内容摘要：The US president was pressed on whether he stood by his accusation that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a "dictator".

The US president was pressed on whether he stood by his accusation that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a "dictator".

have gone into effective bankruptcy since the start of 2023, forcing deep cuts to local services.And this situation is set to worsen.

of local authority leaders by the Local Government Information Unit earlier this year found around 28 local authorities - about one in 10 - were likely to have to effectively declare bankruptcy this financial year (2024-25).And around half, or 160, said they were likely to go bust during this Parliament unless local government funding is reformed.Ministers could give struggling councils a direct financial top-up to keep them afloat. But that would be expensive for the Treasury.

They could allow local authorities to increase council tax even further. They might also allow them to reduce the local services they are required by law to offer, such as social care, children's services and libraries.But neither of those two options is likely to be popular among local residents.

The £9,250 per year tuition fee that universities in England can charge domestic students has been frozen in cash terms since 2017, contributing to a reduction in the inflation-adjusted income per student for universities of around 18% over the past decade,

Had fees increased using the RPIX measure of inflation, they would now be more than £14,000 a year.Pepfar was launched in 2003 by then US President George W Bush and its funding is distributed via the US government's main overseas aid agency USAID.

It has been regarded as a ground-breaking scheme that has enabled some of the world's poorest people to access anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and has saved more than 25 million lives worldwide.A 90-day freeze on US foreign aid payments instituted by President Donald Trump on his first day in office last month has already upended the global aid system.

In reaction to the raft of cuts, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) issued a stark warning on Friday."I have to say that the world is playing with fire," Dr Jean Kaseya told the BBC.