Author: LoveWorld UK

Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy’s elections and promised to govern for all Italians, after exit polls gave her rightwing coalition a clear majority, putting her on course to create the most rightwing government since the end of the second world war. With full results due on Monday, the Brothers of Italy leader is set to become Italy’s first female prime minister – and a model for nationalist parties across Europe as she heads one of the EU’s six original member states. The poll, for Italian broadcaster Rai, gave the rightwing coalition 41%-45% against 25.5%-29.5% for the leftwing bloc. The populist…

A bewitching, twisting game, full of unpredictable turns and hitches, ended in a three-run victory for Pakistan. It was a match England lost, won and lost again in the space of 10 crazy minutes. At their start, they needed 33 runs from 18 balls to beat Pakistan’s 166, and were relying on Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid to do it against Mohammad Hasnain, who had already taken two for 16 with some wickedly quick bowling. They say heroes can be found in the most unlikely places, but outside of Dawson’s home village of Goatacre, there cannot have been many people…

New York police officers have scored a big win in their fight against the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate that cost some their jobs, with a New York Supreme Court judge ruling that the mandate—as it applies to members of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA)—is “invalid” and that fired cops must be given back their jobs. Judge Lyle Frank said in the Sept. 23 ruling (pdf) that PBA members who lost their jobs for refusing the jab must be “reinstated to the status they were as of the date of the wrongful action.” While it’s unclear how many PBA members lost their jobs due to the…

Hong Kong will scrap its controversial COVID-19 hotel quarantine policy for all arrivals from Sept. 26, more than 2.5 years after it was first implemented, in a long-awaited move for many residents and businesses in the financial hub. All international arrivals will be able to return home or to accommodation of their choice but will have to self-monitor for three days after entering the Chinese special administrative hub, the government said on Friday. “We are aiming in one single direction of allowing people to come with more convenience and they are allowed to go about their activities with maximum possibilities,”…

Retailers and the hospitality industry have welcomed the planned return of VAT-free shopping for international tourists, saying it would help to boost sales. The government said it would consult on introducing a new tax-free shopping scheme for Great Britain and would modernise the one in place in Northern Ireland. The scheme will enable tourists to get a refund on VAT on goods bought on the high street, at airports and other departure points and exported from the UK in their personal baggage. The move, which will cost almost £1.3bn in 2024-25, when it is likely to be brought in – according…

Kwasi Kwarteng rolled the dice on the country’s future today by unveiling an extraordinary swathe of tax cuts in a bid to end the UK’s ‘cycle of stagnation’. In a dramatic ‘Emergency Budget’, the Chancellor abolished the top rate of tax for high-earners, and brought forward a 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax to next April. Mr Kwarteng reversed the national insurance hike, as well as scrapping a huge planned increase in corporation tax from 19p to 25p and limits on City bonuses. Stamp duty is being ditched for values up to £250,000, with first time buyers…

Cuts to the top rate of tax, national insurance, and stamp duty were announced by the government. A 1p tax cut planned in the basic rate of income tax for 2024 will be brought forward to 2023, and the top rate of 45% is being scrapped, so the highest rate will be 40%. A national insurance rise of 1.25% will be cancelled, saving households £330 a year. Stamp duty thresholds will be increased, cutting the tax paid on purchasing homes. The £500,00 threshold will rise from £500,000 to £650,000. He said the cuts would be permanent. Promising a new era…

If this was Kevin De Bruyne when he is bored, then Belgium’s World Cup opponents would be right to quiver at the prospect of the damage he could do when he is in the mood. De Bruyne recently told how he had grown tired of playing Wales – this was the ninth meeting between these sides in the past 10 years and the fourth in the past 18 months – but he scored a sumptuous goal and set up another for Michy Batshuayi to put them en route to a Nations League victory. Things looked ominous for Wales at the interval given Belgium should…

A U.S. judge appointed as a special master in the legal battle over records held at former President Donald Trump’s home said on Sept. 20 that he prefers not to see the materials marked classified that were seized by FBI agents. “Let’s not belittle the fact that we are dealing with at least potentially legitimately classified information. The government has a very strong obligation, as all of us, to see it to that that information doesn’t get in the wrong hands,” U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, a Reagan appointee, said during a hearing in federal court in New York City. “It’s not just…

Two games sit between Scotland and the latest chapter of their redemption story at international level. Victory over Ukraine, with plenty to spare after a superb second-half showing, catapulted Scotland to the summit of their Nations League section. Two points from their closing two games – the Republic of Ireland are in Glasgow on Saturday before the Scots face Ukraine, again, in Krakow on Tuesday – would seal top spot in group B1. Ukraine’s football team continue to do their nation proud amid tragic circumstances at home but they were a clear second best here. For Scotland, against such credible opposition, this was…