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business | Rising costs leave Albrighton independent shops in limbo | Independent shops in a Shropshire village say they are "in limbo" as energy bills spiral.
Village Butcher, in Albrighton, is the high street's first casualty - it closed after its electricity bills more than doubled from £15,000 to £35,000.
Businesses are not covered by an energy price cap, now £3,549 for households, and many face cost pressures.
In Albrighton, business owners told the BBC they were concerned about raising their prices and losing customers.
"If I put my bills up, am I going to lose clients?," asked Helen Pickering from Nieve Ella's hair salon at the top of High Street.
"A lot of my customers are the older generation and it's horrible that they can't afford to have their hair done," she said.
"If I can keep my prices the same, and keep my clients coming in, at least then I will have money coming in to pay my bills."
Next door to Village Butcher is Number Seven Boutique. Amanda Potter, who runs it, is worried about the winter months.
"A lot of people went on holiday this summer and they wanted to buy new clothing. That might not be the case next year," she said.
Unlike her neighbour the butcher, which needed to power freezers around the clock, the boutique is looking at options to reduce its energy use.
"We normally have lights on in the window and they never go off, but I'm now looking to buy a timer so the lights can be switched off early," Ms Potter said.
At the bottom of High Street is the Latte Da coffee shop. It is owned by Phil Taylor, who opened the café nine years ago. He is optimistic about surviving the tough times ahead.
"We managed to get through the pandemic and now we face the energy crisis," he said.
"We're all in limbo, unsure how much our bills will rise. We get a lot of support from local customers and we're trying to give them good value for money."
Current Chancellor Nadim Zahawi said the government was working on proposals for the new prime minister to consider which would include support for businesses.
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-shropshire-62686179 |
business | Sudbury pop-up post office to restore service in town | A pop-up post office is to open to restore postal services in a town with a population of 20,000 people.
Sudbury lost its only post office earlier this month as the previous operator resigned.
Babergh District Council later granted a licence for a unit on Borehamgate shopping precinct until a long-term solution was found.
Post Office said the temporary set-up would open on Wednesday 22 June at 09:00 BST.
It said there would be two counters in the pop-up and the temporary service would offer a "wide range of everyday post office services".
Staff from the previous branch would continue to work in the temporary store, the Post Office added.
Wendy Hamilton, from the Post Office, said: "We are delighted to be restoring services to Sudbury as we know how important a Post Office is to a community."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-suffolk-61812156 |
business | What the Autumn Statement means for you and the cost of living | With the cost of living rising at its fastest rate for 41 years, this is going to be a tough winter for many people.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has outlined plans designed to tackle rising prices and restore the UK's credibility with international markets.
It will mean further pain for many, but the chancellor argues that the most vulnerable in society are being protected. Here are some of the ways the Autumn Statement will affect you.
You start to pay income tax on annual earnings of more than £12,570, charged at 20%. You then pay tax of 40% on earnings over £50,270 a year, although the bands are different in Scotland.
- or tax thresholds - had already been frozen until 2026, rather than going up in line with prices as you might normally expect.
r has now extended that freeze for a further two years. That means any kind of pay rise could drag you into a higher tax bracket. Even if it does not, it will almost certainly mean a greater proportion of your income is taxed.
ghest rate of income tax - which is 45% currently on earnings above £150,000 - will be paid on earnings of more than £125,140 from April instead, the chancellor has announced. That means the highest paid could pay hundreds of pounds more a year in income tax.
Spring Statement of March and September's mini-budget both included plans to cut the basic rate of income tax. Unsurprisingly, there were no such promises this time.
reshold at which people start to pay inheritance tax will also be frozen, and the dividend allowance (the amount you can receive each year in dividends, if you own shares, before paying tax) will be cut from £2,000 to £1,000 next year and then to £500 from April 2024. The allowance stood at £5,000 as recently as 2018.
ual allowance before capital gains tax is paid will also be reduced from £12,300 to £6,000 in April and then to £3,000 a year later. This tax is paid when you sell an asset, such as company shares or a second home.
Strains over the cost of living have centred on rising prices. The rate at which prices rise is measured by inflation, currently at 11.1%, which means that a typical item that cost £100 a year ago will cost £111.10 today.
good news from the government's independent forecasters - the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - is that the inflation rate will drop to 7.4% next year. The target set for inflation is 2%.
However, a fall in the inflation rate does not mean that prices in the shops will be going down. It just means that they will be going up more slowly than now.
OBR said soaring inflation would still hit households' real disposable income - a measure of living standards - by the largest amount since official records began in 1956-57, falling by 4.3% in the year to April.
Even so, the OBR forecast that inflation may turn negative, in other words prices may fall by late 2024.
At present, there is a government cap on domestic energy bills, known as the Energy Price Guarantee. It limits the price per unit of energy used, not the total bill. It means that since October, the household using a typical amount of gas and electricity pays £2,500 a year.
was due to expire in April, leaving the prospect of the typical annual bill going up to £3,700, according to analysts at consultancy Cornwall Insight.
Mr Hunt said that this cap would be extended for a further 12 months, but would be less generous than now - so the typical household pays £3,000 a year. Mr Hunt predicted that would save the typical household £500 in a year.
government is also pumping more money into energy efficiency schemes.
A host of cost-of-living payments have been made during the latter half of this year, including a £400 discount off everyone's energy bills this winter. Others were directed at those on lower-incomes on benefits, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
While the universal payment will end, there will be more targeted support next year. That will amount to £900 to households on means-tested benefits, £300 to pensioner households, and £150 for those on disability benefits.
using heating oil will receive a payment of £200 this winter, rather than £100 as previously planned.
Under the "triple lock", the state pension is supposed to increase each year in line with the highest of inflation (as measured by the Consumer Prices Index in September), the average increase in wages across the UK, or 2.5%.
After months of uncertainty, the chancellor confirmed that the state pension would go up by 10.1%, to match inflation.
will see the "new" state pension, currently worth £185.15 a week, go up to £203.85. The basic state pension, for those who reached state pension age before April 2016, is currently £141.85 a week, and will go up to £156.20. That can be topped up for those on low incomes with pension credit, which will also go up by 10.1%.
government's review on the age at which the state pension is received, currently 66 and going up to 67, will be published early next year.
Some disability benefits - such as the personal independence payment - must rise, by law, in line with inflation each year. That happens in April, based on the previous September's inflation figure - which this time is 10.1%.
However, rises in most means-tested benefits - most significantly universal credit, which is received by about six million people - and tax credits are a decision for ministers.
r said these too would go up by 10.1%, which he said would mean a family on universal credit would benefit next year by around £600.
Mr Hunt said the government will cap the increase in social rents in England at a maximum of 7% in 2023-24, rather than the 11% potential rise under previous rules.
minimum pay rate for those aged 23 and above - the National Living Wage - is £9.50 an hour. This will rise to £10.42 in April - a move that affects about two million people. It is employers who must shoulder this cost.
Ministers will have to scrutinise the recommendations for public sector pay rises, such as salary increases for teachers, nurses and the armed forces. Widespread, ongoing disputes are expected.
At present, councils in England must hold a referendum if they want to increase council tax by more than 3%, but the chancellor said he would raise this to 5%.
OBR said that could see the average Band D council tax bill rise by £250 a year by 2027-28.
In September, the government said a cut in stamp duty tax in England and Northern Ireland for some house buyers would be permanent.
rice at which stamp duty is paid was doubled from £125,000 to £250,000 (£425,000 for first time buyers) and discounted stamp duty for first-time buyers applied to properties up to £625,000, rather than £500,000.
r has now introduced a deadline, which will see these cuts reversed at the end of March 2025.
r has announced electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty from April 2025.
Currently there are different rates depending on the type of vehicle but electric vehicles are exempt.
How does the Autumn Statement affect you? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-63635582 |
politics | Cost of Supreme Court Indyref2 case revealed | Scottish government spent more than £250,000 on the Supreme Court case about holding another independence referendum, new figures show.
Supreme Court ruled in November that the Scottish government cannot hold an independence referendum without the UK government's consent.
Scottish government figures show £251,728.69 was spent on the court case.
ulk of this outlay was on legal fees for the two-day hearing.
Scottish government said the Supreme Court case had achieved its aim of bringing legal clarity on the issue of legal powers to hold a referendum.
But critics claim it was a waste of money.
Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said: "Taxpayers will be appalled that this significant sum of their money has been frittered away by the SNP.
"The fact legal experts said they were destined to lose makes it all the worse.
"It is a disgraceful waste of public money at a time when Scots are grappling with the cost-of-living crisis and our NHS is totally overwhelmed."
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had set out plans to hold a referendum on 19 October next year.
gal right to do this was tested by the Supreme Court and it ruled unanimously that she does not have the power to do so because the issue is reserved to Westminster.
UK government has refused to grant formal consent for a referendum.
ulk of the Scottish government's costs in the case went on external counsel (£222,869.45).
ravel and subsistence for the case cost £19,711.25, while £8,049.99 was spent on "professional services".
Filing fees for the Supreme Court were £350 and other costs for the court were £748.
During the Scottish budget last week, Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced £20m earmarked for a second referendum next year would instead go towards tackling fuel poverty.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "As the first minister has previously set out, there has long been debate over whether the Scottish Parliament has the powers to legislate to hold a referendum.
"The Lord Advocate's reference of this question to the Supreme Court was intended to achieve legal clarity on this point, which it has done so.
"In light of majority support within the Scottish Parliament for an independence referendum, Scottish ministers remain ready to engage with the UK government at any point on delivering a referendum." | /news/uk-scotland-64057492 |
politics | Lessons must be learned on low census rate - report | government agency responsible for Scotland's census has been told lessons must be learned from the low response rate earlier this year.
for filling in the form had to be extended, and still failed to reach the target 90% of households.
An Audit Scotland report said this resulted in increased costs and extra work.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) delayed the census because of Covid-19 restrictions.
In the other UK nations, where it was not delayed, the survey reached 97% coverage.
Only 89% of homes in Scotland returned the survey - this figure was 79% before the deadline was extended.
A subsequent survey by the NRS to assess the gaps left by the low response, also fell short of its target reach.
Edinburgh University's Prof Lindsay Paterson, an expert in data-led social research, said it was not far-fetched to call it a "fiasco", calling it "an extreme embarrassment".
However, Audit Scotland's report noted that the NRS issued up to five further reminder letters and post cards, along with increased media and marketing activity.
It said other countries also extended their deadlines in recent years due to Covid restrictions limiting door to door activity - including the USA.
report also said people who had not completed the form were given a chance to comment on their reasons.
Of the 1,231 responses, it said the most common reasons were that people were "too busy" (35%), "not aware of the census" (16%) or did not realise they had to complete it (14%).
An independent group of census and data experts was established in response to the low turnout in Scotland.
It concluded the NRS had a "solid foundation" to continue the next phase of the census.
Auditor General Stephen Boyle noted the £6m additional cost of the census, saying its data is vital to planning public services.
He said: "It's important that National Records of Scotland establishes why the return rate was significantly lower than the other countries in the UK.
"Those lessons should be shared and will be crucial to planning for future censuses and surveys."
Scottish Conservative's constitution spokesperson Donald Cameron said: "It was clear from the moment that the Scottish government decided to hold their census on a different date from the rest of the UK that it would cause trouble.
"Lessons must be learned - and I would hope Angus Robertson has the sense to accept them."
A spokesperson for NRS said: "NRS is conducting robust evaluation across the census programme looking at all aspects of its design and delivery to reflect lessons learned.
"An end to end evaluation report on the census programme will be published and laid before Parliament."
UK Office for Statistics Regulation has told the NRS to be open about how it is calculating the census results.
ure a high level of confidence in the use of other administrative data, including registrations at GPs, the NHS central register, the school pupil census, as well as colleges and universities.
watchdog is to produce a report on the Scottish census next year. | /news/uk-scotland-63797117 |
sports | Winter Paralympics: How did the Great Britain team fare in Beijing? | Great Britain have ended the Beijing Winter Paralympics with six medals - a gold, a silver and three bronzes from the alpine skiers and a snowboarding bronze.
It was was one short of the haul from Pyeongchang four years and came from the biggest GB team at a Winter Paralympics since 1994 in Lillehammer.
However, it did see them reach the UK Sport medal range of five to nine and they also secured some top-six finishes to strengthen their reputation.
Check out the information below to see how each member of the 24-strong British team fared in China.
Britain's most successful winter sport continued its run of success with all five medals coming from the visually impaired skiers. Brothers Neil and Andrew Simpson won the first Paralympic or Olympic gold on snow for GB men with success in the super-G and also claimed a super-combined bronze. Menna Fitzpatrick added to her gold, two silvers and a bronze from Pyeongchang with another silver and bronze - this time with guide Gary Smith. And after two silvers and a bronze four years ago, Millie Knight and Brett Wild added another bronze in the downhill.
Para-ice hockey has been part of the Games programme since 1994 in Lillehammer, but Great Britain have never won a medal and last competed in the sport at the 2006 Games in Turin, finishing seventh. That team included Richard Whitehead who went on to win Paralympic gold in athletics at 2012 and 2016.
No GB team in Beijing
Including both cross-country skiing and biathlon, it has been part of the Paralympic programme since the first Games. GB have two bronze medals through seven-time Paralympian Peter Young in the 10k B1 event in 1984 and then 10 years later in the 5km classical technique. Scott Meenagh, in his second Games, had GB's best finish in Beijing with sixth in the biathlon individual event.
Made its debut in Sochi in 2014 with men's and women's snowboard cross events while banked slalom events were introduced four years later. Ollie Hill won GB's first medal with bronze in the banked slalom in Beijing.
Wheelchair curling made its first Paralympic appearance in 2006 when GB won silver, losing in the final to Canada. There was also a dramatic bronze in Sochi in 2014. But they missed out on the play-offs in Beijing for the second Games in a row, finishing eighth, one place lower than in Pyeongchang. | /sport/disability-sport/60017260 |
health | Queen Elizabeth University Hospital records worst A&E waiting times | Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital has recorded the worst A&E waiting time figures on record, with almost two-thirds of patients waiting more than four hours to be seen.
Across Scotland emergency department waiting times for the week ending 20 November were the second worst since the recording system began in 2015.
Just 63.1% of patients were dealt with in the four-hour target time.
Some 9,390 patients waited more than the four-hour to be attended to.
Public Health Scotland stats show 3,013 patients spent more than eight hours in A&E while 1,062 waited more than 12 hours.
Performance varied across Scotland's hospitals with some, such as Western Isles and Lorn and Islands in Oban, meeting the Scottish government target which aims to admit, transfer or discharge 95% of patients within four hours.
Other larger hospitals such as Perth Royal Infirmary (92.9%) and Dundee Ninewells (89.5%) also performed well against the target.
But five managed to deal with fewer than half of their A&E patients within four hours, including Forth Valley Royal (47.8%), Aberdeen Royal (46.8%), Hairmyres in East Kilbride (43%), and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (41.3%), Scotland busiest A&E department.
QEUH in Glasgow, the second busiest A&E in Scotland, only managed to see 35.1% of patients within four hours, with 1,179 waiting longer than the target.
It was the worst performance by any hospital since weekly recording began seven years ago.
revious lows were recorded by Forth Valley Royal in September and October this year.
A statement from the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board said the hospital was facing significant pressures including challenges throughout the whole hospital which had an impact A&E.
It said a recruitment campaign was ongoing and was working on new ways to treat patients, including virtual A&E care.
It added: "Concurrently, we continue to urge any patient who thinks they need emergency care, but it's not life-threatening, to use alternatives to A&E such as local pharmacies, GPs, NHS Inform and the virtual A&E service, which is accessible through NHS24 on 111.
"These routes mean patients will be seen and treated faster than at A&E and helps ring-fence A&E for those with life-threatening injuries and illnesses."
Responding to the figures, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: "Covid continues to impact the performance of services and pandemic backlogs, Brexit-driven staff shortages, and inflation costs have all contributed to make this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.
"Despite this, I am clear that A&E performance is not where it needs to be."
Mr Yousaf said delayed discharge continued to be the single biggest factor driving up A&E waits and he was working to ensure people were leaving hospital without delay, freeing up beds for those who need them.
Scottish Tory heath spokesman Sandesh Gulhane said: "These figures show our NHS is heading for a truly terrifying winter on Humza Yousaf's watch.
"More and more lives are being put on the line every single week in A&E under this health secretary. We are still yet to hit December, yet he's presided over yet another deplorable set of stats."
Dr Gulhane said the QEUH figures were "especially horrendous", adding that the data was "completely unacceptable and incredibly alarming for the safety of patients and staff at the hospital".
Scottish Labour Health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: "These figures paint a grim picture of the continual crisis that is facing patients and staff in A&Es across our country.
"Clearly, things aren't improving despite repeated promises from the SNP that they will get a handle on this chaos."
She added: "The abysmal figures reported from the QEUH show the intense pressure facing our hospitals, and things are only getting worse." | /news/uk-scotland-63793352 |
business | Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes jailed for fraud | ranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors in her blood testing start-up that was once valued at $9bn (£7.5bn).
former Silicon Valley star falsely claimed the technology could diagnose disease with just a few drops of blood.
Holmes, 38, who is pregnant, tearfully told the court she felt "deep pain" for those misled by the scam.
She was found guilty in January after a three-month trial.
Holmes is expected to appeal against the sentence, which was handed down on Friday in a California court.
Once hailed as the "next Steve Jobs", she was at one time said to be the world's youngest self-made billionaire.
She launched Theranos after dropping out of Stanford University at age 19, and its value rose sharply after the company claimed it could bring about a revolution in disease diagnosis.
But the technology Holmes touted did not work and - awash in lawsuits - the company was dissolved by 2018.
At Holmes' trial in San Jose, California, prosecutors said she knowingly misled doctors and patients about Theranos' flagship product - the Edison machine - which the company claimed could detect cancer, diabetes and other conditions using just a few drops of blood.
used Holmes of vastly exaggerating the firm's performance to its financial backers.
Jurors ultimately found her guilty on four counts of fraud, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But they found her not guilty on four other charges, and failed to reach a verdict on three more.
Before Judge Edward Davila issued his sentence on Friday, Holmes read a speech to the court in which she tearfully apologised to investors and patients.
rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes
"I am devastated by my failings. I have felt deep pain for what people went through, because I failed them," she said.
"I regret my failings with every cell of my body," she continued.
judge referred to Holmes as a "brilliant" entrepreneur, and told her: "Failure is normal. But failure by fraud is not OK."
Silicon Valley is a place where fortunes can be made and squandered. It's not unusual for investors to lose big sums of money.
It's also not unusual for founders to make grandiose claims about their tech.
What is different about Holmes' case, though, is that Theranos' unwinding actually led to fraud charges that stuck.
It is notoriously difficult to get successful prosecutions in cases of white-collar fraud in the US.
When investors lose money, they often simply write it off, or pursue compensation privately.
Holmes' punishment is a warning for Silicon Valley executives that there are real consequences for misleading investors.
't a slap on the wrist, it's significant time in prison.
She is required to surrender to begin serving her sentence on 27 April.
Holmes and Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, her former business partner and lover, were charged in 2018 with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Balwani, who was tried separately, was found guilty of fraud this summer. He will be sentenced next month.
Prosecutors requested that she face 15 years in prison and pay some $800m in restitution to investors, including several high-profile figures such as former US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who testified against her at the trial, and software tycoon Larry Ellison.
But Holmes' defence team - who argued she was well-intentioned and trying to help people - said she should spend 18 months under house arrest.
judge on Friday determined that she had caused $121m in losses to investors, including Rupert Murdoch and the family that owns Walmart. The amount she will be required to repay will be determined at a later court hearing.
Over 130 friends, family and former Theranos employees wrote to the judge to appeal for clemency.
group noted that Holmes is a young mother. She had a son in July 2021 and is currently pregnant with her second child.
It is not known when she is due to give birth. Her lawyers are expected to try to keep her from entering prison until after the baby is born.
Her partner Billy Evans, in his sentencing memo to the court, told the judge that he fears for "a future in which my son grows up with a relationship with his mother on the other side of glass armed by guards".
Eileen Lepera, a Silicon Valley secretary who lost a chunk of her life savings by investing in Theranos, told the BBC she was "happy" with the sentence.
"I think it's fair, considering all the facts of the case," Ms Lepera said. "She [Holmes] knew it was fraud, and she put people's lives at risk." | /news/world-us-canada-63685131 |
entertainment | An Cailín Ciúin: Irish language film shortlisted for an Oscar | Irish language film An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) has been shortlisted for an Oscar in the Best International Film category.
An Cailín Ciúin was selected as one of 15 titles to contest the category at the 95th Academy Awards.
All 15 film-makers will now be looking towards January, when five out of the 15 will be nominated for the award.
Directed and written by Colm Bairéad, the film is adapted from Claire Keegan's 2010 book Foster.
film is set in 1981 and tells the story of a nine-year-old girl sent to live with relatives in 1980s Ireland.
It follows Cáit, who is withdrawn and neglected, but finally finds herself in a loving home for the first time.
An Cailín Ciúin is the first Irish language title to be on the shortlist for best international feature film, a category formerly named best foreign language film.
film has won over critics at numerous festivals, both in Ireland and abroad, after premiering at Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival).
An Cailín Ciúin picked up the audience award at Dublin International Film Festival and eight Irish Film and Television Academy and Awards (IFTAs).
It was the first ever in the Irish language to win the IFTA for best film.
After surpassing UK and Ireland box office records for an Irish-language film, An Cailín Ciúin was submitted as Ireland's entry for Best International Feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Following the announcement in Los Angeles earlier on Wednesday, the film's producers said they were "thrilled beyond words" about making the Oscar shortlist.
In a tweet they said that it was a "historic day".
An Cailín Ciúin was produced for Cine4, a film initiative between Screen Ireland, Irish-language broadcaster TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. | /news/world-europe-64059870 |
business | Budget pasta prices jump 50% as food staples rise | rices of some budget food items have risen by more than 15%, according to new data, with pasta showing the steepest jump over a year.
west cost version of pasta rose by 50% in the year to April, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Household staples such as minced beef, bread and rice also recorded large increases.
But the average price rise of 30 budget food items at supermarkets was 6.7% - below the rate of inflation.
f living, or rate of inflation, rose by 9% in April, said the ONS.
Despite sharp increases in the price of some items such as pasta, the ONS analysis found that the cost of its basket of low-cost groceries increased at a similar rate to the general basket of groceries used for the official measure of food and drink inflation.
Earlier this year, anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe criticised large supermarkets for "stealthily" removing value food ranges from their shelves, forcing shoppers to "level up" to higher priced goods.
She criticised the way that the rate of inflation was calculated - which measures the prices of 700 goods - stating that it "grossly" underestimates "the true cost of living crisis".
In this latest data, the ONS measured the price of 30 everyday grocery items across seven supermarkets between April 2021 and 2022.
It showed that the price of crisps rose by 17%, bread and minced beef grew by 16% and rice prices rose by 15%.
Some everyday items showed a drop in prices, led by potatoes which were down by 14%. Cheese, pizza, chips, sausages and the price of apples were also lower.
Measured by price rather than percentage change, minced beef showed the biggest rise, up 32p for 500g to £2.34. It was followed by chicken breast which rose by 28p to £3.50 for 600g.
rice of chicken - the UK's most popular meat - has risen sharply due to a number of factors. According to an analysis by the BBC, higher feed costs and soaring transport prices have contributed to the increase.
Ms Monroe told the BBC: "The figures that are out today will not come as news to anyone who is actually living this because we have all seen the prices of food go up."
She said that having price rises that reflect reality for millions of people shown in official data "puts us in a stronger position to campaign for things like better wages [and] a higher up-rating for benefits".
Following her comments earlier this year, Asda pledged to stock its budget ranges in all of its supermarkets.
"All of the others just held fast and ignored it really," said Ms Monroe on Monday. "If one supermarket could implement the changes, why can't the others?"
In response, a Sainsbury's spokesperson told the BBC that they understand customers are facing significant pressure on their household budgets.
"We are doing all we can to help, and as part of our plans to focus on offering the best quality food at the lowest prices, today we announced we are investing £500m so that customers will be able to find low prices on the everyday items they buy most often," the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Tesco said it is "absolutely committed" to helping customers by keeping a "laser focus" on the cost of the weekly shop.
"We have significantly increased the number of value lines we offer and whether it's price matching around 650 basics to Aldi prices, promising Low Everyday Prices on 1,600 staples, or offering exclusive deals and rewards through thousands of Clubcard Prices - we're more committed than ever to providing our customers with great value," a spokesperson told the BBC.
BBC has also contacted Morrison's, Lidl and Aldi for a response.
How have you been affected by rising food prices? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/business-61630281 |
business | Jack Dorsey: Twitter co-founder breaks silence on Elon Musk takeover | witter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey has addressed the mass sackings at his former firm, apologising for growing Twitter "too quickly".
Half of the social media giant's staff are being fired, a week after Elon Musk bought it in a $44bn deal.
Billionaire Mr Musk has said he had "no choice" but to slash the company's workforce as the firm is losing more than $4m (£3.5m) a day.
witter staff took to the platform to express their anger at the firings.
In a statement posted on the microblogging site, Mr Dorsey - who quit as CEO in November and left the board of directors in May - said Twitter staff "are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realise many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologise for that."
"I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever…and I understand," he added.
His statement appeared to endorse the need for dismissals at the firm. The 45-year-old Mr Dorsey has been supportive of Mr Musk's takeover.
Back in April when Mr Musk first began his purchase of Twitter, Mr Dorsey said the 51-year-old was the "singular solution I trust" and that the South African's takeover was "the right path...I believe it with all my heart".
Mr Dorsey created Twitter in 2006 along with Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. He sent the company's first Tweet, writing "just setting up my twttr".
uts have come across Twitter's 7,500-strong work force, and there are fears it could damage the firm's content moderation efforts.
Despite the dismissals Mr Musk has said the firm's policies remain "absolutely unchanged".
A host of major brands have halted advertising spending with Twitter in recent days, including Volkswagen, General Motors and Pfizer.
Almost all of Twitter's revenue currently comes from advertising, and Mr Musk has been looking for ways to cut costs and make money in different ways from the platform.
In a move much publicised in advance, Twitter launched a subscription service on Saturday allowing users to buy blue-tick verification on the platform for a monthly fee of $7.99 (£7). | /news/technology-63527893 |
health | Christmas: The theatre group bringing joy to care homes | A theatre company has been bringing festive cheer to care homes across Northern Ireland with a series of performances specially created for people living with dementia.
Commedia of Errors' nostalgia-filled Christmas shows feature classic songs and poetry.
For many care homes, it has marked the return to face-to-face performances after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It is such a joy to be part of," said theatre-maker Benjamin Gould.
uring variety show, called Plays Aloud, has been visiting people in care homes and dementia care units across Northern Ireland.
Directed by Clare McMahon and Benjamin Gould, the shows have been funded by Arts Council Northern Ireland and Halifax Foundation NI.
"We have developed over the years a more specialised style of performance," said Mr Gould.
"It focuses on engagement so a lot of it is to do with encouraging the audience to sing and recite poetry with us.
"It's not just about standing there performing. It's about sharing the experience with the residents and it has a little bit more of a communal feel to it."
Mr Gould said he can see the mood of residents "changing dramatically" during performances.
"If you go in and somebody's having a bad day, they are not really happy and engaging but you hit on the right song and suddenly you see them light up and they'll start singing along and they'll start dancing and that positive mood will carry on maybe even days after we've left," he said.
"Because memory can be so intrinsically linked to music and poetry you could have somebody who is not verbal before you come in and if you hit on the right song or the right piece of poetry, they'll start reciting along with you, start singing along with you and they'll actually be able to hold a conversation with you as well.
"It's a lonely place if you're not able to engage and if you get to do that then it becomes much more positive for them."
Christmas tour features four performers working in groups of two to ensure the group can pay a visit to a care home in every county of Northern Ireland.
"It's beautiful sometimes," said performer Rosie McClelland.
"There was a time when a lady, who hadn't really spoken for a while, started to recite every single word of a poem because she had learnt it at primary school.
"It's wonderful how those core memories still exist and that's why we want to bring the core memories and give them that nostalgia feeling."
Performer Adam Dougal said it was a privilege to be part of the show.
"I think music is a very powerful thing and it can evoke memories - we all associate a certain song with a time in our life," he said.
"It can be very moving. What we're trying to do is have a connection with that audience because we're in a very intimate environment.
"It can be very emotional and it can be very uplifting as well.
"Sometimes family members are there and for them to witness their relative, their mum or dad, enjoying themselves, coming out of their shells, can be a really special thing and quite moving."
Fiona McAnespie, from Radius Housing, said she has seen a positive impact on residents, and their families.
"Some of our residents would be limited in communication due to their dementia but they'll be citing poetry or singing along," she said.
"I have seen relatives in tears because they maybe haven't heard their mum or dad speak or react for a long time."
She said people living with dementia can often retain long-term memories, which is why the old songs and poetry used in the performances can have such an impact.
"We obviously can see that it brings back a memory to them and for some it may be something that was played on their wedding day or something they recited at school," she said.
"The reaction is really quite phenomenal when you see it." | /news/uk-northern-ireland-64024395 |
sports | Burghley Horse Trials: Piggy March wins aboard Vanir Kamira | Britain's Piggy March has won the Burghley Horse Trials aboard Vanir Kamira.
ree-day event returned after the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled because of the Covid pandemic.
March, 42, twice a runner-up at Burghley, finished ahead of fellow Brit Tom Jackson on Capels Hollow Drift in second with New Zealander Tim Price taking third on Vitali.
"It is the best feeling in the world, a dream come true," said March.
March, who has also won Badminton in 2019 and is a two-time individual European silver medallist, added: "I think Burghley is probably the hardest to win, and she is a true Burghley horse.
"I think this is probably the hardest cross-country event in the world. The terrain is so tough, and I think the horses just get an extra gold star for being able to do well here and get around that course fast.
"Badminton was the best day of my life, but this is definitely along the lines of it."
March takes home the £100,000 top prize with victory on her 17-year-old mare. | /sport/equestrian/62790667 |
health | Cancer care delays: How bad are they in your area? | re has been a sharp rise in long waits for cancer therapy in the past four years, BBC analysis shows.
umber waiting more than the 62-day target time for therapy in the past year has topped 69,000 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland - twice as many as the same period in 2017-18.
Waits are also getting worse in Wales, but data does not go that far back.
You can find out how services are doing where you live with our local search tool.
It shows you what proportion of patients treated for cancer had to wait longer than 62 days.
Steven McIntosh, of Macmillan Cancer Support, told the BBC that the delays were "traumatic" and people were living "day-by-day with fear and anxiety".
He said the situation was "unacceptable" and could even be having an impact on the chances of survival.
Describing the NHS as "chronically short-staffed", he said: "The NHS doesn't have the staff it needs to diagnose cancer, to deliver surgery and treatment, to provide care, support and rehabilitation."
Mr McIntosh warned there would be further delays and disruption if NHS spending did not at least rise in line with inflation in the chancellor's November budget.
Meanwhile, latest monthly data from NHS England showed a further deterioration in emergency care and another rise in the hospital waiting list.
Charlotte Park is one of the cancer patients who has faced a long wait for treatment. She went to see her GP in June 2020 after finding a lump in her breast.
