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Fellow hospitality chain Loungers enjoys record sales, with inflationary pressures diminishingThe pub chain JD Wetherspoon has reported soaring sales in recent weeks, as cash-strapped consumers look for cheaper food and drinks amid high inflation and the cost of living crisis.Wetherspoon's, which runs just under 830 pubs across the UK and Ireland, said its sales had risen by 11% in the 10 weeks since the start of May, compared with the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. Continue reading...

The 2018 breach is separate to the existing scandal over tax policy information that has triggered a reputation crisis for the firmEmbattled consultancy firm PwC has admitted to another serious conflict of interest breach but has clarified that it did not involve the misuse of government information.The breach occurred in 2018 and is separate to the misuse of confidential tax policy information that has triggered a reputation crisis for the firm and seen the divestment of its government services division for just $1. Continue reading...

Finance Sector Union lodges dispute as mandate to limit working from home scheduled to come into effect 17 July

Owen Townsend, 25, found in Golden Beach after going missing while trying to reach his grandmother's house

Fire crews investigating after incident that saw neighbours evacuated and debris scattered over the neighbourhood

Victorian government understood to be examining charity's building for city's second supervised injecting room

Exclusive: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities returning money to Treasury after struggling to find projects to spend it onMichael Gove's department is handing back 1.9bn to the Treasury originally meant to tackle England's housing crisis after struggling to find projects to spend it on.The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has surrendered hundreds of millions of pounds budgeted for 2022-23, including 255m meant to fund new affordable housing and 245m meant to improve building safety. Continue reading...

Lowe's speech may be his last as Reserve Bank governor before treasurer Jim Chalmers announces whether his term will be renewed

Illicit drug use in Australia jumped over summer despite a string of high-profile drug busts

Man, 81, and 75-year-old woman pulled from home on Lily Street by firefighters but pair could not be revived

New report reveals 83% of respondents are concerned universities' focus on profit is undermining education standards

Minority ethnic newborns risk late diagnosis and poorer health as guidance was developed for white European babies in 1952Tests to assess newborn babies' health are not effective for non-white children and should be replaced, according to the NHS Race and Health Observatory.In the UK, neonatal death rates among black and Asian newborns are much higher than for white babies. Continue reading...

Mexican authorities will seek to extradite Bryant Rivera of the Los Angeles area for the death of Angela Carolina Acosta FloresUS authorities have arrested a California man accused of killing three women in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and crossing back and forth across the international line after each of the deaths, which occurred over the course of nearly a year starting in 2021.According to US court records, 30-year-old Bryant Rivera, a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, was arrested on 6 July on a femicide charge in the strangulation death of Angela Carolina Acosta Flores, whose body was found in a hotel room in Tijuana on 25 January 2022. Continue reading...

Boy, 15, charged with attempted wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article on school premisesA 15-year-old boy has been charged with attempted wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article after a maths teacher was stabbed at a school in Gloucestershire, police have said.Jamie Sansom suffered a single stab wound on Monday morning in a corridor at the secondary school where he works in Tewkesbury and was discharged from Gloucestershire royal hospital a few hours later. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The Albanese government says it is disappointed' Beijing's review couldn't be completed in the initial three months

Campaigners urge MPs to stand on the right side of history' by voting against the government's billRishi Sunak has now arrived in Vilnius (pictured below disembarking from the plane with the foreign secretary, James Cleverly) where Nato summit proceedings kick off today.Defending the government's defence investment amid suggestions the UK could lose influence as a result of the size of its army, he said:I think the UK should be incredibly proud of the leading role that we play, not just in Nato but across the world, in protecting security and indeed in investing in our armed forces. Continue reading...

Nigerian stowaways survived for at least a week under ship that voyaged from Lagos via Lome, TogoThe Spanish coastguard rescued two Nigerian men who survived for at least a week balancing on the rudder of a ship as it sailed from the west African country of Togo to the Canary Islands.The two men were rescued on Monday night in the port of Las Palmas, and taken to a hospital for medical checks. They were later released and were transferred back to the ship, which will return them to their port of origin, the port police tweeted. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese tries to ambush UK counterpart, but Sunak was ready with image of England team at HeadingleyThe Australian prime minister tried to ambush his British counterpart at the Nato summit with a picture of the controversial stumping of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow in the Ashes cricket series.Rishi Sunak was unexpectedly prepared, and produced from his official portfolio his own photo of England's Mark Wood and Chris Woakes celebrating getting the winning runs at Headingley on Sunday, giving the host nation their first victory after two consecutive Australian wins. Continue reading...

Berkshire coroner names schools inspectorate for England as interested persons' in inquiryOfsted's role in the events leading up to the death of the Berkshire headteacher Ruth Perry will be examined during an inquest later this year, a coroner has ruled.Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire, named the schools inspectorate for England as interested persons" as part of her inquiry into the death of the primary school leader, whose family say killed herself after a devastating" Ofsted inspection. Continue reading...

