Category Archives: UK news

Food inflation in world’s rich nations falls to pre-Ukraine war levels

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Rate declines for 15th consecutive month across 38 OECD countries from 6.3% in January to 5.3% in February

Food prices across the world’s richest nations rose in February at the slowest rate since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to figures that show easing inflationary pressures on households.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said food inflation declined for the 15th consecutive month across its 38 member countries from 6.3% in January to 5.3% in February.

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Albanians willing to be repatriated detained for weeks in UK, watchdog finds

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HM chief inspector of prisons says detainees held unnecessarily despite volunteering for fast-track deportation

Albanians volunteering to be repatriated under a fast-track deportation deal are being detained unnecessarily for several weeks at taxpayers’ expense, the prisons watchdog has found.

HM chief inspector of prisons also found that staff did not know about the vulnerabilities of detainees held in deportation centres before being removed to Tirana, and some were not being given privacy while using the lavatory.

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Elon Musk faces Brazil inquiry after defying X court order

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Multibillionaire called for resignation of judge who ordered platform to block far-right users

Elon Musk faces a legal investigation in Brazil after becoming embroiled in a public row with a supreme court judge over an order requiring the social network X to take down some far-right accounts.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes had issued a court order forcing the site formerly known as Twitter to block several users as part of his investigation into the former president Jair Bolsonaro’s attempts to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.

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Weather tracker: Storm Kathleen brings high winds and warm air to Europe

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Gusts of more than 70mph recorded on Irish Sea coast, as temperatures rose above 30C in mainland Europe

Storm Kathleen brought strong winds to Ireland and the UK at the weekend, causing travel and power disruption. The storm, named by Met Éireann, developed in the Atlantic on Thursday, deepening explosively as it pushed northwards to the west of Ireland.

Peak wind gusts of 40-60mph (65-95km/h) were recorded quite widely across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and western parts of England and Wales on Saturday, with some Irish Sea coastal regions experiencing gusts above 70mph. A gust of 72mph was recorded at Drumalbin, Lanarkshire.

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UK rent rises forecast to outpace wage growth for three years

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Average 13% increase by 2027 will put millions of households under further pressure, says thinktank

Rent rises in Britain are forecast to outpace wage growth, despite having already surged at the fastest pace on record after the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

The Resolution Foundation expects added pressure on millions of households and said average rents could increase by 13% over the next three years as current high growth in the private rental market work their way through existing tenancies.

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Quitting smoking could redirect £11bn a year into local economies, study says

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Money spent on tobacco products in England ‘could instead be spent in shops, on entertainment or other services’, author adds

Almost £11bn a year could be spent in England’s communities from money saved on tobacco products if people quit smoking, according to a study.

Published in the journal Tobacco Control and written by academics at the University of Sheffield, the study looked at how much people spent on cigarettes and other tobacco a year, and analysed how this money could be spent in cities and towns instead.

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NatWest criticised over £1.2m pay for boss with ‘limited experience’

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Governance adviser says Paul Thwaite could have been offered lower starting salary than predecessor Alison Rose

NatWest has been criticised for paying its new boss a salary of £1.2m despite his “limited experience” as a chief executive, amid a wider shareholder backlash in the City of London over bumper corporate pay.

As the government prepares to sell shares in the bank before the general election, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) warned that Paul Thwaite would be paid the same salary as the bank’s former chief executive, Alison Rose, despite lacking her experience as a lead executive.

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NHS testing initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in England by 2025

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Liver scanning and portable testing units to be rolled out in communities where people may be at a higher risk

Thousands of people who are unknowingly living with hepatitis C in England could be identified and treated due to an expanded NHS testing initiative.

The initiative includes new liver scanning and portable testing units to be rolled out in communities where people may be at a higher risk of contracting the infection.

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Labour reveals plan to digitise NHS personal child health records

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Parents and NHS would be able to monitor vaccinations and checkups through digital version of ‘red book’

Labour plans to digitise the NHS “red book” that parents use for their children’s medical records as part of a series of changes to the NHS app.

Parents and the NHS would be able to see if children are behind on jabs or checkups through a new digital record, with automatic notifications to prompt them to book appointments under the party’s plans.

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Police hunt for man, 25, after fatal stabbing of woman in Bradford

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Police appeal for any sightings of Habibur Masum, from Oldham, after woman with pram was attacked on Saturday

Police are searching for a 25-year-old man after the fatal stabbing of a woman who was attacked in Bradford city centre while pushing her baby in a pram.

West Yorkshire police are appealing for members of the public to report any sightings of Habibur Masum, who is from the Oldham area.