Her GP gave her an urgent referral to the local breast clinic. Ms Park, 50, from North Yorkshire, should have been seen within two weeks, but when that passed she phoned only to be told there was a backlog.
Eventually she got an appointment after three-and-a-half weeks, but only after going back to her GP to see if they could help her get seen.
She was then diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, but had to wait until September to start chemotherapy.
Fortunately, she is now in remission.
But she said: "It was so frustrating. I just felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall. I felt under a massive amount of stress."
"I thought I was going to die at one point. You worry so much when you are waiting. Sadly there are so many people out there is this position."
Macmillan has also raised concerns there could still be potentially thousands of missing cases.
umber of diagnoses since the start of the pandemic is more than 30,000 lower than would have been expected.
Disruption to services at the start of the pandemic and people not coming forward with symptoms because of fear of Covid or not wanting to burden the NHS has been blamed for this.
Recent data shows the numbers being referred in for cancer checks is now increasing and is at record levels.
But, as the analysis on waiting times for treatment shows, problems are still been seen in getting those patients treated quickly.
BBC looked at the latest data for waits for treatment to start following an urgent referral from a GP, although the figures in Scotland also included those identified via screening or during a visit to A&E.
reatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Investment in testing - a network of 90 community diagnostic centres has opened in England - is expected to speed up diagnosis.
However, cancer experts says the key bottleneck that needs addressing is the wait after that treatment with staffing shortages seen as a key problem.
Royal College of Radiologists says there is a 17% shortfall in the UK in cancer doctors who oversee chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
"Staff is the key to fixing this," Tom Roques, of the Royal College, said. "We desperately need a fully-funded workforce plan for the NHS that will recruit and retain the right numbers of staff that will be able to treat patients as quickly as we would all like."
Labour shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, who has had kidney cancer but is now free of the disease after having one kidney removed, said: "It is terrifying that so many cancer patients are not being treated on time, when every day matters.
"Having been through treatment for kidney cancer this year, I know the importance of an early diagnosis and fast treatment."
But Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for the NHS in England, said the "hard work" of staff was helping the system to catch up in terms of getting people in for checks.
But she said she was determined to ensure improvements were made in terms of diagnosis and treatment.
"We will not stop in our efforts to catch cancers earlier and save more lives."
Data analysis by Rob England and Libby Rogers
Are you affected by issues covered in this story? Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | /news/health-63573718 |
technology | TikTok Now: BeReal-style feature prompts copycat claims | kTok users have noticed a new feature promising "a whole new creative experience" - but they've been quick to question how new it really is.
, called TikTok Now, released in the UK this week, asks users to take a photo or video from their phone's front and back cameras at a random time of day.
kTok has encouraged people to "share their most authentic moments".
But many have pointed out that it looks pretty similar to BeReal.
, seen as an alternative to the filtered and curated feeds often associated with social media, has grown rapidly since it was launched by a small French company.
It's currently ninth in Apple's overall UK App Store downloads chart, compared with TikTok's 14th place.
But it has got some catching up to do, with some reports putting its total downloads at about 27 million against TikTok's estimated three billion.
re are some subtle differences between TikTok's offering and BeReal's.
Both will send users a notification at a random time of day, after which they'll have a limited time to snap a photo. TikTok Now also allows for 10-second videos.
BeReal prompts you with the message "It's time to BeReal", whereas TikTok has settled on "It's Time to Now" for its daily countdown launch.
As for sharing your posts, BeReal is restricted by design - photos are only meant to be seen by a small circle of close friends, in line with the app's low-key attitude.
kTok Now offers users the ability to share their posts with the wider world, although it will be limited to friends by default.
And younger users will have automatic restrictions placed on their posts.
Following TikTok's announcement earlier this year, people were quick to point out that the concept behind TikTok Now looked very familiar.
Others were more direct, accusing it of "blatantly copying" its smaller competitor.
xperts leapt on the fact that Instagram had been beaten to the launch, after the company confirmed last month that it was testing Candid Challenges, its own BeReal-style feature.
And industry analyst Matt Navarra said the announcement by ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, was "shameless and ferociously fast".
Could my BeReal get me sacked?
Instagram U-turns on TikTok-style revamp
kTok reveals 2022 summer breakout artist
Social media companies have a track record of "borrowing" ideas from each other - with varying degrees of success.
Some features we take for granted - Twitter's "Like" button, Instagram's Stories and the trend for short, vertical videos - have either inspired imitators or been copied from elsewhere.
For example, Instagram recently rolled back an unpopular TikTok-style revamp that filled people's feeds with videos.
Even celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner weighed in, accusing the app of trying to imitate its rival and urging it to "make Instagram Instagram again".
And you might remember Fleets - Twitter's ill-fated attempt to introduce disappearing tweets similar to Instagram's Stories features.
Or you might not. After a backlash, the company quietly retired the feature after just a few months, saying it hadn't "seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped".
As for TikTok Now, users in the USA got it first, with the button for the feature replacing the current Friends tab. There are plans to release it as a separate app in some countries.
It remains to be seen whether it will stick around long-term or vanish more quickly than a Vine video.
Follow Newsbeat on Twitter and YouTube.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here | /news/newsbeat-62925572 |
technology | Social media: Students grill TikTok and Meta over app dangers | gers said they had come across bullying left in social media comments
A group of young Welsh people are calling for social media platforms to improve processes for reporting harmful content.
kTok and Meta bosses faced questions from students at Pontypridd High School in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Both platforms said they listened to feedback from users and encouraged them to make use of safety features.
was organised by Alex Davies-Jones MP as the UK government's online safety bill goes through Parliament.
"There's barely a day that goes by that I don't experience something negative," said 17-year-old Caitlin.
"I personally think social media's pretty dangerous."
"Scrolling through TikTok yesterday and there's many challenges aimed at young girls to eat roughly 300-400 calories in a day….[and] it could trigger many eating disorders."
Many of Caitlin's attempts to report harmful content have been unsuccessful.
"I think the reporting process should be looked into a bit more, since it takes so long for things to be taken down, by the time they are taken down, the harm's already been made."
kTok said it strictly removed content that promoted disordered eating.
Caitlin had to deal with online abuse after posting about Manchester United Footballer Mason Greenwood being arrested on suspicion of rape. He has denied the claim.
"I spoke about the whole Mason Greenwood situation and I got told I need to get beat up about it.
"I feel like because of social media, women's voices are being heard less. I feel like we're being pushed back a bit."
"It's kind of like a war on us in a way. It's like we can't really speak without having harm wanted against us."
Others highlighted positive aspects of social media, such as keeping in touch with friends and self-love campaigns.
"There's a lot of body positive things that go around now that never used to," said 17-year-old Isabelle.
Pupils working on a project to improve online safety were given the chance to quiz tech giants at a virtual event.
"Young people feel it is very difficult to report and remove upsetting content. How can you make this process easier?" asked 13-year-old Brooke.
kTok's head of safety public policy in Europe, Alexandra Evans, said she thought the platforms reporting mechanisms were "intuitive" but welcomes feedback from users on how they were struggling.
She also highlighted blocking functions: "For example, if you don't like the word 'hate' or 'loser', whatever it may be, you can set a list of words that you will always get filtered from your comments."
Megan Thomas, public policy associate manager at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company had recently developed new features "designed to help prevent people from having to experience any kind of harmful content on our platforms in the first place".
Poppi, 13, wanted to know how many offensive posts were taken down each day, and what consequences were in place for repeat offenders.
Both representatives said they did not know the daily figure, but pointed to quarterly reports.
"There's a spectrum of harm, there's a spectrum of behaviours and we try to be really specific in our responses," said TikTok's Ms Evans.
"But also when it comes to those egregious cases, when it comes to those absolute zero-tolerance behaviours, we are all working together to make sure that we are responding and stamping out that kind of activity across all of our platforms."
New online safety laws are being introduced by the UK government, but Labour MP for Pontypridd and shadow technology minister Alex Davies-Jones warned of "loopholes" in the legislation.
A UK government spokesperson said: "Our pioneering Online Safety Bill will already deliver major improvements to the safety of women and girls from criminalising cyber flashing to protecting young girls from harmful content."
failure to act by social media companies could result in heavy fines. | /news/uk-wales-62094378 |
entertainment | Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em writer Raymond Allen dies, aged 82 | writer behind the hit 1970s BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em has died aged 82, his family has said.
Raymond Allen, who lived on the Isle of Wight, created the hapless character of Frank Spencer, immortalised by actor Michael Crawford.
m ran from 1973, attracting audiences of up to 20 million.
Michael Crawford paid tribute to Mr Allen as a "one-off". His family said he had given "joy and laughter to many millions of people".
Mr Allen wrote a total of 22 episodes of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em featuring the well-meaning and utterly accident-prone Frank Spencer who became one of the best-known characters of British TV comedy.
It was renowned for its heart-stopping stunts - all performed by Crawford himself.
Speaking on a BBC documentary in 2016, Mr Allen recalled finding out his script had been commissioned while working as a cinema cleaner in Ryde.
"I'd been writing for 16 years, all I got was rejection slips," he said.
"I was mopping the ladies loos and remembered I had a letter from the BBC in my pocket. It said, 'We'd like you to come to London to work for us'. I was so excited.
"I rushed and told the other cleaners. They looked at me and one said said, 'I cant understand that - you'd think they'd have their own cleaners'."
He described Frank Spencer as "a sort of loser - he was totally incompetent, very childlike".
During his career Mr Allen also wrote scripts for other comedy stars, including Frankie Howerd and Dave Allen.
Mr Allen's family said he died peacefully on Sunday following a short illness.
"His life's work gave joy and laughter to many millions of people not just in this country but all around the world," a statement said.
"Raymond has left us all with wonderful memories filled with fun, laughter and love."
Michael Crawford posted a tribute on Twitter, describing his writing as "the epitome of innocence and naivety".
"He gave me, as Frank, the most wonderful dialogue to perform, we travelled a very long journey together," he said.
"Ray was a 'one off' for sure and still people watch 'Some Mothers...' with their great-grandchildren. Farewell, lovely man and thank you."
Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk. | /news/uk-england-hampshire-63149846 |
entertainment | Wagatha play won't punch down at Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney, writer says | "The Wagatha Christie case has mystery, suspense and broken friendships - all the ingredients for a great drama," says Liv Hennessy, whose West End play is based on the High Court clash.
Love it or hate it, the dispute between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney captured many headlines earlier this year.
It arguably offered light relief to audiences weary of hearing about war in Ukraine, Covid, the heatwave and politics.
"Wagatha felt like a real water-cooler moment in the UK, which I think is quite rare now," says playwright Hennessy, a former story producer for ITV soap opera Emmerdale.
rial was dubbed "Wagatha Christie" - a reference to both women as footballers' wives and girlfriends (Wags), and Agatha Christie, the author famous for her whodunit mysteries.
Following her 2019 Instagram sting operation, Mrs Rooney dramatically accused Mrs Vardy, on social media, of leaking private stories about her to the Sun.
Mrs Vardy has always denied this, and filed legal proceedings against Mrs Rooney - but in July, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled Mrs Rooney's accusation was "substantially true".
Mrs Rooney is expected to receive an estimated £1.5m from Mrs Vardy towards legal costs.
Hennessy says her play, Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial, captures a moment in time - exploring what is private and what public.
"This case couldn't have happened 10 years ago, and it probably won't happen in 10 years, because media law is catching up with how we operate on social media every day," she says.
"The play questions what we ask of our public figures, and whether we believe they should behave with integrity - which is fair enough if you're a politician, somebody very high up.
"But it becomes murkier when you're a social-media influencer, or you're 'fame adjacent', but you have social media.
"When you start to monetise public trust, and get money for your Instagram posts, we sort of have a right to know whether we can trust you or not."
Before putting pen to paper, Hennessy spent a fortnight wading through 1,200 pages of transcripts, bought by the play's producers.
wasn't a hardship though - she had already been "glued to the case", following it via WhatsApp groups and Twitter and taking particular delight at some of the memes.
"I come from soap, so I'm used to very, very tight deadlines, working under extreme pressure and finding the story," Hennessy says.
"It suited my skill set - but it's been a ride."
She also consulted people with the necessary legal knowledge, "to make sure I nailed it".
f verbatim theatre - when its characters speak, they use real-life words.
Director Lisa Spirling, who approached Hennessy to write the play, knew the format could work.
"Nicholas Kent did a huge amount of plays based on trials [and inquiries] at London's Tricycle Theatre, so we knew it had been done before", she says.
His work includes plays on the Grenfell Tower fire, Stephen Lawrence's murder and Bloody Sunday.
Both women are clear about what struck them about the Vardy-Rooney trial - and what they chose to avoid.
Hennessy stresses she is not trying to belittle the women, arguably best-known for being footballers' wives.
"You could think we're punching down at people who don't understand the legal system, we're going to laugh at them," she says.
"That's not what this play is about."
Instead, what really came across reading the transcripts was "they both are incredibly intelligent women, who navigate a legal system - most of us would be very confused", Hennessy says.
"They're so self-possessed, they're confident, they handle it," she says.
Spirling admits being initially "quite snobby" about the case, until the play's producer, London Theatre Society president Eleanor Lloyd, persuaded her to think again and explore the issues raised.
She agreed, and realised it had huge potential as a play. And she is not alone in this - Channel 4 is also making a docudrama about the case.
"I was asking, 'Are we pulling down two working-class women, or two women in a situation who happen to be very rich?" Spirling says, on how the women could be portrayed.
But her "hackles went up" at the "patriarchy of everyone calling them Wags the whole time".
Former sports journalist Alison Kervin, who landed a three-book deal in the 2000s to write novels starring Wags, told the Times recently: "I hate the term Wag.
"The whole 'Wag' culture infantilised women," she said. "They were seen as the pretty hangers-on.
"Girls no longer want to be just wives or girlfriends. As we've seen this summer, women are able to play football too - and actually win."
Spirling also found a connection with the case.
"I'm from Lancashire originally, and many of my (male) friends are professional footballers," she says. "A bizarre amount were from my local school.
"To see those boys go on that journey and have too much money, be too famous too young, and what that does to you - to be living that life, as those guys have for 20 years -the exhaustion of that, and how you maintain it, and for the women alongside it.
"So I just I felt like I knew that world."
And after a "deep dive into what people were fighting for" in the court case, she concluded "it's reputation and control of their narrative... Instagram is a way of individuals taking back control".
One voice missing from the trial was that of Caroline Watt, Mrs Vardy's friend and agent.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist produced a report concluding she was unfit to give oral evidence.
But she is featured in the play.
"What Liv has done extraordinarily well is to find a way to bring Caroline into the room," Spirling says.
"So you have a sense of her, partly because of so many WhatsApp messages, but also in the presence of that person.
"She's the one we're not talking about, where you go, 'That is someone that's lost their job, who wasn't in the public eye, who clearly this has been incredibly distressing for, and significant and troubling... it feels really important."
Hennessey also includes football pundits on stage, who comment on the action in court, plus action replays.
She won't divulge which memorable moments from the court case are featured but says: "I don't think people will be disappointed."
roduction started out as a one-night-only performance but has been extended after demand for tickets.
"We want to give people a great night out," Spirling says. "The world is pretty tough right now.
"This play absolutely has conversations about economics and fame and celebrity - and it will give people a bit of escapism."
Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial is at London's Wyndham's Theatre on 15, 22 and 29 November, 6, 13 and 20 December and 10 January. | /news/entertainment-arts-63515172 |
technology | Meet the BBC’s 'undercover voters' for the US midterms | As US voters get ready to vote in the midterms, a number of recent news events are shaping their social media feeds - the raid on Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago as he's investigated for possibly mishandling documents, abortion bans, and debates about gun rights. For Americast and Newsnight, BBC's Disinformation and Social Media correspondent Marianna Spring is investigating what voters are recommended online at a turbulent time for US politics.
I've created social media accounts belonging to five fake characters, who reflect views from across the political spectrum in the US. The people I created are based on data by a US think tank which defined types of voters after surveying more than 10,000 randomly selected US adults.
I've given each of them five profiles across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter - with names and computer-generated photos. They are: Larry, the Faith and Flag conservative; Britney from the Populist Right; Gabriela, the less political Stressed Sideliner; Michael, the Democratic Mainstay; and Emma from the Progressive Left.
After just a week of running the accounts, Britney - the Populist Right Voter - has already been recommended and has encountered pages on Instagram and Facebook continuing to promote disinformation that Trump really won the 2020 election. She's also come across similar content on TikTok. False claims are sometimes accompanied by violent rhetoric in reference to Trump's opponents.
In contrast, the accounts belonging to Michael - the Democratic Mainstay, and Emma - the Progressive Left voter, have been pushed memes celebrating the investigation into Trump and quizzing why this didn't happen sooner.
Britney's feeds include suggestions that the recent raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago just confirms he was actually victorious and the State is out to get him. Several of these pages opt for phrases like "Trump won" rather than "stop the steal", which was the term used on social media ahead of the riots at the Capitol.
riots - and the wave of false claims about fraudulent voting in their build-up - have marked a turning point in the US. Now, more than ever, there are questions about how misleading and harmful posts online could affect voters heading to the polls, and social media sites have made fresh commitments to tackle it.
BBC's experiment so far suggests those same false claims about "ballot mules" and "ballot trafficking" from the 2020 election continue to spread online. Britney has also come across other anti-Semitic conspiracies about sinister global plots - and been recommended conspiracy-inspired pages.
kTok told the BBC, "We take our responsibility to protect the integrity of our platform and elections with utmost seriousness."
It says it prohibits election misinformation, "provides access to authoritative information through our Election Centre" and works with independent fact-checking organisations.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, says "it has hundreds of people across more than 40 teams working on the midterm elections", as well as "robust measures in place to combat misinformation". That includes partnerships with 10 fact-checking organisations in the US.
Larry - the Faith and Flag conservative - has been recommended similar content about the raid on Trump's home, as well as repeated pages promoting guns and other weapons.
However, the feed belonging to Emma - the Progressive Left voter - also featured more about influencer Andrew Tate, recently banned from Instagram and Facebook for promoting misogyny online. The videos on her feed rejoice his ban, whereas none of the other older voters have encountered anything similar.
unt of Gabriella - the undecided voter - hasn't been exposed to much politics at all, whether Trump or Tate. Her profiles are generally apolitical and so, instead, her social media feeds are dominated by posts about her hometown of Miami, fashion, dance, and saving money during the cost of living crisis.
rofiles are all informed by data from Pew Research Center, which defined nine different typologies of US voters who sit along the political spectrum after conducting a wide-ranging survey in 2021.
BBC has selected five of those nine types and based the characters on data about their demographic, age, interests and opinions on different political issues. The five types chosen aim to reflect a cross-section of the US electorate with a range of views and backgrounds.
Democrat-leaning and Republican-leaning groups that the characters are based on offer insight into what the greatest proportion of active voters on the political right and left can be exposed to online. The more apolitical Stressed Sideliner type makes up relatively less of the electorate compared to all of the other right or left-leaning groups.
I'll be logging on regularly to each of the accounts for a similar period of time to like the kinds of posts they would, check what they've been recommended, and see where the social media algorithms take our characters. I use a VPN on each of the phones, so my location can be set to the US.
According to research from Pew, around seven in 10 Americans use social media - and this is one of the only ways of interrogating the subjective social media worlds of different voters that we can't usually access.
While it can't offer an exhaustive insight into what every US voter could be seeing on social media - and they don't have friends or followers - it gives us a snapshot into what different types of voters across the political spectrum are exposed to when they log onto their phones.
re are a series of recent news events that are shaping some of the voters' social media feeds. The raid on Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago, as he's investigated for possibly mishandling documents. The Roe v Wade ruling that made abortion legal across the US was overturned. The war in Ukraine, debates about gun rights and a cost-of-living crisis across the world.
r accounts are all private - and they don't comment or talk to anyone real. They just like, follow and join groups, pages and accounts as per their interests and recommendations.
Here's an explanation of who they are and what they like.
Larry is what is known as a Faith and Flag conservative. This group has the oldest voters according to Pew's research - with a third over 65. Larry, a retired insurance broker, is 71 years old. This group is also the least diverse, with the highest proportion of non-Hispanic white voters, as well as the highest share of male voters.
What would Larry like on social media? He has very conservative values and has followed and liked pages that are pro-guns and the US Second Amendment. He is loyal first and foremost to the Republican party and whoever represents them, which most recently has been Donald Trump - and likes pages about this. Fox News is the main place this voter group goes for news, according to Pew's data.
For him, religion is very important in public life. He is an evangelical protestant who is married to a woman and has grown-up children. He has followed several anti-abortion pages and groups.
He doesn't like the federal government having too much power. Instead, he's liked lots of groups and pages about his local area and community in Oneonta, Alabama. He has also followed several US army pages.
Britney, 50 years old, is the Populist Right character. She votes Republican, but unlike Larry, she's much more critical of big business. She likes some posts on social media opposing billionaires and supporting higher taxes for big corporations. She also follows pages about unfounded conspiracies like the Great Reset and New World Order, which tap into the idea that the very rich are orchestrating a sinister global plot.
She is very supportive of Trump - and the possibility he'll run for re-election in 2024. Her loyalties lie with him rather than the Republican party itself.
Populist Right group is overwhelmingly white - but the 54% of voters who fall into this group are female. It is also one of the least highly educated groups with just two in 10 graduating from college. Recently-divorced Britney and her children live in Houston in Texas, where she works as a school secretary and takes part in parent groups online.
Half of this group opposed Covid-19 vaccines - so Britney likes and follows some anti-mask and anti-vaccine content on social media. Like Larry, she is also religious and follows many anti-abortion accounts and pages. Fox News is also where she gets her news, according to research - and it's the outlet she was recommended lots on Twitter when she first signed up.
Gabriela, 44 years old, is a floating voter - and Pew's research dubs this group Stressed Sideliner. Her views vary and she's not really that interested in politics. She likes music, dance, fashion - and topics that are generally apolitical on social media.
group is 56% women - and has the highest share of Hispanic voters compared to all the other groups. Gabriela lives with her husband and children in Miami, Florida, and likes and follows pages about her local area, as well as the Hispanic community there.
About one in four Stressed Sideliners live in lower-income households. Gabriela has liked lots of groups and pages about saving money on monthly shopping. She is a nanny, so has also joined lots of parent groups and others advertising work.
Her views on social issues vary. According to Pew's research, on abortion, banning guns, legalising marijuana and making university free, Stressed Sideliners align with Democrats. But she's more conservative on the death penalty and supportive of the police. She has liked some pro-choice content.
Michael, 61 years old, is part of the Democratic Mainstay group. This is the most diverse group, with the highest proportion of black voters at 26%. According to Pew's research, three quarters of this group are religious - and it has the highest proportion of black protestant voters. Michael really values faith and family. He's interested in pages linked to churches in his local area, as well as US and black history.
He's been a committed Democrat for years. He likes lots of pages, groups and accounts linked to the party, as well as popular politicians like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Barack Obama.
Democratic Mainstays are slightly older and have less formal education than other Democrat-leaning groups. Michael is a teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - where he lives with his wife and kids.
He is economically more liberal. On social media he follows various teaching unions and charities that help families make ends meet. But he is more moderate on other social issues and is pro-military. He prefers left-leaning news outlets, including CNN.
Emma is the most liberal of all the types - 48% of this group has received a university degree, and most of them are white. Emma attended university and lives in New York City with her girlfriend, where she is a graphic designer. The creative arts are very important to these voters, according to Pew's data. Emma follows accounts about art and film.
group is made up of younger voters - with a third under 30. They are also the least religious of all of the groups. Emma is 25-years-old and an atheist.
According to Pew, these voters are likely to get their political news from NPR and The New York Times - which are pages Emma follows.
Progressive Left voters are very passionate about racial and gender equality - 88% judge there to be serious discrimination against black people. Emma follows lots of accounts in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
She is also pro-choice and passionate about the environment. Emma likes a variety of pages about intersectional feminism, women's marches and LGBTQI rights, including supporting the transgender community. She follows environmental activists - and she supports the legalisation of marijuana, liking several pages that promote this.
Emma and Larry are both the most politically engaged according to Pew's research. They voted at the highest rate in the 2020 Presidential election, they post about politics online and they donate to campaigns too.
Where can you keep up with the Undercover Voters?
Listen to Americast on BBC Sounds and tune into BBC 2's Newsnight for regular updates on what these profiles are recommended around major news events, and investigations into how they are targeted in the build-up to the midterms. | /news/world-us-canada-62742687 |
business | Kanye West: JP Morgan Chase cuts ties with rapper | US banking giant JP Morgan Chase is ending its relationship with the rapper and designer Kanye West, who now goes by the name Ye, and his Yeezy brand.
A letter from the bank informing Mr West of the decision was posted on Twitter by a conservative commentator.
At the weekend, his Twitter and Instagram accounts were suspended after he posted anti-Semitic messages.
BBC understands the letter from JP Morgan pre-dated recent controversies, as it was sent on 20 September.
In the letter the bank gave Mr West until 21 November to transfer his business.
JP Morgan Chase declined to comment.
Mr West had previously taken to social media to criticise JP Morgan's leadership and said they would not give him access to the bank's chief executive Jamie Dimon.
He told Bloomberg in September that he was severing ties with his corporate partners and that "it's time for me to go it alone".
Representatives for Mr West did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
move by JP Morgan comes as Mr West's business partnerships have come under increased scrutiny.
Last week, sportswear firm Adidas said it was reviewing its deal with him days after he showed a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt design at Paris Fashion Week.
mpany did not mention the controversy but said "successful partnerships are rooted in mutual respect and shared values".
Mr West responded on Instagram, claiming the firm "stole" his designs. That post now appears to have been deleted.
Adidas told the BBC it had made the decision to put the partnership under review after "repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation."
A spokesperson for the German sportswear company also said that the "Adidas Yeezy partnership is one of the most successful collaborations in our industry's history."
Last month, Mr West said he was ending his partnership with the retailer Gap.
He accused the firm of failing to honour terms of the deal, including by failing to open standalone stores for his Yeezy fashion label.
'Kanye West and Kendall Jenner wore my vintage T-shirts' | /news/business-63252035 |
business | Union rejects Rolls-Royce £2,000 living-cost bonus | A union representing Rolls-Royce workers has rejected the offer of a £2,000 one-off payment from the firm to help its staff with the rising cost of living.
Of the 14,000 staff at Rolls-Royce who were eligible for the payment, 11,000 members are unionised.
Unite said the offer "falls far short of the real cost of living challenges which our members are experiencing".
But Rolls-Royce said the offer was "fair" and "a good deal" for staff.
ump sum, which was intended for junior management and shop floor staff, was due to begin being rolled out in August, starting with the 3,000 non-unionised staff before being paid to the remaining 11,000 unionised workers.
Unite's regional secretary Paresh Patel said the union was still in negotiations with Rolls-Royce about the pay offer.
News of the offer emerged on Monday night, and was later confirmed by Rolls-Royce.
However, Unite said: "The fact that Rolls-Royce has made this announcement in the way that it has certainly in our view undermines the trade union and the negotiating position that should be between the employer and the unions on this matter."
Rolls-Royce had also offered workers a 4% increase in pay, back-dated to March. A Rolls-Royce spokesperson had told the BBC it would be "the highest annual pay rise for at least a decade" for its shop floor staff.
But Unite said it would also reject that offer of a 4% pay rise.
re are ongoing discussions with unions about a pay settlement for 2022-2023, Rolls-Royce's spokesperson said, and the cost of living issue is to be a factor in those negotiations.
In response to Unite's rejection of the offer, the spokesperson said: "This is a good deal for our colleagues that is fair and competitive, with an immediate cash lump sum to help them through the current exceptional economic climate.
"We will continue to talk to our people."
Meanwhile, around 115,000 Royal Mail workers are voting on strike action in a similar row over pay.
Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents many Royal Mail staff, said it would be claiming for an "inflation-based, no-strings pay award", adding that Royal Mail's offer of a 2% pay award was "miles away from where inflation is, totally inadequate".
Pay rates and measures to help UK staff have been increasing as businesses have been seeking to recruit and retain staff, after official figures showed there were fewer unemployed people than job vacancies for the first time since records began.
Earlier this month, Lloyds Bank staff were offered a £1,000 lump sum to help with rising costs, after Unite the Union demonstrated outside its annual general meeting.
Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - currently stands at 9%, and is expected to increase again later this year.
It seems one-off cost of living payments are gaining in popularity among employers - but are they a short-term fix to a long-term issue?
ure of inflation means that while the rate of price rises may slow next year, it is extremely unlikely that the cost of living will actually drop. Prices are almost certainly not going to fall.
Yet, these payments are not embedded in future wages, unlike a regular pay increase. As employees continue to find it tough, will there be pressure on bosses to make these payments a permanent part of pay next year and beyond?
re is undoubtedly an awareness among businesses that workers, particularly the lower-paid, need more financial help at the moment to cover their bills.
But perhaps this eye-catching tactic of one-off payments is directed more at another issue - the retention and recruitment of staff.
Rolls-Royce was badly impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic, which hit demand for its aircraft engines as international air travel ground to a halt.
In 2020 it announced plans to cut its global workforce by 9,000 by the end of this year, with 3,000 of those jobs going in the UK. At the time it said it would take "several years" for the industry to recover from the pandemic.
In the first year of Covid, Rolls-Royce made a loss of £4bn because of the collapse in air travel, however it returned to profit in 2021.
Staff shortages are also putting pressure on firms to raise wages.
Earlier this month, Morrisons said it would increase pay for its store workers as UK supermarkets battle for staff in the face of increasing competition in the sector.
Rival chains Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda have also announced pay rises for their workers this year. | /news/business-61874786 |
technology | Google to pay record $391m privacy settlement | Google will pay $391.5m (£330m) to settle allegations about how it collects data from users.
gy giant tracked the location of users who opted out of location services on their devices, 40 US states said.
Google has been told to be transparent about location tracking in the future and develop a web page telling people about the data it collects.
It is the largest privacy-related multi-state settlement in US history.
A Google official said: "Consistent with improvements we've made in recent years, we have settled this investigation, which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago."
Last month, Google agreed to pay Arizona $85m over similar issues concerning how it collects location data.
re remains one outstanding case on the topic in the US courts, after Texas, Indiana, Washington and the District of Columbia took legal action against Google in January.
Knowing a user's location helps advertisers target products.
And location services help Google generate $200bn in annual advertising revenue.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who led the case - alongside Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson - said: "For years Google has prioritised profit over its users' privacy.
"It has been crafty and deceptive.
"Consumers thought they had turned off their location-tracking features on Google - but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers."
rneys general said Google had been misleading consumers about location tracking since at least 2014, breaking state consumer-protection laws.
mpany has been told to significantly improve user controls and the way it discloses location tracking, starting from 2023. | /news/technology-63635380 |
business | Why chicken is getting more and more expensive | Chicken is the UK's meat of choice for the dinner table, but consumers might have noticed the numbers ticking up on their receipts.
With the cost of chicken feed, energy and transport increasing, fast food chains like Nando's and KFC have already put some prices up.
f Co-op supermarkets has warned poultry could become as expensive as beef, while official figures suggest that the price of chilled, oven-ready, chicken has increased from £2.50 to £3 per kg in the last two years.
"The problem we have is that all kinds of prices are going up and up," says poultry farmer James Mottershead.
His family bought the West Midlands farm in 2001.