Relatives of pro-democracy activist taken in for questioning days after bounties issued for political exilesPolice in Hong Kong have raided the home of Nathan Law's family, taking relatives of the UK-exiled pro-democracy activist away for questioning.Officers from the national security department visited the housing estate where Law's family live and took his parents and brother in for questioning in the early hours of Tuesday morning. So far no arrests have been made. Continue reading...

Department of Work and Pensions warned by auditor general about potential bias in algorithmsThe government has widened its deployment of artificial intelligence to uncover welfare fraud, despite warnings of algorithmic bias against groups of vulnerable claimants.In a 70m investment applying advanced analytics" to requests for universal credit (UC), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has extended the use of machine learning as it attempts to save more than 1bn from the 8bn-plus lost to fraud and error last year, audit documents scrutinised by the Guardian reveal. Continue reading...

Agriculture remains the sticking point as trade minister Don Farrell says both sides will keep trying and will meet again in August

Prayuth Chan-ocha announces resignation after his party suffered a humiliating defeat in May electionThe Thai prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, has said he will retire from politics, more than nine years after the former army general seized power in a military coup.In May, his party suffered a humiliating defeat, coming fifth, well behind an upstart opposition party that promised to remove the military from politics. He will remain as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. Continue reading...

From 1 January employers will be required to guarantee visa holders at least 30 hours a week averaged over four weeks, instead of over nine months

Series of social media ads says robodebt destroyed lives' in bid to encourage voters to turn against LNP

Exclusive: Disclosures about ex-minister Jonathan Djanogly turn spotlight on controversial mechanism used to buy shares

NGOs behind report suggest minimal savings for Home Office if Bibby Stockholm barge used in place of 5.6m-a-day hotelsControversial plans to house asylum seekers on a barge to reduce reliance on expensive hotels will save less than 10 a person a day, according to a report.The report, Bibby Stockholm - At What Cost? from the NGOs Reclaim The Seas and One Life To Live, provides the first detailed estimated costings of the Bibby Stockholm, the barge the Home Office is planning to use in Dorset to accommodate asylum seekers. Continue reading...

MS-2 Step medication, also known as RU486, can now be prescribed by any healthcare practitioner

Government keeps buffer' of 5,000 beds to avoid repeat of overcrowding seen at Manston last yearThe Home Office is paying for thousands of empty hotel beds reserved for people seeking asylum to avoid a repeat of dangerous overcrowding at a processing centre last year, MPs have heard.Officials told the Commons public accounts committee the government department keeps a buffer" of about 5,000 beds across the country in case of a sudden influx of Channel crossings in a bid to avoid a repeat of problems at the Manston processing centre in Kent. Continue reading...

We look at the big challenges still facing the telecoms group - and who could take over as chief executivePhilip Jansen's belief that he was the right man to revive BT's fortunes led the outgoing chief executive to spend more than 7m on shares in the telecoms giant during his tenure. Yet his successor will inherit a business that has seen more than 10bn wiped off its market value over the past four years.On Monday, the 56-year-old confirmed that he intends to stand down as chief executive, a role he has held since February 2019, with the chair, Adam Crozier, due to give an update on the hunt for a successor later in the summer. Continue reading...

Nurse is accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill 10 others at Chester hospitalJurors in the trial of a nurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill 10 others have begun deliberating their verdicts.Lucy Letby, 33, denies harming infants on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England, where she worked. Continue reading...

A 25-year-old man has been detained after attack that also left one person injuredA man has killed six people, three of them young children, and injured a seventh in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southern China.The 25-year-old began his rampage in the town of Lianjiang, in Guangdong province, at 7.40am local time on Monday, police said. Continue reading...

Theresa Mallett spoke out during first minister's speech to call for public inquiry into Sam EljamelWhen Theresa Mallett walked into Caird Hall in Dundee a little more than a fortnight ago, it was not her intention to bring Humza Yousaf's keynote address to a standstill.Mallett, a committed nationalist, was attending the independence convention as an SNP member, but had hoped that she might tell her story to a party worker or journalist at the event. Continue reading...

Anti-corruption protests have drawn a stream of European politicians to the country - and the man tasked with cleaning up its act is confident that he can deliverIn December, amid sub-zero temperatures, thousands of Mongolians turned up in Sukhbaatar Square in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, to protest about rampant corruption, and for a moment the Asian democracy, sitting uneasily between China and Russia, looked as though it might crumble.That this would have mattered to the west is shown by the number of European politicians who since have travelled to the capital, including not just Emmanuel Macron, the French president, but Polish president, Andrzej Duda, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, and her French counterpart, Catherine Colonna. Continue reading...

An adult allegedly encouraged a teenager to ride the baggage carousel before filming the minor entering a secure area

Experts delighted portrait re-found but say this is cautionary tale', stressing importance of rigorous checks to avoid misattributionAfter being consigned to dark storage rooms for up to six decades as the work of an unknown artist, a portrait of a one-armed naval veteran has been reattributed to the celebrated 18th century painter Thomas Gainsborough.A fundraising drive has been launched to raise 60,000 for extensive conservation work on the painting and its frame before it is hung in the Queen's House, part of Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG), next year. Continue reading...

