Switzerland ’s economy grew slightly less than initially reported in the first quarter, weighed down by stalling consumer demand and a drop in investment. Gross domestic product adjusted for large sport events rose 0.4% from the previous three months, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. That’s below the 0.5% reading previously announced . The report shows momentum in the Swiss...
Switzerland ’s economy grew slightly less than initially reported in the first quarter, weighed down by stalling consumer demand and a drop in investment. Gross domestic product adjusted for large sport events rose 0.4% from the previous three months, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. That’s below the 0.5% reading previously announced . The report shows momentum in the Swiss economy was sustained primarily by government spending, suggesting weakness took hold in the private sector even before the full impact of the Iran war hit consumers and businesses. That crisis also boosted demand for the safe-haven franc, leading to currency appreciation that may have squeezed exporters. The output side of the economy shows a different picture. Manufacturing drove growth, as the industrial sector rebounded after several quarters of subdued performance. The overall expansion there came even as value added in Switzerland’s important chemical and pharmaceutical industry declined. The figures exclude data from large sport events because they can distort the overall picture of the country’s economy. Switzerland is the home to many global sports bodies, so when for instance the Olympic Games take place, earning revenue for the International Olympic Committee, that boosts Swiss GDP without benefiting economic activity. While the situation in the Middle East continues to cloud the outlook, economists expect Switzerland to continue growing in the current quarter and in the rest of 2026. Inflation, meanwhile, is seen accelerating, though it’s expected to stay comfortably within the central bank’s 0-2% target range. The latest data on consumer prices will be released on Thursday. Switzerland’s 10-Million Population Cap Is Worrying Executives SNB’s Schlegel Sees Inflation Within Range of Price Stability Switzerland Wants Workers to Retire Later But Won’t Force Them
Nationwide finds typical price was £278,024 in May, as Savills says Iran war has ‘fundamentally changed’ outlook Business live – latest updates House prices fell in the UK for the first time this year in May, as rising interest rates triggered by the war in Iran hurt homebuyer demand. The price of the average UK home dropped 0.6% in May compared with the month before, according to the lender Natio...
Nationwide finds typical price was £278,024 in May, as Savills says Iran war has ‘fundamentally changed’ outlook Business live – latest updates House prices fell in the UK for the first time this year in May, as rising interest rates triggered by the war in Iran hurt homebuyer demand. The price of the average UK home dropped 0.6% in May compared with the month before, according to the lender Nationwide. Continue reading...
Thirst for renewal is strong and new players could help bridge the gap to PSG but there are no guarantees The greatest lie ever told about penalty shootouts is that they are a lottery. This is a recognisable and trainable footballing skill, a test not just of ball-striking and placement but research, psychology, mettle under pressure. Eberechi Eze puts the ball wide, Gabriel Magalhães sends it in ...
Thirst for renewal is strong and new players could help bridge the gap to PSG but there are no guarantees The greatest lie ever told about penalty shootouts is that they are a lottery. This is a recognisable and trainable footballing skill, a test not just of ball-striking and placement but research, psychology, mettle under pressure. Eberechi Eze puts the ball wide, Gabriel Magalhães sends it in the direction of the Danube: this is failure on the most brutal and unforgiving terms. But it is failure nonetheless. The second greatest lie ever told about penalties is that fortune plays no part. Any encounter decided by 10 kicks of a football will evidently be at the disproportionate mercy of random factors: the divot, the bad contact, the goalkeeper’s guesswork (and to all the preparation that goes into the process, it remains partly guesswork). That this sport – already a sport of low scores, narrow differentials and infinite variables – chooses to decide its biggest prizes on these smallest of morsels is one of its cruellest traits. Continue reading...
She had a passion for butterflies and would seek out rare ones, yet this was used against her by violent, money-grabbing husband. Now this pioneering naturalist’s story has been translated to today’s manosphere ‘There’s nothing wrong with having a hobby, or even what you might call in this case a hyperfocus,” psychiatrist Dr Godrick tells Eleanor Glanville in a claustrophobic therapy room. Outside...
