Declines in health and education in poor countries ‘harming earning potential’

Deteriorating health, education and training in many developing countries is dramatically depressing the future earnings of children born today, the World Bank has said.In a report, the World Bank urges policymakers to focus on improving outcomes in three settings: homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces.The report, Building Human Capital Where it Matters, finds that in 86 of 129 low- and middle-income countries health, education, or workplace learning declined between 2010 and 2025.Analysing the links with earnings, the World Bank says children born today in low- and middle-income countries could earn 51% more through their lifetime if their country’s human capital matched that of the best-performing nations at similar income levels.Mamta Murthi, its vice-president for people, said: “The prosperity of low- and middle-income countries depends on their ability to build and protect human capital

UK GDP: Chancellor Rachel Reeves predicts ‘stronger growth this year’ after UK economy ends 2025 ‘in the slow lane’ – business live

Reaction to the news that the UK grew by just 0.1% in the final quarter of 2025 (see earlier post) is rolling in, and City experts aren’t impressed.Lindsay James, investment strategist at wealth managers Quilter, warns that the picture is ‘rather bleak at the moment’.“A long list of data revisions from the ONS has revealed the UK economy barely kept its head above water in the final quarter of last year, with GDP growth coming in at just 0.1% after downward revisions to the previous two data prints

Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January

Elon Musk’s longtime fixation on a white racial majority is intensifying. The richest man in the world posted about how the white race was under threat, made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days in January, according to the Guardian’s analysis of his social media output. The posts, made on his platform X, reflect a renewed embrace of what extremism experts describe as white supremacist material.“Whites are a rapidly dying minority,” Musk said on 22 January, a short time before taking the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, while reposting an Irish anti-immigrant influencer’s video about demographic change.Musk’s posts included him repeatedly claiming white people face systemic discrimination, endorsing the conspiracy that there is an ongoing genocide against white people in countries around the world and promoting a claim that white people would be “slaughtered” by non-whites if they become a demographic minority

The big AI job swap: why white-collar workers are ditching their careers

As AI job losses rise in the professional sector, many are switching to more traditional trades. But how do they feel about accepting lower pay – and, in some cases, giving up their vocation?California-based Jacqueline Bowman had been dead set on becoming a writer since she was a child. At 14 she got her first internship at her local newspaper, and later she studied journalism at university. Though she hadn’t been able to make a full-time living from her favourite pastime – fiction writing – post-university, she consistently got writing work (mostly content marketing, some journalism) and went freelance full-time when she was 26. Sure, content marketing wasn’t exactly the dream, but she was writing every day, and it was paying the bills – she was happy enough

The scandals clouding ‘sinister’ French ice dancers who beat Chock and Bates for gold

The American duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the reigning three-time world champions contentiously missed out on Olympic ice dance gold on Wednesday despite a flawless skate. But the controversy surrounding the event is not merely a debate over artistic and technical merits.Gold went by a narrow margin to the French duo of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. It was a stunning achievement for a partnership that is less than a year old. But the union was forged after the fallout from sexual assault allegations levelled at Fournier Beaudry’s boyfriend and former ice dance partner, while Cizeron is the subject of allegations of abusive conduct from his erstwhile skating partner

Gregor Townsend warns England not to underestimate wounded Scotland

Gregor Townsend has warned England against underestimating his Scotland team and believes the hosts can maintain their fine recent Calcutta Cup record in Edinburgh on Saturday. The visitors have only won two of the last eight fixtures between the two countries and Townsend wants his players to feed off the feelgood memories of previous English losses.While last weekend’s deeply disappointing loss to Italy in Rome has generated plenty of external criticism, England have won only once at Murrayfield since 2017. Townsend is expecting his players to bounce back from their Italian setback and says they will be inspired by past successes. “I would hope they don’t fade into irrelevance because our players have evidence that they’ve won in this fixture,” stressed the head coach