Unnamed star, who allegedly gave young person 35,000 which they spent on drug habit, has also been reported to policeThe BBC has suspended a prominent male presenter and reported them to the police over allegations that he paid a teenager for sexually explicit images.The BBC confirmed on Sunday that it was investigating allegations that the presenter had given 35,000 over three years to a young person who used the money to fund their crack cocaine habit. Continue reading...

Robodebt royal commissioner Catherine Holmes found that public servants had misled cabinet, and misled the commonwealth ombudsman

Well known' presenter reportedly accused of paying more than 35,000 in exchange for explicit imagesThe BBC is taking very seriously" allegations that one of its presenters has been taken off air over paying a teenager for sexual photographs.A well known" presenter has been accused of paying more than 35,000 in exchange for explicit images, the Sun reported. Continue reading...

Former head of the Department of Human Services faces calls to resign after royal commission findings

Large crowds in Tel Aviv demonstrate against Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to rein in supreme courtThere have been huge anti-government protests in Tel Aviv against a renewed push by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to overhaul the justice system.Tens of thousands demonstrated across the country, with the rally in Tel Aviv drawing crowds far larger than recent protests, N12 News and Channel 13 reported. Continue reading...

Radically different outlooks of four parties on immigration unbridgeable', says four-time prime ministerDutch prime minister Mark Rutte has presented his government's written resignation to King Willem-Alexander, who returned from holiday to receive it.It was Rutte's fourth government - a fragile, four-party coalition of his People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the liberal democratic Democrats 66, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and centrist ChristenUnie. It took 10 months to agree its formation and it lasted less than 18 months. Continue reading...

George Eustice, the former environment secretary, is calling for a reciprocal visa scheme so that under-35s can work across the EU and BritainA leading Tory Brexiter has called on ministers to reopen the UK's borders to tens of thousands of young workers from EU nations in order to tackle acute post-Brexit labour shortages that he says are driving up inflation.In an extraordinary admission of the failures of immigration policy since the UK left the EU, former Tory environment secretary George Eustice said Rishi Sunak's government should begin bilateral negotiations with EU nations immediately, with a view to offering young Europeans under 35 the right to two- year visas to work in this country. Continue reading...

Airlines don't have to pay up if flights are cancelled through industrial action, so check the terms of your travel insurance, Britons warnedHolidaymakers have been warned that they won't be eligible for compensation if their trips are cancelled or delayed due to strikes, as multiple forms of industrial action threaten to disrupt flights, trains and London Underground services in the first week of the school summer holidays.Last week air traffic control managers in mainland Europe gave formal warning of strikes in the next six months, potentially exacerbating disruption to thousands of holiday flights, including those to and from the UK. The date of the walkout has not been announced, but it is likely to be timed to cause maximum impact during the summer holiday period. Continue reading...

As judges rule trans children's charity cannot challenge charitable status of gay rights organisation, we look at decisionA tribunal has ruled that the law does not allow the transgender children's charity Mermaids to challenge the charitable status of the gay rights organisation LGB Alliance. Who was involved?LGB Alliance was founded in October 2019 to campaign for the rights of same-sex attracted people by two veteran lesbian activists: Bev Jackson, a founder member of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970, and Kate Harris, who was previously a volunteer fundraiser for the leading gay rights organisation Stonewall. They were concerned at the implications of Stonewall's decision to alter its definition of sexual orientation in 2015 from same-sex attracted" to same-gender attracted". Continue reading...

Human Rights Watch calls for immediate halt and urges US not to supply bombs amid reports Biden is to include them in aid packageHuman Rights Watch has called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster bombs, and urged the US not to supply the munitions to Kyiv, amid reports the Biden administration is poised to include the controversial weapons in a new military aid package.Russian and Ukraine forces have used cluster bombs, which break apart in the air and release large numbers of smaller bomblets across a wide area. Continue reading...

Rolling action' by RMT members between 23 and 28 July likely to cause widespread disruption across capitalLondon Underground staff will take industrial action over a week at the end of July, spelling widespread transport disruption in the capital.Members of the RMT union will take rolling action" between Sunday 23 July and Friday 28 July. The RMT said there would be no strike on Monday 24, with staff in different sections and grades halting work on different shifts on each of the other days. Continue reading...

Government loses legal challenge after resisting supplying unredacted WhatsApps, notebooks and diaries

Research suggests those aged 18 to 24 have been deeply affected by pandemic and then cost of living and healthcare crisesYoung adults are bearing the brunt of a growing mental health crisis" in England, according to researchers who warn that levels of severe distress have risen steadily in adults since the start of the pandemic.The disturbing trend may be driven by an unprecedented series of events" including the cost of living and healthcare crises and the impact of the pandemic itself, the researchers said, adding there was an urgent need to address the causes and improve funding for mental health services. Continue reading...