Healthier living

Extra help for the cost of living crisis could take until AUGUST to deliver, Downing Street hinted today. No10 said no new help was coming soon despite Boris Johnson promising to assist first in “days”, then “months”. This morning the Prime Minister appeared to hint there’d be help in two months, saying “there is more coming down the track - July and so on”. But Mr Johnson’s spokesman clarified he was talking about an already-announced change to National Insurance thresholds which begins on July 6. It appears the PM is gearing any new announcement to August - when Ofgem is expected to unveil another hike in energy bills to start on October 1. Mr Johnson’s spokesman confirmed “August and later in the year is around the time there may be more certainty” and “we may have more to say at that point”. Though he added: “I simply can’t be definitive at this stage”. The Prime Minister said there’d be help in two months - but that was just what he's announced already … [Read more...] about New cost of living help could take until AUGUST despite Boris Johnson’s claims

The poorest households are bearing the brunt of rising prices, with inflation of almost 11% driven by rising energy bills, experts have warned. Official statistics showed Consumer Prices Index inflation hit a 40-year high of 9% in April, but analysis by economic think tanks showed the squeeze on budgets faced by the poor was even greater. Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) analysis indicated the bottom 10% of the population in terms of income faced an inflation rate of 10.9%, while for the richest 10% it was 7.9%, a full three percentage points lower. The Resolution Foundation (RF), which focuses on living standards, estimated that the poorest households faced a rate of 10.2%. Recommended Coleen Rooney to resume evidence in Rebekah Vardy court battle - live ‘Putin likely to have lost third of troops in Ukraine’ – follow live The difference is largely due to soaring energy bills, with the price cap increasing by £693 for the typical … [Read more...] about Poorest ‘face almost 11% inflation’ as energy bills fuel cost-of-living squeeze

A dog owner bitten 25 times in a horrific attack claims the breed is not dangerous - and lets her three young children near them. Stephanie Jones had the six-month-old American Bully dog, called Chase, put to sleep after the mauling. The 32-year-old was rushed to hospital, where she caught skin infection cellulitis, and was left with chunks missing from her arms. But, remarkably, she claims tarring all Bullies with the same brush is wrong. It comes as fatal attacks on people have soared in recent months in the UK leading to calls for Bullies - though not recognised by the Kennel Club as an official breed - to be banned via the Dangerous Dogs Act. Stephanie, from near Swansea, South Wales, said she should have spotted the red flags when she bought the dog that mauled her. She had put a post out on Snapchat asking if anyone had a Champagne-coloured Bully she could buy. Have you had a similar experience to Stephanie? Let us know at [email protected] The mum … [Read more...] about ‘My dog bit me 25 times but breed is safe and I even let them live with my kids’

The housing affordability crisis in the Bay Area is causing many small businesses to lose the most important part of their operations: their employees. “The money pressures ate them alive,” Frank Ford, who founded Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto with his partner Richard Johnston in 1969, told SiliconValley.com. Johnston reportedly added that the housing pressures are “killing us.” The duo added that they’ve lost nearly one-third of their staff due to the cost of living in the Bay Area. Silicon Valley notes that RealFacts found that in the first quarter of 2016, the average rent in Santa Clara County was $2,654, $2,503 in San Jose, $2,959 in Oakland and $3,595 in San Francisco. Even with their middle-class incomez, Gryphon employees can’t afford to live in the area. The tech boom has been causing a rise in housing costs for years. Many San Francisco restaurants are also experiencing a drain on their culinary talents for the same reason. Gryphon’s owners told … [Read more...] about Employees Quit San Francisco Jobs over Cost of Living

A growing number of San Francisco city workers can’t afford to pay their rent . The latest tech boom has caused rents to skyrocket, displacing hundreds of middle class workers. “Maybe you could find somebody who works for Google or YouTube, and they could take the larger room and that would allow you to stay,” are the words that were uttered to a San Francisco public employee by her landlord, according to SFgate.com. Claudia Flores, a 36-year-old professional who has worked in the City Planning Department for eight years, is just one example of the fastest-growing gap between rich and poor in the nation. She was booted from a room she shared in a three-bedroom Mission District condo, where she was paying $1,000 a month – a figure that is virtually non-existent according to KQED, the PBS station in San Francisco. The rent for the entire place, which is not covered by rent control, was going up to $6,300 a month and was given, instead, to “two guys in their 20s who work for … [Read more...] about Too Expensive to Live: City Workers Can’t Afford to Rent in San Francisco