She had a passion for butterflies and would seek out rare ones, yet this was used against her by violent, money-grabbing husband. Now this pioneering naturalist’s story has been translated to today’s manosphere ‘There’s nothing wrong with having a hobby, or even what you might call in this case a hyperfocus,” psychiatrist Dr Godrick tells Eleanor Glanville in a claustrophobic therapy room. Outside the Phoenix theatre in Hampshire, a summer heatwave is delivering perfect conditions for butterflies. Inside, a rather darker story is being rehearsed in air-conditioned gloom. Butterfly, a new play, shines a light on one woman’s passion for butterflies and how it is turned against her when she became trapped in an abusive relationship. Continue reading...
There is no evidence that ovulation affects muscle-building, but you may feel stronger at certain times It’s an idea that’s been enthusiastically embraced on social media: women should sync their training to their menstrual cycle. That means lifting heavier weights around ovulation, then switching to gentler movement such as yoga in the second half of the cycle – because as their hormones fluctuat...
There is no evidence that ovulation affects muscle-building, but you may feel stronger at certain times It’s an idea that’s been enthusiastically embraced on social media: women should sync their training to their menstrual cycle. That means lifting heavier weights around ovulation, then switching to gentler movement such as yoga in the second half of the cycle – because as their hormones fluctuate so does their strength. But there’s not much proof that this is useful, says Dr Marianna Apicella, a researcher at the University of Leicester specialising in female physiology. “High-quality evidence supporting that is seriously lacking,” she says. “There’s not really much concrete evidence for it.” Continue reading...
In this extract from their forthcoming book on South America and the World Cup, Mark Biram and Tim Vickery describe la Seleçao’s strange buildup to the classic tournament In January 1969, João Saldanha was appointed as Brazil’s coach. Saldanha was barely a coach – he had had a brief spell in charge of Botafogo more than a decade earlier. He was an immensely popular football journalist, who with ty...
In this extract from their forthcoming book on South America and the World Cup, Mark Biram and Tim Vickery describe la Seleçao’s strange buildup to the classic tournament In January 1969, João Saldanha was appointed as Brazil’s coach. Saldanha was barely a coach – he had had a brief spell in charge of Botafogo more than a decade earlier. He was an immensely popular football journalist, who with typewriter or microphone had the fluent gift of communication, talking about the game in language that was both fresh and straightforward, easy to understand. And he was so much more. He was a charismatic powerhouse, who claimed to have popped up at many key moments in history, usually in the service of international communism. Because, yes, at the right-wing height of Brazil’s military dictatorship, a communist was appointed to coach the national football team. João Havelange, the president of the Brazilian sports confederation, knew what he was doing. At a stroke, he had cut away all the intrigue and politicking which was surrounding the side. Saldanha’s opening move was to announce his starting lineup and his reserves. No argument, no discussion, no balancing off one region against the other. Just one man picking the team. And it worked. Brazil sailed through qualification for the 1970 World Cup. Continue reading...
Giro d’Italia triumph completes grand slam of Grand Tours although the Dane may still require a dip in from from his great rival to prevail in July Jonas Vingegaard’s achievement in completing a grand slam of Grand Tours lifts him into a select club of champions that have recorded victories in the tours of Italy, France and Spain. The 29-year-old Dane joins Belgium’s Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault a...
Giro d’Italia triumph completes grand slam of Grand Tours although the Dane may still require a dip in from from his great rival to prevail in July Jonas Vingegaard’s achievement in completing a grand slam of Grand Tours lifts him into a select club of champions that have recorded victories in the tours of Italy, France and Spain. The 29-year-old Dane joins Belgium’s Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil of France, Spain’s Alberto Contador, Italians Felice Gimondi and Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome, of Great Britain, as winners of all three Grand Tours. It’s an accomplishment that has, to date, proven beyond his great rival, Tadej Pogacar, who, despite his multiple successes in other races, has yet to add the Vuelta a España to his wins in the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. “It is a special day for me,” Vingegaard said, showing rare emotion as he paid tribute to the support of his family. “It’s way more than I could ever dream of when I was a kid.” Continue reading...
