General news

• Cost of living: Pubs face bleak future, boss warns

  13-12-2022 23:59 via bbc.co.uk
  Mounting costs and customer spending cuts are hitting hospitality trade hard, pub chain boss warns.
  
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• James Webb spots spiral galaxies from the early universe's 'cosmic noon' period - Daily Mail

  13-12-2022 23:53 via news.google.com
  James Webb spots spiral galaxies from the early universe's 'cosmic noon' period  Daily MailJames Webb Breaks Hubble's All-Time Distance Record, Reveals What Happened After Big Bang  NDTVJames Webb Discovery Helps Date Birth of Very First Galaxies  TIMEDiscovering a rare red spiral galaxy population from the early universe with the James Webb Space Telescope  Phys.orgWebb Completes its First "Deep Field" With Nine Days of Observing Time. What did it Find?&n
  
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• Lib Dems urge ministers to ban home repossessions over Christmas

  13-12-2022 23:41 via bbc.co.uk
  Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is calling for urgent action to protect families facing higher mortgages rates.
  
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• Freddie Flintoff airlifted to hospital after crash during Top Gear filming

  13-12-2022 23:39
  Former England cricket captain’s injuries are reportedly ‘not life-threatening’ Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff has been taken to hospital after a high-speed crash while filming the latest series of Top Gear.The former England cricket captain turned broadcaster was taking part in a shoot at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey on Tuesday, which has featured regularly in the BBC show since 2002. Continue reading...
  
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• Prince William and Kate release family Christmas card image

  13-12-2022 23:32 via bbc.co.uk
  The photograph shows the family of five dressed casually, smiling and holding hands in Norfolk.
  
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• Jadon Sancho: Erik ten Hag not sure when Jadon Sancho will return to first-team duties - BBC

  13-12-2022 23:30 via news.google.com
  Jadon Sancho: Erik ten Hag not sure when Jadon Sancho will return to first-team duties  BBCManchester United: Jadon Sancho is not 'physically or mentally' ready to play, reveals Erik ten Hag  Daily MailJadon Sancho resurgence could hold key to United signing Bellingham  United In Focus - Manchester United FC NewsTen Hag puts forward reason behind Sancho struggles, as Man Utd boss confirms absence will continue  TEAMtalkTen Hag unsure when Jadon Sancho will
  
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• Twitter office oddities go up for auction – from bird statues to rotisserie ovens

  13-12-2022 23:13
  After shedding thousands of jobs with Elon Musk’s takeover, the company is apparently shedding office furniture – and high-end cooking equipmentGreat news, holiday shoppers: you can finally get your hands on a 100% authentic, 3ft-tall statue of the Twitter bird.An online auction next month will feature hundreds of the company’s “surplus corporate office assets” that could add a certain je ne sais quoi to any home or workplace, from bizarre decor to high-end cooking
  
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• UK weather: Snow and ice alerts extended as cold snap continues

  13-12-2022 23:00 via bbc.co.uk
  The Met Office says areas covered by the extended warning could see fresh snowfalls on higher ground.
  
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• Why I skipped Christmas – and why you might like to try it too | Sandy Summons

  13-12-2022 22:55
  Stressed out from multiple yuletide family visits, we fled to New York one year and returned with a new-found clarity about what was really importantChristmas is the most magical time of the year. But is it really? Now I’m no grinch. In fact, I absolutely love Christmas. Yet there was a stage when I needed to have a holiday from this popular holiday. So one year we decided to “skip Christmas” to simplify our Christmas Day.The festive season is overwhelming for many, especially
  
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• Rishi Sunak tells MPs he will clear asylum backlog by end of 2023

  13-12-2022 22:44
  PM says he has signed deal with Albania and will resume ‘hostile environment’ checks on bank accountsRishi Sunak has insisted he can clear a backlog of nearly 100,000 asylum claims by the end of next year as part of a set of policies that include resuming “hostile environment” checks on bank accounts suspended after the Windrush scandal.The prime minister outlined a five-point plan in the Commons including law changes to criminalise and then remove tens of thousands of pe
  
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• Nasa captures first 'dust devil' on Mars after 'hitting the jackpot' - The Telegraph

