Toy air fryer will be a Christmas bestseller, John Lewis predicts

Fries and chicken drumsticks are included – or young cooks might prefer a mini-me Ooni pizza oven

The air fryer has rapidly become a must-have kitchen appliance, so it was only a matter of time before the craze reached toy town, with a chic wooden version tipped as a Christmas bestseller.

If you are thinking it’s too soon to mention Christmas, it’s hard to disagree. But with the school summer holidays almost over (or already over for some) and the UK weather forecast signalling a “band of heavy rain”, retailers are starting festive campaigns.

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Radiohead’s Let Down enters US Billboard charts 28 years after its release

Song from 1997 album OK Computer scores band their fourth spot in the chart after going viral on TikTok

Radiohead have entered the US singles chart with a song from their album OK Computer that has gone viral on social media 28 years after its release.

Let Down, the third single from the British band’s 1997 album, entered at No 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week after rising in popularity on TikTok.

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Couple who died in Isle of Wight helicopter crash named

Justyna Czoska, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, died along with a third person

A couple who died in a helicopter crash during the bank holiday on the Isle of Wight have been named by relatives.

Justyna Czoska, 52, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, 49, from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, died after the aircraft crash-landed at about 9.24am on Monday between Shanklin and Whiteley Bank. The helicopter had taken off from Sandown airport 20 minutes earlier.

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Peers who do not participate enough in House of Lords face sack

Ministers will also press ahead with plan for retirement age of 80 after bill abolishing remaining hereditary peers goes through

Labour plans to remove peers who do not contribute enough to the House of Lords and to press ahead with plans for a retirement age of 80 from the upper house.

Writing for the Telegraph, the leader of the House of Lords, Angela Smith, said a select committee would consider the next stage of Lords reform after the abolition of hereditary peers.

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One in four UK late-night venues have closed since 2020, figures show

Industry body calls for urgent tax cuts to save ‘cornerstones of community life’ and halt rise of ‘night-time deserts’

More than one in four late-night venues have shut their doors since 2020, figures show, prompting lobbyists to warn that the UK faces a worrying rise in “night-time deserts” without urgent tax cuts.

Nearly 800 late-night businesses have been forced to close over the past five years, according to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), representing a 26.4% contraction in the late-night sector overall. That compares with a 14.2% contraction across the wider hospitality sector.

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Dorset police investigate antisemitic hate crimes including swastika graffiti

Officers step up patrols for Bournemouth’s Jewish community after teenage boy shot with air rifle

Dorset police have launched an investigation and stepped up patrols for Bournemouth’s Jewish community after a wave of antisemitic hate crimes in the seaside town.

Over the weekend, a teenage boy was shot with an air rifle and injured, and swastika graffiti appeared on buildings, police said.

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Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech

Levies and restrictions could hit UK’s digital services tax and EU states such as France, Italy and Spain

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and export restrictions on countries whose taxes, legislation and regulations target US big tech companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple.

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, the US president said: “Digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American technology.”

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‘If you survive this, you’ll survive anything’: new UK reality show that strands ‘newlyweds’ on honeymoon

BBC’s Stranded on Honeymoon Island tests whether love can flourish ‘in toughest of conditions’, says Davina McCall

The new BBC series Stranded on Honeymoon Island is a “social experiment” about the reality of marriage that will teach audiences about “moving forward with your life”, its host, Davina McCall, has said.

Made by the producers of Married at First Sight UK, the show features 12 singles looking for lifelong love who are matched with someone on a speed date and “married”. They are then stranded on a tropical island dressed only in their wedding outfit for a three-week honeymoon without phones, luxuries, family or friends.

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Reform councillor works on asylum claims for Home Office, investigation reveals

Paul Bean may have breached civil service impartiality rules over alleged social media posts

Campaigners have complained to the Home Office after it was revealed a councillor for Reform UK also works for the government department processing asylum and immigration claims.

Paul Bean, who serves as a councillor for Crook ward at Durham county council, declared his day job as a civil servant at the Home Office in his register of interests.

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Home Office promises ‘big surge’ in asylum hotel closures in new year

Angela Eagle accuses other parties of offering ‘fag packet plans’ as ministers face mounting pressure on immigration

The Home Office has promised a “big surge” in asylum hotel closures in the new year, with five more to shut in the coming months, as ministers face mounting pressure over the government’s record on immigration.

Speaking after a weekend of protests and counter-protests over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, Home Office minister Angela Eagle said the government had inherited a “border security system in tatters” and accused opposition parties of offering “the fag packet plans without the substance on delivery”.

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Screenwriter Paul Laverty arrested at Palestine protest in Edinburgh

Ken Loach collaborator was allegedly wearing a T-shirt that referenced banned group Palestine Action

The award-winning Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty has been arrested in Edinburgh for wearing a T-shirt that allegedly referenced the proscribed protest group Palestine Action.

