Nottingham A&E staff may have mistaken dying woman for homeless person, inquest told

Inga Rublite, 39, was found under coat at Queen’s Medical Centre where she had vomited and had seizure

A 39-year-old woman found dying under a coat in an overcrowded A&E in Nottingham may have been missed by staff because they are accustomed to homeless people sleeping in the waiting area, an inquest has heard.

Inga Rublite attended A&E at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) at 10.40pm on 19 January suffering from a severe headache, blurred vision, high blood pressure and vomiting.

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Early mammal could help answer one of biology’s biggest question, say experts

Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis, which lived 166m years ago, ‘a piece of the puzzle’ explaining mammals’ success

The remains of a diminutive mouse-like creature that lived 166m years ago could help answer one of biology’s biggest questions of why mammals have become so successful, fossil experts say.

Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis belongs to the immediate predecessors of mammals and lived alongside the dinosaurs during the middle Jurassic age. But while it was originally known only from individual teeth, researchers have now reported two partial skeletons.

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Cabinet secretary contenders: who’s in line for top job in UK civil service?

Whitehall sources say it could be a more open competition than in past as Simon Case prepares to step down

Simon Case is expected to step down as cabinet secretary early next year on medical advice, after taking time off for health reasons last year.

The former royal aide, appointed by Boris Johnson to the top job in the civil service during the pandemic, has overseen Whitehall departments through the Partygate scandal as well as the premierships of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

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Government should have intervened at time of Post Office lawsuit, ex-minister says

Margot James says she should have ‘delved more closely’ as Post Office developed legal defence of Horizon system

A former postal minister has said it was a mistake for the government not to step in as Post Office executives developed their ultimately unsuccessful legal defence of the flawed Horizon IT system against a lawsuit brought by branch owner-operators.

Margot James, who held the role from mid-2016 to early 2018 when Sir Alan Bates and 554 other prosecuted post office operators brought the case to clear their names, told the public inquiry into the IT system she should not have stuck to the line adopted by the executives and UK Government Investments, the body that manages state-owned assets.

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EasyJet forecasts record-breaking summer as profits jump

Strong results follow drop in European airline stocks this week after Ryanair reported profit plunge

The budget airline easyJet is predicting a record-breaking summer of travel after profits jumped 16% in its most recent quarter of trading.

The bumper figures come only two days after the rival no-frills carrier Ryanair reported a plunge in earnings and a poor outlook for the holiday getaway season, pushing down many European airline stocks.

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Revealed: wealthy western countries lead in global oil and gas expansion

The US and the UK among countries with low dependence on fossil fuels criticized for ‘hypocrisy’ on climate pledges

A surge in new oil and gas production in 2024 threatens to unleash nearly 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions, with the world’s wealthiest countries – such as the US and the UK – leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments, new data shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals.

The new oil and gas field licences forecast to be awarded across the world this year are on track to generate the highest level of emissions since those issued in 2018, as heatwaves, wildfires, drought and floods cause death and destruction globally, according to analysis of industry data by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

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King to receive extra £45m of public money as crown estate income soars

Royal accounts show estate made £1.1bn profit, meaning sovereign grant will rise to £132m for 2025-26

King Charles is set for a huge £45m pay rise with an increase of more than 50% in his official annual income, official accounts reveal.

Profits of £1.1bn from the crown estate – a percentage of which funds the monarchy – mean the sovereign grant, which supports the official duties of the royal family, will rise from £86m in 2024-25 to £132m in 2025-26.

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Royal family to replace helicopters after flights cost more than £1m last year

Two new AgustaWestland AW139s will be in use this year as total annual travel bill rises from £3.9m to £4.2m

The royal family spent more than £1m on journeys by helicopter last year, and will take delivery of two new ones to replace those they have used for the past 15 years.

In total, royals made 170 helicopter journeys, costing a total of £1,096,300, official accounts reveal, with the total travel bill last year rising to £4.2m from £3.9m.

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Surprise jump in number of UK people mainly using cash for daily spending

Banking body reports increase to 1.5m in 2023 – the highest since before Covid – despite move to cashless society

There has been an unexpected jump in the number of people who mainly use notes and coins for their daily spending, despite the UK moving closer to becoming a cashless society, a report has found.

The volume of contactless and mobile payments increased last year, while the number of cash payments resumed a downward trajectory after enjoying a brief comeback in 2022, the banking body UK Finance noted in its annual report on the UK payments market.

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Overhaul UK benefits to tackle child poverty, charities urge

Report warns of crisis of poverty and mental health which ‘casts a shadow’ over young people’s wellbeing

Ministers have been urged to reform the benefits system to tackle child poverty, after a report found it to be a major cause of mental illness that “casts a shadow” over young people’s wellbeing.

The report, by the Centre for Mental Health, Save the Children UK and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, found that the number of children living in poverty in the UK had increased to 4.3 million, while one in five children and young people aged between eight and 24 had a diagnosable mental health problem.