  13-12-2022 22:40 via news.google.com
  Nasa captures first 'dust devil' on Mars after 'hitting the jackpot'  The TelegraphNASA's Perseverance rover records audio evidence of dust tornadoes over 387 feet tall on Mars  Daily MailMars rover captures first recording of a space whirlwind  The TimesScientists get first-ever sound recording of dust devils on Mars  Phys.orgNASA's Perseverance rover recorded the sound of a dust devil on Mars  New ScientistView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Woman accused of lying about rape ‘forced to get engaged to abuser’

  13-12-2022 22:02
  Eleanor Williams tells jury she was given drugs and alcohol at ‘parties’ where she was paid for sexA woman accused of lying about being raped and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang claimed she was forced to get engaged to one of her abusers to help him get a visa.Eleanor Williams, 22, said the man, Muhmun, was from Bangladesh and that they met in her home town of Barrow when she was a teenager. She told a jury at Preston crown court that he was one of numerous Asian men who plied h
  
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• Rishi Sunak pledges more staff to help clear asylum backlog

  13-12-2022 21:30 via bbc.co.uk
  A dedicated unit to handle claims from Albanians is one of the measures Rishi Sunak has announced.
  
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• Covid: Jack Last died as result of AstraZeneca vaccine – coroner

  13-12-2022 21:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Jack Last, 27, had headaches after taking a coronavirus jab and died days later, an inquest hears.
  
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• Bankman-Fried charged in one of 'biggest financial frauds' in US history - Financial Times

  13-12-2022 21:10 via news.google.com
  Bankman-Fried charged in one of 'biggest financial frauds' in US history  Financial TimesFTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried charged with defrauding investors by US - BBC News  BBC NewsFirstFT: One of the 'biggest financial frauds' in US history  Financial TimesThe FTX Meltdown May Have Been Limited by the Real Cash Value Involved.  BloombergOpinion | The Meaning of the Bankman-Fried Indictment  The Wall Street JournalView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Fewer than 9pc of rail workers block deal to end strike disruption - The Telegraph

  13-12-2022 21:02 via news.google.com
  Fewer than 9pc of rail workers block deal to end strike disruption  The TelegraphStrikes: Disruption begins as freezing weather grips UK  Channel 4 NewsWeather warnings extended as more strikes announced  BBCThe RMT are holding Christmas to ransom  The TelegraphHospitality sector hit by rail strikes: 'we've lost nearly 50% of bookings' says restaurant owner  GBNewsView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Search for remains at Birmingham home after child death report

  13-12-2022 20:52 via bbc.co.uk
  The hunt follows information given to police suggesting a death in 2020 at a Birmingham house.
  
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• Ministers back down over childcare infrastructure issue in Commons

  13-12-2022 20:47
  Move comes after cross-party push and means major housebuilders could be obliged to pay towards new facilitiesMinisters have backed down in the face of a cross-party push for childcare to be treated as an infrastructure issue like schools, GPs and public transport, meaning major housebuilders could be obliged to pay towards new childcare facilities.The campaign was led by the Labour MP Stella Creasy, who argued that the issue of new homes being built without accompanying childcare was exacerbati
  
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• Shetland power cuts declared major incident

  13-12-2022 20:30 via bbc.co.uk
  SSEN Distribution is working to restore supplies to 2,800 homes in Shetland.
  
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• Don't let nurses' strike cost lives, union chief Pat Cullen told - The Times

  13-12-2022 20:30 via news.google.com
  Don't let nurses' strike cost lives, union chief Pat Cullen told  The TimesNurses strike: 'I want to join the picket, but I can't'  BBCNHS nurses strike: are they really underpaid?  The TelegraphWho do you believe: the brilliant NHS staff who treated my cancer, or ministers who spin and lie?  The GuardianConcerns raised over care of cancer patients during impending nurses' strikes  Sky NewsView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Cop15 half-time report: China prompts fears of new ‘Copenhagen moment’

