End of an era as Japan ends negative interest rates – business live
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsJapan raises interest rates for first time since 2007Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda is briefing reporters in Tokyo now about today’s interest rate decision.Ueda points out that the move will only raise short-term interest rates by 0.1%, and pledges that the BoJ will “increase bond buying nimbly” if it sees a sharp rise in long-term rates.I don’t think deposits or lending rates will rise sharply from today’s decision.“We reverted to a normal monetary policy targeting short-term interest rates, as with other central banks. We will choose the appropriate level of short-term rates in line with our economic and price outlook. But in doing so, we need to be mindful that there is some distance for inflation expectations to reach 2%. When we focus on this gap, it’s necessary to maintain accommodative monetary conditions even under a normal monetary policy framework.”The Bank of Japan lifted rates for the first time in seventeen years while also dialling back its asset purchases and scrapping its yield curve control program. Despite swaps implying that – at best - five points of the 10-point hike was baked into the market, the reaction was limited, if not slightly paradoxical.The Yen slid, and the Nikkei popped, the latter taking its lead from the former, which arguably has been sold after a build-up in long positioning going into the event. Nevertheless, the meeting was one of the market’s great non-events, although there could still yet be a response when European and US markets come online. Continue reading...
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How to successfully buy a home at a UK property auction
A winning bid is legally binding, so it is crucial to do your homework and keep a cool headProperties are sold at auction all over the UK by a variety of people and bodies, including receivers, local councils and investors. Continue reading...
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Aya Nakamura is a proud Black woman. Is that why she’s not 'French enough’ for the Paris Olympics? | Rokhaya Diallo
She is the world’s most listened-to French-speaking artist – but in France, hostility towards her goes beyond the far rightSince the start of her career, Aya Nakamura has faced setbacks, discrimination and harassment every step of the way. Nakamura is a music superstar. She is the most-listened-to French-speaking artist in the world, and the only woman to feature in the country’s top 20 best-selling albums of 2023. Her 2018 hit Djadja has reached almost 1bn listens on YouTube, and in 2021 her second album surpassed 1bn streams on Spotify. When she announced two concerts at the legendary Bercy arena in Paris last year, tickets sold out in 15 minutes – unprecedented for a French-speaking artist.Yet from shows where presenters struggle to pronounce her name to public debate about the unorthodox way she uses the French language, the French-Malian singer can, it seems, never be judged solely on her music.Rokhaya Diallo is a Guardian Europe columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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In the company of wolves and kings: Suffolk’s new medieval cycle trail
The Wolf Way – a magnificent, not too hilly, cycling route – takes in the county’s myths, market towns and Gainsborough landscapesIt was an inauspicious start. Having cycled no more than a few metres, from the steps of the Angel hotel into the grounds of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, I fell off my bike.I blamed the wolf: in dismounting to take its photo, I had kicked my own pannier and sent myself sprawling. The good passersby of Bury St Edmunds came to my (embarrassed) aid. Saint Edmund himself, sculpted in bronze, standing beside the wolf statue, looked the other way. Continue reading...
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Booze, jigsaws and rainbows: revisiting Ray’s a Laugh – in pictures
First published in 1996 to enormous acclaim, a new version of Richard Billingham’s seminal photobook features fresh images and the same stark depiction of poverty that feels more relevant than ever Continue reading...
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The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir by RuPaul review – poignant, egotistical and often wise
In a witty, highly entertaining memoir, the drag queen turned TV star recounts his journey from homelessness to the dizzying heights of fame via the punk scene – and a snub from MadonnaThere is a moment at the end of every series of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the Emmy-winning drag queen reality competition, in which the glamorous host asks the finalists to address their younger selves with words of advice and encouragement. No matter how many times you have seen this happen (since its inception in 2009, there have been 16 US seasons, 20 international editions, eight all-star versions and two celebrity spin-offs), watching the contestants open up about their darkest days remains an astonishingly effective emotional suckerpunch, precision-tooled to wrest tears from the eyes of even the most jaded viewer. In The House of Hidden Meanings, it’s RuPaul Charles’s turn to look back and take stock of his own life, from finding himself homeless in California to posing backstage at Versace surrounded by supermodels.It is a memoir that is by turns shocking, poignant, fantastically egotistical and often wise, punctuated with equal amounts of LSD-inspired epiphanies as hard-won lessons about sobriety and personal growth (complete with mantras). Each sentence is recognisably in RuPaul’s voice – arch, funny, given to epigrammatic pronouncements – distilling the cadences and assorted pop culture references that have come to characterise his TV persona. We learn the origins of some of his favourite phrases (“Why don’t you pick one up and smoke it sometime?” comes from a Mae West-inspired 60s cigar advert), as well as the influence of role models such as Diana Ross and the “unapologetically rebellious” Cher. Continue reading...
