Author: News Desk

Monday’s news is dominated by the reaction to Gregg Wallace’s dismissal of accusations made against him. In a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, the presenter said there had been “13 complaints” from “over 4,000 contestants” he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC show MasterChef. “Now, in the newspaper, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.”

Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City continues to dominate the UK news cycle as more questions emerge over Mo Salah’s contract and Manchester City faces questions of their own following another poor performance and result.

Aleppo attack: The forgotten war in Syria has finally grabbed the world’s attention For years, the world forgot about Syria. Many believed it was lost in an unsolvable abyss following the collapse of the 2011 revolution into a bloody civil war – made increasingly complex by the intervention of a mess of international actors. Most assumed that the immovable regime of Bashar al-Assad had won, and that nothing would ever change. Few could even tell you if the war was still ongoing, let alone what stage it was at. That changed just a few days ago, when the success of…

Cladding will be fixed on high-rise buildings in England by 2029, says Angela Rayner Deputy prime minister announced acceleration plan and criticised pace of works seven years after Grenfell fire Dangerous cladding on all high-rise buildings in government-funded schemes in England will be fixed by the end of 2029, Angela Rayner has pledged. Criticising the pace of remediation, more than seven years after the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people, the deputy prime minister announced an acceleration plan on Monday for buildings of 18 metres and over, which will include severe penalties for freeholders who fail to act. Continue reading……

The UN’s top court begins landmark hearings Monday on global climate protection guidelines. Vanuatu and Pacific island nations lead proceedings before 15 judges. Over two weeks, 100+ countries and organizations—the highest-ever number—will present submissions on safeguarding vulnerable nations from climate change impacts. UN top court opens landmark hearings on climate protection guidelines Climate Change – The full low down on what’s happening at world court. The global climate protection agenda takes centre stage 

House prices rise at fastest rate in two years – Nationwide House prices rose at their fastest annual rate in two years in November as the housing market continued to display surprising strength. New figures from Nationwide show that house prices rose by 3.7 per cent year-on-year last month, up from 2.4 per cent the month before. This means that house prices are just one per cent below their all-time high recorded in the summer of 2022. In November alone, house prices rose 1.2 per cent, the largest monthly increase since March 2022. https://www.cityam.com/house-prices-rise-at-fastest-rate-in-two-years-nationwide/

Budget could wipe out 125,000 jobs in family businesses The government’s move to limit inheritance tax relief for family-owned businesses could cost Britain roughly 125,000 jobs and significantly reduce economic activity, new research has found. The change unveiled in Labour’s first Budget could reduce the value of goods and services produced across the UK economy by £9.4bn and incur a £1.3bn net loss for the Treasury between 2026/27 and 2029/30, according to a study by CBI Economics. The latter figure contrasts with a £1.4bn gain in revenues estimated by the Office for Budget Responsibility over the same period from the…