Shirai Sora saved the best for last.
The two-time Olympian won the WST World Cup Kitakyushu Street 2025 in Japan on Sunday (30 November) with the final trick of the entire contest to lead a podium sweep for the host country.
Shirai unseated…
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Sheffield hospital tests combined asthma inhaler for children
Peter Byrne/PA WireYounger children need to carry two inhalers containing different medication A new trial at Sheffield Children’s Hospital will test whether a combined inhaler can better control asthma symptoms and attacks in youngsters.
The…
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Stubborn PCOS symptoms? Gastro doc, Dr Pal says not hormone but this may be the real culprit
Many women spend years trying to fix their PCOS by tracking hormones, changing diets, or switching medications, only to feel like nothing is really improving. That frustration is exactly what gastroenterologist Dr Pal addressed in a recent video,…Continue Reading
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China factory activity edges up in November but remains in contraction
A worker walks past molten steel at a steel factory in Huai’an, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on July 22, 2025.
– | Afp | Getty Images
China’s factory activity edged higher in November but remained stuck in contraction for the eighth consecutive month, while services weakened as the boost from earlier holidays faded, according to official data released Sunday.
The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.2, up 0.2 points from October, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The figures were in line with economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll, but remained below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction.
The non-manufacturing business activity index fell to 49.5, down 0.6 points from October, while the composite PMI output index eased to 49.7, indicating a slight pullback in both manufacturing and services activities.
Supply and demand in manufacturing improved modestly, said Huo Lihui, chief statistician at the bureau’s Service Industry Survey Center, with the production index reaching the 50 threshold and new orders rising to 49.2.
High-tech manufacturing stayed in expansion for a tenth straight month at 50.1, even as equipment manufacturing and consumer goods producers slipped below 50. Energy-intensive industries posted a mild rebound to 48.4, up 1.1 percentage points from October.
Smaller factories recorded the strongest improvement. The PMI for small enterprises jumped to 49.1, its highest in nearly six months, while medium-sized firms edged up to 48.9. Large manufacturers weakened, falling to 49.3.
Market confidence showed a slight uptick. The index measuring expectations for production and operations rose to 53.1. Industries including non-ferrous metal smelting and aerospace-related equipment reported particularly strong sentiment, with readings above 57.
Holiday boost fades
Non-manufacturing activity, covering construction and services, softened, weighed down by services. Huo attributed the decline partly to the fading impact of earlier holiday-driven spending.
China’s Golden Week holiday, which typically lifts travel and consumer spending before activity normalizes in the following months, ran from Oct. 1 to 8 this year.
Service-sector activity fell to 49.5, down 0.6 percentage points from October, though pockets of strength remained: railway transportation, telecommunications, broadcasting and satellite transmission, and financial services all posted readings above 55.
Real estate and residential services continued to lag below the 50 mark, underscoring persistent weakness in property-related activity. Construction activity improved to 49.6, aided by stronger expectations for near-term growth, with that sector’s sentiment index climbing to 57.9.
The non-manufacturing new orders index slipped to 45.7, reflecting softer demand. Input prices rose to 50.4, and service-sector sales prices, while still below 50, narrowed their decline.
Manufacturing employment ticked up slightly to 48.4, while non-manufacturing employment rose marginally to 45.3. Supplier delivery times for factories improved to 50.1.
China surveys roughly 3,200 manufacturers and 4,300 non-manufacturing firms for the monthly PMI readings, which are seasonally adjusted and considered a leading indicator for economic momentum.
Trade strains
China’s manufacturing activity has contracted since April, when U.S. President Donald Trump launched new tariffs that squeezed producers.
Industrial profits fell 5.5% in October, the sharpest drop since June, reversing the strong gains seen in late summer. Earnings for the first ten months at major industrial firms rose 1.9%, slowing from the January–September pace.
The broader Chinese economy has cooled as growth slipped to 4.8% in the third quarter.
Trade tensions with the U.S. spiked in October as Washington threatened new 100% tariffs before both sides reached a late-month deal in South Korea. The agreement cut U.S. fentanyl-linked tariffs to 10% from 20%, paused Beijing’s rare-earth controls for a year and reopened China’s purchases of American soybeans and other farm goods.
