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Rishi Sunak has invited trade union leaders to talks on Monday in an attempt to curtail Britain’s wave of industrial action, as ministers look at a key concession to end protracted strikes on the railways. Ministers are discussing dropping a demand for train drivers rather than guards to operate carriage doors, in a move that

The UK government on Thursday announced new anti-strike legislation to enforce minimum levels of service in eight sectors including the NHS following widespread industrial action across the country. The Trades Union Congress warned unions would “fight every step of the way” to block the government’s legislation, which aims to ensure public services function adequately during

Rishi Sunak on Wednesday outlined five key promises for the next general election, including expanding the UK economy and cutting NHS waiting lists, as he squared up to the Labour party at the start of a pivotal year in British politics. In his first big domestic policy speech as prime minister, Sunak said he wanted

Downing Street on Tuesday admitted that some Britons will find it “very difficult” to access the NHS this winter, as Rishi Sunak tried to regain control of the political agenda in the face of an escalating health crisis. Sunak, accused by Labour of going missing during a series of strikes and chaotic scenes at Britain’s

The UK will face one of the worst recessions and weakest recoveries in the G7 in the coming year, as households pay a heavy price for the government’s policy failings, economists say. A clear majority of the 101 respondents in the FT’s annual poll of leading UK-based economists said the inflationary shock caused by the

A third of the global economy will be hit by recession this year, the head of the IMF has said, as she warned that the world faces a “tougher” year in 2023 than the previous 12 months. The US, European Union and China are all slowing simultaneously, Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, said. “We expect

Pension funds should be “extremely careful” when investing in illiquid assets, as rising interest rates and falling stock markets increase the likelihood of their having to access cash quickly, the OECD has warned. In the recent era of low interest rates, pension funds poured money into alternative investments, such as infrastructure projects and private equity,

Global stocks and bonds lost more than $30tn for 2022 after inflation, interest rate rises and the war in Ukraine triggered the heaviest losses in asset markets since the global financial crisis. The broad MSCI All-World index of developed and emerging market equities has shed a fifth of its value this year, the biggest decline

Global dealmaking suffered a record fall during the second half of this year, as rising interest rates and economic uncertainty brought a period of frenzied activity to an abrupt close. Mergers and acquisitions worth $1.4tn were announced during the six months to December, according to data provider Refinitiv, down from the $2.2tn agreed in the

The US said it would require negative Covid-19 tests for air passengers travelling from China as countries rushed to impose restrictions after the abrupt end of Beijing’s zero-Covid containment policy resulted in a surge in cases. Washington’s move on Wednesday came just hours after Italy announced it will test all air passengers arriving from China

China’s medical staff are being asked to work while sick and retired workers are being recalled to duty, as frontline health professionals bear the brunt of Beijing’s about-face on its tough zero-Covid policy. Experts have warned that the situation will deteriorate as the virus spreads from China’s big cities to rural areas with more precarious

China will remove quarantine requirements for inbound travellers from January 8 as the country dismantles the remnants of a zero-Covid regime that closed it off from the rest of the world for almost three years. The National Health Commission on Monday unveiled the move as part of a wider announcement that downgraded the country’s management

Apple’s business is under threat from a widespread coronavirus outbreak in China, with supply chain experts warning of a growing risk of months-long disruption to the production of iPhones. The US tech giant has had to contend with more than a month of chaos at its main assembler Foxconn’s megafactory in Zhengzhou, China, known as

Chinese officials estimate about 250mn people, or 18 per cent of the population, were infected with Covid-19 in the first 20 days of December, as Beijing abruptly dismantled restrictions that had contained the disease for almost three years. The estimates — including 37mn people, or 2.6 per cent of the population, who were infected on

The UK faces a fresh wave of strike action in the new year, as nurses, ambulance staff and rail workers prepare to walk out over pay. The PCS union, which represents striking civil servants including Border Force staff, on Friday warned industrial action would be ramped up even further if the government continued to refuse

Britain has joined the international criticism of Joe Biden’s massive US package of green subsidies, warning they are protectionist and will hit UK-based makers of electric vehicles, batteries and other renewables. Kemi Badenoch, the UK’s international trade secretary, has written to her US counterpart, Katherine Tai, to protest at the structure of the Biden administration’s

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a defiant tone at the White House on Wednesday, questioning whether Kyiv could ever reach a “just peace” with Moscow and pressing Joe Biden to send additional weapons to sustain his war effort through the winter. The US president used a joint appearance with Zelenskyy, whose Washington trip was his

Health chiefs have warned they cannot guarantee patient safety when ambulance workers launch strike action on Wednesday, as Rishi Sunak refused to reopen this year’s NHS pay deal. Health secretary Steve Barclay met ambulance unions on Tuesday to discuss cover for 999 calls during the strike in England and Wales, but the talks broke down

The congressional committee probing last year’s violent attack on the US Capitol has voted to recommend that the US Department of Justice pursue criminal charges against former president Donald Trump for his role in the failed insurrection. During its final public hearing on Monday, the bipartisan nine-member panel unanimously said Trump should be prosecuted for

Britain is bracing for one of the most disruptive weeks of strike action in recent history after the government signalled its determination to face down the unions despite calls for pay negotiations from health leaders and some Conservative MPs. Nurses, ambulance workers, customs and immigration staff, postal and rail workers will all walk out in