The latest findings from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) suggest more families than ever are struggling to pay for basics including food, heating, toiletries and suitable clothing, even as inflation begins to ease.

The charity said the number of households unable to afford essential items has risen from 7.1 million a year ago to 7.4 million, the highest level since it began tracking the cost-of-living crisis in 2021.

One of the biggest shifts is that financial pressure is now reaching groups who have traditionally been less likely to struggle.

More than half (53%) of lower-income households not receiving means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit said they had gone without at least one essential in the past six months, up from 47% two years ago.

The research also found hardship has increased fastest among mortgage-free homeowners, pensioners, households without children and families without disabilities or long-term health conditions.

Despite the record figures, the report points to some encouraging signs that targeted support is helping.

JRF chief economist Chris Belfield said government measures to reduce energy bills, alongside falling wholesale gas prices, mean around half a million fewer households are unable to heat their homes than two years ago.

He said: “Government policy can work. We need greater intervention to control rental prices, make energy affordable and improve the adequacy of Universal Credit so everyone can afford the essentials.”

The figures come as Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made tackling the cost of living his first priority in Downing Street.

His Government has announced that VAT will be removed from electricity bills from October, saving the average household around £45 a year, alongside wider plans to ease financial pressures and “give people breathing space”.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Removing VAT from electricity bills is a positive statement of intent by the new administration.

“But it does not address the scale of what households are facing, with millions still left paying an unaffordable share of their income on energy and record levels of energy debt built up over successive winters of high bills.

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“The Prime Minister’s next move must be to go even further on bringing down the cost of energy and bringing in increased levels of targeted support for those who need it most: an enhanced Warm Home Discount, reformed Cold Weather Payments and an energy debt relief scheme.”

Although grocery price inflation has slowed, households are still spending around £156 more on food over a year than they were at the same time last year, underlining why many families continue to feel the squeeze despite signs that inflation is easing.

Have you seen the cost of your shopping and bills increase in the last year? Tell us in the comments below…

From classic roast potatoes to chips and mash, they can be used to create a tasty side for any meal.

Many people will have them stored away in a cupboard for a long time and when they go to use them, they might have turned green and started to sprout.

If you want to keep your potatoes fresher for longer, there are ways you can store them to avoid them rotting.

How can I keep potatoes fresher for longer?

Marandia Wright has shared a video on YouTube about an old-fashioned technique to store potatoes.

She said: “Those of you who have grown potatoes know that, when you dig your potatoes up out of the dirt, you can put them in a cardboard box and just put them in a dark room.

“You can go and get them whenever you want them and they’re good all the way through until the next growing season.”

She mentioned how store-bought potatoes often will not last for longer than a few weeks because they are stored in a plastic bag.

The bag sweats them and gets them wet, which causes them to start rotting that will spread.

She went on to say the solution can be used for any kind of potatoes and all you need is a box and some dirt.

When you get home, you simply take them out of the bag and leave them somewhere to dry out.

You then take your cardboard box and grab some soil from your garden to leave out to dry completely.

You just need enough soil to coat each potato.

Marandia says you should keep each potato apart when putting them in the box by using a sheet of newspaper to separate each layer.

If you don’t have enough newspaper, you can use a layer of soil to keep the potatoes apart.

By keeping the potatoes surrounded by soil, they will stay fresh for months.

Should I store potatoes in the fridge or in a cupboard?

Many people struggle with deciding which foods are best kept in the fridge and which can be stored in a dry cupboard.

Kate Merker, the Chief Food Director for Good Housekeeping, says you should not put potatoes in the fridge.

Potatoes like cool, dry, and dark places but colder spots will make them deteriorate quicker.

She said: “In my experience, if potatoes are left in the fridge for an extended period of time, they can be come soft, mealy, and lose their flavour and discolour faster when cooking.”

Kate suggests you can also store them in a mesh bag or in a wire basket to allow for proper circulation and avoid moisture building up.

There are also certain cupboards you should avoid storing the potatoes in such as under the sink.

You should also keep them away from cupboards next to your oven or any other appliance that produces a lot of heat.

If you want to store them in a cupboard with other foods, keep them away from garlic and onions, as these vegetables retain a lot of moisture.

