World

Barnaby Joyce expected to announce defection to One Nation as Nationals colleagues make last-ditch appeals

Former leader Michael McCormack says he spent an hour with Joyce on Wednesday and gave him his pitch to remain in the fold Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Barnaby Joyce should “reflect on what the National party gave him”, colleague Michael McCormack says, as speculation increases that the maverick New England MP will quit the party on Thursday afternoon to switch to One Nation. Sources in the Nationals and One Nation expect an announcement from Joyce, the former deputy prime minister, after weeks of…

Technology

ULA aimed to launch up to 10 Vulcan rockets this year—it will fly just once

Around this time last year, officials at United Launch Alliance projected 2025 would be their busiest year ever. Tory Bruno, ULA’s chief executive, told reporters the company would launch as many as 20 missions this year, with roughly an even split between the legacy Atlas V launcher and its replacement—the Vulcan rocket. Now, it’s likely that ULA will close out 2025 with six flights—five with the Atlas V and just one with the Vulcan rocket the company is so eager accelerate into service. Six flights would make 2025 the busiest launch year for ULA since 2022, but it falls well…

Top Stories

Championship roundup: Bamford strike helps Sheffield United out of bottom three

Blades beat Portsmouth after owners’ merger statement Wednesday rock bottom following defeat at Millwall Sheffield United lifted themselves out of the Championship’s relegation zone on the day their owners reiterated their desire to take the club to the Premier League with a 3-0 win against 10-man Portsmouth. Patrick Bamford scored on his full United debut, turning home a scrappy rebound early in the second half for his first goal in 19 months, after Sydie Peck’s penalty had given the Blades a 1-0 interval lead. Peck converted his first senior goal for the club after the Pompey defender Terry Devlin…

Business

Online betting firms to pay billions more in UK tax, Reeves confirms

The chancellor almost doubled remote gaming duty in Wednesday’s budget, taking it to 40% from April next year Online casinos and bookmakers will pay billions of pounds more in tax under a steep rise in duties levied on their takings from British gamblers. In her second budget as chancellor, Rachel Reeves announced duty changes expected to raise an extra £1.1bn a year by 2029-30, raiding a fast-growing sector that made £12.6bn from punters last year. Continue reading… Source link

China

Trump reportedly urged Japan’s PM to avoid further escalations in dispute with China

The report comes after the Wall Street Journal claimed the US president told Sanae Takaichi to ‘dial down the volume’ in dispute over Taiwan Donald Trump asked the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, to avoid further escalation in a dispute with China during a call this week, according to two Japanese government sources who spoke to the Reuters news agency. Takaichi sparked the biggest diplomatic bust-up with Beijing in years when she told parliament earlier this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger Japanese military action. Continue reading… Source link

Top Stories

Champions League roundup: Mbappé hits four at Olympiakos, Atlético stun Inter

Real Madrid edge home 4-3 in Greece Giménez heads home in injury time for Atlético Kylian Mbappé scored the second-fastest hat-trick in the Champions League as he helped himself to all four goals in Real Madrid’s 4-3 win at Olympiacos. The La Liga leaders were trailing to Chiquinho’s early strike at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis before Mbappé intervened with a seven-minute treble after 22, 24 and 29 minutes. Continue reading… Source link

Business

Hong Kong fancy dress squash event serves up HK$390,000 for Operation Santa Claus

Squash players in comical outfits swung their rackets nonstop with enthusiasm at an annual fundraising tournament last week to support vulnerable communities in Hong Kong. Held at the Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC) squash centre, the 27th Wing Ding Squash Charity Tournament has raised HK$390,000 so far, with a goal of reaching HK$500,000 for Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual citywide fundraising initiative run by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988. Stephen… Source link

Politics

‘A bit of a relief’: a City trading floor reacts to Reeves’s budget

After initial chaos caused by OBR leak, London financial traders say markets do not appear to have been upset Budget 2025: key points at a glance As financial traders milled around 26 floors up in a tower in the Canary Wharf district of London, there was little sign of nerves ahead of Rachel Reeves’s second budget – until the surprise accidental early release of the government’s official economic analysis started to move markets. Headline numbers from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) flashed through on banks of computer screens, followed shortly by the detailed analysis itself. Continue reading… Source…

China

Campbell’s denies 3D-printed chicken claim as it fires US executive

Food giant Campbell’s said on Wednesday it has fired an executive who was recorded making racist comments and mocking the company’s products and customers. Martin Bally, a vice-president in Campbell’s information security department, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee who said he was fired January 30 after he reported Bally’s comments to a supervisor. The lawsuit was filed in Michigan, where both Garza and Bally live. Campbell’s is based in… Source link