Due to their composition, they support vascular health, can lower bad cholesterol levels, and have antioxidant effects.

Including them in your diet is also beneficial for weight loss, as they help stabilize blood sugar levels and maintain a feeling of fullness for longer.

What does the red spot on an egg actually mean?

When you crack an egg, you might find a small red spot on the surface of the yolk. For some people, this might be a reason to reject the egg, but it’s neither an embryo nor a sign that the egg has gone bad.

This spot is caused by a small rupture in the hen’s ovarian spiral or oviduct and is a natural occurrence. It doesn’t affect the quality of the eggs or their safety for consumption.

If you don’t like the aesthetic appearance of the spot, you can simply remove it with a fork, but you don’t need to throw the egg away.

Remember: throwing away food is a waste of money.

The UK has risen in the rankings of a group of wealthy nations to have the joint-second highest economic growth for this year, a think tank has predicted.

The economy is now expected to grow by 1.1%, the same rate as Canada and France, but behind the US.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) previous growth estimate in May placed the UK last of a group of advanced economies, known as the G7.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the faster growth figures, which will help reinforce the more upbeat tone she sought to strike in her speech to the Labour Conference.

She is facing the twin challenge of managing expectations ahead of the Budget next month by explaining how tough times lie ahead, while attempting to paint a positive picture to encourage investment.

“Next month’s Budget will be about fixing the foundations, so we can deliver on the promise of change and rebuild Britain,” Reeves said.

The OECD, which is a globally recognised think tank, said that economic growth had been “relatively robust” in many countries, including the UK.

But it added: “Significant risks remain. Persisting geopolitical and trade tensions could increasingly damage investment and raise import prices.”

While the OECD’s prediction for the UK has improved for this year, it is only set to enjoy joint-fourth fastest growth in 2025, at 1.2%, ahead of only Germany and Italy.

The UK is also still projected to see consumer prices rise at a faster rate than other G7 nations.

It is set to rise by 2.7% this year and 2.4% next year, the OECD forecast.

The OECD’s economic estimates, which are released twice yearly, aim to give a guide to what is most likely to happen in the future, but they can be incorrect and do change.

They are used by businesses to help plan investments, and by governments to guide policy decisions.

The OECD has prescribed a “carefully judged” reduction in interest rates and “decisive” action to bring down debt to allow more room for governments to react to any future economic shocks.

Stronger efforts to contain government spending and raise more revenue were key to stabilising debt burdens, it argued.

Many wealthy countries are facing ageing populations, the challenges of climate change, and geopolitical pressure to raise defence spending.

That is all in the wake of the financial crisis 16 years ago and more recently the Covid pandemic, which increased government borrowing and built up higher levels of debt.

However, not all economists agree that bringing debt down should be the policy priority. Some would like to see borrowing rise for a time, which they argue would boost growth and reduce debt over the longer term.

The summer is often choppy and this year was no exception. Stocks were near all-time highs at mid-year with volatility close to all-time lows.

August then saw the worst one-day sell off since 2020 and early September the worst week since 2022.

The zig-zag pattern is continuing, with investors worried about the risk of recession in the US. With global growth slowing and inflation cooling off, we are in a reflation phase, in which central banks usually lower interest rates and government bonds do well.

It’s a harder call for stocks.

If a recession is in the offing, the first Federal Reserve rate cut can signal the start of a bear market. If growth remains firm and rates are cut for inflation reasons, it can be bullish. Time will tell. In the meantime, we have a broadly neutral view on stocks while favouring bonds over commodities.

Most likely, stocks will come out of the summer doldrums on a positive footing, but things may get worse before they get better

Averages can hide a lot of information but September is historically the worst month of the year for stocks, with returns falling short of cash by 1.7% since 1986. Over the last five years, stocks have underperformed cash on average by 3.5% in September.

We put seasonal weakness down to the fact it’s hard for investors to get a good take on earnings trends during the quieter summer months and market liquidity isn’t great.

