Bar and restaurant owners react to measures
PA Media The NI Executive has announced that delivery and takeaway-only services will be allowed from food establishments from Friday, with shorter periods for selling alcohol at off-licences and supermarkets. Hotels could be set to close their doors for four weeks from 18:00 BST on Friday, in line with pubs and restaurants. That news has […]
Bedford house fire victim thanks charity for support
BBC Calara Joseph and her four children “lost everything” after a fire destroyed their house in Bedford A woman whose home was destroyed in a fire said she and her four children “would have been on the street” without help from a community group. Calara Joseph said her family was “left with nothing” after the […]
Waitrose bans sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16s
Alamy The ban by Waitrose follows concerns over the impact of sugar and caffeine on children Waitrose is to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children aged under 16. The supermarket said customers buying drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre would be asked to prove their age from 5 March. […]
NI’s younger workers hit hardest by pandemic
John Campbell BBC News NI Economics & Business Editor Connor Lilley says his move from bar manager to trainee welder has been good Younger age groups have been the hardest hit by job losses during the Covid-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, official figures suggest. While some people have gained and lost jobs, between November 2019 […]
India bans tourism at holy Jain site after protests
Getty Images There have been countrywide protests against the decision Sammed Shikharji is located in an environmentally sensitive area atop Jharkhand state’s highest mountain. The government has asked the state to ban activities that “defile the site”, like consumption of alcohol and non-vegetarian food. The Jain community is a religious minority comprising around 4.5 million […]
Call for rethink on ditching thousands of EU laws
Adrian Browne BBC Wales political reporter BBC National Farmers Union Cymru fears important agricultural regulations could be lost UK government plans to scrap thousands of EU laws at the end of 2023 should be reconsidered, according to a cross-party group of Senedd members. The Welsh Parliament’s legislation committee heard the legal disruption could harm vital […]
Are we going to get a ‘pudding tax’?
Getty Images After a Christmas of over-indulgence for many, the idea of a “pudding tax” may seem like a good idea. Public health experts have suggested it may be needed to tackle the high rates of sugar consumption. By the age of 10, the average child has exceeded the recommended level of sugar intake for […]
Oasis contract requesting ‘sober-speaking’ staff to be sold
Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images The auctioneers say Oasis fans could whip up a “bidding frenzy” An Oasis gig contract requesting “sober-speaking” helpers and “quality lager” for the band and crew during a 1994 performance is to be auctioned. The paperwork is expected to sell for up to £1,500 at Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire later this month. […]
TV and film sectors ‘need government help’
Teleri Glyn Jones BBC Wales News BBC Production on the next series of His Dark Materials halted when lockdown began Independent drama production in Wales will be unable to restart after the pandemic without UK government support, industry leaders have said. Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff, which produced His Dark Materials, said resuming would be […]
The charity helping women move out of prostitution into work
Lucy Adams BBC Scotland social affairs correspondent BBC Sarah told the BBC her first encounter with sex work came when she was a 19-year-old student Sarah is one of dozens of women being supported to move out of prostitution and into work by a Scottish government-funded pilot scheme. She told the BBC her first encounter […]