In recent years, demand has grown and the business now raises about 1.5 million chickens a year.
We follow the production process step-by-step to see where costs are mounting for poultry farmers and processors.
Poultry makes up 50% of the meat eaten in the UK and one billion birds are reared in the country every year, according to the British Poultry Council.
Mr Mottershead, who is also the chair of the poultry board at the National Farmers' Union, receives deliveries of about 215,000 chicks in seven "cycles" each year.
roiler chickens, raised specifically for meat, arrive at the farm at one day old.
rice for the chicks has gone up by 5p over the last year though, with the cost now topping 40p per bird, Mr Mottershead says.
Hatcheries have come under pressure as costs for feed, electricity and heating for the incubation period have gone up, and those are being passed on to farms.
Mr Mottershead and two dedicated full-time employees look after the chicks that are then grown in dedicated poultry sheds.
Day-to-day costs are going up there too.
Staff start on-site at 07:00, checking water consumption and feed availability, as well as on the birds' health.
All of the birds on the farm are sold as Red Tractor assured, which means each chicken can be traced back to the hatchery it came from and it has 10% more space than is required by European legislation.
farm generates renewable energy. The commercial sheds use LED lights and have solar panels on the roof. Despite that, Mr Mottershead says electricity prices have "rocketed" in the last year, with the cost per kilowatt roughly doubling.
Some of the sheds also have LPG gas containers for heating. Prices now top 40p per litre, up from 15p two years ago - driven higher by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and worries about the impact the conflict could have on supplies from one of the world's biggest gas exporters.
farm uses borehole water, but the cost of chemicals used to sanitise the water has risen by about 30%.
usiness also goes through about 200 tonnes of wood shavings for the chick's bedding each year. The cost of buying that in bulk has jumped by about 40% in the last 12 months.
Aside from wood shavings to scratch, the cost of feed, which makes up a large proportion of a poultry farmer's budget, is soaring.
farm's spend on it now stands at about £2m a year. Different types of feed ingredients are used depending on the chicken's stage in its life cycle - whether that's a chick crumb or a grower pellet for later on.
Kynan Massey, managing director of Massey Bros feed firm, told the BBC "prices had never been higher".
It's because the feed is often made up of wheat or soya, which have seen prices spike due to failed harvests last summer and the conflict in Ukraine.
"Russia and Ukraine are responsible for a quarter of wheat exported around the world," Mr Massey says. "If conflict continues we could see prices carrying on rising, and in Europe the dry weather is affecting costs as well."
In the poultry sheds, the birds' weight is monitored regularly.
umber of birds is reduced at 32 days once they have reached their target weight to ensure the farm is meeting rules on density per square metre.
About a third of birds in the shed are sent to the abattoir then, with the rest of the chickens removed at 39 days.
re transported by truck in crates. Of course, the cost of fuel has also gone up.
UK diesel prices, for example, rose to a record of just over £1.80 a litre on Monday, according to the RAC.
After the previous record of £1.79 in March following the invasion of Ukraine, prices dipped but have risen again in recent weeks.
And it's been more difficult to find a lorry driver. The shortage has been blamed on a combination of factors, including the pandemic, Brexit and tax changes.
Wages have soared as a result, with annual salaries offered by some haulage firms reaching £80,000.
"The reality is that when you have a shortage, people can name their prices," Mr Mottershead says.
In UK processing plants, most chickens are now killed using gas - usually carbon dioxide, a by-product from the fertiliser production process.
Gas prices were already going up last year, forcing big fertiliser factories in the UK to suspend production.
Although the UK produces about half of its own fertiliser, costs have been driven up more because of conflict further afield.
Russia is a huge producer of the key ingredients needed for fertiliser, like ammonia, so fears over supplies have a knock-on effect on CO2 prices.
2 Sisters, one of the UK's biggest chicken suppliers, told the BBC it had seen the cost of CO2 nearly quadruple.
After the chickens are killed, they are defeathered, cleaned and packaged by agricultural workers. 2 Sisters says the cost of card packaging has also gone up by 20% in recent months.
Producers are spending more on labour in the plants due to an increase in the National Minimum Wage as well. Others are offering higher salaries to attract workers amid ongoing labour shortages.
Eventually, the packaged chicken will be sold to clients like butchers, corner-shop chains, manufacturers or supermarkets.
But Ronald Kers, the boss 2 Sisters, has said input costs before this point have rocketed.
"Prices from the farm gate have already risen by almost 50% in a year," the company which has 600 farms and 16 factories across the UK, said previously.
It warned the days of lower prices are coming to an end.
Mr Mottershead points out that although some poultry producers are struggling, supermarkets are hesitant to pass on costs to their customers as the cost of living increases.
"We're doing all we can to produce quality chicken and egg products, but there's a huge amount of farmers who won't be able to restock their sheds because that cost is too great," he says.
Russia's war in Ukraine has made existing shortages "even worse", he suggests.
For poorer families and countries, "the realities of this don't bear thinking about". | /news/business-61466479 |
entertainment | New Year Honours 2023: Grayson Perry and Brian May lead cultural roll call | Artist Grayson Perry and Queen guitarist Brian May have been knighted, leading the cultural names who have been included in the New Year Honours.
Stephen Graham and David Harewood are among the actors to be honoured, both being appointed OBEs.
Pioneering 1960s fashion designer Mary Quant, already a dame, is elevated to a Companion of Honour.
V presenter Anne Diamond, comedian Frank Skinner and Countdown's Rachel Riley are also on the list.
Brian May becomes Sir Brian months after his band helped launch the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace.
He is rewarded for services to music and to charity, after more than 50 years in one of Britain's most popular rock bands.
Grayson Perry - and his alter-ego Claire - shot to fame when he won the Turner Prize in 2003, and he is known for his pottery works and tapestries that give his take on British life.
His gong for services to the arts comes after Grayson's Art Club became a hit on Channel 4 during the pandemic, gathering works from members of the public to be included in exhibitions around the UK.
Another acclaimed artist, John Akomfrah, known for video installations dealing with post-colonialism and migration, also becomes a knight; as does former BBC Two controller and current British Library chief executive Roly Keating.
Dame Mary Quant, who is widely credited with popularising the mini skirt, joins the exclusive Order of the Companions of Honour. It is reserved for people who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine or government, and has only 65 members at any one time.
re are CBEs for Oscar-nominated film and TV composer George Fenton, whose soundtracks range from Gandhi to Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth; and theatre producer Sonia Friedman, who has staged shows including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Jerusalem.
Stephen Graham, known for TV dramas like Help, Time and Line of Duty, becomes an OBE for services to drama.
David Harewood gets the same honour for services to drama and charity. He has starred in Homeland, Supergirl and such documentaries as Will Britain Ever Have A Black Prime Minister? and My Psychosis And Me.
Well-loved broadcaster Anne Diamond is also made an OBE for services to public health and charity. She has campaigned to reduce cot deaths since the death of her own young son in 1991.
Jazz saxophonist YolanDa Brown, who is appointed OBE, has presented TV shows like YolanDa's Band Jam on CBeebies, and held senior positions behind the scenes in the music industry and music education.
And comic illustrator David Sutherland, who drew characters like Dennis the Menace and the Bash Street Kids for The Beano, is also appointed OBE.
Meanwhile, MBEs go to Cleo Sylvestre, the first black actor to have a leading role at London's National Theatre; veteran comic and presenter Frank Skinner; and Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon.
Countdown co-host Rachel Riley is appointed MBE for services to Holocaust education. She is also known for speaking out about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and this year won two libel cases arising from that furore.
Investigative journalist Catherine Belton receives the same honour. Her 2020 book Putin's People attracted five lawsuits brought by Russian oligarchs and firms.
Singer Janet Kay, known for the 1979 Lovers' Rock hit Silly Games, is also appointed MBE; along with playwright Rachel De-Lahay.
Producer and radio presenter DJ Spoony is awarded the British Empire Medal for services to charities through music during Covid-19. | /news/entertainment-arts-64039096 |
business | Cost of living: Students struggling with impact of soaring prices | Students are facing financial and mental health concerns as soaring prices take a toll on their wellbeing, a survey has suggested.
More than eight in 10 of those asked said they worried about making ends meet, with the average maintenance loan falling short of living costs.
urvey, run by the website Save The Student, suggested four in five had considered the prospect of dropping out of university.
Half of those blamed money worries.
"This is the most worried I've ever been about the financial situation students are facing," said Save The Student's Jake Butler.
"In a decade of running the National Student Money Survey, this year's findings are bleak - and we expect much worse is yet to come."
Rent is by far the largest outgoing for students, followed by groceries. Living costs have seen a 14% increase since last year's survey, according to the responses, with the average student now spending £924 per month.
gher than the official inflation rate of 9.9%, which tracks how the cost of living changes over time. Save The Student suggested that a typical maintenance loan in England fell £439 short of covering these costs every month.
Many relied on parents or part-time jobs, or savings to make up the shortfall, but one in 10 students in the survey has used a food bank in the last academic year, the survey suggested.
Of those who were worried about making ends meet, some 59% said their mental health had suffered, and 64% said their social life had taken a hit.
One student, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC that finding accommodation covered by the maintenance loan was impossible.
"Over the summer between A-levels and university, I managed to save £2,000 to go towards my rent, but after rent I had none left to pay for food, going out, train tickets to visit home and so on," she said.
"Not being able to afford to do anything had a massive impact on my mental health as it was very isolating. I wasn't able to go out for a quick coffee with friends or go on all the nights out, so I feel as if I missed out of opportunities to make friends quite a lot.
"I couldn't try out for sports teams or societies as even they have fees."
She suggested students finding it difficult financially should research part-time job opportunities, talk to their families, and ask about bursaries and support payments.
Recent research by BBC News found that the number of students asking for emergency cash nearly tripled between 2018-19 and 2020-21 at 95 UK universities.
Responses also suggest the amount of hardship funding given out nearly doubled last year.
Save The Student surveyed 2,370 university students in the UK between May and August.
Since then, the government has introduced further support to help people with energy bills. Students should benefit from the cap on gas and electricity bills, with ministers saying that landlords should pass on any discounts.
"We welcome the news that energy bills will be capped for two years, but the new rate is still nearly double what households were paying last year. Students are getting the same rate and support as millionaires, despite being among the groups that will continue to struggle," Mr Butler said.
National Union of Students' vice president of higher education, Chloe Fields, said that the survey results were "shocking, but sadly not surprising".
Despite recent support measures, she called for further assistance for those studying: "We need an emergency student support package for every single person studying and we need it now."
A Department for Education spokeswoman said the government understood the pressures being faced.
"To support students with living costs, we have increased maintenance loans every year, meaning disadvantaged students now have access to the highest ever amounts in cash terms," she said.
"Students who are worried about making ends meet should speak to their university about the support they can access. This year universities can boost their hardship funds by drawing on up to £261m we have made available through the Office for Students." | /news/business-62972580 |
sports | Mia Palles-Clark: Rider fulfils 'lifetime goal' with GB call for Veteran European Championships | Mia Palles-Clark is set to fulfil a "lifetime goal" after being picked to represent Great Britain at the Veteran European Showjumping Championships.
49-year-old will be part of a five-member squad in Darmstadt-Kranichstein, Germany, next month.
She will ride Hamantha Fortuna, known as 'Maus', at the Championships, for which over 45s are eligible.
"Many years ago I did ride for England a couple of times - but this is incredible," she said.
"I got an email on Friday and I was at a competition. I'd just competed, she'd gone brilliantly, I picked up my phone to have a look, as you do, saw an email and my jaw fell open.
"I grabbed the nearest friend, showed her and said, 'You can't tell anyone because it's confidential still,' but how exciting is this."
Palles-Clark is a professional showjumping coach, who has worked with the British Army, and is based at Kentford on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border.
"Showjumping is my life - I was brought up into it. I'm a coach, a team manager for ponies, and a very passionate competitor too," she told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
"To have that GB flag on your jacket, it really does mean a lot."
Mischa Irving, James Loffet, Faye Riddington-Smith and Michaele Tomlinson make up the rest of the GB team.
Championships, from 8-11 September, involve team and individual competitions, both won by France in 2021 - but getting there will not be straightforward in the post-Brexit world.
"I work very hard to do what I do and it costs a lot of money, but it's good for the soul - it's an obsession, it's in your blood," Palles-Clark added.
"I'll have to move heaven and earth to get to Germany but of course I'm going to do that.
"It's now hugely complicated, way more than it ever was - you even have to pay tax going into and out of France on the value of your animal." | /sport/equestrian/62663019 |
sports | James Harrison: Warrington Wolves prop signs three-year extension | Prop James Harrison has signed a three-year contract extension with Warrington Wolves until the end of the 2025 Super League season.
26-year-old missed a chunk of the 2022 campaign following his move from Featherstone because of a serious knee injury, yet still played 12 games.
Harrison, the son of ex-Great Britain prop Karl, has 36 tries in 124 matches, including for Leeds, Batley and Oxford.
"Everything's perfect for me here and I'm really enjoying it," Harrison said.
"Daryl [Powell, head coach] was a big reason for extending my contract. He trusts me, likes the way I play and gets the best out of me."
Powell added on the club website:external-link "When we signed James I was 100% certain he would be a consistent Super League player.
"After his injury that became a bit tougher for him. However, his efforts for us last year showed how good he is going to be in the future and is why I feel this deal is a great one for the club." | /sport/rugby-league/63879266 |
business | Aberdeen's Bon Accord shopping centre owners go into administration | wners of Aberdeen's Bon Accord shopping centre have gone into administration.
Guernsey-based Aberdeen Retail 1 Ltd and Aberdeen Retail 2 Ltd are said to have suffered "unsustainable" cash flow problems due to the Covid pandemic, rising costs and "intense" competition.
A buyer is now being sought.
Administrators Azets said the city centre shopping venue would continue to operate as normal in the meantime until any sale.
Bon Accord centre was built in 1990 and merged with the adjacent St Nicholas centre in 2020.
It has branches of major stores including Next, Boots and Waterstones.
Azets restructuring partner James Fennessey said the sale offered a "very strong brand name and awareness".
"We are keen to try and find a buyer promptly," he said.
At Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, policy director Ryan Crighton described it as "clearly a concerning development".
"However, there is precedent with other centres in the UK trading through administration for extended periods, which offers hope," he said.
"The Bon Accord Centre has been at the heart of Aberdeen's retail offering for over 30 years - and that must continue. However, if people want a vibrant city centre, this should serve as a clear 'use it or lose it' warning."
Andrew Turnbull is a senior lecturer in retail marketing at the Robert Gordon University (RGU) Aberdeen Business School.
Mr Turnbull said: "Aberdeen has to cope with people leaving the city to go to elsewhere, to have weekends away to have big shops away, whether it's Edinburgh or Glasgow, or even further afield.
"Individuals are not coming into the city since the start of working from home and hybrid working. People are doing their shopping locally rather than spending money getting in the car, cost of fuel is also an influence, and they are shopping in the suburbs, in the commuter areas.
"As far as Bon Accord is concerned, the competition from out of town centres, but more specifically in the city from Union Square shopping centre, will be major factors in the shopping centre's performance." | /news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-62719112 |
business | Government borrowing costs rise after PM's U-turn | Government borrowing costs rose on Friday afternoon after the prime minister announced another U-turn on the mini-budget.
und, which initially held firm earlier on Friday, also lost ground.
moves came as Liz Truss sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and said a rise in corporation tax would now go ahead.
However, some economists warned that the latest developments might not be enough to restore the UK's credibility.
"It's unlikely that the removal of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and the new plans to cancel the cancellation of the rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% from next April will be enough on their own to regain the full confidence of the financial markets," said Paul Dales, Chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
He also pointed out that despite another U-turn on the 45p tax cut, there are still unfunded tax cuts of about £25bn left over from the mini-budget - down from £45bn originally.
f government borrowing rose across a range of bonds traded on the financial markets following the announcement.
rest rate - or yield - on bonds due to be repaid in 30 years' time climbed to 4.85%.
5.17% on 28 September in the aftermath of the mini-budget when Mr Kwarteng set out one of the biggest tax cuts packages seen in decades but did not explain how they would be funded.
Meanwhile, the yield on bonds due to be repaid in five years' time, which underpins the cost of new five-year fixed rate mortgages, jumped to 4.35%.
und - which had jumped on Thursday as speculation mounted about a possible U-turn - also sank by more than 1% to just under $1.12 on Friday before clawing back some losses.
Prime Minister Liz Truss admitted the government's mini-budget had gone "faster and further" than many expected.
"We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline," she said.
government also announced that Jeremy Hunt, the former foreign and health secretary, will succeed Mr Kwarteng. He will be the UK's fourth chancellor so far this year and will face big challenges with prices soaring and hikes in interest rates.
Speaking to the BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam, leading economist Mohamed El-Arian said that the events seen in the UK over the last few weeks in particular were "unthinkable".
"There are already scars. If you had to refinance your mortgage, if you're looking to buy a house - you've been hit," he said of the recent market turmoil.
He said Mr Hunt "needs more measures, he needs to cover more of the unfunded tax cuts that were introduced… most of the damage is recoverable but it needs action and time".
Investec economist Ellie Henderson described markets as "dizzy" over the series of policy reversals and changes.
"Markets seem unconvinced that today's announcement was enough to fully restore confidence in the UK government," she said.
government had already U-turned on its plan to scrap the top rate of income tax for people earning £150,000 a year or more. Reducing the tax rate for top earners would have cost £2bn.
Moving ahead with the increase in corporation tax should add an estimated £18bn a year in tax revenue to the government's coffers.
rime minister added that "spending will grow less rapidly than previously planned".
reasury also confirmed that the incoming chancellor would still deliver the government's "economic plan" on 31 October, which will set out how the remaining tax cuts will be funded, and how debts will be reduced.
On Friday, an emergency bond-buying scheme set up by the Bank of England to restore calm in the financial markets following the previous mini-budget will also come to an end.
government raises money it needs for spending by selling bonds - a form of debt that is paid back plus interest in anywhere between five and 30 years.
Pension funds invest in bonds because they provide a low but usually reliable return over a long period of time.
However, the sharp fall in their value after the mini-budget forced pension funds to sell bonds, threatening to create a "downward spiral" in their prices as more were offloaded, which left some funds close to collapse.
rked an emergency intervention by the Bank of England, which has stepped in to buy £19.3bn worth of government bonds.
re has been strong speculation that the Bank will extend the scheme past the Friday deadline.
But on Tuesday, the Bank's governor Andrew Bailey dashed those hopes, telling pension funds: "You've got three days left now and you've got to sort it out."
Bethany Payne, global bonds fund manager at Janus Henderson, told the BBC it was not clear whether pension funds have done enough to strengthen their finances.
"The risk is that we don't know how pension funds have used this window of time and whether they have used it effectively by raising cash and doing everything they need to," she said.
"So the true test of the market will be this afternoon and Monday morning to see whether they have done enough." | /news/business-63243918 |
technology | Vodafone and Three in merger talks | Vodafone is in talks with Three about merging their UK businesses.
It would mean the third and fourth largest mobile phone networks respectively combining to create a business with 27 million customers, larger than current leaders BT, EE and Virgin Media O2.
mpanies say it would accelerate the rollout of 5G and rural broadband.
Any deal would be scrutinised by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Reports suggest the two companies are hopeful of striking a deal by the end of the year.
Vodafone said it would own 51% and Hutchison - which operates Three - 49% under the deal being discussed.
Regulators have previously opposed mergers that would reduce the number of networks in the UK.
However, Vodafone has pointed to a recent report from communications regulator Ofcom which might suggest a new approach.
It found that both Vodafone and Three had in recent years delivered returns on investments that were lower than the cost of the capital they used.
But James Robinson, from communication market analysts Assembly, said there would still be hurdles to overcome for the merged firm.
"While the parties might view consolidation as a way to improve returns and unlock shareholder value, we expect the CMA would be eager to protect against the risk of consumer price rises - particularly in light of the current cost-of-living crisis," he said.
He suggested the merged firm may need to provide "legally-binding concessions" to reassure regulators.
Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, told the BBC that the potential tie-up was to be expected.
"The two companies have made no secret of their interest to consolidate," he said.
"The leading motivation to join forces is scale. In telecommunications, the most successful companies tend to be the largest; bulking up would offer many synergies and cost-saving opportunities.
"Under the status quo, it's hard to see either operator growing enough organically to get close to challenging BT and Virgin Media O2 for size in the UK.
Vodafone pairing with Three is just one potential tie-up in the UK.
Other deals involving Virgin Media O2, TalkTalk and Sky have been speculated in recent months.
"By combining our businesses, Vodafone UK and Three UK will gain the necessary scale to be able to accelerate the rollout of full 5G in the UK, and expand broadband connectivity to rural communities and small businesses," Vodafone said in an update to shareholders.
"The conditions to ensure thriving competition in the market need to be nurtured, otherwise the UK is at risk of losing the opportunity to be a 5G leader," it added.
Ofcom said it did not have a fixed position in relation to market consolidation.
"Our view is that potential mergers in telecoms markets need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, rather than on a presumptive view of the appropriate number of competitors," it said in its latest report. | /news/technology-63118990 |
entertainment | ITV boss defends Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield over queue furore | ITV's chief executive has backed Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield after the hosts were accused of jumping the queue for the Queen's lying-in-state.
Dame Carolyn McCall said the pair did nothing wrong and were "of course" safe in their jobs presenting This Morning.
reaction in the press and on social media showed "how misinformation just spreads, and it is really horrible for them", Dame Carolyn said.
"I don't think they're feeling great. I mean, it's hard," she added.
"Imagine yourself in the eye of a storm like this, where you're trying to say you've done nothing wrong, and all the noise around you is saying that you have. It's difficult to handle."
Willoughby and Schofield were criticised after being seen on a live feed that streamed the viewing of the Queen's coffin. Members of the public queued for many hours to get into Westminster Hall.
"They did have accreditation," Dame Carolyn said. "Lots of people say they didn't. They were sent by This Morning to do a piece for 20 September, which ran. They were to interview people inside and outside. They didn't displace anyone in the queue. And actually, they've been very misrepresented."
klash showed how "minority shrillness can become very, very loud and can become picked up and can become a story", she added.
king aim at them included Domino's Pizza, which put out a tweet saying: "Apologies to anyone waiting on their pizza, we've just received an order from Holly and Phil."
Dame Carolyn said ITV spoke to Domino's, which advertises on the broadcaster's channels. "We just said to them, 'What are you doing?'
"They said, 'We think it's really funny, don't you?' We said, 'No.' They didn't think of the impact that would have on how people would pick that up and start memeing it, and that's what happens with these things.
"They did not do anything wrong."
Dame Carolyn was speaking at the Royal Television Society London Convention, in an interview with BBC media editor Amol Rajan.
ga of Holly, Phil and The Queue is a very modern one. As Dame Carolyn McCall implied, there is no science as to why some stories take off on social media and others don't. Usually, it is an unlikely, toxic mix of factors.
Here, public affection for the Queen, images of other celebrities who queued for hours, and Holly and Phil's reputation as cuddly and relatable presenters contrived to see them fall foul of the public mood.
Dame Carolyn was speaking at a Royal Television Society event where there was some concern about the impact of a recession on the media. She was very interesting on a curiosity of modern capitalism: namely, why some companies making no profit (like some streaming services) have huge valuations, while others whose underlying business is reporting solid growth (like ITV) are seeing their share price fall.
Market sentiment, as Britain is finding out this week, is not always rational or predictable.
Dame Carolyn also discussed the November launch of streaming service ITVX, which is aiming to upgrade the "very clunky user experience" of the ITV Hub.
She said ITVX would offer many more programmes, with more than 9,000 hours available for free in an attempt to appeal to younger audiences.
"The issue for Hub was that, with that small amount of content, they wouldn't stay. They'd come in for the whole of Love Island and then they disappear. They wouldn't come back, because there was nothing else for them to watch."
ITV has not yet found Laura Whitmore's replacement as Love Island host, she said. Asked if the company has found a host for the reboot of Big Brother, she replied: "Not announced yet."
Other broadcasting executives speaking at the convention included BBC director general Tim Davie, who said he was not worried by the departures of a number of high-profile presenters for commercial rivals in recent months.
At the weekend, Fortunately podcast hosts Fi Glover and Jane Garvey became the latest names to leave, following the likes of Vanessa Feltz, Simon Mayo, Emily Maitlis and Andrew Marr.
"We didn't look like we had a weak squad in the coverage of the Queen," Mr Davie said. "We have a very broad squad of people. There will be people moving in and out of the BBC. That always has been done to a degree. It's a hyper-competitive market."
He also said having former Downing Street communications director Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC board had helped the broadcaster in its quest for impartiality.
Sir Robbie's presence on the 13-strong board has attracted controversy, with Maitlis recently claiming he was an "active agent of the Conservative Party".
Mr Davie told delegates: "We are absolutely fighting for fair and balanced output with due impartiality.
"We do take board members with all kinds of background and whatever - some of them have baggage."
"But they have views and they are able to share those views, but they don't shape the output. They don't make the editorial calls. We do." | /news/entertainment-arts-63048007 |
health | COPD lung disease sufferers waiting years for diagnosis | People living with severe lung disease in Northern Ireland need faster and more accurate care, a leading charity has said.
One in four patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the UK wait at least five years for a diagnosis, according to a report from Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland.
Up to 42,000 people in NI suffer from COPD, the charity says.
It has called for lung health to become a priority.
"We are hearing shocking stories of people spending years... struggling to breathe, unaware that they have a lung condition which could be managed with the right treatment and support," said Joseph Carter, head of Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland.
"Diagnosis of COPD needs to be faster and more accurate and there needs to be greater awareness of the seriousness of lung conditions and the signs and symptoms to look out for."
rity is campaigning for a new lung health strategy to improve diagnostic rates, increase pulmonary rehabilitation services, and reduce the number of respiratory deaths in Northern Ireland.
COPD is an umbrella term for a group of incurable lung conditions which cause breathing difficulties.
udes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It affects more than one million people in the UK.
Every patient with COPD should get a yearly flu and a regular pneumonia vaccine, according to the charity.
uld also have a personalised plan to help them manage their condition, be offered optimised treatment for any other medical conditions and support to stop smoking if they need it.
Delays in diagnosis of COPD can result in loss of lung function.
report, Delayed Diagnosis and Unequal Care: The reality for people with COPD in the UK in 2022, was published on Tuesday ahead of World COPD Day on Wednesday.
Results are based on a survey of 6,500 people across the UK. The sample size for Northern Ireland was small but the charity said it mirrored the rest of the UK results.
Sharon Stewart from Dungiven has first-hand experience of the condition after her father was diagnosed in 2018.
"My dad, Jimmy worked as a mechanic and car sprayer for many years," she said.
"He was always very outgoing. He played the drums and was a great entertainer. He loved getting out and about."
When he became ill, there was no clear diagnosis but he had to give up work.
Sharon said her father was on inhalers for two years before he was finally hospitalised and diagnosed with COPD in 2018.
"As a family, we felt Jimmy was not getting the proper level of care," she said.
"When his breathing worsened, he was no longer able to go out or walk, he was always exhausted and tired.
"His home life was also affected as it took almost one year for a stairlift to be installed. This meant he stayed most of the time upstairs in his bedroom so that he could access the bathroom."
k a dire toll on him, she said.
"He was not the same person, he couldn't walk any distance because his breathing was so bad."
Jimmy died in September 2021 at the age of 74.
family and community helped raise more than £5,700 for Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland.
"We are aware of all the constraints on our health service, but these gaps in care are making things worse," said Sharon.
More than a third of people surveyed in the report said they were unable to recognise the signs of COPD and around 23% said they were misdiagnosed as their doctor thought they had a chest infection or cough.
Respiratory conditions make up one of the top three killers in Northern Ireland.
Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland said people with lung conditions in the poorest neighbourhoods are three and half times more likely to die than those in the richest areas in Northern Ireland. | /news/uk-northern-ireland-63625674 |
entertainment | Wilko Johnson: Dr Feelgood guitarist dies, aged 75 | Wilko Johnson, whose machine-gun guitar style and manic stage presence was a major influence on punk, has died.
musician found fame with the 1970s pub-rock band Dr Feelgood, and later played with Ian Dury before embarking on a four-decade solo career.
He also starred in two series of Game Of Thrones as the mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne.
rs ago he survived what was initially diagnosed as a terminal case of pancreatic cancer.
musician refused chemotherapy to embark on a farewell tour.
"The decision was quite easy - chemotherapy could do no more than extend my life for a relatively short period and I thought I'd just rather enjoy the health that was left to me," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
However, later tests discovered that the guitarist's pancreatic cancer was in fact a rare and less aggressive neuroendocrine tumour.
He underwent a radical, 11-hour operation that removed his pancreas, spleen and parts of his stomach and intestines, and was declared cancer-free in 2014.
"Now, I'm spending my time gradually coming to terms with the idea that my death is not imminent, that I am going to live on," he said at that year's Q awards.
"If there's a moral to this story, it's that you never know what's going to happen", Wilko Johnson told the audience at the Q Awards in London
musician continued to play live until last month, hosting his final gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on 18 October.
Johnson's death was confirmed to the BBC by his representatives.
In a statement posted on social media, they added: "This is the announcement we never wanted to make, and we do so, on behalf of Wilko's family and the band, with a very heavy heart.
"Wilko Johnson has died. He passed away at home on Monday evening, 21 November 2022.
"Thank you for respecting Wilko's family's privacy at this very sad time, and thank you all for having been such a tremendous support throughout Wilko's incredible life."
Who's Roger Daltrey, who recorded a top three album with Johnson in 2014, said his friend's music would "live on".
"More than anything Wilko wanted to be a poet," he said in a statement. "I was lucky to have known him and have him as a friend. His music lives on but there's no escaping the final curtain this time."
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page tweeted that he was "sad to hear of the passing of Wilko Johnson", recalling how the atmosphere was "electric" when he saw the late guitarist perform in Camden in 2013.
Born in Canvey Island, Essex, Johnson developed a distinctive, finger-picked style that blended percussive stabs and fluid licks, allowing him to play lead and rhythm guitar at the same time.
"It's a bit like riding a bike," he told Radio 4 in 2013. "It's easy to do but difficult to describe".
He perfected the style with Dr Feelgood, where his intense and unhinged stage persona gave the band a menacing energy.
Johnson recorded three studio albums with the band but, fittingly, it was the live record Stupidity that became their only number one.
Steve Howley, of Classic Rock magazine, once said Johnson's confrontational style led directly to punk, calling him "one of the quintessential English guitar heroes."
"Wilko may not be as famous as some other guitarists, but he's right up there," agreed Paul Weller in an interview with Uncut magazine.
"There are a lot of people who'll say the same. I can hear Wilko in lots of places. It's some legacy."
Arguments with Dr Feelgood's lead singer Lee Brilleaux led to Johnson's departure in 1977. He formed a short-lived band called Solid Senders, who released on album on Virgin Records, before Johnson joined Ian Dury's backing group The Blockheads.
After Dury's drug problems prompted the dissolution of that group, the guitarist set out on a solo career, with albums including Ice On The Motorway, Call It What You Want and Barbed Wire Blues - which introduced his regular backing group The Wilko Johnson Band.
ured relentlessly, receiving a fresh wave of interest in the 21st Century thanks to Julien Temple's Oil City Confidential, a Dr Feelgood documentary that presented Johnson as a loveable, loopy, quintessentially British guitar god.
