The Bank of England has warned firms offloading pensions in a multibillion-pound market that they need to improve

Turkey has agreed to support Sweden's bid to join Nato after previously blocking the country from joining. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a briefing that he would forward Sweden's bid to join Nato to the Turkish parliament for ratification. It comes after the president previously appeared to suggest that Turkey would only back Sweden joining if it was re-considered for EU membership. Nato’s directory general Jens Stoltenberg said: “President Erdogan has agreed to forward the accession protocol for Sweden to the Grand National Assembly [Turkey’s parliament] as soon as possible and work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification.” Mr Stolenberg said this is a “historic step” but that a clear date could not be given for when Sweden officially joins. Turkey previously resisted Sweden joining the alliance after accusing Swedish authorities of being complicit in Islamophobic demonstrations. It also claims that Sweden allowed members of recognised Kurdish terror groups to operate, such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Although Sweden changed its terrorism laws earlier this year to make it a crime to be part of these groups. As a member of Nato, Turkey has a veto on allowing other nations to join the alliance. But the Turkish president faced pressure from European and American allies to allow Sweden to join. Joe Biden spoke with Mr Erdogan while flying aboard Air Force One on Sunday, CNN reported. The US president conveyed his desire to welcome Sweden into Nato as soon as possible, according to a readout from the White House. In a statement, the White House said: “I welcome the statement issued by Turkey, Sweden and the Nato secretary general this evening, including the commitment by President ErdoÄŸan to transmit the Accession Protocol for Sweden to Turkey’s Grand National Assembly for swift ratification. “I stand ready to work with President ErdoÄŸan and Turkey on enhancing defence and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area. “I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd Nato Ally. And I thank secretary general Stoltenberg for his steadfast leadership.” From Tuesday, during a two-day meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, Nato allies will also discuss the prospect of Ukraine joining. It has been agreed that although Ukraine cannot join during the war, a measure has been removed to allow the nation to join more quickly after the conflict is over. The Membership Action Plan, which involves a host of bureaucratic and military reforms designed to ensure a prospective member is up to NATO standards, is no longer a requirement for Ukraine to join. However, the move has sparked outrage in Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "You know the absolutely clear and consistent position of the Russian Federation that Ukraine's membership in NATO will have very, very negative consequences for the security architecture, the already half-destroyed security architecture in Europe. "And it will be an absolute danger, a threat to our country, which will require from us a sufficiently clear and firm reaction." Read More Joe Biden meets King Charles at Windsor Castle as part of flying UK visit Why Ukraine’s plea for Nato membership is such a challenge for the West Biden news – live: Palace denies breach of royal protocol between King Charles and Biden during awkward moment Deadly flooding hits several countries, scientists said this will be increasingly common Swedish foreign minister optimistic Turkey will drop objections to NATO membership Former POWs welcomed back to Ukraine in ceremony headed by Zelensky

Moroccan rescuers supported by foreign teams on Monday faced an intensifying race against time to dig out any survivors from the rubble of mountain villages...

