country at the same point, with the large majority unable to be deported for practical or legal reasons.

People with a “Duldung” — a formal suspension of deportation — remain obliged to leave Germany but cannot currently be removed, for example because of missing travel documents, family ties, illness, or other obstacles. The status is always temporary and can be extended.

Migration has cost German taxpayers at least €400 billion since 2016

At the end of 2025, 190,974 of 232,067 people obliged to leave held such status. By the end of 2022 the figure had been about 248,000. Roughly 45,000 people received tolerated status for the first time in 2026, including about 13,460 minors. Only 402 people were recorded with a training-related “tolerated status” and 17 with an employment-related one, according to Welt newspaper.

The earlier drop was linked in part to the Opportunity Residence Law introduced by the previous coalition, which allowed some long-term residents with tolerated status a path toward more secure residence under conditions including self-sufficiency and language skills. That pathway has now expired for many, and lower recognition rates in asylum procedures have also been cited as contributing factors to the renewed rise.

Germany: 63.4% of welfare recipients have migration background, will cost taxpayers approximately €21.2 billion in 2026

CDU interior policy spokesman Alexander Throm has criticized the high share of tolerated cases.

“That four out of five people who are actually obliged to leave have a tolerated status is a scandal,” he said. “It is too easy to just stay here. The issuance of tolerated status by local foreigners’ authorities must be made significantly more difficult.”

Huge taxpayer burden

People with tolerated status are generally entitled to benefits under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, which covers basic needs, accommodation, and limited medical care. After 36 months, these can approach levels closer to regular social assistance under certain conditions.

‘The most expensive group deportation flight in German history’ – Deporting just 33 people cost EU taxpayers €518,000

In 2025, gross expenditures under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act across Germany totaled about €6.16 billion, down from €6.72 billion the previous year.

Federal government spending related to refugees and asylum has run in the tens of billions of euros annually in recent years, though official statistics do not isolate the precise share attributable only to those with tolerated status versus those still in the asylum procedure or with other forms of protection.

As Remix News reported, government data shows that migration cost German taxpayers approximately €400 billion since 2026, with some estimates putting the sum much higher.

Long-term residents with tolerated status often remain on benefits for extended periods when they cannot secure employment or documents for return.

The post Number of tolerated migrants in Germany rises to over 200,000 appeared first on Remix News.

A 29-year-old Syrian national was arrested Tuesday after attacking an off-duty police officer with a kitchen knife in Vienna’s Ottakring district, according to police. The officer, who was finishing a jog, fought off the assailant in a struggle that left the knife blade broken.

The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. on Oct. 27 in a driveway on Hasner Strasse.

“The officer was jogging around 2:45 p.m. and finished with stretching exercises in a driveway on Hasnerstraße. Out of the corner of his eye he observed the 29-year-old, who was approaching him rapidly. The officer also noticed the kitchen knife in his hand,” police spokeswoman Julia Schick said.

Without speaking, the attacker lunged at him.

Vienna stabbing victim attacked after asking migrant teens to lower music

“The unknown man attacked the officer with the knife without saying a word. The 37-year-old defended himself vigorously and screamed for help. The blade broke multiple times because of the intensity of the struggle. This and the resistance meant the injuries were less severe than they otherwise would have been,” police said.

Passersby alerted by the cries caused the attacker to break off and flee on foot toward the Ottakring U-Bahn station. Emergency services treated the officer at the scene and transported him to a hospital, according to Wien ORF news outlet.

Austria: Woman charged with ‘bodily harm’ for stabbing Syrian migrant who tried to rape her in Vienna

Police recovered the damaged kitchen knife and launched a search based on a detailed description and surveillance-camera images from a nearby building. Officers from the Wattgasse and Brunnengasse stations located the suspect shortly afterward in Wernhardtstraße and took him into custody.

The man, a Syrian citizen, confessed to the attack during questioning but offered no motive. “The Syrian citizen confessed to the act but did not comment on his motive. He appeared psychologically distressed during the interrogation,” police said. However, there is no report that the man suffers from mental illness.

The two men did not know each other, according to media reports.