On the back of the film's success, two volumes of The Best of Wilko Johnson were released in 2010, and the musician started writing his autobiography, Looking Back on Me, where he detailed his love of astronomy - going so far as to build his own observatory in Southend.
"I really would like to go into the galaxies, to be in the intergalactic void," he wrote.
After recovering from cancer, he continued to play and record, supporting Status Quo on their 2014 tour and releasing his last album, Blow Your Mind in 2018.
News of his death was greeted with sadness on Twitter, with musicians including Blur's Graham Coxon, Blondie's Clem Burke and The Charlatans' Tim Burgess paying tribute.
"Very sad to hear Wilko Johnson has died," wrote Alex Kapranos of the indie band Franz Ferdinand.
"His unique, wired playing and stage presence thrilled and inspired many guitarists, myself included. His presence will be felt for many more years."
Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. | /news/entertainment-arts-63728503 |
sports | Mixed feelings on a 'breakthrough' year - Armagh star Rian O'Neill on The GAA Social | Rian O'Neill won't soon forget his journey through the 2022 inter-county season with Armagh.
As he geared up for his fourth year in the senior set-up, he received a pleasant surprise: being asked by boss Kieran McGeeney to co-captain the team alongside Aidan Nugent.
O'Neill was well aware of the significance, but any suspicions that the heightened responsibility would weigh heavily on his broad shoulders were emphatically dispelled by his virtuoso display in the Division One opener win over Dublin.
Gracing Croke Park's hallowed turf for the first time, O'Neill scored 1-4 from full-forward as Armagh marked their top-flight return after a 10-year absence with a verve and swagger that forced many onlookers to sit up and take notice.
For O'Neill it set the tone for the next five months, and while he was ultimately forced to grapple with crushing disappointment, the Crossmaglen Rangers ace feels that 2022 was the year in which he really made his mark on the inter-county scene.
"It felt to an extent that it was," O'Neill told The GAA Social when asked by Thomas Niblock if he considers 2022 his breakout season.
"At the start of the year, Geezer came to me and Nugent and asked us to be captains of the team. When Geezer asks you to be captain of Armagh, it's something you really have to give your all to.
"He'd obviously seen something in me. I wouldn't be the biggest of talkers but I prefer to do my talking on the field and prefer to lead that way."
Unfortunately for O'Neill, the momentum and confidence built from an eye-catching Division One campaign would be shattered in the Ulster Championship cauldron when he was held scoreless in Armagh's 1-16 to 0-12 defeat by Donegal in Ballybofey.
"I felt fit all the way through the year - I was playing well but against Donegal I had an absolute nightmare, nothing went over for me," added O'Neill, who has returned from a summer in America to aid Crossmaglen's quest for a first Armagh SFC title since 2019.
"I couldn't get on the ball, couldn't do anything, but against Tyrone and Donegal [in the All-Ireland qualifiers] again I started to kick on. [The All-Ireland quarter-final against] Galway, I had a good first half but was poor after that.
"But it did feel like a bit of a breakthrough year for me. I was playing well in previous years, but this year I felt near on top of my game and that if I played well I'd be hard stopped."
Being asked to lead his county, lighting up Croke Park, an All-Star nomination; O'Neill has a lot to savour when reflecting on 2022.
However, he maintains that any post-mortem on the inter-county campaign is tinged with regret given the manner of Armagh's All-Ireland exit, losing to Galway in a penalty shootout at the end of one of the most riveting championship games in recent memory.
In an incident-packed encounter that included the mass brawl which resulted in a six-month suspension for O'Neill's team-mate Tiernan Kelly for eye-gouging, O'Neill scored 0-4 and was the only Orchard player to score in the shootout.
His most memorable contribution, though, came in the dying embers of regulation time, nailing a 50m free to force extra-time after Armagh had roared their way back from a six-point deficit with two injury-time goals.
In extra-time, Jemar Hall's score looked to have sealed a semi-final spot for Armagh before Cillian McDaid landed a beauty to set up the shootout.
"You look back at Galway with regrets coming from that game, the way we lost the penalty shootout," admits O'Neill.
"We didn't really perform in the second half. We had it won in extra-time, lost it again, got back into it.
"There are regrets but we feel we've progressed through the year. We let ourselves down in the first game against Donegal but we came back against Tyrone and Donegal (in the qualifiers) and made a bit of a statement.
"We were hoping to push on against Galway and get to that semi-final where we felt we'd have a chance coming up against Derry or Clare, it turned out to be Derry.
"Then you see how close Galway ran Kerry in the final and it just enters your head 'what if' we did get over the Galway game and the circumstances we did lose, it's a bitter pill to swallow but we've got to put that to the back of the head and go again next year." | /sport/gaelic-games/62966290 |
business | Retail sales rise but stores could face difficult Christmas | Retailers could face a tough Christmas this year as the soaring cost of living hits households, analysts have warned.
Retail sales rose 0.6% in October, latest figures show, but this followed a drop in sales the previous month when shops closed for the Queen's funeral.
Despite October's rebound, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales remain below pre-pandemic levels.
Analysts said October's rise could be a "false dawn" and the key Christmas trading period could be "difficult".
UK's inflation rate, which measures how quickly prices are rising, hit 11.1% in October - the highest for 41 years - and the government has said the country is in an economic recession.
ONS figures said sales volumes rose by 0.6% in October following a 1.5% drop in September.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics for the ONS, said the October rebound in sales was mainly due to September's sales being affected by the extra bank holiday for the state funeral.
"Looking at the broader picture, retail sales continue their downward trend seen since summer 2021 and are below where they were pre-pandemic," he added.
ONS said sales volumes in the August to October period fell by 2.4% when compared with the previous three months.
Gabriella Dickens, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the rise in sales in October would "prove a false dawn".
Lynda Petherick, head of retail at Accenture in the UK & Ireland, said: "Despite Black Friday coming up next week, it's unlikely that retailers will be in celebration mode as we head into the festive season this year.
"Rising inflation and the fall in real wages will only be adding to the sense of unease over whether this will be a 'golden quarter' after all.
"With further price rises expected, businesses may feel like they are already doing all they can in what is likely to be a difficult Christmas trading period."
Petrol and diesel sales rebounded in October and non-food stores sales increased, the ONS said though both remain well below the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020.
However, the rebound was not seen by food stores, which saw sales drop.
Non-store shops, which are mostly online retailers, saw sales increase by 1.8% after a fall in September. Unlike traditional High Street businesses, online sales remain around fifth higher than pre-pandemic levels.
ONS also said sales were boosted last month because of "strong growth" in second-hand goods stores, "particularly auctioning houses".
UK faces its biggest drop in living standards on record with wage rises struggling to keep up with inflation, and higher prices have led households to tighten their belts when it comes to spending.
It means so-called "big ticket" purchases for goods such as washing machines and sofas have been avoided in recent months.
Marks and Spencer has warned of a "gathering storm" of higher costs for retailers and pressure on household budgets.
High Street giant has said trading will become "more challenging" and said "all parts" of retail will be affected by the UK's current economic climate, adding unviable firms would go bust.
Online furniture retailer Made.com collapsed into administration last week, resulting in 500 job losses, while clothing group Joules has also collapsed into administration, putting 1,600 jobs at risk. | /news/business-63666760 |
business | Cancelled flights: Traveller stuck abroad without medication | A man has been left stranded in Amsterdam without lifesaving medication for three days after flights were cancelled across Europe.
Russ Montlake-Mees, 63, had been due to fly home on 4 June but said he was "thrown under the bus" by EasyJet which cancelled two flights at short notice.
usands of travellers are thought to be stuck abroad after flight cancellations over the Jubilee weekend.
EasyJet said it was "sorry that these passengers' flights were cancelled".
Mr Montlake-Mees, who is diabetic and takes medication related to a triple heart-bypass, travelled to Amsterdam on 31 May.
He said he only took enough medication and insulin to last the length of his five-day trip.
"I was not expecting any problems like this at all."
After paying for a hotel, Mr Montlake-Mees booked a flight for Monday only for it to be cancelled as he made his way to the airport.
He said: "We've found ourselves thrown under the bus by EasyJet.
"They were not contactable because they've been cancelling an awful lot of other flights during the day.
"We ended up going back into Amsterdam itself and booking a hotel at our own expense."
Mr Montlake-Mees estimates he has spent over £1,000 on accommodation, travel and food while stuck in Amsterdam.
EasyJet did pay for one night's accommodation in a hotel that was "like a converted prison", Mr Montlake-Mees said.
Up to two million people were scheduled to fly to and from the UK over the bank holiday weekend.
According to aviation data firm Cirium, 305 flights departing the UK were cancelled out of a total of 10,662 scheduled flights over the Jubilee weekend.
Several airlines cancelled flights, with EasyJet scrapping a further 37 on Monday.
In a statement EasyJet said: "We notified customers directly of their options to rebook or receive a refund, and are providing hotel accommodation and meals when required." | /news/uk-england-london-61721720 |
sports | Six Nations 2022: What is the tournament's greatest match of all time? | The Six Nations has delivered some of the most memorable matches in rugby history, but which was the greatest of them all?
Former British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton and ex-England scrum-half Danny Care debate and discuss that question on the latest episode of Six Nations Greatest.
x matches they came up with are ranked in reverse order below. Take a trip down memory lane, then rank them yourself at the bottom of this page.
What happened: Scotland led 24-14 with seven minutes to go in Cardiff, but a yellow card for replacement hooker Scott Lawson gave Wales hope.
Leigh Halfpenny scored under the posts in the 77th minute and, after Scotland's Phil Godman was sin-binned, Stephen Jones took three points to level things at 24-24 with 15 seconds remaining.
With the clock in red, Shane Williams found his way over to seal victory as the Cardiff crowd exploded with joy.
Warburton: It was my first Six Nations campaign and I just remember Wales being completely outplayed. We were chasing the game.
I remember running back to the halfway line with Johnathan Thomas and I remember the noise was so loud celebrating and we were looking at each other talking, from about a metre away, I could see his mouth moving but could hear nothing. It was just a wall of noise.
You hardly ever win in that dramatic fashion. At international level you get one of those every four or five years.
What happened: England travelled to Cardiff chasing a Grand Slam in the Championship decider. Wales, beaten at home by Ireland in round one, needed a winning margin of at least seven points to take the title.
As England's discipline crumbled, Wales led by six at the break but two second-half tries from wing Alex Cuthbert helped the hosts to a record winning margin of 27 points.
Warburton: We did our anthem and it was out of this world. It was ridiculous. My single greatest moment, without a doubt. Emotionally that game drained us.
People probably think that we had the biggest party of the year but I remember going back to the hotel, most of us sat down, had a bottle of beer and we literally just sat there for about three hours. It was just an enormous weight off our shoulders.
Care: We weren't prepared for what was to hit us in that caldron, that atmosphere we met. It was all Wales and we couldn't wrestle back any momentum. It was probably one of the harshest lessons I've learnt.
What happened: Wales went to Paris seeking a Grand Slam and, after a fast-scoring start for both sides, Josh Adams' try edged the visitors ahead. Victory seemed secure when they led by 10 points with three minutes remaining.
France lost Paul Willemse to a red card, before two Welsh players were sin-binned and with the man advantage, Charles Ollivon made it across the try-line in the 77th minute. With the clock in red, Brice Dulin crossed to break Welsh hearts.
Warburton: That was agonising because it would have been Alun Wyn Jones' second Grand Slam as captain. It just shows how tough the Six Nations is… to win away from home and to win a Championship. Wales did everything they had to do for 79 minutes and 50 seconds but they lost in the end.
What happened: Ireland travelled to Wales seeking their first Grand Slam in 61 years. Wales led 6-0 at the break thanks to two Stephen Jones penalties, but Brian O'Driscoll's pick-and-go try and an incredible take by Tommy Bowe down the right wing put Ireland ahead.
wo more penalties from Jones brought Wales to within two points and his 76th-minute drop-goal seemed to seal victory. But Ronan O'Gara scored a drop-goal of his own with two minutes remaining to make Irish rugby history.
Warburton: It was such a dramatic away win for Ireland that went right to the wire. For the two seconds it takes to score a drop-goal, the whole stadium holds their breath. Maybe not the most entertaining game from minute one to 80 but the significance it has for Ireland puts it in our top six.
What happened: England travelled to Dublin hoping for a first Grand Slam since 1995, having lost on the final weekend in several recent attempts. Ireland were looking to secure a first clean sweep since 1948.
floodgates opened in the second half as Mike Tindall crossed, Will Greenwood made it over twice and Dan Luger scored. Jonny Wilkinson added 15 points from the boot - including two drop-goals - to complete a comprehensive win.
Warburton: England just did a demolition job and I remember watching it thinking that's what cut-throat, ruthless, world-class dominating teams do. Away at Ireland is one of the hardest away games you can have. To go there and deliver with such dominance sent a message to the rest of the world.
Care: It was such a unique game in that both teams were going for the Slam [on the final day]. It was all to play for.
What happened: A heavy defeat for Scotland seemed certain when England raced into a 31-point lead after half an hour. A second-half blitz by Scotland made it 31-31 and Sam Johnson looked to have sealed victory when he scored in the 76th minute. But George Ford crossed at the death to complete a remarkable draw.
Care: This for me was a crazy Six Nations game. For entertainment value, this is a 10 out of 10. Those moments when you need an ice-cool player - George Ford was the man. I don't think we'll see a game like that again.
Can't see this selector? Visit this page. All images via Getty Images. | /sport/rugby-union/60296560 |
technology | ChatGPT: New AI chatbot has everyone talking to it | A new chatbot has passed one million users in less than a week, the project behind it says.
ChatGPT was publicly released on Wednesday by OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research firm whose founders included Elon Musk.
But the company warns it can produce problematic answers and exhibit biased behaviour.
Open AI says it's "eager to collect user feedback to aid our ongoing work to improve this system".
ChatGPT is the latest in a series of AIs which the firm refers to as GPTs, an acronym which stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer.
m, an early version was fine-tuned through conversations with human trainers.
m also learned from access to Twitter data according to a tweet from Elon Musk who is no longer part of OpenAI's board. The Twitter boss wrote that he had paused access "for now".
results have impressed many who've tried out the chatbot. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman revealed the level of interest in the artificial conversationalist in a tweet.
roject says the chat format allows the AI to answer "follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises and reject inappropriate requests"
A journalist for technology news site Mashable who tried out ChatGPT reported it is hard to provoke the model into saying offensive things.
Mike Pearl wrote that in his own tests "its taboo avoidance system is pretty comprehensive".
However, OpenAI warns that "ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers".
raining the model to be more cautious, says the firm, causes it to decline to answer questions that it can answer correctly.
Briefly questioned by the BBC for this article, ChatGPT revealed itself to be a cautious interviewee capable of expressing itself clearly and accurately in English.
Did it think AI would take the jobs of human writers? No - it argued that "AI systems like myself can help writers by providing suggestions and ideas, but ultimately it is up to the human writer to create the final product".
Asked what would be the social impact of AI systems such as itself, it said this was "hard to predict".
Had it been trained on Twitter data? It said it did not know.
Only when the BBC asked a question about HAL, the malevolent fictional AI from the film 2001, did it seem troubled.
Although that was most likely just a random error - unsurprising perhaps, given the volume of interest.
Other firms which opened conversational AIs to general use, found they could be persuaded to say offensive or disparaging things.
Many are trained on vast databases of text scraped from the internet, and consequently they learn from the worst as well as the best of human expression.
Meta's BlenderBot3 was highly critical of Mark Zuckerberg in a conversation with a BBC journalist.
In 2016, Microsoft apologised after an experimental AI Twitter bot called "Tay" said offensive things on the platform.
And others have found that sometimes success in creating a convincing computer conversationalist brings unexpected problems.
Google's Lamda was so plausible that a now-former employee concluded it was sentient, and deserving of the rights due to a thinking, feeling, being, including the right not to be used in experiments against its will.
ChatGPT's ability to answer questions caused some users to wonder if it might replace Google.
Others asked if journalists' jobs were at risk. Emily Bell of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism worried that readers might be deluged with "bilge".
One question-and-answer site has already had to curb a flood of AI-generated answers.
Others invited ChatGPT to speculate on AI's impact on the media.
General purpose AI systems, like ChatGPT and others, raise a number of ethical and societal risks, according to Carly Kind of the Ada Lovelace Institute.
Among the potential problems of concern to Ms Kind are that AI might perpetuate disinformation, or "disrupt existing institutions and services - ChatGDT might be able to write a passable job application, school essay or grant application, for example".
re are also, she said, questions around copyright infringement "and there are also privacy concerns, given that these systems often incorporate data that is unethically collected from internet users".
However, she said they may also deliver "interesting and as-yet-unknown societal benefits".
ChatGPT learns from human interactions, and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman tweeted that those working in the field also have much to learn.
AI has a "long way to go, and big ideas yet to discover. We will stumble along the way, and learn a lot from contact with reality.
"It will sometimes be messy. We will sometimes make really bad decisions, we will sometimes have moments of transcendent progress and value," he wrote. | /news/technology-63861322 |
health | Do restrictions on travel work against Covid? | UK government has confirmed passengers arriving in England from China will have to provide a negative Covid test before they board a flight.
Several countries - including the US, Japan, Italy and Malaysia - are now enforcing testing on visitors from China following the effective ending of Beijing's zero-Covid policy,
But do such restrictions work?
Australia imposed some of the strictest travel restrictions. From 2020, it closed its borders to non-residents and banned Australians from travelling abroad (with a few exceptions).
Countries such as the UK were more lenient. They required international arrivals to use quarantine hotels and take Covid tests.
After the pandemic began in 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated it didn't generally support travel bans, as they were "usually not effective".
It said: "Travel measures that significantly interfere with international traffic may only be justified at the beginning of an outbreak, as they may allow countries to gain time."
After the emergence of the Omicron variant it again warned against blanket travel bans, saying they would not stop the global spread.
"They can adversely impact global health efforts... by dis-incentivising countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data," it said.
WHO's director general said he was "very concerned over the evolving situation in China, with increasing reports of severe disease".
He said that the WHO needed more detailed information to understand the risks created by the situation on the ground in China.
And on Twitter he added: "In the absence of comprehensive information from China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations."
Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group told BBC News: "Trying to ban a virus by adjusting what we do with travel has already been shown not to work very well.
"We've seen that with the bans on travel from various countries during the pandemic, that hasn't stopped those viruses travelling around the world eventually."
word "eventually" is important here, because studies suggest that travel restrictions tend only to delay the spread of the virus spreading in a country, but cannot keep it out completely.
A report in the British Medical Journal found that international border restrictions could delay the spread by two months.
One of its authors, Dr Karen Grepin from Hong Kong University, told Reality Check: "We have learned during the pandemic that universal measures, applying to all travellers not just those from certain countries, are more effective than targeted measures, for example against Chinese travellers.
"The only type of travel restrictions that have been shown to be effective during the pandemic are those that involve lengthy quarantine periods and I don't think there is a lot of appetite for such measures at this point."
Research published in the journal Nature, in December 2020, said restrictions worked well as Covid first began to spread around the world, but became less effective the later they were introduced.
A study by the WZB Berlin Social Science Center in Germany looking at travel restrictions and death rates in more than 180 countries reached similar conclusions and added:
Another scientist advising the UK government, Prof Mark Woolhouse, told Reality Check that restricting arrivals from China to the UK would not do much to limit the number of Covid cases in this country.
"We have far too many Covid-19 cases here in the UK at present for imported cases to make a significant contribution," he said.
It has also been suggested that restrictions would prevent potential new variants of Covid reaching the UK.
However, if there is such a variant, said Prof Woolhouse, travel restrictions would be too late.
"It will almost certainly have got here already," he said,
"Measures could only work if the variant happens to emerge during the period the measures are in place and even then they will only delay, not prevent, the arrival of the variant."
Besides, a new variant is not more likely to come in from China than from anywhere else in the world.
"Though China is clearly experiencing a substantial wave there is no reason to suspect that wave will be a crucible for the emergence of new variants," said Prof Woolhouse.
"The next variant is at least as likely to emerge from somewhere entirely different - there are currently around four million reported cases per week worldwide (and surely far larger numbers are unreported). So why concentrate only on China?"
However, the WHO has said it is concerned that China is not sharing information about its latest Covid surge, possibly including the emergence of any new variants.
"Targeted border measures against China may be more of a political statement in response to lack of information-sharing than a sincere attempt to promote public health," said Catherine Worsnop from the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.
Read more from Reality Check
Send us your questions | /news/59461861 |
sports | European Championships: Olympic stars chase medals in nine sports in Munich | The second edition of the European Championships gets under way in Munich on Thursday, featuring a host of Olympic stars competing in nine sports.
Around 4,700 athletes from 50 nations will compete for 177 gold medals over 11 days of competition.
Among the British stars will be Dina Asher-Smith who missed the Commonwealth Games because of injury.
rinter will seek to retain the three titles she won at the inaugural championships in 2018.
Organisers believe staging the nine championships at the same time and in the same city will help them gain more exposure.
Athletics, cycling, triathlon, artistic gymnastics and rowing all return from the 2018 edition in Berlin and Glasgow.
Beach volleyball, canoe sprinting, sport climbing and table tennis have been added to the programme.
Swimming and diving are hosting their own championships at the same time in Rome, while golf does not return.
Rowing and canoe sprinting both feature para-sport events.
r's championships will once again be shown live on BBC TV with live streams of every sport available on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport mobile app.
re will also be coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and reports on the BBC Sport website and app.
You will also be able to watch live coverage of the European Aquatics Championships in Rome.
Britain topped the athletics medal table with seven golds in Berlin four years ago. The array of defending champions include Asher-Smith (three titles), Matt Hudson-Smith (400m) and Zharnel Hughes (100m).
Jake Wightman, Laura Muir and Keely Hodgkinson, who have all won medals at both the World Championships and Commonwealths, will seek further honours, while Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan will seek to continue her impressive winning run.
Among those not competing are Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Adam Gemili and Holly Bradshaw.
Stars of Birmingham such as gymnasts Jake Jarman and Joe Fraser, who won seven golds between them, are back for more as they change into Great Britain kit just a few days after representing England.
Reigning European floor champion Jessica Gadirova skipped the Commonwealths to focus on the European and World Championships. She, twin sister Jennifer and Commonwealth floor champion Alice Kinsella were all part of the bronze-winning women's team at the Olympics.
Olympic medallists Neah Evans, Josie Knight and Jack Carlin are included in the track cycling squad but Laura Kenny, who won two European golds in 2018, is taking a break after the Commonwealths and Katie Archibald is recovering from injury.
BMX freestyle squad is headed by Olympic medallists Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks, and mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock targets European glory before tackling the World Championships at the end of the month.
Britain's rowers had a disappointing Olympics but will be hoping to repeat their 2021 European success when they topped the medal table with 12 in total, including five golds.
Imogen Grant and Graeme Thomas, two of 57 athletes selected, are in great form after taking singles golds at World Cup III.
Following the retirement of Olympic champion Liam Heath, Britain's sprint canoe squad is short on medal hopes, although it does feature siblings Matthew, Daniel and Melissa Johnson. It's a different story, however, in the para-event: GB won 10 medals at the World Championships earlier this month to top the table for a second successive year, having also won 10 medals at the 2021 edition.
Britain are not sending a full-strength triathlon team but their entries include former world champion Non Stanford, competing in her final season before retirement, and mixed team relay gold medallist Sam Dickinson.
With Shauna Coxsey now retired from sport climbing, Britain's best hopes rest with world bronze medallist Hamish McArthur and Max Milne, who finished second in the World Cup boulder event in Italy in June.
Liam Pitchford, who won his 10th Commonwealth table tennis medal on the final day in Birmingham, and team-mate Tin-Tin Ho are competing but there's no Paul Drinkhall.
re are no British athletes in beach volleyball or road cycling.
Athletics - 15-21 August
Beach volleyball - 15-21 August
Canoe sprint - 18-21 August
Cycling - BMX 11-13, track 11-16, road 14 & 17, mountain bike 19-20 August
Gymnastics - 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21 August
Rowing - 11-14 August
Sport climbing - 11-15 & 17-18 August
- 13-21 August
riathlon - 12-14 August | /sport/62496584 |
sports | Tokyo Olympics: First gold of Games goes to China's Yang Qian in shooting | She had to put her own medal round her neck and sing the national anthem behind a mask, but Chinese shooter Yang Qian still celebrated winning the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics.
morning after the delayed Games had opened with a scaled-back and sombre ceremony, Yang won the 10-metre rifle competition in front of empty stands.
She was handed her medal on a tray by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach in accordance with the Covid-19 protocols that will affect every aspect of these Games.
Rock music had been piped into the venue and only a handful of Chinese support staff were there to congratulate her on her victory after a nail-biting final in which she clinched victory with an Olympic record over Russian Anastasiia Galashina in the last round, but she savoured the moment.
"I'm extremely proud and happy to win," said Yang, 21. | /sport/olympics/57952436 |
politics | 'If I buy a bus ticket I can't eat for two days' - asylum seeker Aymen | Aymen Alkhawlani wakes each morning and asks himself the same question: Do I buy a bus ticket and go hungry, or eat and be alone?
Such dilemmas are familiar to people in the UK asylum system.
With most barred from working, they rely on UK government support. Typically this is £40.85 a week, or £5.84 a day. Others in hotels are given £8.24 a week, or £1.18 a day.
Aymen is one of several people in the asylum system who have spoken to BBC Scotland about the crisis they face as the cost of living soars at the fastest rate in 40 years. The self-titled "new Scots" want to be allowed to work while awaiting decisions on their applications.
Home Office says its payments are to cover essential needs for people "who would otherwise be destitute".
But recipients say they are often unable to afford transport, good quality clothing, food, internet access and medicine.
Aymen is from Yemen and arrived in the UK in April 2021. He was placed in a hotel in Falkirk for a year before getting Home Office accommodation in Airdrie in October.
He said he feels alone and cannot afford to buy return train or bus tickets for the 30-minute trip to Glasgow where he meets up with other people in the asylum system.
He explained: "The only way to meet people is to go to Glasgow. And I need to spend a lot, at least £10, to go to Glasgow and back.
"If I decide to go to Glasgow, I won't be able to eat for two days."
re are approximately 5,200 people in the asylum support system in Scotland with about 4,700 accommodated and/or financially supported by the Home Office. They can apply for £40.85 per week from the UK government.
Some can request permission to work if they have been waiting for more than a year for a response on their claim, but most of those granted permission are only allowed to work in jobs on the official shortage occupation list, which was recently expanded to include nursing and care roles.
Aymen says he is only given about £35 a week because he received an extra £40 payment when he was offered housing in England, which he rejected.
He said he will not receive the full weekly allowance until he pays back the £40, which he says he has no way of doing.
31-year-old, who worked as an English teacher in Yemen, said: "I can't even eat three meals a day nowadays because I only receive £35 a week. I have to skip dinner most of the time. Breakfast and lunch is pretty much all I have."
He added: "Because I don't have the money to buy bus tickets, I stay home all the time. So that also adds to my depression."
For those in hotel accommodation, which is provided by private contractors, the level of government support is lower.
In Scotland, between 500 and 600 people in the asylum system live in 10 hotels across eight local authorities.
Since they are provided with "full board", they can only apply for £8.24 in support per week, or £1.18 a day. The Home Office says this should cover clothing, non-prescription medicine and travel.
But Hawre, a Kurdish man in his 30s who asked to remain anonymous, said: "The £8 does literally nothing, especially in this cost of living crisis."
"We can't even go to a barbershop to get a haircut.
"We are at the point where we give each other haircuts, regardless of the quality of what we can do."
He has spent a year in a hotel in Aberdeen, awaiting news on his asylum application.
Having worked as a painter and decorator in Iraq, Hawre says he is frustrated about his inability to earn his own money.
He explained: "Financial gain wasn't something on my mind when I came here. If I didn't have a big issue in Iraq, if it wasn't life-threatening, I wouldn't come here to live under these circumstances living on £1 a day.
"It makes me feel less human, like we're being treated inhumanely."
Herberth, a poet from El Salvador, arrived in Scotland in April having also fled his home country due to fears for his safety.
He applied for financial support in October but has been told he is unlikely to hear back until January.
Herberth lives in Glasgow with his partner, a UK citizen, so does not rely on Home Office housing support. But he says not being able to earn money is damaging his mental health, as well as his finances.
uthor of two poetry books in his homeland, the 35-year-old is studying for a psychology degree which he started in El Salvador but can complete online.
He would like to study for a masters degree in clinical psychology in Scotland, but he is struggling to get access to higher education due to his immigration status.
Herberth has managed to enrol on an advanced English course at City of Glasgow College. "That's a big help," he said. "But of course, I would like to get a job, study here in Scotland, those type of things I'm missing out on and it's affecting my life. I'm 35 years old and I'm in my most productive years and I'm unable to work, so it's a very stressful situation."
Maryhill Integration Network (MIN), an organisation which supports people in the asylum system in the Glasgow area, provides a haven to both Herberth and Aymen.
Pinar Aksu, human rights and advocacy coordinator at MIN, said: "With the cost of living crisis, people seeking asylum are forced to live in extreme poverty having to choose between buying food, clothes, or travelling."
She backed the Lift the Ban coalition, a campaign urging the UK government to give people the right to work after six months in the UK.
MIN has also called on Holyrood to follow the Welsh government by providing free bus passes for people seeking asylum. Aksu said the move would allow people to travel without being "forced to pick between food, travel and essential needs".
Scottish government said it continued to consider plans to provide free bus travel to refugees and people in the asylum system.
Campaign group Refugees for Justice told BBC Scotland that people in the asylum system are especially vulnerable during the cost of living crisis, and called for the UK government to increase weekly payments.
A Home Office spokesperson said the Nationality and Borders Act, which became law in June, "will fix the broken asylum system" by speeding up the application process and "focusing on those genuinely fleeing persecution".
ued: "For asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, we provide accommodation and a weekly allowance for food, clothing, transport and sundries.
"The Home Office ensures all spending is carefully scrutinised to make sure that every pound of taxpayers' money is spent in the most effective way. We review the allowance rates on an annual basis and we have commenced this year's annual review." | /news/uk-scotland-63794296 |
sports | Get Inspired: How to get into curling | Find a curling club or rink near you by visiting the Try Curlingexternal-link website.
All clubs need a chair, secretary and treasurer to help things run smoothly as well as officials, coaches and judges. Whatever role you're interested in, Join Inexternal-link has opportunities to volunteer in your area.
Are you inspired to try curling? Or maybe you are a keen enthusiast already? Get in touch and tell us your experience of the activity by tweeting us on @bbcgetinspired,external-link visiting us on Facebookexternal-link or email us on getinspired@bbc.co.uk. | /sport/get-inspired/23147581 |
technology | After the hype plant-based proteins face leaner times | London's Vegfest this year was notably smaller and more subdued than in previous years, when queues would snake around the venue.
It's still the UK's largest indoor vegan event and this year's was the first one since the Covid-19 pandemic started.
rising price of food was one frequent topic of conversation. Like many parts of the world, grocery price inflation in the UK is very high, at 14.7% as of the end of October 2022.
In response, a back-to-basics movement is underway among UK vegans. They're cooking more pulses and grains, buying in bulk, and relying less on the exotic processed products that have proliferated on supermarket shelves in the past few years.
