Nearly nine in 10 higher-risk pension funds have failed to match the performance of the FTSE 100 over the past five years, according to new analysis that raises fresh concerns about retirement outcomes for millions of savers. Research by Investing Insiders examined almost 13,000 personal and workplace pension funds holding more than £1tn in assets between December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2025. Funds in the medium-high and high-risk categories were benchmarked against the FTSE...
A Washington, D.C., grandmother who lost her grandson to gun violence delivered a fiery defense of President Donald Trump during a Black History Month celebration Wednesday at the White House. Forlesia Cook’s grandson, Marty William McMillan Jr., was killed in 2017 at the age of 22. Cook has since spoken publicly about the loss, including testifying before Congress about his killing. After Trump invited Cook to say a few words at the event, she used...
PARIS — Eleven people, including two aides to a French far-left lawmaker, were arrested in France overnight and early on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in the killing of a far-right activist last weekend in Lyon, according to the Lyon prosecutor’s office, which has opened a murder investigation. Among those arrested were at least one aide and two other people connected to Raphael Arnault, a lawmaker from far-left party France Unbowed (LFI), who said on Tuesday...
: This was the kind of prison break officials say could have changed the region, and perhaps even the world, overnight. Nearly 6,000 ISIS detainees, described by a senior U.S. intelligence official as ‘the worst of the worst,’ were being held in northern Syria as clashes and instability threatened the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the guards responsible for keeping the militants locked away and preventing a feared ISIS resurgence. U.S. officials believed that if the...
Small businesses are bracing for what they describe as an “unprecedented cost crunch” in April, with more than a third warning they may shut down or scale back operations as a raft of higher expenses take effect. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has written to Rachel Reeves warning that the cumulative impact of rising energy bills, business rates, higher employment costs and changes to statutory sick pay risks undermining economic growth. A survey by...
The owners of Virgin Media O2 have agreed a £2bn takeover of challenger fibre network Netomnia, marking a significant step towards consolidation in Britain’s crowded broadband market. Liberty Global and Telefónica, alongside InfraVia Capital through their Nexfibre joint venture, will acquire Netomnia, currently the UK’s second-largest alternative network provider. The deal will expand Nexfibre’s footprint to around 8 million households by the end of next year. Combined with Virgin Media O2’s existing infrastructure, the enlarged...
President Donald Trump’s newly created Board of Peace is set to hold its first meeting Thursday, with administration officials and participating countries framing the gathering as a step toward implementing the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction effort rather than a moment likely to deliver an immediate breakthrough. At least 20 countries are expected to attend the inaugural session in Washington, where Trump is slated to chair discussions on a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction framework,...
President Donald Trump announced that former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House event marking the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, as attendees at one point broke into chants of ‘four more years.’ ‘Ben’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom,’ Trump said. ‘It’s the highest award you can have outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor.’ Trump said Carson would receive the...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly been holding secret talks with the grandson of Raul Castro, the former President of Cuba. The talks between Rubio and Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro are bypassing official Cuban government channels, Axios reported. ‘Our position — the U.S. government’s position — is the regime has to go,’ a senior official told the news outlet. ‘But what exactly that looks like is up to [President Trump] and he has yet...
President Donald Trump praised civil rights activist Jesse Jackson as a ‘real hero’ during a White House Black History Month event Wednesday, just a day after Jackson’s death. ‘I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. But he was a good man. He was a real hero,’ Trump said on Wednesday,...
