The official announcement that Saudi Arabia would host the 2024 Fifa men’s World Cup came as a surprise to nobody. Hosting rights have been on the country’s geopolitical agenda for many years, and football’s international governing body was more than happy to oblige.
Both parties have come in for heavy criticism as a result.
fizkes/ShutterstockThe state pension age in the UK is currently 66. Yet 9.5% of people aged 66 and older (1.12 million people) were still working, according to the most recent data from the UK’s Annual Population Survey (July 2023 to June 2024). This figure has been rising over the past decade, increasing from 8.70% (880,000 people) in July 2013 to June 2014.
Stock-Asso/ShutterstockTwo influential tech CEOs have sparked a debate about AI’s effect on jobs. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced the buy-now, pay-later firm stopped hiring a year ago, claiming that AI can do most of the jobs that humans do.
Anton Vierietin/ShutterstockAlthough the gender pay gap is not as big as it used to be, women still earn less than men. In the UK, it currently stands at 7% for full-time workers.
Billionaires played an unprecedented role in the 2024 US elections, with 150 of the world’s wealthiest families contributing nearly US$2 billion (£1.57 billion) trying to influence the outcome. This included donations from the likes of Elon Musk (US$133 million for the Republicans) and Michael Bloomberg (US$45 million for the Democrats).
PBMs control which drugs insurers cover, for how much and for whom.
Imagine this: Two days before your family holiday party, you get a text about an online order you placed a week ago, saying the package is at your door. It comes with a photo – of someone else’s door. When you click the attached link, it takes you to the online store, where you enter your username and password. Somehow that doesn’t work, even though you answered your security questions.
fizkes/ShutterstockAround the world, cards and apps are the default way to pay – but nowhere is the transition away from cash more obvious than in Sweden.
saravutpics/ShutterstockThe act of handing over hard-earned cash has long been associated with pain. And historically, research has also found that consumers tended to spend less using cash rather than a payment card.
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