6+ min ago (523+ words) Parts of the US economy are doing just fine but many are struggling to make rent, let alone splurging on gifts Will retailers and merchants have a strong holiday season? That depends. This year, more than most, the 2025 holiday season will actually be two holiday seasons. Don't believe me? Just take a walk in or near Soho, Georgetown, Presidio Heights or Beacon Hill. Restaurants selling $49 chicken parms and $16 baked potatoes " and they're full. Vegas steakhouses are still getting $165 for a porterhouse " and the tables are packed. I searched for a room recently near Dana Point, California, and the Marriott there was sold out " at $750 a night! But for many others? That's a different story. Another analysis from the HR giant Paychex reports that rises in hourly wages " those mostly earned by blue-collar workers " have been tracking below 3% for over a…...

6+ min ago (1170+ words) Women of all ages, especially older ones, are actively choosing to travel alone. What's behind the trend? UK travel companies have reported an increase in bookings for solo travellers, primarily older women, often leaving partners behind to "explore on their own terms. Last month, the tour operator Jules Verne said solo travellers accounted for 46% of bookings for its trips departing next year, up from 40% in 2023. Just under 70% of its current solo bookings are made by women. We spoke to some female solo travellers on the ups and downs of going it alone. Linda, who is retired, makes sure to outline her trip for her loved ones before she departs. Her next trip will be to India. Claudia had hoped to solo backpack around Europe in her teens, but that dream was blocked by her "concerned mother. Fast forward four decades,…...

11+ min ago (242+ words) " Updates from the 4.30pm GMT KO at Stamford Bridge" Sign up for Football Daily | Top scorers Hello, good day and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Chelsea v Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Big game, this. If Arsenal win, the title race will have the unsatisfactory* whiff of a done deal. Right now they are the best team in England, arguably Europe.Not that Chelsea are far behind: they drilled Barcelona 3-0 on Tuesday " and that was without Cole Palmer, who will return in some capacity today. If all that wasn't saliva-inducing enough, these clubs don't love one another. It's been a while since they put the needle on the record; given the stakes " low in the grand scheme, high for the end of November " today could be the day. Continue reading... Hello, good day and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Chelsea…...

11+ min ago (367+ words) David Gentile had just begun to serve a seven-year sentence for role in $1.6bn scheme that defrauded thousands Donald Trump granted clemency to private equity executive David Gentile, who had just begun a seven-year prison sentence for what prosecutors described as a $1.6bn fraud scheme, reported the New York Times. The founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPB Capital, 59 year old Gentile was convicted and sentence in May to seven years in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of individual investors. He reported to prison on 14 November. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Gentile was released on Wednesday, 26 November. "The sentences imposed today are well deserved and should serve as a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail," said Joseph Nocella Jr,…...

19+ min ago (288+ words) Ludwig Minelli, whose work had a lasting influence on Swiss law, founded the group in 1998 The head of the Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas chose to end his life through an assisted death, the group has said. Ludwig Minelli, who founded the group in 1998, died on Saturday, days before his 93rd birthday, Dignitas said. Dignitas said it would "continue to manage and develop the association in the spirit of its founder as a professional and combative international organisation for self-determination and freedom of choice in life and at the end of life. Minelli, a lawyer by trade, faced many legal challenges and made several successful appeals to the Swiss supreme court and the European court of human rights (ECHR). Dignitas said his work had had a lasting influence on Swiss law, pointing to a 2011 ECHR ruling that recognised the right of a…...

28+ min ago (231+ words) That he stayed after relegation in 1978 and lifted the FA Cup with the team still in Division Two typified his commitment Some players embody a club but few have ever embodied their side more than Billy Bonds, who died on Sunday at the age of 79. He was not a one-club man but by the time he finally retired, at the age of 41, in 1988, he felt like one, having racked up a record 799 appearances for West Ham. Just as significantly, he had lifted the FA Cup twice as captain. There was applause at the London Stadium on Sunday as a montage was shown on the big screens. It featured a number of spectacular long-range strikes because it's easier to show somebody scoring goals than preventing them, and still harder to somehow sum up leadership. Born in Woolwich in 1946, Bonds joined Charlton…...

31+ min ago (551+ words) Exclusive: Long waiting times affected 386,849 patients in England during September, data analysis shows Hundreds of thousands of people in England are not getting tests for killer diseases because of widespread delays that doctors fear will harm patients. A total of 386,849 people in September had been waiting more than six weeks for a diagnostic test for cancer, heart problems and other serious conditions, according to an analysis of NHS waiting time data by the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR). NHS England has told health trusts to ensure that by 2027 no more than 20% of all patients have to wait this long to receive any of the tests it uses to detect diseases, such as CT scans and MRIs. However, delays are so common that almost half (46%) of trusts are missing the six-week target, the RCR analysis found. The hold-ups are dangerous because…...

35+ min ago (575+ words) US president favours Nasry "Tito" Asfura of rightwing National party, as polls show three candidates are neck-and-neck Hondurans have begun voting in an election held amid threats by Donald Trump to cut aid to the country if his preferred candidate loses. Honduras could be the next country in Latin America, after Argentina and Bolivia, to swing right after years of leftwing rule. Polls show three candidates neck-and-neck in the race to succeed President Xiomara Castro, whose husband, Manuel Zelaya, also led the country before being toppled in a 2009 coup. Trump"s favourite is 67-year-old Nasry "Tito" Asfura of the rightwing National party. His main challengers are 60-year-old lawyer Rixi Moncada from the ruling Libre party and 72-year-old TV host Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal party. Polls opened at 7.00 am (1300 GMT) for 10 hours of voting, with the first results expected on…...

43+ min ago (840+ words) Heavy monsoon rains strike across south-east Asia leaving thousands of people without shelter or critical supplies Indonesian and Thai authorities are racing to clear debris and find hundreds of missing people as they said more than 600 people had died in devastating floods and landslides across south-east Asia. Heavy monsoon rains have overwhelmed parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia in recent days, leaving thousands of people stranded without shelter or critical supplies. In Indonesia, officials said more than 442 had died, hundreds had been injured and 402 were missing as authorities attempted to reach some of the hardest-hit areas of Sumatra island, where thousands of people were stranded without critical supplies. "The water just rose up into the house and we were afraid, so we fled. Then we came back on Friday, and the house was gone, destroyed," Afrianti, 41, who only goes by…...

54+ min ago (248+ words) Just when Ruben Amorim must have thought his luck would never turn. Somehow Manchester United managed to inflict Crystal Palace's first home defeat in the Premier League since February and end their own five-year wait for a victory at this ground after a first half when their opponents should have been out of sight. United must have sensed an opportunity to profit given that they had three more days to prepare and almost went ahead after 43 seconds. A long throw caused chaos in the Palace area but somehow the former United goalkeeper Dean Henderson produced a point-blank save on his goalline to deny Casemiro. With Zirkzee hopelessly isolated in attack, United were powerless to respond and should have found themselves further behind at half-time. A last-ditch tackle from Luke Shaw blocked a shot from Pino before the substitute Eddie Nketiah…...