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Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Man pulled into mri machine after he walked into an exam room wearing a chain necklace
A 61-year-old man wearing a large chain necklace was pulled into an MRI machine in New York when he walked into the exam room. The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon at Nassau Open MRI while a scan was underway. According to the Nassau County Police Department, the machine's strong magnetic force drew him in by his metallic necklace. Police said the incident resulted in a medical episode that left the man hospitalized in critical condition. Authorities did not release his name and did not have an update on the man's condition on Friday. A person who answered the phone at Nassau Open MRI on Long Island declined to comment Friday. MRI machines employ a strong magnetic field that exerts very powerful forces on objects of iron, some steels, and other magnetizable objects, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, which says the units are strong enough to fling a wheelchair across the room.
Bloomberg
09-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Reeves Should Brave Markets and Swap UK Fiscal Rules, Study Says
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves should revamp her fiscal rules to revive productivity, according to a new report that argues the existing design is damaging the investment needed to generate long-term economic growth and tax revenue. The current framework, which requires debt to be falling as a share of the economy by the end of the decade, encourages the Treasury to sacrifice investment projects to keep its finances in check, the analysis by the Productivity Institute and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research concluded.
Irish Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The roots of the British malaise lie in a sick economy
The UK suffers from three failures: failing politics; a failing state; and a failing economy. Of these, the last is much the most important. I am not arguing that these failures are significant by global standards: UK politics is still relatively decent and democratic; the state is relatively competent and effective; and, not least, the British still enjoy a relatively high standard of living. The problem is that the economy does not provide a rising standard of living or the expected quality of public services at politically acceptable levels of taxation. The state is also unable to ameliorate the painful trade-offs this reality has imposed. Finally, the politicians cannot confront the choices they face, as we have seen with Keir Starmer, most recently over welfare reform, but also over the questions of tax, spending and economic reform raised in the 2024 general election. READ MORE Numbers tell the story. According to the from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, real disposable income per head rose by just 14 per cent between the third quarters of 2007 and 2024: it had risen 48 per cent between the third quarters of 1990 and 2007. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the trend growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per head in the UK had been 2.5 per cent a year from 1990 to 2007: then, between 2008 and 2025, it was just 0.7 per cent. Keir Starmer is not a charlatan. But he has not been prepared to take on the burden of leadership that current conditions require. This reduction of 1.8 percentage points in the growth rate was the largest in the group of seven high-income countries (plus Spain). In the second period, only Italy has grown considerably more slowly than the UK. As a result, UK GDP per head in 2025 is forecast to be 33 per cent lower than it would have been if the 1990-2007 trend growth had continued. This is the biggest shortfall among all these countries. All of this is rooted in the most important collapse of all, that in productivity growth. According to the Organisat ion for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), real output per hour rose by a miserable 6 per cent in the UK between 2007 and 2023. This was the same as in France and again, above Italy. But in the US the rise was 22 per cent. In the euro zone as a whole it was 10 per cent. The UK's stagnant productivity is a big worry. When economies cease to grow, everything becomes zero-sum: more for one group of people means less for others. How the wealthy are buying up land to avoid inheritance tax Listen | 22:03 The problem is even greater if demographic change increases the number of beneficiaries of fiscal transfers relative to that of productive taxpayers. The overwhelming questions in politics become how to contain the discontent when much of the population has stagnant real incomes, how to manage the public finances, especially during shocks, and how to get the economy growing again. These are tough questions. This is partly because the most important of all, namely, what to do to raise economic growth, is so hard to answer. Nobody expected such a large and widespread fall in trend growth in high-income countries as has happened since 2007. Even the US has suffered a significant decline in growth of GDP per head in the post-2007 period. But the decline in the UK's growth rate is quite exceptional. More fundamentally, while economists have some ideas about the sources of economic growth, these amount to much less than precise knowledge. This is partly because both the nature and impact of technological progress is so hard to foresee. Today, for example, some think artificial intelligence will transform productivity for the better. Others most definitely are sceptical. Indubitably, a serious government would be devoting vast intellectual resources to the question of how to raise the growth rate. None has, including this one. The charlatans pretend that something simple – Brexit or huge unfunded tax cuts – will deliver. A starting point, in my view, must be recognition that the Thatcher experiment failed: it did not transform the underlying performance of the economy for the better. This must now be admitted. Too much of the post-Thatcher performance was unsustainable. This was, in good part, because it was the fruit of a global credit bubble, in which the UK was a leading actor. My hope is to devote future columns to how a new growth strategy might work. But, before that, it is crucial to recognise the political responses we have been seeing since 2010. By and large, these have fallen into two categories: charlatanism and timidity. The charlatans pretend that something simple – Brexit or huge unfunded tax cuts – will deliver. The timid have been relatively responsible. But they have been unwilling to admit the scale of the economic and political challenges they confront and then make hard choices. Keir Starmer is not a charlatan. But he has not been prepared to take on the burden of leadership that current conditions require. I sympathise. But his timidity will not work. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
