Retail sales in Great Britain fall despite heatwave increasing food and drink demand

Volume of goods sold in stores and online dropped 0.5% in July, ONS says

Retail sales across Great Britain weakened last month despite the men’s football World Cup and record temperatures boosting the demand for food and drink.

The Office for National Statistics said the volume of goods sold in stores and online fell 0.5% in July. That is down from 0.7% rise in June – revised down from initial estimates of 1% – and a 1.3% rise in May.

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Burnham to chair growth meeting call at No 10 North – UK politics live

The PM will be working alongside chancellor John Healey, Lou Haigh, Angela Rayner and Sally Jameson with regional mayors expected to be involved

The UK government ran a larger than expected £1.8bn deficit in July, underlining the challenges facing the chancellor, John Healey, as he draws up his first budget.

City economists had expected a shortfall of zero for July, a month when Treasury receipts tend to be swollen by self-assessment income tax payments.

Burnham said yesterday that fly-tippers will be forced to pay for the clean-up when they dump waste illegally. The prime minister laid out his plans to crackdown on waste crimes as he visited an illegal dump in West Yorkshire.

Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, the equalities minister has said, as she warned that young men were being sucked into violent misogyny by the “cesspit” of social media. Bridget Phillipson said she was increasingly worried about how commonplace misogyny and racism had become, fuelled by online interactions and statements by politicians she said would not have been acceptable a few years ago.

Phillipson suggested her sweeping reforms to special educational needs provision could be adapted to give parents greater protections if they are unhappy about the service being provided for their children. The former education secretary told the Guardian ministers were open to making changes to the plans, which were announced earlier this year but which have since been subject to consultation.

Education Lucy Powell on Thursday addressed the GCSE gender gap, which shrank to its narrowest point this century. Almost one in four boys in England received top grades in maths while results in English improved across the board. “The white working-class review that was recently done, that was one things it found, that more boys need to see the purpose of education, they need to see the line of sight into work,” Powell told the Press Association.

Meanwhile, Burnham told reporters that funding for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s security arrangements on their return to the UK was a “private matter”, the Press Association reports. Harry and Meghan are expected to return to live in Britain later this month. After six years in the US, they will be moving with their two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, to a non-royal residence outside London.

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The Taliban have built a system for enslaving women in Afghanistan | Tala Elissa – The Guardian

  1. The Taliban have built a system for enslaving women in Afghanistan | Tala Elissa  The Guardian
  2. 5 years after the U.S. left, Afghan allies reflect on life under Taliban rule  PBS
  3. 'The Taliban preach purity and morality, but rush to strip women in prison': A land of terror for Afghan women  Le Monde.fr
  4. 5 Years After Taliban Takeover, Women & Girls in Afghanistan Have Disappeared from Public Life  Democracy Now!
  5. The Taliban’s Next Five Years  Foreign Policy
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Russia test-fires missiles off disputed islands days after Putin’s visit angered Japan – The Independent

  1. Russia test-fires missiles off disputed islands days after Putin’s visit angered Japan  The Independent
  2. Russian Missile Drills Stoke Tensions With Japan  WSJ
  3. Russia Holds Rare Missile Test Near Islands Claimed by Japan  Bloomberg.com
  4. Russia’s missile tests around disputed islands anger Japan  The Guardian
  5. Regions Calling: Decoding Putin’s Eastern Odyssey  The Moscow Times
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Footage shows clash with French police on beach as dinghy tries to leave for UK

Film emerges as France says it has stopped 185 small boat ‘events’ in three months since new £660m deal with UK

Footage has captured the moment French police officers clashed with people on a beach in northern France as the authorities tried to intercept a dinghy attempting to reach the UK.

Men wearing lifejackets appear to throw objects at the police to try to keep them away from their dinghy. The officers then use Pava spray before slashing the inflatable boat with a knife.

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Thousands of migrants in Ceuta wait in limbo while Spain figures out what to do with them – AP News

  1. Thousands of migrants in Ceuta wait in limbo while Spain figures out what to do with them  AP News
  2. The Tiny Spanish Territory of Ceuta Is Grappling With a New Migrant Crisis  WSJ
  3. Ceuta plans second eviction after hundreds of migrants return to Trampolín beach  Euronews.com
  4. Migration Spain Ceuta  Dayton Daily News
  5. Spain to build temporary shelters to ease Ceuta migrant crisis  Daily Sabah
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Zelensky confirms drone attack on oil refinery in Russia’s Perm – The Kyiv Independent

  1. Zelensky confirms drone attack on oil refinery in Russia's Perm  The Kyiv Independent
  2. Ukraine Strikes Major Oil Refinery Deep Inside Russia  Bloomberg.com
  3. Ukraine hits Russia's TANECO oil refinery, oil terminal, military says  Reuters
  4. Major oil refinery, logistics center set ablaze in reported Ukrainian attack  The Kyiv Independent
  5. Ukrainian Drone Attack Hits Lukoil Refinery Deep in Russia  Crude Oil Prices Today | OilPrice.com
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UK reports unexpected deficit of £1.8bn as John Healey prepares for first budget

July data shows total public debt was £2.98tn, or 94% of GDP – up £96bn on a year earlier

The UK government ran a larger than expected £1.8bn deficit in July, underlining the challenges facing the chancellor, John Healey, as he draws up his first budget.

City economists had expected a shortfall of zero for July, a month when Treasury receipts tend to be swollen by self-assessment income tax payments.

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