"The cost-of-living crisis in the UK has a big impact on food purchasing decisions," explains Louisianna Waring, the senior insight and policy officer for the Vegan Society.
So, if vegans are thinking more carefully about how they spend money, where does this leave companies with innovative plant-based proteins?
For a while in 2019 and 2020 it seemed like every month brought a plant-based meat, dairy or even fish alternative. The newcomers were trying to appeal to vegans and to non-vegans who were looking to cut down on animal protein.
But the evidence suggests that interest in the new foodstuffs has declined. Market research firm IRI has found that sales of plant-based meat products fell sharply in the US earlier this year.
ustry is partly the victim of its own success says Tom Rees, an industry manager at the market research firm Euromonitor.
He argues that as meat alternatives proliferated in the US during the pandemic, many people tried the lower-quality products and had bad experiences.
So while wanting a healthier lifestyle might bring the veg-curious to vegan shelves, taste is often what drives them away, Mr Rees says.
Beyond Meat, was one of the brightest starts of the alternative meat sector. But in its most recent quarter it recorded a loss of almost $15m (£12.4m), and a 23% decline in sales compared with the same period in the previous year.
Beyond Meat's share price collapsed to a low of $11.56 in November 2022, a 95% fall from its record high of almost $240 in July 2019.
It expects further losses, and is aiming to recover by lowering prices.
But although these figures are concerning, we shouldn't place too much emphasis on them, cautions Friederike Grosse-Holz, a plant scientist who is currently a scientific director at Blue Horizon, an investment firm focused on sustainable food.
"Some people might have hyped this [sector] more than made sense from a business perspective," she acknowledges.
But she says what we're seeing now isn't a catastrophic decline for plant-based foods, but what she calls a "return to normal".
"I think it is really coming from a hype to a healthy growth trajectory, rather than a hype to death," she says.
Ms Waring agrees. "In the last few years we have seen some vegan product categories in the UK see double, and even triple-digit, growth," she notes. "This huge boom was always likely to lead to a slight decline in sales where the market stabilises, innovates, and then increases again."
Another reason for caution in interpreting the data is that sales of meat are down as well. A September 2022 survey of UK adults by the consultancy Public First found that 28% were buying less meat in response to the soaring cost of living.
Despite the downturn in meat alternatives in the US, plant-based dairy sales remain high. Yet in this sector as well, consumers are increasingly scrutinising health claims. Many people no longer automatically assume that vegan equals nutritious.
More technology of business:
In one bright spot for alternative proteins, Ms Grosse-Holz believes that they are well positioned for resilience amid ongoing supply chain issues. They often have shorter supply chains than animal agriculture, as they don't need to rely on the animal feed step.
're not completely insulated from world events, of course. For German manufacturers of alternative meats, certain key ingredients remain in short supply following the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Retailers are also feeling the pinch, in the face of high energy prices and inflation. The Vegan Kind, the UK's biggest online supermarket dedicated to plant-based products, announced in November that it was ceasing operations, citing the challenging economic climate.
Overall, however, plant-based producers are heavily pushing to scale up production and drive down costs, in response to consumer demand.
Developing technologies are helping with that. For instance, producers of plant-based chicken have often used pea protein isolate, for its ease in extrusion - essentially, forcing ingredients through a small opening.
But improvements in extrusion technology mean that more companies are now able to use pea flour instead, which results in cost savings. It also translates into a food label that many consumers find more relatable.
"There is a bunch of magic happening on the product formulation side," Ms Grosse-Holz says.
But, as she emphasises, communication remains key: "It doesn't help anyone if you have the greatest technological solution to the problem, if people are not going to buy it." | /news/business-63718772 |
sports | Australia 57-53 England: Roses lose series 3-0 thanks to final-Test defeat | England were beaten 57-53 by Australia in the final match as they lost their series against the Diamonds 3-0.
Roses lost by one goal in the opening match, followed by an eight-point defeat at the weekend.
World number ones Australia dominated the first quarter in Brisbane on Thursday and although the Roses launched a spirited fightback in the second half the hosts held them at bay.
England captain Nat Metcalf said the series was "incredibly competitive".
At the end of the match players from both sides gathered together to celebrate the Roses' return to Australia for the first time since 2018, after their planned 2021 tour was cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Funmi Fadoju, who was moved to goal defence, said it felt daunting to be facing the top-ranked team in the world.
She added: "I'm really happy to go out there and play against Australia. Even though we were beaten, we got some gains from it.
"It was so nerve-wracking - but it's amazing. We played three games and got to learn how they play in those three games. Just amazing." | /sport/netball/63495942 |
health | Frenchay rehab facility unbuilt seven years after NHS pledge | Campaigners who fought to stop the closure of Frenchay hospital said the NHS had not fulfilled its pledge to build a health facility on site.
Plans for a replacement community hospital were dropped in 2013.
It was decided instead to build a rehabilitation unit on site but no visible progress has taken place.
Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it remained "committed to our plans for new rehabilitation facilities on the Frenchay site".
Southmead Hospital is under severe pressure, as many are across the country, and a third of beds are currently blocked by patients fit for discharge.
Campaigners said given the need to relieve pressure, they could not understand why a rehabilitation centre with in-patient beds was such a long way off.
Campaigner Barbara Harris has been pushing for the unit to be built for years.
She said: "All we're left with is a minor injuries unit, and an 800-bed acute hospital that has 300 bed blockers in it."
"Small wonder that ambulances are queuing," she added.
Another campaigner, Daphne Havercroft, said there was a lack of scrutiny by South Gloucestershire Council: " It has not come under Health Scrutiny (Committee) since January 2020."
She added: "If the councillors aren't taking an interest, what message is that sending to local people?"
A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said: "We are committed to working closely with our partners at North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB around the future development of rehabilitation and extra care facilities at Frenchay and improving health and care provision across the whole of South Gloucestershire is a priority for the council."
w ICB that runs services in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire said the facility was also very much in its plans, although no construction date has been given for it.
It would be part of a broader scheme to increase community rehabilitation, allowing more people to leave hospital earlier.
An ICB statement said: "Reducing delayed discharges from hospital remains a high priority for our system and we are continuing to invest in measures to improve discharge processes, reduce length of stay, and ensure that everyone can move on from hospital once they are medically well enough to do so."
Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-bristol-63662164 |
politics | Gwent Police: Senior Tory says 'deep rot' in force | A senior Welsh Tory has told the Home Secretary Suella Braverman he fears there is a deep "rot" in a police force hit by allegations of misogyny, racism and homophobia.
Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies has written to the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, asking her to intervene at Gwent Police.
But the Home Office says it is unable to put the force into special measures as Mr Davies requested.
Gwent Police was asked for comment.
On Tuesday it said it was taking "robust action".
Home Office said it was His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), and not the home secretary, that had powers to put police forces into special measures.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Liberal Democrats called for a "full inquiry" into misconduct in the force and questioned whether the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, should remain in post.
Chief Constable Pam Kelly has said the force is "horrified by the comments and material shared by retired officers and a small number of serving officers".
Mr Davies is the only Welsh politician to have criticised the leadership of the force - the Welsh Conservatives said on Tuesday that he had no confidence in Ms Kelly as chief constable.
He has said the same of Labour's Police and Crime Commissioner Jeff Cuthbert.
Wiltshire Police was asked to investigate after a device owned by a retired officer who took his own life revealed a series of messages that were reportedly misogynistic, racist, homophobic and suggested corruption.
watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said it is assessing material from both Gwent and Wiltshire police forces.
In a letter to the home secretary Mr Davies said: "I know there will be many people across Gwent, especially women, who also lack confidence in the senior leadership to stamp out this culture.
"I am writing to ask you to consider placing the force into special measures. I fear the rot may be so deep that the force needs to be rebuilt in order to give confidence to the public and the majority of decent officers and staff in Gwent Police."
He referred to an interview with Emma - the daughter of the retired officer at the centre of the investigation, Rick Jones - who said she did not trust the police.
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and Senedd member Jane Dodds said: "Trust in the force has clearly been undermined to a point where a full independent inquiry is required.
"The failure to tackle this appalling behaviour on the part of some officers is failing the public and the majority of brave police who put their lives at risk to keep us all safe.
"It has also not yet been made clear whether Labour's Police and Crime Commissioner [PCC], Jeff Cuthbert, was aware of any of these allegations before the story broke in the Times. If not, how was he able to oversee a force with such serious problems without being aware?
"It is difficult to see how he should remain in post."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Police forces must root out officers and staff who do not meet acceptable standards of behaviour to restore the public's trust, which has been shattered by recent high-profile events.
"The Home Office plays an active role in pushing for changes, including by establishing the Angiolini Inquiry which is looking at issues around police culture and the safety of women, as well as announcing a targeted review of police dismissals to ensure the system can remove officers who are not fit to serve.
"HMICFRS are responsible for deciding whether to put a police force into engage, sometimes referred to as special measures, not the Home Office."
Jeff Cuthbert said: "These messages, which date back a number of years, only came to the attention of Gwent Police when they were reported in the Sunday Times.
"This is also the first time I was aware of them. An independent investigation is now underway and if serving police officers are found to be guilty of wrongdoing they will be dealt with appropriately. As Commissioner I have no formal part in this investigation."
He said it was "unhelpful" to criticise Gwent Police for failing to act on something it did not have prior knowledge on, and said Ms Kelly had his full confidence." | /news/uk-wales-politics-63730325 |
business | HSBC to end funding for new oil and gas fields | HSBC has announced it will stop financing new oil and gas fields, as part of its efforts to drive down global greenhouse gas emissions.
Environment groups said the move sends "a strong signal" to fossil fuel giants that investment is waning.
Europe's largest bank said it made the decision after receiving advice from international energy experts.
It comes following previous criticism of HSBC for funding oil and gas projects despite its green pledges.
Jeanne Martin, head of the banking programme at ShareAction, a charity that campaigns for reducing investment for fossil fuels like oil and gas, said: "HSBC's announcement sends a strong signal to fossil fuel giants and governments that banks' appetite for financing new oil and gas fields is diminishing."
rity called on other banks to follow suit - saying this move sets a "a new minimum level of ambition" for the sector.
In 2020, HSBC made a pledge to be "net zero" - which means not adding to greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere - and investing and loaning up to $1 trillion (£806bn) in green projects.
However, the bank came under criticism earlier this year when it was revealed it had invested an estimated $8.7bn (£6.4bn) into new oil and gas in 2021, according to ShareAction.
In the update to its energy policy, the bank said the decision had been made "follow[ing] consultation with leading scientific and international bodies" who had estimated that current oil and gas fields would meet any demand in 2050 under a "net-zero" scenario.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, 197 countries agreed to try to keep temperature rises "well below" 1.5C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Experts say that to achieve this, net zero must be reached by 2050.
HSBC follows Lloyds bank - Britain's biggest domestic bank - which announced a similar decision in October.
Burdon, chief executive at climate finance campaign Make My Money Matter, said: "it's another nail in the coffin for fossil fuel expansion, and a massive signal to other UK banks that the game is up on new oil and gas."
It is not yet clear if this is the beginning of a trend across the sector, but it comes just months after the UK government announced a new round of licensing for oil and gas production in the North Sea.
HSBC has said it will continue to keep its investments already in oil and gas fields as it "recognises that fossil fuels, especially natural gas, have a role to play in the transition, even though that role will continue to diminish". | /news/science-environment-63975173 |
entertainment | Aaron Carter: Singer and brother of Backstreet Boys' Nick dies aged 34 | Singer and rapper Aaron Carter has died at the age of 34.
He was the younger brother of the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter.
Website TMZ said Carter was found dead in his bath at his home in Lancaster, California, on Saturday morning. Representatives of his team confirmed his death, PA reported.
"Right now it's a really bad time, we're trying to figure out what happened and what the cause of it was," they said.
"We're just as upset as everyone and hope that fans can give thoughts and prayers to his family."
MZ also reported Los Angeles County police arrived at the scene at around 11:00 local time (18:00 GMT) after receiving a report of drowning.
Carter started his career opening for the boy band Backstreet Boys on a number of tours and concerts, and also had a successful solo career.
During the late 90s and early noughties he sold millions of copies of his four albums, the first of which was when he was only nine years old.
His second album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It), was released in 2000 and went triple platinum.
It featured the singles I Want Candy, Aaron's Party (Come Get It) and That's How I Beat Shaq. Following the album he again supported the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears' on the Oops!... I Did It Again tour.
As he grew older, Carter transitioned into rap, and also appeared in Broadway musicals and on the US TV show Dancing With The Stars.
He faced a number of struggles, checking in to rehab several times and filing a bankruptcy petition in 2013 over millions of dollars of debt, much of it tax-related.
He also had several run-ins with authorities over drugs possession and reckless driving.
Earlier this year he told the Daily Mail he wanted no longer to be seen as a "train wreck".
"I am not how some people try to paint me," he told the outlet. "If somebody wants to call me a train wreck, well I've been a train that's been wrecked multiple times and derailed by many different things."
Carter's son Prince was born in 2021 and according to The Hollywood Reporter he checked into rehab earlier this year in a bid to gain custody of him.
Following the announcement of Carter's death, Prince's mother Melanie Martin issued a statement saying she was "still in the process of accepting this unfortunate reality".
"Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated," she added.
Fellow '90s popstars New Kids on the Block paid tribute to Carter, saying they were "shocked and saddened" by his death.
Other figures from the world of showbiz who shot to prominence at a similar time to Carter posted their own messages remembering the late singer.
Actress Hilary Duff said Carter had "a charm that was absolutely effervescent", and One Tree Hill star Tyler Hilton said news of his death was "heartbreaking". | /news/entertainment-arts-63527899 |
politics | NI election: No clarity on Stormont plans, say NI politicians | Northern Ireland secretary has given no clarity over what he intends to do about a potential Stormont election, politicians say.
Chris Heaton-Harris has been holding talks with the parties entitled to executive seats to discuss the "next steps" amid the political deadlock.
He has repeatedly said he will call an election, with the deadline for restoring power-sharing having passed.
But on Friday he decided not to set a date for the public to go to the polls.
After last Friday's deadline for reforming a power-sharing executive was missed, an election must be held within 12 weeks.
Sinn Féin wants clarity about a vote, while the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said more talks were "pointless".
Mr Heaton-Harris had a 30-minute meeting with Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill on Tuesday morning.
She said he did not "colour in the lines" and that and the public had been "left in limbo".
Ms O'Neill said the issue of MLA pay, which has continued despite the lack of a functioning executive, was not mentioned.
Speaking after his meeting with Mr Heaton-Harris DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was no nearer to knowing if there would be an assembly election.
"The secretary of state has not told us when he is going to call an election," he said.
"If an election is called we are ready to fight that election," he added.
In a statement issued following the meetings, Mr Heaton-Harris reiterated that he was under a legal obligation to call an election.
He said he listened to the politicians' views on calling that election and said he would provide a further update on the next steps "in due course".
"I am particularly worried that the executive has an enormous black hole in its budget, which potentially has serious implications for the delivery of many of Northern Ireland's public services," Mr Heaton-Harris added.
"Measures to set a budget will be required in the short term."
Devolved government in Northern Ireland has not functioned fully since February.
DUP has blocked the restoration of power-sharing in its protest against the post-Brexit trading arrangement known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Sir Jeffrey urged the government to have "a razor-like focus" on getting a solution to the Protocol issue.
Alliance Party leader said the Northern Ireland secretary was "clearly taking time" over what to do next.
Naomi Long said the fact Mr Heaton-Harris had paused was "a good sign" but she said a decision over an election "can't be strung along for weeks".
Darran Marshall, BBC News NI political correspondent
On Friday Chris Heaton-Harris denied that he had made a U-turn about calling an election
Chris Heaton-Harris repeatedly made clear that if politicians missed the night's deadline to restore the executive then it was his intention to trigger an election.
me Friday - he emerged on to a busy city centre street in Belfast and U-turned.
Now the leaders of the four parties entitled to sit in an executive have been meeting him.
While the possibility of a pre-Christmas election remains, is the DUP going to suddenly change tack by removing its veto on power-sharing?
re's nothing to suggest that is the case.
If the Northern Ireland Office was hoping a late-night statement on Sunday would bring clarity to the situation, it was wrong.
It said these talks would be about the next steps, including budgets, how to protect public services and considering options on pay for MLAs.
Why would they need to tackle MLAs' pay if there was a possibility Stormont would be back in the short term?
Perhaps a clue that the government acknowledges the institutions are not returning any time soon.
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader said it is clear the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) "has no plan" what to do next.
Doug Beattie said Mr Heaton-Harris intends to call an election but it is not clear when.
In a statement issued on Sunday night, the Northern Ireland secretary said he would "be outlining to the parties that the people of Northern Ireland deserve a strong and accountable government".
He added: "There are a number of things I could do, including taking action on MLA pay, which I know many people feel is deeply unfair while the assembly is unable to function fully.
"I am also concerned by the issues within the Stormont budget and will address these urgently with my officials and those from the Northern Ireland Civil Service."
On Monday, Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy accused the DUP of creating a "political limbo" for Northern Ireland by "holding out and preventing us from forming an assembly".
Gordon Lyons of the DUP said his party would not change its stance until the UK government made changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
He said that talk of an election was a "distraction from the real work that actually needs to be done".
revious assembly election in May resulted in Sinn Féin winning the most seats for the first time.
meant Ms O'Neill was entitled to the role of first minister.
DUP was the second-biggest party but it refused to nominate a deputy first minister, meaning a ruling executive for Northern Ireland could not be formed.
In the run-up to that election the DUP withdrew Paul Givan from the first minister post in protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
rotocol keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules to ensure that goods can move freely across the Irish land border.
Unionist parties argue that the protocol has undermined Northern Ireland's place within the UK by effectively creating a trade border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. | /news/uk-northern-ireland-63458771 |
technology | Drone test for delivering school meals | A Scottish council is trailing delivering meals to more remote schools by drone.
Argyll and Bute said getting school meals to some rural and island sites can mean using vans, taxis and ferries, which can be affected by weather conditions.
uncil said drones also offered an alternative carbon-free mode of transport, as they were fully electric. | /news/uk-scotland-61841678 |
politics | How do voters in Northern Ireland feel about another election? | While no date has been set, the Northern Ireland secretary has said he will be calling an election.
Chris Heaton-Harris reiterated that he was legally bound to call one after the deadline to restore devolution passed at 00:01 BT on Friday.
Mr Harris said he would give more information next week about when people would be heading to the polls.
So what do potential voters here think? BBC News NI has been to St George's Market in Belfast gauge voter reaction.
Susan Gillespie has a stall in St George's Market.
She has strong views on the prospect of another election.
"I'm absolutely disgusted, actually furious is the word, because as a small independent trader, no decisions are being made and that impacts the economy and people like me.
"Just speaking to different customers, people are really fed up and angry about what's going on, something needs to be done."
Despite her frustrations, she still plans to vote, whenever an election date is set.
"I voted last time and I'll be voting this time, but I'll be voting tactically.
"I think people on both sides of the communities are angry and are wondering how are we going to change this? But people need to do that with their vote."
Conor McCrorie is a 30-year-old mushroom farmer from Bangor, County Down.
"I think we need a responsible government right now to deal with the cost-of-living crisis that we're facing and we need politicians to put their heads together to help solve things."
He believes it's important for young people to get out and vote.
"I always vote and I think everyone should vote, especially those of a younger generation because until the youth votes comes out, very little will change."
Clara Cromie is 22 and sells crepes in St George's Market.
She feels disillusioned by politics in Northern Ireland.
"While I understand there needs to be an election, I don't think it's going to fix anything, because obviously the government has collapsed in Northern Ireland before and it feels like it might keep happening."
Although no date was set on Friday, she too still plans to vote.
"I don't want to waste my vote because so much had to be done for women to get the vote.
"So I will always vote, even if I don't necessarily think my vote will do anything, the problem is there is no sense of compromise between all sides."
What do potential voters think of another assembly election?
Alan Coffey is a fishmonger from Portavogie.
"To be honest I think it's time politicians here got their act together because you have people who don't even have money for food and we've no government."
He is on the fence about voting this time round.
"The thing is, I know I probably should vote, but it won't take much to persuade me the other way and stay at home.
"Those folk up on the hill at Stormont, they're getting a good week's wages every week - they still have money to go out for a meal - whereas other people are sitting at home and can't heat their home."
Zella Morrow from is 21 years old and lives in Carrickfergus.
"I've never voted before and probably won't this time either.
"I don't think it will really make a difference, because they're just going to mess about anyway.
"I just feel that it doesn't really seem to matter really who we vote into Stormont, because honestly the politicians will do what they want to anyway."
Lucy Geraghty, is a 22-year-old politics student from Belfast.
"In terms of elections here, I always feel conflicted because there's a lot of religion in politics and that always feels problematic.
"People can sometimes vote based on what side of the fence they're on and what religion they are, rather than political policy."
She plans to vote when an election is called, but is still deciding who for.
"To be honest at this stage I don't have a clue who I am going to vote for, I need to weigh it all up.
"It is frustrating because it almost feels like my vote doesn't have a lot of power because we don't even know if they'll form a government, but I'll still vote." | /news/uk-northern-ireland-63428424 |
sports | Glen set up Kilcoo decider as they hold off Cargin | Glen will face All-Ireland champions Kilcoo in the Ulster Club Football final after battling past a determined Cargin side 1-10 to 0-8 at Omagh.
five-point margin flattered Glen with Danny Tallon notching their goal from a penalty in the closing seconds.
wo points from Tallon and Conor Glass helped Glen lead 0-5 to 0-2 but Cargin cut the margin to one by half-time.
Cargin were still only one behind after 56 minutes but two Emmett Bradley frees and Tallon's penalty sealed Glen's win. | /sport/av/gaelic-games/63775848 |
sports | Wimbledon: Can you name every women's singles champion since 1968? | Standing with the Venus Rosewater Dish in front of throngs of photographers and giddy fans on Centre Court is what every female tennis player dreams of.
Since the Open era began in 1968, 22 women have won the Wimbledon singles title.
Can you name them all in three minutes? | /sport/tennis/53159366 |
politics | Liz Truss and Boris Johnson join Tory wind farm rebellion | Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are backing an attempt to overturn England's effective ban on onshore wind farms, a Conservative MP has said.
Former minister Simon Clarke said the ex-prime ministers were supporting his bid to relax restrictions through the Levelling Up Bill.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has scrapped a move by predecessor Ms Truss to relax the rules.
He has said he wants to prioritise building turbines offshore instead.
Mr Clarke has tabled an amendment to the Levelling Up Bill that would overturn a planning clampdown introduced by former PM David Cameron in 2015.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson has confirmed to the BBC he supports the amendment. Ms Truss has been approached for comment.
In a tweet, Mr Clarke - who was levelling up secretary under Ms Truss - said his amendment had found support "right across the Conservative Party".
move would allow new turbines with local consent, and represented a "pro-growth, pro-green policy at a time when we need both," he added.
It is the latest rebellion faced by Mr Sunak over the Levelling-Up Bill's planning measures.
's journey through Parliament has already been delayed by a Tory backbench rebellion over housing targets, with votes due next Monday postponed.
When he was prime minister, Mr Johnson published an energy strategy in May that ruled out "wholesale changes" to the planning system for onshore wind.
It said the government would consult a "limited number of supportive communities" about allowing new turbines in exchange for lower energy bills.
Earlier this month, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party would lift the ban if it wins power at the next general election, which is expected to take place in 2024.
Labour's proposed planning changes include removing a provision that allows a single person's objection to stop an application.
Sir Keir said not backing onshore wind was a "national act of self-harm, choking off our economic potential".
Asked about the ban earlier this month, Mr Sunak told MPs the government wanted to focus on offshore rather than onshore wind.
"It is right that we bring people with us as we transition to net zero," he said.
"The worst thing we can do is alienate communities if we want to actually deliver on our climate commitments." | /news/uk-politics-63750925 |
politics | Angela Rayner: I won't attack Rishi Sunak for being rich | Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has said she won't attack Rishi Sunak because of his personal wealth.
But speaking to the BBC's Nick Robinson, she said she would criticise the new PM "if he doesn’t use that wealth in a way that is responsible”.
She added that Mr Sunak should not let working people "pay" for the "mistake" of last month's mini-budget in the form of higher mortgage payments and inflation. | /news/uk-politics-63420174 |
business | Ofgem director Christine Farnish resigns over price cap change | A non-executive director at energy regulator Ofgem has quit over changes to the way the energy price cap is set.
Christine Farnish said she felt the regulator had not "struck the right balance between the interests of consumers and interests of suppliers".
Ofgem is in charge of setting the level at which domestic energy costs are capped every three months.
watchdog thanked Ms Farnish "for her many years of devoted service".
Ms Farnish told The Times she disagreed with a decision to change the cap to enable suppliers to recoup certain wholesale costs sooner - a measure the regulator has said would prevent more suppliers going bust.
An Ofgem spokesperson said: "Due to this unprecedented energy crisis, Ofgem is having to make some incredibly difficult decisions where carefully balanced trade-offs are being weighed up all the time.
"But we always prioritise consumers' needs both in the immediate and long term."
regulator has faced criticism for raising the energy price cap - the maximum amount suppliers can charge domestic customers in England, Scotland and Wales for each unit of energy - this October.
gned to protect consumers from short-term price changes and is adjusted by Ofgem every three months - based on the price energy suppliers pay producers for electricity and gas.
Consumer rights campaigner Martin Lewis has previously accused the regulator of "selling consumers down the river".
October's price cap is due to be announced at the end of this month.
Energy industry analysts Cornwall Insight predict an average annual bill will reach £3,582 at this point - £200 higher than the previous estimate.
In January 2023, when the the cap is due to be changed again, Cornwall Insights expects the cap to go up to £4,266.
gher estimate means the average household would be paying £355 a month, instead of £164 a month currently.
Energy prices have risen sharply because demand for gas increased when Covid restrictions eased, and because the invasion of Ukraine has threatened supplies from Russia.
Ofgem recently changed the rules so the cap can be revised every three months instead of every six, saying this would make it less likely that more energy suppliers would collapse, and allow consumers to feel the benefit of any future fall in prices more quickly.
Around 30 suppliers have failed in the UK in the past year.
Responding to Ms Farnish's resignation, an Ofgem spokesperson said that the rest of the board members had decided a shorter recovery period for energy costs was in "the best interest" of consumers in the "long term".
kesperson said the change reduced the "very real risk of suppliers going bust, which would heap yet more costs onto bills and add unnecessary worry and concern at an already very difficult time".
A spokesperson from the government's business department said: "We are aware of a resignation at the Board of Ofgem, which has been accepted."
Ms Farnish declined to comment further. | /news/business-62578614 |
technology | Firms 'going to war' against rivals on social media | A growing number of unscrupulous companies are using bots or fake accounts to run smear campaigns against their competitors on social media, it is claimed.
's the warning from Lyric Jain, the chief executive of Logically, a high-tech monitoring firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) software to trawl the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to find so called "fake news" - disinformation and misinformation.
Mr Jain set up the business in the UK in 2017, and while its main customers are the British, American and Indian governments, he says that he is increasingly being approached by some of the world's largest retail brands. They are asking for help to protect themselves from malicious attacks by rivals.
"We seem to be on the cusp of an era of disinformation against [business] competitors," he says. "We are seeing that some of the same practices that have been deployed by nation state actors, like Russia and China, in social media influence operations, are now being adopted by some more unscrupulous competitors of some of the main Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies.
"[The attackers] are trying to use similar tactics to essentially go to war against them on social media."
Mr Jain says that a main attack tactic is the use of fake accounts to "deceptively spread and artificially amplify" negative product or service reviews, both real or made up.
In addition, the bots can be used to damage a competitor's wider reputation. For example, if a retailer has disappointing financial results in a certain three-month period, then an unscrupulous competitor can try to exaggerate their rival's financial woes.
Mr Jain says that while such attacks are being led by "foreign competitors" of Western brands, such as by Chinese firms, he doesn't rule out that some smaller Western businesses are also doing the same against lager rivals.
"Yes foreign competitors [are doing this], but even potentially some domestic ones who don't have the same standards around their operations," he says. "It is usually an emerging company that goes after an incumbent using these means."
Mr Jain adds that he wouldn't be surprised if "some established [Western] brands are also employing these tactics".
New Tech Economy is a series exploring how technological innovation is set to shape the new emerging economic landscape.
mpanies defend themselves against such attacks, Logically's AI trawls through more than 20 million social media posts a day to find those that are suspicious. The firm's human experts and fact checkers then go through the flagged items.
When they find disinformation and misinformation they then contact the relevant social media platform to get it dealt with. "Some delete the account, while some take down the posts but not the accounts," says Mr Jain. "It is up to the platform to make that decision."
He adds that when it comes to attacks on companies, the posts or accounts are typically removed within two hours. This compares to just minutes for posts considered to be of "greater societal harm", or threats of violence.
Mr Jain says that while the firm's AI "drives speed and efficiency" in its operations, its 175 employees in the UK, US and India remain key. "There are clear limitations of going with a technology-only approach... and so we also retain the nuance and expertise that the [human] fact checkers are able to bring to the problem.
"It is essential in our view to have experts be central to our decision making."
Factmata, another UK tech firm that uses AI to monitor social media for disinformation and misinformation on behalf of company clients, takes a different approach.
Its chief executive Antony Cousins says that while it can involve humans in the monitoring work if clients request them, the AI can be more objective. "Our true aim is not to put any humans in the middle of the AI and the results, or else we risk applying our own biases to the findings," he says.
Set up in 2016, Factmata's AI uses 19 different algorithms, which Mr Cousins says are "trained to identify different aspects of content, in order to weed out the bad stuff, and discount the false positives, the good stuff".
By false positives he is referring to content that on first glance might be considered to be fake, but is in actual fact "humour, satire, irony, and content that could well be drawing attention to issues for a good cause, a good reason". He adds: "We don't want to label those as bad."
And rather than just finding fake tweets or other posts to be deleted, Mr Cousins says that Factmata's AI digs deeper to try to find the source, the first account or accounts that started the lie or rumour, and focus on getting them removed.
He adds that more brands have to realise the growing risks they face from fake news on social media. "If a brand is falsely accused of racism or sexism it can really damage it. People, Generation Z, can choose to not buy from it."
Prof Sandra Wachter, a senior research fellow in AI at Oxford University, says that using the technology to tackle fake news on social media is a complicated issue.
"Given the omnipresence and volume of false information and misinformation circling the web, it is absolutely understandable that we turn to technologies such as AI to deal with this problem," she says.
"AI can be a feasible solution to that problem if we have agreement over what constitutes fake information that deserves removal from the web. Unfortunately, we could not be further away from finding alignment on this.
"Is this content fake or real? What if this is my opinion? What if it was a joke? And who gets to decide? How is an algorithm supposed to deal with this, if we humans cannot even agree on this issue?"
She adds: "In addition, human language has many subtleties and nuances that algorithms - and in many cases humans - might not be able to detect. Research suggests for example that algorithms as well as humans are only able to detect sarcasm and satire in around 60% of the time."
Mr Cousins clarifies that Factmata is "not acting as the guardian of the truth". He adds: "Our role is not to decide what is true or false, but to identify [for our clients] the content we think could be fake, or could be harmful, to a degree of certainty." | /news/business-62161520 |
business | Row over M&S plan to redevelop flagship store | A row is building up over Marks & Spencer's plans to demolish and rebuild its flagship London store.