Who would win a fight between Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg? It’s the sort of question that might be asked over a drink in the pub. But a clash between the two of the world’s tech tycoons may no longer be hypothetical after Mr Zuckerberg apparently agreed to a cage fight with Mr Musk. When rumours emerged earlier this month that the Facebook boss – a Jiu Jitsu enthusiast – was looking for a rival, the Space X and Tesla founder tweeted that he was “up for a cage match”. Mr Zuckerberg then posted a screenshot of the tweet with the caption “send me location”. Now that a fight appears on the cards, how would the two men match up inside the ring? At more than 6ft tall, Mr Musk would have a clear reach advantage over Mr Zuckerberg, who measures up at 5ft 8in. His height also means he would also have a significant weight advantage over his opponent, but Mr Zuckerberg’s Jiu Jitsu skills - he recently won his first gold and silver medals at a Silicon Valley tournament - would undoubtedly enable him to get out of a few sticky situations on the canvas. Mr Musk joked he had a “great move” to show off, noting that his workout regime consists mostly of spending time with his children. “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’ where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing,” he tweeted. He added: “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids & throwing them in the air.” In 2020, Mr Musk also told Joe Rogan that he “wouldn’t exercise at all if [he] could”. Although Mr Zuckerberg is smaller and lighter than Mr Musk, his technical ability and aerobic capacity could prove too much for the Tesla boss, who earlier this year said that his typical breakfast included a bowl of ice cream, biscuits and a donut. Mr Zuckerberg says he used to “run a lot” and got into surfing and then MMA after the Covid pandemic. “I really like watching UFC for example, that’s because I also like doing the sport [MMA],” he said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “It really is the best sport, five minutes in I was like ‘where has this best my whole life?’ To some degree, MMA is the perfect thing because if you stop paying attention for one second you’re going to end up on bottom.” In addition to his martial arts skills, Mr Zuckerberg also recently participated in the “Murph Challenge,” a gruelling workout named after Lt Michael P Murphy, a Navy Seal who was killed in action in 2005. The challenge, which the 39 year old said he tries to do each year with his daughters, involves 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, and a mile-long run, all while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest. “This year I got it done in 39:58. The girls did a quarter-Murph (unweighted) in 15 mins!” he wrote on Instagram on 29 May. According to Total Shape, a health and fitness platform that provides resources and expertise from fitness experts, Mr Zuckerberg’s ability to “complete extreme fitness challenges and technique with mixed martial arts showcases he has substantial ability and endurance”. When it comes down to who would win in a fight, “it is agility vs strength,” experts at Total Shape say, while noting that, based on “general endurance and skill for cage fighting, Mark Zuckerberg would have the upper hand”. However, “having strength and longer reach can give a fighter a lead when it comes to forceful striking and make it more difficult for the opponent to strike back”. Ultimately, the health and fitness experts at Total Shape conclude: “Placing both titans in a cage, Mark Zuckerberg would have the edge of agility and endurance needed to take Mr Musk down, given Mr Musk isn’t able to forcefully strike him earlier on in the fight.” The potential face-off comes amid rumours that Mr Zuckerberg is preparing to create a new app to rival Twitter, which is expected to be called Threads. The app, internally codenamed Project 92, will reportedly feature a continuous scroll of text, buttons similar to Twitter’s like and retweet functions, and a 500-character limit on posts. It is not the first time Mr Musk has called for a fight with a global figure. In August last year he challenged the Russian president to a scrap. "I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to a fight. The prize is Ukraine," he wrote. Putin didn’t respond to the goading but the irony was apparently lost on his Chechen war lord ally, Ramzan Kadyrov. "A word of advice: don’t measure your strength against Putin’s, you’re in two different leagues," the henchman warned. In a statement to Verge about whether a fight will indeed take place between Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Musk, a spokesperson for Meta said: “The story speaks for itself.” Read More Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s battle of the billionaires is an ego trip worth taking Elon Musk confirms cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg takes a swipe at Twitter over handling of Hunter Biden laptop story Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg: Who would win a fight between tech titans? Elon Musk’s sister says she’s been overcharged due to her last name Holiday hygiene horrors: Summer health risks to avoid, from flying to hotels

Novo Nordisk A/S is spending 15.9 billion Danish kroner ($2.29 billion) to expand production facilities in Denmark as

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni broke the silence she’d observed for almost two days, backing her government’s decision

By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON The leaders of major insulin makers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are set to

A summit in Brazil sees the countries that share the Amazon basin agree only to a new alliance on the issue.

A major fire broke out in central Paris on Wednesday, causing the partial collapse of a building and injuring at...

EDP445, a Philadelphia Eagles fan, used to post vlogs and mukbangs on his channel

US President Joe Biden will use a visit to Hanoi to boost his image as a unifier by saluting the memory of John McCain -- Vietnam War hero, Republican stalwart...

After weeks of travel on dangerous roads and rugged trails, hundreds of Venezuelan migrants experienced a bittersweet moment Saturday when they reached Eagle Pass, Texas, on the US border with Mexico, only to encounter a...