Why Britain’s towns and cities are going bust

Birmingham’s city center is thronged by empty lots with unfinished and unstarted building projects, like this one in the Deritend area. In 1890, an American journalist named Julian Ralph traveled from New York to Birmingham, an industrial powerhouse lying squarely in the center of England, and found it to be “the best-governed city in the…

New Jersey to forgive thousands of families’ medical debt. Here’s how to tell if you qualify.

$100 million in medical debt eliminated for N.J. residents $100 million in medical debt eliminated for N.J. residents 00:35 TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) — Thousands of New Jersey families can breathe a little easier after Gov. Phil Murphy announced his administration will eliminate some, if not all, of certain families’ medical debt. Murphy’s administration will relieve…

South Africa’s Transnet seeks debt relief from government

Transnet is saddled with 130 billion rand ($7.30 billion) in debt and has struggled to provide adequate freight rail and port services due to equipment shortages and maintenance backlogs after years of under-investment. Last December, South Africa’s government said it had handed Transnet a 47 billion rand guarantee facility to help the company meet “immediate liquidity matters such as…

Derby dance company enters liquidation | News

Derby-based dance company Déda has announced it is entering voluntary insolvency after “enduring significant financial pressures” since the onset of Covid, making it “impossible to continue” operations in its current format. Founded in 1991, the Arts Council England-funded charity runs a dance and movement venue and is co-producer of the annual Derby Feste festival, which…