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‘I’m a little bit tired’: Briton becomes first person to run the length of Africa

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Russ Cook from Worthing reaches Ras Angela, Tunisia, after covering more than 9,900 miles in 352 days

After more than 9,940 miles (16,000km) over 352 days across 16 countries, Russ Cook, aka the “Hardest Geezer”, has completed the mammoth challenge of running the length of Africa.

The 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing, West Sussex, crossed the finish line in Tunisia on Sunday afternoon, and planned to celebrate with a party – as well as a strawberry daiquiri – having raised more than £600,000 for charity.

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David Lammy says he has ‘serious concerns’ about Israel’s actions in Gaza

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Shadow foreign secretary says ‘far too many people have died’ but refuses to back call for immediate ban on arms sales

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said he has “serious concerns about a breach in international humanitarian law” over Israel’s actions in Gaza as “far too many people have died”.

At least 33,037 Palestinians have been killed and 75,668 others have been injured in the Israeli military offensive, according to the Palestinian health ministry, six months on from the 7 October Hamas attack in southern Israel, during which about 1,140 people were killed and 240 others were taken as hostages.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

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Storm Kathleen: Scotland braces for flooding and travel disruption

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Flood and wind warnings remain in place, with Sepa warning of ‘real danger to life’ on coastal roads and paths

Scotland will continue to face the threat of power cuts and travel disruption as high winds and heavy rain from Storm Kathleen persist into Sunday.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has 18 regional flood alerts and 43 flood warnings in place in Scotland. They have been in force since Saturday.

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Secret home insurance commissions raking in millions for landlords in England and Wales

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Insurers have made huge hidden payments for buildings cover over many years, experts say

Landlords of developments in England and Wales where residents face hefty service charges face calls to disclose millions of pounds in “secret commissions” raked in over the years for arranging buildings insurance.

Experts say these hidden commissions, paid to landlords including City investment funds that hold freeholds and managing agents, have been worth tens of millions of pounds a year. The arrangements were made without residents being told and resulted in higher service charges.

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Brexit has made the UK a lower-status nation, says David Miliband

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Former foreign secretary says Britain needs to forge closer political and foreign policy links with Europe if it is to thrive

The UK has lost influence since Brexit to become just one of many “middle powers” in the world, former foreign secretary David Miliband has said.

Writing for the Observer, Miliband, now president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, said that in order to reverse the decline, the UK needed to enter new “structures and commitments” with the EU on foreign policy.

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Police spammed with complaints by neo-Nazis under new Scottish hate crime law

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First minister calls for end to vexatious reports after far-right agitators attempt to ‘overwhelm’ official systems

Neo-Nazi and far-right agitators are exploiting Scotland’s new hate crime law to make vexatious complaints en masse in an attempt to “overwhelm” police systems.

A prominent figure in England’s white nationalist movement is among those urging followers to spam Police Scotland with anonymous online reports, the Observer has found.

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Man arrested after woman found dead in car in London

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Police believe suspect, who was detained near scene in Hackney, was known to victim

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a woman who was found unresponsive in a car in east London.

Officers were called to Whiston Road in Hackney just before 6.45am on Saturday, the Metropolitan police said. Police forced entry to the vehicle and attempted to resuscitate the woman before the ambulance staff arrived, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Gender-critical activists and pro-transgender groups clash in Edinburgh

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Let Women Speak leader says rally aimed to test Scotland’s new hate crime legislation, Telegraph reports

Gender-critical activists and counter-protesters clashed in Edinburgh in a dispute over transgender rights.

Let Women Speak (LWS), an organisation described by supporters as a “gender-critical feminist” campaign, led a rally outside the Royal Scottish Academy in the Scottish capital on Saturday.

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David Cameron warns of Gaza famine as UK sends Royal Navy ship to boost aid effort

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Move to join US-led maritime corridor follows international fury at last week’s killing of seven aid workers

The Royal Navy was ordered into action on Saturday to help supply desperately needed aid to Gaza, as the foreign secretary, David Cameron, warned that the Palestinian people trapped there were on the brink of famine.

With the UK and US governments under intense pressure to halt arms sales to Israel, Downing Street said on Saturday that ministers would instead boost support for a planned new maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, to channel “life-saving aid” by sea to a population in urgent need of basic food supplies.

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Dozens of flights cancelled as Storm Kathleen hits west of UK

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Yellow wind warnings issued while storms also brings hottest day of the year, reaching 20.9C in Suffolk

Dozens of UK flights were cancelled on Saturday as Storm Kathleen brought winds of up to 70mph and triggered the warmest day of the year so far.

About 140 flights departing and arriving at UK airports were cancelled, leaving travellers stranded in Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester and Birmingham. The Met Office also issued a yellow weather warning for the north-west and south-west of England and parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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