Jhoots Pharmacy chain could face insolvency after Lloyds Bank high court application 30. December 2025 (17:02) Struggling company, which has run more than 100 outlets, has been criticised by MPs over claims it failed to pay locum pharmacistsBusiness live – latest updatesA struggling national pharmacy chain accused of owing its locums £670,000 in unpaid fees has been hit with an application to place the business into insolvency proceedings.Jhoots Chemist, which trades under the name of Jhoots Pharmacy, was named in a high court application to appoint an administrator, submitted on Monday by Lloyds Bank. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Campaigner turned down MBE over ‘scapegoating’ of people with disabilities 30. December 2025 (17:00) Exclusive: In letter declining proposed award, Tressa Burke, CEO of Glasgow Disability Alliance, accused government of ‘fuelling hatred’The head of one of Scotland’s foremost disability rights charities says she turned down an MBE in the recent new year honours because the UK government was “fuelling hatred, blame and scapegoating of people with disabilities”.Tressa Burke, chief executive officer of the Glasgow Disability Alliance, had been recommended by the prime minister for the honour for her services to people with disabilities. Over two decades, Burke has grown the organisation from seed into a nationally recognised voice for disabled people in Scotland’s largest city, and supported more than 5,000 members through the pandemic. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Russia still importing Michelin aviation tyres despite sanctions, records suggest 30. December 2025 (17:00) Exclusive: Sales via intermediary companies appear to continue despite Michelin’s attempts to cut off tradeRussia has continued to use intermediary companies, including one apparently based in the UK, to import aviation tyres made by the French firm Michelin despite attempts to stop the trade, customs records suggest.Despite sanctions on the sale of civilian and aviation tyres to Russia, which is critically dependent on foreign suppliers, an analysis of records indicates that a significant number are continuing to get through. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
More musicians drop out of Kennedy Center shows after Trump name change 30. December 2025 (16:57) The Cookers on Monday pulled out of a New Year’s Eve jazz gig at the controversially renamed ‘Trump-Kennedy’ centerA second jazz band has pulled out of performing at the controversially renamed “Trump-Kennedy” center in Washington DC, giving just two days notice before their New Year’s Eve gig was set to take place.The Cookers, described as a Grammy-nominated, all-star septet of legendary post-bop jazz musicians, have not given an explicit reason for their decision but in a statement posted on their website said: “Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US judge halts ending of temporary protected status for South Sudanese migrants 30. December 2025 (16:32) Emergency request by several of the country’s nationals and an immigrants rights group was granted by the courtA federal judge on Tuesday blocked plans by the Trump administration to end temporary protections from deportation that had been granted to hundreds of South Sudanese nationals living in the United States.US district judge Angel Kelley in Boston granted an emergency request by several South Sudanese nationals and an immigrant rights group to prevent the temporary protected status they had been granted from expiring as planned after 5 January.
Kelley, who was appointed by the Democratic former president Joe Biden, issued the order after four migrants from South Sudan along with African Communities Together, a non-profit group, sued. The lawsuit alleged that action by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was unlawful and exposed them to being deported to a country facing a series of humanitarian crises. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cecilia Giménez, famed for ‘Monkey Christ’ mural mishap, dies at 94 30. December 2025 (16:22) Spanish woman’s attempted restoration of church artwork was widely mocked but became lucrative tourist attractionCecilia Giménez, the woman who achieved unwanted international fame for her botched “Monkey Christ” restoration of a 19th-century mural in Borja, north-east Spain, has died aged 94.In 2012, Giménez, an amateur artist, decided to restore Ecce Homo, a mural by a local artist, Elías García Martínez, that hung in the Santuario de Misericordia church in Borja. However, her talent as an artist was not equal to her good intentions and she produced what was described as the worst restoration in history. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Israeli president’s office denies Trump’s claim Netanyahu pardon is ‘on its way’ 30. December 2025 (16:21) Isaac Herzog’s spokesperson says he has not spoken to Trump since US president wrote to urge him to stop trialThe office of Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has denied a claim by Donald Trump that Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, would soon receive a pardon.Speaking shortly before his meeting in Florida with the Israeli prime minister on Monday night, Trump said he had been told by Herzog that a pardon was “on its way”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Offenders in England and Wales to have alcohol levels tracked over new year period 30. December 2025 (16:17) Sobriety tags worn by thousands released from prison or serving community sentences will monitor wearers’ sweatThousands of offenders in England and Wales will have their alcohol levels tracked over the new year festive period by electronic tags that monitor the wearer’s sweat.The tags, which are now worn by 5,000 people who have been released from prison or who are serving a community sentence, are designed to keep criminals sober over the festive season and drive down drink-fuelled reoffending. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
From Send to single-sex spaces: key tests facing Keir Starmer in 2026 30. December 2025 (15:49) Moment of maximum danger will come in May’s local and regional elections and PM is already plotting his comebackKeir Starmer will begin his second full year in Downing Street as one of the least popular ever prime ministers – a spectacularly rapid reversal from his landslide election win of just 18 months ago.Yet Starmer believes this will be the year things start to improve for his beleaguered premiership and fractious Labour party. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump should defy Netanyahu over nuclear talks with Iran, says its foreign minister 30. December 2025 (15:00) Seyed Araghchi claims US president’s Arab allies now view Israel’s recklessness as ‘a threat to us all’You’ll never defeat us in Iran, President Trump: but with real talks, we can both win | Seyed Abbas AraghchiDonald Trump should defy Benjamin Netanyahu and realise renewed talks with Iran over its nuclear programme are a better bet and more likely to succeed owing to stronger support in the region for a successful outcome, the Iranian foreign minister, Seyed Araghchi, says in a Guardian article. He also suggests Trump’s Republican base want a deal and not further unnecessary wars.Araghchi was writing a day after Netanyahu held talks with Trump in the US in which Israel’s calls to consider fresh attacks on Iran were discussed alongside the Gaza peace plan. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