Laverty was attending a protest outside St Leonard’s police station in the city centre to support Moira McFarlane, a member of Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who was due to be charged under section 13 of the Terrorist Act for wearing a T-shirt with the words: “Genocide in Palestine, time to take Action”.

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UK gender pay gap underestimated for two decades, report says

Findings suggest since 2004 ONS failed to properly account for fact it received more data from larger employers

The UK’s gender pay gap has been underestimated for more than 20 years, according to research that could raise fresh questions about the quality of data used to inform key pay decisions across the UK.

The findings, released in the British Journal of Industrial Relations on Monday, suggest that, since 2004, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) had failed to properly account for the fact that it received more data from larger employers, when it reported its annual survey of hours and earnings (Ashe).

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‘Reinvention is the secret ingredient’: food brands harness 90s nostalgia with retro revamps

Millennial childhood staples such as Walkers and Nik Naks introduce new flavours amid pressure for brands to stay relevant

Nostalgia for the 1990s might have reached its peak with Oasis back on tour this summer, but several of Britain’s best-known brands are also trying to make a comeback, reinventing themselves with new flavours, packaging or names.

Walkers, Nik Naks and Bacardi Breezer are among some of the brands that are adapting to try to stand out in the food and drink market.

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UK mothers earn £302 a week less than fathers, analysis shows

ONS data shows they are working for free from 1 September, almost three months earlier than Equal Pay Day for all women

Women with children earn £302 less every week than men with children: one-third less per week and almost 20% less per hour, according to analysis based on ONS data.

This means that Mums’ Equal Pay Day falls on 1 September this year, almost three months earlier than Equal Pay Day for all women. From this date, mothers are working for free for the rest of the year compared with fathers.

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Family of man who died at North Tyneside fairground describe their ‘impossible’ pain

Corrie Lee Stavers remembered as a ‘much loved colleague’ at Spanish City Summer Funfair, which shut for weekend

The family of Corrie Lee Stavers, who has died while working on a fairground ride in North Tyneside, have issued a statement describing the “impossible” pain of their loss.

Stavers, 28, suffered “serious head injuries” in what Northumbria police described as a “workplace accident” at the Spanish City Summer Funfair in Whitley Bay on Saturday afternoon.

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Composer John Williams says he ‘never liked film music very much’

Exclusive: The creator of some of cinema’s most memorable music says it pales in comparison to the great works

As one of the greatest composers in film, John Williams has written some of the most memorable music in cinema for masterpieces such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and Star Wars.

But despite winning five Oscars, the 93-year-old believes that, as an art form, film music pales in comparison to history’s great works.

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Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir Frankly taps into SNP discontent over party’s future

Her critics have reacted with fury but some in party feel nostalgia and ‘sense of loss for independence movement’

Nicola Sturgeon’s month-long promotional tour for her memoir Frankly comes to an end this Friday at the Southbank Centre in London, the city, according to one of many carefully placed publication interviews, where she is considering moving to escape the “goldfish bowl scrutiny” of Scotland.

The former first minister’s political memoir has generated a blizzard of headlines since its launch on 12 August. Some were diverting but ultimately inconsequential, like her choice of future base, others rubbed salt in raw wounds, reprising two of the most divisive episodes in the SNP’s recent history – the Scottish government’s investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against her predecessor Alex Salmond, and her flagship gender recognition law changes.

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Labour to abolish most short prison sentences in England and Wales

Exclusive: Legislation that will include Texas-style scheme to shorten jail time expected to be rolled out this year

Ministers will legislate next month to abolish most short prison sentences, toughen up community punishments and introduce a Texas-inspired system whereby inmates can earn early release as part of an attempt to avert another prison crisis.

Government sources said the legislation, which will bring about the biggest shake-up in sentencing laws in England and Wales for three decades, would be introduced once MPs had returned to the Commons in September.

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Labour MP ‘receives death threats’ after Tory MP shares video on grooming gangs inquiry

Anna Dixon accuses fellow West Yorkshire MP Robbie Moore of spreading misinformation

A Labour MP has said she has been subjected to death threats and online misogynistic abuse after a video was shared by a Conservative MP about her position on a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Anna Dixon, the MP for Shipley in West Yorkshire, said police were investigating the threats and accused the MP for Keighley and Ilkley, Robbie Moore, of disseminating “misinformation” about her stance on the issue.

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UN special rapporteur will contribute to ‘Gaza tribunal’, Jeremy Corbyn says

Former Labour leader says Francesca Albanese to take part in event seeking answers over UK’s ‘role in war crimes’

A UN special rapporteur will contribute to a two-day “tribunal” being held by Jeremy Corbyn into Britain’s “role in war crimes perpetrated in Gaza”, the former Labour leader has said.

Corbyn, who is campaigning for a new political entity with the working title Your Party, said the event would take place in early September. His private member’s bill for an official inquiry into UK involvement in the Israel-Gaza war was blocked by the government at its second reading in July.

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