Author: Olivia Carter

Piles of trash-filled caves in Zhangjiajie, China, famous for its towering sandstone pillars.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept interest rates steady amid expectations of higher inflation and lower economic growth ahead, and still pointed to two reductions later this year.With markets expecting no chance of a central bank move this week, the Federal Open Market Committee kept its key borrowing rate targeted in a range between 4.25%-4.5%, where it has been since December.Along with the rate decision, the committee indicated, through its closely watched “dot plot,” that two cuts by the end of 2025 are still on the table. However, it lopped off one reduction for both 2026 and 2027,…

Hideo Kojima – the acclaimed video game director who helmed the stealth-action Metal Gear series for decades before founding his own company to make Death Stranding, a supernatural post-apocalyptic delivery game this publication described as “2019’s most interesting blockbuster” – is still starstruck, or perhaps awestruck. “George [Miller] is my sensei, my God,” he proclaims gleefully.Kojima is visiting Australia for a sold-out chat with Miller, the creator of the Mad Max film franchise, at the Sydney film festival. The two struck up an unlikely but fierce friendship nearly a decade ago, and Kojima says that, as a teenager, the first…

One of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets exploded during a routine test in Texas. The Starship 36 suffered ‘catastrophic failure and exploded’ at the Starbase launch facility according to the Cameron County authorities. Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, is central to Musk’s long-term vision of colonising Mars. This is the latest setback, with SpaceX betting that its ‘fail fast, learn fast’ ethos will eventually pay off

Getty ImagesA part of a US national suicide prevention hotline that caters for LGBTQ young people says it will soon close, after the Trump administration cut its funding.The administration has accused the service of “radical gender ideology”. It says it will still fund the wider 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – of which the LGBTQ youth option is one part – and that all callers will receive “compassion and help”.The Trevor Project, an organisation that helped to run the LGBTQ option, said the decision would have a harmful impact on vulnerable young people.”Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,” said…

June marks the start of summer wanderlust—school’s out, sunshine’s in full swing, and the travel world is buzzing with hot deals and dreamy destinations. Whether you’re chasing passport stamps, craving a scenic road trip, or planning a stateside staycation, now is the time to book before peak prices hit their highs. Nature lovers can head inland for a slower kind of magic: travelers can now save up to $300 with Amtrak on breathtaking rail journeys through America’s national parks. For those who prefer the open seas, Celebrity Cruises is offering 20% off sailings to the Galapagos Islands—where raw beauty meets…

UK manufacturing is expected to receive support to ease energy costs and boost skills, the Guardian understands, as part of a long-awaited industrial strategy due to be unveiled next week.Energy-intensive industries have long complained that they pay too much for electricity compared with competitors in the EU, while the wider industrial sector has struggled to recruit skilled staff.As Nigel Farage’s Reform party targets support in Britain’s industrial heartlands, ministers are poised to pour funds into boosting the manufacturing workforce with proposals similar to a £600m package for the construction sector announced earlier this year, which underpins plans to build 1.5m…

The UK is “behind the curve” among progressive nations, the assisted dying bill’s sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, has said on the eve of one of the most consequential votes for social change in England and Wales.The Labour MP said the circumstances may never be right again to pass such a bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales for terminally ill people with less than six months to live, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel of experts.Her intervention came amid more warnings about the safeguards in the bill, including from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and…

A new hotel discovery platform verifies luxury properties for both accessibility and inclusivity.The platform, called Inclusive Luxury Hotels, ensures all of its listings are committed to providing “conscious inclusivity” for travelers with mobility, sensory, and neurodivergent exceptionalities.Included in the listings are luxury properties in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Luxury travel just got a bit more inclusive, thanks to a new platform designed for discerning travelers with disabilities. Accessible travel company Inclu has just launched a new hotel discovery platform for travelers with disabilities called Inclusive Luxury Hotels. The platform features hotels that have been vetted (or are in…

When did you last experience total silence? In Hark, the author Alice Vincent goes to extreme lengths to eradicate noise as she spends time in an anechoic chamber, a heavily soundproofed space designed to swallow up sound waves. There she becomes aware of the noises of her own body, from involuntary swallowing to the soft, high-pitched ringing in her ears. But rather than feel unease, she is “confronted with a comfort I couldn’t have imagined – and a familiarity with quietude I didn’t realise I was living in”.Hark is a book about listening, being heard and the author’s shifting relationship with sound in…