Tesco boss: food inflation has probably peaked but prices will stay high

Ken Murphy says higher costs of grocery imports because of Brexit are partly to blame for rising prices

The chief executive of Tesco has said food inflation has probably peaked but warns that prices are likely to stay high.

Ken Murphy, the head of the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, said the price of milk, bread, cooking oil and some vegetables such as broccoli had come down this month but inflation continued in other essentials, including rice and potatoes, as aweather issues and locked-in increases in the price of labour and energy continued to bite.

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UK government urged to outline plans to help with winter energy bills

Report by cross-party MPs criticises previous ‘lack of urgency in addressing market failures’

MPs have urged the government to set out its plans to protect households from high energy bills this winter as they said about 1.7 million people, including some of the most vulnerable groups, had been left waiting too long to receive previous support.

The public accounts committee (PAC) said that although schemes were introduced quickly, the government “did not have the bandwidth” to make sure help reached all groups in a timely fashion.

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Bar for street sexual harassment offences in England and Wales set too high, charities say

Open letter says burden on victims to prove intent leaves door open for perpetrators to claim they were joking

Proposals to tackle sexual harassment in the street in England and Wales do not go far enough because the bar for offences has been set too high, charities have warned.

The Fawcett Society, Girl Guiding and Refuge are among organisations who say the requirement to prove perpetrators intended to cause alarm or distress undermines the provisions of two bills intended to protect women and girls going through parliament.

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Blood test to detect 50 types of cancer could be given to 1m people on NHS

Chief executive Amanda Pritchard says that if early results are successful it will be rolled out more widely next year

A blood test which can detect 50 cancers before symptoms start to show could be offered to a million people in a pilot programme from next summer, according to the head of the NHS.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said the Galleri test has the potential to “transform cancer care forever”, according to reports.

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Just Stop Oil protesters interrupt opera at Glyndebourne festival

Three activists use glitter cannons and air horns during performance of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites

Just Stop Oil protesters have interrupted a performance during the Glyndebourne opera festival in East Sussex by letting off glitter cannons and blowing air horns.

The disruption took place during a performance on Thursday of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites at the festival near Lewes.

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Exotic bee-eater returns to UK for second summer in a row

European birds nest in Norfolk much to the delight of twitchers – but environmentalists warn it’s a clear sign of climate change

With plumage cherry red, ultramarine, turquoise and yellow, usually found streaking like multicoloured darts across the skies of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Spain, they present as an epitome of tropical glamour.

British birdwatchers are aflutter to have found European bee-eaters swooping and burrowing in a disused quarry in Norfolk for the second summer in a row.

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Second boy, 14, dies after teenagers got into difficulty in river in Carlisle

Child’s death in medical care follows that of 15-year-old Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick, who was found in the River Eden on 27 May

A second boy has died after an incident in which a group of teenagers got into trouble in a river in Cumbria last month.

The announcement of the 14-year-old’s death by Cumbria police follows the death of 15-year-old Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick, whose body was found in the River Eden in Carlisle on 27 May.

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Partygate report: key findings of Commons privileges committee

How Boris Johnson was found to have misled MPs and why report recommended a 90-day suspension from parliament

The House of Commons privileges committee has found that Boris Johnson repeatedly misled MPs when he told them he knew nothing about lockdown-breaking social gatherings in and around Downing Street. These are the main points of what is a highly damning and hugely detailed report.

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Manston asylum centre could be overwhelmed again, watchdog says

Chief inspector of immigration says there is ‘real danger’ that inhumane and dangerous conditions will return at Kent facility

Suella Braverman is facing the “real danger” that conditions for asylum seekers held at Manston processing facility will once again become inhumane and dangerous, the immigration watchdog has found.

David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, said the Kent asylum centre that became overcrowded and disease-ridden last year could again become overwhelmed because ministers and officials in the Home Office are unable to say where they plan to house at least 55,000 arrivals by small boats this year.

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Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over Partygate, MPs find

Cross-party committee says ex-PM would have faced 90-day suspension had he not quit in rage at findings last week

Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over Partygate and was part of a campaign to abuse and intimidate MPs investigating him, a long-awaited report by the privileges committee has found.

In an unprecedented move, the cross-party group said he would have faced a 90-day suspension from the Commons had he not quit in rage at its findings last week.

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The Guardian bans all gambling advertising

Ban will apply worldwide to all of media group’s online and print outlets, including the Guardian, Observer, and Guardian Weekly

The Guardian has announced a global ban on gambling advertising, arguing it is unethical to take money from services that can lead to “addiction and financial ruin”.

