Travellers faced long queues at major UK airports after electronic passport gates failed

Hours-long delays were reported as IT problems also caused disruption on Dover-Calais ferries

Passengers arriving at major airports in the UK at the start of the bank holiday weekend faced long delays after problems with electronic passport gates.

Travellers expressed their anger on social media over queues of several hours at a number of airports including Heathrow and Gatwick as arrivals had their passports checked by hand instead of the automated machines.

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Holly Willoughby says Phillip Schofield lied to her about affair with younger colleague

This Morning co-presenter wrote that subsequent admission of relationship he denied was ‘very hurtful’

Holly Willoughby has claimed that former co-host Phillip Schofield had previously denied to her that he had a relationship with a younger ITV colleague and described his subsequent admission of the affair as “very hurtful”.

In a statement on Instagram, the This Morning presenter, 42, said: “It’s taken time to process yesterday’s news. When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not. It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie.”

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NHS data breach: trusts shared patient details with Facebook without consent

Observer investigation reveals Meta Pixel tool passed on private details of web browsing on medical sites

NHS trusts are sharing intimate details about patients’ medical conditions, appointments and treatments with Facebook without consent and despite promising never to do so.

An Observer investigation has uncovered a covert tracking tool in the websites of 20 NHS trusts which has for years collected browsing information and shared it with the tech giant in a major breach of privacy.

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Post Office Horizon inquiry used racist term for Black people, documents show

Investigators of alleged fraud were asked to group suspects by racial features, including ‘negroid types’

Lawyers investigating post office operators in the Horizon computer scandal used a racist term to categorise Black workers, according to documents released to campaigners.

Investigators were asked to group suspects based on racial features, the results of a freedom of information request found.

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York groundsel blooms again in Britain’s first-ever de-extinction event

Yellow flower that only grows in York went extinct in 1991 brought back to life by Natural England experts

York groundsel was a cheerful yellow flower that slipped into global extinction in 1991, thanks to overzealous application of weedkiller in the city of its name.

But now the urban plant has been bought back to life in the first ever de-extinction in Britain, and is flowering again in York.

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Number of ‘coronation meadows’ marking queen’s reign tops 100

Scheme that began to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012 has thrived, project audit finds

Wildflower meadows planted a decade ago to celebrate 60 years of the late queen’s reign have thrived, with 101 new fields of flowers created since the scheme was launched.

King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, worked with Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts to launch ”coronation meadows”, identifying 60 species-rich meadows from which to take donor seeds – one meadow for each year of the queen’s reign at the time.

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‘Shops will close’: soaring cost of potatoes batters British chippies

The once humble, low-cost staple more than doubles in price, putting many fish and chip shops at risk

Whether it’s fried, baked or mashed, potatoes have traditionally been a low-cost staple food in the UK – but not any more.

A surge in costs is clobbering high street chippies, while in the supermarket, oven chips and the once humble baking potato are casualties of soaring grocery prices.

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Covid pandemic blamed for UK rise in cracked tyres

Motorists urged to carry out safety check as rubber on cars left idle for long periods can deteriorate

There has been a sharp rise in the number of cars with cracked tyres – which can result in an MOT failure – because of vehicles lying idle during the coronavirus pandemic.

Figures from Kwik Fit, the car maintenance chain, show that its mechanics saw almost twice as many cars with premature cracking last year compared with before the lockdowns.

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30 water treatment works released 11bn litres of raw sewage in a year, study suggests

Exclusive: Researchers analysed works run by nine water and sewerage companies in England and Wales

Eleven billion litres of raw sewage were discharged from a sample of 30 water company treatment works in one year, new research suggests.

The study aimed to reveal the volume of discharged effluent released from storm overflows by water firms. Companies are not forced to reveal the volume of raw sewage released during discharges. They are only required by regulators to provide data on the number of discharges and the length of time they lasted.

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Secret Home Office policy to detain people with NHS debt at airport found unlawful

Policy was uncovered by defenders of two women repeatedly detained when trying to re-enter the UK

A secret Home Office policy to detain people with the right to live in the UK at air and seaports has been found to be unlawful in the high court.

