THERE’S a massive crisis in Britain at the moment…no, not Brexit, but beer is being rationed!
The Guardian tells us that Booker, the UK’s biggest wholesale, has begun rationing beer, cider and soft drinks.
Rising demand because of the heatwave and England’s World Cup campaign is complicated by a shortage of food-grade carbon dioxide gas.
Apparently this is because of high summer demand for fizzy drinks and beer, coupled with maintenance shut-downs at ammonia and bioethanol plants across Europe, which are the key sources of the gas.
When Harry the cat disappeared in 2008, his owner Mark Salisbury thought he would never see him again.
But, reports the BBC, Mark has now met up with Harry after a decade!
Apparently the cat turned up at the Ipswich branch of the animal charity Blue Cross.
Mr Salisbury, who used to live in Ipswich but is now based in Gloucestershire, said despite the fact that Harry disappeared he “could never quite bring myself to cancel the microchip”.
The ginger and white kitten was one of two Mr Salisbury got from a farm near Great Yarmouth when he was in his early 30s.
“Every time I moved home I would email the firm and update them. But after 10 years, you think that’s it and you make peace with that.”
According to the Daily Mail, Spanish will become the most widely-taught language in the UK within a decade.
The British Council’s Language Trends Survey, which polled teachers in around 1,500 state and independent schools across the country found that Spanish is set to overtake French as the most-studied language by 2025.
This summer, GCSE entries for Spanish rose by eight per cent to 91,980, while those for French dropped by one per cent to 120,605 and German rose by three per cent to 43,260.
It is thought Spanish may be on the rise because of the country’s popularity as a holiday destination.
The Daily Express heralds the initiative shown by residents of Michaelston-y-Fedw in Wales, (population 300) who remedied their poor Internet connection by digging 15 miles of trenches themselves to and install a super-fast broadband cable.
Pensioners, farmers, teachers and even the village pub landlord put in thousands of hours of volunteering to dig trenches.
The project cost around £250,000 with villagers providing £150,000, plus £100,000 from EU funding and the Welsh government.
One of the organisers, Carina Dunk said:“It used to take a few days to download a film, now it takes less than a minute.
“Communities have tended to be more distant and detached but not here. Anyone can do it, it’s not rocket science.”
Buckingham Palace is to get a spruce-up.
The Guardian informs us that a major “decant” of 10,000 works of art including paintings, porcelain, tapestries and furniture, is being organised as part of its £369m refurbishment.
It’s part of a 10-year project, which will include replacing vulcanised electrical wiring and ancient plumbing not updated since the 1950s and considered a fire risk.
The curator of the Museum of London, Vyki Sparkes, says a slice of fatberg on show there could be preserved for future generations.
The BBC says that although the lump of congealed fat, oil and wet wipes – taken from a “monster fatberg”, over 250m (820ft) long and weighing 130 tonnes, found in sewers under the streets of Whitechapel has begun to “sweat” and change colour – the curator commented that it had caused a “marked increase” in visitors to the museum and they are now thinking of preserving it, when it finishes its public display.
Reference list:
The Express (www.express.co.uk)
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
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