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Employees say cuts and deregulation undermine department’s ability to function and will cause cost hikesWorkers at the US Department of Energy say cuts and deregulations are undermining the ability for the department to function and will result in significant energy cost hikes for consumers.Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will raise energy costs for American households by as much as 7% in 2035 due to the repeal of energy tax credits and could put significant investment and energy innovation at risk, according to a report by the Rhodium Group. The non-partisan think tank Energy Innovation calculated the average US household will see

Threat by Israel Katz comes as UN warns that the entire population of Gaza is at risk of famineGaza is hungriest place on Earth, warns UNLebanese official media said an Israeli strike killed one person in the south on Saturday despite a six-month-old ceasefire, as Israel said it targeted a Hezbollah militant.The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said a man was killed when an Israeli drone targeted his car as he was heading to pray at a mosque in Deir al-Zahrani, about 20km (12 miles) from the Israeli border. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/may/31/gaza-israel-hamas-ceasefire-middle-east-crisis-live-news-updates Author : Amy Sedghi Publish

Exclusive: Ex-minister to call for wealth tax, and Andy Burnham to demand focus on housing and educationNext month’s spending review must be an “economic reset” based on a bold wealth tax and higher public investment, the former cabinet minister Louise Haigh is to argue, as Keir Starmer faces renewed pressure from within Labour to change course.Haigh’s comments come as Andy Burnham called for Labour to “re-establish itself unequivocally once again as the party of working-class ambition” with ambitious offerings on housing and education. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/31/labour-spending-review-economic-reset-louise-haigh-andy-burnham Author : Peter Walker and Eleni Courea Publish date : 2025-05-31

Not all is going smoothly after Friedrich Merz’s promise to build up German army and ‘no limits’ on helping UkraineWithin days of Russia launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olaf Scholz announced a Zeitenwende, or historical “turning point”. The then German chancellor promised a security transformation by increasing defence spending, sending more aid to Ukraine, taking a tougher approach to authoritarian states and rapidly reducing Germany’s dependence on Russian energy.It was a psychological turning point for a country haunted by its Nazi past but now expected to step up – as the biggest economic power in Europe –