Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world

Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email

Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email

Thames Water has warned the government that it faces bankruptcy if it is not allowed to raise bills by more than agreed with regulator Ofwat. The UK’s biggest water company will put it’s prices up by 35 per cent over the next five years, down from the 53 per cent that was requested.

Bosses have argued that the additional funding is needed to pay for new infrastructure investments over the next five years, but Ofwat has declined to change its decision. Thames Water now has until 18 February to decide whether to appeal to the Competition and Markets…

A bipartisan group of state legislators have re-introduced a proposal to create a medical debt relief program that could erase hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills. But if a similar program in the City of Pittsburgh is any indication, it’s not guaranteed that Pittsburgh-area residents would benefit.

Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-North Hills) is the prime sponsor of the Pennsylvania Medical Debt Relief Program. As a Pittsburgh-based emergency room physician, Venkat said mounting medical debt is more than just a financial nightmare, it also “keeps patients from seeking necessary care.”

“I’ve personally seen patients who’ve gotten very sick or even died as a result of delaying care…

Thomas C. Goldstein, a highly respected Supreme Court lawyer and co-founder of the popular legal blog SCOTUSblog, has been indicted on federal tax evasion charges in Maryland. Goldstein, who is known for his extensive experience before the U.S. Supreme Court, is accused of evading taxes by failing to report substantial gambling winnings and using his law firm’s funds to pay off personal debts tied to high-stakes poker games. The charges, filed on Thursday, highlight a multi-year scheme from 2016 to 2022 in which Goldstein allegedly diverted more than $5 million from his law firm to cover personal losses, all while underreporting his gambling income to the IRS.

Poker winnings and the path to alleged tax evasion:

Amsterdam-based VonWood, a digital trading platform for Wood, has been declared bankrupt by the Amsterdam District Court, earlier this week.

The company, known for making the online trading process completely transparent and affordable, could not reportedly fulfil its financial obligation, resulting in shutting down operations.

“Our team and partners have worked tirelessly to bring digital transformation to the timber industry. Unfortunately, the inherent conservatism of the industry has made it challenging to achieve this goal,” says David de Jong, CEO and co-founder of VonWood to Silicon Canals.

DD Nijkamp has been appointed as the trustee for the bankruptcy settlement.

The bankruptcy announcement comes nine months…

More Aussies are calling for help over their finances, with mortgages the number one concern.

---

Australia is grappling with a mortgage-led surge in cries for help to the National Debt Helpline.

Almost 170,000 people called the service or used its online chat in 2024, up by close to 19,000 (12 per cent) from the year prior — with some of the highest volumes on record in Victoria and the ACT.

Most other states have also recorded spikes as homeowners continue to grapple with interest rates at their highest level since 2011, with only South Australia’s figures declining.

RELATED: Victorians trapped in ‘mortgage prisons’ put homes up as holiday rentals

The Block judge Marty Fox’s bold real estate slogan is dividing Australian real…

HARRISBURG, Pa. – State Rep. Jim Rigby, R-Ferndale, has co-sponsored a bill designed to help economically struggling Pennsylvanians deal with the burden of medical expenses.

The Pennsylvania Medical Debt Relief Program would set up a system in which there was “almost like a purchase of debt,” as Rigby explained.

“It really is directed toward our most vulnerable,” Rigby said. “In my district, we have a lot of it, one of the poorer districts in the state. It kind of gets them some debt relief. It also gets the monies that the rural hospitals are waiting for. It…

An unexpected year-on-year dip in the number of corporate insolvencies in England and Wales does not reflect current tough trading conditions, with figures still soaring above pre-pandemic levels.

This is according to the Midlands branch of the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 and comes on the back of figures published this week by the Insolvency Service which show that seasonally adjusted corporate insolvencies decreased by 5.1% against 2023’s annual figures, falling to 23,872 from 25,163, but increased by 7.9% on 2022’s figure of 22,129.

Corporate insolvencies numbered 1,838 in December, which is 6% lower than the 1,962 in November and 14% lower than the 2,139 in December 2023. These figures, however, remain…

After years of studying the psychological effects of video game violence, psychologist James Sauer, PhD, a senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania in Australia, took notice when Belgium became the first country to ban a feature called loot boxes in video games in 2018. Loot boxes are digital containers that players can buy for a small amount of money. Once purchased, the box might reveal a special skin or weapon that enhances a character’s looks or gives a player a competitive advantage. Or it might be worthless.

On a Skype call after the news broke, Sauer, a psychological scientist and coexecutive director of the International Media Psychology Laboratory, talked with his collaborator, psychological scientist Aaron Drummond,…