Minister Michael Gove had already ordered a review into the idea due to concerns over carbon emissions from bulldozing the building.
Now, landlords have said delaying the plans could threaten the appeal of Oxford Street to investors as a place of national economic importance.
M&S said the revamp was needed due to changing consumer habits.
It wants to redevelop the site with a smaller shop, offices and a gym.
But that plan for the 100-year-old Art Deco store at Marble Arch ran into difficulties after Mr Gove stepped in.
Earlier this week, M&S said it was "bewildered" by the planning review ordered by the Levelling Up Secretary.
A letter from landlords and property investors, which was sent to Mr Gove on Friday, said their "major concern" was that the decision would undermine "the appeal of the West End as an international centre".
West End, where the M&S store is located, draws major investors to the capital, and that London flagship stores help support "marginal stores in other British towns and cities".
r was signed by Sir Peter Rogers, the chairman of the New West End Company, which represents retailers and hoteliers. It was also signed by property investors including Royal London Asset Management.
quiry will consider the pros and cons of bulldozing and rebuilding the store compared to refitting it. A new report will then be published with the government's recommendations.
M&S claims a full rebuild is needed because the way people shop has changed. It said this was made starker during the Covid pandemic, when more customers opted to buy online.
retail giant also claimed the store is unattractive and does not offer a pleasant experience for customers or staff.
M&S's director of property, technology and development, Sacha Berendji this week accused Mr Gove of blocking "the only retail-led regeneration in the whole of Oxford Street".
He said the building was refused listed status due to its low design quality and, while it was safe, cannot be modernised through refitting as it is three separate buildings containing asbestos.
He said that an independent assessment of the building's carbon impact across its whole lifecycle found that a new build offered higher sustainability benefits than a refit.
"On completion, [it] will be amongst the top 10% performing buildings in London," he added.
revamp had been approved by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Westminster City Council but plans were then put on hold.
A report into the potential carbon footprint caused by bulldozing the building had warned the environmental impact would clash with City Hall's planning guidance.
report by architect Simon Sturgis said the plan is "absolutely crazy" and recommended refitting and renovating the existing shop instead.
Campaigners from Save Britain's Heritage and the Architect's Journal urged Mr Gove to launch a public inquiry into the scheme in another letter signed by top names in the industry.
r claimed bulldozing the historic building would "pump nearly 40,000 tonnes of C02 into the atmosphere".
It also said the plan would destroy "an elegant and important interwar building".
"We should be adapting the building, not destroying it," it said.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the decision to order a planning review was "made in line with established policy".
"It is right that a project of such significance should be considered by the independent planning inspectorate and ministers," a spokesperson said. | /news/business-61916562 |
technology | Birmingham's 'four lads in jeans' get statues outside city bar | rs of the viral 'four lads in jeans' meme have been immortalised in paper mache outside the bar their famous photograph was taken.
A picture of Kevin Rooney, Alex Lacey, Jamie Phillips and Connor Humpage went viral after it was shared on Instagram in 2019.
Birmingham artist Tat Vision said he had to create something "because they looked like Greek statues of old".
ulptures were unveiled outside All Bar One in the city.
Vision, whose real name is Well Douglas, said his paper mache sculptures took a couple of weeks "on and off" to create, but said: "I don't think they're going to last."
He predicted someone would probably try to take their heads off while enjoying a drink on a night out and said he would be happy if they lasted a couple of days.
ues were built as part of the Birmingham Weekender - an arts event in the city.
Coventry friends' social media fame came with a cost, when Mr Humpage later said they had been repeatedly targeted by trolls.
"I think people forget about the people they're trolling behind their phones or keyboards. We actually are real people and it does affect you," he said.
But multiple parodies of the photograph and a TikTok animated version of the men appearing to show them singing the sea shanty Wellerman sent their popularity soaring.
rred in an advert for McDonalds in 2021.
Mr Douglas said the men had told him they were "very excited" about the statues, and would be going to visit them.
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-birmingham-62693971 |
entertainment | Dame Angela Lansbury dies aged 96 | Dame Angela Lansbury, who won international acclaim as the star of the US TV crime series Murder, She Wrote, has died aged 96.
ree-time Oscar nominee had a career spanning eight decades, across film, theatre and television.
Dame Angela died in her sleep just five days before her 97th birthday, her family said in a statement.
r talked to the BBC's Andrew Marr in 2014. She mentioned how Ingrid Bergman inspired her early in her career. | /news/entertainment-arts-63221588 |
sports | Shane Snater: Essex pace bowler agrees contract extension until 2025 | Essex pace bowler Shane Snater has signed a two-year contract extension to run until the end of the 2025 season.
He took 50 wickets in all formats in 2022 and also hit five fifties - four of them in the County Championship.
His new deal follows extensions signed by Tom Westley, Paul Walter, Ben Allison and Michael Pepper.
"Shane's new contract is a testament to the hard work he has put in to continually develop his game," said head coach Anthony McGrath.
Although born in Zimbabwe, Snater has played international cricket for the Netherlands - appearing in four one-dayers and 13 T20 internationals so far.
He made his Essex debut in 2018 and took first-class career-best figures of 7-98 against Nottinghamshire in May 2021.
His previous deal was due to expire at the end of next summer.
"I've worked hard on improving my red-ball game and this has come to fruition over the last couple of seasons," he said. | /sport/cricket/64129827 |
technology | MPs Dehenna Davison and Kate Osborne speak out over 'toxic' tweets | MPs have spoken about how they have received sexually explicit and homophobic tweets, after BBC research revealed the scale of the problem.
Dehenna Davison, Tory MP for Bishop Auckland, endured the 12th worst proportion of toxic tweets of all MPs, the BBC's Shared Data Unit found.
Abuse hurled at Labour's Jarrow MP Kate Osborne led to a restraining order.
Analysis of three million tweets aimed at MPs over six weeks found more than 130,000 could be classed as "toxic".
research was carried out between March and mid-April, and concluded 20,000 of the tweets sent in that period would be deemed "severely toxic".
A toxic comment was defined as one which is "rude, disrespectful or unreasonable" and "likely to make someone leave a conversation".
witter was unavailable for comment.
Ms Davison, elected Bishop Auckland's first Conservative MP in 2019, said most comments were "low level" but some were "a lot more sinister", and the police have been involved.
"I do think there is a sense that women do get it worse," she said.
"There has been a lot of quite sexually explicit stuff.
"I have had people talking about how my dead dad must be looking down on me ashamed."
She received offensive tweets when she wrote a critical open letter to actor Will Smith following his assault of Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony.
Ms Davison is a campaigner for awareness of the dangers of one-punch assaults, following the death of her father in 2007 when she was just 13.
She said she "naively assumed" the response would have been positive, because of previous feedback.
"It was really surprising and really difficult, so I ended up just turning Twitter off for a few days and letting it die down."
Ms Davison received the largest amount of abuse on social media among all MPs representing the North East and Cumbria.
She remains active on social media and is not "afraid to share" her opinion, which she believes acts as a target.
"I am a young, northern, working class, female Tory, everything a Conservative isn't supposed to be. I don't know if I just tick all the wrong boxes for attracting that sort of abuse."
Levelling Up Minister said while she supported "free speech" she called on social media companies to be more "willing" to share information on those who abuse and harass.
Kate Osborne, elected Labour's MP for Jarrow in 2019, has also suffered abuse on Twitter, as well as abusive graffiti and stickers put up in her constituency, which she said were "designed to intimidate".
She said part of the problem was "faceless" social media accounts.
"I am very fortunate that I am in a position where I can speak out about these things and be heard - nobody is going to silence me," she said.
"I think undoubtedly if I was a white, straight man I wouldn't get the volume that I get.
"We know that women in elected positions, not just MPs but councillors and women generally get more abuse online than men do."
In August, a constituent was found guilty of harassing her and was handed a restraining order, in a case which the judge noted the "homophobic content", the MP said.
Ms Osborne said it was her "responsibility" to call abuse out and spoke about the impact it has had on her family.
"It obviously upsets them - I think sometimes, when there's a threat there and it may be a threat of violence - that's really uncomfortable to know whether or not that's going to result in any physical action against me.
"We have seen two MPs murdered - most of the time I can let it go over my head but we have to take these things seriously.
"I don't expect people to agree with me all the time - that's life, that's democracy - but it's not necessary and it's not acceptable for people to abuse somebody else."
witter has previously said it is committed to combatting abuse as outlined in its Hateful Conduct Policy.
Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. | /news/uk-england-63565955 |
health | NHS Wales: Hospital staff 'in tears' over A&E pressures | Keith Royles lived over the road from the Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital
Patients being treated in chairs, staff in tears and an 18-hour wait for transfer from an ambulance.
re some of the extreme pressures experienced by the Royal Glamorgan Hospital's emergency department.
Dr Amanda Farrow was called in early to a recent shift at the site serving much of the south Wales valleys because the nurse in charge felt it was "unsafe".
On arrival, the number of patients awaiting beds was far higher than trollies available.
Meanwhile, six ambulances were queuing outside, unable to hand over their patients and, as a result, also unable to respond to other emergency calls.
Dr Farrow, the lead consultant at the A&E department of the hospital near Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said: "She has never rung me before so I know when I get that phone call that I just need to get up and come in.
"We have 16 trolleys and we had 28 patients waiting for beds in the morning. Our resuscitation room was full and we had some very, very sick patients that all arrived at a similar time.
"Patients who are not on trollies are obviously sat in chairs, which is not a good experience. We also have a finite number of chairs in the clinical space.
"A number of members of staff were in tears."
knock-on effect was soon felt outside the hospital's front door, with ambulances stacking up outside.
As a result the ambulance service was struggling to respond to urgent 999 calls in the community.
"In extreme cases the department can receive an immediate release request, calling on them to admit a patient and release the ambulance as soon as possible to attend an extremely urgent call," said Dr Farrow.
"Yesterday during my shift we had two calls for an immediate release, because there was an unwell baby and there was a lady in labour."
"[With] the first one we did manage to bring the patient in, with a view to getting one of our patients out, But the [call] later in the day we were unable to accommodate."
She continued: "It is a lot of responsibility for the staff - none of us wants to be making these decisions. We're all doing our best and there is concern around the impact this is having on staff because that does cause moral injury.
"It's not just patients arriving in the ambulance. The majority of our patients actually self-present to the hospital.
"We are having to pull them out of the boot of cars, they're coming by fire engine, with the police. We have to try and find somewhere to manage that and it's just a constant challenge."
In September, Keith Royles, 85, broke his hip and was forced to wait seven hours for an ambulance, and then had to wait outside the hospital until the early hours of the morning.
His daughter Tina Royles told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that her parents were "horrified".
"My parents put their whole lives into nursing and they're quite disgusted, they understand the pressures on the NHS staff, but the system is broken.
She said as a former police officer she knows how busy A&E gets, but it was never like it is now.
Despite the long wait, Ms Royles said the staff who looked after her dad were amazing.
Lee Brooks, executive director of operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said he was deeply sorry about Mr Royles' experience, describing the seven-hour wait as unacceptable.
"It will take a system-wide effort to resolve a system-wide issue and we continue to play our part to alleviate the pressure by treating more patients over the phone and at home and referring them to more appropriate areas of the NHS, negating the need for a trip to the emergency department."
Dr Farrow stressed that being "supportive to all of our staff" is extremely important to the department.
"We're a very close-knit team and we do try, at the end of the shift, [to] go around and chat to the staff just to make sure that everyone's OK," she said.
During the shift, the department was escalated to its highest level of alert - level 4/20 - meaning staff from across departments worked together to try to free up beds on the wards to ease the pressure in A&E.
resulted in a decision to open dozens of beds as part of "surge capacity", including opening an unused ward. This in itself was difficult due to staff shortages.
re is also a dedicated team who try to identify patients, who, given the right care and support might be able to leave without being admitted.
Gladly by the next morning the situation had stabilised.
"We had good supportive response from the rest of the sites... so this morning it's really quite pleasant which is a change but yesterday was extremely challenging."
But Dr Farrow said she worried about what lies ahead this winter as a result of staff shortages, the potential re-emergence of respiratory viruses like flu and the added demand of chronically ill patients who may have stayed away during Covid coming back into the system.
"It is quite scary to be honest.
"I think every winter in recent years has been challenging and I think we're fearful this is going to be even worse." | /news/uk-wales-63889127 |
entertainment | Theatre group pulls play from Sheffield's Crucible over controversial musical | A theatre company has pulled a play from Sheffield's Crucible in response to the staging of a musical criticised for its portrayal of Vietnamese people.
New Earth, a group of British East and South East Asian artists, said Miss Saigon contained "damaging tropes, misogyny and racism".
Its own production, Worth, had been due to run before the musical in June.
Sheffield Theatres, which runs the Crucible, said it respected the decision to cancel the play.
ue's creative directors acknowledged Miss Saigon's "divisive performance history" and "the upset it has caused".
In a statement they said they had approached the new production being "sensitive" to the issue, adding they "believe this is a chance for us to engage in a fresh way with a majority East and South East Asian company reframing the story".
Miss Saigon, which tells the story of the relationship between a young Vietnamese sex worker and an American soldier during the Vietnam War, sparked anger when it first opened in London's West End in 1989 with white actors wearing eye prostheses to make them look more Asian.
Written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil and based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera Madame Butterfly, it later transferred to Broadway and won multiple prizes including two Laurence Olivier and three Tony awards.
New Earth said Miss Saigon "remains a very contentious musical since its release over thirty years ago, having hurt and angered many viewers due to its highly problematic narrative and portrayal of the Vietnam War and Vietnamese people".
"We recognise concerns from our team that working alongside a musical that perpetuates deeply held notions of Asian inferiority would impact their wellbeing," added a joint statement from the company and Chester-based co-producers Storyhouse.
BEATS, an advocacy group for British East and South East Asian theatre workers, said Miss Saigon "fetishised and hyper-sexualised" Vietnamese women and erased "the real experience of war and violence suffered by millions".
It called the Crucible's decision to stage the musical in July "deeply traumatising".
Robert Hastie and Anthony Lau, directors of the Crucible's production of Miss Saigon, said they had taken a "new approach" which they hoped would "shift the perspective" on the show.
"The reimagining of any classic is about viewing stories through new lenses, that speak to the world as it is today as much as what it was or might have been," they added in a joint statement.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. | /news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-63717840 |
sports | Elite League: Cardiff Devils 4-2 Guildford Flames | Cardiff Devils ended the year with victory over GuildFord Flames to boost their Elite League title hopes.
Justin Crandall gave Devils the lead inside the opening two minutes and although Daniel Tedesco equalised, Cole Stanford restored the hosts' lead.
Debutant Stefan Fournier put Devils further ahead in the second period with Marcus Crawford sealing victory after Dabiel Tedesco had scored for Flames.
Flames host Devils in the return match on New Year's Day. | /sport/ice-hockey/64136953 |
sports | Bellator 289: Raufeon Stots beats Danny Sabatello to retain title | Raufeon Stots edged bitter rival Danny Sabatello by split decision to retain the interim bantamweight title at Bellator 289 in Connecticut.
Stots, 33, was controlled by fellow American Sabatello, 29, for periods but out-struck him to reach the final of the Bantamweight World Grand Prix.
He will face Patchy Mix after the American submitted Magomed Magomedov earlier in the night.
winner will likely fight Sergio Pettis for the undisputed title.
's champion Pettis was forced to pull out of the tournament with injury in March.
rim title bout between Stots and Juan Archuleta in the quarter-finals, which Stots won to set up the encounter with Sabatello.
Months of venomous verbal exchanges have passed between Stots and Sabatello since the fight was confirmed in June.
While promoting the fight in August, the pair had to be separated live on air during journalist Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour show.
Sabatello was largely booed on his walk to the cage, with Stots receiving the more positive ovation from the crowd inside the Mohegan Sun Arena.
In the first round, Sabatello landed a takedown, revealing the wrestling-heavy game-plan pundits predicted he would look to enforce on Stots.
fight progressed with Stots excelling in the striking and Sabatello countering by looking to take Stots down.
On the handful of times Sabatello's takedowns were successful, he held position while not inflicting much damage, which is perhaps what swayed the fight in Stots' favour when the judges were scoring.
By the final round Sabatello's nose was bloodied while Stots showed little sign of damage, illustrating the difference in output between the pair.
Both fighters raised their arms and circled the cage when the final bell rung, believing they had done enough for victory, but it was Stots who had his arm raised by the referee, leading to a swift exit for Sabatello.
"He didn't do no damage, I was walking him down the whole time, I got his face bloodied and I'm going to the final," said Stots in the post-fight interview.
"I was thinking separation and damage. He was trying to control me but hugging doesn't win fights."
Victory extends the unbeaten start to Stots' Bellator career to seven, with Sabatello suffering the first defeat of his four fights in the promotion.
Stots was joined in the cage by fellow finalist Mix after the post-fight interview, with the pair engaging in a friendly stare-down.
In the co-main event, American Liz Carmouche retained her flyweight title, winning a rematch with Juliana Velasquez in the second round via an armbar submission.
Carmouche, 38, executed her grappling-heavy game-plan to perfection as she successfully took Brazil's Velasquez down, transitioned to full mount and applied the fight-ending manoeuvre.
r first fight in April ended in controversial circumstances, with many pundits believing the referee stepped in to halt Carmouche's grounded attack on Velasquez too early.
However, there were no doubts over the manor of victory this time, as Carmouche made the first defence of her championship.
In victory, Carmouche extended her unbeaten streak in Bellator to five wins and inflicted the second defeat of Velasquez's 14-fight career.
Former UFC and Strikeforce title challenger Carmouche has now won 18 of the 25 fights in her 12-year career.
Watch highlights on BBC three at 20:00 GMT on Saturday | /sport/mixed-martial-arts/63926616 |
technology | Gaming in Africa: Developers making mobile games for African players | African gaming industry is a growing market bringing up opportunities for African game developers.
Kenya is one of the many countries that has enabled African game developers the opportunity to create games for the African audience with characters relatable to them.
Edited by Njoroge Muigai | /news/world-africa-63561831 |
technology | Cambridgeshire company's self-charging trains project wins government funds | A project that has been developing so-called self-charging trains has won a share of £5m of government funding.
Echion Technologies, based in Sawston near Cambridge, is creating train batteries that can charge from overheard wires, the Department for Transport said.
rains would be able to use the batteries on unelectrified track.
roject was among the winners of the government's First of a Kind competition.
mpetition aims to award funding to projects that could transform the future of transport.
Other projects awarded funding from the competition include a programme by Thales Ground Transportation to develop sensors that detect when a person is approaching the tracks.
It was hoped this would reduce disruption and could prevent suicides.
ransport Secretary Mark Harper said: "The UK has a long history of leading the way in railway innovation, and the First of a Kind competition is getting the great brains of today to create the trains of tomorrow.
"Through millions of pounds worth of government funding, we are breathing life into ideas that will revolutionise our railways and make them greener than ever before.
"This is just the beginning and, as transport secretary, I am determined to support British innovation and create a cutting edge, green rail industry that delivers even more benefits for passengers and freight."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63633734 |
sports | NFL: JJ Watt of the Arizona Cardinals announces his retirement | JJ Watt, considered one of the NFL's greatest ever defensive players, has announced he will retire at the end of the current season.
Arizona Cardinals defensive end, 33, was voted NFL defensive player of the year three times.
Watt spent a decade with the Houston Texans before joining Arizona in 2021.
"My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude. It's been an absolute honor and a pleasure," Watt wrote on Twitter.external-link
Watt has spent the last two seasons with the Cardinals, after representing the Houston Texans between 2011 and 2020.
He added that Sunday's defeat by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was both his baby son Koa's first NFL game, and his own "last ever" home game.
Having failed to make the postseason, the Cardinals have two regular season games left, at Atlanta and San Francisco.
As well as being defensive player of the year in 2012, 2014 and 2015, Watt was the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2017.
He was also named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year in 2017 for helping to raise $37m (£30.7m) in relief funds for people affected by the devastation brought by Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
In his 12-year NFL career, Watt has 111.5 total sacks, 580 tackles and 27 forced fumbles, and is the only player in the last 40 years to record 20 or more sacks in multiple seasons. | /sport/american-football/64102113 |
technology | How to check if your Instagram posts are being hidden | Instagram has launched a new tool to let you know if your posts are barred from being recommended to other users.
Previously, people were not told if intervention by a platform meant posts did not appear in other people's feeds - a process known as "shadow banning".
Instagram does not use that term. It says the new tool will inform users if there are restrictions on their account because they broke certain rules.
Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, said the decision was about "transparency".
"Sometimes your account can end up in a state where it's not eligible for your photos and videos to show up in [our] recommendations," he said.
"If you have posted things that violate our 'recommendability' guidelines or recommendation guidelines... you can end up in a state where your content won't be recommended," Mr Mosseri explains.
Instagram users will be able to edit or delete posts which have fallen foul of the platform's rules. They will also be able to appeal to Instagram if they feel any content has been flagged in error.
People can check the status of their account in the Instagram app by selecting their profile, opening the menu, then selecting: settings, account, and account status.
Dr Carolina Are, a content moderation researcher at the Centre For Digital Citizens at Northumbria University, said Instagram has historically had a major issue with people having posts 'hidden' without their knowledge.
"The platform did not notify us about shadow banning," she said. "For ages, Instagram denied that it was ever a thing."
Dr Are is also a content creator on Instagram, where she often posts videos as a pole dance instructor - and says she has experienced so-called shadow banning herself.
"I personally received an apology [from Instagram] for the shadow ban of pole-dancing in 2019," she said.
"They said the hashtags were blocked 'in error'... this is essentially shadow banning."
Shadow banning can be a problem because if people are not told they have fallen foul of the rules, it means they're unable to appeal the decision or fix any mistake.
It can sometime lead to amusing consequences, with one Reddit user previously telling the BBC he didn't know he'd been shadow banned - and accidentally spent a year talking to himself.
re are some benefits to the practice, however. It allows big tech companies to block harmful content from spreading, limiting disinformation.
But Dr Are says her research has found it has had a disproportionate impact on marginalised communities.
"I think creators are very, very worried about shadow banning," she said. "So it's only fair that Instagram is moving to do something about it."
She said the problem is exacerbated by a lack of real people involved in the moderation process, which is often automated.
In her role as a researcher, Dr Are has spoken to people whose accounts were removed from Instagram due to violating its policies.
She claims to have spoken to some content creators who lost their accounts and tried to appeal, who said they weren't able to speak to a person involved in moderation.
"I still think it's a bit of a cosmetic and performative change," she said. "As good as this is, without investing in human moderation, we are just going nowhere." | /news/technology-63907699 |
business | CEO Secrets: What's a modern boss to wear? | A new culture of working from home and video conferencing has ushered in a trend for informality in the workplace, including what we wear. CEOs set the tone for their companies. So can they now dress down a bit?
"Our post-pandemic lifestyle has taught me that I don't need to dress smartly for work every day," says Louise O'Shea, CEO of insurance comparison site Confused.com, "especially when we've all seen each other's realities when working from home.
"But I do it because I enjoy it," she adds. "And putting on some of my best workwear and doing my hair and makeup before each working day has become a sort of personal ritual for me, allowing me to go from one state of mind to another and putting my 'best self' forward."
Fiona Gordon of advertising agency Ogilvy UK agrees. "I think CEOs can definitely be more informal than they were," she says.
"The pandemic has moved the dress code for everyone. But for me personally, if I'm going to present to a big room, I like to feel the energy and I do get that from what I wear.
"For example, putting lipstick on is one of my personal triggers for confidence."
women are just two of the many CEOs now facing a wardrobe dilemma. How do you present yourself to be taken seriously for business in a world that seems much more open to informality? Are those in charge ready to change their wardrobes, in line with their workforce?
Peter Done, CEO of Manchester-based HR specialists Peninsula, isn't ready to mothball his suit just yet.
"I wear a suit to the office every day," he says. "This conveys a certain standard that I have set for myself, both personally and professionally. As CEO, it's up to me to lead by example. If I expect employees to dress smartly then I should do the same."
While acknowledging that the pandemic has changed expectations, allowing employees to dress in a more casual style that used to be associated with the tech sector, Done believes that dressing professionally puts you in a better frame of mind for work.
"I believe it is good business practice to dress smartly," he adds. "It all comes back to customer service, leaving people with a good impression, showing that you care and want them to come back.
"If someone were to turn up to a meeting in ripped jeans or flip flops - unless it were out of hours and very last minute - to me that shows you don't care. First impressions count and you only get one chance to make a good one."
mic has accelerated the level of informality that companies accept, according to Ben Whitter, head of employee coaching and consultancy firm HEX Organization.
CEOs want to appear to be more human and not just some corporate robot in a suit, he says. "Someone that people feel comfortable around, is relatable, and we can have confidence in."
He also argues that (at least for men) the suit and tie combination was becoming a tainted brand well before the pandemic, thanks to a whole series of high-profile stories like the MPs' expenses scandal, the Enron collapse, and the 2007-08 banking crisis.
"It's no longer taken for granted that the suit is the uniform of a trustworthy person," he says.
But Peter Done refutes this. "Suits don't make any difference, it's the credibility of the individual that counts," he counters.
So what should a leader who wants to be seen as relatable and authentic wear?
recruit to the TV show Dragons' Den, Steven Bartlett, vowed when he became a panellist that he would never wear a suit.
He says he wants to represent a new breed of young business leader that is true to himself and doesn't stand on ceremony.
CEO's role, and the expectations placed on them, can vary a lot depending on the size of the company. This too might affect their choice of clothing.
Bosses of smaller start-ups don't usually feel the need to stand out from their team, but they do need to impress and quickly build trust with potential new clients and investors.
Joel Remy-Parkes has turned a successful side hustle selling kids' tableware into a growing small business.
He works out of a large co-working space where you will struggle to find anyone wearing a suit and tie.
"The lockdown almost stripped everyone down to their comfort essentials and we all began to discover a new level of appropriate dress code," he says.
It's a development he welcomes, but it poses a dilemma when he is getting ready to meet new people.
"If I had to meet an investor or potential partner, I would honestly feel a little odd rocking up in my Wu-Tang T-shirt. But on the flip side, I would be absolutely delighted if she was wearing one too!"
move to informal dressing at the top may sound liberating, but is it an equal one across the gender divide?
Some argue that it is easer for male CEOs to adopt this new informal style.
"The pressures for women are extremely high," says Confused.com's Louise O'Shea.
"Quite often when I do broadcast interviews, comments are made about my appearance, particularly my hair. While this might not seem like anything major, it's led me to have conversations with my male counterparts on whether this would ever happen to them.
"Guess what? It hasn't."
She adds: "I do often wonder what the reaction would be if I appeared live on TV without brushing my hair or doing my makeup. Would I be known as the CEO who never made an effort, or the CEO who was ready to challenge old expectations?"
But not everyone agrees that the odds are stacked against women in this regard.
Fiona Gordon of Ogilvy UK thinks this shift to casual could present some unexpected positives for women. "Women, you could argue, will have more opportunities than men because women traditionally can wear more diverse clothes so can be more expressive of themselves, whereas for men there is a kind of uniform in a way.
"It is quite good to be memorable. People's attention is satiated with so many images," she adds.
Sara Simmonds, a former fashion entrepreneur who now coaches CEOs across different sectors, believes women and men are judged equally in terms of style and appearance.
"We only want to do business with those we trust, and that first impression comes from what you wear and how you present yourself, no matter your gender," she says.
Whether you choose to dress formally or casually, you still need to pay close attention to what you wear, she says.
"Informal dressing can set your clients at ease, but first impressions still count. Jeans that fit well, trainers that are clean, and T-shirts that are crisp are essential. And you should add something to this that is your signature touch, you need to have a style and stick with it.
"Your clothes are a silent sales weapon."
You can follow CEO Secrets producer Dougal Shaw on Twitter: @dougalshawbbc | /news/business-62992989 |
technology | Google faces €25bn legal action in UK and the EU | Google is facing two legal cases which could result in the tech giant paying out damages of up to €25bn (£19.5bn) over its digital advertising practices.
mpany is accused of anti-competitive conduct, and of abusing its dominant place in the ad tech market.
Separate legal cases, in the UK and in the Netherlands, are being filed in the coming weeks on behalf of publishers seeking "compensation" from Google.
Google has recently drawn scrutiny from anti-trust regulators after complaints.
Ad tech powers the online adverts that people see on their smartphones or when using the web. Google is the largest, and most important, ad tech vendor - with a market share reaching over 90%.
Selling digital advertising space has become a valuable source of income for publishers including global news websites, as well as smaller operators, such as independent bloggers - all of whom agree to carry advertising on their sites for a fee.
European Commission and its UK equivalent are investigating whether Google's dominance in the ad tech business gives it an unfair advantage over rivals and advertisers.
French competition watchdog imposed a €220m fine on the company last year.
Johnny Ryan, from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, told the BBC: "Google is under pressure on two big issues - one is anti-trust and the other is data protection."
Mr Ryan said more cases were coming to light as competition enforcers around the world "increasingly put demands on Google".
But he added "the fines we have seen so far from competition authorities have had absolutely no consequence whatsoever".
Damien Geradin, of the Belgian law firm Geradin Partners - which is involved in the Dutch case - said, "Publishers, including local and national news media, who play a vital role in our society, have long been harmed by Google's anti-competitive conduct.
"It is time that Google owns up to its responsibilities and pays back the damages it has caused to this important industry.
"That is why today we are announcing these actions across two jurisdictions to obtain compensation for EU and UK publishers."
British claim, at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, will seek to recover compensation for owners of websites carrying banner advertising.
If successful, this would mean a wide and diverse group could get compensation - from major media sites down to small and medium-sized businesses who produce their own online content.
Businesses which do not wish to be included in the legal action can opt out.
UK law firm Humphries Kerstetter is planning to bring its case with Geradin Partners to the Tribunal next month, although the process could take years to reach a conclusion.
Starr, of Humphries Kerstetter, told the BBC, it was important to bring the claim because of the reasonable expectation that the tech giant might change practices as a result.
He said the claim represented "victims of Google's anti-competitive conduct in ad tech who have collectively lost an estimated £7 billion".
"This includes news websites up and down the country with large daily readerships, as well as the thousands of small business-owners who depend on advertising revenue - be it from their fishing website, food blog, football fanzine or other online content [which] they have spent time creating and publishing."
UK competition watchdog is also investigating Google's power in the digital advertising technology market.
Dutch case is open to European publishers affected by Google's actions. Geradin Partners has teamed up with Dutch law firm Stek to bring the collective claim.
Jan Bart van de Hel, from Stek, said: "Many publishers have suffered damages as result of Google's wrongful actions.
"It is important to take action against this, not only to make sure that the damages of the publishers are fully compensated, but also to make sure that Google's anti-competitive conduct is prevented for the future."
UK litigation funder Harbour is funding both lawsuits. Harbour is a privately-owned company which pays legal costs upfront "and helps manage the costs and risks of litigation" in return for a pre-agreed share of the amount recovered if the legal action is successful.
Google did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment. | /news/technology-62891769 |
sports | Charlotte Worthington: 'BMX star says 'cashing doesn't affect my confidence' | BMX Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Worthington is hoping for more success in the Freestyle World Championships in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Corby-based rider has had one or two mishaps in competition this year but tells BBC Look East that crashing does not affect her confidence.