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Christspiracy: The Spirituality Secret review – Jesus was a vegetarian and other entertaining tosh
Unsupported assertions and gormless naivety drive this mishmash of pseudoscience and manipulated religious doctrineClearly scheduled to give vegetarians and vegans ammunition to shame carnivorous family members around the Easter and Passover dinner table, this passionate but unpersuasive documentary argues that Jesus was probably a vegetarian. Ultimately, the theory gets largely traced back to the apocryphal Gospel of the Ebionites, a text that’s been around since the second century; director Kip Andersen, however, makes a whole song and dance out of “discovering” this notion in a roundabout way, making for an entertainingly barmy quest. By the end, we’re informed that scientists have found the supposedly “happiest human on Earth”: a vegan Buddhist monk named Mateo Richard who spends most of his time meditating on compassion and has “high-amplitude gamma activity” in his brain which means it “fires on the highest levels”.This particular mishmash of pseudoscientific buzz words is delivered via a montage of rostrum shots showing visually highlighted bits of text while an awestruck voiceover from Andersen himself synthesises the ideas. Before we can even absorb this information, the film skittishly moves on to the next notion that all the greatest thinkers in history were vegetarian. Leonardo da Vinci supposedly bought up all the chickens in his local market and then released them into the woods, which would have made the local foxes happy if no one else. Continue reading...
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From ocean to plate: the female-led seaweed company – from the agencies
Lofoten Seaweed in Norway creates products for everyone from home cooks to professional chefs. Seaweed including nori, grass kelp, knotted wrack, truffle seaweed, among many other local species, are used in different sectors of the food industry to replace condiments, or provide alternative flavours Continue reading...
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After 40 years driving, DVLA now says my mother never passed a test
When she renewed her licence at 70, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency sent her one for a moped instead of a carJust before her 70th birthday, my mother sent the paperwork to renew her driving licence. But instead of a full car licence, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) issued her with one for a moped. She has never ridden a moped in her life.She assumed this was an administrative error and complained. However, the DVLA said it had no record of her passing a category B (car) driving test and holding a full licence. Continue reading...
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Game of Thrones creators reveal ‘funny note’ Obama sent after turning down 3 Body Problem cameo
New Netflix show follows a group of scientists as they face an alien invasion
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The Greater Manchester road where locals 'live in fear' after two people died
A 20mph zone will be introduced on a “lethal” road in Oldham following the tragic deaths of two cyclists. Stamford Road in Lees is due to receive a new speed limit and a number of traffic calming measures to reduce the risk of further accidents.
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Where is the top spot for the best view of Greater Manchester's skyline?
Reddit gives its verdict on which areas offer the best vantage point of the city
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'I used Stacey Solomon's £1.50 IKEA trick to transform my garden'
It increases a sense of space and adds more light
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'I didn't want to be alive anymore... if it wasn't for this, I probably wouldn't be'
'What happened to me was awful but they've helped me realise there is still a life after all of that'
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As a trans teen, I didn’t drink water at school so I didn’t have to use toilets
The bathroom was where I felt the most uncomfortable.
