Tag: rates
Global Birth Rates Are Falling, but the Answer Isn’t to Have More Babies
What Falling Global Birth Rates Really Mean for the Future Steep population declines in most countries are expected to have negative effects over the next several generations, but adaptation is possible By Lynne Peeples & Nature magazine Nakayokawa Elementary School, closed three years ago, is seen in the remote village of Yokawa on February 29,…
Survival rates for most deadly cancers making little progress, experts warn
The number of people surviving cancer has improved hugely in the past 50 years, but experts warn progress has been uneven with some cancers with the worst survival rates falling further behind. For some, including melanoma skin cancer, 10-year survival is now above 90% in England and Wales, while for all cancers half of patients…
Bank of England cuts interest rates to two-year low of 4%
The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 4%, taking the cost of borrowing to the lowest level for more than two years. The cut, from the previous rate of 4.25%, is the fifth since August last year, but was only narrowly backed by the Bank’s policymakers who took two votes to reach a…
Trump keeps pressuring the Fed to cut rates. Here’s why its independence matters
By Scott Neuman President Trump’s tense, televised clash with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has raised concerns about the central bank’s independence ahead of this week’s meeting to consider interest-rate adjustments. While Trump isn’t the first president to pressure the Fed to cut interest rates, experts say his brash and bullying tactics are unprecedented. After…
Sudan’s children face growing threat of deadly infectious diseases as vaccination rates halve
The country, beset by war, has the world’s lowest rates of vaccination, says the World Health Organization, as global immunisation drive also stalls Children in Sudan, caught up in what aid organisations have called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and threatened by rising levels of violence, are increasingly vulnerable to deadly infectious diseases as vaccinations…
Aging Rates Vary by Country. Politics Might Be Why
Aging Rates Vary by Country. Politics Might Be Why Social inequality and the decay of democratic institutions are linked to accelerated aging, but education seems to slow the process By Julian Nowogrodzki & Nature magazine Social inequality and weak democratic institutions are linked to faster ageing, as are other environmental features such as high levels…
Here’s a list of Trump’s tariff letters so far and the rates they threaten
Danielle Kurtzleben President Trump’s trade policy has been unpredictable, and that continues with letters he’s been writing to foreign leaders informing them of the tariff rates he intends to impose on their countries’ goods on Aug. 1. The letters represent a radical approach to trade policy, with the president setting sizable tariff rates on a…
How Measles, Polio and Other Eliminated Diseases Could Roar Back If U.S. Vaccination Rates Fall
See the Dramatic Consequences of Vaccination Rates Teetering on a ‘Knife’s Edge’ As U.S. childhood vaccination rates sway on a “knife’s edge,” new 25-year projections reveal how slight changes in national immunization could improve—or drastically reverse—the prevalence of measles, polio, rubella and diphtheria By Lauren J. Young edited by Dean Visser Measles, rubella, polio and…
Interest rates expected to be cut by Bank of England
Interest rates are widely expected to be cut on Thursday, with further falls predicted for later in the year. Analysts say a cut to 4.25% from 4.5% by the Bank of England is highly likely, although no change or a bigger reduction remain possibilities. Such a move would make borrowing money by businesses and individuals…
The Real Reason Autism Rates Are Rising
RFK, Jr., Is Wrong about Cause of Rising Autism Rates, Scientists Say Autism rates are rising, but RFK, Jr., is wrong about the reasons. Here’s what the science says By Stephanie Pappas edited by Jeanna Bryner Research suggests that autism is between 60 and 90 percent heritable. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., head of the Department…
Tariffs threaten to push auto insurance rates even higher
Camila Domonoske A slew of new tariffs, including some specific to vehicles, have many Americans reassessing their plans to buy a car — moving them up to take advantage of today’s tariff-free pricing, or reevaluating whether they want a new car at all, given the economic uncertainty. President Trump has recently floated the idea of…
RFK pushes to find ‘environmental’ cause of autism, calls rising rates an ‘epidemic’
By Rob Stein , Carmel Wroth Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday declared that autism is a rapidly growing “epidemic” in the U.S. and vowed to identify the “environmental toxin” he says is to blame. He noted that autism incidence in the U.S. has increased from 1 in 36 children in…
Bank cuts interest rates and slashes growth forecast
The Bank of England has halved its growth forecast for this year as it cut interest rates to the lowest level for more than 18 months. The economy is now expected to grow by 0.75% in 2025, the Bank said, down from its previous estimate of 1.5%. The government has made growing the economy one…
Faisal Islam: Mortgage rates are not rising yet but Reeves has to act
It has not been a good week for Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Government borrowing costs have hit their highest level in 16 years and the pound has fallen to a 14-month low against the dollar. She has gone on a planned trip to China amid accusations from opposition parties that she is leaving at a moment…
Covid and flu rates rise across the US, according to the CDC
Less than half of Americans planned to get Covid vaccine in 2024, and slightly more than half planned to get flu shot The amount of acute respiratory illness causing Americans to seek healthcare is at a high level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In an update issued on Friday, the…
Latin America’s rise in tuberculosis linked to imprisonment rates
Study warns region’s exponential rise in incarceration is fuelling the disease, with cases increasing by 19% between 2015 and 2022 High incarceration rates in Latin America – the region with the world’s fastest-growing prison population – are exacerbating tuberculosis in a region that is bucking the global trend for falling incidents of the disease, experts…