Between crushing layoffs, ballooning budgets, and bland end products, video game makers need to stop chasing AAA glory. Grand Theft Auto finally arrives in November . A staggering 13 years and two console generations after the release of its predecessor, the long-awaited sequel has effectively become one of gaming's holy grails--a title that some thought they'd never actually see, its development cycle so legendarily long that there's a dedicated " we got [x] before " meme. The latest criminal opus lets players control Jason and Lucia, a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, and bears all the hallmarks of Rockstar's incredible attention to detail. Leonida, the open-world setting based on Florida, looks almost impossibly vast yet meticulously detailed, with its own weather systems and hundreds of animal species roaming around.

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Senior banking executives have told the BBC they expect the sector to be on the menu when the chancellor announces his Budget in two weeks' time. John Healey has described the banks as part of the crown jewels of the UK economy, yet has refused to rule out a raid on the sector. The biggest four banks collectively made around £15bn profit in the first six months of this year, leading to calls from trade unions and others for additional taxes. However, the banking sector trade body, UK Finance, warned that further increases in bank taxes would weaken competitiveness, discourage investment and job creation, and work against the government's ambition to deliver growth in every postcode. What is the Budget and what could be in it?

UK economy grew 0.1% in August ahead of Healey's first Budget The UK's economy grew slightly in August, according to the last set of official figures before John Healey's Budget. With the chancellor planning to set out his tax and spending plans later this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy expanded by 0.1%, which was better than analysts had expected. The small increase follows growth of 0.4% in July, as well as positive upgrades to the outlook for Britain's economy from global watchdog the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But Healey still faces a challenge to to deliver a balanced Budget without turning to more borrowing. Britain's economy was boosted in August by an increase in production, which includes manufacturing, oil and gas extraction and energy supply.

Today's inflation figures underscore that the economy is the biggest challenge facing Andy Burnham. It is only 42 days until John Healey's first Budget, and there is increasingly apparent concern at all levels of the government and Labour Party about how that Budget can - or, as it may prove, cannot - substantiate Burnham's rhetoric about offering the biggest change in British politics in 40 years. Much of the tricky economic environment, yes, is driven by global factors including the persistence, and to some degree worsening, of the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. And the AI boom pushing up borrowing costs is another issue affecting many countries. But there are clearly domestic factors particular to Britain, and on that front it was very striking to hear the former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane telling LBC on Tuesday that without signs of cuts to public spending the markets now suspect that this is a traditional tax and spend socialist government with better TikTok videos.

Unions who donate to Labour will meet John Healey on Thursday to press home their demands ahead of next month's Budget. Unite, the UK's second biggest union, has called for a reversal of the freezing of tax thresholds, that see the lowest paid drawn into paying tax. The union's leader, Sharon Graham, said she told Andy Burnham that the cut to the winter fuel allowance, carried out under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was a disgrace, adding: What to you need to do is winter fuel in reverse - something that says to everyday people I am on your side. The call is one of a number of policy proposals unions are taking to the chancellor, including increased taxes on tech companies. Unions say they believe Healey's first budget will define Andy Burnham's direction of travel as prime minister.

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Faisal Islam: Chancellor's attempts to boost vibes may limit tax rises The chancellor may have thought about shifting the venue of his first major speech this morning. It was an absolute and total coincidence that he chose to make it in the Coventry Manufacturing and Technology Centre (MTC), just a few minute's drive from the city's totemic HQ of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). In the event, no one was pulling punches. The 4,000 office-based job losses at JLR were confirmed as John Healey answered questions a few miles away. Healey chose to lean into it as an example of the global turbulence against which the UK needs more resilience. The difference between this chancellor and his predecessor was he also feels that stressing fiscal discipline should instil confidence in consumers, businesses and investors, and not sap it away amid rolling fears of tax hikes.

Taiwan's opposition-controlled parliament has approved the government's annual budget, preserving funding for a drone programme central to the island's defence plans against China. Lawmakers passed the $93bn budget late on Friday, after a record 266 days of political deadlock and its legal deadline, as President William Lai Ching-te's administration, which lost its parliamentary majority in 2024, continues to clash with opposition parties over government spending. The Kuomintang dropped the proposed cut after concluding there was no wasteful overlap between the development and procurement programmes it had initially cited as justification. Other reductions included a 60 percent cut to special allowances for government agency heads, a 2.5 percent cut to military equipment and facilities spending, and a 50 percent cut to media policy and publicity budgets. Before Friday's vote, the government had been operating under a provisional budget mechanism to keep paying civil servants and funding welfare programmes.

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. More than three dozen California legislators are calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to exempt the state's film and TV production incentive program from a recently approved cap on corporate tax credits, warning that without action it will be "significantly kneecapped."