Despite the truce, demand at home remains soft. A drawn-out property slump and weak labor conditions are weighing on consumer spending. Policymakers have signaled a longer-term push to lift consumption and tech self-reliance but have avoided major new stimulus as the economy remains on track to meet its 5% growth target.
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At least four killed in shooting at child’s party in northern California, officials say | California
Four people have died after 14 people were shot at a family gathering in northern California on Saturday night, police said.
The victims, who range from “juveniles to adults”, were taken to local hospitals, Heather Brent, a spokesperson for…
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Harper Adams University gets £500,000 for AI and engineering
A university has received £500,000 to improve teaching of artificial intelligence and engineering.
Harper Adams University, said £400,000 would be spent on developing a new centre in Telford for artificial intelligence in manufacturing, agricultural technology and engineering.
The rest would be spent at its Edgmond campus to develop its simulation laboratory, where it tested products before they are produced.
Harper Adams is one of 60 universities or colleges to receive funding from the Office for Students, England’s higher education regulator.
University Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan, said: “This funding will help us to deliver high-quality AI learning in the heart of the community we serve.”
The university’s base in Telford town centre, in a building known as the Quad, will house “high-specification IT equipment, including AI workstations, immersive learning pods, edge computing servers, and VR/AR devices” it said.
Its Collaborative Simulation Laboratory at its main campus was “already at the heart of engineering teaching and research”, it said, and used “advanced simulation techniques to test and refine products before physical versions are made”.
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Rail users warned of longer journeys due to ‘vital’ Cornwall work
Rail passengers have been warned of longer journey times while travelling through Cornwall due to “vital” engineering work.
Network Rail said the work would take place between Truro and Penzance from Monday, 1 December, until Friday, 5 December.
It said buses would replace trains between Truro and Penzance, and rail tickets would be accepted on local buses between St Erth and St Ives.
Mark Parker, Network Rail lead portfolio manager, said: “I’d like to thank passengers in advance for their patience as we carry out this vital work to make journeys better and more reliable in Cornwall.”
Network Rail said new track, sleepers and ballast would be installed near Redruth, with track replaced near Camborne, and track equipment also upgraded near Penzance and St Erth.
Lee Goodson, Great Western Railway station manager for west Cornwall, said: “During these dates no trains can stop at Redruth, Camborne, Hayle, St Erth or Penzance or at any of the stations on the St Ives Bay Line.
“Trains will still be able to run at Truro for Falmouth Docks as well as trains for Exeter St Davids or London Paddington. But CrossCountry trains will not be operating between Truro and Plymouth.”
Mr Goodson added: “It’s important that customers are aware these alternative travel arrangements will make journey times much longer.”
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‘I started a bakery over pain of kids’ intolerances’
Eleanor LawsonWest Midlands
Borough 22 DoughnutsRyan Panchoo started Borough 22 Doughnuts after his own children struggled to find food that they enjoyed “My kids would be so excited to see their friends, but as soon as the food came out, it was just disappointment and segregation because they were so isolated.”
Ryan Panchoo set out to develop his own allergy friendly products out of the “heartbreak” of his two children’s intolerances, despite having had no previous background in cookery or baking.
More than a decade later and Mr Panchoo has scooped several awards for Borough 22 Doughnuts, his vegan, gluten-free and nut-free bakery, which is also Halal and Kosher-certified.
Having previously only been based in London with a website shipping nationwide, Borough 22 Doughnuts now has a six-week pop-up in Birmingham’s Selfridges, with the possibility of staying in the city on the horizon.
He set out on his endeavour after his own children, now aged 15 and 19, struggled when they were younger to find allergen-free food that was also tasty.
Products containing either gluten or dairy caused them to react – the reaction to dairy being particularly violent.
Mr Panchoo, 46, said it led to a “pain point as a parent”.
“They can’t eat what their friends are eating, which looks amazing, and they can’t be part of that bigger picture,” he said.
