Removing leaves will mean they can be replanted or shredded for animal feed and could reduce emissions
The pineapple has been dethroned: Sainsbury’s has announced it will start selling a crownless version of the tropical fruit from Wednesday.
The spiky, green leaves that grow from the top of the plant are a unique feature of the exotic fruit. But, says the supermarket, they are typically thrown away by customers, contributing to up to 700 tonnes of food waste a year.
Continue reading...County Councils Network says local bodies facing insolvency after increase in children being taken into care and ‘out of control’ costs
“Out of control” increases in child protection spending since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic have put one in 10 of England’s biggest councils at risk of effective bankruptcy in the next few months, a survey has revealed.
Many county councils and unitary authorities are “running out of road” to avoid insolvency as they grapple with high inflation, increases in children being taken into care, and massive bills for children’s homes, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.
Continue reading...Tata Steel board thought to be meeting in India and decision over blast furnaces expected about noon
Tata Steel is expected to confirm as many as 3,000 job losses at its steelworks in Port Talbot on Wednesday, in what would be a devastating blow to the south Wales economy.
The board of Tata Steel is thought to be meeting in India, where it is headquartered, to make a final decision.
Continue reading...Some have waited years in Pakistan for Britain to fulfil its promises – and are now at risk of deportation
For a year after the fall of Kabul and the swift withdrawal of international allies from Afghanistan, Jawed* and his family were in hiding, evading the ruling Taliban as they counted the days waiting for relocation promises from the British government to be realised.
“But that didn’t happen. To this day, two years and two months [later], we’re still living in limbo,” Jawed, a former English teacher for the British Council, said from a hotel in Islamabad.
Continue reading...Visiting monarch speaks of sorrow and deepest regret for past ‘wrongdoings’ under British rule
King Charles has spoken of Britain’s “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed against Kenyans during their fight for independence, but stopped short of an apology despite human rights groups demanding one.
The monarch made the comments in a speech, delivered during a banquet in Kenya held in his honour, in which he referred to the “greatest sorrow” and “deepest regret” for the “wrongdoings” of the past.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser denies contributing to an atmosphere of misogyny at No 10, saying he was ‘much ruder about men’
Heather Hallett, the chair, intervenes at this point. She asks Cain if he is defending the 10-day gap. She says she finds that curious if he is.
Cain says locking down the country is a huge, huge undertaking. In government terms, that is government acting at speed. But it was “longer than you would hope”, he says.
Do I understand from what you said earlier that you would defend the 10-day gap between the decision taken that there had to be a national lockdown and actually implementing that decision? Because I find that curious.
As I said, I think it is longer than you would like, but I think it’s important just to emphasise the amount of things that had to be done and the amount of people we had to take with us to deliver a nationwide lockdown.
It’s a huge, huge undertaking and to be honest, from my understanding of government, that is government moving at a tremendous speed – which maybe says more about government than other things.
Continue reading...London tube game is a surprise hit and three geography books by Marshall are bestsellers
In a world where we get from A to B by following the shortest route on our phones or satnavs, are cartographers mapping their way back into our national psyche?
Rather than ignoring what’s around us, we appear to be increasingly fascinated with locations and their significance, whether it’s through a viral tube map game, YouTube videos or books about geopolitics.
Continue reading...Unpopular proposal for England came on back of crisis that has engulfed the industry in Britain since Covid hit
So, welcome back, ticket offices – not yet four months after their wholesale closure across England was announced by train operators. Back then rail executives breezily assured us that virtually no one bought an actual ticket from a person in an office: just for 13% of journeys, in an era of trains filled by happy smartphone users.
But then it turned out, according to the passenger watchdogs who compiled and analysed 750,000 responses to the public consultation, every single one of the 1,007 menaced offices needed to stay open after all. Transport Focus – independent, but not notable for outspoken condemnation of either industry or government – said serious concerns remained despite long discussions over the detail of options proposed by train operators to serve all passengers.
Continue reading...Watchdogs say they received 750,000 responses to consultation, 99% of which were objections
Plans to close railway station ticket offices in England have been scrapped, in a government U-turn.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the “government had asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”.
Continue reading...Labour leader criticises Israeli bombardment but says ceasefire is not ‘the correct position now’
Keir Starmer has urged Israel to obey international law but refused to back calls for a ceasefire, as he seeks to heal increasingly bitter divisions within his own party over the conflict in Gaza.