Will you be storing your potatoes in this way from now on? Let us know in the comments.

Imagine a perfect summer weekend day: a cloudless blue sky with a gentle breeze. Solar panels are at full capacity, wind turbines are turning offshore – and many people are out and about, in gardens or parks. Electricity supply is high, but demand is low.

Electricity systems must balance supply and demand in real time. In the above scenario, when renewables are producing lots of electricity but there isn’t much demand, energy companies may need to curtail output – disconnecting their turbines or panels from the grid, and essentially wasting clean energy that could have been generated. Hours later, when demand rises, that energy is no longer available.

In the UK, wind farms are already being paid to switch off on days when supply outstrips demand. Similar curtailment of renewable generation already happens regularly in places with lots of solar power such as California, Spain or Australia. As renewable energy continues to grow – and in the UK’s case, as cheap plug-in solar panels become available – this could happen a lot more often.

For example, April 22 2026 was a sunny day in the UK, with moderate wind. Solar generation reduced the demand for gas-generated electricity to almost zero. Had the wind speed been any higher, there could have been more electricity generation than demand.

The limits of supply and storage

One option would be to control the supply to try and match demand. When electricity mostly came from fossil fuels, this was easy enough – power plants would just burn less coal or gas. But you can’t control the weather, and you certainly can’t keep sunlight in a pile of fuel to use later. The electricity it generates is either used, stored or lost.

Another option would be to simply store that excess electricity until it’s needed. There are lots of approaches available, ranging from huge battery banks to pumped-storage hydro schemes that store energy by pumping water uphill before generating electricity when needed. Millions of electric car batteries could even become part of the grid.

But all these technologies remain expensive and limited in capacity. Not all surplus power can be saved for later.

Without other solutions, this mismatch can increase reliance on fossil fuels at times of high demand. The UK’s National Energy System Operator (Neso) recently warned it will need to use “more tools, more often” to keep the grid stable.

A simpler solution

A third option is to shift when people use electricity.

The use of renewable energy has made balancing the grid depend not just on supply – weather conditions – but on user behaviour. If people consume electricity when renewable energy is available, there would be less need for other sources of energy or for big investments in energy storage. That’s why shifting electricity demand is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to balance the grid.

Smart meters are already able to vary electricity prices throughout the day. In our summer weekend scenario, when electricity is cheap and plentiful but demand is minimal, a smart meter might advise you that prices have gone right down – or even turned negative – creating an incentive to heat water, wash clothes or charge electric cars. In effect, households would be paid to absorb excess renewable energy.

This would encourage people to install smart meters and change when they use electricity. It should be particularly useful for low-income households. And at the national level such payments can be cheaper overall than investments in energy storage or curtailing wind or solar farms and unleashing them later.

Paying people to use electricity may sound odd, but it represents the cost of keeping the system balanced.

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An Australian woman has given birth to identical quadruplet girls after a pregnancy doctors described as incredibly rare.

Jenitar Sau Na’amoana, who is 34 years old and already had four children, delivered the babies last week at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Queensland state.

“We are very excited to be able to care for this amazing little family, a big family now,” Dr. Alexa Bendall, a maternal fetal medicine specialist who cared for Na’amoana, said in an interview released by the hospital.

The babies were conceived naturally and came from one fertilized egg that split into four, “which was incredible,” Bendall said.

“We think the figures are probably around 1 in 15 million for a case like this to be spontaneously conceived,” she said. “We don’t think it’s ever happened in Australia.”

Overall, experts say, the chance of conceiving quadruplets naturally is only 1 in 700,000; most are conceived with the assistance of medical technology.

Hospital officials said Na’amoana and her husband, Jortham, hadn’t planned to have more children and were quite surprised when she became pregnant with the quadruplets.

Na’amoana faced a high risk of complications, especially given the fetuses shared one placenta. In general, being pregnant with any multiple fetuses puts a mom at increased risk for problems such as preterm birth, miscarriage and birth defects, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Na’amoana was monitored by a large medical team at the hospital since 10 weeks gestation and was admitted as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored, hospital officials said. She delivered the babies by cesarean section on July 14.

“The fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible,” Bendall said. “Mum did lose a little bit of blood but not an excessive amount for having quads, and she’s doing well.”