The business cycle has been particularly hard to read this year, with the post-pandemic swings in growth and inflation behind us.

The onset of Covid-19 was like a rock thrown into the pond and the waves are only just settling. Global growth has been steady this year, with a strong US economy making up for softness elsewhere.

Averages can hide a lot of information but September is historically the worst month of the year for stocks

Meanwhile, inflation is back in a range consistent with central bank targets. Investors were hoping central banks would cut rates for inflation reasons, but a run of weaker manufacturing data and US jobs reports is testing nerves.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see further volatility in the near term, especially with a contentious and close fought US election in the background. That said, our base case is that, true to seasonal form, stocks will rally into the New Year on the back of Fed rate cuts and more reassuring US data.

Investor sentiment can be a useful tool for timing moves back into stocks. Three times in the last year, we’ve seen our composite sentiment indicator move into overly bearish territory and, each time, the market has rallied.

In October and April, the sell-off was due to geopolitical risk and, in August, on concerns around the health of the US economy and a surge in the yen that triggered a disorderly unwind of carry trades.

The business cycle has been particularly hard to read this year, with the post-pandemic swings in growth and inflation behind us

Stocks saw four weeks of declines with volatility spiking to the second highest level since the global financial crisis. Depressed investor sentiment again signalled the lows and markets recovered quickly.

For active investors who can be nimble, volatility can be an opportunity, but we’d trade equity exposure around a neutral position until we know more.

For now, we have higher conviction on a positive view on government bonds and a negative view on commodities. We don’t currently expect a US recession, as service sector activity remains strong and interest rates have been on hold rather than rising.

Most likely, stocks will come out of the summer doldrums on a positive footing, but things may get worse before they get better.

Trevor Greetham is head of multi asset at Royal London Asset Management 

In years to come, the privilege of calibrating your noise environment exactly to your own specifications will be a key marker of class

September 25, 2024 11:00 am

I’ve stopped eating at my local café. The food’s cosy, the service cheerful and they make a decently priced double espresso. I had been going there for years.

I like to eat my sandwiches over a book, or perhaps a discreet catch-up with a friend, although there’s always the nagging lure of the emails on my silenced phone. The other customers used to do the same.

But in the past few years, my favourite quiet spot has become a nerve-jangling high-frequency theme park. Take a seat and within five minutes someone is sure to arrive with a mobile phone acting as a personal boombox. There’s usually at least one person watching a football game on a tiny screen, the sound of cheers and chants echoing over the commentary.

But fear not! This isn’t just another column bemoaning the creeping blight of noise pollution. Because I live in a chichi part of town, and there is always a solution. If I don’t want audio-overload to set off my migraines, I can always go to the formal restaurant across the road. Sure, each plate costs twice as much. Sure, I have to order twice the amount of food – and in a cost of living crisis.

But alongside the white linen napkins and ambient lighting, there is a far more desirable commodity on sale: the scarce luxury of peace and quiet.

In the era of the speakerphone, noise-free environments will soon become the preserve of the super-rich. Need to work on your commute? Want to break free from other people Facetiming their mates? In many countries, such as Switzerland, the business-class zone comes with bans on sound from digital devices – and a conductor who’ll actually enforce them.

The contemporary airline experience is a similar tale of two soundscapes. Many readers will have experienced the frustration of a headphone-free fellow-traveller watching Mad Max: Fury Road throughout a long-haul flight, but good luck trying to get a harried air steward to shame them into silence in economy with 112 other seats to manage. In the refined air of business class, quietly resolving disputes about sound pollution – “another pair of free headphones, sir?” – is part of the concierge service.

Of course, it isn’t always a total solution, which I’ve always suspected is the real reason the ultra-wealthy pay for private jets. At a lower price level, you can splash out on a pair of high-tech noise-cancelling earplugs. The more expensive your outlay, the more serene your cocoon of silence and slow time.

