The Fantasy Premier League is changing Britain's favourite sport
Blame declining confidence, a lack of convenience and rising complacency
Matthew Holehouse, our British political correspondent, on the Conservatives' changed view of Britain's labour market
Surprisingly, many do, and are prepared to study for the gruelling test to become one
AstraZeneca's boss shares Donald Trump's mission to spread the cost of drug development
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Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Aggression only leads to defeat, Taiwan president says on world war anniversary
TAIPEI, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Aggression only leads to defeat and as authoritarianism once again gathers strength, it is important that freedom and democracy prevail, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Friday marking the end of World War Two, in a pointed message to Beijing. Taiwan has this year sought to cast the war as a lesson to China, which views the democratic island as its own territory, to show how aggression will end in failure, and to remind the world it was not the government now in Beijing that won the war. The Chinese government at the time was the Republic of China, part of the U.S., British and Russian-led alliance, and its forces did much of the fighting against Japan, putting on pause a bitter civil war with Mao Zedong's Communists whose military also fought the Japanese. The republican government then fled to Taiwan in 1949 after finally being defeated by Mao, and Republic of China remains the democratic island's official name. Late on Thursday, Taiwan said it had banned government officials from attending next month's military parade planned by Beijing to mark the end of World War Two, along with former senior defence, intelligence and diplomatic officials, though that does not include ordinary members of the public. If former officials insist on going, penalties would include the revocation of pensions, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Office said. China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on his Facebook account that did not directly mention China, Lai said the war served as a stark reminder to the world that peace is priceless and war has no winners. "World War Two was a catastrophe in history, triggered by the personal ambitions of a few dictators, extreme ideologies and military expansionism," he wrote. Today, people in Taiwan take freedom, democracy, peace and prosperity for granted, but lessons from history must be learned, Lai added. "The most valuable lesson of World War Two is that unity leads to victory, while aggression leads to defeat." China labels Lai a "separatist", and has ramped up military activities around the island, including holding large-scale war games. Lai rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump's summit with Putin set for 11 a.m. in Alaska on Friday
Aug 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place at 11 a.m. (1900 GMT) in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, the White House said in a press schedule statement on Thursday. Trump will depart the White House at 6:45 am EDT (1045 GMT) on Friday and leave Anchorage at 5:45 p.m. Alaska Time the same day. He is scheduled to arrive back at White House early Saturday morning.
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
China's factory output, retail sales growth slump in blow to economy
BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - China's factory output growth slumped to an eight-month low in July, while retail sales slowed sharply, raising pressure on policymakers to roll out more stimulus to revive domestic demand and ward off external shocks to the $19 trillion economy. The underwhelming indicators come as officials navigate pressure on multiple fronts ranging from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies to extreme weather, excessive competition in the domestic market, and chronic weakness in the property sector. Industrial output grew 5.7% year-on-year in July, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Friday, the lowest reading since November 2024, and compared with a 6.8% rise in June. It missed forecasts for a 5.9% increase in a Reuters poll. Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, expanded 3.7% in July, the slowest pace since December 2024, and cooling from a 4.8% rise in the previous month. They missed a forecast gain of 4.6%. A temporary trade truce reached between China and the United States in mid-May, which was extended by another 90-days this week, has prevented U.S. tariff rates on Chinese goods from returning to prohibitively high levels. However, Chinese manufacturers' profits continue to take a hit from subdued demand and factory-gate deflation at home. "The economy is quite reliant on government support, and the issue is those efforts were 'front-loaded' to the early months of 2025, and by now their impact has somewhat faded out," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. That policy support has helped the world's second-largest economy avoid a widely anticipated sharp slowdown, along with factories taking advantage of the U.S.-China trade truce to front-load shipments, but analysts say weak demand at home and global risks will drag on growth in coming quarters. Fixed asset investment grew just 1.6% in the first seven months of the year from the same period last year, compared with an expected 2.7% rise. It had expanded 2.8% in the first half. "Firms may be running on existing capacity rather than building new plants," said Yuhan Zhang, principal economist at The Conference Board's China Center. "The July industrial value-add breakdown tells a more nuanced story than the weak fixed asset investment headline," he added, pointing to China's automobile manufacturing, railway, shipbuilding, aerospace and other transport equipment industries as "outliers (that) indicate policy-driven, high-tech and strategic sectors are still attracting substantial capital." Beijing has recently stepped up policy measures and made pledges to prop up domestic consumption and curb excessive price competition, as authorities strive to lift economic growth towards the government's 2025 target of around 5%. Still, consumers show few signs of loosening their purse strings. China's new yuan loans contracted in July for the first time in 20 years, separate bank lending data showed on Wednesday, pointing to weak private sector demand. A protracted slowdown in China's property sector continues to put pressure on consumer spending, as real estate remains a key store of household wealth. New home prices extended a stagnant phase of over two years, falling 2.8% in July year-on-year, versus a 3.2% drop in June. Economic activity has also been impacted by extreme weather, from record-breaking heat to storms and floods across the country, disrupting factory production and day-to-day business operations. The latest Reuters poll projected China's GDP growth to slow to 4.5% in the third quarter and 4.0% in the fourth, suggesting that Beijing has its work cut out in getting households to spend more at a time of uncertainty over job security and mounting headwinds from Trump's global trade war. China's 2025 GDP growth is forecast to cool to 4.6% - falling short of the official goal - from last year's 5.0% and ease even further to 4.2% in 2026, according to the poll.
