North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast Friday, just days after U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth wrapped up a visit to South Korea focused on deterring Pyongyang and reinforcing the alliance between the two countries. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the suspected short-range missile was fired from an inland area around the western county of Taekwan toward the East Sea, traveling roughly 435 miles. The launch was reported by Reuters...
A Democratic lawmaker is backing the Trump administration’s decision to reduce air traffic as a consequence of the ongoing government shutdown. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said, ‘Safety must always be the highest priority’ for the aviation industry in a statement on Thursday evening. ‘The decision by Secretary Duffy to reduce flights at America’s 40 busiest airports is the right call for the safety of the flying public,’ Stanton wrote on X. ‘Now it’s critical that...
The government is still reviewing plans to tighten reporting requirements for small and micro companies, with ministers yet to decide whether to press ahead with rules that would require them to publish profit-and-loss accounts for the first time. In an interview with The Times, Blair McDougall, the new small business minister, said that “all options are on the table” as officials weigh up the balance between tackling fraud and protecting small firms from unnecessary administrative...
Rachel Reeves is considering a pay-per-mile tax on electric vehicles (EVs) as part of her forthcoming Budget, in a move that could raise hundreds of millions of pounds a year and help offset the sharp decline in fuel duty revenues caused by Britain’s shift to greener transport. The proposed levy, expected to feature in the 26 November Budget, would see EV drivers charged around 3p per mile, adding an average of £250 a year to...
One year ago, Donald Trump won a transformative election victory, sweeping all seven swing states, the popular vote, and moving all fifty states redder than they were in 2020. How did he do it? By motivating men, young men in particular, and sports fans who were fed up with the insanity of men winning women’s sports championships. I wrote about the victory in my new book, ‘Balls,’ which was released on Tuesday. The book...
The government has clawed back £74 million from private firms accused of making “excessive profits” under multi-billion-pound asylum accommodation contracts — a figure that amounts to a tiny fraction of the £2.1 billion annual cost to taxpayers. The Home Office confirmed it had recovered the funds following a review into contracts covering more than 200 hotels housing around 32,000 asylum seekers across the UK. The investigation found several suppliers had breached profit thresholds agreed under...
The UK Government has announced more than £14 million in new funding to accelerate the commercial use of quantum technology across healthcare, defence, transport and energy, in a move it says will help power Britain’s next industrial revolution. The investment, unveiled on Friday at the National Quantum Technologies Showcase in London, marks a major milestone in the country’s National Quantum Technologies Programme — part of its wider plan to translate cutting-edge science into real-world applications...
MPs have urged the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to ignore “scaremongering” by gambling companies and push ahead with higher taxes on the most harmful products, as pressure mounts on the Treasury to extract more from the £11 billion industry ahead of this month’s Budget. In a report published on Thursday, the Treasury select committee accused betting firms of hiding their most “insidious” and addictive products behind the veneer of traditional, lower-risk activities such as horse racing...
Balnord, a new early-stage venture capital firm founded by the team behind Black Pearls VC, has announced the launch of Balnord Fund I, an oversubscribed €70 million vehicle dedicated to investing in frontier and dual-use technology startups across the Baltic Sea region. The fund, which is already on track to reach a final close of €100 million by mid-2026, aims to accelerate Europe’s technological reindustrialisation — backing companies building critical infrastructure and innovation in space,...
Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after Tesla shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve a record-breaking $1 trillion pay package for the electric carmaker’s chief executive. The vote, held at Tesla’s annual general meeting in Austin, Texas, saw investors chant “Elon, Elon” as the result was announced — signalling their confidence in Musk’s leadership despite criticism from major institutional investors. The deal, which could raise Musk’s stake in Tesla to 25 per...