Anna Bateson, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, said advertising – particularly online – could trap gamblers in an “addictive cycle” that caused financial distress, mental health issues and wider social problems.

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Banksy show officially authorised by elusive street artist to open in Glasgow

Show at Gallery of Modern Art inspired by city’s Duke of Wellington statue with traffic cone on its head, says artist

An exhibition of work by Banksy is to open in Glasgow this weekend. The solo, show Cut & Run, taking place at the city’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), has been officially authorised by the elusive street artist.

It spans 25 years and will feature many of the stencils he has used to create his work. Banksy told the Herald: “I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage.

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Covid testing was a weakness in early pandemic response, DHSC tells inquiry

Health department and Cabinet Office make opening statements on second day of first module

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has admitted Covid testing was “a significant weakness” in the UK’s early pandemic response and stressed the need for proper funding to prepare the nation for the next emergency.

While the DHSC said it would not claim “it did everything right”, its opening statement to the UK Covid public inquiry highlighted wider government choices on funding in what will be seen as turning the focus on Downing Street and the Treasury.

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Nottingham attack: Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s family pay tribute to ‘truly wonderful and beautiful young lady’ – latest updates

Victim’s family say Grace was an ‘adored daughter and sister’

Tell us: have you been affected by the situation in Nottingham?

We are yet to hear from the Nottinghamshire police today, but yesterday the force said it was not looking for any other suspects:

The family of university student Barnaby Webber, 19, who was killed yesterday, have paid tribute to him, saying he was a “beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to”.

Complete devastation is not enough to describe our pain and loss at the senseless murder of our son.

Barnaby Philip John Webber was a beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to.

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Edinburgh book festival hoping Greta Thunberg will bring back audiences

Fallout from Covid crisis has left event struggling financially after last year’s ‘traumatic’ fall in sales

The Edinburgh International book festival hopes a swathe of Booker prize winners, political leaders and a guest appearance by Greta Thunberg will help restore its finances after a “traumatic” fall in sales last year.

The world’s largest book festival celebrates its 40th anniversary in August with events featuring Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Icelandic prime minister, the former Booker winners Ben Okri and Anne Enright, and the International Booker winners Georgi Gospodinov and David Diop.

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Heatwave brings surge in A&E patients as England doctors’ strike begins

Some hospitals record highest ever A&E attendance figures as heat, high pollen count and air pollution bring rise in demand

A&E units across the UK are experiencing a surge in patients seeking care as a direct result of the heatwave, which is leaving many people unwell with shortness of breath, heat exhaustion and sunburn.

The number of people suffering problems as a direct result of the sustained high temperatures in many parts of the country has resulted in some hospitals recording their highest A&E attendance figures.

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Nadine Dorries frustrates Sunak by failing to officially resign as MP

No 10 says constituents in Mid Bedfordshire deserve certainty as it piles pressure on ex-minister to stand down

Downing Street is heaping pressure on Nadine Dorries to stand down as soon as possible, saying her constituents in Mid Bedfordshire deserve certainty.

The former culture secretary said last Friday she would “immediately” step down, after she was denied a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours.

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No 10 criticises Nadine Dorries for delaying her resignation – UK politics live

PM’s office says Mid Bedfordshire deserves ‘proper representation’ and delay to resignation ‘obviously unusual’

Fell put it to Braverman that customers were not learning to protect themselves from online fraud because, if they are cheated, they tend to get their money back from banks. He suggested that people were being “coddled”. It was as if they were leaving their front door open, leaving themselves vulnerable to burglary, he said.

Braverman said Fell had a point. She told him:

I think that’s a really important point and I’m passionate about increasing awareness - much like practice changed when it came to wearing a seatbelt …

I think we need a step change when it comes to online activity. We are far more vulnerable than we appreciate and I think people’s lives are lived so politically online that they forget that there are fraudsters operating in that online world.

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Nobel laureate Maria Ressa says research by Oxford institute can be used against reporters

Exclusive: methodology used by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism risks undermining media in global south, says Ressa

Nobel peace laureate Maria Ressa has claimed Oxford University’s leading journalism institute is publishing flawed research that puts journalists and independent outlets at risk, particularly in the global south.

One of the world’s most prominent and respected journalists, Ressa said she resigned last year from the advisory board of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), because of deep concerns about how it compiles an annual Digital News Report.

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