On the order of the Vienna public prosecutor’s office, the suspect was placed in detention.

Arabs in Austria are creating UK-style grooming gangs targeting underage girls and turning them into sex slaves. In many cases, the girls are ending up dead. A psychiatrist who has worked with these underage prostitute victims says the girls give the same story: "They were approached at Salzburg Main Station by young men of Arabic origin." They are recruited with drugs, hooked on them, and then forced to perform sex with clients while being filmed for blackmail material. "Under severe drug influence, they would then often be sexually abused." Girls as young as 12 are being targeted, and it is not just the city of Salzburg. In 2025, 7 minors died from drug overdoses, just in the city of Vienna. In recent weeks, three girls between ages 13 and 16, have suffered drug overdoses in the city of Innsbruck. Most of these girls are recruited from rural Austrian towns, where there are still young White girls available to recruit. The victims are then transported to bigger cities like Vienna, where they rent out apartments and sell the girls to Johns and gang r*ped by Arab men.

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 14, 2026

The post Austria: Syrian man randomly attacks jogging police officer with kitchen knife in Vienna appeared first on Remix News.

Some European diplomats in Seoul are weighing whether they can still trust South Korea as a like-minded partner if it grows closer to Russia, the Financial Times reported on 28 October, according to South Korea’s Financial News. One European diplomat also told the FT that Seoul wants to resume trade with Russia as soon as the war ends.

As Russia presses its war against Ukraine, Kyiv’s partners count on each other to keep up the pressure on Moscow. The doubts about South Korea now come from its European partners, not only from Kyiv. The report lands eight days after Seoul said it would withdraw about half its staff from Kyiv over a dispute about two North Korean prisoners of war.

An Arctic voyage, a new adviser, and signals from Moscow

According to the FT, European diplomats saw a South Korean pilot voyage along Russia’s Arctic sea route as a sign of a tilt toward Russia, since the voyage required extensive cooperation from Moscow.

Meanwhile, on 1 October, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung appointed Song Young-gil, a six-term lawmaker and former chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, as his special adviser on peace diplomacy. Song once served as a special envoy to Russia, the FT noted.

On 20 October, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said Seoul had signaled it wants to normalize relations but says full normalization can come only after a change in the geopolitical situation, which he said means the end of the war in Ukraine.

Fuel for Russia loaded at South Korean ports, but Seoul denies direct exports

The FT also cited reports of fuel shipments to Russia. A Guardian analysis published on 6 October found that more than 176,000 tons of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded at South Korean ports in July and August. The fuel went onto seven tankers bound for Russia’s Far East, three of them under UK and EU sanctions. The Guardian said the trade does not appear to breach South Korean law.

On 8 October, South Korea’s foreign and trade ministries and customs service said no diesel, jet fuel, or gasoline had been exported to Russia through customs. They said they would examine the tankers’ routes and any divergence from their declared destinations before judging whether the law had been broken.

Ukraine’s sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk said the shipments helped Russia offset refinery losses caused by Ukrainian strikes. South Korea’s presidential office called the claim inaccurate and inappropriate, saying the key facts of the transactions had not been verified.

Seoul backs Ukraine, but sanctioned tankers carried fuel from South Korea to Russia

Seoul rejects the criticism

In a statement to the FT, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said concerns in some quarters that the country was leaning too far toward Russia were not based on fact. It added that Seoul supports international efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Seoul cuts its Kyiv embassy staff over the POW dispute

At the same time, relations with Ukraine have deteriorated over the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, which Zelenskyy disclosed at the UN General Assembly in September. Seoul says the disclosure broke a confidentiality understanding. Dmytro Lytvyn, Zelenskyy’s communications adviser, wrote in a Facebook comment on 25 September that “there was no such agreement.”

On 20 October, Seoul said it would withdraw roughly half its diplomatic staff from Kyiv, citing Kyiv’s failure to take “positive steps” on the POW dispute and continued Russian airstrikes, Yonhap reported. A chargé d’affaires and all consular staff will stay.

