UK cost of living crisis hits families
In the UK, one of the richest countries in the world, more and more workers are struggling to raise their children amid a devastating cost of living crisis. Grocery and energy prices have hit record highs, and austerity measures from Conservative-led governments have eroded benefits paid to many low-income families, including including working families.
In response to the crisis, the BBC has published dozens of recipes online that cost less than a pound, or about $1.23 per serving. Some schools have turned off their heaters. And many communities have opened “warm spaces” — heated public rooms for people with cold homes.
Job growth has left Britain with fewer unemployed households, but many people who find work remain vulnerable as inflation hit a 41-year high a few months ago and wages haven’t kept up. Low-income earners in the UK have grown more slowly than in other Western countries, including Germany and France.
By the numbers: In October, consumer prices rose 11.1% from a year earlier. In December, consumer prices were still up more than 10% from a year earlier.
First Person: Aislinn Corey, a preschool teacher in London, has turned giving her two boys an orange or an apple a game, cutting it into thirds and pretending they’re having a picnic. “We do it as an activity,” she said. “So they didn’t know that the mummy was struggling.” She sometimes skips meals to get more food for her children.
Confirmed tanks for Ukraine
President Biden announced yesterday that the United States will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to help it defend against the Russian invaders and that Germany would follow by donating 14 Leopard 2 tanks, free of charge to other allies sending their tanks. He stressed that the reinforcement of forces is not aimed at expanding the war into Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, who promoted tanks to counter Russia’s military and weapons advantage, expressed gratitude for the US decision. Write on Twitter, he said, “Today, the free world is more united than ever for a common goal – the liberation of Ukraine.” Zelensky called for a total of 300 tanks.
The Pentagon was reluctant to send Abrams tanks, in part because they were exceptionally complex machines that were difficult to operate and maintain. For now, officials have said it could take a year or even longer for them to actually reach the battlefield in Ukraine. The pledges could open up more aid before the expected escalation in the spring.
time: The news came as the Ukrainian military admitted that it withdrew from Soledara strategic eastern city that Russian forces fought to capture during months of brutal trench warfare and artillery battles.
Meta will restore Trump’s Facebook account
Just over two years after Donald Trump’s account was suspended from Facebook and Instagram, Meta, the owners of these platforms, says they will restore the former president’s access for them. He previously had hundreds of millions of followers and was the most followed account on Facebook when he was banned.
Meta, along with other mainstream social media services, suspended Trump from its platforms in 2021 after hundreds of people stormed the Capitol in his name, claiming that his posts risk inciting further violence. The company said yesterday that it had decided to reverse the bans because the risk to public safety had been “sufficiently reduced”.
In November, Trump’s Twitter account was also reinstated, giving the former president more speakers as he campaigned for the White House in 2024. But Trump hasn’t posted on Twitter and is now active only online. Truth Social right-wing society. YouTube has not said whether it will allow the former president to return to the platform.
quote: In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that “bringing down the platform” would “never happen to a sitting President or anyone else who doesn’t deserve punishment!”
Related: Trump has long disliked email and other forms of record-breaking communications. But recently, associates say, he’s been involved in send text messages.
LATEST NEWS
Around the world
“The Modi Question,” a new BBC documentary about the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, focuses on his role in the deadly Hindu-Muslim riots in the state of Gujarat in 2002. The government of India denounced the film and has taken steps to make it difficult to watch in the country.
“In this way, they are making this documentary more popular,” said one student activist. “Now everyone wants to see it.”
life lived
Balkrishna Doshi, the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Prize, helped develop Indian modernism. “We wanted to find our own identity,” he said. He died at the age of 95.
SPORTS NEWS FROM Ethics
A Champions League Final in New York?: Jaume Roures, one of the most influential men in football, discuss Barcelona, Super League and more.
Salah’s decline is a collective failure: Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah’s numbers this season are bad, but that’s a reflection of the team.
Collin Morikawa and Adam Scott join a new golf tournament: Other players have committed to play in New Tournament of Tiger Woods including Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas.
FOCUS ON AFRICA
A diplomatic contest
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Africa this week for his second diplomatic trip in less than a year. He is expected to return in the coming weeks for a planned visit to North Africa. While Russia relies on its longstanding diplomatic network on the continent, Ukraine has fewer embassies there.
However, as the war in Ukraine drew to a close for its first year, many African countries remained neutral. Lavrov’s visit began in South Africa, with stops in Botswana and Eswatini, before he headed to Angola, an important oil producer. Along the way, he extended his invitation to the Russia-Africa summit in July.
The trip coincided with the visits of two top US officials: Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.
Yellen, who visited Senegal, Zambia and South Africa, warning that Russia’s “barbaric aggression” is hurting African economies, especially because of soaring food prices. And Thomas-Greenfield said: “Africa is key to putting pressure on Russia because we need to send a strong, unified message to Russia that what they’re doing in Ukraine is unacceptable.” — Lynsey Chutel, a Briefings writer in Johannesburg
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