It would be wrong to suggest, like some Victorian moralist, that working-class people are noisy and wealthy elites are somehow paragons of mild-mannered tranquillity. In my other life as a theatre writer, I’ve had a front-row seat to the much discussed “decline” of audience behaviour in recent years, and the most disruptive people in theatres consistently prove to be those in the most expensive seats.

Our addiction to mobile phone use is part of the problem, yes, but more significant is the rise of “premium” packages in West End theatres offering unhelpful quantities of alcohol and the house’s flashiest seats to corporates, hen parties and entitled baby-boomers. The most silent focus I ever observe amid a West End audience is when sitting in the cheap seats at the top.

Read Next

Yet whoever is to blame for our background cacophony, the option to escape it will soon be limited to the wealthy. On holidays, that means “digital detoxes” being marketed as luxury experiences: Thailand’s famous Chiva Som resort, which admittedly looks rather lovely, will charge you upwards of $2,022 (£1,509) for the privilege of locking your phone in the room for three nights.

Our everyday experience will be shaped by the arms-race of noise-cancelling earphones versus noise-amplifying speakers. The sudden popularity of the first two generations of Loop earplugs (tagline: “Your life, your volume”) shows there’s a market for blocking out other people’s noise, but the sector has a long way to develop. In years to come, the privilege of calibrating your noise environment exactly to your own specifications will be a key marker of class.

Keir Starmer staked his election victory this year on six key pledges: the fifth was a promise to crack down on antisocial behaviour. The philosophy behind the move was pure Blairism: slapping down behaviour that drives poor community relations in order to foster aspiration, prosperity and happiness among those with nowhere else to go.

It’s hard to imagine that silencing teenagers’ TikTok videos is going to be top of the agenda as prisons burst, hospitals break down and tent cities multiply on our streets. But what Blair understood about antisocial behaviour is that enforcing norms of behaviour in communal spaces makes a material difference to the lives of the poorest people, not the richest.

It’s easy for me to move to a posher, quieter restaurant, and gently mock the pampered state of my eardrums. But a child at a charity I support recently told me he can no longer do his homework at the local library, because the other kids play music from their phones (which is now acceptable in new, “inclusive” libraries).

Another tries to work on the train, but finds this hard for the same reason. Neither have quiet home environments in which to develop their literacy. Poverty has always come with noise: not because the poor are innately unruly, but because they have always lived with overcrowding.

Starmer has a long to-do list, but he could encourage the many Labour metro mayors, such as Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham, to support municipalities in enforcing quiet spaces. The rest of us should examine our consciences next time we’re tempted to blast Dua Lipa on a train.

There are few more asymmetric acts of antisocial behaviour than disturbing everyone else’s journey in order to shape the sonic environment around your personal preferences. The rich will buy their way out: they always do. The ears of the poor will keep buzzing.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Israel intercepted a Hizbollah missile aimed at the Tel Aviv area on Wednesday morning, triggering air raid sirens in the coastal city from the Lebanese militant group’s first ballistic missile attack on the country.

Hizbollah said the Qader 1 ballistic missile, which was launched after Israel’s intense bombardment of Lebanon killed more than 500 people this week, targeted the headquarters of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted the ballistic missile, which is heavier, more destructive and longer range than the rockets Hizbollah usually fires at the country. It also claimed to have struck the launcher from which the missile was fired, located in the Nafakhiyeh area in southern Lebanon.

Israel is bracing for a step up in Hizbollah fire after it launched heavy raids on the militant group’s strongholds across Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday, pummelling its weapons stores and killing senior commanders. Israeli warplanes have hit more than 3,000 Hizbollah targets so far this week, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The escalating cross-border violence has sparked alarm that Israel and Hizbollah are heading for all-out war, triggering an exodus of residents from southern Lebanon in anticipation of further violence.