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UK weather: Snow forecast to smash Britain this week - map shows what areas will be hit
Snow is forecast to hit the UK later this week, with up to 3cm predicted to fall per hour in some parts of the country, as the temperature starts to drop once again
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Miriam Margolyes is right – adult Harry Potter fans need more shame
The Professor Sprout actor annoyed older fans of the wizarding franchise by suggesting that they should ‘move on’. She’s right, argues Louis Chilton: sometimes we need to do more than just let people enjoy things
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Trump Says Jews Who Vote For Democrats ‘Hate Israel’ And Should Be ‘Ashamed'
!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement('iframe');t.display='none',t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement('script');c.src='//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js',c.setAttribute('async','1'),c.setAttribute('type','text/javascript'),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b';cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","mediaId":"f9c6521a-5f1c-4343-83e0-bee9be64bc3d"}).render("65f92eafe4b0cb9583b16e2f");});Former President Donald Trump said any Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and hate “their religion” in an interview published Monday.Trump made the remarks in an appearance on conservative radio host Sebastian Gorka’s program. Gorka, a former White House aide during the Trump administration, asked the former president about recent Democratic criticism of Israel as it continues its assault on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack.“I actually think they hate Israel,” Trump replied. “And the Democrat party hates Israel.”“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” he added later in the interview. “They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”? Trump on Schumer: “I think it’s votes more than anything else, because he was always pro-Israel. He’s very anti-Israel now.“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion, they hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves.” pic.twitter.com/WtngW93Twt— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) March 18, 2024Trump’s comments come after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the nation’s highest-ranking Jewish official, stunned Israel when he called on the country to make “significant course corrections” in Gaza” last week.Those changes, Schumer said, included a new government, a major condemnation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the death toll in Gaza has reportedly topped more than 30,000 people, including many women and children.“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.Trump’s remarks — which echo those he’s made in the past —  prompted condemnation from Schumer and the White House.“To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship,” Schumer said in a statement on X. “Trump is making highly partisan and hateful rants.”To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship.Trump is making highly partisan and hateful rants.I am working in a bipartisan way to ensure the US-Israeli relationship sustains for generations to come, buoyed by peace in the Middle East. https://t.co/uCMvZWZ8rF— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 18, 2024A spokesperson for President Joe Biden’s campaign added that the “only person who should be ashamed here is Donald Trump” and criticized the former president’s past remarks about Jewish people.“Trump is going to lose again this November because Americans are sick of his hateful resentment, personal attacks, and extreme agenda,” James Singer, a spokesperson for the Biden camp, said in a statement.In the interview Monday, Trump accused Schumer of courting votes and lambasted those who protested in support of Palestinians.“Don’t forget, when you see those Palestinian marches — even I am amazed at how many people are in those marches,” Trump told Gorka. “And guys like Schumer see that, and to him it’s votes. I think it’s votes more than anything else, because he was always pro-Israel. He’s very anti-Israel now.”
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TV tonight: Who is The Serpent? Charles Sobhraj faces a real-life interrogation
In this intense series, the convicted killer is asked about murders he has never been tried for. Plus: The Hairy Bikers Go West comes to a poignant end. Here’s what to watch this evening Continue reading...
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Japan prepared to host and then travel to North Korea for back-to-back FIFA World Cup qualifiers
Even with the top continental ranking and players of vast international experience Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan squad faces a journey into the unknown in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against North Korea
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Girl, 7, undergoes several amputations after catching mysterious rare bacterial disease
An Arizona seven-year-old has developed a terrible bacterial infection, which led to scepsis, causing her to undergo eight surgeries and have both feet and a hand removed
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Disgraced LA socialite Rebecca Grossman is accused of conspiring with her husband and daughter in jailhouse calls to 'hunt down jurors, sway the judge and demand her former MLB star ex CONFESS to killing two brothers in horrific hit-and-run
Los Angeles County prosecutors believe murderess socialite Rebecca Grossman of conspiring with her husband and daughter as they accused her legal team of jury tampering.
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Kaylee Gain's family release update on teen's injuries amid calls for attacker to be tried as adult
Kaylee Gain's family have released a statement on the Missouri teenager's recovery, saying the extent of her injuries at still unknown as she remains unconscious
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Nurses and teachers are being priced out of rural areas amid rocketing rent, charity warns
An "alarming" number of middle earners are priced out of rural southern England, the countryside charity CPRE says.
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Huge UK chicken farm faces huge legal battle over alleged River Wye pollution
Avara Foods, a major supplier of chicken to Tesco, was previously urged by campaigners to pay reparations to help clean up the River Wye.
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As a child, I roamed Dartmoor – and it shaped me. But across England, that freedom is being trampled on | Rosie Jewell
How can we expect people to care for the countryside if they are denied access to it? We must fight for our right to roamWhen people ask me where I’m from, I wryly tell them “the middle of nowhere”. So, imagine my surprise when I saw that my old landlord and the remote place where I grew up were making national headlines over a court battle for the right to wild camp on Dartmoor.Alexander Darwall bought the 1,619-hectare (4,000-acre) Blachford estate on southern Dartmoor in 2011. Dartmoor is the only place in England where wild camping is allowed, in designated areas, without permission from a landowner. Darwall successfully contested this right in court, arguing that the right to wild camp – as opposed to walking or picnicking – on the moors never existed. Then an appeal restored it. Now, he’s taking the case to the supreme court. Continue reading...
