Exiled Hong Kong dissidents fear UK plan to restart extraditions will put them in danger

Legislative change comes five years after treaty suspended in response to city’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists Exiled Hong Kong dissidents say they fear UK government plans to restart some extraditions with the city could put them in greater danger, saying Hong Kong authorities will use any pretext to pursue them. An amendment to UK extradition … Read more

Watchdog rules Red Tractor exaggerated its environmental standards

The Advertising Standards Authority agrees with River Action that the food safety body’s 2023 advert misled the public The UK’s advertising watchdog has upheld a complaint that Britain’s biggest farm assurance scheme misled the public in a TV ad about its environmental standards. The Red Tractor scheme, used by leading supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and … Read more

Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom for missing delivery targets

Communications regulator finds ‘millions of important letters are arriving late’ and ‘persistent failures’ Royal Mail has been fined £21m for missing its annual delivery targets for first- and second-class mail, leading to millions of letters arriving late across the UK, according to the regulator Ofcom. This is the third time the 509-year-old postal service has … Read more

Pressure on Downing Street to release evidence in collapsed China spy case

Crown Prosecution Service denies it blocked publication of material and says decision rests with the government Downing Street is under pressure to publish its evidence in the collapsed China spy case after the Crown Prosecution Service denied having blocked its release. Keir Starmer is likely to come under scrutiny at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday … Read more

Vets could be made to cap prescription prices after UK watchdog investigation

Market ‘not fit’ for purpose, CMA says, as it proposes shake-up including publishing treatment costs Vets in the UK could be forced to cap prescription prices after an investigation by the markets watchdog found pet owners may be paying twice as much for some common medicines from practices than online. The Competition and Markets Authority … Read more

In reading, the nation’s students are still stuck in a pandemic slump

When it comes to reading, the nation’s third- through eighth-graders are still mired in a pandemic-era slump, according to new testing data. In math, the news is only a little more heartening: Student achievement in those grades either held steady or improved slightly, though all grades remain behind performance levels of same-grade students in 2019. … Read more

Data centers are booming. But there are big energy and environmental risks

Google recently courted the township of Franklin, Ind., so that it could construct a giant campus to house the computer hardware that powers its internet business. But the company needed to rezone more than 450 acres in the Indianapolis suburb, and residents weren’t having it. Many were concerned the facility would consume huge amounts of … Read more

In new memoir, John T. Edge explores Southern identity and a troubled family history

OXFORD, Miss. — Writer John T. Edge has spent much of his career telling stories about a changing American South filtered through the lens of food and culture. He’s published cookbooks and food histories, and he’s been a contributor to the New York Times, the now-shuttered magazine, Gourmet, the Food Network, and NPR’s Weekend All … Read more