Pret a Manger to take on supermarkets by trialling meal deals

Pret a Manger is finally caving in to competition from supermarkets by launching meal deals, after the value of the chain was slashed by a third amid “intense strains” on the hospitality industry.The sandwich and coffee chain said it intends to test the meal deal format in the last quarter of this year, as a medium-term strategy to grow the Pret brand and return to sustainable profits. It did not say how much the meal deals will cost.In the UK, meal deals will be tested across two parts of the day – a croissant and coffee for breakfast; crisps and a bread-based sandwich; and also any lunch main, snack and a drink.In January Pret launched a meal deal in France, which is performing well

Reform UK would axe any high-speed northern rail schemes, says Richard Tice

A Reform government would axe any high-speed rail schemes earmarked for the north, the party’s deputy leader has warned.Richard Tice said companies considering bidding for contracts should “not bother” as the party would “spend the money instead on things the country needs more”.Labour is expected this month to announce it is reviving Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), with leading figures backing a new £17bn Liverpool-Manchester line as a first step in a full railway running across the north.The NPR scheme was originally backed by the previous government – but the line linking Liverpool and Manchester was due to share parts of the HS2 northern leg axed by Rishi Sunak in 2023.Labour has yet to confirm its plans but the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, hinted at news in her budget speech, and sources last month told the Guardian that the government would announce its commitment before the start of the party conference, shoring up northern support

Meta hid harms to children from VR products, whistleblowers allege

A group of six whistleblowers have come forward with allegations of a cover-up of harm to children on Meta’s virtual reality devices and apps. They say the social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and offers a line of VR headsets and games, deleted or doctored internal safety research that showed children being exposed to grooming, sexual harassment and violence in its 3D realms.“Meta knew that underage children were using its products, but figured, ‘Hey, kids drive engagement,’ and it was making them cash,” Jason Sattizahn, one of the whistleblowers who worked on the company’s VR research, said in a statement. “Meta has compromised their internal teams to manipulate research and straight-up erase data that they don’t like.”Sattizahn and the other whistleblowers, all current or former Meta employees, have disclosed these findings and a trove of documents to Congress, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the allegations

Amazon fires 150 unionized third-party drivers, Teamsters says

Amazon has fired more than 150 unionized drivers working for a third-party contractor in Queens, New York, according to the Teamsters union.Workers rallied at the company’s DBK4 facility in Queens on Monday after the company fired the drivers, who worked for Cornucopia, a delivery service provider (DSP) that Amazon contracted with to make deliveries. Amazon works with more than 3,000 DSPs around the world who deliver the company’s packages.The Teamsters said the firings were in retaliation for unionizing.“Amazon is breaking the law and we let the public know it,” said Antonio Rosario, a member of local 804 and a Teamster organizer, in a statement

Unprecedented strike shows racing unified to send pre-budget message to Labour over betting duty crisis

There was just a single day of racing in Britain between 22 December and 9 March during the famously bitter winter in 1962-63 and dozens of blank days during the foot-and-mouth outbreaks in 1967 and 2001. Even in the era of racing on Polytrack and Tapeta, which dates back almost 40 years, there are occasional days when, to the delight of headline-writers, the so-called “all-weather” surfaces cannot cope.But there has never been a day throughout those decades when a scheduled programme of racing has been called off voluntarily, so the decision to “strike” on Wednesday, when meetings were due to be staged at Lingfield, Carlisle, Uttoxeter and Kempton, is a sign of how seriously racing’s administrators and stakeholders view the threat to the sport’s finances from a government proposal to “harmonise” the rate of duty charged on profits from betting on sport and other uncertain events, and fixed-margin casino products such as online slots where the operator takes a guaranteed percentage of turnover.Martin Cruddace, the chief executive of Arena Racing Company, one of Britain’s two major racecourse operators alongside Jockey Club Racecourses, has described the proposal as representing an “existential threat” to Britain’s second-biggest spectator sport.That might seem a little overwrought given that the current rate of betting duty is 15% of an operator’s gross profits, while the rate for gaming products is 21%

Surrey all out for 246, McKinney punishes Essex: county cricket day one – as it happened

It was one of those soul-soaring autumn days in the East Midlands, trees like overripe broccoli, skies huge and blue. On the bright green benches of Grace Road, a man filled out the crossword, while the County Championship resumed for its final three-round act. Nothing is decided, not even next season’s schedule – to be voted on later this month – with a choice of a 13-game two-division playoff compromise or the status quo.Leicestershire, the runaway stars of Division Two, are in touching distance of promotion for the first time since 2003, but this was one of their more forgettable days. They are without Rehan Ahmed (England), Ben Green (Somerset), Liam Trevaskis and Tom Scriven (injured) and Gloucestershire were able to make merry – with a stylish hundred for Graeme van Buuren and half-centuries from Ben Charlesworth, Miles Hammond and James Bracey