UK to extend sugar tax to cover bottled milkshakes and pre-packaged lattes

Sweet-toothed consumers face paying more for bottled milkshakes and some fizzy drinks after the government confirmed plans for a tougher sugar tax.Designed to tackle obesity, the levy currently applies to drinks with a sugar content of 5g per 100ml. However, after a public consultation this is being cut to 4.5g per 100ml, meaning it could cover hundreds more products.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, told the Commons on Tuesday that an exemption for milk-based drinks would also end

Peak pizza? Domino’s boss who launched shift towards chicken ousted

The boss of Domino’s Pizza Group who suggested the UK may have reached peak pizza as he expanded the chain into fried chicken has been ousted after tensions with its board.Andrew Rennie is leaving after just two years at the helm and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while Domino’s searches for a new leader.Rennie, who worked for Domino’s for more than two decades, has sought to shift Britain’s biggest pizza delivery company towards fried chicken, telling the Financial Times earlier this month there was not “massive growth” left in the UK’s pizza market. He said chicken was “the fastest-growing protein” in the world.It is understood that there was friction between Rennie and the board over his focus and approach to the business, although the statement from Domino’s said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”

AI could replace 3m low-skilled jobs in the UK by 2035, research finds

Up to 3m low-skilled jobs could disappear in the UK by 2035 because of automation and AI, according to a report by a leading educational research charity.The jobs most at risk are those in occupations such as trades, machine operations and administrative roles, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said.Highly skilled professionals, on the other hand, were forecast to be more in demand as AI and technological advances increase workloads “at least in the short to medium term”. Overall, the report expects the UK economy to add 2.3m jobs by 2035, but unevenly distributed

‘It’s hell for us here’: Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal

As Mumbai sees increased energy demand from new datacenters, particularly from Amazon, the filthiest neighbourhood in one of India’s largest cities must keep its major coal plantsEach day, Kiran Kasbe drives a rickshaw taxi through his home neighbourhood of Mahul on Mumbai’s eastern seafront, down streets lined with stalls selling tomatoes, bottle gourds and aubergines–and, frequently, through thick smog.Earlier this year, doctors found three tumours in his 54-year-old mother’s brain. It’s not clear exactly what caused her cancer. But people who live near coal plants are much more likely to develop the illness, studies show, and the residents of Mahul live a few hundred metres down the road from one.Mahul’s air is famously dirty

England warned ‘wickets fall in clumps’ with pink ball under lights at the Gabba

As they lick their wounds after defeat in the first Test, during which they lost five wickets for 12 runs in their first innings and four for 11 in their second, England have been warned to prepare for conditions where “wickets fall in clumps” when the Ashes resume next week in Brisbane.David Sandurski, curator at the Gabba, is preparing for a second day‑night game in quick succession after the Sheffield Shield match between Queensland and Victoria, which ended on Monday with the home side winning by seven wickets inside three days.Xavier Bartlett took five wickets in that game, while scoring 72 runs in the first innings. “Just on twilight the pink ball talks a little bit more and the game goes through massive ebbs and flows,” Bartlett said. “You see wickets falling in clumps

Undercooked England will not play for a year until Rugby League World Cup

England’s rugby league team will go into next year’s World Cup without playing a fixture for almost an entire year after it was confirmed there was no room in the 2026 Super League schedule to give the national team a mid-season international break.Following their whitewash defeat by Australia in the Ashes this month, the England coach Shaun Wane – whose own position is under review – insisted there needed to be more opportunities and priority given to the national team if they are to bridge the gap to the all-conquering Kangaroos.t next year’s World Cup in Australia, they will have a team severely underprepared. ­England will have no mid-season training camp or international games of any kind before their opening fixture in the tournament against Tonga in Perth next October.By then it will be almost a year to the day since England last took to the field for a match