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Rock star Stevie Van Zandt in plea for more arts and music in English schools

Exclusive: E Street Band and Sopranos star visits south London to see his TeachRock programme in action

Legendary guitarist and Sopranos star Stevie Van Zandt has made an impassioned plea for more arts and music in England’s schools as a way of engaging disaffected young people during a visit to south London.

It was a last day of term like no other for pupils at Beckmead College – a school for students aged 14-19 with social, emotional and mental health needs – when the E Street Band member turned up, dressed like a rock star in purple velvet, winkle picker boots and trademark bandana.

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Six feared dead and 14 rescued after fishing boat sinks off Falkland Islands

Seven still missing as emergency teams scour south Atlantic after vessel experienced ‘uncontrolled flooding’

Fourteen fishermen stranded in lifeboats off the coast of the Falkland Islands have been saved in a dramatic rescue operation, but seven people remain missing and six others are believed dead.

Late on Tuesday, emergency teams were still scouring the choppy waters of the south Atlantic for survivors after the Argos Georgia, a Saint Helena-flagged fishing vessel experienced “uncontrolled flooding” on Monday evening.

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James Cleverly first to declare run for Conservative leadership

Shadow home secretary says he is ‘best placed’ to unite party and that he aims to become prime minister

James Cleverly has become the first candidate to throw his hat into the ring for the leadership for the Conservative party.

The shadow home secretary said he was “best placed” to unite the Tories and overturn Keir Starmer’s “loveless landslide” to re-enter government.

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Army chief says UK must double its lethality or be prepared for war in 2027

Gen Sir Roly Walker says west faces ‘axis of upheaval’ with increasing threats from Russia, China and Iran

Britain must be prepared to fight a war in three years’ time and double the lethality of its army as the separate threats of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea come to a head, the new chief of the army has warned.

Gen Sir Roly Walker, the chief of the general staff, told reporters that the west faced “an axis of upheaval” with increasing military ambition and that a conflict involving one of the countries could lead to “a significant detonation” in another theatre.

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James Cleverly hints he will join Conservative leadership contest – UK politics live

Shadow home secretary says he has ‘thought about personal contribution’ to the Tories and the UK as nominations open on Wednesday

James Cleverly has warned Tory leadership rivals not to “divide up and factionalise”, responding to Suella Braverman words that the Tories must not become “a collection of fanatical, irrelevant, centrist cranks”.

Cleverly told Sky News: “Trying to carve up and divide up and factionalise … is the wrong way of thinking.”

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Elon Musk claims Tesla will start using humanoid robots next year

Billionaire says Optimus will start performing tasks for carmaker in 2025 and could be ready for sale in 2026

The Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, has claimed the company will produce “genuinely useful” humanoid robots to start working in its factories next year.

The world’s richest person, who has a penchant for making overambitious claims on social media, posted on his platform X, formerly Twitter, that he also hoped to expand into “high production” mode to make robots with a humanlike form available sell to other companies in 2026.

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Former PM Harold Wilson sold private papers to help fund his care

Ex-Labour leader initially planned to sell personal and political documents to Canadian university for £212,500

The former UK prime minister Harold Wilson agreed to sell his archive of private papers to help fund his care, official documents have revealed.

Papers released by the National Archives and identified by the BBC show Lord Wilson initially planned to sell the collection to McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, for £212,500 – the equivalent of about £700,000 in today’s money.

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Cybersecurity firm Wiz rejects $23bn bid from Google parent Alphabet

Israeli company aims for stock market flotation after spurning biggest deal in tech group’s history

The cybersecurity firm Wiz has turned down a $23bn (£18bn) takeover bid from Google’s parent, Alphabet, spurning what would have been the tech company’s biggest ever acquisition and seeking a stock market flotation instead.

Alphabet had been in talks with Wiz, founded by alumni of Israel’s cyberintelligence unit, as it seeks to catch rivals Microsoft and Amazon in the hyper-competitive cloud services market.

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Business secretary confident of ‘market-led solution’ for Harland & Wolff

Jonathan Reynolds says he expects Royal Navy ships will continue to be built at the struggling Belfast yard

The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has said he is confident that the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast will continue to build ships for the Royal Navy, despite ruling out government support for the struggling company.

Harland & Wolff is part of a consortium on a £1.6bn contract to build three naval fleet solid support ships to supply the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers. However, it has faced months of uncertainty over its future.

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UK must move towards disease prevention to save economy and NHS, says expert

Personalised ‘pre-NHS’ could stop onset of disease and offer health checks in places people live, work and socialise

The creation of a “pre-NHS” focusing on preventive healthcare could unlock billionsfor the UK within two decades, according to the head of a taskforce investigating radical new improvements to the nation’s wellbeing.

Prof John Deanfield, the first-ever government champion for personalised prevention, has concluded that a parallel health service is required to save an NHS struggling to heal an increasingly unhealthy public.

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