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Spring foraging guide: What to look out for and how to cook it
Put on your waterproof jacket, don your walking boots and grab your basket: it’s time to make the most of your spring walks. Foraging is a great way to add some flavour to your home cooking. Here’s the dos and don’ts, says Adam Warrington
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Giovanni Pernice: The Strictly star at the heart of a storm
The Sicilian dancer has described himself as a ‘perfectionist’, while reports have emerged that former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ contestants have met up to discuss their ‘difficult time’ working with him. Ellie Harrison looks back at the performer’s journey from Palermo to London, and his history on the BBC’s hit Saturday night show
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‘She’s a rude, belittling fat-shamer’: How Peppa Pig became every parent’s worst nightmare
As parents criticise the four-year-old anthropomorphic piglet for being a malign influence on young viewers, Ellie Muir explores whether children’s TV characters have to be role models
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Breakdown of the eye-watering £270m profit Michael Edwards helped Liverpool make
Former Liverpool transfer guru Michael Edwards is set to rejoin the Reds this summer and will hope to generate funds once again after a number of masterstrokes during his first stint at Anfield
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Kirk Cousins misses out on favourite jersey at Atlanta Falcons as number confirmed
Kirk Cousins has signed a four-year, $180million deal with the Atlanta Falcons after leaving the Minnesota Vikings - but he will not wear his usual No.8 jersey in Georgia
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The 'stylish' Antler daypack reduced by £60 is perfect for easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2
With an impressive 60% off, buyers can't stop raving about the airline-friendly Chelsea Daypack
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'Our baby died from sepsis after hospital treatment delays - it can't happen again'
EXCLUSIVE: Martyn Mirchev died aged 11 months just hours after being re-admitted to Kingston Hospital
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Horoscope today: Your daily guide for Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Read what the stars mean for you today, from Pisces to Gemini
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Inside an “Incredible” €16.5 million Ibiza seafront mansion in cove favoured by Lionel Messi
The architect-designed villa on the Balearic Island beloved by celebrities recently starred in a Netflix series
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20 fabulous European rentals for Easter holidays with the family
Whether you’re aiming for Easter weekend itself or a broader half-term escape, these rentals deliver sunshine, space and all-ages fun, says Alicia Miller
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What Manchester United did vs Liverpool summed up their biggest change in 2024
Man Utd have started to find some form this year and they booked a spot in the FA Cup semi-final with a thrilling win against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
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Kevin De Bruyne contract stance and Man City state of play amid Saudi transfer interest
The latest on Kevin De Bruyne's contract situation at Manchester City as Pep Guardiola hopes the player can return swiftly
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Shortlist revealed for the 2024 Women’s Football Awards
Mary Earps, Emma Hayes, Jill Scott and Laura Woods are among the nominees.
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We had ‘dream careers’ as influencers — then we gave it all up for normal jobs
'I'm much more financially secure in full time employment than I was as an influencer.'
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Expert predicts Kate will be stuck with Middleton name 'until she becomes Queen'
EXCLUSIVE: One expert has weighed in on why Princess Kate is still often referred to as 'Kate Middleton' - almost 13 years after marrying into the Royal Family.
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Japan raises interest rates for first time since 2007
Shift makes Bank of Japan the last central bank to end negative rates in move that has ‘a lot of symbolic significance’ according to analystsJapan’s central bank has ended eight years of negative interest rates, in an overhaul of one of the world’s most aggressive monetary easing programmes that sought to encourage bank lending and spur demand.In its first interest rate hike in 17 years, the Bank of Japan [BOJ] said it was lifting its short-term policy rate from -0.1% to between zero and 0.1%, although analysts said a fragile economic recovery meant it would continue go slow with any further rise in borrowing costs. Continue reading...
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Who congratulated Putin on his election victory and what does it say about global alliances?
While the Russian election results were condemned in the west, the reaction across Asia, Africa and Latin America shows a new global dynamic is emergingAfter Vladimir Putin’s landslide presidential election victory on Sunday, western governments lined up to characterise the win as unfair and undemocratic.The elections underlined the “depth of repression” in Russia, according to British foreign minister David Cameron, while the US state department said the jailing and disqualification of opponents meant the process was “incredibly undemocratic”. Continue reading...
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Haitian migrants trying to flee conflict are rounded up by cops in Dominican Republic and sent back in caged police vans
Haitians attempting to escape the escalating violence and fled to neighboring Dominican Republic have been rounded up and deported inside caged police vans.
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Trump hints he could DEPORT Prince Harry from the US if he wins election and says the Duke won't get 'special privileges' if he lied on his visa about doing cocaine, weed and mushrooms
Donald Trump has suggested Prince Harry could be asked to leave the United States if he is elected president for a second time later this year.
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Casemiro, Martinez, Martial - Man United injury news and return dates for Brentford
Manchester United are dealing with a number of injuries ahead of their Premier League clash with Brentford after the international break
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Mum who stole £50k of designer kids clothes from work 'weeps as son keeps her out of prison'
Elle Makin, 25, flogged the pilfered goods - including items from brands such as Moncler and Fendi - over Instagram, having falsified dozens of fake deliveries from the Liverpool city centre boutique
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