The babies are doing well in the neonatal intensive care unit. Their names are Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa, in honor of Bendall. The doctor called the name a “beautiful tribute,” and said she feels privileged to have helped bring these children into the world.

“From an academic perspective, it’s really interesting,” she said. “But also from a human perspective, to be able to be part of the family’s journey and come out with four beautiful babies and a healthy mum is very precious.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The 49-year-old drove at speeds of 70mph in 30mph zones

A man who forced pedestrians and cyclists to dive out of the way as a result of his dangerous driving has been jailed. Sean Kimber, 49, was driving a car linked to burglaries when he was spotted by police on Milton Road, Cambridge, on May 5.

Officers signalled for him to pull over, but he made off at speed. Kimber led officers on a pursuit around residential streets, reaching speeds of more than 70mph in 30mph zones.

This forced pedestrians and cyclists to dive out of the way. He travelled to Histon and smashed through a wooden gate, speeding over private land and was then stopped by officers.

Kimber was arrested at the scene and later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, criminal damage and using fraudulent registration plates.

Kimber, of Manor Close, Little Wilbraham, was sentenced to one year and three months in prison at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (July 17).

Detective Constable Lisa Bacon, who investigated, said: “Kimber’s actions that day were nothing short of appalling. He drove dangerously and clearly with no thought about the danger he was putting other people in.

“He narrowly missed numerous collisions as pedestrians were forced to take evasive action. Thankfully, the pursuit ended and he was arrested before anyone was hurt.”

Detective Chief Inspector Gemma Alger, whose team led the investigation, said: “Durkan’s offending represented a serious and sustained course of predatory behaviour, deliberately targeting women who were entirely unaware they were being filmed, without their consent and in the privacy of their own homes.

Cher Lloyd announced she had split from her hairdresser husband of 13 years, Craig Monk by posting a ring-free hand to her 2.6million Instagram followers on Monday. 

Telling a fan she had put her ring in the bin, a source close to her husband later told the Daily Mail that Cher should ‘stop airing her dirty laundry in public’.

The former X Factor singer, 32, had responded to a comment which asked: ‘I have many questions, where is your wedding ring? What are we supposed to understand from your photos?’ with Cher replying: ‘It’s in the bin’.

A friend responded: ‘Realising the timing of me sending you my save the date….whooooops my bad. Onto greater things eh lass, love ya x’ 

A source close to Craig, 35, has since urged the singer to ‘have an adult conversation with her husband’ instead of posting about the state of their marriage online.

The singer, 32, had shared a photo of her ring-free hand with her 2.6 million Instagram followers on Monday, saying her ring was ‘in the bin’

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They said Craig found Cher’s comments ‘disrespectful’ adding: ‘She’s obviously spent the last few days photographing her hand. It seems to be for attention. 

‘To say that she’s thrown her wedding ring in the bin is extremely disrespectful. Once something like that goes online, it’s always online.

‘I think it’s quite obvious that she’s not acting in a very mature manner. Maybe have an adult conversation instead of going straight onto Instagram.’

Cher married Craig in November 2013 and the couple share two daughters, Delilah-Rae, who was born in May 2018, and Eliza Violet, born in September 2023. 

The source added: ‘Craig’s okay. He’s getting on with life and prioritising his two girls and that is literally all that is at the forefront of his mind. They are the only ones who matter in all of this.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Cher’s representative for comment. 

On Tuesday, Cher alluded to moving ‘onto greater things’ amid the surprise split. 

Moreover, she ‘liked’ a number of posts referencing, her gut and intution, crying for hours and lost love. 

She then liked a funny video showing somebody dancing in a video to Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie, with the caption: ‘Me after crying for two hours’.

Another shot showed words layered over an image of Jessica Alba reading: ‘Source? My gut feeling. My intuition. Super symbolic dream. The vibe I got’. 

One of the more poignant videos shared by Cher, was a video with a voiceover saying: ‘I’ll buy you whatever you want’, with the response: ‘No you can’t’. 

