UK borrowers got further bad news this week as the Bank of England hiked interest rates from 4.5% to 5%.
The steeper than expected increase is the 13th rise in a row and takes the base rate to a 15-year high, leaving despairing homeowners facing another likely increase in mortgage repayments. The rate hike came a day after the news that inflation had remained at 8.7% in May, rather than falling as most experts had predicted.
As the UK braced for more economic misery, over in the US Joe Biden was counting the political cost of a plea deal reached by his son and the Department of Justice.
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Hunter Biden will plead guilty to tax misdemeanours and illegally possessing a gun, bringing a long-running investigation to an end.
The deal will spare the president’s son a public trial and, most likely, time behind bars. But the agreement provides ammunition for his father’s Republican enemies – including the recently indicted Donald Trump.
And with the clock ticking down to the 2024 presidential election, the war of words looks set to escalate.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.
1. A Californian man set a new world record by solving a Rubik’s Cube in what time?
3.006 seconds
3.134 seconds
3.981 seconds
4.003 seconds
2. Short daily naps may help keep the brain healthy by doing what, according to a newly published University College London study?
Slowing age-related brain shrinkage
Improving blood flow to the hippocampus
Strengthening neural pathways
Boosting Dopamine levels
3. Marks & Spencer, WHSmith and Argos are among 202 companies fined a total of around £7 million for failing to do what?
Protect customer data
Meet advertising standards requirements
Tackle workplace discrimination
Pay the minimum wage
4. A top chef banned which diners from his Australian restaurant “for mental health reasons”?
Children
Vegans
Celiacs
Teetotallers
5. Which singer is being blamed for higher than expected inflation in Sweden?
Bruce Springsteen
Taylor Swift
Beyoncé
Harry Styles
6. Australia beat England by two wickets in a thrilling first Test of the men’s Ashes series that was played where?
Lord’s
Old Trafford
Edgbaston
Headingley
7. What percentage of UK adults believe that refugees make a “positive contribution” to society, according to an Ipsos survey?
12%
33%
56%
70%
8. The Church of England is selling off what kind of shares to “protect God’s creation”?
Travel and tourism
Oil and gas
Defence and arms
Luxury retail
9. Prince William is launching a five-year project to tackle what social crisis?
Addiction
Homelessness
Hunger
Fuel poverty
10. The UK government has given a contract to a travel firm from which country for its planned asylum-seeker housing barges?
Australia
New Zealand
US
Canada
1. 3.134 seconds
Max Park set the new record for the fastest 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube time at a competition in Long Beach in his native California. The 21-year-old, who was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism as a child, beat the 3.47-second record set by China’s Yusheng Du in 2018.
2. Slowing age-related brain shrinkage
The analysis of data on people aged 40 to 69 linked habitual naps with larger brain volume equivalent to up to 6.5 fewer years of ageing. Find out more with The Week Unwrapped podcast.
3. Pay the minimum wage
The firms were also ordered to repay a total of around £5 million in lost wages to 63,000 staff, following investigations by HMRC dating back to 2017. M&S, WHSmith and Argos all said the breaches were unintentional and had been swiftly remedied.
4. Vegans
Former “Great British Menu” star John Mountain, originally from Lancashire, posted a message on social media telling vegans to “f*** off”, after getting a negative review from a non-meat eater. On the Facebook page of his Perth restaurant, Fyre, he added that “all vegans are now banned”.
5. Beyoncé
The start of the singer’s world tour in Stockholm last month triggered a spike in demand at hotels and restaurants that has now been linked to higher-than-expected inflation of 9.7% in May. For more odd and unexpected news, sign up to the Tall Tales newsletter.
6. Edgbaston
Australia gained revenge for their agonising two-run Ashes defeat at the Birmingham ground in 2005 on Tuesday, when their fast-bowler captain Pat Cummins led his side to improbable victory with an unbeaten 44.
7. 56%
The survey of 22,000 adults in 29 countries found that Brits had the third most positive attitude to refugees, after Spain and New Zealand. The global average of adults who believe refugees make a “positive contribution” was 45%.
8. Oil and gas
The Church of England is selling its investments in BP, Shell and other oil and gas giants because they do not “protect God’s creation”. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, a former oil industry worker, said the climate crisis “threatens the planet we live on”. For 10 things you need to know each day, sign up to the Daily Briefing newsletter.
9. Homelessness
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the Prince of Wales pledged to use the Royal Foundation to “end homelessness” in the UK, adding: “I’ve been waiting for the right time to do this.” Prince William was 11 when his mother took him to a homeless shelter in London – “a formative moment” for the young royal, said the paper.
10. Australia
News broke this week that the government handed a £1.6 billion contract to Australian firm Corporate Travel Management to cover three offshore asylum-seeker vessels. The government claimed the “floatels” would be “significantly cheaper” than housing arrivals in hotels.
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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.
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