The Labour leader spelled out his position on the crisis in detail on Tuesday after days of criticism from many of his own members and MPs that he appeared oblivious to the suffering of Palestinians.
Continue reading...Xahra Saleem admitted offence relating to fundraiser before Bristol BLM protest when slave trader’s statue was dumped in harbour
A key organiser of the protest in Bristol during which a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston was toppled and dumped in the city’s harbour has been jailed for two and a half years for fraud.
Xahra Saleem, 23, admitted using more than £30,000 that was supposed to go to a charity for disadvantaged youngsters in the city to fund her lifestyle, including spending almost £6,000 on Uber rides.
Continue reading...Financial institutions have cut ties with hedge fund set up by Brexiter and Conservative party donor
Odey Asset Management is closing down, five months after allegations of sexual misconduct made by junior female members of staff against its founder Crispin Odey threw the hedge fund into turmoil.
The business said on its website: “Odey Asset Management [OAM], including Brook Asset Management and Odey Wealth, will be closing. Fund managers and funds have moved to new asset managers.”
Continue reading...Ireland and Austria post biggest declines, while Germany contracts by 0.1% and France grows by 0.1%
The eurozone is teetering on the brink of a winter recession after the latest official figures showed its economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter of 2023.
In a worse than forecast performance, the 20-nation single currency zone has now failed to grow in three of the past four quarters, leaving its economy only 0.1% higher than it was a year earlier.
Continue reading...King urged to offer apology while in Kenya for UK’s ‘brutal and inhuman treatment’ during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s
The Kenya Human Rights Commission has called on King Charles to offer an “unequivocal public apology” for colonial abuses, during his visit to the country this week.
“We call upon the king, on behalf of the British government, to issue an unconditional and unequivocal public apology (as opposed to the very cautious, self-preserving and protective statements of regrets) for the brutal and inhuman treatment inflicted on Kenyan citizens,” the KHRC said.
Continue reading...Some of the 200 British or dual nationals in strip tell of life amid Israel’s attack and the communication blackout
When Musheir El-Farra climbs into bed in Gaza each night, he cannot get the sounds of people screaming out of his head.
Since last week, the British civil engineer has been plagued by memories of an Israeli bomb attack on a residential block in Khan Younis in which, he said, 16 of his relatives were killed.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan hails ‘huge progress’ as progress report finds more than 95% of vehicles are now compliant
The number of the most polluting vehicles driven in London has fallen by almost half since the capital’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was expanded, taking almost 80,000 older cars off the roads.
About 77,000, or 45%, fewer non-compliant cars and vans were detected on average a day in September, the first month of operation of the expanded zone – compared with June 2023.
Continue reading...Payments group and TV shopping channel change small print after financial regulator steps in
The City regulator has taken action after finding that customers of two leading buy now, pay later providers were “at risk of harm” because of potentially unfair and unclear small print.
The US-based online payments group PayPal and the TV shopping channel QVC have changed the terms of their contracts after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expressed “concern” over the impact to customers.
Continue reading...Paul Bristow is first frontbencher to lose job over calling for an end to hostilities in Israel-Hamas war
A Conservative MP has been sacked from his government job after breaking ranks to publicly urge Rishi Sunak to back a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Paul Bristow was dismissed as a ministerial aide at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on Monday after writing to the prime minister to call for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas to save lives.
Continue reading...South Yorkshire force looking into death of American Nottingham Panthers player during match in Sheffield
Police have said they are investigating the death of a professional ice hockey player during a match in Sheffield on Saturday night and have encouraged people to avoid speculation about the incident.
Adam Johnson, 29, died after appearing to receive a catastrophic cut to his neck from the skate blade of another player during the Challenge Cup game between his team Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers.
Continue reading...Inquiry told of comments made by former prime minister during meeting discussing pandemic response
Boris Johnson asked why damage was being inflicted on the economy during the pandemic “for people who will die anyway soon” in a meeting with Rishi Sunak, the Covid inquiry was told on Monday.
At the start of what is set to be a bruising week for the former prime minister, with former political aides and senior civil servants to give evidence on his government’s handling of the pandemic, the diary of a former private secretary revealed the damaging remarks made in March 2020.
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