All posts tagged: doorstep

American missiles deployed on China’s doorstep as WW3 fears soar ahead of Trump-Xi clash | World | News

American missiles deployed on China’s doorstep as WW3 fears soar ahead of Trump-Xi clash | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

American missiles have been deployed (Image: Getty) American missiles have been deployed on China’s doorstep as Donald Trump prepares to visit China this week. Taiwan is set to position American-made Himars missile systems on two strategically located islands just miles from mainland China in a move aimed at creating a military “dead zone” against any invasion attempt. The high-mobility artillery rocket systems will be deployed on the Penghu archipelago, situated off Taiwan’s main island, and Dongyin island – Taiwan’s northernmost territory – which lies fewer than 30 miles from the Chinese coast. A military source told Liberty Times the primary objective was to establish a “dead zone” that would deter China’s People’s Liberation Army from approaching Taiwan. The source said placing the missile systems on Penghu and Dongyin rather than Taiwan’s main island would “exponentially increase” their effectiveness by enabling strikes on Chinese military installations along the coast. Under the strategy, Chinese forces could reportedly be forced to retreat at least 60 miles from the shoreline if Beijing launched an invasion of Taiwan. US-made Himars …

Labour minister admits winter fuel payments is still ‘biggest thing on the doorstep’ | Politics | News

Labour minister admits winter fuel payments is still ‘biggest thing on the doorstep’ | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

The winter fuel payments row is still the “biggest thing on the doorstep”, a Labour minister has admitted. Sir Keir Starmer faced fury for scrapping the allowance for most pensioners shortly after entering No 10. The backlash forced the PM to U-turn and restore the allowance to the majority of older people in June 2025. But almost a year on, the fiasco has still been dominating conversations on the doorsteps, Sir Chris Bryant said. The Labour minister told the BBC: “The biggest thing on the doorstep has undoubtedly been winter fuel… even in this campaign.” Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July 2024 that previously universal winter fuel payments of up to £300 a year would be restricted to only those on pension credit. The policy sparked condemnation from opposition parties, campaigners, unions and even some Labour MPs with warnings older people would be forced to choose between heating and eating. In a climbdown almost a year later, Ms Reeves announced that the parents would be restored to pensioners with an annual income of £35,000 or …

Is A “Vicious” Treasury Market Emergency At Our Doorstep?

Is A “Vicious” Treasury Market Emergency At Our Doorstep?

Published by Jenni Sidey

 Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance When Henry Paulson steps back into the public conversation after years of relative silence, it’s not random timing. This is someone who sat at the center of the 2008 financial crisis and understands how quickly confidence can evaporate once stress begins to build in core markets. Paulson also appears to be one of about…oh, I don’t know…six people in the entire nation who know that $39 trillion in debt is an unsustainable level for the country. If you ask me, his recent interview with Bloomberg that is being passed around by traders should be read less as random innocuous commentary and more as a timing signal. In his interview, Paulson is explicitly warning that the scale of U.S. borrowing is now testing confidence in the Treasury market itself. With federal debt approaching $39 trillion, he points to the risk that the long-standing assumption of endless demand for U.S. government debt may no longer hold. As he put it, “That’s a dangerous thing,” describing a scenario where foreign demand declines and Treasury prices fall. …

Uber will now pick up your returns from your doorstep

Uber will now pick up your returns from your doorstep

Published by skeptic

Uber launched a new feature on Friday that lets customers return purchased items without leaving their home. The new returns feature, which is accessed through the Uber Eats app, is the latest effort by Uber to add “stickiness” to its app by offering services that extend beyond its core ride-hailing and delivery businesses. There are limitations to the new service, and there is, of course, a courier fee. The return fee is calculated based on the courier’s time and distance, according to Uber. Customers can only send back eligible retail items purchased on Uber Eats, and they must comply with each store’s return policy. Participating retailers include At Home, Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, GNC, Michael’s Pet Food Express, Pacsun, Petco, and Target. Uber said more retailers will be added in the future. Uber has also placed price limitations on the service. Customers can only return items with retail prices above $20, according to the company. Image Credits:Uber Customers can access the new feature by navigating to their order history in the app, tapping “Return …

Trump faces another shipping crisis – this time on his own doorstep

Trump faces another shipping crisis – this time on his own doorstep

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump’s obsession with acquiring Greenland has blinded him to a security crisis brewing on his own doorstep, Arctic leaders have warned. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the former president of Iceland, said Mr Trump had been talking “utter rubbish” about enemy ships surrounding Greenland, while neglecting a very real Russian threat on his own side of the Arctic. In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Grímsson urged the US president to look “closer to home” and counter a significant increase in Chinese and Russian ship activity around the Bering Strait, off the coast of Alaska. Last week, the US and Denmark began secret talks on the future of Greenland, which Mr Trump had threatened to conquer by force earlier this year. After Mr Trump attacked Venezuela, concerns over a potential invasion of the autonomous Danish territory were so acute that Denmark prepared to blow up Greenland’s runways to prevent US military planes from landing. The two countries are now seeking a diplomatic solution, with Copenhagen stressing that it cannot give up sovereignty in any form. But …

Wildlife on our doorstep | Radio Times

Wildlife on our doorstep | Radio Times

Published by Daniella Wilson

Add Secret Garden to your watchlist Why are gardens so important? The bottom line is numbers: there are around 25 million gardens in the UK, and they spread like tentacles across the nation, providing essential sanctuaries, corridors and breeding sites. Between 1972 and 2001, the entomologist Dr Jennifer Owens counted more than 2,600 different species in her suburban garden in Leicester. The average garden has around 30 species of birds, from blue tits to owls, four species of mammal – perhaps a squirrel, badger or pine marten – and a lot of bugs and plants. Sir David Attenborough has always loved his own garden in Richmond, with its beautiful wildflower meadow, but he wanted to learn more about the wildlife that populates our gardens, as well as its life cycle. He was closely involved in the scripting of our new five-part natural history series Secret Garden. We would send him our version of the script, and he’d spend two weeks on each episode, rewriting it into his own words and asking for clarification on certain …

Thiel brings Antichrist lectures to Vatican’s doorstep, and Catholic institutions back away

Thiel brings Antichrist lectures to Vatican’s doorstep, and Catholic institutions back away

Published by Sam Flores

ROME (AP) — One of the hottest tickets in the Vatican’s backyard these days is for a four-lecture series on the Antichrist being given by Silicon Valley tech billionaire Peter Thiel. The invitation-only conference in Rome, from Sunday to Wednesday, has proven so controversial that the Catholic universities initially associated with it have all denied official involvement. Thiel is a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, the data-mining company that has been assisting the Trump administration’s migrant deportation crackdown. An early donor to the political career of Vice President JD Vance, Thiel is also deeply interested in the apocalyptic concept of the Antichrist and has written and lectured on it before. “Christians debated these prophecies for millennia. Who was the Antichrist? When would he arrive? What would he preach?” he mused in a November essay in the Catholic magazine First Things. Discussion of the Antichrist by a tech billionaire in the Vatican’s backyard has proven divisive. Initially, the lectures were reportedly going to be held the Pontifical St. Thomas Aquinas University, the Dominican university in Rome …