Lebanese authorities have put the death toll at 564 from the bombardment so far. This included a strike on a Hizbollah-controlled area of southern Beirut that killed the group’s missiles division chief Ibrahim Kobeissi on Tuesday.

Israel has pledged to continue the military action until 60,000 citizens displaced from northern areas by months of cross-border fire can return home. Hizbollah has been directing volleys of rockets at northern Israel since shortly after October 7 in support of Hamas in Gaza.

Hizbollah’s barrages have increased to about 100 to 200 rockets a day in response and the group has fired deeper into Israel than before. Most of its projectiles have so far been intercepted by Israel’s air defences, but the group is thought to have large stockpiles that it has not yet used.

More than 3,000 people were injured and 37 were killed across Lebanon last week when Hizbollah’s communications devices suddenly detonated en masse. The group blamed Israel for the assault. Israel has not directly confirmed or denied the blasts.

Hizbollah said it used the ballistic missile against the command centre of the Israeli intelligence agency because it was “responsible for the assassination of leaders and exploding the pagers and walkie-talkies”.

Hizbollah also revealed it had used “Fadi” rockets in its attacks this week for the first time. The rockets — named after a Hizbollah commander killed in 1987 whose brother was also killed by Israel in January this year — have a longer range, at 70km to 100km, than rockets used so far by the group in the fighting since October.

The Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 have an explosive payload of 83kg and 170kg respectively, according to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. It described them as medium-range “inaccurate ballistic missiles, launched from mobile platforms” that Israel’s Iron Dome is able to intercept. The militant group claimed to have also used the more powerful Fadi-3 rocket for the first time on Tuesday.

Hizbollah has much more substantial missiles in its stockpile that it is yet to use, the INSS said, such as the Zelzal missile, which it said has a range of 200km and carries up to 600kg of explosives.

CELEBRITY interior designer Celia Sawyer has won her planning dispute over a luxury sunroom she built without permission in the garden of her Sandbanks home.

The star of Channel 4’s Four Rooms had the glass-walled building with a retractable roof installed in 2020.

7

7

Advertisement

7

7

The sunroom backs on to Poole Harbour and even has a small sandy ‘beach’ in front of it with sunbeds on.

Mrs Sawyer, known as Mrs Bling, has regularly posted pictures on Instagram of herself lounging in the 21ft by 15ft room wearing a bikini or thigh-splitting skirts.

Last year the 58-year-old became embroiled in a row with nextdoor neighbour Neil Kennedy over a first floor balcony he had built without planning permission.

She claimed that it breached her privacy as he was able to look down to the bottom of her garden where she sunbathes.

Mrs Sawyer and her husband Nick lost out in the dispute when BCP Council granted Mr Kennedy retrospective planning permission that allowed him to keep his balcony and other alterations he had done.

Afterwards the council received an anonymous tip-off informing them that Mrs Sawyer’s sunroom had been built without permission.

Officials contacted her and told her she had to submit a retrospective planning application for it.

She faced having to tear it down if it was rejected.

A council case officer has now granted her planning approval saying they were satisfied the building did not cause any harm to the area.

Planning officer Emma Woods said the sunroom wasn’t visible from the street and can only be seen from the water and neighbouring properties.

She said the sunroom is “open in nature” and “does not appear at odds with its surroundings” pointing out that many waterside properties have outbuildings like boat houses.

She noted it is about 3ft from Mr Kennedy’s property but it is not overbearing due to its modest height and open nature.

She said: “The design retains a sense of openness and is considered to fit comfortably with the established character and appearance of this stretch of the shoreline.

“Overall it is considered that the development respects the amenities and privacy of the occupants of the neighbouring properties.”

The council only received one representation from a neighbour who said the sunroom was well designed and made a positive contribution to this part of the harbour.

Mrs Sawyer was granted the retrospective planning application with condition that the sunroom must not be used for habitable accommodation.

7

7

Advertisement

7