The UK will build up to 12 new attack submarines, the prime minister will announce as the government unveils its major defence review on Monday. The review is expected to recommend the armed forces move to “warfighting readiness” to deter growing threats faced by the UK. Sir Keir Starmer will say up to 12 conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines will replace the UK’s current fleet from the late 2030s onwards. The prime minister is also expected to confirm the UK will spend £15bn on its nuclear warhead programme.Sir Keir will say that, alongside the UK’s nuclear-armed submarines, the new vessels would keep…
Author: Usama Nisar
There is a saying beloved of a certain type — the type that shares workout selfies on Instagram and arrives to anything short of a wedding wearing Lululemon: “Abs are made in the winter”. It’s a fairly odious way of saying that hewn abs take months and months of work before they reach a standard suitable for peacocking on Instagram. But unless your raison d’être is flashing your midriff on Instagram — in which case, do carry on — then training your abs at a cost to the rest of your abdomen rather misses the point. Leave the #fitfam to…
by Robert Faturechi, Pratheek Rebala and Brandon Roberts ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The week before President Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that sent the stock market plummeting, a key official in the agency that shapes his administration’s trade policy sold off as much as $30,000 of stock. Two days before that so-called “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, a State Department official sold as much as $50,000 in stock, then bought a similar investment as prices fell. And just before Trump…
Gas prices heading into the Memorial Day weekend hit a four-year low as millions of Americans prepare to hit the road. When adjusting for inflation, the average U.S. retail gasoline prices going into Memorial Day weekend are 14% lower than last year, in large part because of falling crude oil prices, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). On Monday, for instance, the retail price of regular-grade gasoline in the U.S. averaged $3.17 per gallon, 11% lower than a year ago, the EIA reported. Retail gasoline prices increased 19%, or 49 cents per gallon, on average from January to…
Growing up in sunny Florida, I was always barefoot. Whether it was a day at the beach with my family, running around the soccer fields on campus, or just exploring the backyard, I found endless opportunities for dirty feet and scraped toes. Being shoeless felt natural—it was a way of life. However, a lot changed when I came to Texas for college. I found myself in the concrete jungle of Austin with little time to explore off-campus. I vividly remember how good it felt to kick off my boots and walk barefoot around my dorm room. At the time, I…
The Federal Trade Commission has finally given up the ghost on challenging Microsoft’s $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. “The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case,” the agency said in an order issued today. The federal regulator had attempted to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard both before and after the deal closed back in October 2023. The FTC just lost out on its latest appeal against the merger earlier this month. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FTC had not successfully argued several points…
By OWEN TRIPP Creating a healthcare experience that builds trust and delivers value to people and purchasers isn’t a quick fix, but it’s the only way to reverse the downward spiral of high costs and poor outcomes Entrepreneurs like to say the U.S. healthcare system is “broken,” usually right before they explain how they intend to fix it. I have a slightly different diagnosis. The U.S. healthcare system is the gold standard. Our institutions and enterprises, ranging from 200-year-old academic medical centers to digital health startups, are the clear world leaders in clinical expertise, research, innovation, and technology. Capabilities-wise, the…
by Jennifer Berry Hawes and Mollie Simon, with additional reporting by Cassandra Garibay ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. When Hurricane Helene plowed over the Southeast last September, it caused more inland deaths than any hurricane in recorded history. The highest per capita death toll occurred in Yancey County, a rural expanse in the rugged Black Mountains of North Carolina devastated by flash flooding and landslides. On Monday, we published a story recounting what happened…
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was giving “serious consideration” to bringing government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public. In a Truth Social post, Trump said he would speak with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Federal Housing Finance Director William Pulte about doing so. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right. Stay tuned!” he wrote. AMERICA’S HOUSING CRISIS: REALTOR.COM SAYS THERE IS A WAY TO SOLVE IT The move would be a massive one for the housing…
Memorial Day weekend is here, bringing that golden-hour sweet spot between slowing down and leaning into everything we love about summer. It’s the unofficial start to longer days, linen everything, and a few thoughtful upgrades to ease into the season ahead. While we’re all about presence and simplicity, we also won’t say no to a well-timed deal either, especially when it’s on things we already know, love, and use in our daily routines. Below, we’re sharing our editors’ must-have items that happen to be on sale this weekend, alongside a curated list of the brands we’re always keeping an eye…
