All posts tagged: Headache

Trump’s Plan for Elon Musk to Bring the ‘Stranded’ Astronauts Home ASAP Is a Headache for NASA

Trump’s Plan for Elon Musk to Bring the ‘Stranded’ Astronauts Home ASAP Is a Headache for NASA

For reasons that were not immediately clear, SpaceX founder Elon Musk took to his social media site X on Tuesday evening to make a perplexing space-based pronouncement. “The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so,” Musk wrote. “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.” Now generally, at Ars Technica, it is not our policy to write stories strictly based on things Elon Musk says on X. However, this statement was so declarative, and so consternation-inducing for NASA, it bears a bit of explication. First of all, the most plausible explanation for this is that Elon is being Elon. “He’s trolling,” said one of my best space policy sources shortly after Musk’s tweet. After all, the tweet was sent at 4:20 pm in the central time zone, where SpaceX now has its headquarters. Even if it is trolling, it will still cause headaches within NASA. Foremost, NASA has gone to great lengths to stress that the two astronauts …

National insurance rise could be £400m headache for schools

National insurance rise could be £400m headache for schools

NFER adds its voice to calls for schools to be reimbursed as its analysis finds rise could add ‘significant strain’ NFER adds its voice to calls for schools to be reimbursed as its analysis finds rise could add ‘significant strain’ An increase in employer national insurance contributions could cost schools hundreds of millions of pounds, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research. The organisation has added its voice to those calling for schools to be reimbursed for any rise announced at next week’s budget. Its analysis shows a 1 per cent rise could cost schools between £175 and £200 million in increased costs for teachers and leaders. A 2 per cent rise would work out at between £350 and £400 million. Those figures don’t take account of support staff due to uncertainty over their pay, so costs are expected to be much higher. Reports last week suggested the government will increase NI contributions for employers when it presents its first budget at the end of this month. Schools Week reported last week that unions …

Another political headache for Rishi Sunak – as things start to look like John Major years of scandal | Politics News

Another political headache for Rishi Sunak – as things start to look like John Major years of scandal | Politics News

This is a tale that’s more than just a marmalade dropper. It’s a story so astounding you have to pick yourself up off the floor.  Mark Menzies MP last December allegedly made a 3.15am phone call to an elderly party volunteer asking for £5,000 as a matter of “life or death” because he had been locked up by “bad people”. To secure his release, the money was paid by his office manager from her personal account and reimbursed from funds raised from donors, according to The Times. The newspaper also alleges Mr Menzies received thousands of pounds from campaign funds into his personal bank account which were used for personal medical expenses. Politics latest: Big questions for Sunak Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via …

Macron’s promise to help Kyiv is a budgetary and political headache

Macron’s promise to help Kyiv is a budgetary and political headache

Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to French Guiana, March 25, 2024. JODY AMIET / AFP Just over a month after France and Ukraine signed a defense agreement on February 16, providing Kyiv with military aid worth “up to €3 billion” in 2024, the funding for this support is still extremely unclear, given that the French government separately announced measures to cut spending by €10 billion for the current year. On Tuesday, March 26, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu addressed these uncertainties at a press conference on the theme of “the war economy,” although the budgetary issue appears to be very complicated for the government. Read more Subscribers only France’s deficit stood at 5.5% of GDP in 2023, well above forecasts Many of the governing coalition’s lawmakers say they are regularly questioned by voters in their constituencies who say they don’t understand why the government is giving “€3 billion to Ukraine” at a time when the screws are about to be tightened on the budget, and the possibility of tax hikes has begun to be mentioned. This …

Tory MP Scott Benton quits, triggering new byelection headache for Sunak | Conservatives

Tory MP Scott Benton quits, triggering new byelection headache for Sunak | Conservatives

Rishi Sunak is to face another tricky byelection in the coming weeks after the former Conservative backbencher Scott Benton quit parliament before the conclusion of a recall petition among his constituents. The Blackpool South MP was facing likely ejection from the Commons after he was suspended for 35 days over his role in a lobbying scandal, triggering a process whereby local people could force a byelection if at least 10% of registered voters signed the petition. In a statement posted to his website, Benton said: “It’s with a heavy heart that I have written to the chancellor this morning to tender my resignation as your MP. “I’d like to thank the hundreds of residents who have sent supportive messages, cards and letters over the last few months and who have urged me to continue and fight the next election.” He added: “A Labour government would be catastrophic for our country. I’m mindful of giving a new candidate the time and space to campaign to prevent that from happening and it is for this reason that …