The policy applied to those with unpaid NHS debts and was only uncovered through evidence gathered from charities and lawyers fighting the cases of two mothers who were repeatedly detained.

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Phillip Schofield quits ITV after admitting affair with This Morning colleague

Presenter parts from agents and says he lied about affair with younger employee while he was married

Phillip Schofield has sensationally quit ITV and admitted to an affair with a younger male colleague at This Morning while he was still married.

The 61-year-old – who stepped down from presenting the daytime TV programme last Saturday – said the “consensual on-off relationship” was “unwise, but not illegal”.

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Rishi Sunak warned over possible UK recession in 2024

High inflation likely to push interest rates above 5% and force up mortgage and loan payments just ahead of election

Rishi Sunak has been warned the UK economy could be in recession next year as stubbornly high inflation pushes interest rates to more than 5% before the next general election.

Setting the stage for a further rise in borrowing costs on mortgages and loans for millions of households, economists predicted the Bank of England could be forced to drive Britain’s economy into a recession to tame inflation.

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Elizabeth I heavily influenced by loss of mother Anne Boleyn at young age

Evidence that both women experienced stress and anxiety, with Elizabeth traumatised by mother’s death and issue of marriage

Elizabeth I was heavily influenced by her mother Anne Boleyn, despite the fact that the latter died when the Tudor queen was less than three years old, according to the historian and author Tracy Borman.

As well as being influenced by feminist ideas that were ahead of their time, Borman said there was evidence they both experienced stress and anxiety.

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Civil service unions enter new pay talks with UK government

Prospect and FDA suspend strike action after offer of ‘meaningful’ talks, with PCS also attending

Civil service unions have entered talks with the government on pay, believing ministers may finally be willing to offer more money to match rises given to health and teaching staff.

Two unions, Prospect and the FDA, said they would be suspending strike action and ballots because the government said it was willing to engage in “meaningful” talks.

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Supermassive black hole at heart of ancient galaxy ‘far larger than expected’

Discovery of GS-9209, one of the furthest from the Milky Way, adds to evidence that large black holes prevent star formation, astronomers say

A supermassive black hole discovered at the heart of an ancient galaxy is five times larger than expected for the number of stars it contains, astronomers say.

Researchers spotted the immense black hole in a galaxy known as GS-9209 that lies 25bn light-years from Earth, making it one of the most distant to have been observed and recorded.

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British man, 85, ‘shot and wife starved to death’ after being left in Sudan

Family say couple were not offered support to evacuate despite living near British embassy in Khartoum

An 85-year-old British citizen was shot by snipers and his wife died of starvation after they were left behind in Sudan, their family has said.

Abdalla Sholgami, who owns a hotel in London, lived with his 80-year-old wife, Alaweya Rishwan, who is disabled, close to the UK’s diplomatic base in Khartoum, the BBC said.

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Bank holiday weekend forecast to bring UK’s hottest day of year so far

Met Office says temperatures could reach 24C with fine conditions expected to continue into next week

The UK could experience the hottest day of the year so far this bank holiday weekend, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 24C (75F).

The Met Office said the area of high pressure, which has brought fine conditions across the UK over the past few days, is forecast to continue through the weekend and into next week.

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FBI files reveal plot to kill Queen Elizabeth during US trip in 1983

Document says man claimed he would attempt to harm monarch while she was visiting California

An FBI file relating to a visit to the US by the late Queen Elizabeth II has revealed a potential plot to assassinate her.

The document, available on the FBI’s online vault, outlines what appears to be intelligence provided to federal agents about a threat to the queen’s life in California 40 years ago.

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Dorset ‘super reserve’ recreates ancient savannah habitat to boost biodiversity

Devon cattle stand in for extinct aurochs in project aimed at protecting precious species such as sand lizards

The mighty aurochs have gone, as have the tarpan horses and the wild boars, but modern-day substitutes have been drafted in to recreate a large open “savannah” on heathland in Dorset.

Instead of aurochs, considered the wild ancestor of domestic cattle, 200 red Devon cattle are to be found roaming the Purbeck Heaths, while Exmoor ponies are stand-ins for the tarpan horses and curly coated Mangalitsa pigs are doing the sort of rooting around that boars used to excel at here.

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