Reeves: working people will pay ‘a bit more’ through income tax threshold freeze; OBR chief ‘mortified’ by leak – business live

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.It’s the morning after the budget, a time when the real story behind the fiscal event often emerges.And today, the Resolution Foundation is warning that the job of repairing the UK’s public finance is “far from complete”, and that major tax rises and cuts to public services are coming down the line.The think tank has issued its overnight analysis of Rachel Reeves’s budget, which shows that pre-election austerity and tax rises are both pencilled in.And while those back-loaded tax rises are large (bringing in £26bn), extra spending kicks in sooner, so UK debt is on track to be higher than forecast in March

New rules crack down on high risk loans as Australian property market heats up

A crackdown on risky lending will limit banks’ capacity to extend highly geared mortgages, as the financial regulator launches a pre-emptive strike against the growing excesses of an overheated property market.The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced a 20% cap on the share of new lending that banks can do at a debt-to-income ratio above six – a mortgage worth more than six times the borrower’s income.While Jim Chalmers said the move would “help with financial resilience and housing affordability”, the Greens immediately criticised it as insufficient and experts said it would not curb the current rapid rise in lending growth and property prices.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailThe newly announced restriction lands amid a worsening housing crisis, with a recent report highlighting affordability is now at its worst on record and that a typical household needs to dedicate nearly half of its pre-tax pay to service the average new mortgage.An explosion in lending to landlords has been of particular concern to regulators

Foreign interference or opportunistic grifting: why are so many pro-Trump X accounts based in Asia?

When X rolled out a new feature revealing the locations of popular accounts, the company was acting to boost transparency and clamp down on disinformation. The result, however, has been a circular firing squad of recriminations, as users turn on each other enraged by the revelation that dozens of popular “America first” and pro-Trump accounts originated overseas.The new feature was enabled over the weekend by X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, who called it the first step in “securing the integrity of the global town square.” Since then many high-engagement accounts that post incessantly about US politics have been “unmasked” by fellow users.An Ivanka Trump fan account that posts about illegal immigration to the US was shown to be based in Nigeria

London councils enact emergency plans after three hit by cyber-attack

Three London councils have reported a cyber-attack, prompting the rollout of emergency plans and the involvement of the National Crime Agency (NCA) as they investigate whether any data has been compromised.The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), and Westminster city council, which share some IT infrastructure, said a number of systems had been affected across both authorities, including phone lines. The councils shut down several computerised systems as a precaution to limit further possible damage.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham had also reported an attack. Together the three authorities provide services for more than half a million Londoners

Molly McCann: ‘I’m a scouse female gay athlete who supports Everton – it’s like my cards are marked already’

Britain’s most successful female UFC fighter on knowing when to stand her ground, why she won’t box in Saudi Arabia and aiming to win a world title in the next year“I give my hidings and I take my hidings and so they have seen me with snapped ligaments in my knee, broken feet, broken toes, broken hands, stitches, broken legs,” Molly McCann says of the damage she has endured as a fighter and the impact it has had on her mum and her partner, Fran Parman. “It’s traumatic for Fran and even more traumatic for my mum. I’m 35 and I’ve been in the gym since I was 12. I had my first fight at 16. I’ve spent most of my life fighting

Players warned not to sign IPL-style Hundred deals in standoff with owners

The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) has advised players not to sign Hundred contracts for next season amid a dispute with the new franchise owners over their terms.In a supplementary process to the new IPL-style auction that will take place next year, Hundred teams are permitted to make four direct signings, including one from their existing squad and three others, either overseas players or a player with an England central contract.The direct-signing window opened last week, but the players’ union is understood to have told its members to hold off signing because of a standoff over the new multiyear contracts.The Guardian has learned that the new franchise owners – four of whom also own Indian Premier League teams – have included a unilateral 12-month release clause in the three-year deals they are offering to direct signings, which the PCA is contesting. Such contracts would offer no security to the players, as well as keeping them on the same salary for three years even if they enjoyed a stellar first season