Headache for campaign team as Trump gets the band back together | Donald Trump

Headache for campaign team as Trump gets the band back together | Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s getting the band back together. But this time they come with political baggage, conspiracy theories and, in some instances, criminal convictions. The former US president’s old acolytes are returning to the fold, eager to exert influence on his bid for the White House and have their say in a potential second administration. That poses a headache for his election campaign team, whose efforts to run a disciplined operation can be upended at any moment by the mercurial Trump. “Trump always wants to feel comfortable about the people who surround him and what better way to do that than to get the band back together?” said Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington DC. “We could look forward to the greatest hits ad nauseam.” If a man is judged by the company he keeps, Trump’s speaks volumes. There was uproar in 2022 when when the rapper Kanye West brought the white supremacist Nick Fuentes to dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump’s inner circle includes the …

Slovakia, the EU’s next rule of law headache – POLITICO

Slovakia, the EU’s next rule of law headache – POLITICO

“Now that Robert Fico is back in power, he is out for revenge. He’s hunting for journalists,” said Košice-based activist Ján Gálik, who is one of the founders of the For A Decent Slovakia initiative, a civil society group which organized the protests after Kuciák’s murder. “They are again creating an atmosphere where more journalists can, and I hope not, but it’s possible, can get murdered again. He’s fully responsible for this atmosphere.” Rule of law test in presidential elections The upcoming presidential election will be the next test for the rule of law. Slovaks head to the polls this Saturday to elect the country’s new president, with a likely runoff between the top two candidates to be held on April 6. Although the role of president in Slovakia is largely ceremonial, outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová, who isn’t seeking re-election, has been an important buffer against some of the controversial decisions taken by Fico’s government. That buffer may soon no longer exist as the Slovak parliament’s speaker — and Fico’s right-hand-man — Peter Pellegrini is …

Fresh By-Election Headache For Rishi Sunak As Scott Benton Loses Appeal Against 35-Day Commons Ban

Fresh By-Election Headache For Rishi Sunak As Scott Benton Loses Appeal Against 35-Day Commons Ban

Former Tory MP Scott Benton has lost his appeal against a 35-day House of Commons ban after he was caught in a lobbying sting. The decision by the Independent Expert Panel means a by-election is on the cards in his Blackpool South seat in a fresh headache for Rishi Sunak. There will now be a recall petition in the constituency, and if at least 10% of registered voters support it, Benton will be kicked out of parliament. He was elected in 2019 with a majority of 3,690 and was the seat’s first Conservative MP since 1997. With Labour continuing to have a substantial lead in the opinion polls, the party will be very confident of re-claiming the seat in any by-election. Benton was filmed offering to help gambling industry lobbyists in exchange for money. He was elected as a Tory but had the party whip suspended following the undercover sting operation by The Times in April last year. In a report published in December, parliament’s standards commissioner said Benton should be kicked out of parliament …

Giving property before you die gives your kids a tax headache

Giving property before you die gives your kids a tax headache

Dear Liz: My wife and I have purchased a few properties over the years and now we would like to give these properties to our children. I’ve read that the best way to gift properties is to wait until we pass away, which sounds terrible. Is there any way to transfer or gift properties without paying a huge amount of taxes? Answer: Yes, although you’d likely be shifting the tax bill to your kids. Currently you have to give away over $13 million in your lifetime to owe gift taxes. But if you transfer the properties to your children during your lifetime, they will also get your tax basis in the properties. That means if they sell, they’ll owe taxes on the appreciation that’s occurred since you bought the real estate. If you bequeath the properties at your death, by contrast, the properties get an updated value for tax purposes and the appreciation that occurred during your lifetime isn’t taxed. Gifting the properties may still be the right choice, but consider talking to an estate …

Adam Boulton: Sunak’s by-election nightmare, Starmer’s Rochdale headache, and why a May election is a distinct possibility… | Politics News

Adam Boulton: Sunak’s by-election nightmare, Starmer’s Rochdale headache, and why a May election is a distinct possibility… | Politics News

This week’s two by-elections had something for everyone – except Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives. Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has now broken into the record books with six by-election gains from the Conservatives, beating New Labour’s performance in the run-up to the 1997 Election. Reform UK got more than 10% of the votes in both constituencies. The Liberal Democrats lost two deposits, with less than 5% of votes cast each time. But even they have something to celebrate, according to one polling analyst. Peter Kellner argues that their four by-election victories over the Tories since 2019 show that they are much better at concentrating their vote than they used to be – when they regularly clocked up 10% plus support across the country with nothing to show for it. Reform could be falling into a similar trap with significant minority support spread nationwide, enough to damage the Conservatives without a sniff of winning a seat. Image: Damien Egan won the Kingswood by-election for Labour. Pic: Reuters Image: Labour’s Gen Kitchen celebrates after being declared winner in …