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Sales of no and low alcohol alternatives rise during lockdown year A record number of Britons are planning to forego booze during so-called dry January , after re-evaluating their home drinking habits during lockdown and as sales of “no and low” alcohol alternatives soar. The charity Alcohol Change UK said its polling shows more than 6.5 million adults intend to participate in dry January – up from 3.9 million last year. That is the equivalent of one in five of people who drink alcohol. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3n86GLe

Hotel group controlled by multi-billionaire tax exile Sir James Ratcliffe joins Tesco and Pizza Hut on low-payer list A hotel group controlled by the multi-billionaire tax exile Sir James Ratcliffe has been fined by the government along with 138 other “rogue employers” who failed to pay their staff the national minimum wage. Ratcliffe, who has an estimated £12bn fortune, owns 55% of Home Grown Hotels, a boutique group he co-founded with Robin Hutson, a hotelier who built and sold the Hotel du Vin chain and is a former chairman of the members’ club Soho House . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2KRupCb

Cases in Colorado and California raise questions about how mutation entered the country and whether its too late to stop it The US has now reported multiple cases of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK, triggering concerns about how long the mutant version has been here and how widely it has spread. The first known case was reported in Colorado on Tuesday. The person infected was later identified as a National Guardsman who had been sent to help out at a nursing home struggling with an outbreak. Health officials have said a second Guard member may also have it. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/382pzdS

Travel curbs and homeworking prompt people to shop locally instead of in city centres Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Britain’s independent shops had a sales boost in 2020 despite an overall drop in retail spending, as Covid travel restrictions and working from home prompted consumers to shop on local high streets instead of city centres. Data from Barclaycard shows spending at independent food and drink shops, including off-licences, butchers and bakeries, jumped 28.6% in 2020 compared with a year earlier. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Mg8PYd

Photojournalist Leah Millis recaps the year with her favourite images from 2020. from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2LbP57u

Television cameras were positioned for the arrival of the new government when the attack happened. from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2Jx6dEx

The BBC looks at a selection of history's powerful protests and why only some achieved their goals. from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3hsiHtE