Hospitals and clinics are shutting down due to Trump’s healthcare cuts. Here’s where

Healthcare providers across the country have closed clinics and hospital wards in the four months since Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the landmark tax-and-spending legislation that will lead an estimated 10 million people to lose their health insurance.The law is expected to slash federal funding by hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years, as part of Trump’s campaign pledge to shrink government spending. But it will do so in part by paring back eligibility for Medicaid, the US government’s health insurance program for low-income people; raising the cost of healthcare under the Affordable Care Act; and defunding some family planning providers who offer abortions.Rural hospitals and obstetric wards will be disproportionately battered, since they are typically expensive to run and serve high numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries. More than 300 rural hospitals are at risk of closure or cutting services, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found

Falling stock markets and high shop prices hit US consumer confidence; rate cut hopes lift Wall Street – as it happened

US consumer sentiment fell in November to one of the lowest levels on record as Americans grow gloomier about their personal financial outlook.The University of Michigan’s index of consumer morale has dropped to 51 for November, down from 53.6 in October.The recent stock market falls appear to have dented sentiment among rich Americans, while other citizens are suffering from high prices in the shops.Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu explains:After the federal shutdown ended, sentiment lifted slightly from its mid-month reading

US data agency cancels October inflation report as Fed considers whether to cut rates

The US federal government will not publish official data on inflation for October, depriving policymakers at the Federal Reserve of key information as they consider whether to cut interest rates.The Bureau of Labor Statistics canceled the release of the closely watched consumer price index (CPI) for October, citing the government shutdown – the longest in history, before it ended earlier this month – and stating it could not “retroactively collect” the data required for the report.The decision, announced on Friday, heightens uncertainty around the strength of the US economy. Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, had already likened the central bank’s task of guiding the economy, without standard data on its performance, to “driving in the fog”.Price growth remains above typical levels, according to recent CPI releases

Drax, the forestry industry and the guise of ‘green’ energy | Letters

The environmental non-profit Stand.earth fails to see the wood from the trees when it comes to the Canadian forestry industry and Drax’s limited role within it (Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say, 9 November). We do not own forests or sawmills, and we do not decide what areas are approved for harvesting.The vast majority (81%) of our Canadian fibre came from sawdust and other sawmill residues created when sawmills produce wood products used in construction and other industries in 2024. The remaining 19% of our fibre came from forest residues, including low-grade roundwood, tops, branches and bark

Europe’s economy is geared towards a disappearing world, says ECB’s Lagarde

Europe’s economy is “geared towards a world that is gradually disappearing”, according to a warning from Christine Lagarde that the EU needs reforms to spur growth.The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) said the EU’s dependence on international trade had left it vulnerable, as major partners had turned away from the trade that made the bloc’s exporters wealthy.Donald Trump has led a global turn towards protectionism and against globalisation, with steep tariffs imposed on almost every trading partner. At the same time, China has used its dominance of production of certain critical materials and products to exert pressure.Lagarde argued that Europe was vulnerable because of a “dependency on third countries for our security and the supply of critical raw materials”

UK government borrows more than expected in setback before budget

Rachel Reeves was urged to use next week’s budget to create significantly more headroom against her fiscal rules, after official figures showed the UK government borrowed almost £10bn more than forecast in the year to October.In the final snapshot of the public finances before the chancellor’s crunch budget, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing – the difference between public spending and income – was £17.4bn last month.That was lower than the same month last year, but still the third-highest October deficit on record.In the fiscal year so far, borrowing was running at £116