Underfunding, systemic failure and awful Tory policies bequeathed us a public and private sector housing crisis. As a priority, we will now fix that Growing up, I remember how important our home was to my family. I know I get raised eyebrows now when I mention that pebble-dashed semi, but that doesn’t negate the point. Our house was not just a roof over our heads – it was our home. A place of secu...
Underfunding, systemic failure and awful Tory policies bequeathed us a public and private sector housing crisis. As a priority, we will now fix that Growing up, I remember how important our home was to my family. I know I get raised eyebrows now when I mention that pebble-dashed semi, but that doesn’t negate the point. Our house was not just a roof over our heads – it was our home. A place of security and a focal point for our family. A place to build out from and hope for a better future. So it is simply shocking that under the long years of Tory rule, so many people across our country were left without a stable place to call their own. Children were left languishing in temporary accommodation, too often without proper places to play, eat and sleep. Families were left in limbo on waiting lists for years. Young care leavers were denied a permanent place to live. And, incredibly, domestic abuse survivors found themselves forced out of their homes because landlords lacked the powers to make their abuser the one who must leave. Keir Starmer is the UK prime minister Continue reading...
Returning to the world stage after 12 years the 2023 African champions are ambitious and have plenty of options in attack This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off...
Returning to the world stage after 12 years the 2023 African champions are ambitious and have plenty of options in attack This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...
Fewer than 60,000 saw Wigan beat Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final and the sport needs to address its attendance problem There was more Challenge Cup history under the Wembley arch on Saturday afternoon as Wigan Warriors secured a record-extending victory in rugby league’s most prestigious competition. But there was a slice of more sobering history too. The Warriors’ demolition of Hull KR was wat...
Fewer than 60,000 saw Wigan beat Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final and the sport needs to address its attendance problem There was more Challenge Cup history under the Wembley arch on Saturday afternoon as Wigan Warriors secured a record-extending victory in rugby league’s most prestigious competition. But there was a slice of more sobering history too. The Warriors’ demolition of Hull KR was watched by just 56,383 spectators; excluding the two Covid-affected finals of 2020 and 2021, that is the lowest figure for a Wembley Challenge Cup final since 1946. Granted, few sports obsess over attendance figures quite like rugby league but the reality is a statistic that stark is enough to merit a debate about where the sport goes next. Continue reading...
Presented by Snowflake Too often, the history of enterprise security has been a history of making things harder to use. A new threat emerges, a new control gets bolted on, and somewhere in the process, people start working around the very systems designed to protect them. Over the course of my career, I’ve seen firsthand that security adoption rarely fails because people don’t care about security....
Presented by Snowflake Too often, the history of enterprise security has been a history of making things harder to use. A new threat emerges, a new control gets bolted on, and somewhere in the process, people start working around the very systems designed to protect them. Over the course of my career, I’ve seen firsthand that security adoption rarely fails because people don’t care about security. It fails because the secure path feels harder than the insecure one. In the age of AI, that lesson matters more than ever. AI expands the attack surface and raises the ceiling on what attackers can do, which makes simplifying security even more critical. Security controls that require effort or inconvenience eventually get ignored. People find workarounds. The answer is to make the secure path the easiest path. Security works best when it gets out of the way When security is easier to use than to avoid, people adopt it. Years ago, when the industry was rolling out two-factor authentication at scale, the biggest challenge wasn’t building the security itself, but the friction that came with using it. People had to stop what they were doing, grab a phone, launch a VPN, enter codes, and interrupt their workflow just to log in. What ultimately drove adoption wasn’t policy, compliance requirements, or security training. It was simplicity. Now that it’s as easy as a fingerprint or a face scan, people use it without hesitation. The same principle drove browser makers to make security more visible and intuitive for everyday users. Rather than expecting people to manually inspect URLs, modern browsers prominently flag non-HTTPS sites as insecure, helping guide users toward safer behavior by default. Security became stronger in part because the secure path also became the easier and more obvious one. Where complexity shows up in AI Agent permissions are a good example of where this plays out in AI systems. Employees accumulate numerous permissions over time through a project here, a ...