Month: January 2025

Office for Environmental Protection calls for urgent action after finding government is falling short on most targets

The window to stop the decline of England’s nature is swiftly closing, the environmental watchdog has said, as its latest report finds that the government is falling short on most of its targets to improve the environment.

Some of Labour’s actions, however, including setting up a water commission and writing a new environmental improvement plan, were praised by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in its annual review of how the government was meeting the legally binding environment targets. Continue reading…
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This cool, crunchy Sichuan salad, drenched in garlicky dressing and fiery chillies, is now a global favourite. The secret? Make sure you bruise the cucumbers, rather than actually smash them Though I suspect many of us first find ourselves drawn to this Chinese “cold plate” by the faintly surreal overtones of vegetable-based violence suggested by […]
http://dlvr.it/THNfCM

UK News: Chief inspector of prisons issues warning after surge in weapons and drugs flown into high-security facilities

Drones have become a “threat to national security”, the prisons watchdog has said, after a surge in the amount of weapons and drugs flown into high-security jails.

Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, called for urgent action from Whitehall and the police after inquiries found that terrorism suspects and criminal gangs could escape or attack guards because safety had been “seriously compromised”. Continue reading…
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UK News: The Olivier-winning star ‘excited and honoured’ to take the lead in the UK premiere of Marie and Rosetta, a 1940s-set two-hander from George Brant

Beverley Knight is to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a drama about the gospel singer and guitarist who became known as “the godmother of rock’n’roll”.

Written by US playwright George Brant (best known for the drone-pilot drama Grounded), Marie and Rosetta explores the personal and professional partnership between Tharpe and Marie Knight, with whom she toured and recorded. First staged off-Broadway in 2016, the play will have its UK premiere as a new co-production between the Rose theatre in Kingston, south-west London, and Chichester Festival theatre this summer. Continue reading…
http://dlvr.it/THMbqL