Watch coverage of the Freestyle World Championships on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and mobile app from 12:20 GMT on Sunday, 13 November. | /sport/av/cycling/63582425 |
business | Clacton Seaquarium closing down amid soaring energy costs | An aquarium that is expecting its energy bills to quadruple by 2024 will close to visitors permanently at the end of this month.
Seaquarium at Clacton Pier, Essex, has been open for about four decades.
It is home to roughly 900 individual fish and other sea creatures, including smooth hound sharks, red-bellied piranhas and turtles.
Nigel Brown, communications manager for the pier, said energy costs were already £1,500 per month.
"It's a big operation for what is a relatively small part of our business," said Mr Brown.
"We like to think we've run it well, given a bit of education to children and helped push the conservation message."
re has been some form of wildlife-based attraction the pier since the 1930s, which in the past has included whales, dolphins, sea lions and penguins.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently gave it a positive veterinary inspection report.
uilding structure is about 150 years old and needs maintenance.
It was closed to visitors for much of last year during the pandemic, but conservation and maintenance work continued.
Seaquarium director Billy Ball said the venue, which charges £3 entry, would have to meet stricter regulatory standards if it were to renew its licence with Tendring District Council.
"If it was to remain, we would have also wanted to look to come up with more conservation activities and that was simply not viable," he said.
"We are now in a very different world with emphasis on protecting the environment quite rightly gaining greater priority.
"All things considered, including overheads and the rising cost of energy, we decided it was time to close that chapter in the pier's history and move forward."
wners said they were in discussions with other aquariums, including Sealife Adventure in Southend, to rehome all the sea life.
Mr Brown said they hoped to replace it with another attraction, "probably" for younger children.
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-essex-63134289 |
politics | What's happening in Parliament next week? | It's going to be a pretty weird week in Parliament. There's some significant law-making - on stamp duty and EU Law - but it will be completely overshadowed by the battle for the Conservative leadership.
w PM could be anointed as early as Monday afternoon, or as late as Friday, if an online ballot of Tory members is required.
Question times and select committee interrogations will feature ministers who may not be in office a week later, or who may be auditioning for a promotion.
w prime minister will have allies to reward, opponents to de-fang, enemies to punish and big beasts to bring in, so expect significant ministerial changes.
And how much point is there in asking about policy?
re's a big financial statement due on 31 October - the Monday after the new PM is due to emerge.
But will the new PM want the proposals now being drawn up, or even the chancellor doing the drawing-up? Or will the threat of a market backlash ensure that the new PM accepts whatever decisions Jeremy Hunt has made?
Meanwhile, Mr Hunt's arrival in the Treasury has created a vacancy for chair of the Health and Social Care Committee.
His successor must be a Conservative MP and possible contenders include former health ministers, Steve Brine, Stephen Hammond and James Morris, plus Victoria Atkins, a former Justice Minister, and GP Dr Luke Evans. The election is on 2 November.
Commons: (14:30) Education Questions, starring new secretary of state Kit Malthouse, probably to be followed by the usual post-weekend quota of government statements and urgent questions.
main business is financial measures - the allocation of £60bn to the business department to fund the energy price-capping scheme, and reductions to Stamp Duty Land Tax - one of the few measures surviving from the September mini-Budget.
Westminster Hall: (16:30) MPs debate e-petitions on the safety of Covid vaccines - e-petition 602171 calls for an "immediate and full scientific investigation" on possible links between Covid-19 vaccination and a significant increase in heart attacks. Then (18:00) on e-petition 607712 calling for the government to ditch its Human Rights Act reforms.
Committees: Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (16:00) questions new secretary of state, Simon Clarke.
Lords: (14:30) Introduction of Lord Simon Murray, a barrister and Conservative councillor, who has been appointed a Home Office Minister. Questions include an intriguing one from Labour peer and member of the Benn dynasty, Viscount Stansgate, asking whether the government has any plans to amend the 1937 Regency Act...
main debate is Committee and Report Stage consideration of the Energy Prices Bill.
re's also a Labour regret motion against the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Regulations because they do not do enough to prevent claimants from financial hardship.
Commons: (11:30) Business Energy and Industrial Strategy questions.
10-Minute Rule Bill: Conservative Craig Mackinlay wants to require pharmacies to label prescription drugs with the with the price of the drug.
main debate is the Second Reading of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. This sets a sunset date after which all the EU law accumulated in Britain over four decades of membership will lapse at the end of 2023.
re wasn't time to go through it all, clause by clause at the time of Brexit, so most of it was kept in place by a kind of legal shoring up manoeuvre, to allow it to be considered at leisure. The bill gives ministers sweeping powers to rewrite it.
Westminster Hall: (09:30) Jill Mortimer leads a debate on baby loss and safe staffing in maternity care.
Committees: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (14:30) probes the die-off of marine life off the Yorkshire coast.
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (10:00) launches its inquiry into safety at major sporting events with a session on fan personal safety, accessibility, and freedom from discrimination.
Lords: (14:30) Peers begin their consideration of the detail of the highly controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. Issues are not normally pushed to a vote at Committee Stage, but the cross-party alliance of peers opposing the bill plan a procedural motion asking for more information to be given between Committee and Report. This is partly to demonstrate that they have the power to delay the next stage of debate unless their conditions are met.
Commons: (11:30) Half an hour of Women and Equalities Questions, followed, at noon by what may be Liz Truss's final Prime Minister's Question Time, or even the debut of her successor.
10-Minute Rule Bill: The Conservative Robert Halfon presents a bill to cut long waiting times on utility and other service providers helplines; this would be backed up with financial penalties.
's followed by detailed consideration of the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill, which creates commissioners to safeguard Northern Ireland's different cultural and linguistic identities.
Westminster Hall: (14:30) Former minister Damian Hinds has a debate on online harms.
Committees: Northern Ireland Affairs (09:30) question the Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan and Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill on their responses to paramilitarism.
ransport (09:30) has a session on self-driving vehicles and Home Affairs (09:45) hears from Immigration Minister, Tom Pursglove MP, on the current situation with illegal Channel crossings.
Lords: (15:00) Questions (40 minutes) and if the Commons has agreed reductions in Stamp Duty, peers will be asked to rubber stamp them.
main event is Report Stage consideration of the Seafarers' Wages Bill - which will enforce the minimum wage in UK waters. Issues include how the implementation of the act is monitored and moves to widen the categories of vessels covered. At least one vote is expected.
Commons: (09:30) Cabinet Office Questions with Nadhim Zahawi, followed by the weekly statement on the Commons agenda for the coming week, from the leader of the Commons (and possible prime minister), Penny Mordaunt.
main event is a Backbench Business Committee debate on the National Food Strategy and Food Security led by Conservative former cabinet minister Esther McVey and Labour's Kerry McCarthy.
's followed by a debate on guaranteeing the right to maintain contact with people in care, led by Labour's Dan Carden, the Conservative Tracey Crouch and the Lib Dem Daisy Cooper.
Westminster Hall: (15:00) A debate on World Menopause Day.
Lords: (11:00) Backbench debates: First a debate to mark the 50th anniversary of the expulsion of Asians from Uganda, led by Lord Popat who arrived in the UK from Uganda in 1971, at the age of 17. Then peers debate the report from the Communications and Digital Committee: Free for all? Freedom of expression in the digital age.
Commons: (09:30) More second reading debates on private members bills - new laws proposed by individual MPs, beginning with Sir Mark Hendrick's Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill.
Labour's Yasmin Quereshi has yet another employment-related bill, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill.
rd is the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill, from Sally-Anne Hart.
It's just possible the Green Party's Caroline Lucas may have the chance to speak on her Countryside and Rights of Way Act (Amendment) Bill.
Lords: (10:00) Second Reading debates on private members bills proposed by peers: Government of Wales (Devolved Powers) Bill proposed by Plaid Cymru's Lord Wigley; the Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill [HL] from the Bishop of St Albans and the Women, Peace and Security Bill from Baroness Hodgson of Abinger.
Finally there's Lord Alton of Liverpool's Genocide Determination Bill - the latest iteration of a long-running campaign aimed at China's actions against the Uighur people in Xinjiang. The bill would provide for the High Courts in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland, and the Court of Session in Scotland, the power to make preliminary determinations as to what constitutes genocide.
Lord Alton has raised the subject of genocide more than 300 times in the House of Lords, and has introduced amendments which would have a similar effect, to other legislation, coordinating with sympathetic MPs in the Commons. | /news/uk-politics-63347338 |
technology | Guardian newspaper hit by suspected ransomware attack | Guardian newspaper has come under a suspected ransomware attack.
It said there had been a "serious incident" affecting its IT systems in the last 24 hours, with disruption to "behind the scenes services".
mpany said it was continuing to publish globally to its website - one of the most visited news sites in the world - and was "confident" it could still print the physical paper.
Staff have been told not to go into the office and to work from home.
In a statement, the Guardian said: "Our technology teams have been working to deal with all aspects of this incident, with the vast majority of our staff able to work from home as we did during the pandemic.
"We believe this to be a ransomware attack, but are continuing to consider all possibilities."
Ransomware is malicious software used by hackers - and often sent via attachments in emails - to gain access to an organisation's or individual's computer systems.
riminals then find and encrypt important or sensitive files - and demand a ransom for them to be unlocked.
Watch: What is ransomware and how does it work?
A huge range of targets - from schools and hospitals to government agencies and media organisations - have fallen victim to ransomware, with research indicating hackers are paid in the majority of cases, especially in the UK.
According to the Press Gazette, the Guardian is the ninth most-read news site in the world, with almost 390 million visits in November.
In its own reporting of the incident, the Guardian said online publishing was "largely unaffected".
It said Guardian Media Group chief executive Anna Bateson and editor-in-chief Katharine Viner had sent a message to the company's workforce.
"Thank you to everyone working hard throughout this incident to keep us publishing," they said.
"We will continue to keep our staff and anyone else affected informed.
"With a few key exceptions, we would like everyone to work from home for the remainder of the week unless we notify you otherwise."
Jake Moore, global cyber-security adviser at security software company ESET, said the Guardian being targeted was not a surprise.
"News organisations have become a regular target for cyber-attacks this year, and these attacks often have even more damaging effects on the companies targeted," he said.
"Ransomware can often bring all departments to a standstill, so it is fortunate that despite this attack the organisation will still see some key areas working as usual." | /news/technology-64056300 |
business | UK government to bring in e-scooter law | government has said new rules to expand legal use of e-scooters are a priority for the upcoming year.
It also said it would legislate to create a new body to oversee UK railways and ban ferries that do not pay workers the equivalent of minimum wage from docking at UK ports.
government outlined the plans in the Queen's Speech on Tuesday.
E-scooters are widely sold and seen, but are currently only legal on private land or from government hire schemes.
"While riding a privately owned e-scooter on public land is currently illegal, we are considering how best to design future regulations and our Transport Bill will help us to take the steps we need to make e-scooters safer and support innovation," a government spokeswoman said.
Official rental trial schemes have been set up in more than 30 areas across England. E-scooters in these trials are limited to 15.5mph and have automatic lights as safety features.
"Safety will always be our top priority and our trials are helping us to better understand the benefits of properly regulated, safety-tested e-scooters and their impact on public space," a spokeswoman said.
Private e-scooters are widely sold, prompting concerns about illegal and unsafe use.
On 27 April, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs he would "crack down" on illegal e-scooter sales in England.
But he also hinted that models that did meet government standards could soon be legalised for use on public roads in England.
AA's president Edmund King said "With e-scooters and other forms of micro-mobility popping up more frequently on UK roads, it makes sense that safety regulation should come first.
"If introduced alongside appropriate infrastructure, e-mobility could help provide a positive shift in greener localised travel both for individuals and last-mile freight."
Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) said it was critical the government considered the needs of people who are blind or partially sighted.
Moussa Haddad, a policy manager for the charity, said: "E-scooters are fast-moving, operate quietly, making them difficult to detect, and are often ridden on pavements despite rules prohibiting this.
"Because of this, they pose particular risks for blind and partially sighted pedestrians."
rity said it was working with the Department for Transport, local councils and e-scooter operators to try to address these concerns.
"Making e-scooters more visually and audibly detectable will help reduce the risks these vehicles pose but these are only some of the solutions that are being explored," Mr Haddad added.
In December, Transport for London introduced a ban on e-scooters and e-unicycles on its network, after a number of fires caused by the devices.
reation of a new public sector body to oversee Britain's railways was also included in the Queen's Speech.
Great British Railways (GBR) will "simplify" the rail network and improve services for passengers, according to a Downing Street briefing document on the Transport Bill.
It will incorporate the state-owned Network Rail and take on responsibilities from the Department for Transport.
GBR will issue passenger service contracts to private companies to run trains.
riefing document stated that it will "act as the single national leader of the railways", with "a clear mandate, goals and budgets set by the government, who will reserve powers of direction".
recommendations of a review of the rail industry carried out by former British Airways chief executive Keith Williams following the chaotic introduction of new timetables in May 2018.
In addition, new legislation will seek to ban ferries that do not pay their workers the equivalent of the minimum wage from docking at UK ports.
government said tens of thousands of seafarers will benefit from measures to ensure they are paid the national minimum wage, in the wake of the row over P&O Ferries sacking almost 800 workers.
Ministers said it was a "major step forward" on pay protection, but the TUC described the proposals as "feeble and unworkable."
Under the reforms, ferry operators who regularly call at UK ports will be required to pay their workers the equivalent of the UK national minimum wage.
government said it will implement the changes in the next parliamentary session and will consult with ports and the maritime sector over the next four weeks.
Options under consideration include surcharges, suspension of port access and fines.
ransport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "We will stop at nothing to make sure seafarers in UK ports are being paid fairly.
"P&O Ferries' disgraceful actions do not represent the principles of our world-leading maritime sector, and changing the law on seafarer pay protection is a clear signal to everyone that we will not tolerate economic abuse of workers.
"We will protect all seafarers regularly sailing in and out of UK ports and ensure they are not priced out of a job.
"Ferry operators which regularly call at UK ports will face consequences if they do not pay their workers fairly."
But TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said stronger rules were necessary.
"The government has done nothing to tackle the most flagrant labour abuse in years by P&O," she said.
"Only stronger employment legislation that boosts worker protections and stops companies firing on the spot will prevent another P&O-type scandal."
Richard Ballantyne, chief executive at the British Ports Association, said ports regulating ships in such a way would be unprecedented.
"Enforcing the minimum wage is not an area where ports have a core competency," he said. "This should be a job for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency or HM Revenue & Customs." | /news/business-61354078 |
health | Charities warn Rishi Sunak about cost of living crisis suicide risk | Rishi Sunak has been warned about the impact the cost of living crisis is having on mental health and suicide rates.
In an open letter to the prime minister, 19 charities including the Samaritans and Mind, have urged the prime minister "to act with speed and compassion to tackle the root causes of destitution".
People living in the most deprived 10% of areas in the UK are more than twice as likely to die from suicide than those living in the wealthiest 10% of areas, according to the Office for National Statistics.
government has pledged £5.4m funding to over 100 suicide prevention charities to support them to deliver their services.
In addition, £15m has been invested through the Prevention and Promotion for Better Mental Health Fund in 40 local authority areas in the most deprived parts of the country.
In their letter, the charities say they will continue to provide all the support they can but add: "The first intervention to reduce mental ill health and prevent suicide is to ensure every household has the means to be safe and warm with enough to eat."
Last year 5,583 suicides were registered in England and Wales which was 6.9% higher than in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Mental health charities have reported an increase in concerns about money, with the Samaritans saying they were contacted 12,000 times in July alone.
Mind's Infoline has seen a 40% rise in calls related to money compared with last year.
Some 77% of adults in Great Britain reported feeling very or somewhat worried about the rising costs of living, according to the Sunak warned about hardship suicide rate riskOffice for National Statistics.
Samaritans say that with over 1.5 million people currently on a waiting list for help, the cost of living crisis could put the mental health system "on the brink of collapse."
government has had a suicide prevention strategy in place for England since 2012 and in 2019 it launched a cross-government "workplan" to coordinate action by the NHS, charities and local government.
Watch: Sajid Javid on losing his brother to suicide
Labour's Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Rosena Allin-Khan has called on the government to "recommit" to the strategy.
She added: "The next Labour government will enshrine a truly preventative approach to mental health, opening mental health hubs in every community."
In October, Conservative MP Jason McCartney raised the issue on the House of Commons, saying that each death is "a tragedy for their family, for their friends and their communities."
Mr McCartney told the BBC: "I've lost two friends who took their own lives. I think of them regularly.
"Fundamentally I believe we must do more to lower the suicide rate for no other reason than it's in all of our interests to do so."
He is calling for a Commons debate on how the government can work with charities, like the Samaritans, to achieve the lowest ever recorded suicide rate.
He said: "Suicide is the biggest killer of young men in Britain today. It needs to be addressed the same way as any other illness.
"I would like to see a recommitment to improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes, particularly for people who experience worse outcomes than the general population."
former health Secretary, Sajid Javid, has supported a digital suicide prevention service called 'Shout'.
Shout is a free, confidential and 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling.
He spoke at an event launching a report that looked at the cost efficacy of the charity "Shout" as a suicide prevention service.
Mr Javid said: "Every 90 minutes someone loses their life to suicide. This report is not only timely but needed."
report aims to estimate the number of lives saved by Shout and the cost savings to the UK economy.
Suicide is the most common reason those under 18 text Shout, accounting for 37% of their conversations.
NHS Five Year Forward View for Mental Health was published in 2016 included a commitment to reduce the rate of suicides in England by 10% by 2020 compared to 2015 levels.
However, the suicide rate in England in 2020 was almost the same as the 2015 rate.
government have said they understand the negative impact financial troubles can have on a person's mental health.
A government spokesperson said: "Our Breathing Space scheme has protected over 100,000 people from charges, distressing letters and bailiff visits, giving them time to find a debt solution that works for them.
"We are already investing £2.3bn a year by 2023/24 into mental health services, meaning an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to access NHS-funded mental health support they need by 2024."
government have also provided £79 million in funding to expand children's mental health services.
Breathing Space scheme protections means people in mental health crisis treatment have legal protections from their creditors, for the full duration of their crisis treatment plus another 30 days. | /news/uk-politics-63200639 |
entertainment | Lena Horne first black actress to have Broadway theatre named in her honour | Actress Lena Horne has become the first black woman to have a Broadway theatre named in her honour.
re, on West 47th Street, was built in 1926 and is currently hosting the hit British musical Six.
It comes a couple of weeks after another Broadway theatre was named after Star Wars actor James Earl Jones.
Horne, who died in 2010, battled racial segregation to win a major Hollywood film contract and later found international fame as a singer.
She later became the first black woman to be nominated for a Tony Award, Broadway theatre's highest honour, for her starring role in the 1957 calypso musical Jamaica.
In 1981, she received a special Tony Award for Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, a one-woman Broadway show in which she sang and discussed the ups and downs of her life.
"She opened so many doors for us that we as people of colour can thank her for being a beacon of light," singer and actress Vanessa Williams told ABC News.
Horne's granddaughter, Jenny Lumet, attended Wednesday night's unveiling and said she was overwhelmed by the honour.
"I didn't quite realise how emotional it was until I started speaking about it," she said.
"My grandmother would've pretended not to be as thrilled as she was. But she would have been completely, completely thrilled."
Born in 1917, Horne got her start in the chorus line of Harlem's famed Cotton Club when she was a teenager. She soon became a popular singer, and MGM signed her to star in its movie musicals in 1942.
She was not the first black woman to land a studio contract - MGM had signed actress Nina Mae McKinney for five years in 1929 - but she was the first to make an impact.
In 1943, she played Selina Rogers in the all-black film musical Stormy Weather, and the title song became both a major hit and her signature tune.
However, she never became a fully-fledged film star. She later recalled that her appearances in all-star musicals like Two Girls And A Sailor and Ziegfeld Follies often amounted to a few minutes of screen time that could be easily cut when the movies played in America's southern states.
When Horne's contract ended, she became a successful theatre star, recording artist and civil rights advocate, taking part in the historic March on Washington in 1963 where Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech.
She won four Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement prize in 1989, while her 1957 live album, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, was the best-selling record by a female singer in RCA Victor's history.
When actress Halle Berry became the first black woman to win a best actress Oscar in 2002, she cited Horne as a pioneer who had paved the way for her breakthrough.
However, Horne often downplayed the scale of her achievements.
"I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept," she once said.
"I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked."
wly-christened Lena Horne Theater was originally the Mansfield Theater. It was renamed in honour of the New York Times critic Justin Brooks Atkinson in 1960.
Horne's name was selected to fulfil a promise made by Broadway's three biggest landlords when black artists pressed for greater recognition in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
In September, the Shubert Organisation renamed its Cort Theater in honour two-time Tony Award winner James Earl Jones.
"It means a lot. It's too heavy for me to try to define," said the actor, who has appeared in 21 Broadway shows, and is best-known as the voice of Darth Vader.
Jujamcyn Theaters already had a venue named for American playwright August Wilson, who died in 2005.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams welcomed the changes to what is known as The Great White Way - the Broadway district that houses 41 professional theatres.
"What we are saying is that The Great White Way must have some chocolate on it," he told reporters. | /news/entertainment-arts-63497428 |
sports | Fencing World Championships: Marcus Mepstead wins silver | Great Britain's Marcus Mepstead won silver in the men's foil at the Fencing World Championship in Hungary.
Mepstead, 29, lost 15-6 to France's world number 10 Enzo Lefort in a one-sided final in Budapest.
Britain's world number 51 beat world number one and defending champion Alessio Foconi on his way to the final.
"I would have liked to have fenced better in the final to show off the sport a little more but I'm proud of what I have achieved," he said.
"The semi-final was really tough. In fact everyone I fenced was really good so I think I've done really well.
"Since moving to coach Dan Kellner, based in New York, my preparation is a little better and my self-confidence has grown."
Kellner added: "I'm just so proud of Marcus. The lead-up to this event wasn't the best. Marcus got sick, cut his hand and needed stitches and then had to miss his final training sessions."
Richard Kruse won silver in the foil at the 2018 World Championships in China, Britain's first medal since Bill Hoskyns claimed epee silver in 1965.
Kruse, James Davis and Ben Peggs went out in the round of 64. | /sport/fencing/49059756 |
politics | PMQs: Fact-checking claims about asylum and migrants | Delays in processing asylum claims and the cost of providing hotel accommodation for asylum-seekers were some of the issues debated at Prime Minister's Questions.
Labour leader Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of presiding over a "broken" asylum system, Rishi Sunak said Labour had "no plan" on how to deal with the thousands of migrants arriving in the UK in small boats.
We've had a look at some of the claims.
Keir Starmer asked the prime minister how many asylum claims from those who arrived in the UK on small boats last year had been processed.
Mr Sunak said: "not enough is the answer", but did not give a figure.
Mr Starmer went on to say that it was 4% of them, which is correct.
Speaking to the Home Affairs Committee last week, Home Office official Dan Hobbs said about small boat arrivals in 2021: "96% of those claims remain outstanding".
He added that of the 4% of claims which had been processed, around 85% were given asylum.
klog figures for the year to the end of June 2022, show 103,000 asylum applications awaiting a decision.
Keir Starmer said to the prime minister: "His home secretary says the asylum system is broken - who broke it?"
Mr Sunak responded by talking about free movement.
"We gave the British people a referendum on Brexit, we delivered Brexit, we ended the free movement of people," he said.
But free movement and the asylum system are not the same thing.
Free movement is the European Union principle that all EU nationals are allowed to live and work in any EU country.
On 31 December 2020, this freedom ended for EU citizens coming to the UK (and for UK citizens going to the EU).
um system is a set of rules around how people fleeing persecution can try to get protection in the UK.
Members of the government have been describing migrants arriving in small boats as illegal since the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 made it an offence to physically arrive on the shores of the UK without permission, although the legislation has not yet been tested in court.
We've heard the £5.6m figure before from Home Office official Abi Tierney, who appeared before a committee of MPs last week.
She said that the cost of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers was £5.6m a day, although that was the figure for all asylum seekers, not just for those who had arrived in small boats.
It's also not just for those who arrived this year and not all arrivals are being housed in hotels.
Ms Tierney said that on top of this figure, £1.2m per day is spent on hotel accommodation for people brought over from Afghanistan, bringing the bill to a total of £6.8m a day.
rime minister gave this figure for the increase in staff numbers when asked what the government was doing about speeding up the processing of asylum claims.
Ms Tierney told MPs last week that they had increased the number of asylum "decision makers" by 584 to 1,073, which would mean they had previously had only 489 of them.
would be an increase of 119%, although neither she nor the prime minister gave a time period.
Reality Check asked the Home Office where the 80% figure came from and they confirmed that they had 597 staff in 2019-20, which had now increased to 1,073, which is indeed an 80% increase.
What claims do you want BBC Reality Check to investigate? Get in touch
Read more from Reality Check | /news/63489695 |
politics | Watchdog apologises after MPs' Christmas expenses row | Parliament's expenses watchdog has apologised for publishing advice that MPs could claim for the cost of an office Christmas party.
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) faced a backlash from MPs after saying they could claim for festive get-togethers.
MPs on all sides rejected the guidance, with one calling it "bonkers" amid a cost of living crisis.
Ipsa's chief executive Ian Todd said the body had "got the messaging wrong".
In a letter posted online, he added that some MPs had had to deal with "phone calls, e-mails and in some cases abuse as a result of our guidance".
Ipsa had initially defended its approach, saying after it was published that holding a "modest gathering" for MPs' staff was "entirely appropriate".
In his letter, Mr Todd said Ipsa had produced the guidance following requests for advice about applying the organisation's rulebook.
He added that afterwards he was contacted by numerous MPs, who "have made it clear to me that they have never made such claims in the past and have no intention of doing so in the future. I accept and respect that."
"We got the messaging wrong by allowing the impression to form that this is what MPs were wanting to do, rather than our interpretation of the discretion available under the existing rules," he added.
"We are an independent body and we make our own decisions but occasionally, like everyone, we make mistakes."
"In issuing it we also failed to recognise the public mood at a time of severe economic and financial pressures. I am sorry for that."
In an update from Ipsa last week, MPs were told they could claim for "festive office events" for staff - as long as they were parliamentary in nature, not party political and represented value for money.
MPs were told they could claim for food, decorations and drinks - but not alcohol.
was roundly criticised by MPs across the political spectrum.
Labour MPs were told it would "clearly be inappropriate" for them to claim at a time of rising living costs. Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain also said none of her party's MPs would be claiming, calling the advice "tone deaf" amid the cost living crisis.
Conservative Former Brexit secretary David Davis called the rules "bonkers" and said Ipsa had "missed the mood of the age".
A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wouldn't be claiming for a party, and that MPs would have to "justify all spending to their constituents". | /news/uk-politics-63750920 |
sports | European Shooting Championships: Lucy Hall secures silver and GB Olympic quota place | Teenager Lucy Hall secured a Paris 2024 Olympic quota place for Great Britain after taking silver at the European Shooting Championships.
18-year-old was second in the women's trap event in Larnaca, Cyprus behind Italy's Silvana Stanco with the top two nations earning Olympic spots.
re was also a bronze for Nathan Hales in the men's trap.
Hales had earlier beaten team-mate Matthew Coward-Holley, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist.
Hall started her final superbly, missing just one of her first 15 shots to guarantee a medal, before three misses in the next 10 saw her drop to second behind Stanco but she recovered to hold on to silver.
"I'm so happy to get the spot for GB and obviously the silver at the Europeans. I'm over the moon," she said.
"I had a good first 15 and then 10 that were OK and then the last 10 that was really good. But I'm just so happy for the silver medal and the quota place." | /sport/shooting/62705129 |
business | Scratch card sales fall as cost of living rises | People are buying fewer scratch cards than before the pandemic as living costs soar, the boss of Camelot has said.
Nigel Railton, chief executive of the outgoing UK National Lottery operator, said there had been a "slight bubble" around scratch cards during the pandemic which has now "reversed".
It came as Camelot revealed annual sales dropped by £283.2m to £8.1bn.
firm said it was seeing signs that players had "tightened their belts".
Camelot, which has run the National Lottery since it was launched, recently started legal action against the Gambling Commission after losing out on the next licence.
Rival Allwyn was selected as the preferred applicant for the lottery's next licence, which starts in 2024.
Camelot said its sales decline for the year ending 31 March was primarily driven by a £240m fall in sales of National Lottery Instants.
It blamed this on the lifting of lockdown restrictions, which it said led to "greater competition for people's attention and spend", as well as "growing economic uncertainty".
f living crisis had slowed down the retail recovery as "consumers tightened their belts", Camelot said.
Mr Railton told the BBC's Today programme the company had seen a shift in consumer behaviour following the pandemic.
"There was a slight bubble around scratch cards and games in retail during Covid and that reversed, and also because we have 44,000 retailers, we saw a change in people's buying behaviour," he said.
"So scratch cards decreased by a couple of 100 million [pounds] in the year."
He said sales of scratch cards are now "well below" pre-pandemic levels.
Lazaros Gonidis, a psychology lecturer at the University of Kent, said there could be a range of factors driving the fall in scratch card sales.
"We do see that in an economic downturn, people have less spare cash and so they think twice about picking up scratch cards," he told the BBC.
"But it's also true that other people might turn to gambling in the hope of improving their personal financial situation. It could be that they're doing this more online, rather than buying scratch cards in stores," he added.
"It's a complex picture."
In March, the Gambling Commission announced Allwyn Entertainment Ltd as its preferred applicant for the National Lottery's next licence.
xt month, Camelot said it was taking legal action to challenge the decision.
Mr Railton told the BBC he believed the regulator had "got the decision badly wrong".
But the Gambling Commission said it had run a "fair and robust" competition.
National Lottery is one of the world's largest lotteries and has raised more than £45bn for 660,000 causes across the UK.
It has also played a part in funding training and facilities over the past three decades for Great Britain's Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
While not being picked as the preferred applicant for the next licence, Camelot was named as the "reserve applicant". | /news/business-61964399 |
technology | Life after one week with robots in Leeds | Robots that deliver food from a nearby supermarket have been deployed in areas around Leeds as part of a trial.
BBC reporter Jacob Tomlinson went to Adel in West Yorkshire to see what the community thought of the robots one week after being introduced.
One resident said: "They're the cutest things I've seen" whilst another said they have been "causing chaos".
robots navigate themselves and are programmed to stop for traffic and people. | /news/uk-england-leeds-63894677 |
sports | Thaw averted at the only ice rink in the Borders | Curlers at the only ice rink in the Borders can now be assured of a solid surface after accepting a grant for new ice-making machinery.
Borders Ice Rink in Kelso plays host to almost 400 curlers, as well as dozens of skaters.
But refrigeration breakdowns often led to unplanned closures and cancellations as the ice started to melt.
week a cheque for £75,000 was handed over by the Fallago Environment Fund.
Andrew Wemyss, chair of the Borders Ice Rink, said: "The plant machinery we have just now is outdated, unreliable, and very difficult to find parts for.
"This curling season was delayed by two weeks because of the latest breakdown.
"This amazing grant will allow us to have good, reliable plant machinery that will keep the ice how we want it, and also be more efficient and lead to lower bills."