  13-12-2022 20:27
  Negotiators say divisions mean risk is growing of a weak final agreement similar to Denmark summit in 2009Talks to halt the destruction of nature “very much hang in the balance”, sources have said, as environment ministers from around the world begin to arrive in Montreal amid concerns about a lack of Chinese leadership of the Cop15 talks.At the halfway stage of the summit in Canada, negotiators at the UN biodiversity summit have said divisions are contributing to the growing risk of
  
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• Martin Rowson on Rishi Sunak’s striking dogma — cartoon

  13-12-2022 20:21
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• Phil Bardsley hands over his Stockport salary to local community trust

  13-12-2022 20:18
  37-year-old celebrates signing with handout to charityMove supports League Two club’s philanthropic programmeThe former Premier League defender Phil Bardsley has donated his entire salary to charity after signing for Stockport until the end of the season.The wages of the 37-year-old full-back, who left Burnley in the summer after spells at Manchester United, Sunderland and Stoke, will go to the League Two club’s community trust. Continue reading...
  
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• World Rugby in crisis after Bernard Laporte fined on corruption charges

  13-12-2022 20:12
  Court hands out €75,000 sanction and suspended sentence Frenchman suspends himself as World Rugby vice-chairmanWorld Rugby has been thrown into crisis with Bernard Laporte suspending himself as vice-chairman after he was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined €75,000 by a French court after being found guilty of corruption charges.The verdict comes just nine months before France hosts the World Cup, over which there now hangs a considerable cloud. Continue reading...
  
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• New Zealand to introduce near-total smoking ban from next year - The Telegraph

  13-12-2022 20:04 via news.google.com
  New Zealand to introduce near-total smoking ban from next year  The TelegraphNew Zealand passes legislation banning cigarettes for future generations  BBCNew Zealand passes law banning anyone born after 2009 from ever buying cigarettes  The Times of IsraelFuture generations banned from ever being able to buy tobacco in New Zealand  Sky NewsView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Shellfish deaths: MPs call for government inquiry details

  13-12-2022 19:56 via bbc.co.uk
  Fishermen along the North East coast say their industry has been devastated by mass die-offs.
  
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• Avatar: The Way of Water reviews vary wildly between critics - BBC

  13-12-2022 19:54 via news.google.com
  Avatar: The Way of Water reviews vary wildly between critics  BBCAvatar: The Way of Water review – a soggy, twee, trillion-dollar screensaver  The GuardianAvatar: The Way of Water review  TechRadarAvatar: The Way of Water Review Blu-ray Review | High Def Digest  High Def DigestJames Cameron shares the human inspiration behind his high-tech Avatar: The Way of Water  The NationalView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Jersey explosion: Final two people feared dead named

  13-12-2022 19:53 via bbc.co.uk
  Nine people feared dead after an explosion have been named after the blast in a block of flats.
  
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• The Guardian view on Sunak’s asylum plan: tough talk can’t mask past failures | Editorial

  13-12-2022 19:46
  Tackling the backlog of claims is the right idea. But the government seems unlikely to achieve itThe UK’s backlog of asylum claims, which currently stands at about 140,000, has been building up since 2013. The government, and specifically the Home Office, bears responsibility for this. Try as he might to present himself as a new broom, sweeping away old cobwebs and cleaning up a scrappy system, Rishi Sunak must take his share of responsibility for the current dysfunction – and the ac
  
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• The Guardian view on China’s Covid U-turn: from all-out war to all but nothing | Editorial

  13-12-2022 19:45
  The country has abruptly abandoned the vast bulk of its harsh measures to contain coronavirus following protests. That carries considerable riskDespite the rigidity of the Chinese Communist party’s politics and grip on power, it can sometimes change course at a startling pace. The most obvious was its economic turn from Mao to market. More recently, it flipped from its one-child policy of limiting births to actively trying to boost them.But the turnaround on its zero-Covid policy is truly
  
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• James Lovelock remembered by John Gray

  13-12-2022 19:00
  26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022
  The author and philosopher looks back on his friendship with the creator of the Gaia theory, who was ‘the closest to genius’ of anyone he has metShirley Hughes remembered by Clara VulliamyRead the Observer’s obituaries of 2022 in fullI first met Jim Lovelock in 1994 when he was staying in Oxford with his devoted wife, Sandy. He was a visiting fellow at what was then Green College. We discussed a whole variety of things on that first meeting, in
  