Cher and Monk share two children: daughters Delilah-Rae, seven, and Eliza Violet, two 

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When a fan asked Cher where her wedding ring was, she replied that it was ‘in the bin’

Cher re-posted a video about crying and acting ‘like nothing happened’ 

Another shot showed words layered over an image of Jessica Alba reading: ‘Source? My gut feeling. My intuition. Super symbolic dream. The vibe I got’

She liked and reposted a video about the loss of ‘old school love’

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Another post reshared by the star showed a picture of a bird in a tree with the caption: ‘Imagine hating me and I’m just having a full conversation with a bird hoping my dad can hear me from heaven’ 

An accompanying caption read: ‘What happened to old-school love? When trust came naturally, loyalty meant something, and people weren’t afraid to genuinely care for each other.’

Cher and Craig got engaged less than a year after meeting, following her rise to stardom on The X Factor, where Cheryl Tweedy was her mentor.

During a guest appearance on ITV chat show Loose Women in October 2018, Cher said: ‘You know when you grow up and dream of that fairy tale of course we’ve had our ups and downs, but honestly it is like a fairy tale with me and him.’

The speculation of a marriage split comes just three months after Cher announced the devastating news that her father had died.

In an emotional statement posted onto her social media, she wrote: ‘Life will never be the same again. I’ve never felt pain like this. My Dad, I love you. Goodnight. 10.03.73 – 11.04.26.’

Cher also shared an image of a text message conversation with her dad Darren, in which she had said ‘I love you dad. More than you’ll ever know’, to which he replied: ‘I know you do. And I love you more and more each day see you tomorrow.’

Cher’s father struggled throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and was rushed to hospital three times in 2020 as he battled against the deadly bug.

At the time – due to the strict restrictions – Cher was unable to visit her dad.

An Israeli-American businessman has died after falling from the 28th floor of a Miami luxury building.

Yakir Levi, 45, was identified by family members as the man who fell from the Acqualina Resort and Residences On The Beach in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, on Monday.

Police and members of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) were dispatched to reports of an adult male who fell from the building shortly after 9.30pm.

‘Upon arrival, they confirmed an adult male had fallen, and MDFR determined he was deceased on the scene,’ a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

Detectives are in the process of identifying the decedent and making the next-of-kin notifications, and were unable to confirm Levi’s identity. 

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau has taken over the investigation, which has been deemed an unclassified death investigation.

‘The manner and cause of death will be determined by the autopsy results conducted by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner,’ the spokesperson added.

A woman who is listed as Levi’s sister on Facebook posted a tribute, writing, ‘My dear precious brother. I entrust his soul to the Creator. May someone wake me up from this crazy nightmare.’

Police responded to reports of a man who had fallen from a balcony at the Acqualina Resort and Residences On The Beach in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, on Monday

A representative from Acqualina told the Daily Mail the residence building is cooperating with investigators. 

‘We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and our thoughts are with the family and friends during this difficult time,’ the spokesperson said.

‘In cooperation with the ongoing investigation by local authorities, we are unable to share further details.

‘The safety and wellbeing of our guests and team members remains our highest priority.’

Levi, who served as an IDF soldier before moving to the United States, founded the Los Angeles-based water damage and restoration company 770 Water Damage Restoration, according to Los Angeles Magazine.

His social media pages show that he once had a career as a musician, and he started on an Israeli reality TV show that aired on Israeli broadcasting company Reshet.

He was married to his wife, Meital Gershoni Levi, and they shared three children.

An Instagram page called the Bukharian Community, which is described as the largest online community for Bukharian Jews, posted a tribute to Levi.

He was married to his wife, Meital Gershoni Levi, and they shared three children. Levi served as an IDF soldier before moving to the US and founded the Los Angeles-based water damage and restoration company 770 Water Damage Restoration

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The night before he died, Levi was tagged in a group photo on Instagram that was caption, ‘Nights we won’t remember with people we won’t forget’

‘The Israeli community is mourning the tragic passing of Yakir Levi, a Los Angeles resident, who died last night at the age of 45,’ the page said.

‘Levi is survived by his wife and their three children. May his memory be a blessing, and may his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.’

The night before he died, Levi was tagged in a group photo on Instagram that was caption, ‘Nights we won’t remember with people we won’t forget.’

The Daily Mail contacted the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, 770 Water Damage Restoration and Reshet 13 Media Group for comment.

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