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Britain's Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced tax rises worth £26 billion or $34.3 billion over five years.

Measures include a freeze on income tax thresholds and a levy on homes worth over £2 million.

Ms. Reeves said this will allow the government to stick to its fiscal rules.

Britain's economic watchdog released details of the budget before the announcement, by accident,

embarrassing the government and sending bond yields yo-yoing.

At least 44 people died in a fire that tore through seven high-rise apartment blocks in Hong Kong.

Another 45 were in critical condition. 279 were still missing.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but the towers were undergoing renovations and so clad in

green netting and bamboo scaffolding. Police arrested three men from the construction company on suspicion of manslaughter.

Donald Trump described the shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard near the

White House as an act of terror. The guardsmen are in critical condition. America's president said the shooter is believed to have arrived in the country from Afghanistan in 2021.

His administration requested an emergency stay on a federal judge's order to remove, quote, unlawful national guardsmen from the city.

Taiwan announced plans for an additional $40 billion in defense spending.

Lai Ching-The, the president, said China had increased military drills and, quote, gray zone harassment

and strengthened its campaign of, quote, infiltration and influence.

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