By The Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey — A pro-government Turkish newspaper says Turkey has drawn up a list of 10 demands it will reportedly ask Sweden and Finland to meet before it can approve their NATO membership. The list published by Sabah newspaper on Wednesday calls on the two countries to stop any financial support to groups linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party as well as to Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Ankara views as extensions of the banned group. There are also demands that these countries halt contacts with members of the Syrian Kurdish group. Sabah said Turkey furthermore wants the two countries to “expedite” extradition proceedings for suspects wanted by Turkey on terror charges. The list also includes a demand that Sweden clamps down on what Sabah called a “disinformation” campaign against Turkey led by followers of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara claims was behind a coup attempt in 2016. Many followers of the Gulen movement have fled to Sweden. … [Read more...] about Live updates | Report: Turkey lists Sweden, Finland demands

Foster City has been dealing with a big, messy problem for years now. Namely, the hundreds of Canadian geese which have descended on the small California town and desecrated its local parks and waterways with feces. CBS Bay Area says that the city is considering euthanizing some of the stubborn geese as a last resort — and Bay Area animal rights activists have a lot to say about it. “Our message is simple, yet powerful," said In Defense of Animals’ website . " ‘Let the geese live !’ They don’t deserve to painfully suffocate to death in horror and confusion.” According to the group’s press release, the city's 2021-2022 budget allocated $20,000 and $45,000 in their 2022-2023 budget for a “geese mitigation plan.” In Defense of Animals alleges that the city will put the migratory birds in mobile gas chambers, a "cruel” process they claim will freeze and burn their lungs for 45 minutes before finally killing them. But Foster City spokesman Austin Walsh did not confirm how … [Read more...] about “Let the geese live!”: Hundreds of fowl descend on, desecrate Bay Area city

On the first day of the second part of the Budget session, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a ₹1.42-lakh-crore budget, along with proposals for supplementary demands of grants for Jammu and Kashmir. This was followed by members of the Lower House taking up the bill for discussion. In today’s session, the House is discussing the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Railways for 2022-23. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh has made a statement on the issue of the inadvertent missile firing, while Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar has briefed the Lower House about the situation in Ukraine, detailing the rescue of Indian nationals from conflict zones. Here are the latest updates: 12.00 a.m. Lok Sabha proceedings adjourned for the day Speaker Om Birla adjourns the Lok Sabha proceedings until 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. 11.51 p.m. Get rid of rate of return system used by British: Nishikant Dubey to Railway Minister BJP MP … [Read more...] about Lok Sabha updates | March 15, 2022

Children are suffering from food poisoning because parents are turning off fridges to save money , staff at a food bank say. Truro Food Bank in Cornwall said it had been told that other appliances were also not being used to save electricity as the cost of living crisis deepens. Staff said they knew of some children going to school in unwashed clothes as people used washing machines less. The government said £22bn was being made available for support nationwide. Truro Food Bank manager Simon Fann said demand had increased with contributions decreasing. He said: "We have had reports of children having upset stomachs or in worst cases food poisoning because some parents are turning their fridges and freezers off overnight." Truro Food Bank manager Simon Fann said demand had increased with contributions decreasing ( Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror) "The level of need we're experiencing is now going up and outstripping the donations we're getting at the … [Read more...] about Children getting food poisoning as parents turn off fridges to save amid soaring bills

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was recently mocked for having Asperger's by a person who reportedly works for Twitter , the social media giant that Musk recently purchased. Project Veritas, a controversial conservative news platform, recently published a video that appeared to show an individual identified as Alex Martinez, Twitter's "lead client partner," saying that Musk has "Asperger's" and that the tech mogul is "special needs." The posting of the video comes a few weeks after Musk purchased Twitter for approximately $44 billion. However, earlier this month, Musk said that his deal to purchase Twitter was paused due to spam accounts on the platform. According to the National Autistic Society, "Many people who fit the profile for Asperger syndrome are now being diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder instead." "People with Asperger syndrome see, hear and feel the world differently to other people. If you have Asperger syndrome, you have it for life—it is not an … [Read more...] about Asperger’s symptoms explained after Elon Musk mocked over disorder