NHK
04-06-2025
- Business
- NHK
Japanese births hit record low in 2024, below 700,000 for first time
The Japanese government says the number of Japanese births last year dropped below 700,000 for the first time since statistics were first compiled in 1899. The health ministry said 686,061 babies were born to Japanese nationals in 2024, down 41,227 from the previous year. The number has fallen for nine years in a row. National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had estimated that the figure would not drop to the 680,000 level until 2039. The ministry says the number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime fell to a record low of 1.15 last year, down 0.05 points from 2023. The number of deaths in the country was 1,605,298 in 2024, up 29,282 from the previous year and a record high. As a result, the overall population decline stands at 919,237, the largest-ever decrease. The ministry attributes the decline in births to smaller younger generations and the tendency for people to marry and have children later in life. It expressed a sense of crisis about years of sharp declines in births, and said it would continue to take measures to stop it.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK inflation jumps higher than expected to 3.5% amid bills increase
Inflation in the UK jumped by more than expected last month to 3.5% – its highest rate in more than a year – after dramatic increases in water bills, energy costs and council tax. A rise in employer national insurance contributions and a boost to the national minimum wage also put pressure on companies to raise prices by more than City analysts had forecast. The surge in the consumer prices index (CPI) recorded by the Office for National Statistics came after a decline in the rate over the first quarter of the year to 2.6% in March. Much of the increase was driven by higher payments for gas, electricity, water and transport, amid a number of bill rises that led to last month being dubbed 'awful April'. A spokesperson for the ONS said: 'Gas and electricity bills rose this month compared with sharp falls at the same time last year due to changes to the Ofgem energy price cap.' Water and sewerage bills also rose at their fastest rate since privatisation – increasing 26.1% – while vehicle excise duty also jumped, all of which pushed the CPI rate to its highest level since January last year. Interactive The Bank of England is likely to rebuff calls for faster and deeper interest rate cuts after the growth in prices proved to be stronger than financial markets expected. A poll of City economists had forecast a rise of 3.3% in April, while the central bank expected last month's inflation rate to hit 3.4%. Monica George Michail, an economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said inflation was likely to remain high for several months, forcing the central bank to delay interest rate rises. 'Businesses are experiencing cost pressures amid the rise in national minimum/living wage, employer's national insurance contributions, and regulated price increases. Some of these costs will be passed down to consumers through higher prices,' she said. 'We therefore anticipate just one further interest rate cut this year by the Bank of England.' Business groups said they were disappointed that cuts to interest rates were likely to be delayed. The British Chambers of Commerce said rising cost pressures and higher household bills meant businesses were facing 'a perfect storm'. The group said: 'While April's jump was expected, the scale, to 3.5%, is concerning. With the national insurance hike, minimum wage rise and global tariffs, our research shows 55% of businesses are expecting to put up prices in the coming months.' Financial markets reacted by reducing their forecasts for interest rate rises. Meetings of the Bank's monetary policy committee in June and August are not expected to cut rates, pushing back the next reduction, most likely from 4.25% to 4%, to September. April's rise was dampened by falling oil prices, which brought down the cost of petrol and diesel, while heavy discounting of children's clothes and women's footwear restricted the rise in clothing costs. Recent forecasts for energy prices have shown them falling, bringing down the price of the energy cap. Some analysts said this trend should limit the potential rise in inflation this year. Analysts at ING said an increase in services inflation from 4.7% to 5.4% played a crucial part in driving CPI above expectations but was spurred by a large uplift in vehicle tax and the timing of Easter. 'It should fall back from April's 5.4% figure to the 4.5% area this summer, keeping the Bank of England on track for quarterly rate cuts through this year and into 2026,' they said. The Bank forecast earlier this month that inflation would peak at an average 3.5% during the summer months. Officials at the central bank cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% at their last meeting on 8 May but the vote by the nine-member monetary policy committee was split three ways, with two members voting to keep rates on hold while another two supported a half-point reduction. Rachel Reeves said she was disappointed with the inflation figures. 'I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people. The chancellor added: 'We are long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous administration, but I'm determined that we go further and faster to put more money in people's pockets.' The shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, said: 'This morning's news that inflation is up – and now well above the 2% target – is worrying for families. 'Labour's economic mismanagement is pushing up the cost of living for families – on top of the £3,500 hit to households from the chancellor's damaging jobs tax. Higher inflation could also mean interest rates stay higher for longer, hitting family finances hard … Families are paying the price for the Labour chancellor's choices.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