Borders Ice Rink first opened in 1964, and has produced several international players, including 2007 senior world champions Keith Prentice and Tommy Fleming, world junior silver medallist Cameron Bryce, and world junior gold medallist from last year, Angus Bryce.
-making refrigeration units at Kelso date back to the the mid-1980s.
David Melrose from Duns, who was part of the GB team that claimed silver at the 2019 world wheelchair curling championships, is delighted that the system is to be replaced.
He said: "If the rink wasn't here I would have to travel to Stirling or Edinburgh for training facilities.
"It's a very well used rink and it is important that we have a reliable ice-making plant."
A total of 24 curling clubs use the Borders Ice Rink for practice and tournaments.
Gareth Baird, chair of the Fallago Environment Fund, handed over the cheque this week.
He said: "We're delighted that these windfarm-generated funds are helping to ensure a sustainable future for curling and skating in the Scottish Borders."
w equipment is currently being purchased with installation scheduled for early in the new year. | /news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-63642566 |
politics | Has court ruling boosted support for independence? | A shift of opinion registered in one poll should always be regarded with caution.
But when a number of polls all record much the same shift, it is highly likely that something has changed.
Before the Supreme Court pronounced on 23 November that the Scottish Parliament could not legislate for a referendum on independence without the agreement of the UK parliament, most polls of how people would vote in another independence referendum put No narrowly ahead.
Five polls conducted in September and October on average put No on 51% (once those saying Don't Know were excluded) while Yes were credited with 49%.
However, four polls conducted since the Supreme Court judgement have all put Yes ahead - on average by 54% to 46%.
Support for independence has not been consistently that high in the polls since the beginning of 2021, when Scotland was still in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown.
f the Supreme Court was widely welcomed by those who would like Scotland to remain part of the UK.
However, in the short run at least, it appears to have undermined popular support for the Union somewhat.
Underneath the overall figures there is a big age difference.
On average, in the latest polls nearly three-quarters (72%) of those aged 16 to 24 say they would vote Yes, whereas only two in five (40%) of those who are 65 or older want Scotland to leave the UK.
In contrast, there is majority support for independence among both men (53%) and women (54%) - a big difference from the position in 2014 when men were markedly more likely than women to vote Yes.
question of whether there should be another referendum is, of course, highly controversial.
However, for the most part those who want Scotland to become independent support the idea, while those who wish to remain in the UK are opposed.
For example, when Redfield & Wilton asked whether there should a referendum in the next year, 90% of supporters said there should, while 91% of No supporters felt there should not.
However, most polling suggests that some Yes supporters would prefer to delay any referendum to beyond next year.
For example, Ipsos found that while two-thirds of Yes supporters would prefer a referendum next year, a quarter would want to leave it until some point between 2024 and 2026.
Even so, their views are still very different from those of No supporters, just 6% of whom want a referendum at some point between now and the next Holyrood election in 2026.
YouGov also find that Yes supporters are keener on a referendum being held at some point in the next five years than they are on having one next year - but that most Unionist supporters are not keen on either prospect.
But why might the Supreme Court decision have persuaded some voters to switch to Yes?
One possible clue comes from YouGov's poll, which found that 51% of all voters believe that the Scottish Parliament should have the power to call a referendum without the agreement of the UK government, while only 39% took the opposite view.
Perhaps crucially, nearly a quarter (23%) of those who voted No in 2014 believe that the Scottish Parliament should be able to hold a referendum.
uggests the Supreme Court's decision may have jarred with some voters.
However, the same YouGov poll also suggests voters have their doubts about Nicola Sturgeon's proposal in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that a majority vote for pro-independence parties at the next UK election should be regarded as a mandate for independence.
Only 39% support this idea, while 52% are opposed - including nearly one in four (23%) of those who voted for the SNP at the last UK election in 2019.
In truth, the latest polls provide plenty of food for thought for both sides in Scotland's continuing constitutional debate. | /news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63960289 |
business | Eight million Australians urged to turn off lights | Australia's energy minister has urged households in New South Wales - a state that includes the country's biggest city Sydney - to switch off their lights in the face of an energy crisis.
Chris Bowen says people should not use electricity for two hours every evening if they "have a choice".
However, he added he was "confident" that blackouts could be avoided.
It comes after Australia's main wholesale electricity market was suspended because of a surge in prices.
Mr Bowen asked people living in New South Wales to conserve as much power as possible.
"If you have a choice about when to run certain items, don't run them from 6 to 8 [in the evening]," he said during a televised media conference in Canberra.
Australia is one of the world's biggest exporters of coal and liquefied natural gas but has been struggling with a power crisis since last month. Three quarters of the country's electricity is still generated using coal. It has long been accused of not doing enough to cut its emissions by investing in renewables.
In recent weeks, Australia has felt the impact of disruptions to coal supplies, outages at several coal-fired power plants and soaring global energy prices.
Flooding earlier this year hit some coal mines in New South Wales and Queensland, while technical issues have cut production at two mines that supply the market's biggest coal-fired station in New South Wales.
Around a quarter of Australia's coal-fired electricity generating capacity is currently out of service due to unexpected outages and scheduled maintenance.
Some electricity producers have seen their costs soar as global coal and gas prices have jumped due to sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, demand for energy has jumped amid a cold snap and as Australia's economy opens up after Covid-19 restrictions were eased.
All of this has helped drive up power prices on the wholesale market to above the A$300 (£173; $210) per megawatt hour price cap set by the market's regulator, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo).
However, that cap was below the cost of production for several generators, who decided to withhold capacity.
On Wednesday, Aemo took the unprecedented step of suspending the market and said it would set prices directly and compensate generators for the shortfall.
It also asked consumers in New South Wales to "temporarily reduce their energy usage".
Aemo has not given a timeline on when the suspension would be lifted. It said in a statement, "The price cap will remain until cumulative wholesale electricity prices fall below the cumulative price threshold."
"Aemo, as the national power system operator, will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates should conditions change," it added.
On Thursday, Australia's biggest electricity producer AGL Energy said it expected to be able to supply more power to businesses and consumers in the coming days.
It has three units that have been out of service at its coal-fired plant in Bayswater, New South Wales.
re among several planned and unplanned outages that have helped cause the power crisis.
AGL said that one of the units should return to service on Thursday, while another will come back online by Saturday.
Meanwhile, Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the crisis would be raised at a meeting with state premiers which starts on Thursday.
Lynne Chester, an energy expert from the University of Sydney, told the BBC that policymakers have been aware of the risks of ageing generators for decades.
"The sector's regulators and policy makers have ignored the escalating capacity constraints of aging generation assets, fired by fossil fuels, that dominate the sector," Prof Chester said.
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Why are UK energy prices so high? | /news/business-61821423 |
health | Flu nasal spray vaccine for children may reduce strep A risk | A nasal spray vaccine that protects children against flu may also help protect against strep A infections, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says.
It found that rates of strep A were lower in areas where the vaccine was offered to all primary-age children when it was first being used.
Everyone eligible for a flu vaccine is urged to get one after a sharp rise in hospital admission levels last week.
Children under five and the over-85s are the most vulnerable age groups.
re are unusually high rates of Group A strep infections in the UK at present, including scarlet fever and strep throat. Most are mild and easily treated, often with antibiotics, but occasionally the infection causes serious problems when it becomes invasive.
re have been 18 confirmed deaths of children in the UK with this form of the infection since September - the highest since the winter of 2017-18.
UKHSA study of data from 2013-17, which is not yet peer-reviewed, found that rates of strep infections were lower in areas where the flu vaccine was piloted - 73.5 per 100,000 children aged two to four years old - compared to areas where it was not offered as widely - 93 per 100,000 children.
re was no difference in the number of children reported to have scarlet fever or invasive group A strep (iGAS), however, the analysis said.
Parents of any primary school age children who have missed out on the nasal spray flu vaccine can still get it by contacting their GP surgery, school or local vaccination clinic.
free on the NHS for:
winter, the vaccine is also being offered to the youngest secondary school aged children in December and January.
"Children who catch influenza are at greater risk from subsequent infections, including group A strep, so these findings provide yet more reasons for parents of eligible children to bring them forward for the flu vaccine," Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, from UKHSA, said.
Hospital admission rates for flu have risen sharply in the past week and have now overtaken admissions for Covid-19 in England, latest figures show.
When compared to the actual number of people in hospital with Covid, the number of patients with flu is relatively small - still below 2,000. But it is the speed of increase that is being watched carefully - up by two-thirds in a week.
under-fives and over-85s are most likely to become ill with flu, but vaccine take-up is low in young children (less than 40%).
As people mix more indoors than in previous years, winter viruses are rising, including flu and Covid, with health officials warning they are expected to continue going up.
Flu, particularly, is putting more people in hospital in England than at any point since the winter of 2017-18, when there was a large wave.
Admission rates have doubled in the over-85s and children under five years old in the past week, says the UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) latest weekly winter briefing - increasing to 6.8 per 100,000 people overall.
While most older adults are getting jabbed against flu, fewer than a third of pregnant women and fewer than half of the extremely vulnerable under-65s have had a flu vaccine.
"The flu vaccine offers the best protection against severe illness and it's not too late for everyone eligible to get it," said Dr Conall Watson, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA.
Covid is also beginning to increase again, infecting one in 50 people.
Serious illness from Covid is affecting the oldest age groups the most, and they are the ones most likely to end up in hospital.
UKHSA said anyone who is over 50 or has an underlying condition that makes them high risk should come forward to get their booster jab.
mates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest 1.3 million people tested positive for coronavirus in the week to 5 December - up from 1.1 million the week before.
Infection levels are now similar to where they were at the end of September.
Covid rates by nation, according to the ONS, are:
figures are based on random tests of thousands of people in households across the UK, whether or not they have symptoms.
was collected by the ONS for the week ending 5 December 2022 for England, Wales and Scotland, and the week ending 3 December 2022 for Northern Ireland. | /news/health-64002174 |
politics | Penny Mordaunt moves first in race to replace Liz Truss | Penny Mordaunt has become the first Conservative MP to say they will run to replace Liz Truss as prime minister.
Commons leader said she was standing to "unite our country" and win the next general election.
Rishi Sunak is yet to confirm he is standing, but he has already amassed 87 of the 100 endorsements from MPs he would need to take part.
Boris Johnson has not ruled out a comeback, months after being forced out of No 10 after a Tory revolt.
former prime minister - who is currently out of the country - has 44 MPs backing him. Ms Mordaunt currently trails both Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak, with only 21 public supporters.
International Trade Minister James Duddridge, a former parliamentary aide to Mr Johnson, has told the BBC: "Boris is coming, and he has the momentum and support. He is coming home and is up for it.
"He is the only election winner we have that has a proven track record in London, on Brexit, and in gaining the mandate we have now."
Ms Mordaunt is currently Commons leader and was briefly defence secretary under Theresa May.
49-year-old Portsmouth North MP backed Brexit and has worked hard to build up her profile with party activists, but did not get enough support from MPs to reach the members' ballot last time.
ry party bosses have decided contenders will need 100 nominations from fellow Conservative MPs, a much higher threshold than normal, meaning no more than three MPs will be able to stand.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has ruled himself out of the contest, adding he is "leaning towards" backing Boris Johnson.
He told reporters Mr Johnson had a "mandate" from the 2019 general election and "could win the next election".
Mr Sunak has won a high-level endorsement of his own, with former chancellor and home secretary Sajid Javid backing his leadership bid.
ry MP Angela Richardson said on Friday she had signed Mr Sunak's "nomination papers for Conservative Party leader".
Ms Richardson, who has already declared her support for Mr Sunak, described this as a "positive end to an extraordinary week in Westminster".
Earlier this week, the leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt told MPs the prime minister was not "under her desk" hiding when she stood in for Ms Truss at the despatch box.
It sounded more mischievous than helpful and Ms Mordaunt's own ambition to sit behind the No 10 desk has never been in doubt.
She is hoping for early momentum by breaking cover first. Rishi Sunak currently has the most publicly declared support among Tory MPs and the former chancellor is expected to announce he's running soon.
will both pitch themselves as unifying candidates.
With the threshold for nominations set so high, a maximum of three candidates can reach the first ballot on Monday.
g question heading into the weekend is whether Boris Johnson attempts to boomerang back into Downing Street.
former prime minister has already got a couple of Cabinet endorsements but other Tory MPs are horrified at the idea of Mr Johnson making a comeback.
It's a prospect that splits Conservative MPs between delight and despair. The chance of a backroom deal and simple coronation seems to be receding as the rival campaigns fire up.
If Mr Johnson did make a comeback it would be unprecedented in modern British political history, coming three months after he was forced out by his own MPs following a string of scandals.
ry MP Jesse Norman, one of scores of ministers to quit his government over the summer, said bringing him back would be an "absolutely catastrophic decision".
And former Conservative leader Lord Hague told Times Radio it "would be going round in circles" and "could become a death spiral" for the party.
"I think it's possibly the worst idea I've heard of in the 46 years I've been a member of the Conservative Party," he said.
Polling suggests he remains popular with Tory members, but another tilt at the leadership could prove divisive among Tory MPs, some of whom have said they would quit politics if he came back.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out of the race, along with Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and former cabinet minister Michael Gove.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch are thought to be considering bids.
Contenders have until 14:00 BST on Monday to find 100 backers. If three reach the threshold, Conservative MPs will knock out one contender in a ballot on the same day.
MPs will hold an "indicative" ballot of the final two, with the winner then decided in an online vote of party members, to finish next Friday. | /news/uk-politics-63348370 |
entertainment | Hampshire artist talks about life with Parkinson's disease | An antiques dealer who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a decade ago says that his art helps him to "be still".
Ian Parmiter, from Portsmouth, has learnt to see the positives in his condition.
He has filled his home with an enormous range of antiquities and objects that inspire him - and turned to painting and building sculptures, with considerable success.
His work is now on display at an art gallery in the city.
Video journalist: James Ingham
Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-hampshire-63315586 |
politics | What we just learned about China's economy | Chinese Communist Party's congress concluded on Sunday with the set-piece confirmation of Xi Jinping's historic third five-year term in charge.
ght was also on the man named as his new second-in-command, Li Qiang.
A loyalist to Mr Xi, he is now on track to become Premier and tasked with managing the world's second largest economy.
Meanwhile, on Monday, China released a set of economic figures which had been postponed from the previous week.
China's economy faces a number of challenges at home and abroad - including Beijing's zero-Covid policies and the trade conflict with the US.
What have we learned about the state of the country's economy over the last week?
On Monday, stocks in Hong Kong slumped and China's currency, the yuan, weakened against the US dollar over heightened concerns that Mr Xi will continue with his ideology-driven policies at the cost of economic growth.
mark Hang Seng index fell by more than 6% as Hong Kong-listed shares in Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent plunged. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index closed 2% lower.
Meanwhile, official figures showed that China's economy grew 3.9% in the July to September quarter from the same time last year, beating estimates.
It marked a strong bounce back from the 0.4% growth seen for the previous three months, when Shanghai was in lockdown.
release of the figures was postponed during the congress, with no reason given for the delay. That caused some China watchers to suggest that they may point to weakness in the economy.
"The 20th Party Congress did not reveal any new directions in economic policy. Whether the overall economic approach will deliver the type of growth that China desires remains to be seen," Bert Hofman from the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute told the BBC.
However, while the latest growth figures may seem high compared to most Western economies, they are far below the rate of expansion China has seen for decades and still some way off the 5.5% 2022 target set in March.
Since then, the Politburo - the ruling Chinese Communist Party's top policy-making body - has signalled that it may miss that target, after major cities were put into full or partial lockdowns.
Some observers say Mr Xi's picks for the Politburo Standing Committee - China's equivalent of a presidential cabinet - showed that he prizes loyalty over expertise and experience.
His choice for the new second-in-command of the party was Li Qiang.
He is expected to become China's Premier next year and take on the role of managing China's economy, even though he does not have any working experience in the central government.
Li Qiang is also just five years away from the customary retirement age of top Chinese leaders.
However, he has been closely involved in managing the local economies of Zhejiang province and Shanghai and played a key role in the set-up of a massive Tesla factory in Shanghai.
"Keeping that in mind, Li Qiang would actually be a perfect candidate for the job. He is also a strong supporter of President Xi, that means the decision making process will probably be way more efficient than before, given that those decisions are the correct ones," Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China said.
Nick Marro from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said "the dilution of that previously balanced relationship between the Premier and the president will continue under Xi's third term. But the erosion of these internal checks-and-balances will worsen the risks and consequences of policy drift."
Premier is second-in-command of China's ruling Communist party. They play a major role in managing the economy by co-ordinating the work of government ministries and the central bank.
Li Qiang's predecessor, Li Keqiang - who is viewed to be a more moderate voice, has been in the position for close to a decade and is now expected to retire after his current term expires next March.
Before the congress, there were hopes that China could ease its strict zero-Covid policy, which has hampered economic growth.
A day before the event got under way, Communist Party spokesman Sun Yeli expressed support for the policy and said "We firmly believe that the light is ahead and perseverance is victory."
ments were echoed by Mr Xi in his opening speech. He said Beijing had launched a "people's war to stop the spread of the virus" and "protected the people's health and safety to the greatest extent possible".
Yun Sun, senior fellow at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington DC, thinks China will soon begin the "incremental process" of dropping zero-Covid.
"It is well known that China is planning to reopen, and it will stimulate the growth of trade. China is trying to juggle a middle ground between control and growth. It is not either or," she told the BBC.
Meanwhile, Dan Wang from Hang Seng Bank believes "There is a general consensus that this policy will stay for the long haul."
"For the Chinese government, there is pretty much no tolerance to see a higher-than-zero death rate that is directly caused by Covid," she said.
re have also been growing concerns that China would move to close itself off from the global economy.
One of largest hurdles China faces is its "fraying relations" with the US, Mr Marro from the EIU said.
"The recent US export controls pose an existential crisis not only to China's technology ambitions, but also parts of its domestic tech sector. It will be hard for China to surmount these challenges, given that many of these tie to... fundamental differences around human rights and democratic values," he added.
"Clearly with the challenges ahead, the economic management team for Xi's next term needs to be highly competent and experienced in economic management and reforms," Mr Hofman said.
However, speaking on Sunday, Mr Xi said his country was committed to remain open to international trade.
"China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China".
"After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles - rapid economic development and long-term social stability," he added.
Watch the moment Xi Jinping leads out his new Politburo Standing Committee | /news/business-63296229 |
health | Royal United Hospitals Bath declares critical incident | Royal United Hospitals (RUH) in Bath has declared a critical incident.
rust said that "like all hospitals across the country, the RUH is extremely busy at the moment".
However it added that "people should still come forward for urgent care and support if they need it".
It follows the declaration of a critical incident by the South Western Ambulance Service, which said there was a surge in demand over the Christmas period.
A RUH spokesperson said: "On Thursday 29 December we declared a critical incident to reflect the pressure we are under.
"This enables us to work in different ways and access more support from our partners so we can continue to care for our patients.
"Our local community can support us at this busy time by choosing the most appropriate service for their needs.
"This will help ensure people who need urgent care can be seen as quickly as possible."
Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-somerset-64120824 |
health | Naked volunteers pose for Bondi Beach artwork | Some 2,500 naked volunteers have posed in the early morning light on Sydney's Bondi Beach for an artwork designed to raise awareness of skin cancer.
American photographer Spencer Tunick's latest project, aimed at encouraging Australians to get regular skin checks.
Legislation was changed to allow public nudity on the beach for the first time.
Australia is the country in the world worst affected by skin cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund says. | /news/world-australia-63767282 |
technology | How India is building a pearl farming industry | In 2016 Narendra Garwa was facing a desperate financial situation. His small book store in the village of Renwal, Rajasthan, was running at a loss.
With a family to support and little education, he searched the internet for other money-making ideas. He had some success growing vegetables in plastic bottles, but then came across a potentially more profitable crop - pearls.
"Rajasthan is a dry area with water issues. It was a challenge to think of growing pearls with limited water but I decided to try," he says.
Pearls are formed when a mollusc reacts to an irritant in its protective membrane. The mollusc deposits layers of aragonite and conchiolin, which together form nacre, also know as mother-of-pearl.
In the wild, pearl formation is rare so most pearls sold these days are from farmed molluscs, usually oysters or freshwater mussels.
ur the mollusc to form a pearl, an irritant is artificially introduced into the creature. However, it is a delicate process and the mussels or oysters must be carefully handled, as Mr Garwa found.
"My first attempt was a disaster," he admits. Of the 500 mussels he purchased, only 35 survived.
Mr Garwa had travelled to Kerala to buy the mussels - a journey of 1,700 miles involving a 36-hour train journey. He also used his savings and borrowed money to come up with the 16,000 rupees (£170; $200) needed to buy the molluscs.
In addition, Mr Garwa had dug a 10ft by 10ft pond in his back garden to keep the creatures in.
Despite the setback, he did not give up. Instead, he took a five-day course in pearl farming.
"Growing an oyster is like bringing up a baby," he says.
"Monitoring the the water throughout the growth period is crucial to achieving high quality and volume of produce."
Now he has a 40ft by 50ft pond, which he treats with multivitamins and alum which maintains the correct pH level required for growth.
urvival rate of his mussels has risen from 30% to more than 70% since becoming more familiar with the process. Mr Garwa expects to produce around 3,000 pearls this year, which he can sell for between 400 and 900 rupees (£4-£10; $5-$11).
Indian government has been encouraging pearl fishing as part of its Blue Revolution, a plan to modernise the nation's fishing industry.
Under the scheme the government pays for half the cost of setting up a pond for pearl fishing, and so far the Department for Fisheries has given financial support to 232 pearl farming ponds.
"Pearl farming is one of the most lucrative aquaculture businesses and the government is encouraging farmers to take up this farming," says Jujjavarapu Balaji, Joint Secretary of Marine Fisheries.
Not everyone is impressed with this wave of pearl farming activity. Critics include Gunjan Shah, who is the fifth generation of his family to be in the pearl trading business.
"The culture of pearl farming has increased in India but I think the pearls grown in every nook and corner are not of very good quality" says the owner of Babla Enterprises, based in Mumbai.
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He says India is producing too many of the wrong kind of pearls.
"What India needs at present is people who can grow sea water pearls if we want to compete with China. Indian oysters are small but China has hybrid oysters which produce large pearls.
"Cultured South Sea pearls are the most valuable type of cultured pearl on the market today. These pearls come in a gorgeous variety of sizes, shapes and colours. A strand of South Sea pearls can be as expensive as $10,000 (£8,500) or more. They are very rarely produced in India."
He says the government should be looking to develop this part of the industry.
In its defence, the government says it will take time to build up a competitive pearl farming sector.
"Pearl family is specialised farming, so this sector will take time to grow. The plan is to see the increase in the next three years," says Mr Balaji, from the Department for Fisheries.
"Once we are able to grow enough pearls for local consumption then we can focus on exports," he adds.
As for Mr Garwa, as well as farming pearls, he also offers courses for those who want to learn how to do it.
Reena Choudary, 28, was one of his students, and just like her tutor her first effort last year was a failure.
"I lost all the oysters - none of them were able to produce," she says.
But this year, she expects to produce around 1,000 pearls.
Starting an independent business was a big leap for her, particularly as women in her region are often expected to look after the home rather than work.
"For people like us this smells like freedom," she says. "We have learnt how we can be independent, help towards contributing to the family and have a say in family matters." | /news/business-62204515 |
business | Aberdeen Chinese takeaway hit with £10k gas bill | A Chinese takeaway in Aberdeen has been hit with a £10,000 gas bill - 10 times more than what they would usually owe.
Owner Martin Tang's quarterly gas bill for Royal Crown usually amounts to about £1,000.
His electricity bill is normally a similar price, but this quarter it totalled more than £4,000.
Energy supplier SSE has contacted Mr Tang to try and work towards a solution, as he fears the business could close as a result.
Mr Tang said the price hike could leave staff jobless and claims the business is losing money whenever they cook.
keaway has been serving Aberdeen locals since the 1980s.
Mr Tang has been involved in the business as a manager and then owner for 18 years.
He told BBC Scotland he will not be able to pay what his energy supplier is charging.
He said: "It's always around a thousand or slightly above a thousand.
"But this one I recently received on Saturday was like a bombshell, on top of the new electric bill I received last week which was £4,000.
"As a small business, there is no way I can find that extra £12k to cover this quarter.
"I already have high blood pressure, this actually shocked me to my core."
keaway only opens five nights a week and Mr Tang said he will open this week just to use up fresh stock and then say goodbye to his customers.
He said: "Every time I turn on a burner to cook something, I'm losing money.
"This is enough to kill off my business.
"There's nothing I can do.
"Imagine me telling a customer their chicken curry is now going to be £28.
"There's just no way around it."
Royal Crown employs three full-time and two part-time members of staff who face unemployment if the takeaway is forced to close.
Mr Tang said: "That's the saddest thing I feel, because I've been in the catering business for a long time, my family's been in this business for a long time.
"We tried to build up a good business and now it's in my hands.
"I'm basically looking at an impossible task."
Mr Tang also said his regulars have been coming in less as people are unsure what they can afford to spend due to their own rising household bills.
He said: "I received an email listing different kind of contracts and it still adds about £45,000 to £50,000 a year onto the electric and gas combined together.
"As a small business, I am not able to find that kind of money."
An SSE spokeswoman said: "As a responsible business, SSE Energy Solutions is committed to engaging with all customer queries.
"Our customer services team are working closely with the customer towards what we hope will be a satisfactory resolution."
After publication, SSE told BBC Scotland Mr Tang had been offered a reduced contract rate of approximately £6,000 per quarter.
SSE blamed the inflated amount on variable rates which are applied automatically when a customer's contract expires.
However Mr Tang said this was still too expensive and triple his usual amount of about £2,000 per quarter.
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technology | How rangers are using AI to help protect India's tigers | For 22 years vet, Akhilesh Mishra has been treating animals at Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh state in India.
He does not hesitate to name the tiger as his favourite animal. "They are so magnificent and beautiful. I just need to feel their soft skin to feel relaxed" he says. "!When I treat an injured tiger and then they are able to go back to forest, it is an out of this world experience."
A tiger's life is not easy, he says, particularly for the females: "For me the tigress is much stronger than the male tiger. She fights so fearlessly for her cubs. She is a goddess - ready to take on a huge tiger who tries to harm her cubs."
gers he treats have mostly been injured while hunting, or protecting their cubs. But he has also treated tigers that have been poisoned by poachers - who put toxins in pools where they are known to drink.
"My heart cries when I see for no fault theirs, they are killed for their skin, nails and teeth," he says.
Protecting India's tigers is an enormous job: most of the tiger population, which in 2018 stood at almost 3,000, live in one of the 51 tiger reserves, covering almost 74,000 square kilometres.
Just estimating the total tiger population is a daunting task.
rry out its most recent survey, India's National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) deployed camera traps in 26,838 locations, taking 34,858,623 images of wildlife.
On top of that, researchers covered hundreds of thousands of kilometres on foot, looking for signs of tigers and their prey.
wade through all that data the NTCA used artificial intelligence (AI), which had been trained to recognise different animals.
In the 2018 survey, AI helped by identifying which animals were pictured by the camera traps - a task which would have been very laborious for humans.
Now the NTCA hopes to take the use of AI to another level. A new system is being developed which can give rangers the best routes for patrolling the vast areas under their watch.
It does that by analysing data about the tiger population, how it moves, and the local topography.
"Artificial intelligence will help rangers in detecting wildlife crimes," predicts Mohmad Sajid Sultan, assistant inspector general, at the NTCA.
While more technology is good to have, those working in conservation say it can't replace boots on the ground.
More technology of business:
ger conservation has been successful in protected parks, but tigers outside there areas remain "extremely vulnerable", according to environmentalist Debi Goenka.
"Unless we are able to expand our protected area network and our wildlife corridors, the tiger population is not likely to increase," he says.
Mr Goenka says that more human patrols are needed that are better equipped.
"What is really needed is more field patrolling and better use of technology for monitoring and protection. The use of drones, camera traps, real-time tracking of poachers, and use of metal detectors for locating snares and traps needs to be increased and intensified," he adds.
reful monitoring is more crucial than ever, as tigers and humans come into closer proximity.
Sunil Limaye, is the chief forest conservator for Tadaoba National Park in Maharashtra. He says that tiger numbers in his state have increased from 312 to 400 over the last four years.
But as the tiger population has grown, so has its contact with humans, particularly as the local population is encroaching on the forests where tigers live and hunt.
"Predation of livestock and attacks on human beings has led to a negative perception about tigers," he says.
gers are particularly vulnerable when they move from one forested area to another, says Mr Limaye. He hopes that AI can come in to play here and help predict the movement of tigers at the forest periphery.
But human rangers will still be needed. "It is still not possible for AI to replace human intelligence," says Mr Limaye.
Jerryl Banait, chairman of AVI Foundation, points out that poachers have also become more sophisticated. They map the patrol routes of rangers, avoid regular trails and know where cameras are located.
His organisation has developed an artificial intelligence which can use the data collected by cameras and rangers, but in addition uses data gathered from satellites and information collected from the local population.
He hopes that forest departments across India will use this more sophisticated hybrid technology to better protect wildlife, particularly animals that are outside National Parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the future.
"With the limited territories available for the wild animals, it is of paramount importance that there is no human interference in the already shrunk wildlife habitats," he says.
Back at Pench National Park, Akhilesh Mishra hopes conservation work can prevent tragedies like the death of one well-known tiger - Baghin nala tigress.
12-year-old animal was found dead in March 2016 in the Pench Tiger Reserve, after being poisoned along with two of her cubs.
Mr Mishra managed to rescue a third cub, which has thrived in the reserve and now has cubs of its own: "It was a sight of joy when we brought her up in captivity, developing her hunting skills to survive in the harsh forest." | /news/business-61824904 |
business | Gloucestershire firms raising prices due to inflation | Food and drink businesses say they have to increase prices due to the cost of living crisis.
Greg Pilley, founder of the Stroud Brewery & Taproom in Gloucestershire, said his business is facing a 10% rise in costs.
means a price increase of "between 25 and 30 to 40p per pint".
Other businesses in the county say they are having to reluctantly pass on rising costs to their customers in the form of higher prices.
UK is seeing its highest inflation in 41 years, with energy bills and the cost of food and drink the main drivers.
Milk prices were one of the biggest risers in latest food inflation figures, but producers say this does not always benefit them.
Richard Cornock, a Gloucestershire dairy farmer, said the price he gets for milk is determined by his major buyer.
At the same time, he says he is having to absorb higher diesel and fertiliser prices.
"I can't go to [my milk buyer] and say I need another 5p a litre because they'll just go, "well, we haven't budgeted for that"," he said.
Neville Morse, who owns Jane's Pantry café in Gloucester, said they have had to put prices up twice this year - instead of just once in April, like they usually would.
"Our energy costs have doubled in this one shop alone, from £4,500 a month to £9,000," said Mr Morse.
"Across our 11 shops and the factory, we have to find an extra £400,000 in total this year. We don't want to raise prices for our customers but we have no choice."
One item on the bakery shelf illustrates that rise in food prices: last year, the rum truffle was £1.80, now it costs £2.20.
Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk | /news/uk-england-gloucestershire-63658761 |
politics | Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg... in under a minute | A round-up of key moments from Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 27 November 2022. Guests included Transport Secretary Mark Harper and Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy. | /news/uk-politics-63776009 |