Brexit 'means economy faces 50/50 recession chance' Image copyright Reuters The UK has a 50/50 chance of falling into recession within the next 18 months following the Brexit vote, says a leading economic forecaster. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says the country will go through a "marked economic slowdown" this year and next. It says inflation will also pick up, rising to 3% by the end of next year.
"This is the short-term economic consequence of the vote to leave the EU", said Simon Kirby of the NIESR. Overall the institute forecasts that the UK economy will probably grow by 1.7% this year but will expand by just 1% in 2017. This would see the UK avoid a technical recession, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Mr Kirby argued that the June referendum vote had led to such financial and political uncertainty that this would bear directly on the spending and investment decisions of both businesses and households. Now, the culprit is the uncertainty following June's Brexit vote. Pokémon Go: How the game is helping players tackle anxiety and depression | The Independent. Tempting mobile gamers into the great outdoors, forging new communities – there’s an app for that, apparently, and it’s called Pokémon Go. In less than a fortnight, the mobile app game – which currently is officially available only in the US, Australia and New Zealand – has achieved levels of success that most developers can only dream of.
Just a day after its US launch, Pokémon Go had been downloaded onto more than 5 per cent of phones running the Android operating system – compared with 2 per cent for the ground-breaking dating app Tinder. Pokémon Go’s recipe for success is a combination of nostalgia for Nintendo’s cute characters, first made popular in the 1990s, and the novelty of GPS-based augmented reality. The app co-opts the smartphone camera to lay Pokémon characters over the real world on-screen. By luring stereotypically sun-starved gamers outdoors, Pokémon Go is being hailed for revolutionising the industry. The best of Pokémon Go on social media Reuse content. Andrew Sullivan: My Distraction Sickness — and Yours. I was sitting in a large meditation hall in a converted novitiate in central Massachusetts when I reached into my pocket for my iPhone.
A woman in the front of the room gamely held a basket in front of her, beaming beneficently, like a priest with a collection plate. I duly surrendered my little device, only to feel a sudden pang of panic on my way back to my seat. If it hadn’t been for everyone staring at me, I might have turned around immediately and asked for it back. But I didn’t. I knew why I’d come here.
A year before, like many addicts, I had sensed a personal crash coming. I was, in other words, a very early adopter of what we might now call living-in-the-web. If the internet killed you, I used to joke, then I would be the first to find out. I tried reading books, but that skill now began to elude me. By the last few months, I realized I had been engaging — like most addicts — in a form of denial. And so I decided, after 15 years, to live in reality. Am I exaggerating? Tory austerity is officially causing a mental health crisis. It’s official. The Conservative austerity agenda is causing a mental health crisis. The cuts made to housing benefits have seen more than 26,000 people plunged into depression, according to new research. But the figures may well just be the tip of the iceberg. And with more austerity on the way, and mental health services struggling, the situation is only going to get worse. Relentless cuts In April 2011, the government changed the criteria for private renters receiving local housing allowance (LHA), in an attempt to save £1.6bn.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that the average loss of income for recipients was £1,220 per year, affecting about 1.35 million individuals and potentially tipping 27,000-54,000 children into severe poverty. Research from the London School of Economics (LSE), University of Oxford, and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found a direct link between benefit cuts and mental health. A direct link to depression Get Involved! Black Lives Matter protesters admit London City Airport trespass. Image copyright AFP Nine people who stormed the runway at London City Airport as part of a Black Lives Matter protest have admitted aggravated trespass. Up to 131 flights were grounded when the group chained themselves together at 05:30 BST on 6 September. About 9,000 passengers were affected when the runway was shut until midday. The group of nine all pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to aggravated trespass by disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity.
They were all given an 18-month conditional discharge except for two defendants, Deborah Francis-Grayson and Alex Etchart, who had previous convictions for similar protests. Francis-Grayson, 31, was given a three-year conditional discharge while Etchart, 26, received a two-year conditional discharge. All nine defendants were also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £95.
Image copyright Black Live Matters Image copyright Reuters The court heard the nine protesters used rafts to cross the surrounding river. Image copyright PA. Genderless fashion: a fad or the future? | Fashion | Drapers. Blurred Lines: Why Gender-Neutral Fashion Is the New Normal. I can finally come out with it, because it's not that big deal of a "reveal" anymore: About half of my older blue jeans (and some of my khakis and cords) are women's brands purchased by either me or my wife over the years. What can I say? They spoke to me more than what was on the men's racks at the time. I wasn't interested in a feminine silhouette, zippered ankles, or a skinny tapered leg that would Russell Brand me out. No jeggings for me. I liked the look of the women's denim that was gaining popularity at the time: flat-hipped, boot-legged, and low-riding. From the Editors of Details And though I've never been busted by my guy posse for wearing women's clothes, I'm no longer self-conscious about taking a few pairs of size 10s to the dressing room.
Maybe that's because it's getting harder to tell the women's department from the men's. Too "effeminate," "androgynous," "flamboyant," or "fey"? The upshot: more choice, and not just for risk-takers on fashion's cutting edge. What will be the key sustainability trends in 2016?