Prime minister wrote to ministers saying he did not want them to ‘advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process’

Selling nicotine-free vapes to children under the age of 18 has become illegal from today, the government has said.

Children were already banned from buying vapes containing nicotine. But, under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, shops across the UK will now be banned from selling nicotine-free vapes, and nicotine pouches, to children.

Vaping can be a way to help established adult smokers who are already addicted to nicotine from tobacco to swap to a less dangerous product. Vaping is considered safer than smoking, but that is a low bar. Vapes should therefore never be used by children or non-smokers.

Some children have already come to harm from bad reactions to vapes. The long-term health harms of vaping in today’s children will only become clear over time. They are however unlikely to be good; inhaling multiple, often heated, chemicals into the lungs may well do irreversible harm.

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© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

The Acampada Lisboa movement (Lisbon Camp) approved, at a public assembly last night, the holding of a new demonstration on Saturday between Marquês de Pombal and Rossio, followed by a

The post Lisbon housing protesters approve new demonstration on Saturday appeared first on Portugal Resident.

President António José Seguro is already deep into his series of hearings with political parties with seats in parliament this morning: the one item on the agenda being ‘social cohesion’,

The post President Seguro receives parties to discuss (threats to) social cohesion appeared first on Portugal Resident.

Chief financial officer says he hopes budget measure is temporary as sector provides loans that fuel growth

• Business live – latest updates

A senior Lloyds Banking Group executive has criticised the chancellor for linking bank tax increases to energy bill support for UK households, as he warned the government against extending the higher levy beyond March 2028.

Lloyds’s chief financial officer, William Chalmers, acknowledged that the economic environment was “challenging” but said the government should not seek to ease pressure on households at the expense of the banking sector as it provides loans that could fuel UK growth.

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© Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

Healey’s attempt to provide ‘breathing space’ gives rich almost as much as poor, says Resolution Foundation

• Business live – latest updates

• Budget 2026: what it means for your wallet, your mortgage and your pay

John Healey delivered a “scattergun” budget that did little to boost living standards and left Britain facing “a painful second half” of the parliament, a leading economic thinktank has warned.

The Resolution Foundation said on Thursday that measures to ease household gas and electricity costs would still leave energy bills higher this year than during the last energy shock.

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© Photograph: RichSTOCK/Alamy

© Photograph: RichSTOCK/Alamy

© Photograph: RichSTOCK/Alamy

Prime minister wrote to ministers saying he did not want them to ‘advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process’

Selling nicotine-free vapes to children under the age of 18 has become illegal from today, the government has said.

Children were already banned from buying vapes containing nicotine. But, under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, shops across the UK will now be banned from selling nicotine-free vapes, and nicotine pouches, to children.

Vaping can be a way to help established adult smokers who are already addicted to nicotine from tobacco to swap to a less dangerous product. Vaping is considered safer than smoking, but that is a low bar. Vapes should therefore never be used by children or non-smokers.

Some children have already come to harm from bad reactions to vapes. The long-term health harms of vaping in today’s children will only become clear over time. They are however unlikely to be good; inhaling multiple, often heated, chemicals into the lungs may well do irreversible harm.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

From a young chef and a single father to business owners and a pensioner, Guardian readers reveal how John Healey’s measures will affect them

• What the budget means for you

Louie, 24, a chef living in London, says a lot of people have “written off the idea of even considering getting a property” in their 20s.

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© Photograph: Graham Robinson

© Photograph: Graham Robinson

© Photograph: Graham Robinson

Chancellor’s ‘new course’ includes a £100 one-off payment, low-carbon upgrade loans and an end to standing charges

John Healey has unveiled a package of support for households being buffeted by “global economic storms”.

“I’m setting a new course to get energy costs down in line with Europe,” the chancellor said in his maiden budget. In the long term, he hopes that changes in how Britain covers the cost of renewables and grid upgrades will “drive down all aspects of energy bills”.

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© Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

© Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

© Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

Before we tear up zoning laws to accommodate millions of supposedly missing homes, perhaps we should ask whether those homes will actually be needed.

The post Breitbart Business Digest: What if We’re Building Too Many Houses? appeared first on Breitbart.