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• England’s Mark Wood admits he considered quitting Tests this year

  13-12-2022 19:00
  Multan match-winner weighed up options in summerWanting to play under Stokes and McCullum was keyThere was a moment during a cruel summer of two elbow operations and no cricket that Mark Wood flirted with the idea of Test retirement; a nagging sense that the time may have come to park the red ball and specialise in the white-ball formats.For a fast bowler approaching his 33rd birthday next month, one whose body has proved so rebellious in the pursuit of express pace over the years, such thoughts
  
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• Rare Rishi Sunak appearance rides wave of rightwing cheers | John Crace

  13-12-2022 18:42
  Prime minister ignores any solutions to UK’s problems in favour of making refugees’ lives harderHe lives! He breathes! For the last couple of months Rishi Sunak has barely been seen. It’s as if he’s been held hostage by Tory party apparatchiks and only allowed out for half an hour once a week to take prime minister’s questions in the Commons. To make sure the damage he can do is strictly limited. His goal no longer to reinvigorate his party but to manage its decline
  
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• My 80-year-old dad couldn’t get an ambulance, but we still support strikes | Letters

  13-12-2022 18:41
  We recognise that workers are striking not only over pay, but also over the dire state the emergency services are in, writes Beverley BeckettSteve Barclay warns that elderly people who fall won’t be able to get an ambulance during the strikes later this month (Report, 7 December). Is he not aware that this is already the reality for many of the elderly who fall in their homes?My 80-year-old father recently spent the entire night on the floor before being found in the morning by his neighbo
  
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• Morocco’s meteoric rise at World Cup is helping to smash stereotypes

  13-12-2022 18:41
  Visibility of women of colour and unity of Arab nations among refreshing developments stemming from Atlas Lions’ progress“I love you mum.” These four words, written by Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi under an Instagram photo of his mother, Saida Mouh, kissing him on the cheek after his decisive penalty against Spain in the last-16 tie, will be one of the lasting images of Qatar’s World Cup.Like many of the Morocco squad’s matriarchs, Mouh was no mere accessory to her
  
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• Harry and Meghan are right about racist Britain in their Netflix series | Letters

  13-12-2022 18:41
  Readers on the uncomfortable truths exposed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series and media reactions to itI couldn’t agree more with Prince Harry’s comment in the Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan that unlearning racism is a lifelong journey. As a 50-year-old provincial white man, I only hope I live long enough. Nels Abbey (A white lens sees Harry and Meghan as villains – through a Black one, they’ve done Britain a favour, 9 December) is ri
  
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• Reality TV star Stephen Bear guilty of sex tape offences

  13-12-2022 18:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Stephen Bear shared footage of himself having sex with a woman that ended up on the OnlyFans website.
  
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• Geminids: When and how to watch the sky's brightest meteor shower - BBC

  13-12-2022 18:21 via news.google.com
  Geminids: When and how to watch the sky's brightest meteor shower  BBCGeminids meteor shower to peak on Wednesday, December 14  Eastern Daily PressGeminids meteor shower will provide 'shooting star' displays across the UK in hours  ExpressRainfall moving into the region Wednesday  WCNCGeminid meteor shower 2022: how and when to photograph from today  Digital Camera WorldView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Parents describe 'nightmare' of trying to get hold of antibiotics for sick children amid Strep A outbreak - Manchester Evening News

  13-12-2022 18:18 via news.google.com
  Parents describe 'nightmare' of trying to get hold of antibiotics for sick children amid Strep A outbreak  Manchester Evening NewsExport of drugs to treat Strep A infections is BANNED by Government amid shortage fears  Daily MailUK pharmacists report sharp rise in prices for strep A antibiotics  The GuardianPharmacists run out of penicillin as strep A demand soars  BBCSurge in demand for Strep A antibiotics in Shropshire causes 'short-term' shortage &
  
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• Legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor never existed, court hears

  13-12-2022 18:16
  Lawyers for landowner Alexander Darwall argue camping is not explicitly mentioned in lawsThere has never been a legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor, lawyers for a landowner have argued in an attempt to overturn the ability for people to sleep on his property – and the whole national park.Despite an assumed right for decades, enshrined under both the 1949 National Park and Access to the Countryside Act and the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act, a barrister acting for Alexander Darwall, a hedge fun
  
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• Unimaginable pain over boys' Solihull lake deaths - aunt

  13-12-2022 18:15 via bbc.co.uk
  One victim is named locally as Jack Johnson, 10, as the Solihull community mourns their loss.
  