“The food they have is safe for them but it’s just boring, it’s bland, it’s kind of dry and it just really used to break my heart as a parent. I really felt for them, and that was the catalyst for kickstarting the company.”
Borough 22 DoughnutsBorough 22 Doughnuts began as a “side project” in 2014 Mr Panchoo, from Brockley in south London, had worked for a property investment company after starting out as a bricklayer, so baking was a whole new world.
He started making and selling baked gluten and dairy free doughnuts in October 2014 as “a side project”, which became award-winning, but he still wanted to master the art of an allergen-friendly deep-fried doughnut.
“After eight years of trial and error, I finally cracked it on 1 May 2022,” he said.
“It’s just phenomenal how that changed the face of the business.”
Having perfected his fried doughnuts, Mr Panchoo registered Borough 22 Doughnuts as an official company in February 2023.
‘Inclusive as possible’
All of the doughnuts are dairy-free and gluten-free, with the company sourcing oats from the only certified gluten-free oat farm in the UK. They are also and made in a completely nut-free environment.
Mr Panchoo said they were almost completely free of the UK’s main 14 allergens, excluding soya in some of the doughnuts’ toppings.
“The aim for me is to make these doughnuts as inclusive as possible so that nobody has to feel like they’re isolated, like I experienced with my children,” he said.
Since setting up in 2014, the “free from” sector has become huge business.
According to the Grocer magazine it is worth £4.2bn to the UK economy annually, and in May the British Baker magazine said the sector was one of the fastest growing in the bakery industry.
Borough 22 DoughnutsBorough 22 Doughnuts could ultimately set up a permanent base in Birmingham, Mr Panchoo said Mr Panchoo said Birmingham was a natural next step for the company, with large numbers of online orders coming to the city already, and having sold more than 3,000 doughnuts in two days at a festival in Digbeth this year.
If the brand sells well in Selfridges, he said there was an opportunity for the firm to stay permanently in Birmingham.
More than a decade on from first starting the business, Mr Panchoo said things had improved for people with allergies and intolerances in the UK, especially since the introduction of Natasha’s Law – named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died aged 15 after eating a baguette containing hidden sesame seeds.
“Natasha’s Law forced people to wake up and recognise that these things are serious,” he said.
But while awareness is growing, he believes for many companies, catering for allergies is done with a “tick box mentality”.
“A lot of brands are jumping on it just because of the commercials, to make some money,” he said.
“We really want to just make amazing food that just happens to be free from. We don’t want to be niche. There’s a lot of stigma around free-from food being sub-par and we want to change that.”
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Somerset teenager hits the big screen in hunt for Bigfoot
Rachel Candlin,West of Englandand
Simon Parkin,Somerset
BBCDaniel Barnett filmed the documentary with his grandparents, Adrian and Jill Roberts A teenager has hit the big screen after his hunt for a mythical creature was made into a new documentary.
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Roberts bakery bread quality dropped following fire
A bread firm that outsourced production to another bakery after a factory fire experienced “quality issues and further loss of sales”, according to financial documents.
Roberts Bakery was saved from closure recently by a rescue deal – two years after a blaze at its Northwich headquarters in Cheshire.
The fire, in 2023, resulted in production dropping to a third of previous output for more than a year.
The 138-year-old firm had already suffered low sales after the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and was “further challenged” by sharp increases in wheat flour prices following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 and rising energy costs, according to Companies House documents.
A significant fire damaged one of the bread plants in June 2023, leading to the firm having to rebuild its premises.
“During the rebuild period, production was outsourced to another bakery which led to quality issues and further loss of sales as customers turned to competitors,” the documents say.
“The company invested heavily in restoring the site but the prolonged disruption resulted in ongoing supply challenges and a damaged reputation for reliability.”
In July, the family-run firm announced sales had “not rebounded as anticipated” following the fire – with turnover falling from £96m in 2023 to £76m in 2024.
The company said at the time that it planned to cut up to 250 jobs from its 700-strong workforce.
Three months later it was revealed the company had been saved after Boparan Private Office (BPO), owned by food processing entrepreneur Ranjit Boparan, backed a management team takeover.
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