Airborne toxic particulates are the most potent external factor damaging human health, a new report indicates. However, their impact is mainly in a few countries - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia.more
EU-era water pollution restrictions for housing developments are to be scrapped in a bid to build more homes, the government has announced.
Up to 100,000 new homes could be built by 2030 if rules around building houses near waterways in protected areas are loosened, the government said.more
Campaigners fear thousands more people face benefit deductions because of tax credit debts they didn't know about.
In excess of 800,000 households on universal credit received less money last year because they were previously awarded too much in tax credits, the BBC has found. More people will go on to the scheme from September. more
Thousands of people across the country are still eligible to apply for a £400 grant to help with the cost of living. The Household Support Fund was announced by the UK Government on September 30, 2021 with more money added to the fund this April.more
Britain’s retailers are planning to axe jobs and cut investment over the coming months as signs emerge of a deepening slump in spending by consumers, the latest snapshot of high street and online activity has shown.more
Millions of UK households are at risk of becoming ill because they are not switching on their heating when it is cold, a watchdog has warned.
A Which? survey of 4,000 people found high energy bills had led to almost nine in 10 households (85%) trying to cut back on their energy usage, while nearly half (46%) said they had not turned their heating on when it was cold last winter.more
An annual energy bill for a typical household will fall to £1,923 in October under regulator Ofgem's new price cap.
The maximum price of each unit of gas and electricity for 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland is governed by the decision.more
The pandemic hiring boom is over, according to data from online recruiter IrishJobs.
Vacancies in banking, technology, science and travel have fallen significantly compared with last year and the previous quarter, although the IT sector was still the fourth-largest source of jobs between March and June.more
Virgin Media has been accused of unfairly increasing broadband prices for millions of customers in a move that has been condemned as “potentially unlawful”.
The consumer rights group Which? has accused the telecoms company of applying “aggressive” inflation-linked mid-contract price increases while making it difficult for customers to cancel their deal without paying high exit fees.more
Price and occupancy rates for hotels in Central and Eastern European cities are already higher than they were before the pandemic, writes today's "Puls Biznesu." It notes that facility operators are singling out Poland as the largest hotel market in the region.more
A graduate earning £35,000 a year pays almost double the average tax of someone with the same income from rent on property, according to a study of inequality in the UK tax system.more
A European Commission report has said Ireland’s housing targets likely need to be “substantially” revised upwards, even though the government is struggling to hit its existing targets.more
Bosses at Britain's biggest companies saw their pay rise by almost 16% on average last year as most workers' wages were squeezed by rising prices. The High Pay Centre said the median pay of a FTSE 100 chief executive was £3.91m in 2022, up from £3.38m in 2021.more
In the first quarter of 2023, greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union economy amounted to a total of 941 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a decrease of 2.9 percent. compared to the same quarter of 2022 (969 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent). This decrease occurred simultaneously with the growth of EU GDP in the first quarter of 2023 by 1.2%. compared to the same quarter of 2022more
A third of working tenants in England do not have enough savings to pay rent if they lose their job, putting them at risk of losing their home, according to research by the housing charity Shelter.more
For the sixth consecutive quarter, the number of bankruptcy filings by EU companies increased in 2023. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of insolvencies rose by 8.4 per cent and thus reached its highest level since data collection began in 2015, Eurostat reported.more
China is helping to supply Russia with helicopters, drones, optical sights and key metals used by the defence industry. Russian companies have received tens of thousands of shipments from China since the start of the war, according to the findings of the UK's Sunday Telegraph.more
The UK economy has struggled at various times, from too much trade union influence to short-sighted management prioritizing profits over investment and an education system that did not supply enough scientists and engineers.more
Red wine consumption in France has declined significantly in recent decades in favour of beer and other beverages. This has driven prices to such a level that, for many wine producers, giving up the business and receiving compensation is a better option than continuing to work. The French government plans to spend millions of euros on compensation as a result, writes the Politico website.more
Britain's annual inflation rate fell to 6.8 percent in July from 7.9 percent in June and is at its lowest level since February 2022. - Britain's statistics office ONS reported today.more
As a result of the high-street chain Wilko‘s official bankruptcy, up to 12,000 jobs could be lost.
On August 10, the 400-store retailer — 26 of which are in London — entered administration, with PwC administrators assuming control of the company to maximise value for its creditors.more
The Czech business daily Hospodarzske Noviny wrote today that Czechs' spending in Polish stores has increased by several hundred percent. He wrote about crowded parking lots, checkout lines and lack of shopping carts in stores in the title "Czech invasion."more
The notion of paying with cash is becoming more outdated by the day, with many establishments and shops becoming “cash-free”. According to UK Finance, nearly a third of all payments in the UK were made via contactless methods in 2021.more