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• Azeem Rafiq accuses ECB of being in denial on racism in cricket

  13-12-2022 18:14
  Former Yorkshire player says ECB tried to discredit himLord Patel, Yorkshire chairman, also critical of ECBAzeem Rafiq has accused the ECB of actively attempting to discredit him, during a hearing of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee of MPs in which the governing body was repeatedly castigated for a perceived lack of action against discrimination and a lack of support for cultural change.A week after the England and Wales Cricket Board published three separate reports in an
  
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• Tell us: have you taken someone to a UK hospital due to ambulance delays?

  13-12-2022 18:13
  We would like to speak to people in the UK who have been forced to take someone into hospital because there was no ambulance availableAmbulance bosses have asked people not to ring 999 except in “life-threatening emergencies” amid severe delays across the northwest that left hundreds waiting for help on Monday night.The appeal by the North West Ambulance Service came amid reports of callers being advised to take their loved ones to hospital by other means. Continue reading...
  
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• Mick Lynch is right – the BBC has swallowed the anti-strike agenda of the Daily Mail | Zoe Williams

  13-12-2022 18:13
  The RMT leader says the broadcaster has taken the rightwing press’s line when it comes to workers’ rights. He has a point“What I do find annoying, Mishal, is that you put these lines that are directly taken from the propaganda from the other side,” said Mick Lynch, the head of the RMT union, in an interview with the journalist Mishal Husain on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. He continued: “You never show any admiration for the fight that working people
  
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• Azeem Rafiq 'driven out of country' since speaking out on racism

  13-12-2022 18:07 via bbc.co.uk
  Azeem Rafiq says he has "been driven out of the country" by "threats and abuse" since "opening his heart out" about racism at Yorkshire.
  
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• Generators ‘as important as armour’ to Ukraine surviving winter, says Zelenskiy

  13-12-2022 17:11
  Ukraine president calls for more infrastructure aid to counter Putin’s ‘blackout and energy terror’Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesGenerators are as important as armour in helping Ukraine survive Vladimir Putin’s energy terror this winter, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told an emergency conference in Paris convened to coordinate infrastructure and humanitarian aid to the country over the next four months.A total of €1.05bn (£900m) in financial and in-ki
  
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• Lingerie firm Agent Provocateur under pressure over Moscow franchise stores

  13-12-2022 17:03
  Retailer among companies listed by Leave Russia project but says it does not itself operate thereRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesIn its three decades in British retail, the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, the 1990s brainchild of Dame Vivienne Westwood’s son, has rarely shied away from controversy.Whether it be its daring window displays or that 2001 TV advert featuring Kylie Minogue riding a velvet bucking bronco, the brand has stirred up some strong emotions. But it had no
  
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• Cold water swimming and a Moroccan beach: Tuesday’s best photos

  13-12-2022 16:29
  The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Partygate: ministers accused of writing ‘blank cheque’ for Boris Johnson legal bills

  13-12-2022 16:22
  Exclusive: Cabinet Office to extend contract with law firm to defend claims ex-PM misled parliament, sources say• UK politics live – latest news updatesMinisters have been accused of writing a “blank cheque” for Boris Johnson’s legal bills, as it emerged taxpayer-funded support was being extended to help defend him against claims he misled parliament over Partygate.With just days left until a contract expires with the law firm Peters and Peters, which Johnson and the
  
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• Inside the NHS in crisis: every day like a 'horrific board game' – video

  13-12-2022 16:03
  The NHS is facing an unprecedented crisis this winter. Thirty-three months since the pandemic was declared, the Guardian spent 33 hours in NHS services across south London and found crammed wards, burnt-out staff, patients waiting hours for ambulances and a constant juggling act to find space for patients in needContinue reading...
  
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